The aim of this work was to use resources coming from the field of signal and image processing to make progress solving real problems of surface texture characterisation. A measurement apparatus like a microscope gives a representation of a surface textures that can be seen as an image. This is actually an image representing the relief of the surface texture. From the image processing point of view, this problem takes the form of texture analysis. The introduction of the problem as one of texture analysis is presented as well as the proposed solution: a wavelet based method for texture characterisation. Actually, more than a simple wavelet transform, an entire original characterisation method is described. A new tool based on the frequency normalisation of the well-known wavelet transform has been designed for the purpose of this study and is introduced, explained and illustrated in this thesis. This tool allows the drawing of a real space-frequency map of any image and especially textured images. From this representation, which can be compared to music notation, simple parameters are calculated. They give information about texture features on several scales and can be compared to hybrid parameters commonly used in surface roughness characterisation. Finally, these parameters are used to feed a decision-making system. In order to come back to the first motivation of the study, this analysis strategy is applied to real engineered surface characterisation problems. The first application is the discrimination of surface textures, which superficially have similar characteristics according to some standard parameters. The second application is the monitoring of a grinding process. A new approach to the problem of surface texture analysis is introduced. The principle of this new approach, well known in image processing, is not to give an absolute measure of the characteristics of a surface, but to classify textures relative to each other in a space where the distance between them indicates their similarity.


Most CO2 abatement policies reduce the demand for fossil fuels and therefore their price in international markets. If these policies are not global, this price decrease raises emissions in countries without CO2 abatement policies, generating "carbon leakage". On the other hand, if the countries which abate CO2 emissions are net fossil fuel importers, they benefit from this price decrease, which reduces the abatement cost. In contrast, CO2 capture and storage (CCS) does not reduce fossil fuel demand, therefore it generates neither this type of leakage nor this negative feedback on abatement costs. We quantify these effects with the global hybrid general equilibrium model Imaclim-R and show that they are quantitatively important. Indeed, for a given unilateral abatement in OECD countries, leakage is more than halved in a scenario with CCS included among the abatement options, compared to a scenario prohibiting CCS. We show that the main reason for this difference in leakage is the above-mentioned international fossil fuel price feedback. This article does not intend to assess the desirability of CCS, which has many other pros and cons. It just identifies a consequence of CCS that should be taken into account, together with many others, when deciding to what extent CCS should be developed.


This study evaluated the economic impact of hunting on the regional economy of South Africa's Limpopo Province. Data on biltong hunting was derived from a national survey conducted in 2009 and data on trophy hunting from the Professional Hunting Association of South Africa (PHASA). Using the input-output (social accounting matrix) and multiplier analyses, we found that the direct economic impact of hunting in the regional economy of the Limpopo Province, as a result of increased expenditure, exceeded R669 million (US$83.6 million). This direct impact resulted in a total economic impact in the order of R1.2 billion (US$150 million) and consequently in a multiplier effect of 1.76. With regard to employment, we estimated that some 8 382 jobs, in addition to those of the employees directly involved, may be dependent upon hunting in the province, which supports the notion that this is a viable and important sector of the tourism industry.


Now-a-days, the focus on lactate is due to its being an oxidative substrate for energy metabolism in brain (and other tissues), rather than a useless end product of anaerobic glycolysis. Mounting evidence indicates that lactate does play a major role in aerobic energy metabolism in the brain, the heart, skeletal muscle and possibly in any other tissue and organ. Nevertheless, this evidence has challenged the old concept of lactate being an anaerobic waste product and ignited a fierce debate between the supporters of glucose as the major oxidative energy substrate and those who support lactate as a possible alternative to glucose under certain conditions. While researchers working on energy metabolism in skeletal muscle have taken great strides toward bridging between these two extreme positions, accepting lactate role as an oxidative energy substrate, neuroscientists appear to be somewhat more emotional about their differences and less agreeable. In this paper I have employed findings from research on skeletal muscle along with the existing old and new data on cerebral energy metabolism, to postulate that lactate is the only major product of cerebral (and other tissues) glycolysis, whether aerobic or anaerobic, neuronal or astrocytic, under rest or during activation. Accordingly, lactate is a major, if not the only, substrate used by the mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid cycle. If proven true, this hypothesis should provide a better understanding of the biochemistry and physiology of (cerebral) energy metabolism and hold important implications where neuroimaging is concerned.


