Serotonin 2A (5-HT2A) receptors and dopamine D2 receptors are intimately related to the physiology and pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders. A large number of studies have reported the effectiveness of psychotropic agents targeting 5-HT2A and D2 receptors in these disorders. In addition to the individual functions of these receptors, the interaction between the two neurotransmitter systems has been studied in the living brain. However, little is known about their regional relationship in individual human brains. We investigated regional relationships between 5-HT2A and D2 receptors using positron emission tomography (PET) and a bicluster analysis of the correlation matrix of individual variation in the two receptor densities to identify groups of distinctive regional correlations between the two receptors. Methods Seven healthy volunteers underwent PET scans with [18F]altanserin and [11C]FLB 457 for 5-HT2A and D2 receptors, respectively. As a measure of receptor density, a binding potential (BP) was calculated from PET data for 76 cerebral cortical regions. A correlation matrix was calculated between the binding potentials of [18F]altanserin and [11C]FLB 457 for those regions. The regional relationships were investigated using a bicluster analysis of the correlation matrix with an iterative signature algorithm. Results We identified two clusters of regions. The first cluster identified a distinct profile of correlation coefficients between 5-HT2A and D2 receptors, with the former in regions related to sensorimotor integration (supplementary motor area, superior parietal gyrus, and paracentral lobule) and the latter in most cortical regions. The second cluster identified another distinct profile of correlation coefficients between 5-HT2A receptors in the bilateral hippocampi and D2 receptors in most cortical regions. Conclusions The observation of two distinct clusters in the correlation matrix suggests regional interactions between 5-HT2A and D2 receptors in sensorimotor integration and hippocampal function. A bicluster analysis of the correlation matrix of these neuroreceptors may be beneficial in understanding molecular networks in the human brain.


The purpose of this thesis is to extend the usefulness of a multifrequency reed gage, a simple mechanical instrument, which records essential features of transient motions. This instrument, which can be considered a dynamic model of a multiple degree of freedom structure, consists of e set of one degree of freedom cantilever beams having various frequencies. The information from the instrument consists of the maximum positive and negative displacement, of each beam. It is desired to obtain as many features as possible about the exciting motion from this information alone.

The instrument response is obtained analytically for various exciting pulses. Both symmetrical pulses and non-symmetrical pulses with rise time to decay time ratios from zero to infinity are considered. The impulsive response is considered separately.

From a study of these responses a correlation is made between the response and the excitation. Table #5, page 32, summarizes the information about these studies and indicates the methods for obtaining, maximum information from the reed gage.


It is over a decade since the signing of the World Intellectual Property Organization's "Internet treaties". These treaties' "anti-circumvention" rules ban the creation, distribution or use of tools that bypass Technological Protection Measures (TPMs) even for otherwise legal purposes. However, while these legal changes have not stopped the widespread unauthorized sharing of copyright works, they have impeded computer security research, retarded innovation in technology and commerce, and blocked groups such as visually impaired users from accessing locked-up material. Given the failure of TPMs to stop large-scale infringement, right holders have more recently been lobbying for requirements to be imposed upon Internet Service Providers to monitor customers' communications to detect and prevent copyright infringement. Unfortunately such requirements would be likely to have even less impact upon levels of infringement, representing a massively disproportionate invasion of users' privacy. This article examines the misconceptions that lie behind these hybrid techno-legal copyright enforcement systems, and suggests that innovation in business models is much more likely to effectively protect the interests of creators than technological enforcement mandated via copyright law.


Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems have attracted much attention lately due to the many advantages they provide over single-antenna systems. Owing to the many antennas, low-cost implementation and low power consumption per antenna are desired. To that end, massive MIMO structures with low-resolution analog-to-digital converters (ADC) have been investigated in many studies. However, the effect of a strong interferer in the adjacent band on quantized massive MIMO systems have not been examined yet. In this study, we analyze the performance of uplink massive MIMO with low-resolution ADCs under frequency selective fading with orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) in the perfect and imperfect receiver channel state information cases. We derive analytical expressions for the bit error rate and ergodic capacity. We show that the interfering band can be suppressed by increasing the number of antennas or the oversampling rate when a zero-forcing receiver is employed.


Fault-tolerant quantum computing Quantum states can be delicate. Attempts to process and manipulate quantum states can destroy the encoded information. Nigg et al. encoded the quantum state of a single qubit (in this case, a trapped ion) over the global properties of a series of trapped ions. These so-called stabilizers protected the information against noise sources that can degrade the single qubit. The protocol provides a route to fault-tolerant quantum computing. Science, this issue p. 302 A protocol is implemented that allows for fault-tolerant quantum computing. The construction of a quantum computer remains a fundamental scientific and technological challenge because of the influence of unavoidable noise. Quantum states and operations can be protected from errors through the use of protocols for quantum computing with faulty components. We present a quantum error-correcting code in which one qubit is encoded in entangled states distributed over seven trapped-ion qubits. The code can detect one bit flip error, one phase flip error, or a combined error of both, regardless on which of the qubits they occur. We applied sequences of gate operations on the encoded qubit to explore its computational capabilities. This seven-qubit code represents a fully functional instance of a topologically encoded qubit, or color code, and opens a route toward fault-tolerant quantum computing.


The purpose of this research was to gain insight into the anthropogenic forcing of geomorphic systems, specifically how nineteenth century land-use changes impacted watershed hydrologic, upland erosional, and sediment delivery subsystems of Southern Appalachian headwater catchments. Identification and analysis of the timing and rate of change in these subsystems, and the reestablishment of presettlement conditions, were used to address landscape sensitivity and watershed inheritance issues in a region undergoing population expansion and development. Archival research was used to reconstruct concurrent land-use changes in the catchments of two nineteenth century water-powered mills. Changes in the physical properties of mill pond sediments including, organic content, particle size distribution, and magnetic susceptibility, were used to interpret trends in sediment source during the span of mill operation. Interpolation of augering and coring data was used to determine mill pond sediment mass and pond capacity. Hillslope hydrologic change occurred almost immediately following land conversion. Upland erosion began with the removal of A-horizon fines, and progressed with the removal of A-horizon coarse particulates, and then B-horizon particulates. Change from one source category to another was punctuated by high flow events signifying an integration of human activity and climate in the changing of system boundary conditions. Late nineteenth century sediment yield in Southern Appalachia was almost as high as that reported for the adjoining Piedmont although only 25 percent of highland watersheds were converted to agriculture. However, sediment delivery ratios were relatively low indicating a more complicated relationship between hillslope-channel connectivity and soil erosion. In reforested watersheds, both the hydrological and erosional subsystems reverted to presettlement conditions within a few years but may have taken up to one hundred years for sediment yield rates to return to presettlement conditions. Finally, the sediment trapped behind nineteenth century dams has served as a significant source of ecologically damaging washload to highland streams during the twentieth century.


An understanding of the influence of life history on dispersal capability is central to a range of disciplines within ecology and evolution. While studies have investigated this question by contrasting spatial population structuring in taxa that differ in life history, in the vast majority such comparisons differ in space and time, and therefore environmental factors may have contributed. Here, population structure of a holobenthic (i.e. direct developing) octopus, Octopus pallidus , was investigated genetically. This was compared to existing genetic data for a co-occurring merobenthic (i.e. planktonic larvae) species, Macroctopus maorum . Greater spatial genetic structuring was evident in O. pallidus than M. maorum . Patterns were consistent with isolation by distance in O. pallidus , but appeared related to oceanographic circulation systems in M. maorum , suggesting distance-dependent adult dispersal and current-mediated larval dispersal, respectively. Genetic population structuring in O. pallidus also largely corroborated inferences based on stylet microchemistry, indicating the utility of these environmental signatures. This study enables stronger predictions to be made regarding the dispersal capabilities and spatial population structuring of other cephalopods based on life history.


