In recent years, the search for regulatory regimes in order to effectively address human
induced climate change have become a prominent political and academic issue. Emission
trading schemes have risen in popularity and are widely believed to be an effective, as well as
economically efficient, measure and have become a favoured government strategy. On the
individual level, many individuals in the industrialised nations now undertake actions to offset
their personal direct greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by voluntarily purchasing carbon
credits, normally in association with product or service purchase. While this is a fast growing
market, advertised as creating a carbon neutral consumer society, the voluntary carbon credit
sector raises fundamental problems with respect to verification and credibility of the claimed
offsets and associated projects. Lack of regulation and legal oversight leads to the
impossibility of actually obtaining or verifying information on the consequences of voluntary
credit purchases. Providers of offset credits who are driven by greed and easy profits will
underfunded emissions abatement projects and pay little attention to quality standards.
Corporate "green washing" is also likely through voluntary offsets marketed as going carbon
neutral.
This paper connects voluntary offsets to psychological and behavioural impacts on the
individual. We identify three specific issues: the psychology of marketing and purchasing of
voluntary offsets, commodification and crowding out of intrinsic motivations and the implicit
ethics with its own psychological implications. We also discuss the political economy of
voluntary carbon markets and their geo-political implications in terms of the global North-
South divide and ethical responsibility for action on human induced climate change. This
raises serious concerns over the individualisation of a collective problem, what can and
should be expected of individuals as ethical consumers and how markets operate in practice.
Such aspects place individual behaviour within a broader social and institutional context that
questions the trend in market environmentalism and its impacts on the capability of humans to
relate to nature. (authors' abstract)


Although rapid-onset, short-term regulation of neuronal Ca currents by neurotransmitters and second messengers is well documented, little is known about conditions that can cause longer-lasting changes in Ca channel function. We report here that persistent depolarization is accompanied by slowly developing long-term reduction of neuronal Ca currents. Rat myenteric neurons grown in cell culture for l7 d were studied with the tight-seal whole-cell recording technique>Macroscopic Ca-channel currents had decaying and sustained components at all days studied. When the neurons were grown in medium containing 25 mu KCI, which depolarized them to -40 mV and caused significant elevation of intracellular Ca, the densities of both components of Ca-channel current decreased by 40-80%. Several results suggest that different mechanisms underlie the downregulation of the two components. (1) The density of the decaying component decreased approximately four times faster than did that of the sustained component. (2) When neurons were returned to control medium, which contained 5 mu KCI, the density of the sustained component returned to control levels within 24 hr, while that of the decaying component did not recover significantly. (3) Inhibitors of RNA and protein synthesis reduced or prevented downregulation of the sustained but not of the decaying component. (4) The dihydropyridine antagonist nitrendipine, which prevented the sustained elevation of intracellular Ca in neurons grown in 25 mM KCI, prevented downregulation of the sustained component but had no effect on downregulation of the decaying component. We suggest that these forms of regulation of Ca current density could help neurons adapt to altered levels of electrical activity and may contribute to changes in synaptic strength that occur during periods of increased or decreased electrical activity. Regulation of neuronal Ca channels is extremely important because entry of Ca through voltage-gated channels is a major mechanism by which changes in membrane potential can influ


4 0 Ar/ 3 9 Ar dating has identified a succession of middle Miocene (14-13 Ma) basaltic lavas in East Greenland that overlie Eocene flood basalts that were erupted during continental breakup ca. 56-55 Ma. The long postbreakup magmatic history (∼40 m.y.) of the East Greenland margin precludes a simple relationship between this later igneous activity and the track of the Iceland hotspot. Chemical and isotopic data suggest that the postbreakup magmas were produced from mantle that had been metasomatized by light rare earth element-enriched, H 2 O- and CO 2 -bearing melts originating from the Iceland plume. Episodic melting of recently metasomatized shallow mantle beneath Greenland and the North Atlantic can explain both the composition and the long-lived nature of postbreakup magmatism along the East Greenland margin, as well as lavas on Jan Mayen Island that have enriched, Icelandic-type isotopic signatures.


Abstract The Labor Movement has entered a crisis. Declining support for unions and for socialist political movements reflects the exhaustion of a reformist growth strategy where capitalists and state officials accepted unions in exchange for labor peace. While winning real gains for workers, this strategy undermined labor and its broader democratic aspirations by establishing unions and union and party leaders as authorities over the workers themselves. In the upheavals of the late-1960s and the 1970s, dissident movements, directed as much against reformist leaders as against employers and state officials, pushed protest beyond traditional limits toward demands for popular empowerment and democracy. Union decline began then, not because workers had lost interest in collective action but because employers and state officials abandoned collective bargaining to find alternative means of controlling unrest. Capitalism entered a new post-union era, when national leaders like Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan used policies of open trade and capital flows and high unemployment to discipline labor. Abandoned by their capitalist bargaining partners, reformist unions and political parties have withered. Now, without social space for reformist movements, the labor movement can only advance by openly avowing its original goals of popular empowerment and the establishment of economic democracy.


Experts have heralded domain-specific play-based curricula coupled with regular coaching and training as our "strongest hope" for improving instructional quality in large-scale public preschool programs. Yet, details from different evaluations of the strongest hope model are not systematically compiled, making it difficult to identify specific features across studies that distinguish the most successful implementation efforts. We performed a cross-study review across five diverse large-scale evaluations (n = 6,500 children and n = 750 teachers across 19 localities and multiple auspice types) to identify common features that have characterized successful implementations of this model to date. We identified six features in our exploratory review that may help to flesh out the strongest hope model for localities considering it—a significant focus on specific instructional content, inclusion of highly detailed scripts, incorporation of teacher voice, time for planning, use of real-time data, and early childhood training for administrators. These six features provide more specific guidance for practitioners and help meet calls in preschool and K–12 for more synthesis of implementation lessons from large-scale research trials.


Background: Interleukin 8 is a chemokine that is produced by several types of cells, like macrophages and has chemotactic activity in particular on neutrophils, playing a key role during the inflammatory process. It has been demonstrated at the molecular level that this molecule is present and conserved in several vertebrate groups, pointing its importance. Analysis of the amino acid sequence of IL-8, projected from cDNA of Salmo salar, presents homology with the sequences of mammals, poultry and lamprey, indicating the presence of a homologous molecule in higher fish. However, there is no information at protein level, which allows characterizing the regulatory role of this molecule during the immune response in fish.  Results: In this work, we designed and synthesized an epitope peptide of 10 residues with a purity of 95% and mass of 1158.7 kDa, which showed a random coil structure. From this peptide it was able to generate a polyclonal mono-specific antibody which was capable of detecting the whole molecule of IL-8 in tissue and cellular model of salmonids.  Conclusions: The resulting antibody is a versatile tool for detecting IL-8 by different immune techniques such as ELISA, dot blot, western blotting and immunocytofluorescence. Analysis of IL-8 at proteomic level is a useful method for characterizing immune properties of this molecule in fish.


This article discusses how the artifact of Research through Design (RtD) is changing due to data technology. The article firstly reviews the character and role of the prototype in RtD traditions informed by practices of skillful crafting and industrial design manufacturing. It then describes the move of RtD to data-enabled practices to offer a conceptualization of artifacts as connected things, that is, decentralized objects that actively collapse the division between design participation, user interaction and the creation and distribution of products and services. By considering connected things as capable of 'making' things too, the article positions the changing character and role of the RtD artifact in relation to three key shifts in design practice: (1) the agential shift towards the inclusion of things as partners in design, (2) the temporal shift towards always available opportunities for co-creation, and (3) the infrastructural shift towards unstable forms of value. The article concludes with a discussion on the implications of these changes for how knowledge might be generated, critiqued and shared in future data-enabled RtD practice.


We propose local binary convolution (LBC), an efficient alternative to convolutional layers in standard convolutional neural networks (CNN). The design principles of LBC are motivated by local binary patterns (LBP). The LBC layer comprises of a set of fixed sparse pre-defined binary convolutional filters that are not updated during the training process, a non-linear activation function and a set of learnable linear weights. The linear weights combine the activated filter responses to approximate the corresponding activated filter responses of a standard convolutional layer. The LBC layer affords significant parameter savings, 9x to 169x in the number of learnable parameters compared to a standard convolutional layer. Furthermore, the sparse and binary nature of the weights also results in up to 9x to 169x savings in model size compared to a standard convolutional layer. We demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally that our local binary convolution layer is a good approximation of a standard convolutional layer. Empirically, CNNs with LBC layers, called local binary convolutional neural networks (LBCNN), achieves performance parity with regular CNNs on a range of visual datasets (MNIST, SVHN, CIFAR-10, and ImageNet) while enjoying significant computational savings.


Objective: This paper reports on a pilot study evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of a text- and mobile video–based intervention to educate women and men attending college about non-daily contraception, with a particular focus on long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). A secondary objective is to describe the process of intervention development. Setting: Participants included undergraduate students attending a large urban US university between September and November 2011. Design: Using a participatory research strategy, investigators developed, delivered and evaluated a pilot mobile intervention using a texting interface, mobile videos and a contraceptive provider directory. Method: Descriptive statistics summarise the data collected from daily text-in analytics and web-based survey responses. Results: The texting interface received 1,203 visits; mobile videos were accessed 446 times. The provider directory was used by 10% of participants. Survey respondents' (N = 82) motivation for choosing non-daily contraception included cost (57%), side effects (55%), effectiveness (55%) and low recall effort (23%). Most participants (88%) would/might recommend these methods to others. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that text- and mobile video–based modalities are appropriate and feasible to deliver contraceptive education to college students. There is a critical opportunity to reach large numbers of potential users through mobile health (mHealth) interventions to disseminate accurate information and link to healthcare services.


