Iron is used as a co-factor in a range of biological reactions and is an essential nutrient
across all domains of life. During infection, pathogens must acquire iron from their host
environment. The tetrameric oxygen transport protein, haemoglobin A (Hb), represents
the largest pool of mammalian iron, accounting for ~ 65 % of iron in a healthy individual.
Genes encoding for Hb receptors are found in the genomes of Gram-positive and Gramnegative
pathogens and their deletion results in attenuated virulence, suggesting that Hb is
an important source of iron during host colonization. As yet, the mechanisms by which
these receptors interact with Hb and capture the haem co-factor (containing the iron) are
largely unknown.
Staphylococcus aureus is a Gram-positive human pathogen and is a significant health
burden in both community and health care settings. S. aureus expresses an elaborate
system of proteins known as the iron regulated surface determinant (Isd) system, which is
specialized to strip iron from Hb. Two related Hb receptors have been identified in the
staphylococcal genome, IsdB and IsdH. IsdB and IsdH bind to Hb on the bacterial cell
surface, actively remove the haem cofactor and relay it to the down stream haem binding
proteins IsdA and IsdC in the cell wall. IsdB and IsdH are multi-domain proteins, with
separate domains dedicated to Hb binding and haem binding. Recent structural studies
have revealed how Hb and haem are bound by the isolated domains, however, as the
isolated domains do not liberate the haem cofactor from Hb these studies provide limited
insight into the receptor mechanism. The aim of this project was to characterize the
structure and function of the intact Hb receptors and reveal the molecular mechanism by
which they capture the haem from Hb and relay it through the Isd pathway. Small angle X-ray scattering studies were used to show that a conserved three-domain
region of IsdB and IsdH, which includes one Hb-binding and one haem-binding domain,
adopts a conserved bi-lobed structure. Two X-ray crystal structures of IsdB and IsdH at
4.2 A and 3.7 A resolution, respectively, indicate that this architecture is maintained upon
binding to Hb. Each Hb globin chain is bound independently by one receptor
molecule and functional studies confirmed that haem is captured from all four globin
haem pockets, suggesting a mechanism where the receptors can access all the globin
haem groups regardless of the Hb oligomeric state. The Hb-binding domains of the full-length receptors bind to a surface of Hb that is distant
from the globin haem coordination site. The haem-binding domain is positioned via a
scaffolding linker domain directly adjacent to the globin haem pocket suggesting that a
second set of specific interactions is involved in liberating the haem cofactor. As this
interface is not well resolved in the low-resolution structures, rational mutagenesis was
used to alter the Hb-binding properties of IsdH. A version of IsdH that bound through
only the subunit of Hb yielded crystals that diffracted to 2.5 A resolution. The higher
resolution structure revealed specific contacts on the haem transfer interface, and a
conformational change in the globin haem pocket, which begin to illustrate how the haem
cofactor is extracted from the globin.
To investigate the mechanism of haem relay through the Isd pathway, haem transfer
assays were designed. IsdH and IsdB captured haem from Hb with similar efficiency.
However, IsdB showed superior activity in transferring haem to IsdA and IsdC. Haem
capture from Hb required the specific recognition of Hb though the Hb-targeting domain,
but, the speed of haem relay to IsdA/C was inversely related Hb-binding affinity
suggesting that haem relay activity relies on a weak interaction with the Hb molecule.
Using site directed mutagenesis, Hb binding affinity was attenuated or enhanced in a
range of IsdB constructs. The activity of these mutants in haem relay experiments was
consistent with the hypothesis that Hb binding affinity is fine tuned to allow for a specific
interaction while maximizing the transfer speed of the haem cargo. Hb utilization is a common strategy employed by pathogenic bacteria to enhance growth
and survival during infection. This work has contributed to our understanding of how the
human pathogen, S. aureus, interacts with and utilizes host Hb, and is the first study to
characterize the molecular mechanism by which the haem ligand is captured from Hb by
a bacterial receptor.


Objective: To investigate: The level of understanding regarding the problem of stuttering Awareness of Self Therapy among adult stutters. Study design: Cross Sectional study design was used for this study.
Setting: Research was conducted in tertiary care units of public and private sectors Hospitals in Lahore Pakistan (Combined Military Hospital, Mayo Hospital and Fatima Memorial Hospital).
Duration of study: Study is completed within the time frame of six months from September 2014 to February 2015.
Methodology: Between the eras of October 2014 to March 2015, Adult clients of stuttering were taken, who were above the age of 15 years. Inclusion criteria included all the males and females above the age of 15 who were stuttering. It includes students, males and females, having blockage, repetition, prolongation or any other primary or secondary symptom of stuttering. All the stutters with congenital or chronic diseases were excluded. All patients were interviewed briefly prior considering them to be a part of study, to ensure they meet the inclusion criteria. After literature review and expert opinion, a Performa was developed and validated by 10 experts (having minimum 5 years field experience). Performa included the information of bio data, age of the individual and information about their education or employment status, onset of the problem, when they started taking therapy, duration of taking therapy and type of therapy, and whether they are taking therapy once, twice or thrice in a week.
Results: There is significant correlation between Understanding regarding the problem of Stuttering and Awareness of Self therapy for Stuttering. There is significant effectiveness found, of Understanding regarding the problem of Stuttering on Awareness of Self therapy for Stuttering.
Conclusion: It was concluded that adult stutters who understand their problems in speaking, are also aware of certain self-therapy techniques that are helpful for them in coping with their stuttering behaviour. These self-therapy techniques vary individual to individual because of the individual differences. It was also concluded that the greater stutter has awareness regarding his speech problem the greater he use and employ self-help therapeutic techniques. Limitations: The study was conducted only on adult stutters. It was a short term research. Population was taken from only one city of Pakistan.
Recommendations: Study should be conducted on large scale with large sample size. Study should include population of more than 1 city of Pakistan. Study can include children who stutter too, in future research


In 1838 Sir George Arthur admitted that the criminal status of a court-martialled
soldier was problematic as a soldier was actually transported for a class of offences
(such as striking a noncommissioned officer) for which a citizen would incur a trifling
penalty. This observation was pertinent. Transportation needs to be understood in
relation to other coercive institutions, including both slavery and military service. A
small number of convicts had experienced multiple forms of coercion. Three African
soldiers, for example were court-martialled and transported from the Caribbean by the
West India Regiments. All had quintessential British names but bore country marks
on their faces suggesting that they had been born in Africa. While a small number of
former convicts had experience of slavery, the number who had served before the
colours was substantially larger. Despite this, most convict historians have shunned
soldiers. Robson, for example claimed that 'only a handful of men were transported
by courts-martial.' Apart from several thousand who were transported to New South
Wales and Western Australia, over 3,000 former soldiers were shipped to Van
Diemen's Land alone.
Transported soldiers occupy an almost unique position in convict historiography.
Apart from former slaves, soldiers were the most substantial convict sub-group to
have experienced a coercive disciplinary regime comparable with the convict system.
Emerging from this coercive disciplinary regime transported soldiers carried
permanent visual reminders of their confrontations with state power. Furthermore, this
occurred during a period generally regarded as an era of penal reform. Soldiers'
bodies represent this transitional discourse on the changing nature of ritualised state
violence. Their experiences are illustrated upon their bodies, perhaps to a greater
extent than other convict sub-groups. Hundreds had already been flogged and their
bodies carried 'marks of punishment'.
This thesis will provide a brief contextual analysis of the two systems of convict
labour management, assignment and probation, which operated in Van Diemen's
Land. It will also detail how former soldiers were assimilated within those systems.
One of the principal themes to emerge from this research was how extensively the system used former soldiers in helping to control the broader convict body by
exploiting their most valuable commodity, their military experience, in their
employment as police and overseers. Commissioner John Thomas Bigge had urged
that the fruits of convict labour be assiduously manipulated. He demanded that
transportation had to become a more terrifying deterrent in order to dissuade poor
British people from believing that exile in New South Wales was no real punishment
at all. Many settlers were overly ambitious and their exaggerated expectations often
impacted negatively on assigned workers. Skill was a critical determinant of convict
experience and, accordingly, behaviour was an important contingency in determining
a convict's progress or lack thereof. As convicts in Van Diemen's Land, many former
soldiers were relatively unskilled as a result they were disproportionately punished in
the chain gangs, penal stations and on the gallows.


Many species exhibit a time‐lag between habitat loss and its extinction, resulting in extinction debt. Although extinction debt is considered a widespread phenomenon, differences in methodological approaches can affect its detection. We aim to contribute to this methodological debate by exploring whether extinction debt is either a phenomenon common to all patches or idiosyncratic to the patch and landscape attributes of a given patch. We also aim to determine whether the scale dependency of species richness might help to explain extinction debt.


Multiphase and multicomponent fluid flow in the shallow continental crust plays a significant role in a variety of processes over a broad range of temperatures and pressures. The presence of dissolved gases in aqueous fluids reduces the liquid stability field toward lower temperatures and enhances the explosivity potential with respect to pure water. Therefore, in areas where magma is actively degassing into a hydrothermal system, gas-rich aqueous fluids can exert a major control on geothermal energy production, can be propellants in hazardous hydrothermal (phreatic) eruptions, and can modulate the dynamics of geyser eruptions. We collected pressurized samples of thermal water that preserved dissolved gases in conjunction with precise temperature measurements with depth in research well Y-7 (maximum depth of 70.1 m; casing to 31 m) and five thermal pools (maximum depth of 11.3 m) in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park, USA. Based on the dissolved gas concentrations, we demonstrate that CO 2 mainly derived from magma and N 2 from air-saturated meteoric water reduce the near-surface saturation temperature, consistent with some previous observations in geyser conduits. Thermodynamic calculations suggest that the dissolved CO 2 and N 2 modulate the dynamics of geyser eruptions and are likely triggers of hydrothermal eruptions when recharged into shallow reservoirs at high concentrations. Therefore, monitoring changes in gas emission rate and composition in areas with neutral and alkaline chlorine thermal features could provide important information on the natural resources (geysers) and hazards (eruptions) in these areas.


