In Malaysia, bamboo shoots have been relished as food since the early days. At present, bamboo shoot of Gigantochloa ligulata (buluh tumpat) is considered one of the commercial bamboo species in Malaysia. Owing to its demand as food, especially in the northern part of the country, and since there has been no study done on the thinning of this species, a study on the effect of thinning intensity as one of the silvicultural treatment on G. ligulata bamboo was conducted at Taman Wetland, Putrajaya, Malaysia. The study was done from March to June 2005. Thinning intensities of 0 % (control), 30 % and 60 % were applied twice every two months within the four months period. The three thinning intensities including the control were done in replicates and there was six replicates altogether comprising of 18 samples clumps. Thinning was based on the selection of culms three years old and above out of the total available culms within the clump. Thinning of 30% means 3 culms out of ten culms within the clump were cut. Each clump in all the replicates was applied once with 3 kg of goat dung in granule form. The organic fertilizer was applied in a circular form around the clump's periphery. Parameters involved were number of shoots sprouted, weight of shoots and the number of culms. This included the clump expansion pattern of the selected treatment clumps. New shoots were tagged and recorded every week. A shoot which up to 30 cm and from the ground was considered as a shoot. The weights of shoots with or without sheath were recorded on a weekly basis. The distribution pattern of the shoots' sprouting was also observed. It was found that 30% thinning intensity gave more shoots compared with other intensities including the control.


The survey design involving a screener or filter question followed by a series of more detailed questions is used in many surveys. A concern in these surveys is that respondents may learn that reporting a certain answer to a filter question will extend the interview through a series of follow-up questions and thus will alter their responses in a way that avoids their exposure to follow-up questions. Alternatively, the cumulative cognitive burden experienced by respondents after answering many survey questions may be a principal factor in respondent satisficing, and thus measurement error, toward the end of surveys. The exploratory research described in this paper identifies changes in response patterns to filter questions in the Consumer Expenditure Quarterly Interview Survey (CEQ). A model is used to examine the role of respondent characteristics and interview burden measures on declining filter question endorsement rates. Aside from interview content, this research found that respondent characteristics impacting cognitive burden had effects on a declining trend in filter question endorsement rates.


Purpose: To measure the distance of origin of renal artery in relation to the ventral branches of abdominal aorta and also to study the variations in the number and the hilar branching pattern of renal arteries. Materials and methods: The present study was carried out using ten embalmed adult cadavers. The distances were measured bilaterally from the origin of renal artery to the origin of superior and inferior mesenteric artery and the bifurcation of abdominal aorta. Results: Out of ten cadavers studied,bilateral accessory renal artery was observed in two cases. The hilar branching pattern varied from a single artery to maximum of six branches. The mean and standard deviations of the measured parameters were calculated. Conclusion: Knowledge of variations of renal artery is important for surgeons in performing many procedures and may help to avoid clinical complications in the abdominal region.


procedure to relieve low back pain (LBP) [1]. The underlying pathological condition of LBP encompasses a wide spectrum of diseases, and the clinical diagnosis requires a complex decision-making process. Among which, pyogenic spondylodiscitis entails major morbidity and mortality, and is an absolute contraindication for ESI [2]. The major clinical symptom of pyogenic spondylodiscitis is the pain, particularly LBP, with a prevalence >90% in patients [3]. Therefore, we preclude the presence of pyogenic discitis before performing an ESI. To evaluate and understand more fully the clinical manifestations of pyogenic spondylodiscitis, we extracted all medical charts of patients in our facility diagnosed as such, based on International Classification of Diseases-10 coding, after Institutional Review Board approval was obtained. The following variables were reviewed retrospectively from the medical charts: age, sex, clinical manifestations, white blood cell (WBC) count, C-reactive protein (CRP), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings, blood culture, and fluoroscopy-guided biopsy and tissue culture of infected discs. We identified 26 patients during the 10-year period from 2006 to 2015. The following patients were excluded from the analysis: those who had already been diagnosed with pyogenic spondylodiscitis (recurrent cases) and those who had developed pyogenic spondylodiscitis following any spinal surgery (surgical site infection cases). Accordingly, 18 "de novo" cases were analyzed. The detailed characteristics of the patients are summarized in Table 1. The chief complaint of 14 of the 18 patients was LBP. A WBC count ≧ 11,000 /μl was observed in six individuals and WBC counts were < 9,600 /μl in nine cases. Similarly, CRP level was < 3 mg/dl in six cases. In contrast, MRI findings suggesting the presence of pyogenic spondylodiscitis (T1 low/T2 high/fast imaging employing steady-state acquisition high) were detected in all cases. Fluoroscopy-guided biopsy and tissue culture of infected discs were carried out in 12 cases, and pathogenic microbes were detected in four cases. Only two cases were positive for blood culture. In all cases, the inflammation resolved without any neurological complications following administration of an appropriate antibiotic, and no surgical procedures were required. Notably, ESI had been performed for LBP before any diagnostic procedures had been performed either at the other department or at other facilities in eight of the 18 cases. In conclusion, LBP is a common chief complaint of spinal infection. Blood examinations, such as WBC count and CRP, are of limited value, whereas the sensitivity of MRI findings is high. Fluoroscopy-guided biopsy and tissue culture of the infected disc (s) provide good clues for the diagnosis and treatment of pyogenic spondylodiscitis, but the sensitivity of a blood culture is not sufficient. Diagnostic procedures to identify the etiology of the corresponding LBP must be carried out before performing any interventional procedures, including ESI for LBP. Letter to the Editor


Abstract Stylolites are irregular discontinuity surfaces that are thought to result from localized stress-induced dissolution during burial or tectonic compression. The genesis of stylolites and the controls on stylolitization are still debated, and the interplay between stylolitization, generation of carbonate-rich fluids, diagenetic fluid flow within fractures and matrix, cementation, and porosity modifications is complex. All of these processes have important diagenetic effects potentially altering the intrinsic properties of the host rock, with implications for hydrocarbon exploration and water resources in aquifers. We investigate the process of stylolitization by a macroscopic, petrographic, and geochemical study of pressure-solution features in Eocene to early Oligocene limestones in cores from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Hole 317-U1352C (Canterbury Basin). The results indicate correlations among stylolite amplitude, stylolite density, and siliciclastic content of the host rock. These relationships are interpreted to suggest that siliciclastic content in carbonate rocks increases heterogeneity, which in turn impacts stylolite nucleation. Moreover, the geochemical data support that clay along the stylolite is not authigenic, but a relict from impurities in the limestone host rock. The statistical approach of stylolite spacing used in this study, which is different than previous studies, reinforces the model of random occurrence of stylolites in (carbonate) lithologic units. This study shows that local stresses in tectonically passive areas may allow the formation of rare oblique stylolites with peaks perpendicular to the stylolite plane. Estimation of the amount of limestone dissolved during stylolitization (minimum 7% to 12% of the depositional limestone) and the volume of sparite in the host rock (up to 1.6% of the compacted limestone) suggests that the pressure-solution fluids cemented the micropores, reducing porosity to about 10% (from a common porosity of about 40% in mechanically compacted chalk). This study thus highlights the importance of microporosity as a sink for burial cements, an observation difficult to make in thin-section. Analysis of stylolite infills at Site U1352 shows no evidence that the stylolites acted as conduits for diagenetic fluids, unless if the fluid was host-rock buffered and thus its chemistry indistinguishable from that of the host rock. The link between siliciclastic content in carbonate rocks and the spacing and amplitude of stylolites improves understanding of burial compaction processes. Predicting the morphology and spacing of stylolites in the subsurface can be used to identify baffles to cross-stylolite fluid flow or cementation (of microporosity) influencing heterogeneity of petrophysical properties in (subsurface reservoir) host rocks.


Reconciliation as a peacemaking paradigm emerged as an innovative response to some of the mass atrocities and human rights violations that marked the 20th century. It provided an alternative to traditional state diplomacy and realpolitik that focused on restoring and rebuilding relationships. To that end, those creating reconciliation processes have set themselves the difficult task of laying the foundations for forgiveness through the establishment of truth, acknowledgment of harm, and the provision of appropriate forms of justice. In 1991, the Australian government instigated a process of reconciliation between the indigenous peoples and wider society in order to "address progressively" colonial injustice and its legacy (Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act 1991: Preamble). This article seeks to demonstrate, however, that restrictive policy framing and a lack of political will have severely hindered the progress of the Australian reconciliation process. An alternative conceptual approach to settler state and indigenous reconciliation is suggested.


This Paper Presents a non-blocking deadlock detection scheme with immediate cycle detection in multiprocessing systems. We assume an expedient state and a special case where each type of resource has one unit and each request is limited to one resource unit at a time. Unlike the previous deadlock detection schemes, this new method takes O(1) time for detecting a cycle and O(n+m) time for blocking or handling resource release where n and m are the number of processes and that of resources in the system. The deadlock detection latency is thus minimized and is constant regardless of n and m. However, in a multiprocessing system, the operating system can handle the blocking or release on-the-fly running on a separate processor, thus not interfering with user process execution. To some applications where deadlock is concerned, a predictable and zero-latency deadlock detection scheme could be very useful.