Telomeres are specialized nucleoprotein structures that protect the ends of linear chromosomes from degradation. Habitual physical activity is positively associated with longer leukocyte telomere length; however the molecular mechanisms underpinning the association are unclear. Human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) is the rate-limiting component of the telomere extending enzyme telomerase. The effective functioning of the adaptive immune system depends heavily upon the replicative potential of T cells, which is largely determined by telomere length and hTERT expression. Sirtuin 6 (SIRT6) also serves important pro-telomeric functions via an interaction with telomeric chromatin and regulatory roles in genome stabilization and DNA repair. It is unknown if cardiorespiratory exercise acutely regulates mRNA levels of hTERT, SIRT6 or other telomere-associated genes in white blood cells in general and T cell subsets in particular. Additionally, the exercise-induced regulation of microRNAs (short, non-coding RNA molecules that negatively regulate gene expression) with potential telomeric functions is unknown. Twenty-three healthy males (mean age=23.96 ±1.49 years) undertook 30min of treadmill running at 80% of previously determined VO2peak. Blood samples were taken before exercise, immediately post-exercise and 60min post-exercise. White blood cells and flow cytometry-sorted T cell subsets were assessed via quantitative polymerase chain reaction for differential regulation of telomeric genes and microRNAs. Expression levels of hTERT and SIRT6 mRNA were up-regulated following exercise in white blood cells and various T cell subsets (CD4+ naïve, CD4+ memory, CD8+ naïve, and CD8+ memory). Additionally, exercise differentially regulated several genes associated with telomere structure. A total of 56 microRNAs were differentially regulated post-exercise, six of which were investigated for potential telomeric functions. MicroRNAs-186, 636, 15a, and 96 showed significant up-regulation 60min post-exercise. MicroRNAs-186 and 636 showed detectable differential regulation in naïve and memory subsets. Intense cardiorespiratory exercise differentially regulated a host of telomeric genes in white blood cells and T cell subsets. Furthermore, it resulted in differential regulation of 56 microRNAs, some of which have binding potential to telomeric genes. Importantly, we demonstrated cell typespecific expression patterns in telomeric genes and microRNA. These results could have important implications for T cell-dependent immune functions and telomere homeostasis.


Authentication services in security platforms often need to handle different types of systems which have various requirements regarding the authentication. These requirements can often interfere with each other and the issue here is that the authentication service often needs to be manually adjusted to comply with these requirements. Therefore there is a need for a flexible architectural design which enables changes and could open up for new emerging technologies and possibilities. This thesis presents an architectural design of a conformative authentication service based on SAML 2.0 to be used in security platforms. In this thesis a requirements analysis was performed and an architectural design was developed. The architectural design presented in this thesis is conformative in various aspects, e.g. usage of various authentication methods, versatile handling of attributes, handling of various SAML 2.0 profiles, possibilities to participate in various identity federations and handling of legacy systems not supporting SAML. In addition, an evaluation comparing the candidate architectural design presented in this thesis with a currently active architectural design was performed. This evaluation showed that the candidate architectural design was considered better for more usage scenarios.


The intended purpose of this profile is to provide a broad overview of the status of nutrition in Laos in order to inform potential US-supported efforts.This profile examines why there should be investment in nutrition in Laos; summarizes nutritional status and priorities; lists the key drivers of maternal and child malnutrition in Laos; provides graphic summaries of key statistics in child and maternal health and nutrition; lists relevant indicators in food security diet diversity and water sanitation and hygiene; discusses the role of gender; describes the needs and challenges of the government policies and program environment; summarizes development partner support; and discusses recommended nutrition priorities and recommended indicators to monitor nutritional impact.


