"Nun freut euch lieben Christen gmein". The Swedish Reception of Luther's Hymn Luther's hymn »Nun freut euch» (Var man ma nu val gladja sig) is included in the first preserved Swedish hymnal, Swenske songer eller wisor , 1536. The translation, which was probably made by the reformer Olavus Petri, is very free and less dramatic and concrete than the original. The hymnbook has no music and in the hand-written chorale books from the 17th century the two tunes, which Luther had attached to the hymntext, were used to the same extent, Luther's own tune from 1523 and a tune from Wittenberg printed 1533. Not until in 1697 a Swedish chorale book was printed and here the hymn is connected with the tune from Wittenberg 1533. S. A. Forsius made a new, more literal translation for Andeliga Psalmer och wijsor , in 1614, and this was incorporated in many hymnbooks, in addition to the old translation, during the 17th century. Later on, J. Arrhenius revised Olavus Petri's translation. However, the old text was included, nearly unchanged, in the first official Swedish hymnal common to the whole country, Den svenska psalmboken , 1695. The hymnal proposal in 1816 holds a revision by Olof Forsell. He has corrected the prosody and modernised the language. The ethical accent is more stressed. J. O. Wallin improved his text concerning style, before including it in Den svenska psalmboken 1819. When, in the late 19th century, the Free Churches were established, very soon they published hymnals in which they even included traditional old hymns as »Var man ma nu val gladja sig.» Mostly this hymn is cut down to v. 1, 4, 5, and 8. The tune Wittenberg 1533 is mostly used. In Den svenska psalmboken 1937, the hymn text from the hymnal 1819 was preserved. Since the chorale book from 1921 Luther's own tune is attached to the hymn. The purpose of the revision of Den svenska psalmboken in the 1970s and 1980s was to rescue the heritage of the Reformation by adapting the language of the old hymns to that of contemporary time. For that reason Anders Frostenson made a quite new translation of »Nun freut uns». Using nine of Luther's ten verses, he has kept the popular ballad form with a relating »I» and insertion of lines by God the Father and the Son. Generally speaking, the drastic struggle between God and the evil is played down in Frostenson's translation, an adaptation to contemporary theology. Frostenson's hymn text, »O glad dig, Guds forsamling, nu» is incorporated in the ecumenical part of Den svenska psalmboken , 1986 (nr 1–325), and therefore we find it also in the hymnal Psalmer och sanger , 1987, common to several Free Churches, and in the hymnal for the Pentecostal Movement, Segertoner , 1988, in Fralsningsarmens sangbok , 1989, as well in the hymnal for the Roman-Catholic episcopate in Sweden, Cecilia , 1987. In addition, the old, traditional Swedish version of the hymn, with roots in the 16th century, is preserved in the last part of Den svenska psalmboken , 1986.


The Lightning Creek Cu-Au prospect is hosted by a cogenetic suite of plutonic, I-type granitoids. The dominant rock type is a porphyritic quartz monzodiorite that is intruded by more fractionated rocks, including monzogranite and alkali feldspar granite. A series of flat-lying sills are interpreted to be late-stage differentiates, based on their timing, mineralogy, and chemistry.

In parts of the prospect there is pervasive sodic-calcic alteration (pyroxene after amphibole, albite after K feldspar and oligoclase) of the plutonic rocks. This alteration predates sill emplacement and is unrelated to veining or fracturing of any kind. The presence of small amounts of carbonate in the altered rocks suggests that the fluids were CO2 bearing. Quartz and feldspar separates from these altered rocks have oxygen isotope compositions similar to those from fresh quartz-monzodiorite, suggesting that the fluids were hot and of magmatic composition. Sodium and Ca were added and K, Fe, Cl, and Cu were stripped during what is interpreted as an autometasomatic event.

The sills display considerable textural and mineralogical complexity and evolved from equigranular, quartzofeldspathic rocks (aplites), with magmatic chemistry, to unusual Fe-rich rocks (albite-magnetite-quartz) that exhibit a range of bizarre spherulitic textures. Some of the albite and magnetite in the sills is secondary. Albite forms pseudomorphs after K feldspar (Na-Fe ± Ca alteration) along sill margins and within sills, at the contacts between different textural zones. Halos of disseminated magnetite + clinopyroxene (Fe-Ca ± Na alteration) are developed adjacent to early magnetite veins.

Fluid inclusion studies indicate that these rocks crystallized at temperatures in excess of 500°C and at pressures in excess of 1.5 kbar. The range of spherulitic textures is taken to indicate crystallization under hydrous conditions with the episodic release of a fluid phase. This magmatic fluid phase was dominated by H2O, CO2, and chlorine and underwent phase separation into a CO2-rich vapor and a hypersaline brine (33–55 wt % NaCl equiv). The hypersaline fluid was enriched in Fe (~10 wt %) and Cu (~1 wt %, PIXE analysis), in addition to Na, K, and Ca. Where this fluid was retained within Fe-rich portions of the sills, it caused Ca-Fe ± Na alteration (pyroxene-albite ± magnetite growth at the expense of quartz). Where the fluid was expelled from the sills, it produced quartz-magnetite ± clinopyroxene ± albite veins (broadly coeval with the early magnetite veins). Although rich in Cu, these granitoid-derived magmatic fluids did not generate significant Cu(-Au) mineralization, perhaps because of the high temperatures involved and/or a lack of reduced sulfur in the fluids or host rock. However, the amount of iron present is estimated (from the aeromagnetic anomaly) to be in excess of 2,000 million tonnes (Mt).

A later generation of calcite ± chlorite ± pyrite ± chalcopyrite veins contain traces of Cu-Au mineralization. Fluid inclusion and stable isotope work indicate that these veins probably crystallized from cooler (<200°C), more dilute (15–28 wt % NaCl equiv) fluids, perhaps generated by the admixture of a meteoric component.

The conclusions reached in this study have implications for understanding the genesis of Fe oxide Cu-Au deposits and related sodic-calcic alteration. The study indicates the potential for CO2-rich granitoid magmas to evolve hypersaline, Fe- and Cu-rich fluids capable of causing intense magnetite veining and Cu(-Au?) mineralization. Autometasomatic sodic-calcic alteration of the granitoids may be an important precursor to mineralization, contributing Fe, K, Cu, and Cl to the magmatic fluids.


We have amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) a 2.0 kbp region of the p53 gene containing exons 5–9 from seven cell lines reported in the literature to contain the majority of mutations reported for this gene. Sequence analysis of these products show that all seven cell lines contain mutations within the mutational hot spots of the p53 gene. Six of the seven clones have single base substitutions and the seventh has a single base delection. We have analyzed the seven p53 single point mutations by single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis using fluorescence slab gel electrophoresis (SG‐SSCP). Fluorescent‐labeled PCR primers were used for amplification of specific exons for mutation detection. SG‐SSCP was conducted using Model 373 and Model 377 DNA sequencers with GeneScan Software (Perkin Elmer, Applied Biosystem Division). Nine different gel systems were first tested for their ability to resolve the p53 mutations using the Model 373 instrument. Two gel systems were capable of resolving all of the mutations that were screened. Optimal results were obtained with 12% w/v acrylamide 50:1 plus 10% v/v glycerol. This gel system was used to evaluate the effect of temperature on the ability to resolve the mutations. The separation with respect to wild type varied for each mutation examined. Subambient temperature (20°C) was preferable overall for discrimination of these mutations as a group. We intend to use this system to examine a much larger panel of p53 mutation standards that are now under development.


ABSTRACT: Clinical testing of growth hormone (GH) sufficiency is a controversial area in endocrinology. Due to the episodic nature of endogenous GH secretion, diagnosis of GH deficiency has been defined as a failure to achieve normal GH levels in response to at least two stimuli. This testing is associated with significant patient morbidity and cost. We analyzed our experience over a 4-y period to determine whether clinical or biochemical variables could be used to predict the results of a specific GH testing procedure. Of 180 cases analyzed (67% male, mean age 8.89 ± 4.39 y, range neonate-16 y), eight cases had incomplete GH testing results. Of the remaining 172, 19 were GH deficient (GH level <7 ng/mL). Younger age, higher body mass index and a greater degree of bone age delay were characteristic of the GH-deficient population; however, none of these variables alone was of diagnostic utility. Serum IGF-I level was below the normal range for 81% of the GH deficient and 47% of the GH-sufficient children; and was the only single variable that provided a reasonable between-group distinction. Discriminant analysis resulted in development of a new variable, based on IGF-I z scores, chronologic age, degree of bone age delay, and body mass index, which would have allowed exclusion of GH deficiency without provocative testing for 58% of the GH sufficient population, whereas permitting the diagnosis of GH deficiency for all GH-deficient subjects. Our data are dependent on the IGF-I assay method and the clinical definition for GH deficiency; therefore, the calculated predictive values are not applicable to all clinical populations. However, our data provide a new perspective on the integration of IGF-I levels and clinical information in predicting GH sufficiency.


CONTEXT
A variety of interventions have been used in the treatment and management of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Currently, debate exists among health care professionals and patients about appropriate strategies for management.

OBJECTIVE
To assess the effectiveness of all interventions that have been evaluated for use in the treatment or management of CFS in adults or children.

DATA SOURCES
Nineteen specialist databases were searched from inception to either January or July 2000 for published or unpublished studies in any language. The search was updated through October 2000 using PubMed. Other sources included scanning citations, Internet searching, contacting experts, and online requests for articles.