Like for many species, the timing of evening emergence of bats is an important behavioral aspect that affects their fitness and has been studied in various bat species. However, little is known about emergence timing of solitary bats that frequently switch day roosts, because they are difficult to observe. In this study, I examined the emergence timing of Hilgendorf's tube-nosed bats (Murina hilgendorfi), which are solitary and frequently switch roosts, in relation to roost type and season over six years in Hayakawa, central Japan. The results show that the bats emerged after dusk when the light was weak. Later emergence may be related to the habits of this species, such as their solitary lifestyle, slow flight speed, and gleaning foraging strategy, which may enhance predation risk. Individuals roosting in dead foliage and on the outer wall of a building situated in closed forests emerged significantly earlier than those roosting in an old mine and tunnel located in open environments, suggesting that vegetation cover and/or lower predictability of roost location provide security for bats. Bats emerged progressively earlier from late spring (preparturition) to early autumn (late lactation or post-lactation), suggesting that the reproductive status of females or the growth stage of pups may influence emergence timing. To my knowledge, this study provides the first record of the emergence timing of Hilgendorf's tube-nosed bat, and suggests that predation risk may impact the bats' emergence behavior.


Agriculture is the engine for poverty reduction and economic development in the developing nations The sector employs over 50 of the population in South Asia SA and Sub Saharan Africa SSA and contributes significantly to their Gross Domestic Product GDP McCullough Pingali and Stamoulis 2008 Majority of agricultural lands in these regions are drylands and vulnerable to droughts of various intensities These threats are far more pronounced in the semiarid and arid regions Globally drylands occupy some 609 billion ha with a population of 21 billion people nearly half of which are the poorest and most vulnerable and marginalized in the world UN 2013 Despite the importance of dryland agriculture for the livelihood security of millions of rural people the level of innovations and technological change in the sector continues to be slow and patchy Access to and adoption of technologies and innovations remain very low resulting in low productivity resource degradation and persistent poverty Many developing countries are now working towards improving rural livelihoods of smallholder farmers However achieving this goal will require transforming the traditional top down technologydriven extension model to a more decentralized farmerled and marketdriven extension system Innovation has become a focus of dryland agriculture development and innovation systems are the centre piece of many development projects These Innovation systems IS approaches emphasize the collective dimension of innovation pointing to the need to effect necessary linkages and interaction among multiple actors IS thinking also pays attention to the coevolution of innovation processes arguing that successful innovation results from alignment of technical social institutional and organizational dimensions Hall 2005 Hall 2007 These insights are increasingly informing interventions that focus on supporting multistakeholder arrangements such as innovation platforms IPs as mechanisms for enhancing agriculture innovations.


This paper describes the Chinese economic and institutional reform process as a gradual transition of an informal, relation-based governance system into a more formal and rule-based governance system. The consequences of macro-level institutional reforms on the importance of personal relationships for the firm-level governance of business operations are discussed. Theoretical considerations based on the New Institutional Economics suggest that, in a transition economy such as China, companies' incentives to reduce the reliance on personal relationships should depend on firm characteristics such as the age, size and the internationalization of the firm. We confront these suppositions with empirical data obtained from a company survey performed among 222 (electronics industry) companies operating in the PRD, China. From this we obtain some, though often weak, evidence in favor of the suppositions.


Single shot diffraction imaging experiments via X-ray free-electron lasers can generate as many as hundreds of thousands of diffraction patterns of scattering objects. Recovering the real space contrast of a scattering object from these patterns currently requires a reconstruction process with user guidance in a number of steps, introducing severe bottlenecks in data processing. We present a series of measures that replace user guidance with algorithms that reconstruct contrasts in an unsupervised fashion. We demonstrate the feasibility of automating the reconstruction process by generating hundreds of contrasts obtained from soot particle diffraction experiments.


This article reviews the use of hand washing soap and detergent in a health-care facility, with the goal of facilitating procurement of such products. Three active antiseptic ingredients in soaps currently used for infection prevention and control are scrutinised, namely chlorhexidine, (povidone) iodine and alcohol, while a precis of research on the availability of hand washing facilities and hand hygiene culture in a healthcare setting is included in the review.


Objective: We first aimed to investigate in vivo thrombin generation induced by fetoscopy, and second we used term membrane explants for measurement of thrombin generation, thrombin receptor location and induction of selected matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in tissue culture. Materials and Methods: In vivo study (37 cases): samples of amniotic fluid were taken at the beginning and end of fetoscopy (mean gestational age 26.7 weeks) and analyzed by ELISA for thrombin-antithrombin complexes. In vitro study: fetal membranes were put in culture and punctured for measurement of thrombin generation by calibrated automated thrombography and ELISA. Induction of MMP-9 and MMP-2 was analyzed by zymography. PAR-1 was localized by immunohistochemistry. Results: No significant increase in thrombin-antithrombin was measured in amniotic fluid obtained during fetoscopy. In vitro, thrombin generation induced by needle trauma of membrane cultures is correlated to the amount of plasma. Activity of MMP-9 but not MMP-2 was elevated in cultured membranes but could not be inhibited by a thrombin inhibitor. On histology, the thrombin receptor PAR-1 was located in the chorion and decidua, but not in the amnion. Discussion: Despite the influence of thrombin on punctured fetal membranes in vitro, the role of thrombin in iatrogenic preterm premature rupture of membranes is questionable.


The romance genre is geared financially to a female readership worldwide: a genre written and consumed overwhelmingly by women, and with a male readership of around 14 percent. Since the 21st century, romance novels have generated over $1.3 billion dollars in sales per annum in the United States, where one out of four books sold and one out of two mass-market books sold are romance novels. According to romance publishing behemoth Harlequin Mills & Boon, the company publishes 120 new titles each month, drawing from a stable of 200 authors within the UK and a further 1,300 worldwide. A Mills & Boon volume is sold every four seconds in more than one hundred countries, translated into twenty-six languages. But the romance genre consists of more than Harlequin Mills & Boon novels. According to industry definitions in the United States and Australia, a romance novel consists of "a central love story" and "an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending" (Romance Writers of America website). As long as these two basic requirements are met, romance novels can have any tone or style (barring a mocking or derisive one) and be set in any time (past, present, or future) or place (in the real world or in a fantasyland). They may include varying degrees of sensuality, from the modest discretion of Christian "inspirationals" to highly explicit descriptions of sexual acts in romantic erotica. They may also overlap with any other genre, such as chick lit, historical, crime, suspense, or thriller. The roots of the romance novel can be traced back to Shakespearean comedies, with the celebratory betrothal of the romantic couple forming the happy ending of such plays as Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, or As You Like It. In prose fiction, Samuel Richardson's Pamela (1740), Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (1813), and Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre (1847) are considered literary forebearers. The modern romance was shaped by British publishing firm Mills & Boon, which became a market leader in the genre by the 1930s with a distribution network in all British Commonwealth countries and colonies in the first half of the 20th century. During the 1950s, Mills & Boon novels began to be distributed in North America by Canadian firm Harlequin, and the two companies merged in 1971 to form the romance publishing powerhouse Harlequin Mills & Boon, which had its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s when it became the world's largest publisher of romances, having 80 percent of the world's market share of fiction. Over time, the genre changed its representations of gender and attitudes toward women's work and domestic life. The 1970s and 1980s saw a gradual Americanization of the genre as New York firms muscled in on Harlequin Mills & Boon's territory, publishing historical romances and diversifying contemporary romances to include American romantic protagonists, settings, and themes. The genre also became increasingly sexualized during this period through its depiction of sexual activity. The turn of the 21st century witnessed an increasing fragmentation of the genre as the rise of independent publishers afforded writers and readers the opportunity to explore niche markets: erotica, African American stories, paranormal romances featuring vampires, phoenixes, and werewolves, among other shapeshifting romantic protagonists, and many others.


In sum, for one who loves it, culture will always be more free, more complex and more mysterious than any political or historical reflection on it. - Dacia Maraini Introduction The main question addressed in this article is quite simple. How did we come to marginalize the influence of arts and culture within feminism? Why did we dismiss the political dimensions of arts and culture as a means of enhancing feminist political struggles? I do not pretend to have a definitive response to this intriguing problem. My contribution is more modest since my academic background is distant from arts and culture. I am a social scientist and my research and teaching interests are the women's movement and social movements. I also study the relation between the state and civil society, public policies in the areas of health and social services but most importantly, I am interested in the dynamic of feminist discourse formation within the women's movement. My question originates from this last aspect - feminist discourse formation. For the purpose of this article, I choose to place this problem within the context of teaching the women's movement to Women's Studies students: its development, its emergence and recurrence in contemporary society; the mapping of its grass roots organizations within localized communities; the synergy and connections with all of its segments and with other social movements. Women's Studies is interdisciplinary. The fact that there is no human activity that escapes its questioning creates the strengths of Women's Studies as well as its weaknesses: all human activities cannot be integrated in each and every Women's Studies course. Moreover, it is one thing to say that most, if not all Women's Studies programs should bridge the gap between the social sciences and humanities, it is quite another to teach Women's Studies courses with all disciplinary expertise and scholarship in mind. What interests me most in this debate is not exactly what is at the centre of a movement - its dominant discourses and practices - but what is absent or rather what is not there but whose traces and influence are felt nonetheless. Indeed, instead of political arts and culture, I could suggest other questions more related to my field such as, "Why is it that we are more likely to retain the feminist liberal theoretical frame, among all political theories of the state, when it comes time to assess the gains and achievements of women and feminism within the political sphere?",' or "Why did we forget the importance of other social and economic issues as well as political organizing around race and class during most of the 19th and the 20th century?" "Is it because those issues were fought within different political terrains (the work place, the family, the neighbourhood), than the terrain of mainstream politics; is it because these struggles were led by different feminist actors with different feminist theories (Marxism, socialism, anarchism)?" Within feminism, there is a discursive centre which has a strong tendency to forget that without the presence and action of what gravitates around its margins, this centre simply will not be. There is an advantage in trying to answer the last series of questions: the way they are phrased links them to the kind of problems the social sciences - my discipline - are dealing with. That does not mean that social scientists are dealing with them on a regular basis. However, I want to focus this article on the issue of political arts and culture and the place they occupy within the women's movement as well as Women's Studies teaching. The divide between the social sciences and humanities - one may suggest - can perhaps be resolved by asking social scientists to recognize that arts and culture, and most importantly their political dimensions, are integral parts of the women's movement and social movements or by demanding that specialists in the Humanities recognize that, after all, feminist organizations specializing in feminist artistic performances and other cultural events exist with the purpose of achieving social change. …