The aetiology of OAL is undefined, although much attention has been recently focused on determining whether OAL is caused by an autoimmune disorder, chronic antigenic stimulation or both. It is becoming evident that infectious agents underlying chronic eye infection, as Chlamydia, may play a role in ocular lymphomagenesis. The high prevalence of Chlamydophila psittaci in patients with OAL has suggested a potential oncogenic role for its tendency to cause chronic and persistent infections, although it has been documented an evident geographical variability and response to antibiotic treatment. For C. pneumoniae, the findings so far obtained are very limited not only for identification in OAL but also for the specific treatment with antibiotics. The recent molecular and cultural evidence of C. trachomatis in patients with OAL, seems to suggest that also this pathogen may contribute to pathogenesis of such lymphoma. The potential application of bacteria-eradicating therapy at local and systemic level may ultimately result in safer and more efficient therapeutic option for patients affected by these malignancies. Moreover, a close collaboration between experts in ophthalmology, infectious diseases and hematology will help, in the future, to effectively manage this disease. This review attempts to weigh the currently available evidence regarding the role that Chlamydia play in development of OAL and focuses on patients with OAL observed at our Institution.


Many people do not realize that on a daily basis they probably already walk 900 to 3,000 steps, even if they have a relatively sedentary lifestyle. By incorporating fairly modest changes into their day-to-day routine, people can easily increase their walking count to 10,000 steps. This book shows readers how to do just that. It serves as a tool for those who want to reap all of the rewards of walking. This paperback book includes a FREE pedometer.


Since 2003/2004, the United Kingdom has implemented a salt reduction campaign; however, there are no data on salt intake in children as assessed by 24-hour urinary sodium, the gold standard method, to inform this campaign. We performed a cross-sectional study, involving South London school children across 3 age tiers: young children (5- to 6-year olds), intermediate-aged children (8- to 9-year olds), and adolescents (13- to 17-year olds). Dietary salt intake was measured by 24-hour urinary sodium excretion and compared with newly derived maximum salt intake recommendations. In addition, dietary sources of salt were assessed using a 24-hour photographic food diary. Valid urine collections were provided by 340 children (162 girls, 178 boys). The mean salt intakes were 3.75 g/d (95% confidence interval, 3.49–4.01), 4.72 g/d (4.33–5.11), and 7.55 g/d (6.88–8.22) for the 5- to 6-year olds, 8- to 9-year olds, and 13- to 17-year olds, respectively. Sixty-six percent of the 5- to 6-year olds, 73% of the 8- to 9-year olds, and 73% of 13- to 17-year olds had salt intake above their maximum daily intake recommendations. The major sources of dietary salt intake were cereal and cereal-based products (36%, which included bread 15%), meat products (19%), and milk and milk products (11%). This study demonstrates that salt intake in children in South London is high, with most of the salt coming from processed foods. Much further effort is required to reduce the salt content of manufactured foods.


We have defined the regions of the cytoplasmic domain of the leukocyte integrin lymphocyte function-associated antigen 1 (LFA-1) that are required for active binding of its extracellular domain to intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1). The NH2-terminal 28 amino acids in the cytoplasmic domain are dispensable, but a segment of 5 amino acids including three contiguous threonines (758-760) and Phe 766 in the COOH-terminal third of the cytoplasmic domain are required for binding to ICAM-1. Mutation and phosphoamino acid analysis show that Ser 756 is the major residue phosphorylated in response to phorbol ester. Furthermore, multiple mutations demonstrate that serine phosphorylation can be dissociated from phorbol ester-stimulated binding of LFA-1 to ICAM-1. The sites we have defined are previously unremarked, are well conserved in the beta 1, beta 3, and beta 7 integrin subunits, and may be of broad importance in regulating adhesiveness of integrins.