STUDY SELECTION
Controlled trials (randomized or nonrandomized) that evaluated interventions in patients diagnosed as having CFS according to any criteria were included. Study inclusion was assessed independently by 2 reviewers. Of 350 studies initially identified, 44 met inclusion criteria, including 36 randomized controlled trials and 8 controlled trials.

DATA EXTRACTION
Data extraction was conducted by 1 reviewer and checked by a second. Validity assessment was carried out by 2 reviewers with disagreements resolved by consensus. A qualitative synthesis was carried out and studies were grouped according to type of intervention and outcomes assessed.

DATA SYNTHESIS
The number of participants included in each trial ranged from 12 to 326, with a total of 2801 participants included in the 44 trials combined. Across the studies, 38 different outcomes were evaluated using about 130 different scales or types of measurement. Studies were grouped into 6 different categories. In the behavioral category, graded exercise therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy showed positive results and also scored highly on the validity assessment. In the immunological category, both immunoglobulin and hydrocortisone showed some limited effects but, overall, the evidence was inconclusive. There was insufficient evidence about effectiveness in the other 4 categories (pharmacological, supplements, complementary/alternative, and other interventions).

CONCLUSIONS
Overall, the interventions demonstrated mixed results in terms of effectiveness. All conclusions about effectiveness should be considered together with the methodological inadequacies of the studies. Interventions which have shown promising results include cognitive behavioral therapy and graded exercise therapy. Further research into these and other treatments is required using standardized outcome measures.


Over its first two years, the Trump administration has aggressively reshaped U.S. trade policy. One of its most controversial initiatives is the expansive use of national security to justify imposing tariffs and quotas. Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 gives the president authority to restrict imports on this basis after an investigation by the Department of Commerce. The administration has already done so for steel and aluminum and is now threatening similar actions on automobiles. The World Trade Organization (WTO) has a special exception for such measures, so there is at least an argument that they are permitted under international law. However, the administration has taken what was previously considered a narrow and exceptional remedy and broadened it to serve as a more general tool to protect domestic industries. In the domestic arena, there have been court challenges against the tariffs imposed under Section 232 and against the constitutionality of Section 232 itself. In addition, legislation has been introduced in Congress to rein in the president's authority by requiring congressional approval of tariffs or other import restrictions before they can go into effect. Internationally, many U.S. trading partners responded immediately to the steel and aluminum tariffs with tariffs of their own, and both the U.S. tariffs and the retaliatory tariffs are the subject of litigation that will test the limits of the WTO's dispute settlement process and the trading system itself. This study argues that WTO dispute settlement cannot easily resolve disputes of this kind and suggests an alternative mechanism to handle these issues. Instead of litigation, a rebalancing process like the one used in the context of safeguard tariffs and quotas should be utilized for national security measures. Safeguards are a political safety valve that allows the trading system to pursue broad-based liberalization by providing the flexibility to protect domestic industries under certain conditions (ideally, by offering compensatory liberalization elsewhere). By adopting a similar political arrangement for national security trade restrictions, the overall balance in the system can be preserved, permanent damage to the WTO dispute system avoided, and a potentially destructive loophole kept closed.


We investigate the interplay between topological effects and Mott physics in two dimensions on a graphene-like lattice, via a tight-binding model containing an anisotropic spin-orbit coupling on the next-nearest-neighbour links and the Hubbard interaction. We thoroughly analyze the resulting phases, namely a topological band insulator phase or anisotropic quantum Spin Hall phase until moderate interactions, a N\'eel and Spiral phase at large interactions in the Mott regime, as well as the formation of a spin-orbital texture in the bulk at the Mott transition. The emergent magnetic orders at large interactions are analyzed through a spin wave analysis and mathematical arguments. At weak interactions, by analogy with the Kane-Mele model, the system is described through a Z_2 topological invariant. In addition, we describe how the anisotropic spin-orbit coupling already produces an exotic spin texture at the edges. The physics at the Mott transition is described in terms of a U(1) slave rotor theory. Taking into account gauge fluctuations around the mean-field saddle point solution, we show how the spin texture now proliferates into the bulk above the Mott critical point. The latter emerges from the response of the spinons under the insertion of monopoles and this becomes more pronounced as the spin-orbit coupling becomes prevalent. We discuss implications of our predictions for thin films of the iridate compound Na2IrO3 and also graphene-like systems.


The article studies how intensively the administrative decisions of the European Commission's counterpart - the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - are reviewed by the U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal. The standard used by the U.S. courts to review FTC factual and economic findings, known as the 'substantial evidence test' is examined. The main question is whether such a standard enables both effective and yet deferential review. An examination of U.S. case-law, and in particular of the McWane exclusive dealing case, promotes the view that the U.S. 'substantial evidence test' can be an inspiration for the improvement of judicial review in EU competition law. It enables a thorough review of the administrative decision, while at the same time leaving a space for deference to the FTC's factual and economic findings (especially when two alternative conclusions can be reached based on the same facts). It seems to adequately balance the need for effective judicial review (required in the European context by Article 6 ECHR) with the need for expertise, and the inter-institutional balance in competition law. In addition, the institutional and procedural characteristics of the administrative proceedings before the FTC may serve as a point of reference with respect to improvement of due process and institutional impartiality in proceedings before the European Commission.


This paper addresses the evaluation of dredge material disposal sites for Humboldt Harbor with emphasis on the Humboldt Open Ocean Disposal Site (HOODS) and the potential impact of its use on the adjacent shoreline. The dispersive characteristics of three disposal sites are evaluated based on wave induced near-bed velocity and through use of Hallermeier limits. The applicable littoral cell is defined, including the influence on regional sediment transport of the jetties which stabilize the entrance to Humboldt Bay. The high water line on eleven sets of aerial photos spanning 42 years are analyzed to determine historic shoreline-change trends for 19.3 kilometers of coastline, establishing a baseline data set to aid in isolating any contribution of the HOODS use on subsequent shoreline changes. Implications of HOODS use are described. A shoreline change monitoring program is recommended. Data collected two years after the baseline data set was established are presented and analyzed. The recommendation is made to continue use of the HOODS with a provision for continued long-term monitoring.


The automotive manufacturing represents one of the most developing segments of the engineering industry. The persisting tendency of designers to achieve the best technological level, car ́s safety level and also ecological running at keeping the low price level means necessity to still implement into own production new types of materials. Among these materials also belong so-called sandwich materials which combine steel sheets with the plastic core. These materials are used in the car design due to their lower weight and excellent acoustic properties. As a disadvantage of such materials there is lower temperature stability and worse technological processability. This paper deals with the evaluation temperature influence on the change of the sandwich material mechanical properties. For tests there were selected the characteristic mechanical tests for different loading types in light of the adhesive properties testing – the lap shear test and the T-peel test. The range of the testing temperature was from -40°C up to 80°C and was chosen with respect to the commonly used criterions for temperature resistivity of parts designed for the car-body design.


Students in the sciences, economics, psychology, social sciences, and medicine take introductory statistics. Statistics is increasingly offered at the high school level as well. However, statistics can be notoriously difficult to teach as it is seen by many students as difficult and boring, if not irrelevant to their subject of choice. To help dispel these misconceptions, Gelman and Nolan have put together this fascinating and thought-provoking book. Based on years of teaching experience the book provides a wealth of demonstrations, examples and projects that involve active student participation. Part I of the book presents a large selection of activities for introductory statistics courses and combines chapters such as, 'First week of class', with exercises to break the ice and get students talking; then 'Descriptive statistics' , collecting and displaying data; then follows the traditional topics - linear regression, data collection, probability and inference. Part II gives tips on what does and what doesn't work in class: how to set up effective demonstrations and examples, how to encourage students to participate in class and work effectively in group projects. A sample course plan is provided. Part III presents material for more advanced courses on topics such as decision theory, Bayesian statistics and sampling.


This research project proposes a novel approach to the integral inspection of historical structures consisting on the conjoint exploitation of the thermographic and the geometric information contained in the images aimed at the quantification of the thermographic inspection through the measurement of areas and lengths. This approach would allow, for example, the measurement of heat lost in a region with an insulation flaw, or the length of a crack in the structure ignored when subjected to visual inspection. The introduction of geometric information in the thermographic survey can be done by resorting to geomatic techniques, either through the application of photogrammetry principles to the thermographic images themselves or through its combination with information acquired through laser scanning. The use of geomatic techniques for the documentation of historic structures is justified by their capacity of representing the as-built reality with accuracy and detail"; while the validity of infrared thermography for the inspection of the as-built condition of any structure has been widely tested by its capacity of detecting both thermal faults such as air infiltrations, thermal bridges or humidity areas, and defects associated to the structure as cracks, voids and delamination. Several methodologies for the integral inspection of historical structures, mainly focused on buildings, using a combination of geomatic and thermographic techniques have been developed and tested in this thesis. The results of the proposed methodologies validate the employment of geomatic techniques as accurate and complete tools for the geometric survey of as-built structures together with the use of infrared thermography for the analysis of their condition state: three approaches for the generation of thermographic 3D models and their associated orthothermograms, or rectified images directly from thermographic images by applying the principles of terrestrial photogrammetry;" one methodology for the fusion of thermographic images with geometric data from a laser scanning point cloud, whose evolution towards automation is also shown in this thesis. Furthermore, a methodology to enable the exploitation of the geometric information available in thermographic images is presented through the design and manufacturing of a special geometric calibration field.