This paper presents evidence on the amount of price rigidity that exists in individual transaction prices. Using the Stigler-Kindahi data, I examine the behavior of individual buyers' prices for certain products used in manufacturing. My most important findings are: 1.The degree of price rigidity in many industries is significant. It is not unusual in some industries for prices to individual buyers to remain unchanged for several years. 2.Even for what appear to be homogeneous commodities, the correlation of price changes across buyers is very low. 3.There is no evidence that there is an asymmetry in price rigidity. In particular, prices are not rigid down-ward. 4.The fixed costs of changing price at least to some buyers seem trivial. There are plenty of instances where small price changes occur. 5.The level of industry concentration is strongly correlated with rigid prices. The more concentrated the industry, the longer is the average spell of price rigidity. 6.There appears to be a relationship between price rigidity, size of price change, and the length of time a buyer and seller deal with each other.I interpret the findings as evidence that it is erroneous to focus attention on price as the exclusive mechanism to allocate resources. Nonprice rationing is not a fiction, it is a reality of business and may be the efficient response to economic uncertainty.


Numerous studies have reported altered in vitro cytokine production in various diseases. In the present study we used specific immunoassays to quantitate production of interleukin 1β (IL 1β), IL 1α, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and IL 2 from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The distribution of cell‐associated and secreted cytokines was studied in PBMC of 21 individuals; in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) the proportion of cell‐associated IL 1β ranged from 13% to 56%, for IL 1α 29% to 98%, and for TNF 2% to 17%. In a larger cohort of 32 subjects, the total amount of immunoreactive cytokines produced in response to LPS or phytohemagglutinin was normally distributed within the study group. Mean production of IL 1α in response to LPS was 10.1 ng/ml and exceeded production of IL 1β (5.6 ng/ml) and TNF (2.2 ng/ml). The distribution pattern was characterized by high intersubject variability extending over two orders of magnitude and the presence of high and low "producers". Production of IL 1α and IL 1β correlated (R = 0.69). In contrast, production of IL 1β did not correlate with production of TNF or IL 2. Indomethacin present during stimulation of PBMC increased the amount of IL 1β produced and showed a high correlation (R = 0.83) compared to cultures without indomethacin. Thus, low production of IL 1β in certain subjects appears not to be due to inhibitable levels of cyclooxygenase products. In a retrospective study, PBMC from 12 subjects who had taken oral cyclooxygenase inhibitors during the preceding 7 days produced 43% more IL 1β than subjects who did not take these drugs (p < 0.05). These studies demonstrate that the amount of cytokine synthesized by PBMC (a) is regulated independently for IL 1, TNF and IL 2; (b) correlates for IL 1β and IL 1α; (c) is intrinsic for low and high "producers", and (d) production of IL 1β increases with the use of oral cyclooxygenase inhibitors.


Models of learning and experimentation based on two-armed Poisson bandits addressed several important aspects related to strategic and motivational learning, but they are not suitable to study effects that accumulate over time. We propose a new class of models of strategic experimentation which are almost as tractable as exponential models, but incorporate such realistic features as dependence of the expected rate of news arrival on the time elapsed since the start of an experiment. In these models, the experiment is stopped before news is realized whenever the rate of arrival of news reaches a critical level. This leads to longer experimentation times for experiments with possible breakthroughs than for equivalent experiments with failures. In experimentation models with multiple players, either no player stops before the first failure is observed, or all players stop simultaneously before the first failure. We also demonstrate a crowding out effect in models with profitable breakthroughs.


This book is a study of power. In particular, it is a study of governmental power in Britain and France. Its focus is the changing relationship between the government and the central bank in the two countries, and it examines the politics of this relationship since the time when the Bank of England and the Bank of France were first created. The book begins by considering the issue of governmental control generally. It then focuses on monetary policy making, and asks what has been the role of governments in this area and what freedom have central banks enjoyed? After a detailed historical analysis of this issue in Britain and France, the authors conclude by considering the likely role of the European Central Bank.


Incorporating formative assessment into classroom practice is a process which can provide advantages for academics and students alike. For the academic, formative assessment can give a real time snapshot of student understanding, if necessary allowing for timely adjustments to teaching strategies to be made (Garrison & Ehringhaus, 2007). For the student, formative assessment provides an insight into individual levels of knowledge, allowing areas of weakness to be highlighted and thus further developed. Whilst the benefits of formative assessment are widely recognised, it could be argued that the way in which such assessment has been integrated into the curriculum has not changed to meet the needs of today's technology driven students. As outlined by Beatty & Gerace (2009), "while the technology tools by themselves are not formative assessment, technology tools can be used to make it easier for both teachers and learners to engage in frequent formative assessment during actual learning." To gain a deeper insight into the possible use of screencasting technology as a viable method of providing formative assessment, a project is currently being undertaken with a group of Architectural Technology students at the University of Ulster. Traditionally, formative assessment was provided to students via tutorial sessions, but feedback suggested that the majority of students did not favour this process. The aim is to develop a method of providing formative assessment in a way that appeals to students and in which they will more fully engage. A series of online quizzes with questions relating to key aspects of the curriculum are currently being developed which the students can access remotely, testing their level of knowledge and providing instant feedback on their level of understanding. The project hopes to gain an insight into the effectiveness of this formative assessment method, student uptake and overall impact on module performance.


Socioeconomic and cultural aspects of overweight and obesity in Georgia's African American Community By Alicia C. Simpson Chairperson of the Supervisory Committee: Cassandra White, PhD Department of Anthropology According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Minority Health and the Center for Disease Control (CDC), individuals who identified themselves as African-American or Black have the highest rate of obesity in the United States. The higher prevalence of overweight and obesity among the African-American population correlates to an increased risk for a number of diseases (including heart disease, diabetes, and several cancers) and an increased mortality rate for the African American population. Through focus groups and interviews, the research I will present focuses on perceptions of overweight and obesity among African-Americans, including any cultural beliefs associated with overweight, obesity and African-Americans. I examined cultural norms of body image, food preference (including "soul food" and other foods traditionally associated with AfricanAmerican culture), and access to healthy foods and how the familial unit deals with issues of overweight and obesity. I also explored popular explanatory models surrounding the cultural acceptance of overweight and obesity in the African-American culture. Finally, I attempted to uncover the role that socioeconomic status plays in the acceptance, belief and/or knowledge of these models. A total of 80 participants who identify as African-American or Black were chosen using nonprobability sampling techniques to participate in this research. I conducted 3 focus groups and 60 one on one interviews. Each participant in the focus group and one on one interview filled out a brief questionnaire about their perceptions of their own body image in conjunction with their interview. Varying socioeconomic status was sought amongst interview participants while similar socioeconomic status and education level were sought among focus group participants so that each person within the group felt as comfortable as possible sharing their experiences with weight and food. In my paper, I will discuss common themes that emerged in focus groups and interviews regarding perceptions of obesity among my participants.


In 1977, Kenneth Leech wrote the book Soul Friend, which quickly became one of the classic contemporary explorations of the Christian practice of spiritual direction. Out of print for many years, a revised edition of this book, mildly updated to include changes in the spiritual climate since 1977, is now available. Leech's scholarly, yet accessible, exploration examines the climate in which spiritual direction takes place today-the influence of the drug culture of the 1960's, Eastern influences on prayer and spiritual practice, the Pentecostal movement, and others. He then provides background on the history of spiritual direction, both Protestant and Catholic, from the earliest Church through the twentieth century. Leech also explores other questions of interest to directors and those seeking out direction: the relationship between counseling and direction; the practice of prayer in Christian spiritual tradition; and the prophetic role of the spiritual director, not just for the individual but for the larger society. An excellent course book, and a fascinating book for those contemplating direction, Soul Friend will continue to be a classic for years to come.