When a porous material that is saturated with liquid is heated, the liquid expands much more than the solid phase. If the permeability is low, then the liquid may not be able to escape as it expands, so it expands within the pores and causes dilatation of the body. In that case, by analyzing the kinetics of dilatation during a change in temperature, it is possible to extract the permeability. Previous papers have examined the behavior of an elastic or viscoelastic (VE) porous solid subjected to a thermal cycle slow enough to avoid internal temperature gradients. However, for cementitious samples, the sample size must be large enough that thermal gradients are likely. In this paper, we show that the effect of the gradient can be readily incorporated into the analysis of experimental data. For cement paste, experiments reveal that VE relaxation has a greater influence on the results than the gradient in temperature.


The paper presents an ongoing project in the domain of lexicography of language contact, namely, the "Internet Dictionary of Words of German Origin in Tok Pisin". The German influence onto the lexicon of the main pidgin language of Papua New Guinea has its roots in the German colonial empire, where Tok Pisin played an important role as a lingua franca in the colony of German New Guinea. Tok Pisin also served as an intermediate language for many borrowing processes; that is, German loans entered many languages in the South Pacific via Tok Pisin. The Internet Dictionary of Words of German Origin in Tok Pisin is based on all available lexicographical sources from the early 20th century up to now. These sources are systematically evaluated within our project; the results will be documented in the dictionary. The microstructure of the dictionary will be presented with respect to its major features: documentation of sources, examples for word usage, audio files, and lexicographic comment.


Abstract: Motor functions can be hindered in consequence to a stroke or a spinal cord injury. This often results in partial paralyses of the upper limb. The effectiveness of rehabilitation therapy can be improved by the use of rehabilitation robotics and Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES). We consider a hybrid arm weight support combining both. In order to compensate the effect of FES-induced muscle fatigue, we introduce a method to substitute the decreasing level of FES support by cable-driven robotics. We evaluated the approach in a trial with one healthy subject performing repetitive arm lifting. The controller automatically adapted the support and thus no increase in user generated volitional effort was observed when FES induced muscle fatigue occured.


iven the centuries of persecution against the Jewish people, threats by Arab neighbors to Israel's very survival in the early days of its independence, and decades of terrorist attacks by Palestinian extremists against Israeli civilians, it has been understandably difficult for many Israelis to recognize the willingness of the Palestine Authority (PA) to make peace. As the principal mediator in the IsraeliPalestinian peace talks, one would think that the United States would be eager to underscore the Authority's willingness to accept Israeli control of 78 percent of historic Palestine, allow for Israeli annexation of most of the major settlement blocs in the West Bank in exchange for an equivalent amount of land recognized as part of Israel, and the implantation of strict security guarantees, including the demilitarization of a Palestinian state, the disarming of Hamas and other militias, and the deployment of Israeli monitors and international peacekeeping forces. Unfortunately, the U.S. government and leading American political figures have done just the opposite—engaging in a longstanding and persistent effort to persuade the Israeli people and supporters of Israel in the United States that the Palestinians are not really interested in peace and that a perpetually militarized Israel is therefore necessary. In resolutions passed by unanimous consent or lopsided bipartisan majorities, Congress has repeatedly tried to convince Israelis that—despite repeated calls for peace—the Palestinians' recognized leadership in the dominant Fatah party, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), and the Palestine Authority have actually wanted to destroy Israel. For example, Congressional leaders and top administration officials from both parties for many years kept insisting that Palestinian leaders such as Yasir Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas were talking about peace in English while rejecting it in Arabic—even though none of them actually understood the language. Terrorist attacks by Abu Nidal, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and other extremist Palestinian groups were falsely attributed to the PLO or the PA. Statements by Palestinian leaders have been repeatedly taken out of context to make them sound threatening, such as claiming that calls for a "jihad"—the Arabic word for "struggle"—in support of Palestinian independence meant a call for war to destroy Israel, or that praise by Palestinian leaders of "martyrs" killed in unarmed protests against the Israeli Occupation were actually referring to suicide bombers. While the original PLO Charter called for the end of Israel as a Jewish state, this clause was made moot in a series of policy shifts by the PLO leadership in the 1980s, codified in the Oslo Accords of 1993, and formally repealed by the Palestine National Congress—with the full satisfaction of the Israeli government—in 1996, a decision reiterated by the Palestinian parliament two years later in the presence of President Bill Clinton. Yet a number of prominent members of Congress still claim to this day that the Palestinian Charter still calls for Israel's destruction.