The first International Workshop on Hot Topics in 3D multimedia (Hot3D), was help in Singapore, in July 2010, in conjunction with the IEEE International Conference on Multimedia and Expo (ICME). Sponsored by four different IEEE societies, ICME is the IEEE flagship conference on Multimedia. Hot3D was a vibrant workshop, very well attended, with an impressive collection of papers covering several aspects of 3D multimedia. This report summarizes some of the results presented at the workshop.


Inputs of nutrients and organic matter to wetlands from catchments influence water quality, which, in turn, determines the potential productivity of a wetland. While there are many studies of the effects of catchment development on water quality and aquatic communities in lakes, few studies include other wetlands. As these other wetlands are likely to be more affected by allochthonous inputs, littoral vegetation and autochthonous generation of organic matter, my aim was to determine the major influences on pelagic communities in a range of wetland systems. Influences of catchment land use on water quality and the pelagic food web were examined in 45 wetlands representative of a range of wetland environments in Otago, including swamps and ponds, shallow lakes, riverine wetlands, estuaries, reservoirs and deep lakes. The pelagic zones of 40 wetland sites were sampled once in February-March 1999 (autumn), 15 were re-sampled in October 1999 (spring), when five additional sites were also sampled. Catchment variables included size and slope, wetland size and the percentage of land in the catchment in bare ground, indigenous forest, inland water, inland wetlands, planted forest, pasture, scrub, tussock, urban or urban open space. Water quality variables, or physicochemical measurements, included total phosphorus, total nitrogen, total dissolved phosphorus, total inorganic nitrogen, dissolved organic carbon, turbidity, Secchi depth, total suspended solids, water colour, chlorophyll a, pH, temperature and conductivity. The pelagic food web was sampled, including biomass, abundance, and identification to genus of phytoplankton, biomasses of picophytoplankton, heterotrophic bacteria and nanoflagellates, biomass and identification to genus or dominant group of ciliates, and abundance and identification to species of crustacean zooplankton. Relationships among catchment variables, water quality variables and the pelagic food web were determined using multivariate analysis and correlation analysis. Increased development of pasture, exotic forestry and urbanisation in a catchment had negative effects on water quality, in comparison to unmodified catchments containing native vegetation communities. In turn, the biomass and composition of the pelagic community ii related closely to catchment modification, via physicochemical attributes of the wetland. Deep lakes were the most oligotrophic wetlands and swamps and ponds were the most eutrophic. Picophytoplankton and the cladoceran, Bosmina meridionalis were related positively to unmodified catchments, low trophic status of a wetland and deep lakes. Other components of the microbial food web, phytoplankton, copepods and Daphnia carinata were linked hierarchically to more intensive land use in the catchment, higher wetland trophy, swamps and ponds. A ciliate genus, Urocentrum, appeared to be detrimentally affected, and phytoplankton diversity reduced, by wetland catchment development and increases in wetland trophy. Components of the pelagic food web were tightly correlated across adjacent trophic levels. Heterotrophic bacteria appeared to be a resource for heterotrophic nanoflagellates. Picophytoplankton populations might either be suppressed by ciliate grazing, or detrimentally affected by eutrophication. Small ciliates appear to consume other microbial food web components, while larger ciliates may depend more on phytoplankton. Copepods may be relying on consumption of ciliates. Cladocerans did not appear to depend on this resource to the same extent as copepods. Populations of B. meridionalis and Ceriodaphnia dubia were negatively related to the larger cladoceran, D. carinata. Seasonal effects were apparent only at the level of zooplankton, the highest trophic level studied. B. meridionalis and C. dubia were more abundant in autumn than spring, while the reverse was true of D. carinata. This study revealed relationships within pelagic food webs in a range of wetland systems. While resource supply appeared to be the foundation of relationships between aquatic organisms, top-down effects of predation in the food web could not be dismissed. The potential of organisms such as picophytoplankton, ciliates and phytoplankton to be indicators of aquatic ecosystem health has been revealed or strengthened by this study. This research provides evidence of the influence of land use and geographical features on water quality and pelagic communities of wetlands in Otago.


Donald Keene combines informative works on two forms of classical Japanese theater into a single volume. The No text looks at all aspects of this traditional theater form including its history, its stage and props, the use of music and dance in its performances, the plays as literature, and the aesthetics of No. Also discussed are Kyogen, the comic farces that are typically interspersed with the solemn No dramas.


Background and Objectives: Diabetes mellitus is among the most common causes of mortality in the world and an important risk factor for chronic kidney disease, foot amputation, ischemic heart disease and blindness among older adults. Diabetic patients mostly develop hyperlipidemia, which can result in cardiovascular diseases. Patient's knowledge, attitude and practices toward diet are the core center for diabetes control and affect their metabolic control and complications. In the present study, we measured nutritional knowledge, attitude and practices and their relations to serum lipids, HbA1C, and fasting blood glucose in diabetic patients of Boirahmad County, southwest of Iran, where many people encounter increasing prevalence of diabetes. Materials and Methods: 198 IDDM patients from the rural and urban areas of Boirahmad County were invited to the health centers to be checked for their fasting blood glucose, serum total cholesterol, serum HDL cholesterol, serum triglyceride and also serum glycosylated hemoglobin. Their knowledge, attitude, and practices toward the diabetic diet were assessed using a validated questionnaire. The obtained scores were classified into three categories (Poor, average, and Good) to show their knowledge, attitude and practice levels, and the serum parameters were compared between the levels to show the relevancies. Results: Our data showed that the patients' knowledge and attitude on diabetic nutrition are mostly at the average level (79.3% and 47.1%, respectively) but their practice scores are mostly at the poor level (43.8%), and just a minor proportion of the patients are at the appropriate levels (15.3, 33, and 23.1% of knowledge, attitude and practices, respectively). In addition, we found a significant reverse relationship between the patients' nutritional knowledge and serum HbA1C (p=0.003), and also between their attitude and serum triglyceride (p<0.05). Conclusions: Our data suggest that the knowledge, attitude and practices of diabetic patients in Boirahmad are not satisfying; also it is necessary to run interventional studies to find the best educational methods to improve, control and manage the diabetics in this area.


Vasectomy is one of the most common forms of permanent sterilization methods currently in use and has a failure rate of <1% in most reported series. Since failure of vasectomy may result in pregnancy, adequate counseling is essential. Couples are advised that an analysis of a semen specimen after vasectomy is required to confirm success before the use of alternative contraception is abandoned. However, measuring the success of vasectomy is complicated by a lack of consistency with regards to both the number and timing of tests and the end points accepted. Materials and Methods: A Medline search was used to identify manuscripts dealing with vasectomy, with specific attempts to identify protocols designed to confirm sterility. Results and Conclusion: Vasectomy is one of the most reliable permanent methods of contraception. However, despite its popularity, certain issues pertaining to the procedure remain unresolved. Debate continues over the relative merits of the various techniques of isolating and sealing the vasal ends. Postoperative complication rates remain minimal regardless of the technique used, and no single strategy attempting to maximize patient compliance with postoperative semen analysis has enjoyed unmitigated success. Long-term consequences, other than regret, are rare.


The thesis is concerned with the evolution of prices in market economies. In the first chapter we analyze price competition among firms with limited capacities in the framework of the classical Bertrand Edgeworth model. For this model it is well known that a Nash equilibrium in pure strategies may not exist. We discuss the nature of this non-existence result. While enlarging the strategy space to include non-linear strategies in general does not suffice for existence in the simultaneous move game, the possibility of reactions to competitors' actions in a dynamic context may restore equilibrium. In the remaining part of the thesis we analyze intermediation in frictional markets. When market participants are informed only imperfectly about potential trading opportunities, search and negotiations may prove costly. In such markets intermediaries by publicly quoting prices can help to reduce the transactional costs of exchange. In chapter two we analyze the case, in which intermediaries have access to an information technology which informs the full market. We characterize equilibrium. The inability of market participants to coordinate market participation is reflected in a large variety of subgame perfect Nash equilibria. Using a refinement criterion we find that high valuation traders typically trade with intermediaries, while low valuation traders engage in search. Moreover, price competition among several intermediaries yields Walrasian outcomes. Nevertheless, the market exhibits the features of a natural monopoly. In chapter three we relax the assumption concerning the information technology. An intermediary's choice of an information network determines the size of his clientele and hence the probability of trading. In this case the size of the information network is viewed as a quality attribute by market participants and imperfect price competition among intermediaries obtains. We characterize the industrial structure of those markets as natural oligopolies. Consequently, there is no convergence to a fragmented industrial structure as the economy grows large. Still, as the largest competitors are of roughly equal size equilibrium allocations tend to be fairly competitive.


ABSTRACT The social solidarity economy (SSE), as an alternative paradigm to crisis-prone market-driven capitalism, gained significant momentum during the last decade in cities such as Madrid and Athens that experienced the harsh impact of neoliberal austerity. This article consolidates a debate between divergent accounts of social economy and the commons, in order to bring forward the urban dimension of SSE and the contested spatiality of commoning in crisis-ridden contexts. This gesture lays the ground for unearthing various analytical dimensions of commoning, from urban-based socioeconomic practice, to re-instituting forms of urban commons via governance and policy channels. Through an empirically informed, comparative account of the SSE in Madrid and Athens, the article critically assesses the possibilities and limitations encountered in the process of expanding resistance to and experimentation beyond dominant socioeconomic practice and given institutional arrangements. The article is based on extensive original empirical research conducted in Madrid and Athens between 2017 and 2019.