Two years ago, specifically on 23 May 2008, the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) Branch in Bucharest was established in the presence of Prof.Dr. Spyridon Flogaitis, Director, President of the Board of Directors and important Romanian and Hellenic officials. Hosted by the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration (NSPSPA) through the Faculty of Public Administration, the EPLO Branch in Bucharest has marked an important moment in view of extending and developing EPLO specific activities and has encompassed an activity of collaboration of over a decade between the two institutions. The forms of collaboration, already traditional: joint European programmes, participation in the European Public Law Academy, mobility of students, doctoral students and teaching staff will be diversified. The start of a cycle of conferences on actual topics of the European Union construction, legal, administrative and managerial substantiation of the important processes represents such a form. Conducted under the aegis "The Dialogues of EPLO at NSPSPA", the conferences have enjoyed the participation of recognized academic personalities from prestigious European universities. The conferences have carried forth scientific events for the Romanian academia, in view to increase EPLO prestige, to acquire knowledge and disseminate its activities. The current volume gathers the content of the first conferences, circumscribing to important concepts of the theory and practice of the EU construction: normativity, fundamental rights or legal order. Of course the reader's thorough analysis when studying the current volume will get us close or far away from the three concepts, already stated. Thus, the first topic "La Regulation, une forme moderne de la normativite?" of Professor Gerard Timsit debates, from doctrine view, the specific difference between "regulation" and "reglementation", taking into consideration "the crisis of traditional normativity" developing towards "a new social normativity". Considering the societies' complexity, the author identifies another crisis of "the deficit of legitimacy", leading to "the deficit of societies' complexity and their governance systems". Professor Timsit, whose work substantiates the programmes on theory and science of administration within the framework of NSPSPA, reveals the necessity of new changes in view of better understanding the complexity: transforming the bureaucratic state into a strategic state, thus triggering a reshaped administration, able to deal the society's empirical realities in times of crisis or disaster. The issues specific for the transformations of the European institutions after the Lisbon Treaty are approached by Professor Jean Paul Jacque, who insists on "strengthening the effectiveness of the EU institutional system" through the democratisation of law-making within the Council, enlargement of the scope of the co-decision procedure etc. The comparative analysis between the provisions of the former EU Constitution and those of Lisbon Treaty emphasises the necessity of national parliaments' participation and promotion of participative democracy in view of democratization of law-making within the Council. In the conclusions of the conference, the author presents "the open democratic space that has to be occupied by political actors and citizens", which should abandon the traditional behaviour in the European elections, insisting on relevant matters concerning the competences and contents of the EU policies. The perspective opened by Lisbon Treaty on fundamental rights protection in the European Union provides for the first time a mandatory set of fundamental rights. Corroborating this fact with the provisions of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, common questions emerge, finding an answer in Professor Helena Raulus's conference. The questions refer to the meaning of that new fundamental rights system for the Union or Member States as well as to the EU role in strengthening the fundamental human rights and creating a new mechanism for monitoring the human rights infringement by the Member States. A final conclusion, quite interesting for the debated topic refers to the fact that in the emphasised context, the Union does not gain any new competences or tasks on human rights protection and the provisions of the Charter are mainly directed to the Union institutions and to the Member States only when they are acting within the scope of the Union law. Matteo Gnes's conference tries to address other question: "European legal integration: new possibilities for EU and non-EU citizens?" Based on a broad range of relevant cases, Centros, Akrich or Polish plumber, the conclusion of the conference refers to the phenomena due to the convergence of market forces and legal principles embodied in the principles of free movement. Even if some of those phenomena may foster Euro sceptic attitudes, the final conclusion is: "European integration is an extremely positive central aspect of everyday life of every European citizen". In addition to the topics on fundamental rights and freedoms, it emerges the issue of the public contracts in the European law. The debate with legal and economic features, presented by Professor Pierre Nihoul is structured on the principles of competition, transparency and neutrality and it highlights the necessity to take into consideration the social, environmental, ethic and fair concerns on the public markets. In this context, however, it is worth to mention a conclusion. It refers, on one hand, to the fact that the opportunities provided by the legal texts remain limited and, on the other hand, the exercise of public powers does not sufficiently reflect the development of the legal debate. The contents of the other two conferences are complementary, being focused on the EU democratic legal order, respectively the European judiciary. The most important issues addressed by Professor Bertrand Mathiew in his conference refer to the legitimacy of the European legal order and to the interrogation on: "European Parliament, a representation of the European citizens?" We also find the response to those topics or questions in the second part of the presentation concerning the European Parliament which is considered an institution participating in the democratic functioning of the European Union; thus it becomes "an instrument of embryo for separation of powers", and its representative function is challenged by other forms of democratic expression. Professor Thomas Oppermann presents his arguments and the structures triggering the European judiciary. As a cross-national democracy observing the rule of law, the EU needs an independent judiciary system – the third power, the constitutive Treaties legitimate the fact that the EU is a "Union of law", interpreting and enforcing the European law. The European legislation is mandatory in all Member States.


This paper uses a novel data set of marginalized households from Cambodia and Lao PDR to better understand different food security concepts. The multitude of indicators available raises the question how these indicators relate to each other and whether they are suitable to detect undernutrition of individuals. In the analysis we identify the causes of food insecurity in relation to a number of different food security concepts and examine the links between the food security status of households and individuals using anthropometric data of children under five. The regression results show that the different indicators of food security at the household level capture fundamentally different aspects of food security. In addition, household food insecurity only explains a small share of child undernutrition. We call for more research on intra-household allocation of food and stress the implications of our research for the design and targeting of food and nutrition support programs.


Abstract. Four different literature parameterizations for the formation and evolution of urban secondary organic aerosol (SOA) frequently used in 3-D models are evaluated using a 0-D box model representing the Los Angeles metropolitan region during the California Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change (CalNex) 2010 campaign. We constrain the model predictions with measurements from several platforms and compare predictions with particle- and gas-phase observations from the CalNex Pasadena ground site. That site provides a unique opportunity to study aerosol formation close to anthropogenic emission sources with limited recirculation. The model SOA that formed only from the oxidation of VOCs (V-SOA) is insufficient to explain the observed SOA concentrations, even when using SOA parameterizations with multi-generation oxidation that produce much higher yields than have been observed in chamber experiments, or when increasing yields to their upper limit estimates accounting for recently reported losses of vapors to chamber walls. The Community Multiscale Air Quality (WRF-CMAQ) model (version 5.0.1) provides excellent predictions of secondary inorganic particle species but underestimates the observed SOA mass by a factor of 25 when an older VOC-only parameterization is used, which is consistent with many previous model–measurement comparisons for pre-2007 anthropogenic SOA modules in urban areas. Including SOA from primary semi-volatile and intermediate-volatility organic compounds (P-S/IVOCs) following the parameterizations of Robinson et al. (2007), Grieshop et al. (2009), or Pye and Seinfeld (2010) improves model–measurement agreement for mass concentration. The results from the three parameterizations show large differences (e.g., a factor of 3 in SOA mass) and are not well constrained, underscoring the current uncertainties in this area. Our results strongly suggest that other precursors besides VOCs, such as P-S/IVOCs, are needed to explain the observed SOA concentrations in Pasadena. All the recent parameterizations overpredict urban SOA formation at long photochemical ages (≈ 3 days) compared to observations from multiple sites, which can lead to problems in regional and especially global modeling. However, reducing IVOC emissions by one-half in the model to better match recent IVOC measurements improves SOA predictions at these long photochemical ages. Among the explicitly modeled VOCs, the precursor compounds that contribute the greatest SOA mass are methylbenzenes. Measured polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (naphthalenes) contribute 0.7% of the modeled SOA mass. The amounts of SOA mass from diesel vehicles, gasoline vehicles, and cooking emissions are estimated to be 16–27, 35–61, and 19–35%, respectively, depending on the parameterization used, which is consistent with the observed fossil fraction of urban SOA, 71(±3) %. The relative contribution of each source is uncertain by almost a factor of 2 depending on the parameterization used. In-basin biogenic VOCs are predicted to contribute only a few percent to SOA. A regional SOA background of approximately 2.1 μg m−3 is also present due to the long-distance transport of highly aged OA, likely with a substantial contribution from regional biogenic SOA. The percentage of SOA from diesel vehicle emissions is the same, within the estimated uncertainty, as reported in previous work that analyzed the weekly cycles in OA concentrations (Bahreini et al., 2012; Hayes et al., 2013). However, the modeling work presented here suggests a strong anthropogenic source of modern carbon in SOA, due to cooking emissions, which was not accounted for in those previous studies and which is higher on weekends. Lastly, this work adapts a simple two-parameter model to predict SOA concentration and O/C from urban emissions. This model successfully predicts SOA concentration, and the optimal parameter combination is very similar to that found for Mexico City. This approach provides a computationally inexpensive method for predicting urban SOA in global and climate models. We estimate pollution SOA to account for 26 Tg yr−1 of SOA globally, or 17% of global SOA, one-third of which is likely to be non-fossil.


This article looks at the work of Suzanne Lacy, an artist who emerged from the Feminist Art Program at the California Institute of the Arts in the early 1970s. It focuses on key examples of Lacy9s large-scale dinners, including the food-based performance network staged in conjunction with the opening of The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1979. This article argues that these dinners served to transition Lacy from an early performance practice centered on rape and violence against women to the later coalition-building exercises that helped define "new genre public art." Drawing on interviews with the artist, it traces the use of meat and foodstuffs in Lacy9s practice, beginning with beef kidneys in 1972. Much prior writing on Lacy investigates her performances of the 1970s. This article examines the way in which Lacy used elements of these performances, namely food, to further understand the roles of relationships and conversation in art.