Background: Renal complication in hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) is rare, with literature scarcely reporting association of this syndrome with glomerular involvement. While the direct effect of eosinophilic infiltration in tissues has been linked to histological damage of the HES, other mechanisms may account for renal involvement too. Case Presentation: We present a case of a 17-year-old male patient, with progressive edema, contact reactive erythematous skin lesions, acute kidney injury, nephrotic syndrome and progressive eosinophilia. His bone marrow biopsy revealed moderate hyperplasia with severe eosinophilia and atypical lymphocytes. His renal biopsy revealed glomeruli, enlarged in volume with mesangial expansion and hypercellularity and segmental thickening of capillary loops. Likewise, some glomeruli showed peripheral hyalinosis with synechiae to Bowman's capsule. Tubules showed cloudy swelling, mild tubular atrophy and hyaline cylinders. Interstitial area showed infiltrated lymphomononuclear cells, focal with no evidence of eosinophils. Blood vessels were unaltered. Immunofluorescence identified glomeruli with granular mesangial IgM deposition. After corticosteroid treatment, eosinophilia and creatinine values regress to normal range. Conclusions: While our case may suggest the coexistence of two unrelated diseases, further studies are required to assess the pathophysiology of glomerular involvement in HES. Given the possibility that mechanisms other than the direct effect of eosinophils are involved in certain patients


Abstract Myoglobin, meat pigment is an iron containing protein found in muscle consisting of heme connected to a single proteide chain. Color is the most important factor in meat products influencing the consumer purchase decision and affecting the perception of freshness. This research presents a spectophotometric method tested identify myoglobin in beef, readings being made at several wavelenghts. Oxidation of myoglobin pigment in metmyoglobin, was also analysed using peroxide hydrogene. A considerable decrease of myoglobin compared with the standard sample was observed (approximately 7 times).


The relationships of the archaeological cultures of the Late Neolithic Period in the southern Levant have been the subject of much debate. As such, the excavation of the Late Neolithic site ofWT-40, approximately 20 km southeast of Madaba, Jordan by the Wadi ath-Thamad Archaeological Project Survey team in 2004 will help to clarify and expand the understanding of this time period. The pottery collected from WT-40 has the potential to aid in establishing the chronological and cultural relationship between the Yarmukian and Jericho IX assemblages. The pottery assemblage from WT-40 is analyzed according to the typology developed by Garfinkel (1993), supplemented by an examination of the method ofvessel construction. Statistical analyses are performed to validate the sample of pottery from WT40 and compare it to other Late Neolithic pottery assemblages from the region. Analysis and comparison of the WT-40 pottery determined that it demonstrates typological, technological, and stylistic similarities to that of Sha 'ar Hagolan , as well as exhibiting the characteristic decoration of Jericho IX assemblages. The results indicate flaws in the current classificatory system based on "type sites" and fossiles directeurs. The overlap between Yarmukian and Jericho IX assemblages indicates that they belong to the same industry, and thus socioeconomic culture group. Pottery assemblages from Sha 'ar Hagolan and Dhra' each identify phases/facies within that industry. The assemblage from WT-40 then constitutes a regional subculture within that cultural group. This interpretation is significant in its attempt to clarify the debate concerning the Yarmukian-Jericho IX relationship, as well as to define the assemblage from WT-40 and orient subsequent research.


The constituents of blood stains are normal eosinates of the thiazin series of dyes. Methods are outlined for the chemical examinations of blood stains which are based upon the complete reduction of all dye components present in buffered solutions of limited acidity, and the reduction of their thiazin components alone in strongly acid solutions. Chemical analysis should be supplemented by spectrophotometric analysis to obtain the most adequate characterization of the thiazin components of the eosinates.


Abstract. Glacial mass balance estimated through the geodetic method requires glacial surface coordinate observations from historical and contemporary sources. Contemporary observations and historical topographic maps are typically referenced to separate horizontal and vertical datums and observed with different sampling intervals. This research demonstrates the sensitivity of glacial change detection to the datum considerations and sampling schemes through case studies of Andrei, Bridge and Peyto glaciers in Western Canada. To simulate the procedure of observing the glacial surfaces, profile lines were sampled from Digital Elevation Model (DEMs) on contour intervals for historical data and horizontal intervals for contemporary data. Profile lines from the following scenarios were compared: (1) different horizontal and vertical sampling schemes; (2) the horizontal datum was correctly reconciled but the vertical datum was not; (3) the vertical datum was correctly reconciled but the horizontal datum was not; (4) both the horizontal and vertical datums were correctly reconciled; and (5) both the horizontal and vertical datums were incorrectly reconciled. Vertical errors of up to 6.9 m, 6.0 m and 5.0 m were observed due to sampling effects and vertical errors of 22.2 m, 9.9 m and 55.0 m were observed due to datum inconsistencies on Bridge, Andrei and Peyto glacier respectively. Horizontal datum inconsistencies manifested as erratic levels of growth or downwasting along the glacial surface profile and vertical datum errors manifested as a consistent vertical offset. Datum inconsistencies were identified to contribute errors of up to 257.2 × 106 m3 (or 87%) and 54.6 × 106 m3 (or 580%) of estimated volume change below and above the equilibrium line respectively on Peyto Glacier. The results of this study provide an estimate of typical errors due to sampling constraints or datum inconsistencies as well as guidance for identifying where these error sources have contaminated mass balance results.


Neural stem cells (NSCs) are multipotential progenitor cells that have self-renewal activities. A single NSC is capable of generating various kinds of cells within the CNS, including neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. Because of these characteristics, there is an increasing interest in NSCs and neural progenitor cells from the aspects of both basic developmental biology and therapeutic applications to the damaged brain. By understanding of nature of NSCs present in CNS, extracellular factors and signal transduction cascades involved in the differentiation and maintenance of NSCs, population dynamics and localizations of NSCs in embryonic and adult brains, prospective identification and isolation of NSCs, and induction of NSCs into particular neuronal phenotypes, which will be introduced in this review, it would be possible to develop a feasible strategy to manipulate cells in situ to treat the damaged brain.


Fibronectin was not removed from the substratum beneath focal adhesion sites when fibroblasts spread in serum-free medium on adsorbed fibronectin substrata, or when fibroblasts spread in serum-containing medium on covalently cross-linked fibronectin substrata. Under these conditions, there was colocalization between 140-kD fibronectin receptors and focal adhesion sites. It was concluded that removal of adsorbed fibronectin from beneath focal adhesion sites was a mechanical process that required serum. The effect of serum was nonspecific since serum could be replaced by equivalent concentrations of serum albumin, ovalbumin, or gamma globulins. Quantitative measurements indicated that the presence of proteins in the incubation medium weakens the interaction of fibronectin with the substratum, thereby allowing the adsorbed protein to be removed from the substratum at sites of high stress. After removing fibronectin from the substratum, cells reorganized this material into patches and fibrils beneath cells, and the reorganized fibronectin colocalized with fibronectin receptors. Some of the patches of fibronectin were phagocytosed. The fibronectin fibrils were observed to be in register with actin filament bundles and sometimes translocated to the upper cell surfaces. It is proposed that removal of fibronectin from beneath focal adhesion sites is an example of how cells can modify their extracellular matrices through contractile activity.


The Portfolio and the Diagram is about the changing ways architects see, read, and use the words and images of architectural publications. Architects today do not use the glossy photographs of magazines in the same way that nineteenth-century architects mobilized the drawings in the grand folios. The images have changed, and so have the ways in which they are used.The book begins with an outline of the academic discipline and the mimetic practice of the portfolio, established in America during the late nineteenth century. World War I triggered a historical process that resulted in the demise of the portfolio and the emergence of the discourse of the diagram. The Beaux Arts-trained architects had fashioned their discipline through the meticulous object-centered images of the portfolio. The discourse of the diagram provided a new range of possibility in the architect's relation to words, images, and buildings. More than the diagram itself, more than the province of narrow-minded functionalists, the discourse of the diagram is a complex formation of texts, concepts, and modes of representation.Concerned less with constructing a new kind of modernism than with understanding the boundaries and structures of modernity, the book is a history of modern architecture as a discursive practice and its striving to become a viable discipline.


Objectives To describe the characteristics of children and adults with incident type 1 diabetes in contemporary, multiethnic UK, focusing on differences between the islet autoantibody negative and positive. Design Observational cohort study. Setting 146 mainly secondary care centres across England and Wales. Participants 3312 people aged ≥5 years were recruited within 6 months of a clinical diagnosis of type 1 diabetes via the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research Network. 3021 were of white European ethnicity and 291 (9%) were non-white. There was a small male predominance (57%). Young people <17 years comprised 59%. Main outcome measures Autoantibody status and characteristics at presentation. Results The majority presented with classical osmotic symptoms, weight loss and fatigue. Ketoacidosis was common (42%), especially in adults, and irrespective of ethnicity. 35% were overweight or obese. Of the 1778 participants who donated a blood sample, 85% were positive for one or more autoantibodies against glutamate decarboxylase, islet antigen-2 and zinc transporter 8. Presenting symptoms were similar in the autoantibody-positive and autoantibody-negative participants, as was the frequency of ketoacidosis (43%vs40%, P=0.3). Autoantibody positivity was less common with increasing age (P=0.0001), in males compared with females (82%vs90%, P<0.0001) and in people of non-white compared with white ethnicity (73%vs86%, P<0.0001). Body mass index was higher in autoantibody-negative adults than autoantibody-positive adults (median, IQR 25.5, 23.1–29.2vs23.9, 21.4–26.7 kg/m2; P=0.0001). Autoantibody-negative participants were more likely to have a parent with diabetes (28%vs16%, P<0.0001) and less likely to have another autoimmune disease (4%vs8%, P=0.01). Conclusions Most people assigned a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes presented with classical clinical features and islet autoantibodies. Although indistinguishable at an individual level, autoantibody-negative participants as a group demonstrated features more typically associated with other diabetes subtypes. Trial registration number ISRCTN66496918; Pre-results.