H-Morph is a new automatic algorithm for the generation of a hexahedral-dominant finite element mesh for arbitrary volumes. The H-Morph method starts with an initial tetrahedral mesh and systematically transforms and combines tetrahedra into hexahedra. It uses an advancing front technique where the initial front consists of a set of prescribed quadrilateral surface facets. Fronts are individually processed by recovering each of the six quadrilateral faces of a hexahedron from the tetrahedral mesh. Recovery techniques similar to those used in boundary constrained Delaunay mesh generation are used. Tetrahedra internal to the six hexahedral faces are then removed and a hexahedron is formed. At any time during the H-Morph procedure a valid mixed hexahedral–tetrahedral mesh is in existence within the volume. The procedure continues until no tetrahedra remain within the volume, or tetrahedra remain which cannot be transformed or combined into valid hexahedral elements. Any remaining tetrahedra are typically towards the interior of the volume, generally a less critical region for analysis. Transition from tetrahedra to hexahedra in the final mesh is accomplished through pyramid-shaped elements. Advantages of the proposed method include its ability to conform to an existing quadrilateral surface mesh, its ability to mesh without the need to decompose or recognize special classes of geometry, and its characteristic well-aligned layers of elements parallel to the boundary. Example test cases are presented on a variety of models. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


There is a growing consensus that the long-run per capita growth rate of the U.S. economy has drifted lower since the early 2000s, consistent with a perceived slowdown in business dynamism. One factor that may have contributed to this is a downshift in venture capital investment and its failure to recover in line with stock prices, as pre-2003 patterns would suggest. Critics have argued that this is associated with the increased regulatory burden for publically traded firms to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). There is inconclusive evidence of SOX deterring firms from becoming publically traded as indicated by IPO activity, a proxy reflecting several factors that may not be as tied to innovation as venture capital. Earlier tests of SOX?s impact on venture capital activity, which tended to focus on cross-sectional evidence, were hampered by a short time-series sample following the Internet-stock bust of the early 2000s. Taking advantage of the large-sized rise, fall, and recovery in stock prices since then, this study assesses whether the time-series behavior of venture capital investment shifted following SOX. We find evidence of a time-series break in the middle of our sample, consistent with the passage of SOX. Estimates indicate that the slower post-SOX pace of venture capital investment is mainly attributed to a reduced elasticity of such investment with respect to stock prices rather than to a simple downshift in the level of investment. Our estimates suggest that a cost-benefit analysis of SOX could be worthwhile, especially given concerns that the long-run growth rate of U.S. productivity and GDP has been unusually sluggish and the emerging consensus that excessive debt financing?not equity financing?is more tied to the subset of financial crises associated with severe macroeconomic downturns.


In this article we analyse how the figure and the myth of Asclepius were used in the controversy against the "pagans" and their divinities by Christian apologetics – specifically, the First Apology of Justin, the Legatio of Athenagoras, the Exhortation to the Greeks of Clement of Alexandria and the Contra Celsum of Origen. Asclepius, in fact, as well as other (semi)divine figures – Heracles, the Dioscuri, Dionysus –, presents some characteristics that, in the eyes of pagan polemicists like Celsus, make him similar to Christ: the fact of being the son of a god, the resurrection or divinization after death, the saving and healing activity. The will of the apologists is therefore to "unmask" the lying nature of Asclepius, and to show, by contrast, what are the true powers and the nature of Christ. To do so, these authors adopts two perspectives, that are not mutually exclusive: Asclepius as a demon who tried to imitate the life and actions of Christ; Asclepius as a man, divinised after death for his healing activities (euhemerism). Moreover, the apologists, in their polemical work, use, in addition to the Scriptures, the same "instruments" of the adversaries to show how their own works presented Asclepius as a negative, evil, and sometimes ridiculous figure: poets, like Pindar and Euripides, but also historians, such as Herodotus. The use of these works – naturally, an instrumental use – appears to be, in the eyes of the apologists, particularly efficacious for their polemical purposes, because it allows to attack the divine figure remaining "on the same level" of the adversaries, revealing all the immoralities and the ambiguities of Asclepius.


We consider an optimal control problem described by a second order elliptic boundary value problem, jointly nonlinear in the state and control with high monotone nonlinearity in the state, with control and state constraints, where the state constraints and cost functional involve also the state gradient. Since no convexity assumptions are made, the problem may have no classical solutions, and so it is reformulated in the relaxed form using Young measures. Existence of an optimal control and necessary conditions for optimality are established for the relaxed problem. The relaxed problem is then discretized by using a finite element method, while the controls are approximated by elementwise constant Young measures. We show that relaxed accumulation points of sequences of optimal (resp. admissible and extremal) discrete controls are optimal (resp. admissible and extremal) for the continuous relaxed problem. We then apply a penalized conditional descent method to each discrete problem, and also a progressively refining version of this method to the continuous relaxed problem. We prove that accumulation points of sequences generated by the first method are admissible and extremal for the discrete relaxed problem, and that accumulation points of sequences of discrete controls generated by the second method are admissible and extremal for the continuous relaxed problem. Finally, numerical examples are given.


In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the idea that we may gain new insights in cognitive science by studying the art of magic. Here, I offer a first exploratory overview and preliminary conceptual analysis of a class of magic tricks, which has been largely neglected in this pursuit, namely, a set of tricks that can be loosely defined as topological tricks. The deceptive powers of many of these tricks are difficult to understand in light of known psychological principles, which suggests that closer scientific scrutiny may raise interesting questions and challenges for cognitive science. I discuss a number of known and novel psychological principles that may explain why these tricks evoke the strong feelings of impossibility that are characteristic of magical experiences. A profound and detailed understanding of how topological tricks evoke magical experiences remains elusive, though, and more research on this topic could advance our understanding of perception, imagery and reasoning.


***This is the updated and corrected edition ofThe iOS 5 Developer's Cookbook.*** The iOS 5 Developers Cookbook, Third Edition Covers iOS 5, Xcode 4.2, Objective-C 2.0s ARC, LLVM, and more! In this book, bestselling author and iOS development guru Erica Sadun brings together all the information you need to quickly start building successful iOS apps for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Sadun has thoroughly revised this book to focus on powerful new iOS 5 features, the latest version of Objective-C, and the Xcode 4 development tools. The iOS 5 Developers Cookbook, Third Edition is packed with ready-made code solutions for the iOS 5 development challenges youre most likely to face, eliminating trial-and-error and helping you build reliable apps from the very beginning. Sadun teaches each new concept and technique through robust code that is easy to reuse and extend. This isnt just cut-and-paste: Using her examples, Sadun fully explains both the how and why of effective iOS 5 development. Saduns tested recipes address virtually every major area of iOS development, from user interface design to view controllers, gestures and touch, to networking and security. Every chapter groups related tasks together, so you can jump straight to your solution, without having to identify the right class or framework first. Coverage includes: Mastering the iOS 5 SDK, Objective-C essentials, and the iOS development lifecycle Designing and customizing interfaces with Interface Builder and Objective-C Organizing apps with view controllers, views, and animations featuring the latest Page View controllers and custom containers Making the most of touch and gesturesincluding custom gesture recognizers Building and using controls from the ground up Working with Core Image and Core Text Implementing fully featured Table View edits, reordering, and custom cells Creating managed database stores; then adding, deleting, querying, and displaying data Alerting users with dialogs, progress bars, local and push notifications, popovers, and pings Requesting and using feedback Connecting to networks and services, handling authentication, and managing downloads Deploying apps to devices, testers, and the App Store


Background Effective therapies are urgently needed for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Chloroquine has been proved to have antiviral effect against coronavirus in vitro. In this study, we aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of chloroquine with different doses in COVID-19. Method In this multicenter prospective observational study, we enrolled patients older than 18 years old with confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection excluding critical cases from 12 hospitals in Guangdong and Hubei Provinces. Eligible patients received chloroquine phosphate 500mg, orally, once (half dose) or twice (full dose) daily. Patients treated with non-chloroquine therapy were included as historical controls. The primary endpoint is the time to undetectable viral RNA. Secondary outcomes include the proportion of patients with undetectable viral RNA by day 10 and 14, hospitalization time, duration of fever, and adverse events. Results A total of 197 patients completed chloroquine treatment, and 176 patients were included as historical controls. The median time to achieve an undetectable viral RNA was shorter in chloroquine than in non-chloroquine (absolute difference in medians -6.0 days; 95% CI -6.0 to -4.0). The duration of fever is shorter in chloroquine (geometric mean ratio 0.6; 95% CI 0.5 to 0.8). No serious adverse events were observed in the chloroquine group. Patients treated with half dose experienced lower rate of adverse events than with full dose. Conclusions Although randomised trials are needed for further evaluation, this study provides evidence for safety and efficacy of chloroquine in COVID-19 and suggests that chloroquine can be a cost-effective therapy for combating the COVID-19 pandemic.