This study aims to evaluate the hygiene methods and habits concerning the use of complete dentures, the age of dentures and whether the patient has been instructed properly by the operating dentist on how to clean their dentures by using a specific questionnaire as a research tool. A total of 200 patients were randomly selected from the patients who visited the department of Prosthodontics, BPKIHS and were asked to complete a questionnaire which was the Nepalese translation of that used by Peracini et al. The results indicated that out of total two hundred patients, ninety six (48 %) were females of age range 32 to 86 years and one hundred and four (52%) were male patients of age range 35 to 89 years. The mean duration of edentulism of upper arch was 6.39 years (SD- 6.079) for male patients whereas for female patients it was 4.65 years (SD- 4.978). Similarly the mean duration of edentulism in lower arch for male patients was 6.12 years (SD- 6.004) and for female patients 4.35 years (SD- 4.942). Majority of the patients (34.5%) cleaned their dentures with water alone and 30% of the patients used combination of toothbrush, toothpaste and water. 47 patients (23.5%) used soap and water only without the use of toothbrush. 153 patients out of total 200 (76.5%) received the instructions about cleaning the denture from their dentist and 47 patients (23.5%) said they did not receive such instructions. The hygiene practise needs improvement through patient education and awareness and instructions in this regard by the treating dentist can be useful.


The conversion of kinetic energy in water currents into electricity has gained great attention the past years. The conversion systems are stand-alone units that typically consist of a turbine, driven by the water stream, with a generator connected to it. At the Division of Electricity at Uppsala University, research on a hydrokinetic energy conversion system is ongoing. In March 2013, a full-scale prototype was deployed in the river Dalalven at Soderfors.This thesis is based on seven papers where the aim has been to assess the resource for hydrokinetic energy conversion. The existing hydrokinetic energy resource assessments in Scandinavia have been limited to the tidal energy found along the coast of Norway. The results from these assessments were unreliable, due to the lack of velocity data and the simple methodology used. One objective of this thesis was thus to measure the velocity in both tidal current and rivers, and evaluate models for predicting these values. Another objective was to study implications of the conversion of hydrokinetic energy, such as the degree of utilisation and the conversion efficiency, and effects on the surrounding flow and water level.River discharge data was shown to give a good approximation of the velocity. However, non-linear behaviour of the velocity upon changing discharge cannot be approximated with discharge data. A model using tidal level data to estimate the velocity in fjord entrances was evaluated, and the model was shown to adequately estimate the cross-sectional average velocity. However, the maximum velocity in the horizontal cross-sectional profile was significantly higher than the cross-sectional average, and the model, in its current form, was not recommended to be used for resource estimations.A high degree of utilisation, around 50%, was shown to be possible to achieve in both tidal and river currents, provided that the rated velocity is chosen properly. It was concluded that the rated velocity should be higher than the mean value, but lower than the value giving optimal conversion efficiency. Converting the kinetic energy of the flow to electricity in a river was shown to alter the water level upstream of the turbine. However, the increase in water level, caused by a hydrokinetic energy converter, was shown to be negligible compared to background friction.


Abstract Watching a dramatic musical television episode reminded me of my own meltdown and reconstruction during the collection of my dissertation research. This stir of memory led me to write down my story. Seeking meaning in the experience of the studio teacher in an early childhood school, I co-participated in events that led me through a dramatic and transformative experience that deepened my awareness and understanding of what it means to teach and learn in the wondrous space of the atelier, otherwise called the early childhood studio. We engaged in the meaning making process of our studio endeavours through keeping field notes and a journal, informally interviewing and engaging in collaboration sessions with the studio teachers, and reviewing the dissertation manuscript for authenticity. Through active listening and engagement, I collided with predicament. I learnt that the only way to move through the crisis-point is to 'keep on living'. In the end, I came to a new sense of how to live and work in an early childhood studio and I also came to understand that life eats entropy. My experience in the studio became about the beauty of courage, time, and deep listening, as examined through the experiences of fear of the new and of my reconstruction into something more.


This is a preliminary study of the aesthetics of Philippine children's literature. It also discusses the challenges of children's literature in the country as a legacy of our colonial history. Using socio-historical criticism as framework, this study also explores the problems and challenges of a mainstream, capitalist, and colonial production of children's literature. This paper also discusses the representation of childhood and the corresponding role of children's texts and texts for children. In the end, the paper presents concrete recommendations regarding aesthetics of children's literature according to the needs of the nation and the readers.


Storm swash terraces are a distinctive and previously unreported component of the cliff-shore platform sedimentary system. They consist of laminated marine sands and gravels with occasional large, rounded clasts and fine muddy laminae. The planar deposits dip gently seaward, are up to 1 m thick at the seaward margin, and thin landwards, forming a wedge. They are laterally continuous over tens of meters in a coast-parallel dimension. They occur in coastal re-entrants at the rear of boulder beaches and shore platforms at elevations between 1 and 9 m above contemporary high-tide level. The terrace sediments represent deposition at the limit of wave run-up during extreme storms; during such events wave energy is largely dissipated by a shore platform and/or boulder beach but sufficient energy remains to carry water and fine sediment to higher levels, where it then accumulates. The deposition and preservation of storm swash terraces depend on a coastal topography that combines partial wave-energy dissipation on a shore platform or boulder beach with available depositional space to landwards. These deposits contain a sedimentary record of past storminess on high-energy coasts that has yet to be exploited.


Since 2010, six research organizations in the region have implemented a regional proj- ect that sought to combat food insecurity, poverty and climate change by up-scaling Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies across farms and landscapes using the Climate Smart Landscape (CSL) approach. Several CSA technologies were evaluated and promoted across landscapes using this approach with remarkable success. Maize yields in Kenya rose from 0.5 to 3.2 t ha -1 , resulting in over 90% of the watershed communities being food secure. In Madagascar, rice yields increased from 2 to 4 t ha -1 whilst onion yields increased from 10 to 25 t ha -1 , resulting in watershed communities being 60% food-secure. In Eritrea, sorghum yields increased from 0.6 to 2 t ha -1 . Farmers in Ethiopia earned US$10,749 from the sale of pasture whilst in Madagascar, watershed communities earned additional income of about US$2500/ha/year from the sale of onions and potatoes during off-season. Adoption levels of various CSA technologies rose from less than 30% to over 100% across the participating countries, resulting in rehabilitation of huge tracts of degraded land. In a nutshell, the potential for CSL in the region is huge and if exploited could significantly improve our economies, lives and environment. socioeconomic situation, resource availability, average production and income, adaptation, mitigation, biodiversity conservation and risk management approaches of village households before the project. This was done to generate indicators for monitoring the impact of CSA interventions up-scaled across the landscapes by the project and to encourage investment in CSL.


Real-time location systems (RTLS) such as radio frequency identification (RFID) have been shown to improve safety, save cost, and increase patient satisfaction in a healthcare setting especially in the emergency department (ED). Hospital administrators have realized the potential of these applications for improved workflow and operations and are positively adopting it despite the substantial implementation costs of such technologies. Our group has reported several studies with RFID data in the ED showing the relationship between RFID determined patient contact times and length of stay (LOS). In this study, we use ED RFID data to determine the relationship between the total LOS in ED to the overall patient satisfaction obtained from a survey report. ED survey results from 35 questions were obtained from patients after discharge. An observational cohort study was performed in the ED using RFID data from Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2017 matched with the ED survey participants. A total of 2595 survey data was used for logistic regression analysis with the RFID data. Results show that higher treatment LOS influenced overall patient satisfaction negatively. The results provide new insights into designing ideal patient-care team interactions to reduce overall LOS while providing optimal ED care, thereby improving patient satisfaction.


Abstract. On 20 March 2015, a total solar eclipse occurred over Ny-Alesund (78.9° N, 11.9° E), Svalbard, in the high Arctic. It was the first time that the surface radiation components during the totality of a solar eclipse were measured by a Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) station. With the Ny-Alesund long-term radiation data set as background (available at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.150000 ), we present here the peculiarities of the radiation components and basic meteorology observed during the eclipse event. The supplementary data set contains the basic BSRN radiation and surface meteorological data in 1 min resolution for March 2015, and is available at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.854326 . The eclipse radiation data will be a useful auxiliary data set for further studies on micrometeorological surface–atmosphere exchange processes in the Svalbard environment, and may serve as a test case for radiative transfer studies.


The cytochrome bc1 complex is the most widely occurring electron transfer complex capable of energy transduction. Cytochrome bc1 complexes are found in the plasma membranes of phylogenetically diverse photosynthetic and respiring bacteria, and in the inner mitochondrial membrane of all eucaryotic cells. In all of these species the bc1 complex transfers electrons from a low-potential quinol to a higher-potential c-type cytochrome and links this electron transfer to proton translocation. Most bacteria also possess alternative pathways of quinol oxidation capable of circumventing the bc1 complex, but these pathways generally lack the energy-transducing, protontranslocating activity of the bc1 complex. All cytochrome bc1 complexes contain three electron transfer proteins which contain four redox prosthetic groups. These are cytochrome b, which contains two b heme groups that differ in their optical and thermodynamic properties; cytochrome c1, which contains a covalently bound c-type heme; and a 2Fe-2S iron-sulfur protein. The mechanism which links proton translocation to electron transfer through these proteins is the proton motive Q cycle, and this mechanism appears to be universal to all bc1 complexes. Experimentation is currently focused on understanding selected structure-function relationships prerequisite for these redox proteins to participate in the Q-cycle mechanism. The cytochrome bc1 complexes of mitochondria differ from those of bacteria, in that the former contain six to eight supernumerary polypeptides, in addition to the three redox proteins common to bacteria and mitochondria. These extra polypeptides are encoded in the nucleus and do not contain redox prosthetic groups. The functions of the supernumerary polypeptides of the mitochondrial bc1 complexes are generally not known and are being actively explored by genetically manipulating these proteins in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.