The collation, storage and retrieval of information are essential components of successful learning. Whether information is retained depends on a variety of factors, including how the information fits with an individual's existing knowledge, the way in which information is presented, and its complexity. Some of these factors are under the direct control of the e-learning designers and developers. Investigating these factors and how they impact on memory is important and can enhance the quality of e-learning. Evidence from cognitive neuroscience suggests that information is stored in a semantically meaningful manner. It follows that e-learning technologies, which either mimic how knowledge is structured in the mind or which allow individuals to organise their own exploration of the information space, should facilitate learning and memory. However, the ability to freely explore an information space is also more taxing on an individual's cognitive resources. Learners would need to expend cognitive resources remembering where they have been, as well as on deciding where to go next. These additional demands may impede learning, especially for more complex information. Most critical to investigate is the trade-off between the ability to build knowledge according to the learners' cognitive structures and style (which is also more engaging), on the one hand; and the extra cognitive load associated with giving learners more control and information, on the other hand. In this study we investigated the relationship between information layout, complexity of information content, and memory. Seventy-six participants took part in the study. A third of them were presented with information that was laid out in a linear fashion: learners encountered the items of information in a fixed and constrained sequence. This layout provided a structure for remembering the presented information and minimised cognitive load. Another third of the participants were given full control; they could select the order in which they learned the different topics and could freely navigate between them. This layout increased cognitive load and eliminated context structure, but was also potentially more engaging and allowed for individual differences. The remaining third of participants received an intermediate version, giving some, but not total, control. All the participants studied eight topics, half of them were given relatively simple information on each topic, whereas the other half where given more complex information. The acquisition and retention of the learned material was assessed in all the experimental conditions. We found that constraining both the amount of information presented to the learners and the degree of navigational freedom they are given enhances information acquisition and retention. These factors are further discussed in terms of Cognitive Load Theory (CLT). Finally, the implication and application to e-learning design is considered.


The ancient city of Kibyra, which has been damaged by ancient earthquakes, is located on the middle part of Burdur‐Fethiye Fault Zone (SW Turkey). The existence of an active NNE‐SSW‐trending left‐lateral fault cutting the stadium of Kibyra has been previously discussed in many publications (Akyüz and Altunel, , ; Karabacak, ). Karabacak et al. ( ) also adhere to this view and restate it in the recent article published in Geoarchaeology. However, there is no evidence directly indicating a fault cutting the stadium and the earthquake damage to the stadium was most likely caused by ground shaking. In conclusion, the arguments, observations and interpretations presented by Karabacak et al. ( ) are misleading in key respects and must be reviewed.


A functional programming language can be taught successfully as a first language, but if there is no follow up the students do not appreciate the functional approach. Following discussions concerning this issue at the 1995 FPLE conference (Hartel & Plasmeijer, 1995), we decided to develop such a follow up by writing a book that teaches C to students who can write simple functional programs. This paper summarises the essence of our approach, which is based on program transformation, and presents our experience teaching functional C at the Universities of Southampton and Bristol.


Much of the biodiversity‐related climate change impacts research has focused on the direct effects to species and ecosystems. Far less attention has been paid to the potential ecological consequences of human efforts to address the effects of climate change, which may equal or exceed the direct effects of climate change on biodiversity. One of the most significant human responses is likely to be mediated through changes in the agricultural utility of land. As farmers adapt their practices to changing climates, they may increase pressure on some areas that are important to conserve (conservation lands) whereas lessening it on others. We quantified how the agricultural utility of South African conservation lands may be altered by climate change. We assumed that the probability of an area being farmed is linked to the economic benefits of doing so, using land productivity values to represent production benefit and topographic ruggedness as a proxy for costs associated with mechanical workability. We computed current and future values of maize and wheat production in key conservation lands using the DSSAT4.5 model and 36 crop‐climate response scenarios. Most conservation lands had, and were predicted to continue to have, low agricultural utility because of their location in rugged terrain. However, several areas were predicted to maintain or gain high agricultural utility and may therefore be at risk of near‐term or future conversion to cropland. Conversely, some areas were predicted to decrease in agricultural utility and may therefore prove easier to protect from conversion. Our study provides an approximate but readily transferable method for incorporating potential human responses to climate change into conservation planning.


The purpose of this chapter is to lay out potential geochemical impacts of geologic sequestration. Injection of supercritical carbon dioxide into a brine formation shifts rock-dominated reaction systems to fluid-dominated systems controlled by acid-generating reactions and mixed-fluid equilibria. Increased carbonic acid content in the brine reduces the pH of in situ brine by approximately 1.5―4 pH units, depending on brine chemistry, formation lithology, and temperature, to a pH value between 3.5 and 4. Alkalinity is also produced by reaction of carbonic acid with reservoir minerals, but alkalinity of in situ brine cannot overcome the acidity produced by dissolution of supercritical carbon dioxide fluid. Analysis suggests that displacement of brine as injection proceeds will lead to separation from supercritical carbon dioxide fluid and loss of saturated carbon dioxide, wherein alkalinity can neutralize the acidity, yielding near-neutral to alkaline pH. Silica concentrations and dissolution rates will become enhanced, whereas silica precipitation is inhibited by acidic brine. Acidified brine will also react with both reservoir rock and caprock, enriching the brine in metal cations and creating alkalinity. As silica-supersaturated, metal-laden brine migrates into areas without carbon dioxide, in situ monitoring can be used to indicate repository performance. Return of silica-supersaturated brine to a rock-dominated reaction system buffered to neutral pH conditions may enhance precipitation of quartz, chalcedony, or amorphous silica. Reaction kinetics among supercritical carbon dioxide, brine, and rock are comparable to rates in systems containing gaseous carbon dioxide.


A chatbot is an example of a text-based conversational agent. While natural language understanding and machine learning techniques have advanced rapidly, current fully automated chatbots still struggle to serve their users well. Human intelligence, brought by crowd workers, freelancers, or even full-time employees can be embodied in the chatbot logic to fill the gaps caused by limitations of fully automated solutions. In this paper, we investigate human-aided bots, i.e., bots (including chatbots) using humans in the loop to operate. We survey industrial and academic examples of human-aided bots, discuss their differences and common patterns, and identify open research questions.


Chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) is one of the common hearing problems which can cause many complications if not treated properly. Hence, the aim of the study is to identify the bacterial isolates causing CSOM and to study their antimicrobial susceptibility pattern. The study was carried out in a tertiary care hospital in Jaipur from November 2013 to May 2015 for a period of eighteen months. Hundred patients of CSOM with unilateral or bilateral discharge attending the ENT Out Patient Department were included in the study. Swabs were taken and sent immediately to the microbiology laboratory and processed. Bacterial isolates were identified using standard methods and antibiotic susceptibility testing was done. Staphylococcus aureus was the most predominant organism isolated followed by Pseudomonas sp.,Proteus spp., Klebsiellapneumoniae, Escherichia coli. The present study helped in knowing the bacteriological profile of the cases of CSOM. Empirical treatment may not be successful in all cases because of emergence of resistant organisms. Hence it is advisable to do antibiogram before starting the treatment.


This contribution addresses the realization of angles-only relative navigation systems as means to approach noncooperative target objects flying in low Earth orbits. Based on the recent in-flight experience collected during the AVANTI (Autonomous Vision Approach Navigation and Target Identification) demonstration, a critical comparison between spaceborne and ground-based design philosophies is drawn. Focus is given on the motivations behind the choice of the employed techniques, as well as on the consequent attainable performances. A pure vision-based angles-only approach, in fact, represents an appealing strategy for future on-orbit servicing and debris removal missions, since it requires simply a passive camera as sensing instrument. However, this comes at the cost of a weakly observable relative orbit determination problem, which demands special care, especially during autonomous operations.
For the first time in space applications, AVANTI demonstrated the capability to autonomously navigate towards a fully noncooperative target satellite in low Earth orbit making use of angles-only measurements from 50km to circa 50m of inter-satellite separation range. Within AVANTI, the DLR Earth-observation BIROS spacecraft performed far- to mid-range proximity operations with respect to the BEESAT-4 one-unit CubeSat (Berlin Technical University), released in orbit on the 9th of September 2016, by means of a single picosatellite launcher device. To meet these goals, AVANTI employed the star-tracker embarked on BIROS as far-range camera to take images of portions of the sky and autonomously carried out onboard the following activities: image processing and target identification to provide the angles-measurements of the line-of-sight to the target; real-time relative navigation using an extended Kalman filter and computation of the required impulsive maneuvers' profile to perform a rendezvous in a safe, fuel efficient manner.
The peculiarity of the AVANTI demonstration compared to the formation-flying missions flown so far in low Earth orbit is that it was confronted to an incontrovertible noncooperative scenario. Although BEESAT-4 embarks a Phoenix GPS receiver, in fact, such device was not yet commissioned and, therefore, not operating by the time when AVANTI took place. Radar-tracking observations could not be used when the satellites were separated by less than 5 km, due to the impossibility to distinguish the signals emitted from the two spacecraft. Two-line elements, which generally are not accurate enough to support close-range proximity operations, are also affected by the same problem at close range. Thus, the only observations available during AVANTI were the pictures collected by BIROS's star-tracker, and consequently, the only way to monitor and cross-evaluate the behavior of the spaceborne solution was to re-process such measurements a-posteriori on-ground. Contrary to the onboard unit, the ground-based navigation system could benefit from the availability of calibrated maneuvers from GPS-based precise absolute orbit determination, and, of course, from the presence of man in-the-loop. In addition, alternative image processing and filter techniques (i.e., iterative and/or batch schemes) could be employed, given the lack of real-time and computational resources constraints.
Regarding both spaceborne and ground-based navigation systems, AVANTI capitalizes the experience already collected in 2012 using the PRISMA formation flying testbed. At that time, the so-called ARGON (Advanced Rendezvous demonstration using GPS and Optical Navigation) experiment had already tackled the problem of angle-only relative navigation by making a ground-in-the-loop approach to a target using optical methods. With respect to such achievements, AVANTI demanded an increased level of complexity to cope with a more challenging mission scenario. Contrary to ARGON which, thanks to the dusk-dawn orbit of PRISMA, benefited from optimal illumination conditions, AVANTI experienced frequent and extended interruptions of visual tracking.
Such irregular visibility conditions derive by the fact that the target and chaser spacecraft are eclipsed by Earth during a large part of their orbit and on the other hand the camera becomes blinded by the Sun during another large part of the orbit. In addition, BIROS flies at a low altitude (500 km) inducing a strong unknown differential drag which has to be estimated as part of the orbit determination. Combined with the fact that the picosatellite is a tiny object and that the problem is weakly observable, these constraints make the angles-only relative orbit determination very challenging.
Despite all the aforementioned difficulties, flight data show that the filter design retained for AVANTI was perfectly suited for the needs of the experiment. Two approaches have been performed autonomously: from 13 km to 1 km (Nov 19-23, 2016) and from 3 km to 30 m (Nov 25-28, 2016). Initialized from the ground with a reasonably good guess of the relative state, the filter was able to support the onboard controller with a navigation solution accurate at the meter level in the lateral direction and to about 10% of the inter-satellite separation in the boresight direction.
Considering different stages of experiment commissioning, and phases with rising levels of autonomy, almost two months of flight data support the proposed analysis. Indeed AVANTI demonstrated the viability of the angles-only navigation approach in a general, and thus extremely representative, orbit scenario. Nevertheless, the Authors shed light on critical points still deserving improvements and propose a critical assessment of the performances achievable in flight.