A problem exists in reducing the total heating power required to extract oxygen from lunar regolith. All such processes require heating a great deal of soil, and the heat energy is wasted if it cannot be recycled from processed material back into new material. The counterflow regolith heat exchanger (CoRHE) is a device that transfers heat from hot regolith to cold regolith. The CoRHE is essentially a tube-in-tube heat exchanger with internal and external augers attached to the inner rotating tube to move the regolith. Hot regolith in the outer tube is moved in one direction by a right-hand - ed auger, and the cool regolith in the inner tube is moved in the opposite direction by a left-handed auger attached to the inside of the rotating tube. In this counterflow arrangement, a large fraction of the heat from the expended regolith is transferred to the new regolith. The spent regolith leaves the heat exchanger close to the temperature of the cold new regolith, and the new regolith is pre-heated close to the initial temperature of the spent regolith. Using the CoRHE can reduce the heating requirement of a lunar ISRU system by 80%, reducing the total power consumption by a factor of two. The unique feature of this system is that it allows for counterflow heat exchange to occur between solids, instead of liquids or gases, as is commonly done. In addition, in variants of this concept, the hydrogen reduction can be made to occur within the counterflow heat exchanger itself, enabling a simplified lunar ISRU (in situ resource utilization) system with excellent energy economy and continuous nonbatch mode operation.


What factors led to the surprise defeat of the Colombian peace referendum? Descriptive analyses suggested a link between support for peace and the experience of violence, but economic conditions and political support for incumbent parties also affect electoral outcomes. Here we use Bayesian hierarchical models to test links between referendum result and previous violence victimization, economic conditions, and support for Centro Democratico (the main party opposed to the peace agreement). There was lower support for peace in the Andean region, and departments with lower support had higher unemployment and growth in GDP. Support for the opposition was the dominant covariate of decreasing support for the peace accords, while previous violence victimization increased the percent vote for peace. Regional variation in baseline support for the agreements will be critical during implementation of the newly revised accords, and the mobilization of the opposition shows partisan engagement determined the referendum outcome.


Nav1.7 sodium channels can amplify weak stimuli in neurons and act as threshold channels for firing action potentials. Neurotrophic factors and pro-nociceptive cytokines that are released during development and under pathological conditions activate mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs). Previous studies have shown that MAPKs can transduce developmental or pathological signals by regulating transcription factors that initiate a gene expression response, a long-term effect, and directly modulate neuronal ion channels including sodium channels, thus acutely regulating dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neuron excitability. For example, neurotrophic growth factor activates (phosphorylates) ERK1/2 MAPK (pERK1/2) in DRG neurons, an effect that has been implicated in injury-induced hyperalgesia. However, the acute effects of pERK1/2 on sodium channels are not known. We have shown previously that activated p38 MAPK (pp38) directly phosphorylates Nav1.6 and Nav1.8 sodium channels and regulates their current densities without altering their gating properties. We now report that acute inhibition of pERK1/2 regulates resting membrane potential and firing properties of DRG neurons. We also show that pERK1 phosphorylates specific residues within L1 of Nav1.7, inhibition of pERK1/2 causes a depolarizing shift of activation and fast inactivation of Nav1.7 without altering current density, and mutation of these L1 phosphoacceptor sites abrogates the effect of pERK1/2 on this channel. Together, these data are consistent with direct phosphorylation and modulation of Nav1.7 by pERK1/2, which unlike the modulation of Nav1.6 and Nav1.8 by pp38, regulates gating properties of this channel but not its current density and contributes to the effects of MAPKs on DRG neuron excitability.


The paper presents preliminary findings of a project which investigated whether learner background, in terms of instruction mode (i.e., school or intensive first-year course at university) and first language (i.e., character based or non-character based), has an impact on the development of writing skills in Japanese as a second language (JSL). Many students in second-year Japanese at university are post-secondary (i.e., they completed Year 12 Japanese at school). They are in class with students who started Japanese at university (i.e., are post-beginners). The intensity of instruction that the two groups have received is very different. A large number of the students learning Japanese at tertiary institutions in Australia are also native speakers of character-based languages (e.g., Chinese). Although there is a substantial volume of studies comparing the effects of instruction mode on L2 development, little is known of how instruction mode and L1 background together may affect L2 development in adult L2 learning settings. The data for the present study include writing samples collected on two occasions from 34 students from a variety of backgrounds. The samples were analysed in terms of length, grammatical complexity and schematic structures, use of kanji (Chinese characters), and vocabulary. The results were compared in terms of study experience and first language. In general, the performance of post-beginner learners from character-based language backgrounds was higher on kanji use and a few other areas, but their superior performance was derived from the interaction of two background factors (L1 and study background). The results show complexity in how different backgrounds affect L2 writing task performance. The study has strong pedagogical implications for teaching a character-based language to students from diverse study backgrounds.


The thesis covers the aspect of the intelligent control for a distributed system and consists of sixth chapters.
In the first chapter a general introduction with the background and the goals of the thesis are presented.
In the second chapter a review of the state of art of the micro-grids was shown considering the development of the electrical networks in the last years and the introduction of DER sources. Focusing in the micro-grid concept and state of art, the currently control topology methods for these systems and the different implemented micro-grid and control topology used.
In the third chapter the implemented DC micro-grid has been presented, with the chosen voltage level and its intelligent control strategy. Also the participation of the micro-grid in the electricity market was considered and its economical profit was studied with an intelligent economical control. Different study cases are presented to evaluate the optimal participation in the electricity market.
In the fourth chapter, the DER units are shown with different kinds of control methods used for each unit, showing the fundamental concept of every technology used in the implemented system, the chosen model for every DER unit, the different kinds of control methods to increase the injected power, to balance the power flow and the voltage level of the micro-grid and the chosen power electronics for each unit.
The purpose of the fifth chapter is to build a series of scenarios by MATLAB/Simulink to simulate the implemented micro-grid. Four study cases are presented to show the behavior of the DC micro-grid in different scenarios. The behavior of the system in islanded mode, in grid connected mode, working with three master units and in a cascade faults are shown in this chapter.
As conclusion, it can be stated that the proposed intelligent control for the distributed systems has been tested and validated in four simulation cases and the overall project objectives were accomplished.


Bulk Metallic Glasses (BMG) are metallic alloys that have the ability to solidify in an amorphous state. BMGs show enhanced properties, for instance, high hardness, strength, and excellent corrosion and wear resistance. BMGs produced by conventional methods are limited in size due to the high cooling rates required to avoid crystallization and the associated detrimental mechanical properties. Additive manufacturing (AM) techniques are a potential solution to this problem as the interaction between the heat source, e.g., laser, and the feedstock, e.g., powder, is short and confined to a small volume. However, producing amorphous parts with AM techniques with mechanical properties comparable to as-cast samples remains a challenge for most BMGs, and a complete understanding of the crystallization mechanisms is missing. This review paper tries to cover recent progress in this field and develop a thorough understanding of the correlation between different aspects of the topic. The following subjects are addressed: (i) AM techniques used for the fabrication of BMGs, (ii) particular BMGs used in AM, (iii) specific challenges in AM of BMGs such as the control of defects and crystallization, (iv) process optimization of mechanical properties, and (v) future trends.


We develop a theory of prosocial behavior that combines heterogeneity in individual altruism and greed with concerns for social reputation or self-respect. Rewards or punishments (whether material or image-related) create doubt about the true motive for which good deeds are performed and this "overjustification effect" can induce a partial or even net crowding out of prosocial behavior by extrinsic incentives. We also identify settings that are conducive to multiple social norms and those where disclosing one's generosity may backfire. Finally, we analyze the choice by public and private sponsors of incentive levels, their degree of confidentiality and the publicity given to agents' behavior. Sponsor competition is shown to potentially reduce social welfare.


ABSTRACT There is considerable debate and ambiguity around what constitutes "computational thinking" (CT). In contrast to Computer Science which is generally treated as a distinct field of study, CT as a construct highlights the integral relationship between computing and other fields. Many recent efforts seek to map computational thinking by making high-level connections to other school disciplines. We argue that while these efforts may help identify specific curricular areas in which computing is likely to take place, they do not sufficiently capture the specificity and dynamism that is characteristic of meaningful computational integration. Worse, they exclude generative examples of computing integration that exist outside of the traditional STEM context or researcher-led efforts. In this special issue, we offer a counterproposal to one-size-fits-all frameworks of CT by exploring in detail how local, emergent definitions of CT develop across a diversity of spaces of learning. Reflecting on these examples can help researchers and educators alike cultivate an awareness of the ways in which learners and educators leverage computing to think, create, and participate across a variety of spaces.


Critics have long discussed the conversion narrative in the first Crusoe volume as being a paradigm of an individual's journey from sin to salvation. In the latter two volumes, however, crusoe questions his initial conversion and eventually rejects his peaceful conclusions from volume 1 in favor of a more extreme version of christianity that calls for completely eliminating pagan religions. by looking carefully at the presentation of Providence and religion, this article argues that if we take all three volumes together, they show crusoe rejecting the religious conversion he experiences in volume 1, and that this has serious repercussions for how far we can take crusoe as representing Defoe.


A weak constraint variational formulation is used for inverse calculations and parameter estimation in a one-dimensional Ekman model. When parameters in the model are allowed to contain errors, the inverse problem becomes nonlinear even if the model itself is linear. It is shown that a convergent iteration can be defined for the nonlinear system of Euler-Lagrange equations and that improved estimates of the poorly known parameters can be calculated by solving the inverse problem for each of the linear iterates using the representer method. The formulation of the variational problem and the solution methods are illustrated using a simple example. The use of a simple dynamical model makes it possible to give an instructive presentation of the representer method. The method is finally used in an example using real current meter data. It is shown that the weak constraint formulation results in smooth solutions in good agreement with the data all through the water column and that it is superior to the traditional strong constraint inverse estimate.