Illegal code reuse has become a serious threat to the software community. Identifying similar or identical code fragments becomes much more challenging in code theft cases where plagiarizers can use various automated code transformation or obfuscation techniques to hide stolen code from being detected. Previous works in this field are largely limited in that (i) most of them cannot handle advanced obfuscation techniques, and (ii) the methods based on source code analysis are not practical since the source code of suspicious programs typically cannot be obtained until strong evidences have been collected. Based on the observation that some critical runtime values of a program are hard to be replaced or eliminated by semantics-preserving transformation techniques, we introduce a novel approach to dynamic characterization of executable programs. Leveraging such invariant values, our technique is resilient to various control and data obfuscation techniques. We show how the values can be extracted and refined to expose the critical values and how we can apply this runtime property to help solve problems in software plagiarism detection. We have implemented a prototype with a dynamic taint analyzer atop a generic processor emulator. Our value-based plagiarism detection method (VaPD) uses the longest common subsequence based similarity measuring algorithms to check whether two code fragments belong to the same lineage. We evaluate our proposed method through a set of real-world automated obfuscators. Our experimental results show that the value-based method successfully discriminates 34 plagiarisms obfuscated by SandMark, plagiarisms heavily obfuscated by KlassMaster, programs obfuscated by Thicket, and executables obfuscated by Loco/Diablo.


SUMMARY

This article reports the findings of an exploratory study that compares the quality management practices of manufacturing firms at different levels of the supply chain and across different industries. Firms are first separated into three levels in the supply chain — final assemblers, top-tier suppliers, and tertiary-tier suppliers. The study also separates firms into three industry groups — automotive, electronics, and others. A mailed survey was used to collect the data. The analysis found no statistical difference in the level of quality management practices across the supply chain. This contradicts the general speculation that tertiary-tier suppliers have fallen behind final assemblers and top-tier suppliers in quality management practices. However, the results did reveal an industry effect regarding strategic quality planning. The manufacturers in the automotive industrywere more active in strategic quality planning than their counterparts in the electronics industry.


The value that associates private property regimes with better management of arable land played a consistent role in colonial policy and practice in "African" areas of Southern/Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). In the woodlands, however, common property management systems characterized African areas. This persisted in the post-Independence state, both in the Communal Areas, and in the newly demarcated Resettlement Areas. Recommendations by the recent Land Tenure Commission (1993), however, are set to change tenure in the woodlands in Resettlement Areas from common property to private property, on the perception that the common property system fails to sustainably manage the woodlands. In this paper, the apparent failure in common property woodland management in a case study of a Model A resettlement scheme in Zimbabwe is explored. Tenure insecurity and the types of controls and institutions in the woodlands are examined as possible sources of the failure. The major stress on the woodlands, besides clearance of land for agriculture, emerges as resource poaching by Communal Area neighbours. The currently popular notion of resource-sharing as a possible solution to this problem is discussed. In the final analysis the author finds that privatization is unlikely to solve the management crisis as it inadequately deals with the major problem of resource poaching. This failure is part of a wider conceptual problem of dealing with Zimbabwe's different land-use categories in isolation, rather than as an interrelated system. The paper is framed by an analysis of how a new focus on tenure issues, particularly privatization, in the land redistribution process in Zimbabwe fits with a growing trend wherein issues of justice and development for the rural poor are eclipsed by a discourse of "efficiency" and "productivity".


Discusses U.S.-Japanese competitiveness and how it might affect policy and the hightechnology industry. Describes Japanese knowledge and spatial networks with a focus on their contribution to innovations. Discusses previous studies on the high-tech industry, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of different criteria used to classify firms as high-tech firms. Discusses an analysis of employment trends in the main hightech regions in the U.S. Applies a new classification of high-tech establishments for study and presents the results from an empirical analysis of the contribution of knowledge networks and spatial proximity to the innovation performance of high-tech firms in Texas. Argues that policies designed to enhance regional development through innovation should take into account whether local or non-local knowledge linkages are more significant for innovation.


In the following paper the basic requirements for system control with defined risk level is presented. The paper should be an introduction to describe of theoretical apparatus, which was created during some years of research work in the Department of information and safety systems in this area. It a modification or creation of new parts of Information theory, System theory, and Control theory means. This parts are necessary for the analysis and synthesis tasks in the systems where dominant attribute of control is defined risk level. The basic problem is the creation of protect mechanism again the threats from inside and from controlled system environs. For each risk reduction mechanism is needed some redundancy which should be into control algorithm to put by exactly determined way.


Modern commercial broilers appear to have compromised immunocompetence, higher mortality and lower resistance to stressors. To overcome these, dietary manipulation seems to be the easiest approach, and this has been supported by research investigations conducted over the last few decades. The goal of enhancing the immune system of broilers is laudable for both economic and welfare reasons. Vitamin E (VE) is now well accepted as nature's most effective lipid-soluble, chain-breaking antioxidant. This antioxidant vitamin has been shown to improve both cell-mediated and humoral immunity in broiler chicks. However, the effect of this vitamin depends upon dose, age and genetics of the broiler chicks. Several mechanisms have been postulated for the beneficial effects of this vitamin. In this review, several aspects of the immunomodulatory effects of VE are reviewed.


In this brief, it is demonstrated that the inclusion of primary electron elastic and inelastic reflection from the surfaces of vacuum RF electronic systems can result in a multipactor discharge where under current techniques multipactor is predicted not to occur. Electron reflection effectively broadens the phase range over which multipactor can occur, as the increased energy available to reflected electrons allows electrons to travel further through retarding fields and electrons can via reflection "bounce" along the surface until the phase of the RF changes to a favorable range. Multipactor at these neo-band points is dependent upon reflected electrons to increase the phase range over which electron multiplication occurs.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this review was to present a comparative summary of literature of the risk and preventative factors related to school bullying (SB) and cyber-bullying (CB), while identifying research gaps.Literature on bullying appears to disagree whether CB should be considered as a different form of bullying or as a sub-type of SB. Researchers, in an attempt to understand bullying, examined in depth numerous risk and preventive factors. Based solely on previous research papers, fourteen risk and preventative factors related to SB and likewise to CB, were selected on the basis that are most commonly indicated as strong factors in preceding works; each factor was searched for in relation to SB and CB separately, allowing a comparison of how each factor relates to SB and likewise to CB. Findings present a comparative picture of the factors related to SB and CB and provide a direction in the area of factors for fellow researchers wishing to develop anti-bullying strategies in the future. As expected the present study found that some factors are similarly related to SB as to CB, and others differentiate. Details of findings, limitations and implications are further discussed.


Several researchers have proved that the constitutive models of concrete based on combination of continuum damage and plasticity theories are able to reproduce the major aspects of concrete behavior. A problem of such damage-plasticity models is associated with the material constants which are needed to be determined before using the model. These constants are in fact the connectors of constitutive models to the experimental results. Experimental determination of these constants is always associated with some problems, which restricts the applicability of such models despite their accuracy and capabilities. In the present paper, the values of material constants for a damage-plasticity model determined in part I of this work were used as a database. Genetic programming was employed to discover equations which directly relate the material constants to the concrete primary variables whose values could be simply inferred from the results of uniaxial tension and compressive tests. The simulations of uniaxial tension and compressive tests performed by using the constants extracted from the proposed equations, exhibited a reasonable level of precision. The validity of suggested equations were also assessed via simulating experiments which were not involved in the procedure of equation discovery. The comparisons revealed the satisfactory accuracy of proposed equations.


As host of the fifth BRICS Summit in 2013, South Africa's summit theme resonates with African development priorities. The theme, 'BRICS and Africa: Partnership for Development, Integration and Industrialisation', corresponds with South Africa's approach to Africa. South Africa's foreign policy narrative on Africa reflects a country in search of a leadership role in Africa. The campaign for BRICS membership was run on a 'gateway to Africa' narrative, and South Africa's BRICS membership seems to derive its legitimacy from this self-imposed 'leadership' role on the continent. The summit theme is appropriate, given the increasing levels of BRICS–Africa engagement. It also serves to make the summit a moment of truth for what South Africa can realistically achieve for Africa through its BRICS membership. The policy briefing explores how the BRICS group can best be leveraged to ensure tangible developmental benefits for South Africa and for Africa as a whole.


A shared memory abstraction can be robustly emulated over an asynchronous message passing system where any process can fail by crashing and possibly recover (crash-recovery model), by having (a) the processes exchange messages to synchronize their read and write operations and (b) log key information on their local stable storage. This paper extends the existing atomicity consistency criterion defined for multiwriter/multireader shared memory in a crash-stop model, by providing two new criteria for the crash-recovery model. We introduce lower bounds on the log-complexity for each of the two corresponding types of robust shared memory emulations. We demonstrate that our lower bounds are tight by providing algorithms that match them. Besides being optimal, these algorithms have the same message and time complexity as their most efficient counterpart we know of in the crash-stop model.


Abstract In vitro, mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids (FAs) may decrease the binding affinity of vitamin D metabolites for vitamin D-binding protein, which in turn may influence their bioavailability. FAs incorporated as phospholipids in erythrocyte (ery-) cell membranes reflect dietary intake. The purpose of this study was to investigate ery-FA composition in relation to markers for vitamin D. In healthy females (age 22.6 ± 2.0 years) total 25(OH)D was measured by LC-MS/MS (n = 78), free 25(OH)D with ELISA (n = 64 of 78), and bioavailable 25(OH)D was calculated. Analysis of ery-FA composition was by gas chromatography (n = 56 of 78). A strong correlation between total 25(OH)D and free 25(OH)D was seen (r = .66, p < .001), and between total-25(OH)D and bioavailable 25(OH)D (r = .68, p < .001). No correlations between 25(OH)D fractions and specific fatty acids were found, and in particular, no associations with mono- and poly-unsaturated FA compositions. All 25(OH)D fractions were correlated with leptin (total 25(OH)D (r = −.33, p < .003); bioavailable 25(OH)D (r = −.47, p < .001); free 25(OH)D (r = −.44, p < .001). Associations were found between PTH and total 25(OH)D (r = −.35, p = .002) and weaker between bioavailable 25(OH)D (r = −.35, p = .040) and free 25(OH)D (r = −.28, p = .079). All fractions of 25(OH)D appear to correlate in a similar way to PTH, BMI and body fat (leptin). No association was found between ery-FA composition and free/bioavailable 25(OH)D. It is unlikely that FAs are a strong uncoupling factor of DBP-bound 25(OH)D.