The quality of additive manufacturing (AM) built parts is highly correlated to the melt pool characteristics. Hence, melt pool monitoring and control can potentially improve the AM part quality. This paper presents a neighboring-effect modeling method (NBEM) that uses a scan strategy to predict melt pool size. The prediction model can further assist in scan strategy optimization and real-time process control. The structure of the proposed model is formulated based on the physical principles of melt pool formation, while experimental data are used to identify the optimal coefficients. Compared to the traditional power-velocity prediction models, the NBEM model introduces the cumulative neighboring-effect factors as additional input variables. These factors represent the neighborhood impact of scan path on the focal point melt pool formation from time and distance perspective. Two experiments use different scan strategies to collect in situ measurements of the melt pool size for model construction and validation. By introducing the neighboring-effect factors, the global normalized root-mean-square Error (NRMSE) is improved from around 0.10 to 0.08. More importantly, the local NRMSE of irregular melt pool area prediction is improved to around 0.15 for more than 50% improvement. The case studies verify that the proposed method can predict the melt pool variations by seamlessly integrating scan strategy considerations.


Abstract
A strain of Zika virus (P6-740) was isolated from one of 58 pools of 1,277 Aedes aegypti mosquitoes collected in cities and towns of peninsular Malaya. The mosquitoes in the positive pool were collected from shop houses in Bentong, a small town in West Central Malaya. No strains of Zika virus were isolated from 59 pools of 4,492 Aedes albopictus collected in suburban and rural areas and in rubber plantations, nor from any of 179 pools of 27,636 mosquitoes of 23 other Aedes species collected in rural areas, rain forests, mangrove swamps, and fresh-water swamp forests throughout Malaya. P6-740 was readily identified as a strain of Zika virus by the use of antiserum from monkeys in the standard hemagglutination-inhibition test and the plaque-reduction neutralization test in Vero cell cultures. Specific identification of P6-740 as Zika virus was also made in cross-neutralization tests in mice with hyperimmune mouse serum prepared to itself, Zika, Spondweni, and other group B arboviruses. The latter method, however, was less specific than the plaque-reduction neutralization test for comparison of Zika and Spondweni viruses.


This is one of two papers commissioned by the International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium on various aspects related to the agricultural sector of a prospective North American Free Trade Agreement. The companion paper to this one has been prepared by a working group chaired by Richard Barichello, University of British Columbia. To minimize duplication with the Barichello paper this paper has given greater attention to the role of Mexico, currency exchange rates, and explicit modeling of the trade relationship.


In this paper, we analyse the development of corporate environmental management systems through the core elements of the emerging evolutionary theory of the firm. The environmental management process means a process by which organisations change their structures and cultures as a result of an interlinked effort of individual learning and organisational transformation. We propose that effective environmental management capacities derive primarily from the adaptation of three constitutive mechanisms of firms: the coordination mechanisms, the cognitive mechanisms and the incentive mechanisms. Our theoretical results are supported by case studies in 12 industrial firms located in France (Alsace) and in Germany (Baden-Wurtemberg).


The domain of public economics is increasing as governments' policy goal is shifting from economic development to sustainable development. Government has to act as a trustee representing future generations, and public policies must balance and integrate the three pillars (economic, social and environmental) of sustainable development, recognizing the ecological limits to growth. As per the UN development Agenda, sustainable development goals (SDGs) are meant for the period 2015-2030.This paper reviews the global concerns about ecological limits and the need for global partnership and considers the preparatory steps for adoption of SDGs and the means of implementation.


Abstract To obtain the probability distribution of the burst waiting time of neutron initiation in a multiplying assembly, a method that simulates the neutrons that induce a persistent fission chain is introduced in this paper. By this simulation method, neutron initiation experiments performed on Godiva-II and CFBR-II at a reactivity above prompt critical and performed on Godiva-I at a reactivity above delayed critical are studied. The probability density function of the burst waiting time of these experiments is calculated, and the results agree well with those of the experiments. Based on this simulation algorithm, the strength of the delayed neutron source changing with time is also calculated, which helps in the understanding of these neutron initiation experiments conducted on the pulse reactor.


Our initial understanding of the flow of protein-encoding genetic information, DNA to RNA to protein, a process defined as the "central dogma of molecular biology", was eventually amended to account for the information back-flow from RNA to DNA (reverse transcription), and for its "side-flow" from RNA to RNA (RNA-dependent RNA synthesis, RdRs). These processes, both potentially leading to protein production, were described only in viral systems, and although putative RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) was shown to be present, and RdRs to occur, in most, if not all, mammalian cells, its function was presumed to be restricted to regulatory. Here we report the occurrence of protein-encoding RNA to RNA information transfer in mammalian cells. We describe below the detection, by next generation sequencing (NGS), of a chimeric doublestranded/pinhead intermediate containing both sense and antisense globin RNA strands covalently joined in a predicted and uniquely defined manner, whose cleavage at the pinhead would result in the generation of an endproduct containing the intact coding region of the original mRNA. We also describe the identification of the putative end product of RNA-dependent globin mRNA amplification. It is heavily modified, uniformly truncated at both untranslated regions (UTRs), terminates with the OH group at the 5' end, consistent with a cleavagegenerated 5' terminus, and its massive cellular amount is unprecedented for a conventional mRNA transcription product. It also translates in a cell-free system into polypeptides indistinguishable from the translation product of conventional globin mRNA. The physiological significance of the mammalian mRNA amplification, which might operate during terminal differentiation and in the production of highly abundant rapidly generated proteins such as some collagens or other components of extracellular matrix, with every genome-originated mRNA molecule acting as a potential template, as well as possible implications, including physiologically occurring intracellular PCR process, iPCR, are discussed in the paper.


Because of the Japanese (1592–1598), and Manchu (1627, 1636–1637), invasions, the seventeenth century was a turning point in the Neo-Confucian transformation of Chosŏn dynasty. Changes and continuities in Korean society and families can be seen in household registers published in the seventeenth century. Occupational records and family structures from the top to the bottom of society show that social hierarchies and governmental systems were well preserved even after the invasions. This study also highlights the value of household registers as a primary
historical source for the study of Korean social and family history.


With the global aerosol-climate model ECHAM5HAM we investigate the potential influence of organic aerosol originating from the ocean on aerosol mass and chemical composition and the droplet concentration and size of marine clouds. We present sensitivity simulations in which the uptake of organic matter in the marine aerosol is prescribed for each aerosol mode with varying organic mass and mixing state, and with a geographical distribution and seasonality similar to the oceanic emission of dimethyl sulfide. Measurements of aerosol mass, aerosol chemical composition and cloud drop effective radius are used to assess the representativity of the model initializations. Good agreement with the measurements is obtained when organic matter is added to the Aitken, accumulation and coarse modes simultaneously. Representing marine organics in the model leads to higher cloud drop number concentrations and thus smaller cloud drop effective radii, and this improves the agreement with measurements. The mixing state of the organics and the other aerosol matter, i.e. internal or external depending on the formation process of aerosol organics, is an important factor for this. We estimate that globally about 75 Tg C yr −1 of organic matter from marine origin enters the aerosol phase, with comparable contributions from primary emissions and secondary organic aerosol formation.


Research has shown that learning disabilities are associated with internalizing problems in (pre)adolescents. In order to examine this relationship for math disability (MD), math achievement and internalizing problem scores were measured in a representative group of 1,436 (pre)adolescents. MD was defined by a discrepancy between math achievement and IQ. Internalizing problems were measured through a multi-informant (parents, teachers, self-report) approach. The results revealed that MD puts (pre)adolescents at a higher risk for internalizing problems. External and self-ratings differed between boys and girls, indicating that either they show distinct internalizing symptoms or they are being perceived differently by parents and teachers. Results emphasize the importance of both a multi-informant approach and the consideration of gender differences when measuring internalizing symptomatology of children with MD. For an optimal treatment of MD, depressive and anxious symptoms need to be considered.