In this study, I investigated the proximate mechanisms underlying an expression of the helping behaviour by examining feeding rate and frequency of helpers under varying food availability and predation risk in different breeding colonies (see chapter 2). Many hypotheses have developed to explain the underlying mechanisms of the cooperative breeding. However, it appears to have no single hypothesis that can explain it, instead several hypotheses can be applied for the evolution of cooperative breeding. The kin-selection, life-history and ecological constraints hypotheses are widely accepted, though none of them can explain the evolution of the cooperative breeding exclusively.
The nest predation hypothesis was underlined because the main cause of nest failure among cooperative breeding birds is nest predation (Brown 1987, Stacey and Ligon 1991), suggesting its potential selective factor for evolution of cooperative breeding (Poiani and Pagel 1997). Yet, not much empirical evidence has been found to support it. I could show that both low food availability and high predation risk increase the benefits of helping behaviour, thus they lead to expression of the helping behaviour. Our findings support the nest predation hypothesis that high nest predation pressure over ecological time favours the cooperative breeding (see Poiani and Pagel 1997). However, nest predation hypothesis cannot explain the evolution of cooperative breeding solely, it is one of the selective factors that work in conjunction with other selective factors such as ecological constraints and kin-selection.
Helpers at the nest have long been assumed to increase nestling survival through enhancing nestling's body condition. But in last two decades many studies have documented for some species that helpers at the nest appear to reduce nest predation (e.g. Austad and Rabenold 1985, Emlen and Wrege 1991, Mumme 1992, Schaub et al. 1992, Innes and Johnston 1996, Boland 1998, Valencia et al. 2003, Hatchwell 2004). The data on nestling body mass, nest attentiveness and egg-laying period along with observational records of helpers' active involvement in nest defense in this study showed that helpers improved nestling condition and reduced chick rearing time period at the nest, which both in turn reduce nest predation (see chapter 2). Therefore, helping behaviour appeared to be an effective anti-predator strategy since it reduces nest predation substantially (see chapter 2 and 3). Besides that, our findings revealed several other anti-predator strategies that azure-winged magpies employ under high predation risk. Greater concealment of the nest, proactive avoidance of the nest location from the predator nest along with involvement of helpers at the nest were the most effective anti-predator strategies in our study (see chapter 3).
Although, nest concealment is arguably the widespread anti-predator strategy not only for birds but for many other animal groups, most field studies found no evidence of which nest concealment reduced nest predation (reviewed by Borgmann and Conway 2015). Borgmann and Conway (2015) concluded that lack of evidence of nest-concealment hypothesis, i.e. birds prefer nest sites enclosed by dense foliage to reduce the likelihood of detection by predators and brood parasites (Martin et al. 1988, Martin and Li 1992), in large quantity of studies largely caused by morphological traits and methods used to measure concealment which in turn likely resulted in lack of support. Benefits through nest concealment may be traded-off by consequences associated with greater concealed nest site (Morosinotto et al. 2010, Borgmann and Conway 2015) or compensated by active defense in some bird species (Gotmark et al. 1995, Cresswell 1997, Weidinger 2002, Remes 2005, Fontaine and Martin 2006a). Thus, other anti-predator strategies may have cancelling effect on nest concealment, leading to lack of support of nest-concealment hypothesis. But my study with the comprehensive analyses of several factors which may affect nest predation showed strong support on nest-concealment hypothesis (see chapter 3).
Crows are the well-known nest predators in many avian species (Shields and Parnell 1986). Some studies revealed that the nest predation rate increased as nest distance of prey species decreased to the crow nest (Shields and Parnell 1986, Sullivan and Dinsmore 1990). In this study, I found that azure-winged magpies consistently tried to avoid spatially the crow nests both within and between breeding season and those of distant nests were preyed much less than nests closer to the crow nest (see chapter 3). Moreover, breeding pair experience appeared to reduce nest predation as well. So far, very little work exists regarding the effect of individual experience on nest predation. In this study, pair experience largely appeared to affect decision to build the nest closer to colony neighbours, which indeed reduced nest predation through joint nest defense of neighbouring birds (see chapter 3).
Individuals may respond by two opposing ways regarding nest density of both conspecifics and interspecifics in response to predator type. In case of evadable predators, collective nest defense of neighbours often increases the success of their common predators' eviction, thus, individuals are expected to nest closer to each other. Also other studies showed that nesting in high density resulted in decreased nest predation (Ritschel 1985, Picman et al. 1988), though much work is needed to understand what factors affect the decision whether to space out or space in their nests. The data on nest distance in this study indicated that azure-winged magpies prefer to nest closer to each other, probably to gain anti-predator benefits from neighbours (see chapter 4). Azure-winged magpies decreased distance between their nest in accordance with predation risk and nest closer to each other were more successful than nests further apart located (see chapter 4). It leads to nest clustering and independent sub-colony formations in terms of nest defense activities. Distinct clustering may have evolved as means of reducing predation to facilitate variety of collective defenses of neighbours and it can be regarded as proactive anti-predator strategy (Hamilton 1971, Lima 2009). Nest clustering may have several benefits: by reducing per individual vigilance and time spent for it (Birkhead 1977, Hoogland 1981, Brown 1987, Jungwirth et al. 2015), by increased detectability of predators (Hoogland and Sherman 1976, Brown and Brown 1987, Moller 1987), by decrease of the predator's incentive (Curio 1978, Hasson 1991) and by increase of the likelihood of successful defense (e.g. Perry and Andersen 2003). Very little studies found an empirical evidence for the predator deterrence hypothesis that predation promotes the nest clustering (Perry and Andersen 2003, Perry et al. 2008). Our findings that closer nests and later formed cluster nests experienced less predation support the predator deterrence hypothesis (see chapter 4).
Our findings demonstrated that azure-winged magpies have high cognitive capacity to assess predation risk in short time period. It was also shown that azure-winged magpies have a plasticity to execute complex and appropriate anti-predator strategies immediately after the nest predation events in accordance with changing predation risk and predator type (see chapter 3 and 4). The findings of gradual changes in nest concealment, nest distances, nest synchronization suggest that the adaptive behaviour of the azure-winged magpies inherits from generation to generation over long time period.


With rapid expansion of biofuel production, major concerns have arisen over higher food costs and competition between food, feed, and biofuel for energy-rich commodities. Most projections are based on short- and intermediate-term commodity price shocks. We estimate long-term biofuel demand and cost-minimizing supply functions for feedstock and biofuel in developed and developing countries. We assume input and output coefficients and substitution elasticities adjust over time in response to changing prices in a dynamic market environment with productivity growth. Three alternative oil price scenarios are considered for biofuel feedstock production and conversation. The price of oil puts both a floor and ceiling on feedstock price. We conclude that global biofuel expansion will be limited in the absence of government incentives and mandates, unless high real oil prices prevail. Countries and regions need large, excess feedstock supplies (price-elastic response) if biofuel expansion is to be competitive with oil or other liquid fuels.


Magician Bob Neale talks about the notion of monkey movement in the practice of performing magic. For Neale the experience of performance magic is a playful movement between illusion and disillusion. The magician is the manager of this process playing a trickster by presenting magic (the illusion) but framing it as tricks (the disillusion). This chapter examines what happens when the disillusionment is taken out of performance magic, that is, when magic is performed as real within the frame of the Gothic Seance.

The paranormal entertainer, who leads the seance, can be seen as coming out of a wider movement of performance magic known as the Bizarre. Bizarre magicians sought to re-enchant performance magic with the mysterious and the spiritual, (re)discovering meaning through storytelling and theatrical character. Many practitioners of the Bizarre would perform their magic tricks as real, a number choosing to remove any notion of trickery within their practice. Performers borrowed freely from goetic, pagan, psychic and Gothic cultural sources. Often known as hard bizarre this practice ultimately came under scrutiny by the magic community through ethical concerns of fakery and deception. The paranormal entertainer treads the fine-line of ambiguity within their performance practice.

This chapter focuses specifically on the Gothic seance practice of the paranormal entertainer and the creation, through trickery, of a visceral experience of the dark and Gothic within the performance space. Borrowing from the folklore notion of ostension and by examining the staging of collective delusion; the paper will explore the creation of magic, spirits, the supernatural and the Gothic within the performance space of the Seance.


Stimulation of sensory neurons triggers the release of a microRNA that activates nociceptive neurons. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are short RNA sequences that regulate gene expression by binding to intracellular target transcripts. However, miRNAs can be detected in the circulation and in cerebrospinal fluid and are recognized by Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7), and extracellular application of the miRNA let-7b triggers TLR7-mediated apoptosis of cortical neurons. Because TLR7 is also present on dorsal root ganglion (DRG) neurons associated with pain, Park et al. explored whether DRG neurons responded to let-7b. Electrophysiological analysis of dissociated mouse DRG neurons from wild-type mice, but not those from TLR7-knockout mice, showed that small-diameter neurons, which are typically nociceptive, produced an inward current in response to let-7b, a response that was abolished by mutation of the GUUGUGU motif in let-7b. Pharmacological inhibition of the calcium channel transient receptor potential A1 (TRPA1) blocked the response to let-7b, and DRG neurons from TRPA1-knockout mice also failed to respond. Pharmacological or genetic inhibition of various intracellular signaling components did not prevent let-7b–mediated inward currents, suggesting that TRPA1 and TLR7 may interact directly to produce the response. Indeed, in human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK293) cells coexpressing TRPA1 and TLR7, let-7b bound to the cells expressing TLR7; let-7b, TRPA1, and TLR7 colocalized; and TRPA1 and TLR7 coimmunoprecipitated, an interaction enhanced by exposure of the cells to let-7b. TLR7-deficient neurons exhibited reduced TRPA1 single-channel activity and reduced abundance of TRPA1 at the cell surface, suggesting that TLR7 may affect both the function of the channel and its delivery to the cell surface. Formalin stimulates TRPA1-mediated currents in nociceptive DRG neurons, a response that was attenuated by a let-7b inhibitor. Cultured DRG neurons exposed to formalin or capsaicin (two pain-producing stimuli) or depolarized with KCl released let-7b into the medium. Injection of let-7b into the footpad of mice produced behaviors associated with pain, which were absent in TLR7-knockout mice, reduced in TRPA1-knockout mice, and dose-dependently reduced by pretreatment with a TRPA1 antagonist. Injection of a high concentration of let-7b produced allodynia (pain in response to non-noxious stimuli) that lasted for several days. Pretreatment with a let-7b inhibitor prevented formalin-induced pain. Thus, release of let-7b appears to mediate inflammatory pain by binding TLR7 and activating TRPA1. C.-K. Park, Z.-Z. Xu, T. Berta, Q. Han, G.-C. Chen, X.-J. Liu, R.-R. Ji, Extracellular microRNAs activate nociceptor neurons to elicit pain via TLR7 and TRPA1. Neuron 82, 47–54 (2014). [Abstract]


Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) is a powerful method to compare specific DNA levels across different sample populations. In combination with reverse transcription (RT) it is the most common method for either characterising or confirming gene expression patterns. This is due to the high sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and reproducibility of the method. Quantitative DNA and RNA analysis needs an appropriate control gene for accurate normalisation of data. For gene expression analysis, an ideal endogenous control gene, also called a reference or housekeeping gene, is one that is stably expressed within the samples to be compared, regardless of tissue differences, experimental conditions or treatments.
Different genes had been qPCR analysed in this study with different objectives. On the one hand, the objective was to determine the transgene copy number in genetically modified rice where only one copy of the inserted transgene was desirable; and on the other hand, RT-qPCR had been applied for studies of gene expression in Prunus perisca subjected to different treatments and conditions to induce genes related to plant defence mechanisms


Competing hypotheses exist with regard to how men's and women's pregnancy desires and intentions are associated with births among contemporary heterosexual couples. There are compelling cultural and structural reasons to support either the hypothesis that men's desires and intentions (patriarchal) or that women's desires and intentions (matriarchal) will have more influence, or that both partner's desires and intentions will be associated with births (mutual influence). In addition, patterns of change are likely to differ for couples that have children at wave 1 compared to those who do not. Path analyses of the of heterosexual couples (n = 615) who completed both waves of the National Survey of Fertility Barriers support the matriarchal hypothesis, because among couples without children, only women's desires were associated with subsequent births. Among couples with children, men's characteristics and desires are indirectly, and women's are directly, associated with subsequent births, indicating support for the mutual influence hypothesis.