Japan is an economic power of global significance; it is also the world's largest single national importer of oil. These two facts alone are sufficient to indicate the significance of Japan's relationship with the Middle East. But in fact, Japan's particularly strong interests in the Middle East extend well beyond oil, and include banking, investment, and an increasing concern with economic assistance. The studies in this book deal with the relevant period of the twentieth century and especially with the rapid transformation of Japan's relationship with the region since 1973. It provides access in English to the current economic and political analysis by Japanese specialists concerned with the Middle East, and it will assist anyone interested in Japan's relationship with the region. The dependence of Japan on Middle Eastern oil is examined together with the changing nature of Japan's energy consumption policies at home, and its involvement in joint ventures in the Middle East. Japan's role as a major provider of economic assistance is reviewed, and its future potential role in this area is emphasised.


OBJECTIVE
To test the ability of two different clinical practice guideline formats to influence physician ordering of electrodiagnostic tests in low back pain.

DATA SOURCES/STUDY DESIGN
Randomized controlled trial of the effect of practice guidelines on self-reported physician test ordering behavior in response to a series of 12 clinical vignettes. Data came from a national random sample of 900 U.S. neurologists, physical medicine physicians, and general internists.

INTERVENTION
Two different versions of a practice guideline for the use of electrodiagnostic tests (EDT) were developed by the U.S. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research Low Back Problems Panel. The two guidelines were similar in content but varied in the specificity of their recommendations.

DATA COLLECTION
The proportion of clinical vignettes for which EDTs were ordered for appropriate and inappropriate clinical indications in each of three physician groups were randomly assigned to receive vignettes alone, vignettes plus the nonspecific version of the guideline, or vignettes plus the specific version of the guideline.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
The response rate to the survey was 71 percent. The proportion of appropriate vignettes for which EDTs were ordered averaged 77 percent for the no guideline group, 71 percent for the nonspecific guideline group, and 79 percent for the specific guideline group (p = .002). The corresponding values for the number of EDTs ordered for inappropriate vignettes were 32 percent, 32 percent, and 26 percent, respectively (p = .08). Pairwise comparisons showed that physicians receiving the nonspecific guidelines ordered fewer EDTs for appropriate clinical vignettes than did physicians receiving no guidelines (p = .02). Furthermore, compared to physicians receiving nonspecific guidelines, physicians receiving specific guidelines ordered significantly more EDTs for appropriate vignettes (p = .0007) and significantly fewer EDTs for inappropriate vignettes (p = .04).

CONCLUSIONS
The clarity and clinical applicability of a guideline may be important attributes that contribute to the effects of practice guidelines.


The southwestern margin of Laurentia transitioned from a left-lateral transform margin to a convergent margin by middle Permian time, which initiated the development of a subduction zone and subsequent Cordilleran arc along western Laurentia. The displaced Caborca block was translated several hundred kilometers from southern California, USA, to modern Sonora, Mexico, beginning in Pennsylvanian time (ca. 305 Ma). The Monos Formation, a ∼600-m-thick assemblage of mixed bioclastic and volcaniclastic units exposed in northwestern Sonora, provides lithostratigraphic, petrographic, and geochronologic evidence for magmatic arc development associated with subduction by middle Permian time (ca. 275 Ma).
 The Monos Formation was deposited in a forearc basin adjacent to a magmatic arc forming along the southwestern Laurentian margin. Detrital zircon U-Pb geochronology suggests that Permian volcanic centers were the primary source for the Monos Formation. These grains mixed with far-traveled zircons from both Laurentia and Gondwana. Zircon age spectra in the Monos Formation are dominated by a ca. 274 Ma population that makes up 65% of all analyzed grains. The remaining 35% of grains range from 3.3 Ga to 0.3 Ma, similar to age spectra from Permian strata deposited in the Paleozoic sequences in the western continental interior. An abundance of Paleozoic through early Neoproterozoic ages suggests that marginal Gondwanan sources from Mexico and Central America also supplied material to the basin.
 The Monos Formation was deposited within tropical to subtropical latitudes, yet faunal assemblages are biosiliceous and heterotrophic. The lack of photozoan assemblages suggests that cold-water coastal upwelling combined with sedimentation from the Cordilleran arc and Laurentian continent promoted conditions more suitable for fauna resilient to biogeochemically stressed environments.
 We propose that transform faulting and displacement of the Caborca block ceased by middle Permian time and a subduction zone developed along the southwestern margin of Laurentia as early as early Permian time. The Monos basin developed along the leading edge of the continent as a magmatic arc developed, and facies indicate a consistent shoaling trend over the span of deposition.


What is the response of US governors to the COVID-19 pandemic? In this research note, we explore the determinants of implementing stay-at-home orders, focusing on governors' characteristics. In our most conservative estimate, being a Democratic governor increases the probability of implementing a stay-at-home order by more than 50 percent. Moreover, we find that the probability of implementing a statewide stay-at-home order is about 40 percent more likely for governors without a term limit than governors with a term limit. We also find that Democratic governors and governors without a term limit are significantly faster to adopt statewide orders than Republican governors and governors with a term limit. There is evidence of politics as usual in these unusual times.


More than 200 generic drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for non-cancer indications have shown promise for treating cancer. Due to their long history of safe patient use, low cost, and widespread availability, repurposing of these drugs represents a major opportunity to rapidly improve outcomes for cancer patients and reduce healthcare costs. In many cases, there is already evidence of efficacy for cancer, but trying to manually extract such evidence from the scientific literature is intractable. In this emerging applications paper, we introduce a system to automate non-cancer generic drug evidence extraction from PubMed abstracts. Our primary contribution is to define the natural language processing pipeline required to obtain such evidence, comprising the following modules: querying, filtering, cancer type entity extraction, therapeutic association classification, and study type classification. Using the subject matter expertise on our team, we create our own datasets for these specialized domain-specific tasks. We obtain promising performance in each of the modules by utilizing modern language processing techniques and plan to treat them as baseline approaches for future improvement of individual components.


System-on-chip (SoC) technologies are evolving towards the integration of highly heterogeneous devices, including hardware of a different nature, such as digital, analog and mixed-signal, together with software components. Embedding transducers, as predicted by technology roadmaps, is yet another step in this continuous search for higher levels of integration and miniaturisation. Embedded transducers fabricated with silicon/CMOS compatible technologies may have more limitations than transducers fabricated with fully dedicated technologies. However, they offer industry the possibility of providing low cost applications for very large market niches, while still keeping acceptable transducer sensitivity. This is the case, for example, for accelerometers, micromirrors display devices or CMOS imagers. Embedded transducers are analog components. But given the fact that they work with signals other than electrical, the test of these embedded parts poses new challenges. Test technology for SoC devices is rapidly maturing but many difficulties still remain, in particular for addressing the test of analog and mixed-signal parts. In this paper, we present our work in the field of MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) on-chip testing with a brief overview of the state-of-the-art.


Background: The well-established DMFT index has been used for over 75 years as a key for measuring dental caries in dentistry. DMFT is applied to permanent dentition and expressed as the total number of teeth decayed (D), missing (M), or filled (F), tooth (T) in an individual. Objectives: The objective of this study is to build a mathematical model for the existing DMFT index and compare its parameters by suggested new mathematical model. Mathematical Models: Fixed Model: Is a mathematical model for the existing DMFT index and will be considered as fixed model; in which all individuals under screening will have the same probability θ, 0 ≤ θ ≤1 of dental caries. In this fixed model the unit of the screening is the individual, and will be evaluated for caries as a dichotomous (0, 1) variable. Random Model: The new suggested model is a random model that suggests a mouth of an individual as an environment and the tooth is a unit of research. In this random model, only the teeth in one mouth have the same probability θ, 0 ≤ θi ≤ 1 where 1,2, , i k =  ; number of screening individuals. Expected Outcome: Mathematically, the fixed model will highlight what the value 1 will hide as information and hence this may explain why the average of DMFT is may be overestimated for any sample studied using fixed model. The random model will yield a cumulative weighed probability on the function of the number of teeth screened per mouth θ, 0 ≤ θ ≤ 1, hence the average DMFT index will be weighed against the number of teeth screened per all subjects. Conclusion: The random model yields an average and more realistic expected value for the population studied. Furthermore, in such model, it is easy to estimate the variance and it is obvious that this model yields the smallest variance.


This paper proposes the adoption and application of consumer protection legal frameworks, specifically truthful advertising laws and enforcement strategies, as a means of combating the proliferation of clinics offering and providing unproven and unlicensed stem cell interventions to the public. The paper provides a very preliminary and generalized overview of truthful advertising laws in several countries implicated in the marketing and provision of these interventions. The paper aims to identify main trends and to show that truthful advertising laws, compared to other forms of regulation, can provide strong national and extra-national regulation to counter the marketing and provision of unproven and unlicensed stem cell interventions. This is mainly because truthful advertising laws and enforcement systems impose legally enforceable obligations on clinics operating within national boundaries, and can also be effectively enforced against extra-territorial clinics and providers through existing bilateral, regional, and international consumer protection enforcement networks.