THE SYNERGISTIC EFFECT OF PULSED ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND DEMINERALIZED BONE MATRIX ON THE OSTEOGENIC DIFFERENTIATION OF MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS by John Manocchio Orthopaedic bone grafting continues to be a mainstay in the treatment of non unions and other difficult to heal bone defects. Tissue engineering strategies have focused on providing bone graft materials that are osteoconductive, osteoinductive and osteogenic in order to achieve optimal bone healing. Furthermore, electrical stimulation technologies such as pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) have been used to enhance the effectiveness of bone graft materials. PEMF has been shown to have a synergistic effect with BMP-2 and it was hypothesized that PEMF would have the same effect with demineralized bone matrix (DBM). In the present study human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) were seeded on DBM scaffolds in the presence of PEMF to determine if an increased osteogenic response could be induced. hMSCs were harvested from scaffolds at 5, 7, 14, and 21 days and osteogenic differentiation was assessed by testing for expression of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin. Results demonstrated that PEMF was able to induce an increased osteogenic response throughout the 21 day culture. ALP and osteocalcin were significantly increased for PEMF treated groups at the earlier day 7 timepoint. DBM contains several osteoinductive growth factors and BMPs including BMP-2. The synergistic response seen between PEMF and DBM was most likely attributed to the osteoinductive factors found in DBM. THE SYNERGISTIC EFFECT OF PULSED ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELDS AND DEMINERALIZED BONE MATRIX ON THE OSTEOGENIC DIFFERENTIATION OF MESENCHYMAL STEM CELLS


Radial convection of isolated filamentary structures due to interchange motions in magnetized plasmas is investigated. Following a basic discussion of vorticity generation, ballooning, and the role of sheaths, a two-field interchange model is studied by means of numerical simulations on a biperiodic domain perpendicular to the magnetic field. It is demonstrated that a blob-like plasma structure develops dipolar vorticity and electrostatic potential fields, resulting in rapid radial acceleration and formation of a steep front and a trailing wake. While the dynamical evolution strongly depends on the amount of collisional diffusion and viscosity, the structure travels a radial distance many times its initial size in all parameter regimes in the absence of sheath dissipation. In the ideal limit, there is an inertial scaling for the maximum radial velocity of isolated filaments. This velocity scales as the acoustic speed times the square root of the structure size relative to the length scale of the magnetic field. The plasma filament eventually decelerates due to mixing and collisional dissipation. Finally, the role of sheath dissipation is investigated. When included in the simulations, it significantly reduces the radial velocity of isolated filaments. The results are discussed in the context of convective transport in scrape-off layer plasmas, comprising both blob-like structures in low confinement modes and edge localized mode filaments in unstable high confinement regimes.


Originally developed for software development, Agile approaches are increasingly adopted by organizations that seek flexibility in the face of rapid change. However, little attention has been paid to the potential negative consequences of the implementation of Agile in large-scale settings. This article presents the results of a multi-site study of a multinational telecom company over five years during its implementation of Agile practices in the context of large-scale software development. The article points to six potential pitfalls of implementing such practices that may negatively influence individual learning, ideation, and exploitation capabilities. It offers advice on how to avoid these consequences in large, established firms.


Commercial food outlets in the UK are responsible for 3% of the UK total energy consumption, with refrigeration systems account for 29% of this total. This highlights the potential and importance of huge energy saving within commercial refrigeration systems. In this paper, a validated model that simulates a commercial refrigeration system installed over 2000 sq. ft to mimic a real express store installed at the Riseholme Refrigeration Research Centre at the University of Lincoln, UK, is developed and presented. The detailed modeling of the display case using a temperature model comprising of three states includes air inside the display case, products, and the evaporator. Additionally, the model presents a holistic view of the whole system with each subsystem cohesively linked together. Further focus has been given on the high-temperature (HT) system due to the high level of installations of this system found in retail commercial refrigeration stores as well as low-temperature (LT) systems featuring doors which decrease the heat transfer from the store into the cases. It is concluded that the trends of the simulation results for the display case temperatures, expansion valve opening degree, suction line pressures, and compressors power consumption, all have high resemblance to the trends of collected data obtained from the Riseholme Refrigeration Research Centre. This supports the validation of the developed model.


DNA replication is initiated through the assembly of prereplication complexes (pre-RCs); replication does not occur in quiescent cells and is limited to once per cell cycle because, outside of the G1 phase of the cell cycle, inhibitors prevent assembly of the pre-RC. During G1, APCCdh1 (the form of the anaphase-promoting complex E3 ubiquitin ligase that contains Cdh1) targets the pre-RC assembly inhibitors geminin and cyclin A for degradation. Paradoxically, however, APCCdh1 targets Cdc6, which is essential to pre-RC assembly, for destruction as well (see Ayad). Mailand and Diffley noted that, in cultured human cells treated with the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor roscovitine, Cdc6 abundance was reduced, whereas the abundance of geminin and cyclin A was unaffected. Knockdown of Cdk2 with small interfering RNA (siRNA) also decreased Cdc6 abundance. Roscovitine accelerated Cdc6 degradation, as did depletion of Cdk2 or cyclins E1 and E2, whereas overexpression of cyclin E (which forms an active CDK complex with Cdk2) promoted Cdc6 accumulation. Mutational analysis indicated that the effects of cyclin E on Cdc6 stability depended on Cdc6 phosphorylation. Cdc6 phosphorylation inhibited its APCCdh1-dependent ubiquitination and degradation; further, whereas wild-type Cdc-6 or an unphosphorylatable mutant coimmunoprecipitated with Cdh1, a phospho-mimicking Cdc6 mutant did not. In serum-starved (noncycling) cells, Cdc6, geminin, and cyclin A were undetectable. After serum stimulation, and reentry into the cell cycle, Cdc6 abundance increased 3 to 4 hours before the other APCCdh1 targets became detectable. When Cdc6 was detected, it was phosphorylated, and cyclin E-associated kinase activity appeared simultaneously with Cdc6. Thus, the authors propose that, after entry into the cell cycle, cyclin E-Cdk2-dependent phosphorylation of Cdc6 allows it to accumulate (and promote pre-RC assembly) before inactivation of APCCdh1 and the ensuing accumulation of pre-RC assembly inhibitors such as geminin and cyclin A. N. Mailand, J. F. X. Diffley, CDKs promote DNA replication origin licensing in human cells by protecting Cdc6 from APC/C-dependent proteolysis. Cell 122, 915-926 (2005). [PubMed] N. G. Ayad, CDKs give Cdc6 a license to drive into S phase. Cell 122, 825-827 (2005). [PubMed]


This article challenges the prevailing definition of diversity in schools. Borrowing from legal theorist Heather Gerken, it argues that diversity is best understood not simply as a rationale for creating integrated spaces, but also [dis]integrated ones, places where minority students and faculty can occupy majority positions, and are able to exercise majority control. Such spaces serve legitimate pedagogical goals that are different from those associated with statistical integration, and therefore warrant consideration by courts tasked with reviewing the use of race in university admissions.


Spiking neural networks (SNNs) with the event-driven manner of transmitting spikes consume ultra-low power on neuromorphic chips. However, training deep SNNs is still challenging compared to convolutional neural networks (CNNs). The SNN training algorithms have not achieved the same performance as CNNs. In this letter, we aim to understand the intrinsic limitations of SNN training to design better algorithms. First, the pros and cons of typical SNN training algorithms are analyzed. Then it is found that the spatiotemporal backpropagation algorithm (STBP) has potential in training deep SNNs due to its simplicity and fast convergence. Later, the main bottlenecks of the STBP algorithm are analyzed, and three conditions for training deep SNNs with the STBP algorithm are derived. By analyzing the connection between CNNs and SNNs, we propose a weight initialization algorithm to satisfy the three conditions. Moreover, we propose an error minimization method and a modified loss function to further improve the training performance. Experimental results show that the proposed method achieves 91.53% accuracy on the CIFAR10 data set with 1% accuracy increase over the STBP algorithm and decreases the training epochs on the MNIST data set to 15 epochs (over 13 times speed-up compared to the STBP algorithm). The proposed method also decreases classification latency by over 25 times compared to the CNN-SNN conversion algorithms. In addition, the proposed method works robustly for very deep SNNs, while the STBP algorithm fails in a 19-layer SNN.


Classical theories of skill acquisition propose that automatization (i.e., performance requires progressively less attention as experience is acquired) is a defining characteristic of expertise in a variety of domains (e.g., Fitts & Posner, 1967). Automaticity is believed to enhance smooth and efficient skill execution by allowing performers to focus on strategic elements of performance rather than on the mechanical details that govern task implementation (Williams & Ford, 2008). By contrast, conscious processing (i.e., paying conscious attention to one's action during motor execution) has been found to disrupt skilled movement and performance proficiency (e.g., Beilock & Carr, 2001). On the basis of this evidence, researchers have tended to extol the virtues of automaticity. However, few researchers have considered the wide range of empirical evidence which indicates that highly automated behaviors can, on occasion, lead to a series of errors that may prove deleterious to skilled performance. Therefore, the purpose of the current paper is to highlight the perils, rather than the virtues, of automaticity. We draw on Reason's (1990) classification scheme of everyday errors to show how an overreliance on automated procedures may lead to 3 specific performance errors (i.e., mistakes, slips, and lapses) in a variety of skill domains (e.g., sport, dance, music). We conclude by arguing that skilled performance requires the dynamic interplay of automatic processing and conscious processing in order to avoid performance errors and to meet the contextually contingent demands that characterize competitive environments in a range of skill domains.