Current theories and models on child development emphasize that children and their environmennt form a system with bidirectional processes of interactions. Transactional models, which integrate parent and child effects, may be especially successful in describing and explaining the development of problem behaviour in children and adolescence. In line with this perspective, this dissertation examined how aggressive and rule-breaking (externalizing) behaviours develop between childhood and adolescence (6-17 years), to what extent individual-level factors (child personality) and proximal contextual factors (parent personality, parenting behaviour) may help to explain their development, and how the development of these risk factors can be described and explained. The results of this dissertation are based on a large-scale, longitudinal study about externalizing behaviours, parenting, and parent and child personality characteristics (Flemish Study on Parenting, Personality, and Development). Mothers, fathers, teachers, and children filled out questionnaire for up to six times between 1999 and 2009. Further, data was used of a South Korean study, for which mothers of young children filled out questionnaires about their personality characteristics, parenting, and feelings of parental competence. Results showed that overall, children decreased in aggression and increased in rule-breaking behaviours, and parents on average decreased in overreactive discipline and warmth as children transitioned to adolescence. Interindividual differences in rates of changes were partly explained by initial levels in the respective behaviours when children were still young. Specifically, if children or parents initially showed more externalizing behaviours or overreactive discipline, they decreased less in externalizing and overreactive behaviours over time. Parents, who exhibited less warmth initially, decreased more in warmth over time. Further, overreactive and warm parenting in childhood were related to changes in externalizing behaviours across ten years and vice-versa. More than parenting, however, child personality explained why children changed in certain ways. First, child personality was related directly to the development of externalizing behaviours across ten years. Second, child personality was related to later parenting, which in turn was related to externalizing behaviours. Third, child personality shaped how overreactive discipline was related to the development of externalizing behaviours. Regarding the explanation of parenting, our results showed that parents' personality was more important for overreactive discipline than child personality was, but parent and child personality were similarly important for warmth. Additionally, child aggression and parent personality were related to parental feelings of competence and closeness to the child, which in turn were associated with overreactive and warm parenting. To summarize, this dissertation shows that differences between children regarding the development of externalizing behaviours are to a large extent explained by the development of parenting as children transition into adolescence. Moreover, child personality plays an essential role in the development of externalizing behaviours, both directly and in concert with parenting. Taking into account both individual child characteristics and parenting behaviours may substantially improve our understanding of externalizing behaviours.


Larger foraminifera are recognized from the middle Tertiary (Oligocene-Miocene) carbonate sediments, Bey Dalari Autochton, which is a segment of a Tethyan Platform. Eight diagnostic species and their local ranges are documented. These 8 species es- tablish three biostratigraphically useful faunal assemblages which are assigned to Tertiary e4 (Chattian), Tertiary e5 lower (Aquitanian) and Tertiary e5 upper (Burdigalian) of the Far Eastern Letter Stages. Diagnostic miogypsinid foraminifera and one new genus, Spinosemiogypsina antalyaensis, n. gen., n. sp. are described.


The topology of the electromagnetic field around neutron stars severely impacts pulsar physics. While most of the works assume a standard centred dipolar electromagnetic field model, recently some efforts have been made to explain how inclusion of higher multipolar components could drastically change our understanding of these objects. Also, for simplicity, it has always been assumed that the magnetic moment coincides with the geometrical centre of the star. However, lately, a more general picture has been put forward in which the magnetic dipole moment is shifted off from the centre of the star. It has been demonstrated that the rotating off-centred dipole can be expanded into multipolar components. We study the effects of an off-centred rotating dipole on various characteristic emission features of pulsars in vacuum. The reliability of the off-centred case and its consequences on the magnetic field line structure, shape of the polar caps, high energy and radio emission phase plots and corresponding light curves along with a comparison with the standard centred case. It has been seen that an off-centred dipole breaks the north-south symmetry and allows for more flexibility in radio and high-energy light-curves fitting and phase lag.