The available literature supports the fact that some students experience difficulty learning object-oriented design (OOD) principles. Previously explored predictors of OOD learning difficulties include student characteristics (cognitive activities, self-efficacy), teaching methodologies (teacher centered, course complexity), and student experiences (prior programming experience). Yet, within an extensive body of literature devoted to OOD, two explanations of student difficulty remain largely unexplored: (1) varying conceptualizations of the underlying principles/strategies of OOD, and (2) preparedness or readiness to learn OOD.
This research also investigated the extent to which individual differences impacted DRAS and OOD performance. The individual difference measures of interest in this study included college grade point average, prior programming experience, cognitive abilities (spatial orientation, visualization, logical reasoning, flexibility, perceptual style), and design readiness. In addition, OOD performance was measured using two constructs: course grade (exams, labs, programs, overall), and a specially constructed design task.
Participants selected from the CS2 course from two southeastern state universities were used within this study, resulting in a sample size of 161 (School A, n = 76; School B, n = 85). School A is a mid-sized comprehensive university and School B is a large research-intensive university. If was found that the schools significantly differed on all measures of prior computer science experience and cognitive abilities.
Path analysis was conducted to determine which individual differences were related to design readiness and OOD performance.
In summary, this research identified that instructors can not ignore individual differences when teaching OOD. It was found that the cognitive ability visualization, prior OO experience, and overall college grade point average should be considered when teaching OOD. As it stands, without identifying specific teaching strategies used at the schools within this study, this research implies that OOD may require a certain level of practical computer experience before OOD is introduced into the curriculum. The cognitive ability visualization was found to have a significant indirect relationship with overall course grade through the mediating variable design readiness. Further, the results suggest that the DRAS may serve as a viable instrument in identifying successful OOD students as well as students that require supplemental OOD instruction.


Abstract. Ice shelves play a key role in the dynamics of marine ice sheets, by buttressing grounded ice and limiting rates of ice flux to the oceans. In response to recent climatic and oceanic change, ice shelves fringing the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) have begun to fragment and retreat, with major implications for ice sheet stability. Here, we focus on the Thwaites Eastern Ice Shelf (TEIS), the remaining pinned floating extension of Thwaites Glacier. We show that TEIS has undergone a process of fragmentation in the last five years, including brittle failure along a major shear zone, formation of tensile cracks on the main body of the shelf, and release of tabular bergs on both eastern and western flanks. Simulations with the Helsinki Discrete Element Model (HiDEM) show that this pattern of failure is associated with high backstress from a submarine pinning point at the distal edge of the shelf. We show that a significant zone of shear upstream of the main pinning point developed in response to the rapid acceleration of the shelf between 2002 and 2006, seeding damage on the shelf. Subsequently, basal melting and positive feedbacks between damage and strain rates weakened TEIS, allowing damage to accumulate. Thus, although backstress on TEIS has likely diminished through time as the pinning point has shrunk, accumulation of damage has ensured that the ice in the shear zone has remained the weakest link in the system. Experiments with the BISICLES ice sheet model indicate that additional damage to or unpinning of TEIS are unlikely to trigger significantly increased ice loss from WAIS, but the calving response to loss of TEIS remains highly uncertain. It is widely recognised that ice-shelf fragmentation and collapse can be triggered by hydrofracturing and/or unpinning from ice shelf margins or grounding points. Our results indicate a third mechanism, backstress-triggered failure, that can occur when ice ffractures in response to stresses associated with pinning points. In most circumstances, pinning points are essential for ice shelf stability, but as ice shelves thin and weaken the concentration of backstress in damaged ice upstream of a pinning point may provide the seeds of their demise.


The United States enacted the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA) in 2000. It was the first piece of legislation to address human trafficking. Since that time, the United States has monitored anti-trafficking efforts worldwide. Nations that fail to meet minimum standards set by the United States risk losing non-humanitarian financial aid from the federal government, the International Monetary Fund, and global banks. Yet, these minimum standards are not met by the United States when it comes to protecting American trafficking victims.According to the TVPA, governments shall attempt to prevent human trafficking, punish traffickers, and protect people who have been trafficked. Protections are the focus of this article. They may extend to a victim while she is being trafficked, at the time of her rescue, or after she has escaped from her trafficker. They are designed to make victims whole, self-sufficient and thus, less vulnerable to re-victimization. Protections may include housing, food, clothing, cash allowances, medical care, psychological treatment, education, and job training. All of these protections are funded by the TVPA and provided to international victims who are trafficked on American soil. The same is not true for American victims, despite the fact that estimates suggest there are far more citizen victims in the United States than there are foreign victims. Americans are specifically excluded by the federal government from receiving TVPA-funded protections and must look elsewhere for what little assistance might be available to them. The United States has created a two-tier system of protection whereby international victims receive a wealth of resources and services while American victims receive little, if any, assistance.The purpose of this article is to compare foreign and domestic victims, examine the protections each group receives, identify the disparities in protections for citizen victims, highlight inconsistencies in federal law and the practical enforcement of the law, and discuss the implications at home and abroad of having a two-tier system of protection for human trafficking victims in America.


From the date that a domain name is registered with
a registrar, there should be a pattern in the amount of time it
takes for that domain to be actively resolved on the Internet. We
first attempt to describe that pattern in general terms by
correlating data from registries for several top-level domains and
a large passive DNS data source. This pattern is then used as a
baseline for a comparison with the pattern of activity in domains
that malicious software utilizes. While our quantitative results
are not to be considered representative of the patterns exhibited
by all types of malware, the malicious domains are found to have
a significantly different pattern than the standard domains.


This paper constructs an analytic description for the late stages of giant planet formation. During this phase of evolution, the planet gains the majority of its final mass through gas accretion at a rapid rate. This work determines the density and velocity fields for material falling onto the central planet and its circumplanetary disk, and finds the corresponding column density of this infalling envelope. We derive a steady-state solution for the surface density of the disk as a function of its viscosity (including the limiting case where no disk accretion occurs). Planetary magnetic fields truncate the inner edge of the disk and determine the boundary conditions for mass accretion onto the planet from both direct infall and from the disk. The properties of the forming planet and its circumplanetary disk are determined, including the luminosity contributions from infall onto the planet and disk surfaces, and from disk viscosity. The radiative signature of the planet formation process is explored using a quasi-spherical treatment of the emergent spectral energy distributions. The analytic solutions developed herein show how the protoplanet properties (envelope density distribution, velocity field, column density, disk surface density, luminosity, and radiative signatures) vary with input parameters (instantaneous mass, orbital location, accretion rate, and planetary magnetic field strength).


Recently a new class of composite Higgs models have been developed which give rise to naturally light Higgs bosons without supersymmetry. Based on the chiral symmetries of "theory space," involving replicated gauge groups and appropriate gauge symmetry breaking patterns, these models allow the scale of the underlying strong dynamics giving rise to the composite particles to be as large as of order 10 TeV, without any fine tuning to prevent large corrections to Higgs boson mass(es) of order 100 GeV. In this paper we show that the size of flavor violating interactions arising generically from underlying flavor dynamics constrains the scale of the Higgs boson compositeness to be greater than of order 75 TeV, implying that significant fine-tuning is required. Without fine-tuning, the low-energy structure of the composite Higgs model alone is not sufficient to eliminate potential problems with flavor-changing neutral currents or excessive CP violation; solving those problems requires additional information or assumptions about the symmetries of the underlying flavor or strong dynamics. We also consider the weaker, but more model-independent, bounds which arise from limits on weak isospin violation.


The purpose of the study is to analyze the accounting equation and develop a new model, based on the dual concept of monetary units and the structure of assets and claims on assets. The analysis uses the identity and characteristic functions along with a coordinate transformation, to show that the assets-claims on assets relationship involves a change in claims on assets value. The identity function represents the dual concept of the monetary units and the characteristic function relates both sides of the accounting equation. A different number of dimensions arise on each side of the equation, and a coordinate transformation is applied to have both sides of the equation with two dimensions. This transformation results in a change in the value of claims on assets. Finally, a computation using a probability density function or kernel is proposed to allow approaching the coefficients of the new model. Results show that the accounting equation consists of a series of addition functions to sum up all the monetary units and that a new model with a probability density function can help in the analysis of the assets-claims on assets relationship.


Composite plate shear walls /
concrete filled (C-PSW/CF) are being considered to resist lateral loads
(seismic and wind loads) in the design of mid- to high-rise buildings. In
recognition of its modularity, construction speed, and influence on the overall
project schedule and economy, C-PSW/CF is referred as SpeedCore by the American
Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). Planar C-PSW/CF consist of a long
rectangular steel box (made up of flange and web plates) filled with plain
concrete. The steel web plates govern the length, and the flange plates govern
the thickness of the planar wall. The steel web plates are connected to each
other using tie bars or steel shapes, and composite interaction between the
steel plates and concrete infill is achieved using tie bars or a combination of
tie bars and shear studs. The steel modules consisting of plates, tie bars and
shear studs are prefabricated and transported to the site. After assembly and
erection, the steel modules serve as falsework for construction activities and
formwork for concrete casting, which significantly reduces construction
schedule. There are no conventional steel reinforcing bars in the concrete
core, and the web and flange plates serve as primary steel reinforcement of the
system.

Experimental and numerical
investigations were conducted on planar C-PSW/CF specimens to evaluate their
seismic and wind behavior. Planar C-PSW/CF specimens were subjected to constant
axial force and cyclic lateral loading (seismic or wind loading protocol) up to
failure. This thesis presents the experimental results, test observations,
lateral load-displacement responses, moment-rotation responses,
moment-curvature relationships, 3D finite element results, and proposed
phenomenological (effective) stress-strain relationships of the tested planar
C-PSW/CF specimens.