Neural models for question answering (QA) over documents have achieved significant performance improvements. Although effective, these models do not scale to large corpora due to their complex modeling of interactions between the document and the question. Moreover, recent work has shown that such models are sensitive to adversarial inputs. In this paper, we study the minimal context required to answer the question, and find that most questions in existing datasets can be answered with a small set of sentences. Inspired by this observation, we propose a simple sentence selector to select the minimal set of sentences to feed into the QA model. Our overall system achieves significant reductions in training (up to 15 times) and inference times (up to 13 times), with accuracy comparable to or better than the state-of-the-art on SQuAD, NewsQA, TriviaQA and SQuAD-Open. Furthermore, our experimental results and analyses show that our approach is more robust to adversarial inputs.


We report a rapid, inexpensive, and portable strategy to re-identify human DNA using the MinION, a miniature sequencing sensor by Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Our strategy requires only 10-30 minutes of MinION sequencing, works with low input DNA, and enables familial searches. We also show that it can re-identify individuals from Direct-to-Consumer genomic datasets that are publicly available. We discuss potential forensic applications as well as the legal and ethical implications of a democratized DNA fingerprinting strategy available to the public.


Bacterial biofilms are ubiquitous in nature and industrial settings. In this study, a biofilm consortium was enriched in a continuous-flow-cell system using humic acid as the sole carbon and energy source. The degradation of the humic acids by the consortium under two supplementary carbon sources was investigated by ultraviolet (UV) absorbency, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and electrospray mass spectrometry (ES-MS). The morphological characteristics of the biofilm consortium and the isolated cultures from the biofilm were observed under an epifluorescence microscope. The metabolic diversity of the selected cultures from the degradative consortium, based on substrate usage pattern, was examined using Biolog EcoPlates. Microscopic analysis revealed that the biofilm was formed by various morphotypes of bacteria, fungi, and yeasts, as well as amoebas. The substrate usage profiles of the bacteria confirmed that, in addition to yeasts and fungi, two groups of bacterial consortia were developed in the biofilm to degrade the humic acids. The degradation of humic acid in the biofilm was mostly carried out in a secondary or a cometabolic path. Addition of the readily digestible external carbon source enhanced the growth of the biofilm consortium. The FTIR and ES-MS spectra confirmed the changes in chemical structure of the humic acid by the biofilm community.


This essay examines three Catullan references to Isiac divinities in the light of controversies over the restoration of Ptolemy XII Auletes to the Egyptian throne and popular struggles to establish sanctuaries of those deities on the Capitoline. It argues for connections between a mention of an eight-bearer litter in c. 10 and the lectica octaphoros belonging to the king, and between an allusion to a shrine of Serapis in the same poem and current religious disturbances. In c. 74, an obscene joke about the child god Harpocrates is linked to conspiracy allegations at the trial of M. Caelius Rufus, but a comparable mention of that deity in c. 102 remains obscure. Catullus' presentation of his translation of Callimachus' "Lock of Berenice" as a gift to Q. Hortensius Hortalus might also be tangentially related to the Egyptian Question; certainly the project could have supplied him with a deeper background in Ptolemaic cosmological and religious ideology. Discussion of these references assumes that topical events would be at the forefront of Roman readers' minds. The essay concludes, however, with speculations on whether the poet's Bithynian sojourn might have exposed him to alternative perspectives on Isiac cults. DOI:10.2458/azu_jaei_v10i1_skinner


BACKGROUND
Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) is a subviral human pathogen that exploits host RNA editing activity to produce two essential forms of the sole viral protein, hepatitis delta antigen (HDAg). Editing at the amber/W site of HDV antigenomic RNA leads to the production of the large form (L-HDAg), which is required for RNA packaging.

METHODS
In this study, PCR-based site-directed mutagenesis by the overlap extension method was used to create the point mutation converting the small-HDAg (S-HDAg) stop codon to a tryptophan codon through three stages.

RESULTS
Sequencing confirmed the desirable mutation and integrity of the L-HDAg open reading frame. The amplicon was ligated into pcDNA3.1 and transfected to Huh7 and HEK 293 cell lines. Western blot analysis using enhanced chemiluminescence confirmed L-HDAg expression. The recombinant L-HDAg localized within the nuclei of cells as determined by immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy.

CONCLUSION
Because L-HDAg requires extensive post-translational modifications, the recombinant protein expressed in a mammalian system might be fully functional and applicable as a tool in HDV molecular studies, as well as in future vaccine research.


BackgroundAntibody responses to immunization are often compromised in patients infected by HIV-1, and the use of childhood immunization in affected children is controversial. We investigated whether multiple immunizations with a T cell-dependent neoantigen, bacteriophage ΦX174, induce selective immune attrition and post-vaccination viremia. MethodsSeventeen asymptomatic, antiretroviral therapy-naïve HIV-1-infected patients with a CD4 cell count of 450 cells/μl or greater were immunized in 1990/1991 with three intravenous doses of bacteriophage ΦX174. Group 1 received zidovudine (ZDV) during the primary and secondary immunization. Group 2 received ZDV exclusively during the tertiary immunization. Bacteriophage-specific antibodies of the IgM and IgG class, lymphocyte phenotypes (CD4+, CD8+, CD4+DR+, CD8+DR+, CD4+CD45RO+ and CD4+45RA+, CD4+CD45RO+DR+) and HIV-1 plasma viremia were measured sequentially. ResultsIn both patient groups the primary, secondary and tertiary antibody responses, as expressed by geometric mean antibody titres and IgM to IgG switch, were impaired. Booster immunizations resulted in a progressive attrition of specific antibody responses to bacteriophage. Antibodies to tetanus toxoid remained stable. The HIV-1 viral loads, which were evaluated in archived specimens from eight patients, increased after immunization but returned to baseline appoximately 4 weeks later. The humoral immune attrition and increases in plasma viremia were blunted by concomitant short courses of ZDV. DiscussionMultiple boosters of immunizations in asymptomatic treatment-naive HIV-1-infected patients may result in a specific immune attrition and vaccine-induced viremia. Short-term monotherapy with ZDV may have blunted these adverse effects. Hyperimmunization of HIV-1-infected patients may be detrimental unless accompanied by antiretroviral therapy.


Does the First Amendment follow the flag? On the one hand, the Supreme Court's 2008 decision in Boumediene v. Bush categorically rejected the claim that constitutional rights do not apply at all to governmental actions taken against aliens located abroad, it also made the application of such rights, the First Amendment presumably included, contingent on "objective factors and practical concerns." In addition, as Boumediene affirmed previous decisions, it also extended its functional test to cover even U.S. citizens, leaving them in a situation where they might also be without any constitutional recourse. The import and application of the decision outside the habeas context therefore remains unclear. But on the other hand, with regard to the First Amendment in particular, such ambiguity is replaced with tension. In the recent case of USAID v. Alliance for Open Society, although the fact that the speech was going to be uttered abroad was not mentioned in the decision, this factor was raised in several instances in the lower courts, and even in the oral arguments before the Supreme Court. An implication is that free speech rights, at least by U.S. registered entities or U.S. citizens, already exist abroad.This Article resolves this doctrinal ambiguity and argues that the First Amendment covers speech made beyond U.S. borders and should be so judicially recognized. It situates existing First Amendment precedents within the broader framework set by decisions pertaining to the Constitution's extraterritorial application. In particular, it extends First Amendment coverage to both citizen and alien speech, in cases where either speech have been subject to government regulation outside traditional national borders. The two conceptions of the First Amendment, either as a right that accrues to the individual or as a structural limitation against the government support the interpretation of making it available to both citizens and aliens. Recognizing the extraterritorial First Amendment, however, is only the beginning. What are the implications of such recognition? In many instances, an extraterritorial speech right is more than likely to go against legitimate foreign policy interests as crafted by the political branches of government as well as international law since First Amendment jurisprudence is less restrictive than global standards on freedom of expression. In the last part of the paper, it looks at an area where this claim would have the greatest impact: that of government speech abroad.


A groundbreaking theoretician working at the intersection of art, psychoanalysis, feminine sexuality, ethics and aesthetics, she is the author of several books and more than eighty psychoanalytical essays on what she has named "matrix" and "matrixial trans-subjectivity" since the mid 1980s. Her book The Matrixial Borderspace (essays from 1994-1999) appeared in English in 2006 (published by the University of Minnesota Press with a foreword by Judith Butler, an introduction by Griselda Pollock, and an afterword by Brian Massumi who also edited the collection). She is a practicing psychoanalyst and holds together the practice of artist and of psychoanalyst in a unique way. Her co-authored series of conversations with Emmanuel Levinas, Edmond Jabes, Felix Guattari, Christian Boltanski and other artists and philosophers are considered, alongside her notebooks, photography, scannography, and painting, as major contributions to contemporary art and culture. She has also published famous photographs of Jean-Francois Lyotard, Jabes, Levinas, Joyce McDougall and others. Ettinger is Professor of Psychoanalysis and Art at the Media & Communications Division of the European Graduate School in Saas Fee (Switzerland). A recent selection of her solo exhibitions includes the Freud Museum (June-July 2009) in London, the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki (August 2009), the Tapies Foundation, Barcelona (May 2010) and the Freud Dream Museum, St Petersburg (September 2010). Her paintings, photos, drawings and notebooks have been exhibited extensively in major museums of contemporary art and her solo exhibitions include Le Palais des beaux-Arts, Brussels (2000) and The Drawing Center, New York (2001). She has participated in group exhibitions at Centre G. Pompidou, Paris and Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, and her recent group exhibitions include Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art (2006-2007) and The Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp (2006). Her paintings and drawings are included in public collections at Bibliotheque Nationale (Paris), Pori Museum of Art (Finland), Israel Museum (Jerusalem), Museum of Modern Art (England), Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Israel) and Pompidou Centre (Paris). Ettinger's artistic work is a subject of reflection and research for a number of art historians and philosophers. The art historian Griselda Pollock and the philosophers Jean-Francois Lyotard, Christine Buci-Glucksmann and Judith Butler, have each dedicated several essays to her pioneering art and renovating thought - art and thought that have influenced not only the visual arts and psychoanalysis of the last two decades but also different fields such as contemporary philosophy, queer and gender studies and the domains of film and literature.