A key design issue in routing for wireless ad hoc networks is scalability. By scalability we mean the ability of the network to support increases in node numbers without significantly degrading network performance. In this work we introduce a new hybrid wireless routing protocol specifically designed to address this issue. Our new protocol combines features of reactive routing with location-based geographic routing, in such a manner so as to efficiently use all the location information available. The protocol is designed to gracefully exit to reactive routing as the location information degrades. Another aspect of our protocol is that it can be spatially dependent - meaning different physical areas of the network can be using quite different routing procedures at the same epoch. That our protocol can dramatically increase scalability can be measured via the routing control overhead which we show, through analysis and simulation, to be significantly reduced relative to current protocols. This is particularly so when a large fraction of nodes possess up-todate accurate location information. Our new protocol operates even though nodes can be mobile, and it provides an enhanced, yet pragmatic, location-enabled solution that can be deployed in all emerging wireless ad hoc networks.


Group A streptococcus (GAS) is an important pathogen that produces a wide spectrum of suppurative infections and autoimmune sequelae in humans, ranging from less complex pharyngitis, impedigo to more severe manifestations such as necrotizing fasciitis, toxic shock syndrome, rheumatic fever and glomerulonephritis. The worldwide burden of GAS infections and sequelae is considerable, but an immunization program that defends against the hypervariable GAS is missing. The streptococcal hemoprotein receptor (Shr), is an iron-regulated protein involved in heme acquisition. An unspecified region in the amino terminus of Shr mediates the interactions with hemoglobin and two protein modules named NEAT1 and NEAT2 bind heme. In this study, we analyzed the molecular structure and function of Shr, investigated its antigenic properties and role in GAS disease production. We demonstrated that Shr is a new type of GAS adhesin that contributes to the pathogen interactions with extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. Shr enabled bacterial adherence to host cells and was important for GAS virulence in vivo. Immunizations with Shr protein by intraperitoneal or intranasal administration conferred resistance to systemic GAS challenge in mice. Shr antiserum allowed bacterial opsonization and defended against GAS diseases in a murine model for passive vaccination. Studies with isolated Shr domains localized ECM-binding to the NEAT domains and showed that most of the protein is exposed on the bacterial surface. In addition, Shr N-terminal region and both of the NEAT modules elicited strong antibody response in rabbits. In conclusion, Shr is a protective antigen that contributes to GAS pathogenesis by facilitating both heme uptake and bacterial adherence. Since Shr is conserved among GAS strains and other pyogenic streptococci, this study demonstrates that Shr may be used to develop a vaccine against GAS strains and related pathogens. INDEX WORDS: Streptococcus pyogenes, Sia operon, Adherence, Adhesin, Fibronectin, MSCRAMM, NEAT domain, Virulence, Immunization, Vaccine ANALYSIS OF THE STREPTOCOCCAL HEMOPROTEIN RECEPTOR: A ROLE IN VIRULENCE AND HOST DEFENSE


Bringing together a collection of high-profile authors, Biographies and Space presents essays exploring the relationship between biography and space and how specific subjects are used as a means of explaining sets of social, cultural and spatial relationships.

Biographical methods of historical investigation can bring out the authentic voice of subjects, revealing personal meanings and strategies in space as well as providing a means to analyze relations between the personal and the social. Writing about both actual (architectural) and imagined (pictorial) space, the authors consider issues of gender, childhood, sexuality and race, highlighting an increasing fluidity and interaction between theory, methods and history.

Biographies and Space is an original and exciting new book, with direct relevance to both architectural and art history.


Aims and objectives: In this study, we consider the acquisition of allophonic contrast and phonetic detail in lateral consonants by second-generation Sylheti-English bilingual children in London, UK. Design/methodology/approach: Acoustic analysis was conducted on productions of /l/ by Sylheti bilingual children, Sylheti monolingual adults and English monolingual children. Data and analysis: Tokens of /l/ were elicited across initial, medial and final word positions from 14 bilingual Sylheti-English children, 10 monolingual English children, and 4 monolingual Sylheti adults. Acoustic measurements of F2–F1 were analysed using Bayesian linear mixed-effects modelling. Findings and conclusions: Our results show that bilingual children produce monolingual-like positional patterns in Sylheti, with very clear laterals in all positions. In contrast, bilinguals produce monolingual-like positional allophony in English, but they differ in phonetic detail, with bilinguals producing much clearer laterals than monolingual children across all positions. Originality: This study is the first to examine the development of allophonic contrast and phonetic detail in both of a bilingual's languages in a contact scenario. This provides new insights into how contact varieties adopt aspects of structure and detail from each language. We also report valuable data from Sylheti-English bilinguals, who are an understudied community. Significance/limitations: Our study highlights the value of considering structural and detailed aspects of cross-linguistic sound systems, whereby one aspect may show monolingual-like patterns and another aspect may show distinctive patterns. We propose that the results in this study represent the development of a new sound system out of language contact, with second-generation bilingual children producing a hybrid system that combines influences from both heritage and host languages.


The epicentre of post-genocide Rwandan society and politics has been the need for reconciliation to assuage ethnic tensions and end a culture of impunity. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) has yet to meet its goal of reconciliation in Rwanda: The failure of the tribunal goes beyond its institutional shortcomings and can be attributed the norms of international criminal law that render it an inappropriate response to criminalizing mass violence. The Gacaca courts were resurrected in Rwanda as an indigenous form of restorative justice. The principles and process of these courts hope to mitigate the failures of "Arusha Justice" at the tribunal and seeks to punish or reintegrate over one hundred thousands genocide suspects. Its restorative foundations require that suspects will be tried and judged by neighbours in their community. However, the revelation that Gacaca is a reconciliatory justice does not preclude its potential for inciting ethnic tension it if purports to serve as an instrument of Tutsi power. The state-imposed approach of command justice has politicised the identity of the participants in Gacaca -- perpetrators remain Hutus and victims and survivors remain Tutsis. Additionally, the refusal of the Kagame government to allow for the prosecution of RPF crimes to be tried in Gacaca courts empowers the notion that Tutsi survival is preconditioned by Tutsi power and impunity. If Gacaca fails to end the perceptions of impunity in post-genocide Rwanda, it will come at a much higher cost for reconciliation than the failure of the ICTR. The relevance of justice after genocide speaks to the appropriateness of retributive and restorative models of justice in a post-genocide society such as Rwanda. Additionally, the model of justice must be reconciled to the nature of a political regime that imposes unity under an ethnocratic minority.


Abstract The Hirnantian stratigraphy of Wales is critically assessed against the global evidence for two major Hirnantian synglacial eustatic lowstands. The evidence for two separate lowstands of relative sea level is locally suggestive in shelf sequences but generally only permissive in the basin. Nowhere can the possible candidate lowstands be separated biostratigraphically and thus basinwide correlation that might rule out local tectonic control is impossible to prove. Consistent with palaeolatitude evidence and a situation far removed from the Gondwana margin, there is no facies evidence (e.g. dropstones) for local glacial conditions and the diamictites are of mass-flow origin. Sequence stratigraphic reasoning proves helpful in the correlation of the basinal succession in Central Wales with the shelf sequences along the Tywi Lineament and the Variscan Front, and suggests that the first appearance of Normalograptus persculptus in Wales does not correspond with the base of the persculptus Biozone. Extensive new palaeocurrent data and sedimentological restudy is combined with review of earlier knowledge to argue for significant revisions to previous palaeogeographic maps for 'generalized lowstand conditions', notably along the Bala Lineament, the Variscan Front and the Central Wales Inliers.


The purpose of this study is to identify whether there is a relationship between land use type and temperature in Tanjong Malim, Perak. Various analysis methodology have been examined to produce the relationship answer. One is correlation coefficient analysis. Beside that, GIS application is also used to produce temperature map. From the analysis done, they are several temperature variations detected in Tanjong Malim. Pearson correlation analysis is tested in three different situations namely average temperature for morning, noon and afternoon. Average temperature in the morning showed that the agriculture land use are with negative correlation value (r = -0.381), mean while average temperature in the noon showed the negative value for business and commercial land use (r = -0.541), and the average temperature for afternoon showed the positive value with residential area (r = 0.454). The negative value produced showed the flow of relationship is established within land use and temperature. The relationship between land use and temperature in Tanjong Malim is only at the level of medium high or very weak. There is no strong relationship between land use and temperature in Tanjong Malim. Urbanization is still low in this area and this does not affect the change and temperature variance in Tanjong Malim.


The North Urals thrust belt holds significant hydrocarbon resources hosted mainly in thrust-related anticlines mapped at the surface. New seismic and drilling data have permitted the identification of new exploration targets. The most attractive structural plays are considered to be associated with the buried antiformal stacks in front of the belt. Stacks of folded thrust sheets involve the regionally productive Silurian-Lower Permian carbonates and sandstones encased by thick Artinskian shales, which provide both the source rocks and sealing. Untested structural closures in the buried wedge-shaped thrust sheets are the primary targets for exploration. Additional prospects are predicted in the autochthonous section of the thrust belt. This play includes a subthrust continuation of inverted anticlinal zones of the Pechora-Kolva aulacogen.


In the traditional preventing override trip system, the preventing override trip issue is still not resolved very well because of the transmission delay problem. Based on the characteristic of quantum entanglement, a quantum preventing override trip algorithm is proposed, which can allow the power monitoring system to quickly obtain the switch's over current fault information and effectively prevent override trip of the coal mine high-voltage grid. The simulation results show that the quantum override trip algorithm uses less time to obtain fault information of all switches and saves more time to finish protection setting when compared with traditional algorithms. So, the quantum preventing override trip algorithm can better solve the problem of transmission delay and can effectively improve the reliability of preventing override trip system.