Seven large-scale C-PSW/CF
specimens were tested to evaluate the effects of the following parameters on
the seismic response: (i) the axial compression force levels, (ii) steel
reinforcement ratios, (iii) steel plate slenderness ratios, (iv) tie bar
reinforcement ratios, (v) tie bar spacing-to-wall thickness ratios, (vi) plain
or threaded tie bars connections (welded or double nuts connections), (vii)
flange (closure) plates or rolled shapes as boundary elements, and (viii)
welded or embedded wall-to-basemat connections. Two large-scale C-PSW/CF
specimens with welded wall-to-basemat connections were tested to evaluate the
effects of the wind loading protocol, low cycle fatigue, and powder actuated
fasteners (PAFs) in the plastic hinge region.

All planar C-PSW/CF specimens
exceeded their nominal flexural capacities estimated using the fiber section
analysis method or the plastic stress distribution method, while accounting for
the effects of axial force. The seismic lateral load-displacement behavior of
planar C-PSW/CF can be characterized by: elastic uncracked (concrete) behavior,
cracked (concrete) behavior, yielding of the flange plates, inelastic local
buckling of the flanges, extensive local buckling of the flange and web plates,
fracture initiation of flanges, propagation of fracture into the web plates,
and complete fracture of flanges. In accordance with the experimental results,
increasing the axial force level resulted in the higher lateral stiffness and
capacity of C-PSW/CF specimens, but it decreased marginally the ductility.
Local buckling of the flanges occurred after yielding of flanges; however, the
inelastic local buckling of flanges did not decrease the lateral load capacity
of C-PSW/CF. Fracture initiation of flanges resulted in the decrease of lateral
load capacity of the specimens.

The C-PSW/CF specimens could
resist the wind lateral loading protocol consisting of 2,162 load cycles with
no fracture failure. Hairline cracks were detected using magnetic particle
inspection (MPI) at wall-to-foundation connection weld after the completion of
the wind loading protocol. The hairline cracks were due to low-cycle fatigue
damage caused by inelastic strain ranges. By contrast, powder actuated
fasteners (PAFs) did not initiate fracture, which still initiated from the
wall-to-foundation connection weld.

Detailed 3D nonlinear finite
element models of planar C-PSW/CF specimens were developed and benchmarked
using the experimental results. The benchmarked 3D finite element results were
used to develop phenomenological (effective) stress-strain relationships for
the compression concrete and steel flange plates of the C-PSW/CF specimens.
These effective stress-strain relationships implicitly account for the various
behavioral phenomena such as steel yielding, local buckling, biaxial stress
state, steel fracture, composite action, tie bar reinforcement ratio, concrete
plasticity, concrete cracking, and concrete confinement. These effective
stress-strain relationships were used in 2D finite element and fiber-based
models to simulate the behavior of C-PSW/CF specimens with reasonable accuracy.
These simpler finite element models (2D or fiber-based) can be used efficiently
in analysis and design of C-PSW/CF in high-rise buildings.


ABSTRACT Brachyprosopus broomi was described in 1937 based on a specimen from the Tapinocephalus Assemblage Zone (Karoo Basin, South Africa), but it was largely overlooked by subsequent workers. We have identified several new specimens that show that Brachyprosopus is a valid taxon. An autapomorphy for the taxon is a curled lateral edge of the squamosal that forms a lateral wall of the external adductor fossa. Other important characters are absence of anterior median palatal ridges; maxillary tooth rows bounded laterally by a shelf; unfused vomers; raised margins of the interpterygoid vacuity; broad intertemporal region; pineal boss; dentary tables; and a long, wide posterior dentary sulcus that extends posterior to the dentary teeth. Chelydontops altidentalis is a junior synonym of B. broomi. A phylogenetic analysis places Brachyprosopus among basal dicynodonts, not as a close relative of Endothiodon. It is noteworthy that some characters, such as well-developed medial maxillary tooth rows and the shape of the palatines, are shared by Brachyprosopus, Pristerodon, Endothiodon, and Niassodon, hinting that a final resolution of relationships among toothed dicynodonts remains to be achieved. Most Brachyprosopus specimens are from the upper Abrahamskraal Formation (Moordenaars and Karelskraal members). One specimen is from low in the Koonap Formation, just above the lowermost maroon mudrocks of the Beaufort Group, and an exact correlation between this level and the strata of the Abrahamskraal Formation is uncertain. Therefore, it is likely that the stratigraphic range of Brachyprosopus extends throughout the Tapinocephalus zone and possibly down into the Eodicynodon Assemblage Zone.


Digital technologies keep track of everything we do and say while we are online, and we spend online an increasing portion of our time. Databases hidden behind web services and applications are constantly fed with information of our movements and communication patterns, and a significant dimension of our lives, quantified to unprecedented levels, gets stored in those vast online repositories. This article considers some of the implications of this torrent of data for social science research, and for the types of questions we can ask of the world we inhabit. The goal of the article is twofold: to explain why, in spite of all the data, theory still matters to build credible stories of what the data reveal; and to show how this allows social scientists to revisit old questions at the intersection of new technologies and disciplinary approaches. The article also considers how Big Data research can transform policy making, with a focus on how it can help us improve communication and governance in policy-relevant domains.


AbstractNeutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) is an easy measurable laboratory marker used to evaluate systemic inflammation. Elevated NLR is associated with poor survival and increased morbidity in cancer and cardiovascular disease. However, the usefulness of NLR to predict morbidity and mortality in a hospital setting for patients with multiple chronic conditions has not been previously examined. In this study, we investigate the association between NLR and mortality in multimorbid medical inpatients. Two hundred thirty medical in-patients with chronic conditions were selected from a single academic medical center in Taiwan. Retrospective NLRs were calculated from routine full blood counts previously obtained during the initial hospital admission and at the time of discharge. Self-rated health (using a single-item question), medical disorders, depressive symptoms, and medical service utilization over a 1-year period were included in the analyses. Mortality outcomes were ascertained by reviewing electronic medical records and follow-up. The mortality rate at 2-year follow-up was 23%. Depression (odds ratio [OR] 1.9 [95% CI 1.0–3.7]), poor self-rated health (OR 2.1 [95% CI 1.1–3.9]), being hospitalized 2 or more times in the previous year (OR 2.3 [95% CI 1.2–4.6]), metastatic cancer (OR 4.7 [95% CI 2.3–9.7]), and chronic liver disease (OR 4.3 [95% CI 1.5–12.1]) were associated with 2-year mortality. The median (interquartile range) NLR at admission and discharge were 4.47 (2.4–8.7) and 3.65 (2.1–6.5), respectively. Two-year mortality rates were higher in patients with an elevated NLR at admission (NLR <3 = 15.5%, NLR >3 = 27.6%) and discharge (NLR < 3 = 14.7%, NLR >3 = 29.1%). Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated that an elevated NLR >3.0 at admission (OR 2.3 [95% CI 1.0–5.2]) and discharge (OR 2.3 [95% CI 1.1–5.0]) were associated with mortality independent of baseline age, sex, education, metastatic cancer, liver disease, depression, and previous hospitalization. Increased NLR is associated with mortality among medical inpatients with multiple chronic conditions. NLR may provide added value to predict both risk of mortality for the inpatients with chronic conditions, in addition to allowing predictions of likely hospital service needs such as re-admissions that are associated with long-term mortality.


The collective evidence of the range and variety of sources suggested for "The Masque of the Red Death" indicates that individual readers gifted with cross-citational memory often have made profitable discoveries. Such possibilities, as every student of literary sources knows, are endless.(1) And yet it seems to me strange that Macbeth has seldom, if ever, figured as a possible source in any discussion of Poe's story. For, in my repeated reading of "The Masque of the Red Death," I can find nothing more compellingly shadowy than the presence of this Shakespeare play, especially that of Banquo's ghost and the Banquet Scene (III.iv). There is, indeed, first-hand evidence in Poe's Pinakidia that he had contemplated not only the Banquet Scene but a possible theatrical manipulation of its spooky effects: Pinakidia 7 Speaking of the usual representation of the banquet-scene in Macbeth, Von Raumer, the German historian, mentions a shadowy figure thrown by optical means into the chair of Banquo, and producing intense effect upon the audience. Enslen, a German optician, conceived this idea, and accomplished this without difficulty. (Collected Writings 2: 14) This note appeared in 1836, six years before the publication of "The Masque of the Red Death" in Graham's Lady's and Gentlemen's Magazine. During the intervening years, Poe might well have pondered Von Raumer's suggestion in order to develop appropriate rhetorical devices for his own craft that would possibly match the Enslen effect on the stage. As a matter of fact, it is conceivable that Poe's verbal account of Prince Prospero's instinctive reaction upon seeing the "spectral image" was meant to simulate something of "the intense [visual] effect" Enslen was believed to have achieved for his "audience": When the eyes of Prince Prospero fell upon the spectral image (which with a slow and solemn movement, as if more fully to sustain its role, stalked to and fro among the waltzers) he was seen to be convulsed, in the first moment with a strong shudder either of terror or distaste; but, in the next, his brow reddened with rage. (Collected Works 2: 675) The Pinakidia reference, however, may not be wholly essential for us to observe how Prospero's reflexes duplicate Macbeth's during the former's encounter with the Red Death. The texts themselves give us ample evidence of Poe's persistent recall and select use of details from Macbeth at various stages. Given the likeness and immediacy of the two situations, both Prince Prospero and Macbeth betray shock, anger, and shame in matching proportions. Macbeth, we recall, vents his anguished fury in stages: Which of you have done this? .... Thou canst not say I did it. Never shake Thy gory locks at me. Avaunt, and quit my sight! Let the earth hide thee. Thy bones are marrowless, thy blood is cold. Thou hast no speculation in those eyes Which thou dost glare with. What man dare, I dare. Hence, horrible shadow, Unreal mock'ry, hence! (III.iv.48-50, 93-96, 105-106) Prospero, on his part, addresses the revelers, and just once; he never addresses the Masque: "Who dares?" he demanded hoarsely of the courtiers who stood near him--"who dares insult us with this blasphemous mockery? Seize him and unmask him--that we may know whom we have to hang at sunrise, from the battlements!" (675, emphasis added) The verbal parallels in "The Masque" of Macbeth's "dare" and "mockery" are, I believe, far from fortuitous. Furthermore, both passages underscore the visual effrontery and the threat posed to the speakers by the visitants. In other words, the burden of their outbursts is the same: the ghost at once mocks and stultifies; its incorporeality--compare Macbeth's "take any shape but that"-makes it impossible for them to confront it physically. …


Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of an intensive home visiting programme in improving outcomes for vulnerable families. Design Multicentre randomized controlled trial in which eligible women were allocated to receive home visiting (n = 67) or standard services (n = 64). Incremental cost analysis. Setting 40 general practitioner practices across two counties in the UK. Participants 131 vulnerable pregnant women. Intervention Selected health visitors were trained in the Family Partnership Model to provide a weekly home visiting service from 6 months antenatally to 12 months post-natally. Main outcome measures Mother-child interaction, maternal psychological health attitudes and behaviour, infant functioning and development, and risk of neglect or abuse. Results At 12 months, differences favouring the home-visited group were observed on an independent assessment of maternal sensitivity (P < 0.04) and infant cooperativeness (P < 0.02). No differences were identified on any other measures. A non-significant increase in the likelihood of intervention group infants being the subject of child protection proceedings, or being removed from the home, and one death in the control group were found. The mean incremental cost per infant of the home visiting intervention was pound3246 (bootstrapped 95% CI for the difference pound1645-4803). Conclusion This intervention may have the potential to improve parenting and increase the identification of infants at risk of abuse and neglect in vulnerable families. Further investigation is needed, along with long-term follow-up to assess possible sleeper effects. Language: en


Over the past two decades, a growing cadre of US states has legalized the drug commonly known as "marijuana." But even as more states legalize the drug, proponents of reform have begun to shun the term "marijuana" in favor of the term "cannabis." Arguing that the "M" word has been tainted and may thus dampen public support for legalization, policy advocates have championed "cannabis" as an alternative and more neutral name for the drug. Importantly, however, no one has tested whether calling the drug "cannabis" as opposed to "marijuana" actually has any effect on public opinion. Using an original survey experiment, we examine whether framing the drug as "marijuana" as opposed to "cannabis" shapes public attitudes across a range of related topics: support for legalization of the drug, moral acceptance of its use, tolerance of activities involving the drug, perceptions of the drug's harms, and stereotypes of its users. Throughout each of our tests, we find no evidence to suggest that the public distinguishes between the terms "marijuana" and "cannabis." We conclude with implications of our findings for debates over marijuana/cannabis policy and for framing in policy discourse more generally.


The study of scattering amplitudes beyond one loop is necessary for precision phenomenology for the Large Hadron Collider and may also provide deeper insights into the theoretical foundations of quantum field theory. In this thesis we develop a new method for computing two-loop amplitudes, based on unitarity rather than Feynman diagrams. In this approach, the two-loop amplitude is first expanded in a linearly independent basis of integrals. The process dependence thereby resides in the coefficients of the integrals. These expansion coefficients are then the object of calculation.Our main results include explicit formulas for a subset of the integral coefficients, expressing them as products of tree-level amplitudes integrated over specific contours in the complex plane. We give a general selection principle for determining these contours. This principle is then applied to obtain the coefficients of integrals with the topology of a double box. We show that, for four-particle scattering, each double-box integral in the two-loop basis is associated with a uniquely defined complex contour, referred to as its master contour. We provide a classification of the solutions to setting all propagators of the general double-box integral on-shell. Depending on the number of external momenta at the vertices of the graph, these solutions are given as a chain of pointwise intersecting Riemann spheres, or a torus. This classification is needed to define master contours for amplitudes with arbitrary multiplicities.We point out that a basis of two-loop integrals with as many infrared finite elements as possible allows substantial technical simplications, in terms of obtaining the coefficients of the integrals, as well as for the analytic evaluation of the integrals themselves. We compute two such integrals at four points, obtaining remarkably compact expressions. Finally, we provide a check on a recently developed recursion relation for the all-loop integrand of the amplitudes of N=4 supersymmetric Yang-Mills theory, examining the two-loop six-gluon MHV amplitude and finding agreement. The validity of the approach to two-loop amplitudes developed in this thesis extends to all four-dimensional gauge theories, in particular QCD. The approach is suited for obtaining compact analytical expressions as well as for numerical implementations.


We study numerically a group of asymmetric open cavities located at the exit of a photonic crystal waveguide. High angular confinement and deflection of the photonic beam are detected with zero side lobes. We further demonstrate, for the first time to our knowledge, the potential application of generalized open cavities in realizing optical switches/modulators with beam deflection. Finally, the frequency-domain response of the device is investigated and high bandwidth operation can be realized to cover some of the most commonly used transmission windows in the optical-fiber-communication regime.


Featuring essays by some of the most prominent names in contemporary political and cultural theory, Sovereignty in Ruins presents a form of critique grounded in the conviction that political thought is itself an agent of crisis. Aiming to develop a political vocabulary capable of critiquing and transforming contemporary political frameworks, the contributors advance a politics of crisis that collapses the false dichotomies between sovereignty and governmentality and between critique and crisis. Their essays address a wide range of topics, such as the role history plays in the development of a politics of crisis; Arendt's controversial judgment of Adolf Eichmann; Strauss's and Badiou's readings of Plato's Laws ; the acceptance of the unacceptable; the human and nonhuman; and flesh as a biopolitical category representative of the ongoing crisis of modernity. Altering the terms through which political action may take place, the contributors think through new notions of the political that advance countermodels of biopolitics, radical democracy, and humanity.

Contributors. Judith Butler, George Edmondson, Roberto Esposito, Carlo Galli, Klaus Mladek, Alberto Moreiras, Andrew Norris, Eric L. Santner, Adam Sitze, Carsten Strathausen, Rei Terada, Cary Wolfe


Modern signal processing applications emerging in telecommunication and instrumentation industries have placed an increasing demand for ADCs with higher speed and resolution. The most fundamental challenge in such a progress lies at the heart of the classic signal processing: the Shannon-Nyquist sampling theorem which stated that when sampled uniformly, there is no way to increase the upper frequency in the signal spectrum and still unambiguously represent the signal except by raising the sampling rate. This thesis is dedicated to the exploration of the ways to break through the Shannon-Nyquist sampling rate by applying non-uniform sampling techniques.

Time interleaving is probably the most intuitive way to parallel the uniform sampling process in order to achieve a higher sampling rate. Unfortunately, the channel mismatches in the TIADC system make the system an instance of a recurrent non-uniform sampling system whose non-uniformities are detrimental to the performance of the system and need to be calibrated. Accordingly, this thesis proposed a flexible and efficient architecture to compensate for the channel mismatches in the TIADC system. As a key building block in the calibration architecture, the design of the Farrow structured adjustable fractional delay filter has been investigated in detail. A new modified Farrow structure is proposed to design the adjustable FD filters that are optimized for a given range of bandwidth and fractional delays. The application of the Farrow structure is not limited to the design of adjustable fractional delay filters. It can also be used to implement adjustable lowpass, highpass and bandpass filters as well as adjustable multirate filters. This thesis further extends the Farrow structure to the design of filters with adjustable polynomial phase responses.

Inspired by the theory of compressive sensing, another contribution of this thesis is to use randomization as a means to overcome the limit of the Nyquist rate. This thesis investigates the impact of random sampling intervals or jitters on the power spectrum of the sampled signal. It shows that the aliases of the original signal can be well shaped by choosing an appropriate probability distribution of the sampling intervals or jitters such that aliases can be viewed as a source of noise in the signal power spectrum. A new theoretical framework has been established to associate the probability mass function of the random sampling intervals or jitters with the aliasing shaping effect. Based on the theoretical framework, this thesis proposes three random sampling architectures, i.e., SAR ADC, ramp ADC and level crossing ADC, that can be easily implemented based on the corresponding standard ADC architectures. Detailed models and simulations are established to verify the effectiveness of the proposed architectures. A new reconstruction algorithm called the successive sine matching pursuit has also been proposed to recover a class of spectrally sparse signals from a sparse set of non-uniform samples onto a denser uniform time…


Context: Chronic total occlusions (CTOs) sometimes are a challenge for endovascular intervention, especially in developing countries where new devices used to cross CTOs are either unavailable or too expensive. Using basic endovascular tools remains the only solution in such cases when patients were at high risk for open surgical intervention. We present our experience of using double balloon technique to cross CTO lesions in the femoropopliteal segment after failure of known traditional techniques, i.e. intraluminal, subintimal angioplasty, and subintimal arterial flossing with antegrade–retrograde intervention (SAFARI technique). We looked for technical success of double balloon technique in such difficult CTO. Aims: To assess the safety and applicability of double balloon technique in crossing long and complex CTOs lesions, where new crossing re-entry devices are unavailable. Subjects and Methods: This is a retrospective study to look into cases between November 2013 and October 2015, in Kasr Ani Hospital, Cairo University, Egypt. Results: The success rate of the technique was 100%. Conventional Methods: Intraluminal, subintimal angioplasty, and SAFARI technique for crossing CTOs in the femoropopliteal territory were used in 350 lesions, but it failed in 30 where double balloon technique was used. The technical success rate of the technique was 100%. Conclusions: Double balloon technique was safe and cheap. It should replace the use of new re-entry devices keeping them only in bail-out cases after the failure of this technique.