Adaptive computing systems rely on accurate predictions of application behavior to understand and respond to the dynamically varying characteristics. In this study, we present a Statistical Metric Model (SMM) that is system- and metric-independent for predicting application behavior. SMM is a probability distribution over application patterns of varying length and it models how likely a specific behavior occurs. Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) criterion is used to estimate the parameters of SMM. The parameters are further refined with a smoothing method to improve prediction robustness. We also propose an extension to SMM (i.e., SMM-Interp) to handle sudden short-term changes in application behavior. SMM learns the application patterns during runtime, and at the same time predicts the upcoming application phases based on what it has learned up to that point. We demonstrate several key features of SMM: (1) adaptation, (2) variable length sequence modeling, and (3) long-term memory. An extensive and rigorous series of prediction experiments show the superior performance of the SMM predictor over existing predictors on a wide range of benchmarks. For some of the benchmarks, SMM reduces the prediction error rate by 10X and 3X, compared to last value and table-based prediction approaches, respectively. SMM's improved prediction accuracy results in superior power-performance tradeoffs when it is applied to an adaptive dynamic power management scheme.


Electro-acoustic devices such as surface acoustic wave (SAW) and bulk acoustic wave (BAW) devices have been in commercial use for over 60 years and can be found in applications ranging from specialised scientific and military equipment to consumer products, such as mobile telephones, TV and radio receivers, etc. Today by far the largest market for electro-acoustic devices is the telecommunication industry which annually consumes approximately three billion acoustic wave filters for frequency control alone.The development of new materials and technologies for electro-acoustic devices has gained a substantial and growing interest from both academic and industrial research communities in recent years due to the enormous growth in the telecommunication industry and other forms of wireless data communication. One of the bigger issues has been to replace the single crystalline substrates with thin film piezoelectric materials deposited by reactive sputtering. This would not only reduce the manufacturing costs but will also enable high frequency of operation and a wider choice of substrate materials. However, in order to obtain the material properties required for the intended application a detailed theoretical description of the reactive sputtering process is necessary since the texture and other functional properties of the piezoelectric material are extremely sensitive to the process parameters in addition to the structure of the underlying material.This thesis studies the reactive sputtering process and its application for the fabrication of thin film electro-acoustic devices. The aim has been to gain a further insight into the process and make use of this knowledge to improve the fabrication of electro-acoustic devices. In this work modelling of the reactive sputtering process has been improved by studying certain fundamental aspects of the process and in particular the dynamics of the processes taking place during sputtering both at the target and the substrate surfaces. Consequently, highly textured thin piezoelectric aluminium nitride films have been synthesized and thin film bulk acoustic resonators (FBAR) operating in the GHz range have been fabricated and studied.


This study examines the relationship between use of Facebook, a popular online social network site, and the formation and maintenance of social capital. In addition to assessing bonding and bridging social capital, we explore a dimension of social capital that assesses one's ability to stay connected with members of a previously inhabited community, which we call maintained social capital. Regression analyses conducted on results from a survey of undergraduate students (N = 286) suggest a strong association between use of Facebook and the three types of social capital, with the strongest relationship being to bridging social capital. In addition, Facebook usage was found to interact with measures of psychological well-being, suggesting that it might provide greater benefits for users experiencing low self-esteem and low life satisfaction.


This paper proposes a new flow control scheme in VCT-switched irregular networks. Based on the new scheme, a novel deadlock-free fully adaptive routing algorithm is in-troduced. The algorithm does not need any virtual channel. It requires that each input port of a switch holds at least two 1-packet-sized buffers. The flow control scheme is proposed based on a baseline routing scheme, where the downstream nodes check the number of safe buffers at the upstream nodes. The proposed fully adaptive routing algorithm is on the basis of different baseline routing schemes: updown, and multiple spanning tree based routing schemes. Extensive simulation results validate the effectiveness of the proposed method as compared to well-known existing approaches.