Patent litigation is widely regarded as one of the most complex types of civil litigation, with costs often totaling millions of dollars and typical case durations stretching for years. Also, the burdens of patent case complexity land on both sides of the technology divide, as large producers face skyrocketing defense budgets and inventors and startups risk being "priced out" from enforcing their rights. Yet, the complexity of patent cases is sparsely understood as an empirical matter. Instead, patent litigation is generally accepted to be a "Pandora's Box" of incalculable complexity, which, once opened, is only arduously and unpredictably concluded. This study undertakes a comprehensive exploration of patent litigation complexity, first defining robust metrics of complexity and continuing with rigorous analysis of the determinants thereof. We focus our study on the eight years of U.S. District Court litigation leading up to passage of the America Invents Act, and we mine extensive detail of more than 1000 cases during this timeframe. Using this data we ask targeted questions about patent case complexity, including what types of cases are most complex, how defense costs compare to enforcement costs, what factors are associated with particularly high complexity, and how complexity has changed over time. Finally, we conduct a large-scale event study to identify the causal impact of key policy changes on case complexity, specifically the landmark shifts in remedies law over a series of recent Federal Circuit decisions. The analysis herein is of crucial importance to patent policy. As juridical property, patent rights are ultimately enforced and defended against in legal proceedings, and thus the complexity of such proceedings directly impacts the rights afforded by patents and recourse thereunder. Understanding case complexity is therefore a necessary contribution to patent policy discourse. Moreover, the framework developed herein sets the stage for future analysis of the complexity impact of new policy measures.


The Fourier-transform infrared emission spectra of BO were recorded. The observed spectrum of BO in the 1200 - 2100 cm-1 region contains three bands: the fundamental bands of 11BO and 10BO and a hot band of 11BO with band origins measured to be 1861.9242(97), 1915.3071(09) and 1838.3773(68) cm-1, respectively.
 The infrared spectra of the unstable HBS molecule in the ν_1 and ν_3 fundamental regions have been recorded at high resolution using a Fourier transform spectrometer. Total 35 bands involving 45 vibrationally exited states located up to 6000 cm-1 above the ground state were assigned for H11/10B32S.
 A dipole moment function (DMF) for hydrogen chloride (HCl) has been obtained using a direct fit approach. Combining wavefunctions derived from the Rydberg-Klein-Rees (RKR) numerical method and a semi-empirical DMF, line intensities were calculated numerically for bands with Δv=0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7 up to v′=7.
 Einstein A coefficients and absolute line intensities have been calculated for the E2Π-X2Σ+ transition of CaH. Using wavefunctions derived from the RKR method and electronic transition dipole moment functions obtained from high-level ab initio calculations, rotationless transition dipole moment matrix elements have been calculated for all 10 bands involving v´=0,1 of the E2Π state to v˝=0,1,2,3,4 of the X2Σ state. The rotational line strength factors (Honl-London factors) are derived for the intermediate coupling case between Hund's case (a) and (b) for the E2Π-X2Σ+ transition.
 High-resolution spectra of BaS were recorded using laser excitation spectroscopy. The observed rotationally-resolved spectrum of BaS in the 12100-12765 cm-1 spectral range contains the 2-1, 3-1, 3-2, 4-2, 5-2, 5-3 vibrational bands of the A'1Π - Χ1Σ+ transition and the 4-1, 5-1, 5-2 vibrational bands of the a3Π1 - X1Σ+ transition. Approximately 1000 lines of the A'1Π - Χ1Σ+ transition and 600 lines of the a3Π1 - X1Σ+ transition for the main isotopologue 138Ba32S (67.5% natural abundance) were measured. Rotational and vibrational parameters were derived for the A'1Π and a3Π1 states.


A spectrum analysis method for the linear, direct, and self‐consistent measurement of dynamic modulation depth of polarization modulators is presented. This method utilizes the Bessel recurrence relation to determine the modulation depth from the photodetector voltage amplitudes at the fundamental frequency and its next three harmonics. Based on the existing J1–J4 method of dynamic phase‐shift measurement in homodyne interferometry, this method is useful for calibration of polarization modulated ellipsometers. The method is demonstrated through the use of a highly birefringent transparent thin film of piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride with indium tin oxide electrodes. The theoretical analysis of the measured noise factor for the particular system configuration predicted a minimum detectable polarization modulation depth of 0.2 rad, and was experimentally verified.


Later life learning (LLL) has a profound beneficial effect on older adults; therefore, it is important to assess older adults' learning needs. A representative random sample of 1,867 soon-to-be older adults (between 45 and 59 years of age) were assessed for their interest in formal learning after their retirement or when they become 60 years old. We examined their preferences for courses and identified the socioeconomic and health-related characteristics related to their planned participation in formal LLL. About 38% of these respondents expressed an interest in formal learning after retirement; the most popular three content courses included computers, interest classes, and physical exercise. Those who did not plan to commit themselves to formal LLL indicated "no interest" and "lack of time" as the most frequently reported reasons for not wanting to participate in LLL. Moreover, we found that LLL was positively related to socioeconomic indicators including education, income, and retirement protection; whereas those who received financial support from adult children or from the government (in the form of welfare) were less likely to express interest in formal LLL.


This essay examines some outcomes of two decades of market-oriented reforms in the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU). In general, economic performance, measured by growth of per capita incomes, have not been encouraging, despite far-reaching reforms, including privatization, liberalization, and deep regional integration. Social indicators suggest that poverty reduction has not been achieved through reforms. Several indicators on access to primary health care, and inputs and outcomes in primary education show deteriorating trends in the majority of countries. However, social indicators in the WAEMU are better than those in other countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Finally, the paper attempts to test the extent to which institutional quality in WAEMU differs from that in other parts of the world. The general results from this exercise are that (i) indicators of institutional quality in sub-Saharan Africa is significantly lower than in non-African parts of the world; (ii) this explains much of the growth difference; and (iii) institutional quality in WAEMU does not differ from that in other parts of Africa, despite more centralized institutions.


BACKGROUND
Few studies have shown the effect of thromboprophylactic regimen with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) on the incidence of clinical venous thromboembolism (VTE) in common practice. The aim was to study the three-year incidence of clinically overt VTE events at a university based orthopaedic department with some 3300 operations performed and 15 000 patients treated annually.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Since all Swedish citizens have an individual identification number it was possible tp follow up all patients operated during a 3 year period (2000-2002) for a period of four months.

RESULTS
The incidence of VTE in the classical high-risk groups of hip fracture surgery, total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) was low - about 0.6 %, while the Pulmonary embolism (PE) incidence in the hip fracture group was 0.27%, with two cases of fatal PE occurring 72 and 109 days after surgery. Patients with ankle fractures had more VTE. The majority of clinical VTE occurred after discharge from hospital.

CONCLUSIONS
When using routine thrombopropylaxis with LMWH in orthopaedic surgery the rate of symptomatic VTE is low.


Purpose A recent four-year research project entitled, "Gay and Pleasant Land?—a study about positioning, ageing and gay life in rural South West England and Wales" took place as part of the Research Councils UK funded New Dynamics of Ageing Programme on ageing in 21st Century Britain. The key output of this effort was the short professionally made, award winning film, Rufus Stone. This article unpacks the evolution of creating the film script, with a particular emphasis on the author's relationship with the biographies, the filmmaking process and, indeed, his own story. Approach Through first person narrative and textural bricolage, the author recounts the processes that went into writing the background, treatment and working script for the film. This included sifting through copious data, story meetings, writing back story and collaboration with the film's director. In the final analysis, the author was dependent on auto-ethnography to bring the biographies of others to the screen. Findings Arts-based collaborative efforts require versatility and experimentation in approaches and a willingness to communicate across disciplines. Knowing when to 'let go' in partnerships is key to this process. Originality/value The article responds to many of the issues, concerns and questions that have arisen at academic screenings of the film. It provides a valuable starting point for others interested in experimenting with arts-based dissemination of research findings. The originality of the use of auto-ethnography itself to report on this process is consistent with the principles of Performative Social Science, on which the project's dissemination is based.


The biological effects of atmospheric cold plasma generated reactive species are mediated through and at a liquid interface. The diversity of antimicrobial efficacy or intensity of effects may differ with respect to the plasma device or set up, and it is important to understand how these differences occur to advance understanding and successful applications. Thus, plasma treated water (PTW) from a microwave driven plasma source (PTW-MW) and plasma treated water from a di-electric barrier discharge system (PTW-DBD) were compared in terms of long lived reactive species chemical composition and antimicrobial activity. The influence of a post-treatment storage time (PTST), where reactive species in the gas phase were maintained in contact with the liquid was investigated. Nitrogen-based chemistry dominated in PTW-MW, with high concentrations of nitrous acid decomposing to nitrite and nitrate, while H2O2 and nitrate were predominant in PTW-DBD. PTST could enhance H2O2 concentrations in di-electric barrier PTW over time while nitrous acid, the main oxidative species in microwave driven PTW, decreased. This work highlights that plasma treated water presents a resource comprising a range of different compounds, stabilities and reactivities which may be tunable to specific applications.


We show how the declarative spirit of attribute grammars can be employed to define an attribution mechanism for term graphs, where the non-uniqueness of inherited attributes demands an appropriately generalised treatment. Since term graphs are a useful data structure for symbolic computation systems such as theorem provers or program transformation systems, this mechanism provides a powerful means to gen- erate concrete programs (and other relevant text or data structures) from their abstract term graph representations. We have implemented this declarative term graph attribution mechanism in the interactive term graph program transformation system HOPS and show a few simple examples of its use.