We assessed the trophic status of Leptodora kindtii in the food web of a shallow, eutrophic lake in which 0+ age group fish were the main predators. The mean biomass of 0+ fish during three successive years varied from 0.39 g dry wt m−2 in the first year to 0.05 g dry wt m−22 in the second year to 2.49 g dry wt m−2 in the third year. In the years with high fish biomass, densities of small‐bodied (<1‐mm) cladocerans (e.g., Bosmina spp., Chydorus sphaericus) were relatively high, whereas in the year with low fish biomass, densities of large‐bodied Daphnia galeata were high, and densities of small‐bodied cladocerans were lower. During the three study years, the predation pressure of juvenile fish and biomass and production of Leptodora were negatively correlated. Despite the low 0+ fish biomass in the second year, the Leptodora population densities were high only during the first part of the growing season. The elevated Leptodora mortality in July coincided with the lowest observed densities of smallbodied cladocerans, preferred prey items of Leptodora, and with an abundance of large‐bodied Daphnia, the preferred food for 0+ fish. We conclude that the population dynamics of Leptodora during the growing season is predominantly regulated by direct predation effects.


Continuous maize (Zea mays L.) yields may be depressed with no-tillage (NT) compared with conventional chisel and disking systems (CD). Shallow or deep in-row tillage (ST and DT, respectively) may help alleviate this yield reduction, whereas some hybrids may be better adapted to NT. We therefore evaluated five maize hybrids with NT, ST, DT, and CD from 2002 to 2004 on a Hagerstown silt loam (fine, mixed, semiactive, mesic Typic Hapludalf) in southeastern Pennsylvania. Residue cover, penetration resistance, bulk density, and soil temperature were measured as well as maize emergence, mid-season height, and yield. Residue cover varied in the order NT > ST and DT > CD. Bulk density and penetration resistance in NT were higher than in ST, DT, and CD to the depth of tillage. In 2002, the average soil temperature during the first month after planting varied in the order NT < ST and DT < CD, but did not vary between tillage systems in 2004. Emergence was slower in NT than the other tillage systems in 2002 only. Emergence varied between hybrids, but there was no tillage × hybrid interaction. Mid-season maize height was not lower in NT than the other tillage systems. Tillage systems did not affect yield, and there was no tillage × hybrid interaction for yield, although some hybrids yielded better than others. The study suggests continuous maize yields with NT will be similar to tilled systems on well-drained soils in the northeastern USA and that tillage system is not important for hybrid selection.


Background & objectives: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a disease affecting the central vision and causing irreversible blindness in aging patients. AMD is a complex disease caused by the actions and interactions of multiple genes and environmental factors. Genomic region at chromosome 10q26 may have a bigger role in susceptibility to AMD. Agerelated maculopathy susceptibility 2 (LOC387715/age-related maculopathy susceptibility 2(ARMS2)) gene at 10q26 is associated with the risk of AMD. Here we studied (A69S) rs10490924 polymorphism of LOC387715 gene in AMD patients from East Azerbaijan province of Iran. Methods: In this case-control study, the association of G>T in LOC387715/ARMS2 (A69S) rs10490924 polymorphism was investigated in 63 patients suffering from AMD and 150 healthy age, sex and ethnicity matched unrelated people as control group from northwest of Iran by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP). Results: Statistical analysis showed high frequency of TT genotype in AMD patients (34.92%) compared to those of control group (6.67%), (p value=0.000 OR=11.9). The frequency of heterozygotes (GT) was 32.67% in control group and 38.1% in the case group (p=0.422). The frequency of homozygotes (GG) was 60.66% in control group and 26.98% in the case group (p=0.000). Genotype analysis of LOC387715 like other studies in Chinese, Japan and a population in Iran revealed significant association in distribution between patients and controls. Conclusion: The data suggest that individuals from East Azerbaijan carrying TT genotype in LOC387715 have 11.9 times more risk of developing AMD compared to those carrying nonTT genotypes.


In the fall semester of 1772/73 at the Albertus University of Konigsberg, Immanuel Kant, metaphysician and professor of logic and metaphysics, began lectures on anthropology, which he continued until 1776, shortly before his retirement from public life. His lecture notes and papers were first published in 1798, eight years after the publication of the "Critique of Judgment, "the third of his famous "Critiques. "The present edition of the "Anthropology "is a translation of the text found in volume 7 of "Kants gesammelte Schriften, "edited by Oswald Kulpe.Kant describes the "Anthropology "as a systematic doctrine of the knowledge of humankind. (He does not yet distinguish between the academic discipline of anthropology as we understand it today and the philosophical.) Kant s lectures stressed the "pragmatic" approach to the subject because he intended to establish pragmatic anthropology as a regular academic discipline. He differentiates the physiological knowledge of the human racethe investigation of "what Nature makes of man"from the pragmatic"what man as a free being makes of himself, what he can make of himself, and what he ought to make of himself." Kant believed that anthropology teaches the knowledge of humankind and makes us familiar with what is pragmatic, not speculative, in relation to humanity. He shows us as world citizens within the context of the cosmos.Summarizing the cloth edition of the "Anthropology, Library Journal "concludes: "Kant s allusions to such issues as sensation, imagination, judgment, (aesthetic) taste, emotion, passion, moral character, and the character of the human species in regard to the ideal of a cosmopolitan society make this work an important resource for English readers who seek to grasp the connections among Kant s metaphysics of nature, metaphysics of morals, and political theory. The notes of the editor and translator, which incorporate material from Ernst Cassirer s edition and from Kant s "marginalia "in the original manuscript, shed considerable light on the text.""


Background: The concentrations of heavy metals in the tissues and organs of fishes indicate the concentrations of heavy metals in water and their accumulation in food chains. In the present study, the concentrations of Zn, Cu, Cd, Ni, V and Pb in three common species of fish and the potential health risks to local residents via consumption of the fishes were estimated. Methods: The concentrations of heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Cd, Ni, V and Pb) in the muscles, heart, liver, and gills of Liza abu, Barbus grypus and Cyprinus carpio, collected from Karkheh River, Southern Iran were measured. Associated human health risk was also evaluated by hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) of muscle tissues. Results: Bioaccumulation of heavy metals was the highest in the livers followed by gills, heart and muscle. Zn was the most accumulated metal in liver of C. Carpio while Cd had the lowest concentration in the muscle of L. abu. There were significant differences in metal concentration among different fish and different tissues (P<0.05).Zinc showed the highest concentrations in different tissues of all analyzed fish, while Cd had the lowest concentration in all tissue samples. The hazard quotients from consumption of the collected fish did not exceed the limit of 1.0. Conclusion: The present study was a large-scale investigation of heavy metals in three common species of fish in Karkheh River. Occasional consumption of these fish is not likely to cause adverse effects. However, hazard indices for C. carpio and Liza abu were 1.751 and 1.21, respectively, which implies that continuous and excessive intake of these fish could result in chronic non-carcinogenic adverse effects.


Clay from Iliri was activated using hydrochloric and sulfuric acid of differing concentrations to acquire differing acidities. The chemical compositions of the raw clay and clay activated at different acid concentrations were analyzed to investigate the extent of cation dissolution. From the Na2O to CaO ratio, Iliri clay is swelling sodium bentonite mixed with feldspars, illite, kaolinite and plagioclase. The Langmuir isotherms of 1-aminobutane in isohexane agitated with clay slurries showed increase in clay acidity with increase in concentration of mineral acid used to leach the clay as well as the temperature at which the clay was thermally activated prior to experimentation involving adsorption of 1-aminobutane. The values of surface acidity, nm, for acid-leached Iliri clays ranged from 0.811x10-3 molg-1 to 6.7705x10-3 molg-1 and the kinetic equilibrium constant of adsorption, K, varied from 0.07828 to 0.7233 yet the surface area, A increased from 5.2702 x10-3 m2g-1 to 50.6700 x10-3 Â m2g-1 . Â Basing on acidity, pH, elemental and mineral compositions, the Iliri clay was resolved to contain montmorillonite.Â


We propose an incoherent optical code-division multiple access (CDMA) ring network configured such that each node in the network includes all-optical add/drop multiplexers to provide truly asynchronous operation and a self-healing protection monitoring circuit to ensure service availability during link failure. We also analyze the performance of such a network considering the presence of multiple-access interference and noise from incomplete dropping of the desired data and accidental dropping of the undesired data. Furthermore, we experimentally demonstrate the proposed design with a two-node system operating at 2.5 Gbits/s. Error-free transmission is obtained and a 5.3 dB power penalty at a bit error rate of 10−9 is measured for the worst connection configuration. The complete optical CDMA ring network is successfully demonstrated in truly asynchronous operation.