Background Women juggling multiple roles in our complex society are increasingly experiencing psychological stress. Dietary supplementation to manage stress is widespread despite limited supporting evidence. A systematic review of the available literature was undertaken to investigate the efficacy of specific dietary supplements in managing female stress and anxiety. Objectives To identify the impact of essential fatty acids (EFAs), B vitamins, vitamin C, magnesium and/or zinc, consumed as dietary supplements to the daily diet, on female stress and anxiety levels. Inclusion criteria Types of participants Women aged 18 years and over, who had participated in a study where stress and/or anxiety were assessed. Types of intervention(s) Dietary supplementation with EFAs, B vitamins, vitamin C, magnesium and/or zinc. Types of comparators Supplements, either alone or combined, were compared with either no intervention or placebo. Types of studies Randomized controlled and pseudo-randomized trials were included. Outcomes Stress and anxiety were assessed using self-report or physiological outcome measures. Search strategy Published and unpublished studies were sought via MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, Scopus, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, MedNar, National Institute of Mental Health and the International Association for Women's Mental Health. Methodological quality Methodological quality was evaluated using standardized critical appraisal instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute. Data extraction Data were extracted using the standardized data extraction instruments from the Joanna Briggs Institute. Data synthesis Due to heterogeneity of the included studies, narrative synthesis was performed. Results Fourteen studies were included in this review. Essential fatty acids were effective in reducing perceived stress and salivary cortisol levels during pregnancy and anxiety in premenstrual women, and anxiety during menopause in the absence of depression, but were ineffective when depression was disregarded. Disregarding the hormonal phase, EFAs were ineffective in reducing stress or anxiety in four groups of women. Combined magnesium and vitamin B6 supplementation reduced premenstrual anxiety but had no effect when used in isolation and did not affect stress in women suffering from dysmenorrhea when combined or used in isolation. Older women experienced anxiety reduction using vitamin B6, but not folate or vitamin B12. High-dose sustained-release vitamin C was effective in reducing anxiety and blood pressure in response to stress. Conclusion The current review suggests that EFAs may be effective in reducing prenatal stress and salivary cortisol and may reduce anxiety during premenstrual syndrome and during menopause in the absence of depression. Magnesium and vitamin B6 may be effective in combination in reducing premenstrual stress, and vitamin B6 alone may reduce anxiety effectively in older women. High-dose sustained-release vitamin C may reduce anxiety and mitigate increased blood pressure in response to stress. Implications for practice Essential fatty acids may be effective in reducing prenatal stress and salivary cortisol levels, and premenstrual or menopausal anxiety in the absence of depression. Combining magnesium and vitamin B6 may reduce premenstrual anxiety and vitamin B6 may reduce anxiety in older women. High-dose sustained-release vitamin C may reduce anxiety and mitigate increased blood pressure in response to stress. Implications for research Investigating supplementation in longer term studies is warranted and should include compliance testing, the use of inert substances as controls and reliable outcome measures.