This paper presents a new method for spatially adaptive local likelihood estimation which applies to a broad class of nonparametric models, including the Gaussian, Poisson and binary response models. The main idea of themethod is given a sequence of local likelihood estimates (``weak´´ estimates),to construct a new aggregated estimate whose pointwise risk is of order of the smallest risk among all ``weak´´ estimates. We also propose a new approach towards selecting the parameters of the procedure by providing the prescribed behavior of the resulting estimate in the simple parametric situation. We establish a number of important theoretical results concerning the optimality of the aggregated estimate. In particular, our ``oracle´´ results claims that its risk is up to some logarithmic multiplier equal to the smallest risk for the given family of estimates. The performance of the procedure is illustrated by application to the classification problem. A numerical study demonstrates its nice performance in simulated and real life examples.


ZnO nanorods have attracted increasing interest in recent years due to their potential in optoelectronic applications. The lack of p-type ZnO emphasizes the importance of rectifying junctions realized on other ptype materials. SiC is a good candidate to create hybrid heterojunctions with ZnO due to its wurtzite crystal structure and a small lattice and thermal mismatch. The ZnO/SiC heterojunctions have a potential to show intense UV electroluminescence. We investigate morphology and electrical properties of a single verticallyoriented ZnO nanorod on a SiC substrate. The current-voltage measurements are performed directly in the vacuum chamber of a scanning electron microscope. The contact to a single nanorod is obtained by a nanoprobe, which allows for the measurement of the current-voltage characteristic of a single nanorod heterojunction of choice. The influence of ZnO growth parameters and post-growth treatment of ZnO/SiC structures are studied with the aim to minimize the density of structural/interfacial defects and to create lowdimensional hybrid heterojunctions with the potential to show intense UV electroluminescence.


THE DOMINANT ROLE OF THE HIP IN MULTIJOINT REFLEX RESPONSES IN HUMAN SPINAL CORD INJURY Tanya Onushko, B.S., M.S. Marquette University, 2011 Following a spinal cord injury (SCI), people often experience exaggerated reflexes, such that mild provocations can cause prolonged and uncontrolled muscle activity throughout the entire leg. These reflexes can be problematic and are known to interfere with functional tasks, such as transferring to and from a wheelchair, and they may interfere with locomotor function by prolonging muscle activity and/or inappropriately activating muscles during attempts to walk. While these multijoint reflexes have been shown to originate from several afferent cues, hip afferent input is a particularly potent sensory signal that readily triggers multijoint reflexes. The overall objective of this dissertation was to understand the role of hip sensory cues and the potential mechanisms associated with multijoint reflex behavior in human SCI. To evaluate this, a custom-built robot was used to impose movement of the legs about the hip joint. Joint torque and muscle activity were used as quantitative measures of reflex activity in SCI subjects. The findings from this suggest that the mutability of reflexes triggered by hip-mediated sensory signals is reduced. Voluntary effort and stretchsensitive sensory feedback impart weak signals that do not significantly alter multijoint reflex patterns. Additionally, reflex behaviors presented with a distinct temporal response that has been associated with the disregulation of voltage-dependent depolarizing persistent inward currents (PICs). These results further elucidate the underlying mechanisms associated with hyperexcitable multijoint reflexes to help guide rehabilitation techniques for controlling unwanted muscle activity and for increasing functional gains in human SCI.


Oilseed rape MON 88302 was developed by Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transformation to express the CP4 EPSPS protein, which confers tolerance to glyphosate. The molecular characterisation of oilseed rape MON 88302 did not raise safety issues. Agronomic and phenotypic characteristics of oilseed rape MON 88302 tested under field conditions revealed no biologically relevant differences between oilseed rape MON 88302 and its conventional counterpart, except for days-to-first flowering. No differences in the compositional data requiring further safety assessment were identified. There were no concerns regarding the potential toxicity and allergenicity of the newly expressed CP4 EPSPS protein, and no evidence that the genetic modification might significantly change the overall allergenicity of oilseed rape MON 88302. The nutritional value of oilseed rape MON 88302 is not expected to differ from that of non-GM oilseed rape varieties. There are no indications of an increased likelihood of spread and establishment of feral oilseed rape MON 88302 plants or hybridising wild relatives, unless these plants are exposed to glyphosate. It is unlikely that the observed difference in days-to-first flowering would lead to any relevant increase in persistence or invasiveness. Risks associated with an unlikely, but theoretically possible, horizontal transfer of recombinant genes from oilseed rape MON 88302 to bacteria were not identified. The post-market environmental monitoring plan is in line with the intended uses of oilseed rape MON 88302. In conclusion, the EFSA GMO Panel considers that the information available addresses the scientific requirements of the EFSA GMO Panel and the scientific comments raised by the Member States, and that oilseed rape MON 88302, as described in this application, is as safe as its conventional counterpart and non-GM commercial oilseed rape varieties with respect to potential effects on human and animal health and the environment in the context of the scope of this application.


In contrast to sort-first, sort-last parallel rendering has the distinct advantage that the task division for parallel geometry processing and rasterization is simple, and can easily be incorporated into most visualization systems. However, the efficient final depth-compositing for polygonal data, or alpha-blending for volume data of partial rendering results is the key to achieve scalability in sort-last parallel rendering. In this paper, we demonstrate the efficiency as well as flexibility of the direct send sort-last compositing algorithm, and compare it to existing approaches, both in a theoretical analysis and in an experimental setting.


Sum-frequency mixing of two cw single-mode Nd:YAG lasers in a doubly resonant congruent lithium niobate resonator generated two TEM(00) beams of single-frequency 589-nm radiation. The primary beam had a power of 400 mW and the secondary beam of approximately 15 mW by use of 320 mW of 1319-nm and 660 mW of 1064-nm Nd:YAG radiation incident on the lithium niobate resonator. This corresponds to an optical power conversion efficiency of more than 40%.


Conversational user interfaces, aka chatbots, offer new ways of interaction that can be used not only for task-led applications, but also for learning itself. Conversational learning offers a variety of new and extensive options to support individuals through the learning process and to push the boundaries of classroom based learning. This document shows three application scenarios that have been realized with time4you's conversational learning software Jix. After having read this text, you will have a better idea of what conversational learning is, how it can be used in learning and development, and what is critical for its success.


One major goal of the COSPAL project is to develop an artificial cognitive system architecture with the capability of exploratory learning. Exploratory learning is a strategy that allows to apply generalization on a conceptual level, resulting in an extension of competences. Whereas classical learning methods aim at best possible generalization, i.e., concluding from a number of samples of a problem class to the problem class itself, exploration aims at applying acquired competences to a new problem class. Incremental or online learning is an inherent requirement to perform exploratory learning. Exploratory learning requires new theoretic tools and new algorithms. In the COSPAL project, we mainly investigate reinforcement-type learning methods for exploratory learning and in this paper we focus on its algorithmic aspect. Learning is performed in terms of four nested loops, where the outermost loop reflects the user-reinforcement-feedback loop, the intermediate two loops switch between different solution modes at symbolic respectively sub-symbolic level, and the innermost loop performs the acquired competences in terms of perception-action cycles. We present a system diagram which explains this process in more detail. We discuss the learning strategy in terms of learning scenarios provided by the user. This interaction between user ('teacher') and system is a major difference to most existing systems where the system designer places his world model into the system. We believe that this is the key to extendable robust system behavior and successful interaction of humans and artificial cognitive systems. We furthermore address the issue of bootstrapping the system, and, in particular, the visual recognition module. We give some more in-depth details about our recognition method and how feedback from higher levels is implemented. The described system is however work in progress and no final results are available yet. The available preliminary results that we have achieved so far, clearly point towards a successful proof of the architecture concept.


We live in a world that is awash in visual storytelling. The recent technological revolutions in video recording, editing, and distribution are more akin to the development of movable type than any other such revolution in the last five hundred years. And yet we are not popularly cognizant of or conversant with visual storytelling's grammar, the coded messages of its style, and the practical components of its production. We are largely, in a word, illiterate. But this is not a gloomy diagnosis of the collapse of civilization; rather, it is a celebration of the progress we've made and an exhortation and a plan to seize the potential we're poised to enjoy. The rules that define effective visual storytelling - much like the rules that define written language - do in fact exist, and Stephen Apkon has long experience in deploying them, teaching them, and witnessing their power in the classroom and beyond. In The Age of the Image, drawing on the history of literacy - from scroll to codex, scribes to printing presses, SMS to social media-on the science of how various forms of storytelling work on the human brain, and on the practical value of literacy in real-world situations, Apkon convincingly argues that now is the time to transform the way we teach, create, and communicate so that we can all move forward together into a rich and stimulating future.


Risk-neutral traders executing derivative trades on behalf of portfolio managers maximize their expected profit compared to trading at pre-determined times by timing trades, using the quickly changing risk exposures of derivative baskets. The optimal order submission strategy is a sequence of stop orders with a time-varying stop price. Timing a straddle trade yields up to 20bps per day in a frictionless world, and up to 72bps per day on the S&P500. A CRRA trader is willing to pay up to 51bps of the value of the derivatives to switch from trading at a fixed time to the optimal timing strategy.


Here we present our answers to the reviewer's comments. In particular the manuscript has been significantly modified and presented more concisely (10% reduction in length), with additional analysis and expanding key points in the discussion section. In addition, we provide, according to the reviewers' suggestions, detailed comparisons of the data and their correlation along the examined transects, the classification of the glazed surface using topographic, NIR albedo and temperature brightness parameters and clarify the megadune migration processes and implications.


Multi-application smart cards have yet to realize their enormous potential, partly because few people understand the technology, market, and behavioral issues involved. Here, Mike Hendry sets out to fill this knowledge gap with a comprehensive and accessible guide. Following a review of the state-of-the-art in smart card technology, the book describes the business requirements of each smart-card-using sector, and the systems required to support multiple applications. Implementation aspects, including security, are treated in detail and numerous international case studies cover identity, telecoms, banking and transportation applications. Lessons are drawn from these studies to help deliver more successful projects in the future. Invaluable for users and integrators specifying, evaluating and integrating multi-application systems, the book will also be useful to terminal, card and system designers; network, IT and security managers; and software specialists.