Although norepinephrine is generally accepted to play a role in the adverse effects of opiate withdrawal, its role in mediating the rewarding and stimulatory effects of opiates remains controversial. Olson et al. discovered that genetically engineered mice unable to synthesize norepinephrine because of a targeted disruption of the dopamine β-hydroxylase (DBH) gene appear totally blind to morphine reward, as measured in a conditioned place preference test. Importantly, sensitivity to morphine reward was completely rescued by restoration of DBH expression in a specific set of neurons. V. G. Olson, C. L. Heusner, R. J. Bland, M. J. During, D. Weinshenker, R. D. Palmiter, Role of noradrenergic signaling by the nucleus tractus solitarius in mediating opiate reward. Science 311, 1017-1020 (2006). [Abstract] [Full Text]


This paper describes a novel negotiation protocol for cellular networks, which intelligently improves the performance of the network. Our proposed reactive mechanism enables the dynamic adaptation of the base stations to continuous changes in service demands, thereby improving the overall network performance. This mechanism is important when a frequent global optimization is infeasible or substantially costly. The proposed local negotiation mechanism is incorporated into a simulated network based on cutting-edge industry technologies. Experimental results suggest a rapid adjustment to changes in bandwidth demand and over-all improvement in the number of served users over time. Although we tested our algorithm based on the service level, which is measured as the number of covered handsets, our algorithm supports negotiation for any set of parameters, aiming to optimize network's performance according to any measure of performance specified by the service provider.


Pronunciation, long on the periphery of applied linguistics research and pedagogy, continues to grow in importance because of its central roles in speech recognition, speech perception, and speaker identity. Pronunciation-related issues such as comprehensibility, accent, and the mutual intelligibility of varieties of world Englishes are central to many questions in applied linguistics. This calls for a sophisticated understanding of how technological tools that have long been used to shed light on phonological categories can be applied to teaching. Research into computer-assisted pronunciation teaching (CAPT) suggests that both researchers and pronunciation teachers increasingly make use of technology to answer key questions, to ensure that claims are defensible, and to develop theories and practices that more closely match acoustic reality. This article reviews three key areas where computer technology and pronunciation intersect: (1) appropriate pedagogical goals and the measurement of improvement; (2) the ability of CAPT to give useful, automatic feedback; and (3) the use of technology in diagnosing pronunciation errors. This article concludes with recommendations for key technological competencies needed by any researcher or teacher who examines pronunciation-related issues.


The use of dielectrophoresis for the construction of artificial skin tissue with skin cells in follicle-like 3D cell aggregates in well-defined patterns is demonstrated. To analyse the patterns produced and to study their development after their formation a Virtual Instrument (VI) system was developed using the LabVIEW IMAQ Vision Development Module. A series of programming functions (algorithms) was used to isolate the features on the image (in our case; the patterned aggregates) and separate them from all other unwanted regions on the image. The image was subsequently converted into a binary version, covering only the desired microarray regions which could then be analysed by computer for automatic object measurements. The analysis utilized the simple and easy-to-use User-Specified Multi-Regions Masking (MRM) technique, which allows one to concentrate the analysis on the desired regions specified in the mask. This simplified the algorithms for the analysis of images of cell arrays having similar geometrical properties. By having a collection of scripts containing masks of different patterns, it was possible to quickly and efficiently develop sets of custom virtual instruments for the offline or online analysis of images of cell arrays in the database.


BACKGROUND
Whether smokers and former smokers have worse lipid profiles or glucose levels than non-smokers remains unclear.

METHODS
The subjects were 1152 Japanese males aged 42 to 81 years. The subjects were divided according to their smoking habits (nonsmokers, former smokers, and current smokers) and their visceral fat area (VFA) (<100 cm(2) and ≥100 cm(2)).

RESULTS
The serum triglyceride (TG) levels of 835 males were assessed. In the VFA ≥100 cm(2) group, a significantly greater proportion of current smokers (47.3%) exhibited TG levels of ≥150 mg/dL compared with former smokers (36.4%) and non-smokers (18.8%). The difference in TG level distribution between former smokers and non-smokers was also significant. However, among the subjects with VFA of <100 cm(2), the TG levels of the three smoking habit groups did not differ. The serum hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels of 877 males were also assessed. In the VFA <100 cm(2) group, significantly higher proportions of current smokers (17.9%) and former smokers (14.9%) demonstrated HbA1c levels of ≥5.6% compared with non-smokers (6.3%). In contrast, in the VFA ≥100 cm(2) group, significantly fewer former smokers displayed HbA1c levels of ≥5.6% compared with non-smokers and current smokers. Furthermore, the interaction between smoking habits and VFA was associated with the subjects' TG and HbA1c concentrations, and the associations of TG and HbA1c concentrations and smoking habits varied according to VFA.

CONCLUSIONS
Both smoking habits and VFA exhibited associations with TG and HbA1c concentrations. The associations between smoking habits and these parameters differed according to VFA.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship between weight change and duration of overweight and obesity and the incidence of type 2 diabetes in a cohort of middle-aged British men.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
We carried out a prospective study of cardiovascular disease in men aged 40-59 years at screening (1978-1980), drawn from one general practice in 24 British towns, who completed a postal questionnaire 5 years later (Q5) and for whom data on BMI at year 1 (Q1) and Q5 were available (n = 7,100). Men with diabetes at Q1 or Q5 and men with hyperglycemia at Q1 were excluded from the study (n = 184). The main outcome measure was type 2 diabetes (physician-diagnosed) during a mean follow-up period of 12 years starting at Q5 (1983-1985).

RESULTS
In the 6,916 men with no history or evidence of diabetes, there were 237 incident cases of type 2 diabetes during the mean follow-up period of 12 years, a rate of 3.2/1,000 person-years. Substantial weight gain (>10%) was associated with a significant increase in risk of type 2 diabetes compared with that in men with stable weight (relative risk [RR] 1.61 [95% CI 1.01-2.56]) after adjustment for age, initial BMI, and other risk factors. Excluding men who developed diabetes within 4 years after the period of weight change increased the risk further (1.81 [1.09-3.00]). After adjustment and exclusion of men who developed diabetes early in the follow-up, weight loss (> or =4%) was associated with a reduction in the risk of type 2 diabetes, compared with that in the stable group, that reached marginal significance (0.65 [0.42-1.03], P = 0.07). A test for trend that fitted weight change as a continuous covariate showed the risk of diabetes to increase significantly from maximum weight loss to maximum weight gain (P = 0.0009). The lower risk associated with weight loss was seen in obese (> or =28 kg/m2) and nonobese subjects and in men with normal (<6.1 mmol/l) and high (> or =6.1 mmol/l) nonfasting blood glucose levels. Although not statistically significant, this is consistent with a benefit from weight loss. Risk of type 2 diabetes increased progressively and significantly with increasing levels of initial BMI and also with the duration of overweight and obesity (P<0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS
This study confirms the critical importance of overweight and obesity, particularly of long duration, in the development of type 2 diabetes. The data support current public health recommendations to reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes by preventing weight gain in middle-aged men who are not overweight and by encouraging weight loss in overweight and obese men.


Introductions: Empowerment of women is the process by which women gain power and control over their own lives and acquire the ability to make  choices and decisions. It influences the direction of social change and create a healthy life of self as well as for family. This study aimed to assess the level of empowerment of married women and association with demographic variables.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among married women with children and living with husband, at Kumbhesor 'tole' (community) in ward number 11 of Lalitpur Metropolitan City in Kathmandu valley, Nepal, during Jul-Aug 2017. Purposive sampling technique was used. Data were collected through interview using structured questionnaire by door to door visit in community.
Results: Total 170 women were interviewed. High level empowerment (score >70%) was seen in 111 (64.5%) and low level empowerment (score ≤50%) in 9 (5.5%) women. Overall empowerment was 75.7±12.3, highest in the dimension of 'health care decision making' (82.3±10.5), lowest in 'educational decision making' 59.8±21.6. Family type, respondents' and husband's educational status had significant association with empowerment.
Conclusions: The finding showed that most of the married women in urban community had high empowerment with highest decision making power on health care dimension. Family type and educational status of women and husband were associated factors.


Familism, a Latino value that promotes loyalty, cohesiveness, and obedience within the family, predicts improved outcomes for Latino adolescents. However, few studies have tested whether familism serves a protective role when adolescents are facing stress. We examined whether familism predicted psychosocial outcomes in the context of stress, and whether familism moderated the relationship between peer discrimination, acculturative stress, and economic stress predicting these outcomes in a sample of 173 Latino adolescents. Familism was associated with fewer depressive symptoms and greater school attachment, but it did not moderate the relationship between any of the stressors and outcomes. Discrimination was associated with greater depressive symptoms, worse school attachment, and greater perceived barriers to college, but socioeconomic stress and acculturation stress did not uniquely predict these outcomes once taking into account discrimination. Thus, although familial culture values lead to improved outcomes in youth, they are unable to counter the detrimental effects of discrimination.


This report presents a North/South profile of physical and mental health, lifestyles and the experience of health services. It was commissioned by the Department of Health and Children and compares health and lifestyles in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland using the population surveys Slan 2007 and NIHSWS 2005.Some of the key findings from the report show that: Almost twice as many women in Northern Ireland (30%) had been tested for cervical cancer in the previous 12 months compared to the Republic (16%). Women in higher social classes in the Republic were significantly more likely to have been tested than women in lower social classes; A statistically significant higher percentage of respondents in the Republic of Ireland (29%) were current smokers compared to Northern Ireland (26%);  One-quarter of respondents in both Northern Ireland (25%) and the Republic (24%) were classified as 'obese' according to their BMI. A further 36% in Northern Ireland and 39% in the Republic were 'overweight'. In Northern Ireland, one-fifth of respondents (19%) reported drinking above the recommended upper limit (i.e. 14 units of alcohol for women, 21 units of alcohol for men) compared to one in 10 respondents in the Republic of Ireland (10%).