The purpose of this thesis is to conduct empirical research in corporate Thailand in order to (1) validate the Spirit at Work Scale (2) investigate the relationships between individual spirit at work and three employee work attitudinal variables (job satisfaction, organisational identification and psychological well-being) and three organisational outcomes (in-role performance, organisational citizenship behaviours (OCB), and turnover intentions) (3) further examine causal relations among these organisational behaviour variables with a longitudinal design (4) examine three employee work attitudes as mediator variables between individual spirit at work and three organisational outcomes and (5) explore the potential antecedents of organisational conditions that foster employee experienced individual spirit at work. The two pilot studies with 155 UK and 175, 715 Thai samples were conducted for validation testing of the main measure used in this study: Spirit at Work Scale (Kinjerski & Skrypnek, 2006a). The results of the two studies including discriminant validity analyses strongly provided supportive evidence that Spirit at Work Scale (SAWS) is a sound psychometric measure and also a distinct construct from the three work attitude constructs. The final model of SAWS contains a total of twelve items; a three factor structure (meaning in work, sense of community, and spiritual connection) in which the sub-factors loaded on higher order factors and also had very acceptable reliability. In line with these results it was decided to use the second-order of SAWS model for Thai samples in the main study and subsequent analysis. The 715 completed questionnaires were received from the first wave of data collection during July - August 2008 and the second wave was conducted again within the same organisations and 501 completed questionnaires were received during March - April 2009. Data were obtained through 49 organisations which were from three types of organisations within Thailand: public organisations, for-profit organisations, and notfor-profit organisations. Confirmatory factor analysis of all measures used in the study and hypothesised model were tested with structural equation modelling techniques. The results were greatly supportive for the direct structural model and partially supportive for the fully mediated model. Moreover, there were different findings across self report and supervisor rating on performance and OCB models. Additionally, the antecedent conditions that fostered employees experienced individual spirit at work and the implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed.


"The authorsAhave analyzed the television problem brilliantly. They had come up with a whole set of new insights, and their backup research always is fascinating to read."-Saturday Review "A cautious, research-based bookAhopefully it will set a trend."-Ithiel de Sola Pool, Public Opinion Quarterly After more than forty years of studying its political implications, Kurt and Gladys Lang put the power of television into a unique perspective. Through carefully compiled case studies, they reveal surprising truths about TV's effect on American political life, and explode some popular myths. Their theme throughout is that television gives the viewer the illusion of being a favored spectator at some event-he "sees for himself," in other words. But, in fact, it conveys a reality different from that experienced by an eyewitness. Because the televised version of an event reaches more people, it has greater impact on the public memory and comes to overshadow what actually happened. The Langs tell in detail how television shapes events; how public figures and political institutions adjust their tactics to exploit the effects they-and millions of viewers-think television has. They examine such issues as whether or not network television projections influence election results. They consider the accuracy of the networks increasingly sophisticated techniques for "calling" election outcomes well before polls close. Such concerns have never been more at the forefront of the public consciousness than in the wake of the 2000 presidential election. The Langs assess the research to date and clarify the effects of early TV projections on voter turnout and election outcomes, and look at the implications for our system of government. A model of excellent policy analysis, this highly readable volume will interest decision-makers and analysts, as well as students of journalism, broadcasting, political behavior, and voters looking forward to the next election. Kurt Lang was a professor of sociology and political science at Stony Brook before becoming the Director of the School of Communications at the University of Washington. Gladys Engel Lang is a professor of communications with joint appointments in Political Science and Sociology at the University of Washington. In addition to Television and Politics, the Langs have also co-authored The Battle for Public Opinion: the President, the Press and the Polls during Watergate, Voting and Nonvoting, and Collective Dynamics.


Background & Aims of the Study:  Corrosion and scaling are the most common problems of water facilities. Corrosion imposes many financial and health loss on system and consumer respectively, scaling also causes clogging and head loss in network. The purpose of this study is to determine the corrosion and scaling potential of water supply sources of Qom villages. Materials & Methods This cross-sectional study was done in 12 months (from 2011-2012). 100 samples were collected to determine pH, total dissolved solids (TDS), temperature, alkalinity, Calcium hardness and residual chlorine, and water corrosion and scaling have been studied by using Langelier, Ryzner, aggressive and Puckorius indexes. Results:  The results illustrate that Qom village water according to the Langelier index equals 1.62 (±0.11), according to Rayzner index equals 10.5 (±0.17), based on Aggressive index equals 12.035 (±0.14) and based on Pokurious index equals 9.92 (±0.13) respectively. Comparison of four index's were showed that Water conditions in all villages of Qom is in corrosive range. Conclusions:  According to this study, water supply in Qom village is corrosive, one of the effective ways for solves this problem is pH adjustment by lime


Reflecting the dramatic and changing landscape in higher education, this Second Edition addresses the significant influences of the media, national commissions, private think tanks, professional organizations and the economy in shaping the many contexts in which higher education financial issues are addressed. This collection of 59 historical and current readings provides a broad spectrum of information and perspectives and covers a wide range of topics in terms of content as well as time period. The readings are organized into eight sections: Economics and Financing of Higher Education, Government Financing of Higher Education, Institutional Resources, Higher Education Expenditures, Planning and Resource Allocation, Financial Management and Accounting, Ethics and Higher Education Finance, and International Financing of Higher Education. Features include: "NEW Sections!" International Financing of Higher Education, Planning and Resource Allocation, and Ethics and Higher Education Finance Describes the internal and external influences on theory, public opinion, government policy and institutional practices Articles reflect the expertise of eight review panels consisting of 36 reviewers who teach, conduct research and work in areas associated with the field of higher education finance "


The law of talion, also known as the principle of retaliation is found in the Torah, the Hebrew Bible. In the past and also today, the meaning of this principle remains highly discussed. It is often interpreted as vindicating justice, whereas it is also considered as a harsh-barbaric maxim incompatible with a civilized society which has developed legal principles. By investigating the purpose, function and morality of this law in the ancient world in Israel and in society today, I hope to demonstrate that this principle and its application is just as critical and relevant to our lives, particularly in today's society. A major question through the centuries has been: Was there a literal dimension to "an eye for an eye" - the lex talionis - or was the Bible's original intention monetary compensation? By observing history, I will explore the consistencies, moral advances and declines and the practices of Judaism, Christianity and Islam - how they applied the principle through their social and cultural structure, and how each viewed the others religious beliefs in relation to this principle. A principle teaching within Judaism states that G-d abides by all the commandments which he sets forth. Thus, the justice of talion also applies to Divine retribution. By reflecting on historical events (catastrophes and genocides) in relation to 'eye for an eye' and 'life for a life', in this paper I expect to shed some insight on the how and why which has plagued the human spirit for thousands of years in relation to true justice


"Financial Contagion: The Viral Threat to the Wealth of Nations covers a lot of territory. It is, of course, terribly important to analyze case histories to discover potential triggers, mechanisms of transmission, and viable ways to contain the damage of financial contagion. The problem is, as these articles amply demonstrate, that there's always a new virus or a mutation of a former one lurking in some corner of the financial world. We don't know what it is or where it is. And, even if we had some inkling, there's almost never enough time to develop a financial flu shot." --SeekingAlpha.com. The latest insights on financial contagion and how both nations and investors can effectively deal with it. The domino-style structure in which the financial system exists is a perilous one. Although historically, the financial system has been able to deal with major shocks, the fact remains that our financial system is not as secure as it should be. Recent years have brought about too many examples of contagion and systemic risk. That is why Financial Contagion is such an important read. In it, the serious concerns that revolve around our fragile economic system are investigated, researched, and explained. Throughout the book, Kolb offers valuable insights on this dilemma as he compiles the history of financial contagion, highlights the latest research on systemic failure and interrelated markets, and analyzes the risks and consequences we face moving forward. Examines the importance of careful regulation and what must be done to stabilize the global financial system. Includes contributed chapters from both academics and experienced professionals, offering a variety of perspectives and a rich interplay of ideas. Details how close we are to witnessing a financial contagion that could devastate the world economy. We have been harshly reminded of how fragile our economic ecosystem is. With Financial Contagion, you'll hold a better understanding of what needs to be done to strengthen our system and safeguard our financial future.


In the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean, several described species of Clupeiforms overlap their geographical distribution in the coastal areas from Rio Grande do Sul (Southern Brazil) to Bahía Blanca (Argentina) and the Río de la Plata estuary. Larvae and juveniles of the SW Atlantic menhaden Brevoortia aurea are very difficult to discriminate from those of other clupeids belonging to the genera Platanichthys and Ramnogaster inhabiting the same environments. Here we implemented phylogenetic analyses based on mitochondrial cytochrome b sequences and morphometric and osteological studies to achieve unambiguous species recognition in different ontogenetic stages of six endemic species of Clupeiformes from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean. All phylogenetic analyses based on the cytochrome b gene yielded a robust support to the existence of highly structured and monophyletic groups conforming clupeiforms taxa. These monophyletic entities were consistent with major groups accessed through the first two principal components (PCs) from morphometric variation among taxa. Both approaches resulted in accurated and complementary tools for the individual assignment in clades and groups within Clupeiformes during different ontogenetic stages in their life cycle. The detection of species-specific spawning and nursery areas through accurated methodological approaches of identification constitute a prerequisite for a sustainable management in pelagic fisheries.