In this work, we present a laser-based process for fabricating a cell electrostimulator. The fabrication methodology comprises two laser processes: a pulse laser deposition (PLD) of an aluminum thin film on soda-lime glass and a laser-based selectively removal of the thin film. The laser set-up for PLD consist of Nd:YVO 4 Rofin Power line 20E (1064 nm wavelength, 20 ns pulse width) focused by a lens of 160 mm focal length inside a vacuum chamber to strike a target of the deposited material. The same laser is used for selectively removing the thin film but focused bya lens of 100 mm focal length. The geometry design is made in CAD-like software. Before microfabrication, a thin aluminum layer (1 μ m thickness) is deposited on soda-lime glass using the PLD method. In order to assemble the device, the electrical stimulator is placed between two polycarbonate sheets of 1.5 mm thickness. To prevent any contact with the electric circuit, a thin silicate glass (100 μ m) is placed over the electrostimulator. Simulations were performed using ANSYS Maxwell software, verifying that the induced electrical field achieves the minimum for cell stimulation. isolated from the cell culture by using a thin soda-lime glass, solving biocompatibility issues between the material of the tracks and the cell culture.


We estimate the impact of the firm component of hourly wage variation on separations from matched Oregon employer–employee data. We use both firm fixed effects estimated from a wage equation as well as a matched instrumental variable (IV) event study around employment transitions between firms. Separations decline with firm wage policies: the implied firm-level labor supply elasticities are around 4, consistent with recent quasi-experimental evidence, but three to four times larger than existing estimates using individual wages. We find that monopsonistic competition is pervasive, even in low-wage, high-turnover sectors, but with little heterogeneity by labor market concentration


Section 1 1 Introduction, Liz Hayden 1.1 History and philosophy 1.2 What do osteopaths treat in children and why is it so effective? 1.3 Features of paediatric osteopathy 1.4 Treatment 2 The paediatric osteopathic practice, Eva Mockel 2.1 Organising the practice 2.2 Parent information 2.3 Children as patients 2.4 Co-operation with doctors and other practitioners 3 Accompanying the mother before, during and after pregnancy, Noori Mitha 3.1 Basic aspects of pregnancy 3.2 Preparing for pregnancy 3.3 Treatment during pregnancy 3.4 Treatment during labour 3.5 Treatment after delivery 3.6 Osteopathic support when breastfeeding 4 The world of the unborn child. Eva Mockel 4.1 Behaviour and living space of the unborn child 4.2 Influences in prenatal experience 4.3 Possible questions in case history taking 5 Birth and treating the baby, Liz Hayden, Eva Mockel 5.1 Normal labour 5.2 Difficult delivery 5.3 The birth process and its effect on the infant cranium 5.4 Prematurity and associated complications 6 Developmental physiology, William Goussel, Dina Guerassimiouk, Jens-Peter Markoff 6.1 Conditions for physiological development 6.2 Prenatal development 6.3 Postnatal development 7 Osteopathic diagnosis, Liz Hayden, Dion Kulak, Maxwell Fraval, Stefan Wentzke 7.1 Case history 7.2 The paediatric osteopathic examination 7.3 The 'head to toe' sequence of the physical examination 7.4 Examination of the infant and the toddler 7.5 Examination of the preschooler and schoolchild 7.6 Examination of the visual and auditory system 7.7 Osteopathic considerations of sensory development 7.8 Warning signs and differential diagnoses: the frontiers of osteopathic treatment 8 The language of the Primary Respiratory Mechanism, Sibyl Grundberg, Susan Turner, Noori Mitha 8.1 Diagnosis and treatment with the Primary Respiratory Mechanism 8.2 Intraosseous strains 8.3 An osteopathic approach to the new born and infant 8.4 Treating the viscera with the Primary Respiratory Mechanism 9 Psychological aspects , Christine Conroy, Susannah Booth, Renate Sander-Schmidt 9.1 Diagnosing and treating emotional factors 9.2 A child's world 9.3 Unexpected interactions 10 Nutrition, Astrid Fischer, Teresa Kelly 10.1 Physiological aspects 10.2 Effect of nutrition on the immune system 10.3 Nutrition for babies 10.4 Nutrition for toddlers and schoolchildren 10.5 Testing for food intolerance Section 2 11 Accomodation difficulties of the newborn, Clive Hayden 11.1 The birth process 11.2 The unsettled newborn 11.3 Sleeping difficulties 11.4 Irritable infants and colic 11.5 Vomiting and regurgitation 12 Pathology and treatment of the gastrointestinal tract, Tajinder K Deoora, Clive Hayden 12.1 Embryological development of the gastrointestinal tract 12.2 Postnatal development of the GIT 12.3 Anatomy of the intestinal viscera and abdominal cavity 12.4 Diarrhoea 12.5 Chronic constipation 12.6 Gastro-oesophageal reflux 12.7 Nervous (functional) stomach ache 12.8 Pyloric hypertrophy 13 Otolaryngology, Henry Klessen 13.1 Growth and development of the neurocranium and viscerocranium 13.2 Adenoids 13.3 Otitis media 13.4 Glue ear (chronic seromucinous otitis) 13.5 Sinusitis 13.6 Osteopathic treatment of the lymph system in ENT diseases 14 Pneumology, Teresa Kelly 14.1 Embryology and anatomy 14.2 The first breath 14.3 The lungs and emotions 14.4 Croup or laryngotracheobronchitis 14.5 Pneumonia 14.6 Bronchiolitis 14.7 Bronchitis 14.8 Bronchial asthma 15 Orthopaedics, Giles Cleghorn, Eva Mockel 15.1 Common orthopaedic conditions 15.2 Plagiocephaly 15.3 Craniosynostosis 15.4 Torticollis 15.5 Scoliosis 15.6 Disorders of maturation of the hip, hip dysplasia and dislocation and sublaxation of the hip 15.7 Coxa vara 15.8 Coxa valga 15.9 Femoral antetorsion 15.10 Perthes' disease 15.11 Slipped capital femoral epiphysis 15.12 Genu varum 15.13 Genu valgum 15.14 Osgood-Schlatter's disease 15.15 Chondromalacia patellae 15.16 Congenital club foot 15.17 In-toeing (metatarsus adductus) 15.18 Flat foot (pes planus) 15.19 Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA) 15.20 Frequency of treatment and aftercare 16 Neuropaediatrics, childhood and adolescent psychiatry, William Goussel, Dina Guerassimiouk, Kok Weng Lim, Jens-Peter Markhoff, Timothy Marris, Robyn Seamer 16.1 Anatomy and physiology of the brain 16.2 Hypotonia 16.3 Developmental delay 16.4 Cerebral palsy 16.5 Sensory integration disorders 16.6 Specific learning difficulties 16.7 Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) 16.8 Epilepsy 16.9 Head pain in children 17 Genetic conditions, Peter Cockhill 17.1 Down's syndrome 17.2 Achondroplasia 17.3 Conclusion 18 Orthodontics, Ariane Hesse 18.1 Nomenclature and morphology 18.2 Development of dentition and the jaw 18.3 Temporomandibular joint disorders 18.4 Principle of treatment in orthodontics 18.5 Teamwork between the osteopath and the orthodontist 19 Speech therapy, Sigrid Graumann-Brunt, Noori Mitha 19.1 What do we mean by language? 19.2 The production of spoken language 19.3 Language development 19.4 Developmental stages in language 19.5 Normal development of spoken language 19.6 Impaired development of spoken language 19.7 Osteopathic treatment of language disorders 20 Vaccination, Manuela Da Rin 20.1 The immune system 20.2 Vaccinations: pro and contra 20.3 Relevant osteopathic treatment 20.4 Conclusion Appendices Glossary, Noori Mitha, Eva Mockel, Susan Turner Literature, Liz Hayden Websites, Liz Hayden Self-help groups, Liz Hayden Associations in Europe, Liz Hayden, Eva Mockel Training in the UK, Liz Hayden


Wildfire is on the rise. The United States is witnessing a spectacular increase in acres lost to catastrophic wildfires, a phenomenon fed by the generally hotter and dryer conditions associated with climate change. In addition to losses in lives, property, and natural resources, wildfires contribute thousands of tons of air pollution each year. Ironically, one of the most effective tools to reduce the incidence and severity of unplanned wildfires is fire. Prescribed, or controlled, burning reduces the buildup of vegetation resulting from years of wildfire-suppression policy. At present, the number of acres subject to prescribed burns falls far short of the optimal number needed to restore natural ecosystems and reduce damages from unplanned wildfires. Air-pollution law and policy is an important factor contributing to the underprovision of prescribed fire that has so far escaped in-depth treatment in the law and policy literature. After setting forth the relevant air quality framework, this Article argues that decisions regarding planned wildfire are marred by an anachronistic and inaccurate distinction between "natural" and "anthropogenic" fire. Rationalizing that unplanned wildfires are "natural," the federal government excludes pollutants from such fires from air quality compliance calculations at the same time it encourages states to vigorously control pollutants from "anthropogenic," prescribed fires. The result contributes to an undervaluation of necessary, planned wildfire. Wildfire air pollution policy is also hindered by governance structures that place air quality and resource agencies at odds with each other, and by state nuisance authorities that enable narrow local interests to shut down prescribed fire, all of which trump the broader public interest in reduced wildfire risk and healthier forests. This Article suggests several solutions to remove these distortions, including adopting a default rule whereby all wildfire smoke, of whatever origin, "counts" for purposes of air quality compliance. Together with adopting mechanisms to require air pollution and resource agencies to both participate in planned burning decisions and de-emphasize the influence of nuisance standards, this "smoke is smoke" rule will ensure that the air pollution policy better reflects the true costs and benefits of prescribed fire.