In meteor-burst communications systems, the channel is bursty with a continuously fluctuating signal-to-noise ratio. Adaptive data rate systems attempt to use the channel more optimally by varying the bit rate. Current adaptive rate systems use a method of closed-loop decision-feedback to control the transmitted data rate. It is proposed that an open-loop adaptive data rate system without a decision feedback path may be possible using implicit channel information carried in the first few milliseconds of the link establishment probe signal. The system would have primary application in low-cost half-duplex telemetry systems. It is shown that the key elements in such a system would be channel predictors. The development of these predictors is the focus of this research. Two novel methods of predicting channel parameters are developed. The first utilises early fast Doppler information that precedes many long duration, large signal-to-noise-ratio overdense trails. The presence of early fast Doppler at the trail commencement is used as a toggle to operate at a higher data rate. Factors influencing the use of early fast Doppler for this purpose are also presented. The second method uses artificial neural networks. Data measured during trail formation is processed and presented to the neural networks for prediction of trail parameters. Several successful neural networks are presented which predict trail type, underdense or overdense, and peak trail amplitude from the first 50ms of the trail's lifetime. This method allows better estimation of the developing trail. This fact can be used to implement a multi-rate open-loop adaptive data rate system.


A common robust topology optimization is formulated as a weighted sum of expected and variance of the objective functions for the given uncertainties. This has recently been applied to topology optimization with uncertainties in loading, [1]. Figure 1(a) shows the Pareto front of solutions found using uniformly distributed weightings. This front suffers from crowding for weight values 0.625. In the general case, the two goals of multi-objective optimization are; to find the most diverse set of Pareto optimal solutions, and, to discover solutions as close as possible to the true Pareto front. This paper presents schemes to achieve both these goals.


Security is amongst one of the major issues in Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) Networks. After the launch of the IEEE 802.16 standard (WiMAX), a number of security issues were reported in several articles. Ever since the beginning, work has been in progress for the neutralization of these identified threats. In this paper, the analysis of the authentication protocols implemented in WiMAX has been presented along with the description of the threats posed to them. An approach has also been presented for the prevention of these threats like the avoidance of replay; suppress replay and man-in-the-middle attacks. The proposed approach enhances the network security.


We examined the aspirations expressed by 7-year-olds in association with their emotional and behavioural problems, based on data from 12,014 children in the UK's Millennium Cohort Study (MCS). We classified their written responses to the question 'when you grow up, what would you like to be' as aspirations for rare (34.7%) or non-rare (56.8%) occupations, fantasy aspirations (1.1%), aspirations for non-work related future states (2.3%), and uncertain aspirations (5.1%). Most children had occupational aspirations, suggesting that at age 7, children already envisage future careers. Though few had fantasy occupations, which are more common in younger children, many gave unrealistic answers which are more developmentally typical for 7-year-olds.  Children with fantasy aspirations at age 7 were more hyperactive, and had more conduct and peer problems.  Having non-work-related and uncertain aspirations at this age was not associated with adverse outcomes. Compared to children who aspired to rare occupations, those who aspired to non-rare occupations had more emotional and peer problems.  Children with ambitions for rare occupations may have higher self-efficacy and believe they can influence their choices. These findings were robust to adjustment for earlier emotional and behavioural problems, verbal cognitive ability, ethnicity, family structure, social class and poverty, and maternal education and depressed mood.


ABSTRACT Although research indicates that treatment-induced improvements in self-regulation, mood, and self-efficacy significantly predict increased exercise and improved eating, moderation by participants' personal characteristics is largely unknown. Severely obese adults (N = 414; 47% White, 53% African American) volunteered for a behavioral exercise and nutrition treatment and demonstrated significant within-group improvements in self-efficacy for exercise, self-regulation for exercise, mood, self-efficacy for controlled eating, self-regulation for controlled eating, exercise volume, and fruit and vegetable intake over 26 weeks. After testing age, sex, and race/ethnicity as possible moderators of the prediction of changes in exercise volume and fruit and vegetable consumption by changes in self-regulation, mood, and self-efficacy, only age significantly moderated change in volume of exercise. Implications for theory and treatment were discussed.


Although some evidence exists to support the use of clinical factors such as performance status and weight loss to predict response and toxicity to therapy in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients, researchers have shown little prospective data on the use of molecular markers to facilitate selection of specific chemotherapy or new molecularly targeted agents in this patient population. Breast cancer exemplifies the growing role that molecular markers are playing, not only as prognostic factors, but also in predicting response to targeted treatments such as hormonal therapy, and more recently, trastuzumab (Herceptin). Although several studies have examined molecular markers in lung cancer and have shown promising potential value, these studies were retrospective and require prospective validation. To identify molecular markers that reliably predict response and to be able to individualize cytotoxic and targeted therapy for NSCLC patients are the ultimate goals of future trials. This article focuses on a selected number of promising markers under study in lung cancer, including those thought to play roles in response to DNA damaging chemotherapy (excision repair cross-complementing [ERCC1], xeroderma pigmentosum group D [XPD]), taxane resistance (beta-tubulin III), antimetabolite therapy (RRM1), irinotecan metabolism (UGT1A1) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) pathway inhibition. To date, none of these markers can be recommended for routine use in clinical practice.


We describe modifications of two current genomic DNA purification systems to address researchers' needs for automated plant genomic DNA purification. We have developed methods in a 96-well format to obtain greater than 1μg of genomic DNA from leaf or seed as well as methods to obtain a specific yield of genomic DNA from plant tissue. These methods improve productivity by providing sufficient DNA for multiple assays from a single purification or by obtaining a fixed yield of DNA, eliminating the need to quantitate and normalize before an assay.


Escherichia coli ST131 is a pandemic clone with high antibiotic resistance, and it is a major causative agent of urinary tract infection (UTI) and bloodstream infections. This study evaluated the distribution and expression of virulence genes and genotyping of E. coli O25b/ST131 by Multi-locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) method among UTI in patients at Tehran hospitals, Iran. A total of 107 E. coli isolates were collected from UTI patients. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the pabB gene was used to identify E. coli O25b/ST131 and the prevalence of sat and hlyA virulence genes was also analyzed. The microtiter method quantified biofilm formation ability in E. coli O25b/ST131. The Real-Time PCR (qRT-PCR) was performed to evaluate the expression of sat and hlyA genes. Finally, MLVA was performed for E. coli O25b/ST131 genotyping by targeting seven tandem repeats. SPSS-16 software was used for statistical analysis. Molecular study showed that 71% of isolates carried the pabB gene and were considered E. coli O25b/ST131 strains. Also, 45.8% and 17.8% of isolates carried sat and hlyA genes, respectively. The 57.9% isolates had biofilm formation ability. Expression of the studied virulence genes showed an increase in strong biofilm producing E. coli O25b/ST131 strains. A total of 76 (100%) E. coli O25b/ST131 strains were typed by the MLVA method. High prevalence of E. coli O25b/ST131 isolates in UTI patients can be a serious warning to the treatment due to the high antibiotic resistance rate, expression of virulence genes, and biofilm formation.


Official mortality statistics show that each year in England and Wales approximately 4,000 people take their own lives. By universal assent this figure understates the true incidence of suicide although to what extent remains unclear. Hospitals provide care for nearly 2,000 cases of deliberate non-fatal self-poisoning every week. In addition an unknown percentage of the remaining 321,500 (1977 data) annual hospital admissions among those aged 15 years and over for other injuries and reactions involves some element of self-damaging intent as does an even more elusive proportion of the poisoning and wounds seen only by general practitioners or not brought to medical attention at all. Until very recently the number of completed suicides has tended to stabilise or even fall whilst the annual incidence of non-fatal deliberate self-harm has increased at an alarming rate. The division of intentionally self-harmful behaviour into two discrete groups according to outcome as implied by the above statistics is, however, a potentially misleading representation of what many commentators consider to be one of the most serious of contemporary medical/social problems. Nevertheless, appreciation of the complexities involved is now substantially greater than 25 years ago. In the mid-1950s little distinction was drawn between suicide and 'attempted suicide' - the latter was simply regarded as a bungled undertaking of the former. A more perceptive interpretation emerged in 1958 with the publication of Stengel and Cook's classic paper entitled Attempted Suicide. They identified important epidemiological differences between 'attempted suicide' and completed suicide and drew attention to the critical distinction between the two groups, namely that 'the person who has attempted suicide lives on as a rule and the attempt becomes a significant event in his life and calls forth actions from the human environment'. Subsequently Kessel (1965), concerned with the emphasis on self-destruction in Stengel's approach, pointed out that in the majority of instances of so-called attempted suicide patients 'performed their acts in the belief that they were comparatively safe - aware, even in the heat of the moment, that they would survive their over-dosage and be able to disclose what they had done in good time to ensure their rescue'. Consequently he proposed that the terms 'deliberate self-poisoning' and 'deliberate self-injury' should be substituted as more appropriate descriptions of the behaviour in question. Both terms distinguish actions which are clearly not the result of an accident but at the same time avoid any suggestion that death is the desired outcome. With these advantages they became widely accepted by the end of the 1960s. In this paper nonfatal deliberate self-harm (DSH)2 will be employed to encompass both self-inflicted injury and poisoning, although, as it will become clear, the latter is the 'preferred' means in most cases coming to medical attention. The last two decades have witnessed dramatic and divergent trends in the incidence of suicide and DSH. This paper examines these developments with a view to identifying the most plausible explanations for their occurrence. Superficially it would appear that there are legitimate grounds for regarding the two types of behaviour as quite distinct phenomena. But the paper then draws on more recently derived evidence to show that from epidemiological, psychiatric, motivational and other viewpoints there are many different subgroups which, together, constitute a wide spectrum of Suicidal/DSH behaviour. Against this background the final main section evaluates the success of various strategies designed to reduce the number of individuals who deliberately harm or kill themselves each year.