Information and communication technology (ICT) innovations provide significant implications for business and socioeconomic development due to the role it plays in the diffusion of knowledge sharing, community development, and equality. E-Strategies for Technological Diffusion and Adoption: National ICT Approaches for Socioeconomic Development provides comprehensive coverage and definitions of the most important issues, concepts, trends, and technologies related to the adoption, diffusion, and adaptation of national electronic strategies for ICTs in socioeconomic development. This book addresses the importance of such strategies as setting national agendas to complement efforts and resources allocated, as well as includes model strategies, implications, and case studies to work as models for future implementations.


Selection at the seedling stage in grass breeding would be extremely useful if seedling traits are correlated to desired agronomic traits. The objective of this study was to evaluate seedling morphological development, plant growth, and field establishment of big blue stem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) populations that were developed by divergent selection for seedling tiller number while selecting for high shoot weight. Six populations were evaluated: (i) 'Pawnee' big bluestem base, (ii) 'Pathfinder' switchgrass base, (iii) big bluestem multiple tiller, (iv) big bluestem single tiller, (v) switchgrass multiple tiller, and (vi) switchgrass single tiller. Field plots were seeded in spring 1999 and 2000 in a Kennebec silt loam (fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Cumulic Hapludolls). Plants were excavated and evaluated during the growing season for shoot weight, root weight, and morphological stage of shoot and root systems. There were no major population differences in shoot weight, root weight, and morphological root stage. Shoot stage was higher for multiple tiller populations than single tiller populations 6 wk after emergence. Stand counts for all populations exceeded 10 seedlings per linear m of row, which is considered an acceptable stand density, and there were no consistent differences among populations. Populations divergently selected for seedling tiller number did not differ in ability to become established under field conditions because root systems apparently were not altered by the selection for seedling tiller number and weight. These results suggest that selection for high shoot weight did not improve seedling vigor in the field.


Although high-grade serous ovarian cancer (OVC) is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy in women, little is known about the regulatory mechanisms in the cellular processes that lead to this cancer. Recently, accumulated lines of evidence have shown that the interplay between transcription factors (TFs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) is critical in cellular regulation during tumorigenesis. A comprehensive investigation of TFs and miRNAs, and their target genes, may provide a deeper understanding of the regulatory mechanisms in the pathology of OVC. In this study, we have integrated three complementary algorithms into a framework, aiming to infer the regulation by miRNAs and TFs in conjunction with gene expression profiles. We demonstrated the utility of our framework by inferring 67 OVC-specific regulatory feed-forward loops (FFL) initiated by miRNAs or TFs in high-grade serous OVC. By analyzing these regulatory behaviors, we found that all the 67 FFLs are consistent in their regulatory effects on genes that are jointly targeted by miRNAs and TFs. Remarkably, we unveiled an unbalanced distribution of FFLs with different oncogenic effects. In total, 31 of the 67 coherent FFLs were mainly initiated by oncogenes. On the contrary, only 4 of the FFLs were initiated by tumor suppressor genes. These overwhelmingly observed oncogenic genes were further detected in a sub-network with 32 FFLs centered by miRNA let-7b and TF TCF7L1 to regulate cell differentiation. Closer inspection of 32 FFLs revealed that 75% of the miRNAs reportedly play functional roles in cell differentiation, especially when enriched in epithelial-mesenchymal transitions. This study provides a comprehensive pathophysiological overview of recurring coherent circuits in OVC that are co-regulated by miRNAs and TFs. The prevalence of oncogenic coherent FFLs in serous OVC suggests that oncogene-driven regulatory motifs could cooperatively act upon critical cellular processes such as cell differentiation in a highly efficient and consistent manner.


In this article, the author explores the nature of interpretation as it pertains to qualitative methods of inquiry. He elaborates on the epistemological problems that occur in discussions of the nature of human and social sciences as distinct from the theoretical foundations of the natural sciences. The examination of Mennonite scholarship provides an interesting case study as to the requirements of a hermeneutical social science because of the range of scholarly frameworks and varying locations of identity of the scholars in relation to the broader Mennonite community. The author argues that Mennonite scholarship is novel in the manner by which Mennonite scholars contribute to and participate within broad Mennonite intersubjective understandings. By extension, Mennonite scholars are able to deal with common epistemological problems and dichotomies that arise in the context of the researcher and the object of study.


Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oriental Studies, St. Petersburg In the Śrī-kālacakra-nāma-tantra-rāja, a Buddhist treatise from the first half of the 11th century, there is a thematic fragment containing a description of military apparatus and their use in battles. In this article, the point of view that we are really dealing with a description of military apparatus and not with a symbolic description of the psychophysical practices of Buddhist yoga is developed. In our point of view, the reason for the subject of war being represented in this Buddhist work should be searched for in the reality of the tragic times in which the text was made―the times of destructive raids made on India by the ruler Mahmud of Ghazni. The article classifies the military apparatus mentioned in the Śrī-kālacakra-nāma-tantra-rāja, describes the basic technical characteristics of these mechanisms, and considers their function. The given subjects are considered with the drawing in the commentary Vimalaprabhā (11th century) and commentaries by Tibetan scholar Buton Rinchen Drub (1290–1364).


Managing student behaviour remains one of the most daunting aspects of teaching for educators and this is particularly so when children with disabilities are included in the regular classroom. Self-efficacy has been identified as having a significant impact on a teacher's behaviour, and preservice training can play an important role in preparing teachers to be effective classroom managers. The purpose of this study was to identify if pre-service teachers in an Australian university held high or low self-efficacy beliefs and whether the type of strategies they identified as most effective correlated with those highlighted in the research as best practice. In addition, pre-service teachers were surveyed before and after their practicum in order to determine if actual classroom experience impacted on their self-efficacy and their knowledge of behaviour management strategies. Findings indicated that self-efficacy beliefs among this cohort of preservice teachers were generally high and were even higher after the practicum. There were concerns, however, that the range of behaviour management strategies identified by preservice teachers was limited and did not incorporate strategies to deal with more challenging and persistent behaviour problems.


Illuminating Faith: The Eucharist in Medieval Life and Art examines the importance of the Eucharist in Europe during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Over sixty images from the Morgan Library & Museum's famous holdings of illuminated manuscripts are used to illustrate the themes of the Institution of the Eucharist, Celebration of Mass, the Eucharist and the Old Testament, Domestic Devotion to the Eucharist, the Feast of Corpus Christi, and Eucharistic Miracles. In 1215, the Fourth Lateran Council codified the theology of Transubstantiation, which held that, at Mass, the substances of bread and wine are changed into the body and blood of Christ. The Council also required all Christians to receive Communion at least once a year. And in 1246, a new Eucharistic feast - Corpus Christi - was established. This publication explores these seminal changes and their influence on religious, cultural, and civic life. Highlights include a Preparatio ad Missam that once belonged to Pope Leo X and was kept in the Sistine Chapel sacristy before being looted by Napoleon's troops in 1798; a Prayer Book commissioned by the queen of France, Anne de Bretagne, to aid in the instruction of her three-year-old son, Prince Charles-Orland; and a survey of images, dating from the fifteenth to the eighteenth centuries, of the Sacred Bleeding Host of Dijon, one of the most famous miraculous Communion wafers.


The concept of rule-governed behaviour (RGB) was introduced by B.F Skinner (1969) to allow complex verbal behaviour to be amenable to the same types of contingency analysis used in most other areas of applied behaviourism. Inherent in the concept of RGB is the notion that people formulate and follow rules created by themselves and others and that this constitutes a distinct class of operant functioning . As the process of cognitive therapy is primarily undertaken in a verbal fashion , the possibility of employing the concept of RGB to redefine aspects of cognitive therapy from an operant perspective has been considered by several researchers (e.g., Zettle & Hayes, I 982 ; Poppen, 1989). This form of paradigmatic integration, involving the transplantation of one set of therapeutic techniques into the theoretical body of another epistemological framework , can be termed assimilative (Lazarus & Messer, 1991 ). The present essay clarifies the aims and content of such an integration as it relates to the concept of RGB and cognitive-behavioural rapprochement, and offers several theoretical advancements in thi s direction. Errors in rule-following and rule-formulation are discussed in terms of the role they play in cognitive assessment, and the cognitive mechanisms involved in therapeutic change are also analysed in terms of RGB. It is also shown how RGB can be conceptualised as a reciprocally-determined system of responding, similar to that espoused by the cognitive theorist Albert Bandura (1977a) . Finally, some of the problems associated with the concept of RGB and psychotherapy integration are reviewed in relation to the present analysis.


Abstract. Quantifying the impacts of aerosols on climate requires a detailed knowledge of both the anthropogenic and the natural contributions to the aerosol population. Recent work has suggested a previously unrecognized natural source of ultrafine particles resulting from breaking waves at the surface of large freshwater lakes. This work is the first modeling study to investigate the potential for this newly discovered source to affect the aerosol number concentrations on regional scales. Using the WRF-Chem modeling framework, the impacts of wind-driven aerosol production from the surface of the Great Lakes were studied for a July 2004 test case. Simulations were performed for a base case with no lake surface emissions, a case with lake surface emissions included, and a default case wherein large freshwater lakes emit marine particles as if they were oceans. Results indicate that the lake surface emissions can enhance the surface-level aerosol number concentration by ~20% over the remote northern Great Lakes and by ~5% over other parts of the Great Lakes. These results were highly sensitive to the new particle formation (i.e., nucleation) parameterization within WRF-Chem; when the new particle formation process was deactivated, surface-layer enhancements from the lake emissions increased to as much as 200%. The results reported here have significant uncertainties associated with the lake emission parameterization and the way ultrafine particles are modeled within WRF-Chem. Nevertheless, the magnitudes of the impacts found in this study suggest that further study to quantify the emissions of ultrafine particles from the surface of the Great Lakes is merited.