The rationale for providing antenatal care is to screen predominantly healthy pregnant women to detect early signs of, or risk factors for, abnormal conditions or diseases and to follow this detection with effective and timely intervention. The recommended antenatal care programme in most developing countries is often the same as the programmes used in developed countries. However, in developing countries there is wide variation in the proportion of women who receive antenatal care. The WHO randomized trial of antenatal care and the WHO systematic review indicated that a model of care that provided fewer antenatal visits could be introduced into clinical practice without causing adverse consequences to the woman or the fetus. This new model of antenatal care is being implemented in Thailand. Action has been required at all levels of the health-care system, from consumers through to health professionals, the Ministry of Public Health and international organizations. The Thai experience is a good example of moving research findings into practice, and it should be replicated elsewhere to effectively manage other health problems.


Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly referred to as "drones," have gained media attention over the last several years with much of the focus centering on their military uses and their emerging role in newsgathering. News organizations, journalists, and private citizens have employed UAVs to capture and share breaking news, to provide glimpses of natural disasters that would otherwise be too hazardous for journalists to obtain, and to offer unique perspectives that enrich news storytelling. At the same time, media scholars have emphasized the need to better understand the privacy and ethical concerns surrounding UAVs. Legal restrictions to and implications of their use have been relatively unexplored. Given that evolving rules and regulations put in place by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) may ground UAVs for journalistic purposes, it is important to understand what those legal barriers are and what they mean for the future of UAVs as tools for journalism. This paper advances by noting key benefits UAVs offer journalism before explicating the evolving rules and regulations of the FAA and how those are shaping the use of UAVs for journalism by private citizens, journalists, and news organizations.


Co-change clusters are groups of classes that frequently change together. They are proposed as an alternative modular view, which can be used to assess the traditional decomposition of systems in packages. To investigate developer's perception of co-change clusters, we report in this paper a study with experts on six systems, implemented in two languages. We mine 102 co-change clusters from the version history of such systems, which are classified in three patterns regarding their projection to the package structure: Encapsulated, Crosscutting, and Octopus. We then collect the perception of expert developers on such clusters, aiming to ask two central questions: (a) what concerns and changes are captured by the extracted clusters? (b) do the extracted clusters reveal design anomalies? We conclude that Encapsulated Clusters are often viewed as healthy designs and that Crosscutting Clusters tend to be associated to design anomalies. Octopus Clusters are normally associated to expected class distributions, which are not easy to implement in an encapsulated way, according to the interviewed developers.


As water abundance of aquifer of coal roof significantly influences roof water hazard, evaluating and grading the degree of water abundance are important in practical application. By analyzing the influencing factors of water abundance of aquifer, an evaluation index system and a grading standard for the water abundance were established integrating quantitative and qualitative indexes. Meanwhile, according to the grey relation characteristics of the major factors influencing water abundance, a multi-factor evaluation model for water abundance was constructed based on grey relational analysis and analytic hierarchy process. The model can objectively reveal the influences of the multiple factors on the evaluation of water abundance. Furthermore, the method was verified by comprehensively evaluating the water abundance of the aquifer of coal roof in a working face of Pingshuo Coal Mine in Shanxi, China using the model. The method provides basis for the research on the evaluation of water abundance of aquifer in coal roof.


ABSTRACT Purpose: The purpose of this research is to deal with the two crucial managerial challenges of first identifying and then achieving a suitable balance between cooperation and competition in buyer-supplier relationships. Methodology/Approach: First, a purchasing framework is developed by utilizing principal-agent theory to bridge the literature on transaction cost economics and industrial buying behavior. The practical use of this framework is then empirically illustrated by a case study description of how a construction client's purchasing procedures affect coopetition in a partnering project. Findings: The developed purchasing framework shows how actions taken during the different stages of the buying process affect coopetition in buyer-supplier relationships. It highlights the deficiencies of both the neoclassical competitive focus and the cooperative focus found in the literature on interorganizational relationships. Instead it emphasizes the importance of balancing cooperation and competition. Research Implications: This research shows how the traditional analysis of governance structure can be transformed into an analysis of coopetition. Furthermore, it explores how purchasing procedures affect governance forms through different control mechanisms. It also shows how trust and social context can be integrated into a transaction cost framework through social control. Practical Implications: The developed framework can be used for guiding purchasing decisions. Managers planning to implement coopetitive (cooperative and competitive ) relationships should recognize the importance of considering all stages of the buying process. Collaborative tools (e.g., teambuilding, joint objectives, and a shared project office) are useful but not enough to transform an otherwise competitive relationship into a cooperative one. Hence, technical aspects of the buying process need to be addressed as well (e.g., joint specification, bid evaluation, etc.).


In this paper, we study the risk-return performance of 23 Ishares country index funds in the U.S. during the May 19, 2008-March 9, 2009 bear market and the March 9, 2009-January 19, 2010 bull market. Our findings with the Sharpe and Treynor portfolio performance measures indicate that the Malaysia, Japan, U.S., and Switzerland country index funds had the best performance in both markets. The statistics indicate that, in terms of loss recovery from the bear market to the bull market, the Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa, and Australia funds had the best performance and the Belgium, Austria, Italy, and Germany funds had the worst performance. Exchange-traded country index funds make it easy for investors to achieve global diversification. Our findings with the PCA (Principal Components Analysis) methodology indicate that investors had more global diversification opportunities in the March 9, 2009-January 19, 2010 bull market than in the May 19, 2008-March 9, 2009 bear market.


This article introduces the new research project of the Geneva Art-Law Centre, which aims to study alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods for art-related disputes. It gives a brief introduction on the topic of the research the project - the significant potential of ADR mechanisms in art law - and provides an overview of the growing international consideration for ADR in art-law matters. While types of art-related disputes vary considerably from case to case, certain common features may be identified to explain the need for adapted dispute resolution in this area. The Art-Law Centre's research project will involve the creation of an Art-Law ADR Database recording art-related disputes worldwide that were resolved by means of ADR methods, as well as a thorough case analysis. To illustrate the nature of the research project, this paper specifies the different project stages and gives examples of collected art-law cases.


The kinematic wave approach is often used in hydrological models to describe channel and overland flow. The kinematic wave is suitable for situations where the local and convective acceleration, as well as the pressure term in the dynamic wave model is negligible with respect to the friction and body forces. This is the case when describing runoff processes in the upper parts of catchments, where slopes are generally of the order of 10 −3 . In physical-based hydrological models, the point-scale conservation equations are integrated over model entities, such as grid pixels or control volumes. The integration leads to a set of ordinary differential governing equations, which can be solved numerically by methods such as the Runge–Kutta integrator. Here, we propose an analytical solution of a Taylor-series approximation of the kinematic wave equation, which is presented as non-linear reservoir equation. We show that the analytical solution is numerically robust and third-order accurate. It is compared with the numerical solution and the solution of the complete dynamic wave model. The analytical solution proves to be computationally better performing and more accurate than the numerical solution. The proposed analytical solution can also be generalized to situations of leaking channels.


Composite materials and, in particular, Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) have been well studied and developed in the past years due to their advanced mechanical characteristics. These materials are used in several different application fields, such as aerospace, automotive, energy production, bio-prosthesis and sport equipment. The combination of carbon fibers with epoxy resin allows obtaining materials characterized by high specific stiffness, low weight, and extremely high ultimate strength. Although the mechanical properties of the single carbon fiber are impressive, damage initiation often occurs at lower stresses. These materials are produced by stacking a sequence of several layers, which makes them prone to delamination. This process may lead to the creation of bridging fibers across the crack surfaces, which increases the total fracture toughness. Several efforts have been devoted in the past years to study the delamination process of composite materials under pure Mode I and pure Mode II. However, studies of delamination and bridging in Mixed Mode have not received adequate attention in the literature. The first goal of this project is to study the delamination process for unidirectional CFRP under Mixed Mode conditions. Experiments are performed over a wide range of different mode mixities, by using a Mixed Mode Bending (MMB) setting and monitoring the applied displacement, reaction force, crack propagation and internal strains. Axial strain values are measured in specific specimens by embedding optical fibers with Bragg grating sensors (FBGs) between the carbon layers. Delamination tests are performed at pure Mode I, Mixed Mode at 20%, 30%, 40%, 60% and pure Mode II, in order to obtain a complete set of experimental data. The results allowed characterizing both the energy release rate at crack initiation Gc and the corresponding bridging energy contribution Gb, as a function of the applied mode mixity. The second goal of this work is to create a numerical FE Model, based on cohesive elements, able to reproduce the correct delamination behavior and bridging contribution for each tested mode mixity, by using a unique cohesive law. Unfortunately, the cohesive law formulations for Mixed Mode delamination known so far show several limitations since they are not able to properly predict the delamination behavior in a MMB test when large scale bridging occurs. For this reason, an innovative mode-dependent cohesive formulation is implemented: it extends the constitutive laws of the previous models to incorporate the proper bridging contribution, by using an external customized routine. The bridging tractions are defined by three parameters: the corresponding energy contribution Gb, the maximum stress Iƒmax and the crack opening displacement at failure IŽf . These bridging parameters are described by three different functions, dependent on the local mode mixity, by means of the coefficients IŸi =[IŸGb , IŸIƒmax , IŸIŽf ]. The coefficients IŸi are obtained by using an inverse method, where the strains measured by the FBGs and the ones computed by the Finite Element Model (FEM) are involved in an optimization process. In contrast to the standard Mixed Model models, this algorithm provides a unique mode-dependent cohesive law able to properly simulate all the different delamination tests, from pure Mode I up to pure Mode II, predicting the load, the crack propagation, the energy release rate (ERR) and the strains evolution.