In this paper,
the presence and amount of mercury and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) were
determined in 23 bluefin tuna samples collected in the spring of 2012 in Porto
Scuso (South West Sardinia, Italy) and Villa Putzu (South East Sardinia, Italy)
in order to assess the current levels of these two contaminants in fish muscle
and the consequent risk to humans consuming said fish. Values of
polychlorobiphenyls in bluefin tuna muscle vary between 0.155 and 1.403 mg/kg
f.w.; the average of PCBs in tuna muscle is 0.732 mg/kg f.w. With regard to
PCBs the presence of more elevated concentrations is confirmed in larger fish.
The results regarding mercury in muscle show an average of 0.660 mg/kg f.w. and
mercury values vary between 0.140 f.w. and 2.211 mg/kg f.w.; for mercury as
well, the highest concentrations were found in the largest bluefin tuna. Six
samples, 26% of total, contained more than 1 mg/kg f.w., which is the maximum
level set by the European Commission (EC, Regulation n. 1881/2006) for this
species. Mercury, in particular methylmercury, poses a risk to public health,
therefore, taking into account the important nutritional contribution that tuna
fish makes to the diet, it is advisable that women of childbearing age,
pregnant and breastfeeding women as well as young children strictly limit their
consumption of tuna from this area of the Mediterranean.


Geostatistics is an increasingly important tool for developing an integrated reservoir description. Though Applied Geostatistics for Reservoir Characterization is written to illustrate the importance of geostatistics in improving the reservoir characterization process, it does not require any prior knowledge of statistics or advanced mathematics. Emphasis is placed on intuitive understanding of procedure rather than on mathematical details. Each chapter has an associated appendix in which additional mathematical details are provided. Several numerical and field examples, as well as a large number of illustrations, are provided to explain the strengths and weaknesses of different methods.
 Media Resources (http://go.spe.org/AGRCmedia)


Purpose: The paper looks at the link between human capital and geographical location for the Romanian regions based on the theoretical model developed in Redding and Schott´s paper. Design/Methodology/Approach: Using 2006 data on the different educational attainment levels for the 42 Romanian regions, it identifies that the percentage of individuals with medium and high educational levels is affected positively by the regions´ market access. Findings: Doubling market access would increase the percentage of individuals with medium and high educational levels between 22-25%. Moreover, the econometric results show that between 45% and 59% of the spatial variation in human capital levels is explained by the market access variable. Practical Implications: Some policy implications to overcome the costs remoteness imposes on human capital accumulation in Romania are also drawn. Originality/Value: Romanian strategy on human resources development wants to eliminate or reduce the weaknesses. Another important challenge refers to the management of the European funds. Good managerial practices must be set up in order for the European funds to deliver the expected results and to pursue the goals established at the 2005 March Summit.


Abstract. We present 18 years (2001–2018) of aerosol measurements, including organic and
elemental carbon (OC and EC), organic tracers (levoglucosan, arabitol,
mannitol, trehalose, glucose, and 2-methyltetrols), trace elements, and ions, at
the Birkenes Observatory (southern Norway) – a site representative of the
northern European region. The OC/EC (2001–2018) and the levoglucosan
(2008–2018) time series are the longest in Europe, with OC/EC available for
the PM10, PM2.5 (fine), and PM10–2.5 (coarse) size fractions,
providing the opportunity for a nearly 2-decade-long assessment. Using
positive matrix factorization (PMF), we identify seven carbonaceous aerosol
sources at Birkenes: mineral-dust-dominated aerosol (MIN), traffic/industry-like aerosol
(TRA/IND), short-range-transported biogenic secondary organic aerosol
(BSOASRT), primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP), biomass burning aerosol
(BB), ammonium-nitrate-dominated aerosol (NH4NO3), and (one low carbon
fraction) sea salt aerosol (SS). We observed significant (p<0.05), large decreases in EC in
PM10 (−3.9 % yr−1) and PM2.5 (−4.2 % yr−1) and a
smaller decline in levoglucosan (−2.8 % yr−1), suggesting that OC/EC
from traffic and industry is decreasing, whereas the abatement of OC/EC from
biomass burning has been slightly less successful. EC abatement with respect to
anthropogenic sources is further supported by decreasing EC fractions in
PM2.5 (−3.9 % yr−1) and PM10 (−4.5 % yr−1). PMF
apportioned 72 % of EC to fossil fuel sources; this was further supported by PMF
applied to absorption photometer data, which yielded a two-factor solution
with a low aerosol Ångstrøm exponent (AAE = 0.93) fraction, assumed to
be equivalent black carbon from fossil fuel combustion (eBCFF),
contributing 78 % to eBC mass. The higher AAE fraction (AAE = 2.04) is
likely eBC from BB (eBCBB). Source–receptor model calculations
(FLEXPART) showed that continental Europe and western Russia were the main
source regions of both elevated eBCBB and eBCFF. Dominating biogenic sources explain why there was no downward trend for OC. A relative increase in the OC fraction in PM2.5 (+3.2 % yr−1)
and PM10 (+2.4 % yr−1) underscores the importance of biogenic
sources at Birkenes (BSOA and PBAP), which were higher in the vegetative
season and dominated both fine (53 %) and coarse (78 %) OC. Furthermore,
77 %–91 % of OC in PM2.5, PM10–2.5, and PM10 was attributed
to biogenic sources in summer vs. 22 %–37 % in winter. The coarse fraction
had the highest share of biogenic sources regardless of season and was
dominated by PBAP, except in winter. Our results show a shift in the aerosol composition at Birkenes and, thus, also in
the relative source contributions. The need for diverse offline and online
carbonaceous aerosol speciation to understand carbonaceous aerosol sources,
including their seasonal, annual, and long-term variability, has been
demonstrated.


Privacy is a concept that has existed in various forms and degrees, for much of human history. However, the origin of information privacy as a compliance, risk management, and operational concern has been much more recent. This new field, and the professionals who work within it — the privacy profession — did not exist broadly until the past decade. From essentially no active professionals in the 1970s and 1980s, the privacy profession has grown to at least 13,000 people working on managing information privacy within their organizations. As the information economy continues to grow — pushed by the breath-taking speed of technological development, cloud computing, big data, and emerging uses for exponentially increasing stores of data — it is reasonable to expect that the privacy profession will grow. The exact trajectory of the privacy profession is difficult to predict. Management of privacy is, today, a well-established and important function, and it is obvious that the professionals who work in this field will grow in number and prominence in the coming years.Without knowing where we've come from, we can't know where we are going and so it is appropriate for us to document the nascent years of the privacy profession. We expect that, at some point in the future, scholars will seek to understand how the field of privacy management emerged, who served as a catalyst for the growth of the field, and what the important milestones for the privacy profession were as the turbulence of the early days of the information economy played out. While this history is most certainly global — the privacy profession has its earliest roots in Germany in the 1970s — we have chosen to investigate this change where we understand it best and where the profession has appeared to grow the most, the United States. We have also limited our focus to the role of the privacy professional and privacy lawyer. There are certainly public policy leaders and advocates in the privacy field who deserve well-documented histories. Through these lenses, we offer a history of privacy becoming a profession.


The main goal of this paper is to provide an integrated overview of the literature devoted to identifying the causes of the British industrial revolution. Why did the industrial revolution, a fascinating and multifaceted event which brought about modern economic growth, occur in eighteenth-century Britain? This question has animated a lot of discussions among scholars and is still nowadays heatedly debated in the literature. This debate is reflected in the large spectrum of theories which aim at explaining the true origins of the British industrialization. The paper first sheds light on a rising debate concerning the evolution of British incomes per capita before the British industrial revolution and the "Great Divergence". The paper then investigates the proposed causes of the British industrialization, aggregating them into seven broad categories, i.e. (1) geography and natural resources, (2) demography, (3) agricultural progress, (4) urbanization and consumer revolution, (5) trade and empire, (6) institutional and political factors, (7) science, technology, and human capital.


Namibian hake is the most important fish resource in Namibia. This monograph is a compilation of all the hake data, historic and recent, that has been used to inform stock assessment and management since the late 1970s. It presents the statistical catch-at-age analysis used to evaluate the state of the Namibian hake resource under different assumptions. This analysis treats the two hakes, Merluccius paradoxus and M. capensis, as a single stock. The data and modeling show that the stock has not as yet recovered to its maximum sustainable yield level, despite foreign fishing effort having been removed in 1990. Best estimates suggest the current stock to be roughly 20% of pre-exploitation levels; however this figure is sensitive to model assumptions. Signs indicate that the stock is slowly recovering from its all-time low in 2002-2004. Because the two hake species are pooled for assessment, the resource is currently managed on a relatively simple adaptive basis; 80% of the estimated replacement yield is reserved for fishing, the remainder being left for rebuilding.


The increasing demand from the consumer for higher levels of refinement from their passenger
vehicles has put considerable pressure on the automotive industry to produce ever quieter cars. In
order to prevent the occurrence of many forms of brake noise, especially judder and drone, excessive
heating of the brake disc must be avoided, whilst minimising temperature variations across the rotor.