Overparameterized models with millions of parameters have been hugely successful. In this work, we ask: can the need for large models be, at least in part, due to the \emph{computational} limitations of the learner? Additionally, we ask, is this situation exacerbated for \emph{robust} learning? We show that this indeed could be the case. We show learning tasks for which computationally bounded learners need \emph{significantly more} model parameters than what information-theoretic learners need. Furthermore, we show that even more model parameters could be necessary for robust learning. In particular, for computationally bounded learners, we extend the recent result of Bubeck and Sellke [NeurIPS'2021] which shows that robust models might need more parameters, to the computational regime and show that bounded learners could provably need an even larger number of parameters. Then, we address the following related question: can we hope to remedy the situation for robust computationally bounded learning by restricting \emph{adversaries} to also be computationally bounded for sake of obtaining models with fewer parameters? Here again, we show that this could be possible. Specifically, building on the work of Garg, Jha, Mahloujifar, and Mahmoody [ALT'2020], we demonstrate a learning task that can be learned efficiently and robustly against a computationally bounded attacker, while to be robust against an information-theoretic attacker requires the learner to utilize significantly more parameters.


A sizeable proportion of adults suffer from an anxiety disorder and many of those adults are parents. Parental anxiety, as well as dysfunctional family environment, contributes to both internalizing and externalizing problems in children. Specifically, family control, conflict, and cohesion have been shown to predict child internalizing and externalizing symptoms to varying degrees. However, few studies have examined the association between all three components in the same study: parental psychopathology, family environment, and child outcomes. The current study tested the relationships among these variables in a sample of 189 children (66% male, 93% Caucasian, mean age = 10.34 years). Family conflict predicted child externalizing symptoms for both mothers and fathers, and mediated the relationship between maternal anxiety and child externalizing symptoms. Family cohesion predicted child externalizing problems based on maternal report and mediated the relationship between maternal anxiety and child externalizing symptoms. Furthermore, family cohesion moderated the relationship between maternal anxiety and child internalizing symptoms. These findings provide preliminary support for the role of the family environment in the relationship between parental anxiety and child psychopathology, and these environmental variables may be important targets of intervention in families with elevated parental anxiety.


This paper proposes methods for optimizing bidirectional information rates between a base station (BS) and a wirelessly powered mobile station (MS). In the first phase, the MS harvests energy using signals transmitted by the BS, whereas in the second phase both the BS and MS communicate to each other in a full-duplex mode. The BS-beamformer and the time-splitting parameter (TSP) of energy harvesting scheme are jointly optimized to obtain the BS-MS rate region. The joint optimization is non-convex, however a computationally efficient optimum technique based upon semidefinite relaxation and line-search is proposed to solve the problem. Moreover, a suboptimum approach based upon the zero-forcing (ZF) beamformer constraint is also proposed. In this case, a closed-form solution of TSP is obtained. Simulation results demonstrate the advantage of the optimum method over the suboptimum method, especially for smaller values of BS transmit power and number of transmit antennas at the BS.


This paper reports on the results of a global field study conducted in 2014 and 2015 among leading manufacturers from a wide range of industries. It provides insights on managerial practices that concern production sourcing and on the factors that drive such decisions. Exploratory factor analysis and logistic regression models that use survey response data yield seven key findings. (1) Companies are currently restructuring their global production footprints. (2) The majority of firms engage in offshoring; reshoring does occur but seldom for corrective reasons. (3) North America may be at the cusp of a manufacturing renaissance, but not because of reshoring. (4) China remains the most attractive site for production sourcing, followed by the developing economies in Eastern Europe and Southern Asia. (5) Manufacturing continues to decline in the developed economies of Japan and Western Europe. (6) Labor cost no longer drives decisions about manufacturing location; rather, firms decide based on complex trade-offs among a variety of factors. (7) Firms localize production in developed economies and use developing economies as production hubs.


A firm's strategic innovation orientation, which is aimed at discovering and satisfying emerging customer needs with novel technological solutions, has repeatedly been shown to be crucial for firm innovativeness and firm performance. Despite its apparent importance, relatively little research has addressed antecedents of a firm's strategic orientation that help explain heterogeneity in innovation strategies across firms. Especially the influence of top management teams (TMT) should be critical, since innovation strategies are shaped at the top management level. Building on the theory of upper echelon, this study investigates how TMT characteristics affect a firm's strategic innovation orientation, and how this relates to innovation outcomes and firm performance. Hypotheses are tested on a sample of goods manufacturers using a combination of survey data, document analysis, and objective capital market data for firm performance. Results indicate that TMT diversity, measured as heterogeneity in educational, functional, industry, and organizational background, has a strong positive effect on a firm's innovation orientation. A strong proactive focus on emerging customer needs and on novel technologies then lead to a portfolio of new products with higher market newness and technology newness, which both increase firm performance. The results therefore emphasize the importance of TMT characteristics as antecedent for innovation strategy and innovation outcomes.


Judgment prediction is the task of predicting various outcomes of legal cases of which sentencing prediction is one of the most important yet difficult challenges. We study the applicability of machine learning (ML) techniques in predicting prison terms of drug trafficking cases. In particular, we study how legal domain knowledge can be integrated with ML models to construct highly accurate predictors. We illustrate how our criminal sentence predictors can be applied to address four important issues in legal knowledge management, which include (1) discovery of model drifts in legal rules, (2) identification of critical features in legal judgments, (3) fairness in machine predictions, and (4) explainability of machine predictions.


We investigate the robust PCA problem of decomposing an observed matrix into the sum of a low-rank and a sparse error matrices via convex programming Principal Component Pursuit (PCP). In contrast to previous studies that assume the support of the error matrix is generated by uniform Bernoulli sampling, we allow non-uniform sampling, i.e., entries of the low-rank matrix are corrupted by errors with unequal probabilities. We characterize conditions on error corruption of each individual entry based on the local incoherence of the low-rank matrix, under which correct matrix decomposition by PCP is guaranteed. Such a refined analysis of robust PCA captures how robust each entry of the low rank matrix combats error corruption. In order to deal with non-uniform error corruption, our technical proof introduces a new weighted norm and develops/exploits the concentration properties that such a norm satisfies.


Annual cycles and multi-year summer simulations of Greenland ice sheet surfaceclimate are made with the 0.5 degree horizontal resolution regional climate modelHIRHAM. The model results are compared with meteorological and energy balanceobservations from 15 Greenland Climate Network (GC-Net) automatic weatherstations. The model reprouces the surface climate, often within model andobservational uncertainty. However, the presence of numerous systematic modelbiases have been identified. Improving the representation of the model orographywould constitute a major improvement of the simulation of the Greenland ice sheetsurface climate, for biases in parameters such as temperature and pressure arelinked with elevation errors, not physical model error. The modeled near surface airtemperatures are warmer compared to observations, resulting primarily from thepoor resolution of the near surface layer and near surface temperature inversion.A more advanced planetary boundary layer scheme for Arctic conditions yieldedpromising results in a sensitivity run. Additional model warm bias is linked withnegative albedo bias which leads to a positive net shortwave bias. Negative albedobias is caused by a insufficient ice sheet elevation representation (-190 m averageorography bias) that results in warmer temperatures. Surface sensible heat fluxes are overestimated,likely due to model warm bias and too great wind speed. Latent heat fluxes in the model arealso larger than calculated from GC-Net measurements, indicating more evaporation than observationssuggest. Furthermore, the bulk model for evaporation neglects the majority ofwater vapour deposition, particularly at high elevations. Annual maps and total massflux of precipitation and evaporation are analyzed in context of results in literature.Based on the results of a multi parameter comparison, numerous recommendationsfor further model development are made.


This study aims to elucidate the internal load, performance, physiological, and perceptual recovery responses during four weeks of traditional judo training. Ten cadet and junior judo athletes were evaluated daily for four weeks, in which their perception of recovery, heart rate variability, handgrip strength, and countermovement jump performance were assessed. A one-way repeated-measures ANOVA was performed to analyze the variables across the weeks. A significant time effect in internal load (F = 6.51; p = 0.001) has been observed. Handgrip test performance showed significantly higher values in the 3rd and 4th weeks (p <0.001), while countermovement jump performance was significantly higher in the 4th week (p =0.0007). The heart rate variability's coefficient of variation was lower in both the 3rd and 4th weeks (p =0.02). Regarding perceptual aspects, the Hooper Index showed a significant time effect (p =0.04), but pairwise comparison did not reveal differences between weeks. The present study indicates that neuromuscular, physiological, and perceptual responses to training load alterations present different time courses. This must be considered for the adequate monitoring of training programs.