International society is first and foremost a society of individual sovereign states. However, states are by no means the only relevant actors in international law. In fact, one of the consequences of the post-1945 expansion of international law into areas that had traditionally been of limited international interest has been the increasing legal importance of a variety of non-state actors, most notably international organizations and individuals. This chapter introduces the various actors in the international legal system that possess rights, powers and obligations in international law. It provides a thorough presentation of statehood and the criteria for the creation of new states, and briefly discusses the (limited) legal significance of recognition. It discusses the modes by which a state can acquire title to new territory; the issues of state succession and state extinction; and the legal personality of territorial entities other than states, international organizations, individuals and additional actors in the international legal system.


This paper evaluates features of graph coloring algorithms implemented on graphics processing units (GPUs), comparing coloring heuristics and thread decompositions. As compared to prior work on graph coloring for other parallel architectures, we find that the large number of cores and relatively high global memory bandwidth of a GPU lead to different strategies for the parallel implementation. Specifically, we find that a simple uniform block partitioning is very effective on GPUs and our parallel coloring heuristics lead to the same or fewer colors than prior approaches for distributed-memory cluster architecture. Our algorithm resolves many coloring conflicts across partitioned blocks on the GPU by iterating through the coloring process, before returning to the CPU to resolve remaining conflicts. With this approach we get as few color (if not fewer) than the best sequential graph coloring algorithm and performance is close to the fastest sequential graph coloring algorithms which have poor color quality.


Stochastic recursive algorithms form the basis of several optimization approaches and find wide applicability across various engineering disciplines such as machine learning, communication engineering, signal processing and robotics. The highly efficient simultaneous perturbation approaches have been considered as the unifying thread in all these algorithms. This tutorial presents algorithms for smooth non-convex optimization based on the simultaneous perturbation method. We may mention here that in this proposal, by simultaneous perturbation methods, we refer to the entire family of algorithms that are based on either gradient or gradient and Hessian estimates that are obtained using some form of simultaneous random perturbations. A remarkable feature of the algorithms is that they are easily implementable, do not require an explicit system model, and work with real or simulated data. The tutorial also covers applications in transportation and service systems to illustrate these points.


The COMPANIONS project, which inspired this book, is studying conversational software-based artificial agents that will get to know their owners over a substantial period. These could be developed to advise, comfort and carry out a wide range of functions to support diverse personal and social needs, such as to be 'artificial Companions' for the elderly, helping their owners to learn, or assisting to sustain their owners' fitness and health. This chapter summarizes the main issues raised in the workshop that gave rise to this book. Most direct quotes from participants in this chapter come from their own chapters. Appendix 1 contains examples of current artificial Companions and related research projects mentioned at the workshop.


The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was triggered by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). SARS-CoV-2 infected millions of individuals globally. Despite the recent clearance of several medications, effective and safe COVID-19 vaccinations are still urgently needed, not only to prevent the disease from spreading but also to restore social and economic activity through mass vaccination. We present a case of a 72-year-old female who presented with sudden right abducens nerve palsy after receiving the 2nd dose of booster vaccine following the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Because of the temporal association between vaccination and abducens nerve palsy, they assumed her vaccine caused it. The onset of symptoms, the absence of any prior medical conditions, and normal magnetic resonance imaging. This case highlights the importance of determining whether a COVID-19 vaccine could generate neurologic side effects similar to those found with the virus and previous vaccinations.


This paper introduces and demonstrates the concept of InformationCentric Transport as a mechanism for cleanly decoupling the information plane from the connectivity plane in Information-Centric Networking (ICN) architectures, such as NDN and CICN. These are coupled in today's incarnations of NDN and CICN through the use of forwarding strategy, which is the architectural component for deciding how to forward packets in the presence of either multiple next-hop options or dynamic feedback. As presently designed, forwarding strategy is not sustainable: application developers can only con dently specify strategy if they understand connectivity details, while network node operators can only con dently assign strategies if they understand application expectations. We show how Information-Centric Transport allows applications to operate on the information plane, concerned only with the namespace and identities relevant to the application, leaving network node operators free to implement ICT services in whatever way makes sense for the connectivity that they manage. To illustrate ICT, we introduce sync*, a synchronization service, and show how a) its use enables applications to operate well regardless of connectivity details and b) its implementation can be completely managed by network operators with no knowledge of application details.


Book synopsis: Plague and the City uncovers discourses of plague and anti-plague measures in the city during the medieval, early modern and modern periods, and explores the connection between plague and urban environments including attempts by professional bodies to prevent or limit the outbreak of epidemic disease.

Bringing together leading scholars of plague working across different historical periods, this book provides an inter-disciplinary study of plague in the city across time and space. The chapters cover a wide range of periods, geographical locations and disciplinary approaches but all seek to answer significant questions, including whether common motives can be identified, and how far knowledge about plague was based on an understanding of the urban space. It also examines how maps and photographs contribute to understanding plague in the city through exploring the ways in which the relationship between plague and the urban environment has been visualised, from the poisoned darts of plague winging their way towards their victims in the votive pictures from the Renaissance, to the mapping of the spread of disease in late nineteenth-century Bombay and photographing Honolulu's great plague fire in 1900.

Containing a series of studies that illuminate plague's urban connection as a key social and political concern throughout history, Plague and the City is ideal for students of early modern history, and of the early modern city and plague more specifically.


In a natural park, tourism is seen as an economic activity that can easily bring many benefits. Apuseni Natural Park (ANP)was chosen as a case study because it impacts communities (and especially moți) which have preserved their culture and traditions, coming from ancient times, in an area with remarkable natural and anthropogenic tourist resources. The aim of the study is to analyse the perception of local communities (endogenous), and visitors (exogenous), in order to highlight the heritage, economic advantages, and constraints in the natural park. The research is based on survey method and a number of spatial analysis tools, GIS, bibliographic sources, cartographic data mining, and field observations. The results show that local communities perceive in a high ratio the advantages of heritage preservation, linking them to the improvement of their life and less the disadvantages on the local economy. A more significant contrast in perception is revealed by tourists, who think that a national park has many advantages and constraints, the last ones accounting for the possible loss of functioning of the destination. In the frame of the recognised attractiveness of the ANP, the study suggests the need for a continuous monitoring process and the adoption of a receptive administration for each area and every actor involved.


Certain climatic and edaphic conformations in the Bavarian sub-alpine mountains and in the Alps favor above all the development of a land utilization system and farm structures similar to those in the northern part of Scandinavia. In 1963/64, the years of the highest environmental contamination up to the present, we established in 600 beef samples from the round or shoulder of male and female cattle (mainly Highland cattle) close connections between the 137Cs-contamination of green crop and the long lastnig yearly precipitation quantities, as well as certain relations between the 137Cs-contamination of meat and differences in the feeding and keeping of the animals. During summer-seasons (April-October), beef of cattle from pastures with heavy rainfall (Alps) was contaiminated by 137Cs up to 15 times more than that of confined animals. Hereby the rate of 137Cs-contamination in the meat of grazing cattle was nearly proportional to the quantities of precipitation. When confined cattle were fed on pastures in autumn after harvesting for 2 to 3 weeks, a quick increase of 137Cs-contamination of the meat was caused within this time up to values which in this district were otherwise only observed in grazing cattle. The lower 137Cs-content in meat of cattle housed during the summer season is due to the more varied fodder, which is at that time less contaminated than green crop. During the winter season (November to March), the highest contaminations in the meat of confined (Bohemian Forest) or grazing cattle (Alps) was measured when the animals in these districts were almost exclusively fed with fodder from the own farmground or with leafy silage. The highest contamination was almost regularly noticed in January, February and March, as generally during these months the highly contaminated first cut hay is fed. Here the meat was often even more contaminated than that of grazing cattle. After the quick decrease of 137Cs in fallout noticed in the years 1964 and 1965, in 1965/66 a dependance in the 137Cs-contamination of beef on the methods of keeping and feeding could still be observed in only the extreme cases (Alps, Bavarian- and Bohemian Forest); though in general, meat of animals from districts with heavy rainfall was slightly more contaminated than meat of animals from regions with less precipitation.


BACKGROUND
Although many studies have assessed the effects of estrogen and raloxifene hydrochloride on bone mineral density and serum lipid concentrations, there are few direct comparative data.

METHODS
Randomized placebo-controlled trial for 3 years, intention-to-treat analysis. Six hundred nineteen postmenopausal women with prior hysterectomy (mean age, 53.0 years) were studied in 38 centers in Europe, North America, Australasia, and South Africa. They were randomized to 60 mg/d or 150 mg/d of raloxifene, 0.625 mg/d of conjugated equine estrogen (CEE), or placebo. Bone density of the lumbar spine and proximal femur, biochemical markers of bone turnover, and fasting serum lipid concentrations were assessed for 3 years.

RESULTS
Compared with baseline, bone density in the lumbar spine progressively declined by 2.0% in the placebo group (P <.05), was stable in the 2 raloxifene groups, and increased 4.6% in the subjects receiving CEE (P <.001). Effects in both raloxifene groups were different from those observed in the CEE and placebo groups (P <.001). Bone density in the total hip showed similar results. Conjugated equine estrogen produced significantly greater depression of serum osteocalcin, bone-specific alkaline phosphatase, and urine C-telopeptide, compared with raloxifene. Each of the active treatments caused comparable depression of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol below placebo levels (P <.001 at most time points). Raloxifene did not affect high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, whereas CEE increased it by 13.4% compared with placebo at 3 years (P <.001). Triglyceride concentrations increased 24.6% in the CEE group at 3 years (P <.003), a significantly greater change than in the raloxifene groups, which were 4.9% and 8.0% above baseline (P < or =.002) but not different from placebo. Urinary incontinence was reported in 11 women receiving CEE, but in only 1 or 2 in each of the other groups (P < or =.01 compared with the other groups). Hernias occurred less frequently in those receiving 150 mg/d of raloxifene or CEE (P =.03 vs placebo).