In order for this to be achieved the brake rotor must be designed such that it ensures sufficient uniform
heat dissipation and thermal capacity.
In high demand braking applications vented discs consisting of two rubbing surfaces separated by
straight radial vanes are normally employed as they utilise a greater surface area to dissipate heat.
Within this paper the convective heat dissipation from a high performance passenger car front brake
disc has been investigated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The results obtained have
been validated by those obtained in preliminary vehicle testing at Millbrook test facility. The
computational model shows adequate correlation to the test results; overpredicting the average heat
transfer coefficient by 18%. The CFD analysis enabled a detailed insight into the air flow and heat
transfer distributions, that was not possible during the vehicle test regime


The current study examines multiple pathways to antisocial behavior involving neurobiologically based measures and indicators of executive functioning in the interest of informing treatment and intervention services for the deepest end juvenile justice placements. Specifically, using a statewide, multiyear sample of over 11,000 male juvenile offenders completing residential commitment placements, we employ structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine whether parental drug, alcohol, and mental health problems have a direct effect on neurocognitive deficits (as measured by formal Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD], or formal Conduct Disorder [CD] diagnoses) and temperamental deficits (as measured by effortful control and negative emotionality), which in turn are examined for their direct effects on recidivism. Results show that parental problems were associated with an increased likelihood of formal ADHD diagnosis as well increased negative emotionality among youth. Furthermore, ADHD and temperamental deficits (both effortful control and negative emotionality) were significantly related to continued offending. These findings may be helpful in treatment planning, targeting of intervention, and discussions of primary and secondary prevention efforts.


Verne, Jules. The Kip Brothers. Trans. Stanford Luce. Ed. Arthur B. Evans. Introduction and Notes by Jean-Michel Margot. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2007. 508 pp. Jacketed cloth. ISBN 978-0-8195-6704-8. $29.95. Verne, Jules. The Mysterious Island. Trans. Sidney Kravitz. Ed. Arthur Evans. Introduction and Critical Material by William Butcher. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001. 728 pp. Paperback. ISBN 978-0-8195-6559-4. $24.95. The Wesleyan University Press's Classics of Science Fiction series produces complete translations of non-English language classics of fantastic fiction, and in many cases, they are either the first translations or the first complete translations, introducing both the already famous and the somewhat more obscure texts of respected authors to English-language readers. Jules Verne's The Kip Brothers and The Mysterious Island represent both ends of the spectrum with The Kip Brothers being a more obscure offering and The Mysterious Island somewhat better known, at least in abridged editions. (The other Verne novels in the series, The Begum's Millions, Invasion of the Sea, and The Mighty Orinoco, fall into the more obscure category.) As an avid reader of fantastic fiction and a scholar of the genre, I cannot sing the praises of this series too loudly! The series is valuable for many reasons. First, it offers complete translations of the fictional works, revealing much about the authors' techniques and conceptual frameworks that disappear in heavily edited and abridged translations. Second, the first translations of more obscure works by well-respected authors give readers and scholars fuller pictures of these authors' careers, providing both links between titles and elaborations on the authors' literary trajectories. In Verne's case, this aspect is particularly valuable, and it is hoped that more of his titles will make it into print. Third, the editing, critical framework of essays, careful indexing, and useful annotations are a delight to scholars for whom a great deal of background work is no longer necessary. With the publication of The Kip Brothers and The Mysterious Island, it is no longer possible to dismiss Verne as a "children's author" (despite the fact that he was advertised as such in turn-of-the-century France and Anglo-American contexts). Revealing the sociological, scientific, historical, and geographic breadth of his vision, these titles provide room for critical speculation for years to come. Each work presents both the unabridged text and the illustrations of the early publication format for his French editions--illustrations derived from Verne's own travels and the work he did on non-fictional travel titles for his demanding French publisher, Hetzel. While it is true that these are scholarly editions and will be more of interest to specialists than general readers, their publication is a necessary step in exposing the non-French speaking world to the breadth of Verne's work. The Kip Brothers, a story of murder and false imprisonment on one of France's more notorious penal colonies in Australia, is rather grim. It incorporates Verne's lifelong interests in sailing and travel and reflects the political and social acumen--conservative as it was--that characterized his public life. The eponymous Kips are two Dutch brothers, Karl and Pieter, who are picked up by the ship, James Cook, after having been shipwrecked. They are destitute but impress the captain with their honesty and willingness to work for their passage home from the Australian and New Zealand islands where the ship is traveling. The first part of the book chronicles this journey until the ship stops at Karawara Island in the Bismark Archipelago (near New Zealand) to visit friends, and Captain Harry Gibson is killed by some men who are thought to be the Kips. The reader already knows that it was sailors Flig Valt and Vin Mod who actually kill the captain and who lie to convict the unfortunate brothers. …


Damage caused by water shortages leads to physiological and biochemical changes in metabolism of plants and make them predispose to attack by pests and diseases and reduce the quality of the crops. In order to evaluate the effect of supplemental irrigation on safflower fly (A. helianthi) population of safflower cultivars, an experiment conducted as a split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications in field conditions. supplemental irrigation included four levels as follows: no irrigation (control) (I1), supplemental irrigation at budding stage (I2), supplemental irrigation at flowering stage (I3) and irrigation at seed filling stage (I4) as main plots and six cultivars including Padideh, Goldasht, Varamin 295, Zarghan 279, Mec.88 and Sina as sub plots. Results showed that with supplemental irrigation number of safflower fly (A.helianthi) decresed and no irrigation (control) treatment had the highest number of safflower flies with an average of 81.97±3.13 pests in the square meter. Amomg studied cultivars, Mec.88 with an average of 93.31±2.88 and Goldasht with an average of 45.89±6.63 had the highest and lowest flies in the square meter, respectively. The results of interactions between supplemental irrigation and cultivar showed that the highest number of safflower fly (A. helianthi) abtained from I2V5 treatment (no irrigation and Mec.88 cultivar). In general, the results showed that yield amount for Sina cultivar and supplemental irrigation at the flowering stage (I3V6) with an average of 2721±12.35 kg/ha was higher than other treatments.


Educators are constantly seeking new sources of relevant material to illustrate doctrinal and practice topics. With the growing understanding of students' different learning styles, as well as the expansion of high-speed network connections and large displays in the classroom, streaming video has begun gaining popularity as an educational tool. Films, television programs, and real-time and archived legislative and court sessions may provide examples (both positive and negative) to enhance pedagogy. One increasingly common source for streaming content is a commercial video provider such as Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu. Even where such providers do not offer educational or institutional services, educators may have personal accounts with the service to which they can connect from the classroom in order to show movies and television shows to students. The benefits are clear: little or no cost to either the school or the students, an ever-growing catalog of titles, and avoiding the delay of ordering and obtaining desired titles on DVD or VHS.The ease and low cost of streaming services, however, do not necessarily translate into permissibility; faculty use of personal Netflix or similar streaming accounts in the classroom may not be legal. While certain provisions within U.S. copyright law (notably 17 U.S.C. § 110(1)) permit display of otherwise protected works in a not-for-profit classroom setting, the statutory exceptions, and the contracts underlying the service membership, may operate to prohibit this use of personal streaming accounts. The author explores using streaming technology in the classroom from the legal, ethical, and institutional policy perspectives.


This book reflects Stephen Waxman's three decades of research on the form and functions of the brain and spinal cord. Building on his experience as a neuroscientist studying model systems as primitive as eels and as a neurologist studying humans, Waxman discusses a wide variety of topics, including the design principles that optimize neural function; molecular and cellular substrates of behavior; the role of glial cells in the brain; the molecular basis for pain; plasticity in the brain and spinal cord; strategies for promoting functional recovery in disorders such as multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and stroke; and prospects for rebuilding the brain and spinal cord. The pieces provide example after example of the elegance of design of the nervous system, of the intricate interplay between structure and function in health and disease, and of the rich borderland between neuroscience and neurology.


Financial risk management is currently subject to much debate, especially the accounting for derivative products, and a number of commentators are objecting to the introduction of International Accounting Standard IAS 39 for Derivatives that will be in force by January 2005 for More...
all EU companies. The topic of hedge accounting and the treatment of fair values may have a significant impact on many companies reported profits, and the volatility of earnings is likely to increase.

Uniquely this monograph focuses on interest rate risk management. Most studies of corporate risk management have typically dwelt on the topic of management of exchange rate risk, with interest rate risk management being neglected. The book s findings examine the views of UK corporate treasurers who are usually involved in the risk management strategies of their organisation and who have responsibility for implementing those strategies in practice.

* The research is the first comprehensive UK study on this area
* Relevant to the imminent arrival of IAS 39, the International Accounting Standard for Derivatives that will be in force by January 2005 for all EU companies.
* The findings of the book have implications for government policy and regulators


Assessing range of motion of the shoulder girdle is a critical skill needed by athletic trainers due to the complexity of the motions allowed at the joint. The process can be subjective with the majority of accepted techniques utilizing the clinician's ability to determine bony landmarks of the patient. In recent years, tools have been created to make determining range of motion of the body valid and consistent. One of the most common tools used in the clinic setting to measure shoulder range of motion is the inclinometer. With the current technical age, there have been many smartphone applications created to mimic and serve as an inclinometer. Within the clinical setting, it is common practice for one clinician to measure a patient's range of motion multiple times throughout a course of treatment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the validity of the smartphone application, "Clinometer" for measuring shoulder internal and external rotation range of motion using intra-rater reliability. An experienced Certified Athletic Trainer measured bilateral shoulder internal rotation and external rotation with a hand held goniometer and with the "Clinometer" smartphone application in 25 male participants, ages 18-23. Validation of the application and intra-rater reliability were assessed by using Pearson correlation coefficients. Smartphone validation was statistically significant for shoulder internal and external range of motion with values of 0.959 and 0.940 respectively. Intrarater reliability was statistically significant for external rotation with the goniometer and internal and external rotations with the application (0.804, 0.800, and 0.838). The results of this study indicate that there is no difference in the hand held goniometer and the "Clinometer" smartphone application for measuring shoulder internal and external range of motion. There is also good reliability in an experienced clinician for finding and measuring end points of shoulder internal and external rotation with the application as well as external rotation with the goniometer.