Solar-driven CO2 hydrogenation can provide a renewable source of fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions if operated at industrial scales. Herein we investigate the photomethanation (light-driven Sabatier reaction) rates over Ru films sputtered onto silica opal (Ru/SiO2) and inverted silicon opal photonic crystal (Ru/i-Si-o) supports at ambient temperature under solar-simulated radiation as a function of incident light intensity. Photomethanation rates over both the Ru/SiO2 and Ru/i-Si-o catalysts increase significantly with increasing light intensity, and rates as large as 2.8 mmol g−1 h−1 are achieved over the Ru/i-Si-o catalyst. Furthermore, the quantum efficiency of the photomethanation reaction is almost three times larger when measured over the Ru/i-Si-o catalyst as compared to the Ru/SiO2 catalyst. The large photomethanation rates over the Ru/i-Si-o catalyst are attributed to its exceptional light-harvesting properties. Moreover, we perform DFT analysis to investigate the potential role of photo-induced charges on the Ru surface. The results from the simulation indicate that charged Ru surfaces can destabilize adsorbed CO2 molecules and adsorb and dissociate H2 such that it can readily react with CO2, thereby accelerating the Sabatier reaction.


Simplification of tax law is complicated. Yet, political rhetoric surrounding tax simplification often focuses on simplistic, superficial indicators of complexity in tax law such as word counts, page counts, number of regulations, and similar quantitative metrics. This preoccupation with the volume of enacted law often results in law that is more complex in a real sense. Achieving genuine simplification – a reduction in costs faced by taxpayers at various stages in the tax planning, tax compliance, and tax enforcement process – often requires enacting more law not less. In addition, conceptualizing simplicity in simplistic terms can leave the public vulnerable to policies advanced under the guise of simplification that have real aims that are less innocuous. A perennial example involves lawmakers proposing a reduction in the number of tax brackets under the heading of simplifying tax law. In reality, this change does very little, if anything, to simplify law in a meaningful sense, and its truer aim is to reduce progressivity in the tax code. Although the tax legislation ultimately enacted in December 2017 did not change the number of brackets applicable to individual taxpayers, political discourse preceding its enactment once again touted a reduction in the number of tax brackets as a simplifying measure.


Some 14 ethanol extracts from 13 plant species collected from various regions of Turkey were assayed for in vitro antibacterial activity against two Gram positive and 5 Gram negative bacteria, using the disc-diffusion and dilution methods. The diameter of the inhibition zone in the disc-diffusion method shows that 12 extracts from the 14 plants studied have antibacterial activity in different levels. The broadest spectrum of activity was exhibited by Malva sylvestris against five bacteria, whereas the Verbascum spp. extract only showed activity against one. The highest antibacterial activity was produced by the extract of Hypericum perforatum. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of plant extracts with antibacterial activity ranged from 0.125 to 4 mg/ml. The high MIC values showed that the extracts had low to moderate activity compared with standard antibiotics. Based on the results from the present investigation, it is concluded that most of the plants studied may be sources of antibacterial agents.


This chapter investigates the properties of basically , essentially and fundamentally and their formal Spanish equivalents basicamente , esencialmente and fundamentalmente , in corpora. After an initial study of the frequencies of the adverbs, I examine their collocational behaviour and show that the three English adverbs, although they share some patterns, nevertheless have distinct collocational profiles. This is also true of the Spanish adverbs, but there is much more overlap. The chapter then reports on a study of the syntactic properties of the adverbs. I investigate their positions within the clause, and make comparisons between adverbs and across languages. The results are of interest not only from descriptive and comparative perspectives, but also for language teaching and learning.


Progression to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) has been related to exhaustion of the regenerative capacity of the immune system resulting from high T cell turnover. Analysis of telomeric terminal restriction fragment (TRF) length, a marker for cellular replicative history, showed that CD8+ T cell TRF length decreased but CD4+ T cell TRF length was stable during the course of human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) infection, which was not explained by differential telomerase activity. This observation provides evidence that turnover in the course of HIV-1 infection can be increased considerably in CD8+ T cells, but not in CD4+ T cells. These results are compatible with CD4+ T cell decline in HIV-1 infection caused by interference with cell renewal.


The substructure is an essential part of vernacular buildings, especially in an earthquake region. The substructure durability is proven since the vernacular house sustains while modern house destructed after the experienced earthquake. The use of substructure in the earthquake region is dominated by the stepped on stone pillars while the non-earthquake territory is dominated by pierced to the ground pillars. Researches hypothesized vernacular buildings in the ring of fire area will stable uses a stepped on the stone substructure and the joint wood system which interlocks the blocks. The purposes of this research are to determine whether the substructure can withstand the existing load, including earthquake and the wood material performance related to its durability in facing the weather and destructive biological factor. The test was done using a monotonic testing method to analyze the load exposed to the substructure. The moisture testing was also conducted in wood materials using Wood Moisture Detector MD818, and wood chemical structure was tested using FTIR. The result showed that the Aceh vernacular house was able to withstand earthquake load, including durable construction and material system. Aceh Besar vernacular house durability on earthquake was influenced by structure properties with a ductile value of 2.27.


Abstract This study presents a synthetic model intercomparison to investigate the importance of transport model errors for estimating the sources and sinks of CO2 using satellite measurements. The experiments were designed for testing the potential performance of the proposed CO2 lidar A-SCOPE, but also apply to other space borne missions that monitor total column CO2. The participating transport models IFS, LMDZ, TM3, and TM5 were run in forward and inverse mode using common CO2 fluxes and initial concentrations. Simulated column averaged CO2 (xCO 2) mixing ratios vary between the models by σ Combining double low line0.5 ppm over the continents and σ Combining double low line0.27 ppm over sea. A variable, but overall quite encouraging agreement is found in comparison with FTS measurements at Park Falls, Darwin, Spitsbergen, and Bremen. Despite the fact that the models agree on average on the sub-ppm level, these modest differences nevertheless lead to significant discrepancies in the inverted fluxes of 0.1 Pg C/yr per 106 km2 over land and 0.03 Pg C/yr per 106 km2 over the ocean. These transport model induced flux uncertainties exceed the target requirement that was formulated for the A-SCOPE mission of 0.02 Pg C/yr per 106 km2, and could also limit the overall performance of other CO2 missions such as GOSAT. It is concluded that to make use of the remote sensing technique for quantifying the sources and sinks of CO2 not only requires highly accurate satellite instruments, but also puts stringent requirements on the performance of atmospheric transport models. Further development of these models should receive high priority. © 2010 Author(s). Abstract. This study presents a synthetic model intercomparison to investigate the importance of transport model errors for estimating the sources and sinks of CO 2 using satellite measurements. The experiments were designed for testing the potential performance of the proposed CO 2 lidar A-SCOPE, but also apply to other space borne missions that monitor total column CO 2 . The participating transport models IFS, LMDZ, TM3, and TM5


The Air Combat Command (ACC) Bird Hazard Working Group (BHWG), in conjunction with Geo-Marine Inc., has developed a system to use NEXRAD weather radar data, weather forecasts, and known bird distributions, to identify bird hazards to military aircraft conducting low altitude, high speed training, and provide aircrews with hazard advisories. The paper presented here describes Phase I of AHAS implementation, the demonstration and validation phase, conducted during the fall 1998 migratory season in the Northeast U.S. Forecasts of bird activity for the next 24 hours, observations of current migratory conditions and historic data from the US Bird Avoidance Model (BAM) were provided to aircrews via the Internet. Phase II will expand coverage to the entire East Coast of the U.S. in 1999. The Avian Hazard Advisory System (AHAS) was designed to pinpoint actual bird movement to allow for more effective risk management than is possible from historic data alone.


This paper's purpose is to understand the factors that determine innovation within Senegalese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for that we build logistic regression from the survey data on social norms on management capacity, information and communication technology (ITCs) and companies' performance in Sub-Saharan francophone Africa: The case of Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Senegal. The result of this work reveals that among the factors that able to break the project and activities of innovation, we can find four principal obstacles to innovation in small and medium Enterprise. It is primary lack of internal funds which usually most discourage entrepreneurs to involve into innovation activities. The other obstacles are the innovation cost considered very expensive, the lack of external financial means for the company and difficulties in finding partners for cooperation


During the late 1970s, before Prof Schoub went to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, USA to study under the famous rotavirus expert Dr Kapikian, the young Barry Schoub and Prof Hendrik Koornhof shared an interest in the aetiology of gastroenteritis in infants and children and were joint authors of research papers on this topic. One of these was on experimental techniques in the determination of the aetiology of diarrhoeal disease. Although not involved in tuberculosis (TB) research at the time, Prof Koornhof was co-author with Drs Helmuth Kleeberg and H Palmhert of a laboratory manual on tuberculosis methods published in 1970, with a second edition in 1980. The review that follows below deals with recent developments in molecular tests in the field of TB diagnosis and management, an area of interest to the National Tuberculosis Reference Laboratory (NTBRL), where both Prof Koornhof and Dr Gerrit Coetzee work at present. This article is dedicated to Prof Schoub, with fond memories of a time when both he and Prof Koornhof realised the importance of modern and reliable methods required for their research at the time, and which continue to be the cornerstone of activities of the NTBRL and National Institute for Communicable Diseases at present.


For decades, female intersex athletes have been ostracized by professional sport organizations due to their androgynous or masculine physiques. These athletes have experienced backlash from sports fans and competitors due to the assumption that they are men masquerading as women, or that they have gained unfair advantages in competition through the use of testosterone (Schweinbenz & Cronk, 2010). Negative media coverage has led to some of these athletes being required to undergo sex verification tests and/or suspensions by the International Olympic Committee (IOC; Elsas et al., 2000). This study explores the rhetorical discourse surrounding female intersex athletes in professional athletic settings, using a case study analysis of a number of professional athletes. The study will examine the derogatory and harmful rhetoric used against female intersex athletes and discuss how these messages have affected their professional image and impacted the public's perception of intersex athletes in international competition.