CONCLUSIONS
Raloxifene and CEE have beneficial effects on bone density and bone turnover, although effects of CEE are more marked. Raloxifene and CEE produce different patterns of lipid responses and have distinct adverse effect profiles.


A novel beam-steering device that makes use of a nematic liquid crystal (LC) is proposed and demonstrated. The beam-steering function is attained with a LC microlens with a divided hole-patterned electrode structure (DE-LC microlens). Optical properties of the DE-LC microlens are investigated and three-dimensional variable-focusing and beam-steering properties are verified experimentally for the first time, to our knowledge.


The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in cold pain threshold (CTh), pressure pain threshold (PPT), cold pain tolerance (CPTo) tests, and the level of self-efficacy when self-efficacy for diagnostic sensory testing was manipulated by verbal persuasion before a testing situation in persons with neck pain and in healthy controls. A randomized experimental design was used. Twenty-one healthy volunteers and 22 individuals with either traumatic or nontraumatic chronic neck pain were recruited to participate in the study. The intervention consisted of two experimental verbal persuasion conditions: Increase self-efficacy and Decrease self-efficacy. The PPT was measured using a pressure algometer, the CTh was measured using a thermo test system, and CPTo was measured by submerging the participant's hand in ice water up to the elbow joint. On three occasions, the participants reported their self-efficacy level in performing the sensory tests. In the chronic neck pain group, there were no differences in pain threshold or tolerance. There was a difference in the self-efficacy level after verbal persuasion between the experimental conditions. In the healthy control group, the CThs increased following the condition that aimed to increase self-efficacy. No other differences were observed in the healthy controls. A short verbal persuasion in the form of manipulative instructions seems to have a marginal effect on the individual's self-efficacy levels in the chronic neck pain group and a slight influence on the results of sensory testing in healthy controls.


Numerous countries have employed a coordinated network of government agencies, research institutions, and private companies to establish national integrated Ocean Observing Systems (OOSes). Although Canada boasts a robust and diverse ocean economy, the country has implemented no such network.

To better adapt in the face of a changing environment and to assist the country in meeting national and international commitments, Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) has commissioned investigative evaluations (IEs) to determine the cost and feasibility of creating a Canadian Integrated Ocean Observing System (CIOOS). This report contains the recommendations of the Cyberinfrastructure IE, and outlines three models, low, moderate and high, with varying levels of service.

To determine an appropriate cyberinfrastructure configuration for CIOOS, information was gathered from both national and international sources. Systems and standards were evaluated, stakeholders surveyed, and existing international OOSes consulted to identify potential limits or gaps to the implementation of CIOOS.


Russian influence operations on social media have received significant attention following the 2016 US presidential elections. Here, scholarship has largely focused on the covert strategies of the Russia-based Internet Research Agency and the overt strategies of Russia's largest international broadcaster RT (Russia Today). But since 2017, a number of new news media providers linked to the Russian state have emerged, and less research has focused on these channels and how they may support contemporary influence operations. We conduct a qualitative content analysis of 2,014 Facebook posts about the #BlackLivesMatter (BLM) protests in the United States over the summer of 2020 to comparatively examine the overt propaganda strategies of six Russian-linked news organizations—RT, Ruptly, Soapbox, In The NOW, Sputnik, and Redfish. We found that RT and Sputnik diverged in their framing of the BLM movement from the newer media properties. RT and Sputnik primarily produced negative coverage of the BLM movement, painting protestors as violent, or discussed the hypocrisy of racial justice in America. In contrast, newer media properties like In The NOW, Soapbox, and Redfish supported the BLM movement with clickbait-style videos highlighting racism in America. Video footage bearing the Ruptly brandmark appears in both traditional and new media properties, to illustrate, in real time, civil unrest across the US. By focusing on overt propaganda from the broad array of Russian-affiliated media, our data allows us to further understand the "full spectrum" and "counter-hegemonic" strategies at play in contemporary information operations.


Spirolide and gymnodimine macrocyclic imine phycotoxins belong to an emerging class of chemical agents associated with marine algal blooms and shellfish toxicity. Analysis of 13-desmethyl spirolide C and gymnodimine A by binding and voltage-clamp recordings on muscle-type α12βγδ and neuronal α3β2 and α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors reveals subnanomolar affinities, potent antagonism, and limited subtype selectivity. Their binding to acetylcholine-binding proteins (AChBP), as soluble receptor surrogates, exhibits picomolar affinities governed by diffusion-limited association and slow dissociation, accounting for apparent irreversibility. Crystal structures of the phycotoxins bound to Aplysia-AChBP (≈2.4Å) show toxins neatly imbedded within the nest of ar-omatic side chains contributed by loops C and F on opposing faces of the subunit interface, and which in physiological conditions accommodates acetylcholine. The structures also point to three major features: (i) the sequence-conserved loop C envelops the bound toxins to maximize surface complementarity; (ii) hydrogen bonding of the protonated imine nitrogen in the toxins with the carbonyl oxygen of loop C Trp147 tethers the toxin core centered within the pocket; and (iii) the spirolide bis-spiroacetal or gymnodimine tetrahydrofuran and their common cyclohexene-butyrolactone further anchor the toxins in apical and membrane directions, along the subunit interface. In contrast, the se-quence-variable loop F only sparingly contributes contact points to preserve the broad receptor subtype recognition unique to phycotoxins compared with other nicotinic antagonists. These data offer unique means for detecting spiroimine toxins in shellfish and identify distinctive ligands, functional determinants and binding regions for the design of new drugs able to target several receptor subtypes with high affinity.


Although sustainable procurement (SP) practices literature is increasingly evolving - especially from the European context - this innovative approach to sustainability is hardly heard of, discuss or appears to be present in the Nigerian context. In particular, it lacks formal sustainability criteria for the procurement of goods and services in the O&G sector – a key sector of the Nigerian economy - despite the fact that SP can lead to sustainable development. This situation is evidently responsible for the lack of SP studies within the Nigerian O&G sector. Hence, this thesis sets out to determine the underlying dimensions of sustainable procurement (SP) practices and to empirically examine the relationships among SP practices, procurement sustainability strategy and initiatives, and the impact of SP practices on firms' performances within the Nigerian O&G sector. To achieve its purpose, an in-depth literature review of SP practices and related terms was conducted, upon which the initial conceptual framework for this research is built.
Primary data was collected from the Nigerian O&G upstream sector after ethical and industry approval from the University of Salford and Department for Petroleum Resource (DPR) Nigeria, respectively. A total of 51 valid responses were obtained for the data analysis, which utilised exploratory factor analysis (EFA), hierarchical multiple regression models, cross tabulation and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The reliability and validity of scales and results obtained were also confirmed with the aid of appropriate tools.
The EFA led to the extraction of three factors, which were subsequently named social & community improvement (SCI); economic & environmental improvement (EEI) and equality & safety improvement (ESI), due to the factor loadings and in line with assumptions held in the literature review. The results suggest that SP practices are environmental, social or economic oriented have some degree of relationship. The hierarchical multiple regression models indicate a statistically significant relationship between clear SP strategy and all three factors of SP practices but display a partial relationship between the sustainability initiatives (ISO 14001 certification and UNGC initiative) and all three factors of SP practices. For example, the results indicate that ISO 14001 certification is only statistically significant with SCI and ESI factors of SP practices, whilst UNGC initiative is only statistically significant with SCI and EEI factors of SP practices. In regard to performances, the results showed a perceived impact on firms' financial and non-financial performances as a result of SP practices. For instance, the findings indicate that SP practices have perceived positive impacts on the quality of products and services, sales and revenue. The findings also highlight the fact that SP practices may lead to increase in market share and customer loyalty.
The findings of the research provide useful insights into SP practices within the Nigerian O&G sector. These insights may help practitioners to focus on those SP practices (the three factor loadings) that can lead to sustainability, especially where there is a scarcity of resources in operationalising SP practices. Furthermore, insights were gained on the link between the drivers examined in the multiple regression and the adoption of SP practices. Further, it is worth noting that this empirical research is one of the first to investigate SP practices within the Nigerian O&G sector, and therefore, expected to lead to further studies and debates needed to advance SP practices.

Keywords: sustainable procurement, sustainability, oil & gas, firms' performance, Nigeria


Skotopoiesis was the first event from the series Confronting Vegetal Otherness within which the author/artist explored novel plant-human relationships beyond the limits of empathy, interfaces and language. The 19-hour performance was her attempt at intercognition with germinating cress, using her body's shadow as a sign of human presence. Upon the conclusion of the performance, an ethical committee gathered as a part of the Trust Me, I'm an Artist series to examine the work and was challenged to consider the ethics of including plant life in artworks as well as to assess our attitude toward plants in general.


Although historically built environments were almost always covered with ornament, texts and images, the phenomenon of the dynamic multimedia information in these environments is new. Living your life in the modern city, you constantly interact with multiple urban media interfaces - from the small screen of a mobile phone to a large screen of a public electronic billboard. This essay will discuss how the general dynamic between spatial form and information which has been with us for a long time, functions differently in computer culture of today. What are the most aesthetically daring examples of urban media surface designs so far? How is our experience of a spatial form (i.e. architecture) affected when it is surrounded with dynamic and rich multimedia information? What are the historical precedents of urban media surface phenomena and what can we expect in the future?