Proper function of the nervous system requires that neurons make appropriate contacts with other neurons through their dendritic arbors, and defects in dendritic structures are associated with mental retardation in humans. Neuronal activity is required for correct outgrowth and branching of dendrites. Recent evidence has shown that wingless or Wnt signaling, which is so important in regulating other aspects of development, is also a crucial regulator of dendritic development. Wayman et al. present a series of experiments that piece together a calcium-dependent signaling pathway that appears to link neuronal activity with transcriptional control of Wnt expression. In cultured rat hippocampal neurons, the authors used siRNA to restrict expression of the γ isoform of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase I (CaMKIγ) and show that this isoform is specifically required for activity-dependent development of dendrites through its activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase ERK (extracellular signal-regulated kinase). Furthermore, constitutively active forms of MEK (a protein kinase that acts in the kinase cascade that activates ERK) or CaMKI could replace neuronal activation in stimulating dendrite development. The transcription factor CREB (cyclic AMP response element-binding protein) was confirmed to be activated by this calcium-dependent activation of ERK. A serial analysis of chromatin occupancy (SACO) screen [which combines chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) with a modification of SAGE (serial analysis of gene expression)] was used to identify Wnt-2 as a target of CREB activated in response to neuronal activity. Neuronal activity also stimulated transcription of Wnt-2 in cultured hippocampal slices, and expression of the Wnt antagonist Wif blocked activity-dependent dendritic outgrowth. Together the results of Wayman et al. show a pathway from the NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) receptor transmitted through CaMK kinase, CamKI, the GTPase Ras, ERK, and CREB that leads to transcriptional control of Wnt. It is possible, the authors propose, that a similar pathway could control Wnt signaling in other developmental contexts. G. A. Wayman, S. Impey, D. Marks, T. Saneyoshi, W. F. Grant, V. Derkach, T. R. Soderling, Activity-dependent dendritic arborization mediated by CaM-kinase I activation and enhanced CREB-dependent transcription of Wnt-2. Neuron 50, 897-909 (2006). [Online Journal]


"The world will never be the same again," says the overwhelming majority of socially active Russians, referring to the "old world" as the planetary community until February 24, 2022. At the same time, the most rapid, cardinal, unmistakably projected transformations are announced as crucial tasks for Russia all Russian life support systems and accelerated modernization. The most important of them, according to the authors of the article, is the logistics project proposed in 2006 by Academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.A. Sadovnichim and G.V. Osipov, which in the new edition is presented in the article as "United Eurasia — Transsib 2.0". It is based on the concept of the spatial economy, which is made up of transnational megaprojects that have been successfully implemented over the past 70 years. "United Eurasia — Transsib 2.0" at the initial stage is intended to overcome the attempts of Europe and the United States to implement a transport blockade of the Russian Federation. Such a blockade could hinder the development of our country, which would lead to a decrease in the living standards of the population and, as Russia's enemies suggest, corrosion of national unity and consolidation of the masses with power structures after the start of the military operation to liberate Donbass. In the future, after the successful solution of the Russian transport problems proper, the proposed logistics project can successfully develop as a transcontinental one, linking different regions of the world along new economically and politically promising vectors and directions. In particular, we can talk about pairing with the Chinese logistics corridor "Silk Road", to counter which at the June G7 summit in South Bavaria, the countries of the "golden billion" proposed to allocate unprecedented investments of $600 billion. The article contains a list of the main threats to the Russian Federation, consisting of 10 points, and a summary of their prompt relief with subsequent complete elimination. The technology for the implementation of the megaproject "United Eurasia — Transsib 2.0" has been prescribed — along with budgetary financing of the new Transsib, it is planned to attract investments from the regional budgets of those entities through which the proposed route will pass, as well as to co-finance the capital of private investors and issue marketable "Trans-Siberian" loan bonds. Obviously, after conducting a special military operation in Ukraine, Russia will have to equip its Eurasian space between Europe and East Asia in the shortest possible time in the neighborhood of five civilizations — Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Shinto and Buddhist — so that it can finally become a territory of safe solidarity development.


Criteria that are deemed critical for recognition of terrestrial impact craters include features from hand specimens such as shock metamorphic structures. Although these criteria have been selected because they are unique physical products of bolide impact, strict adherence to these criteria means that we cannot positively identify buried astroblemes that are tomographically imaged on three-dimensional seismic data, but are undrilled. Because many of Earth9s deeply buried structures may never be drilled because of prohibitive cost and lack of commercial incentive, a large proportion of as yet-undiscovered terrestrial astroblemes, including the best-preserved examples, may remain unclassified and be excluded from impact-structure research. A framework for the identification of impact structures imaged on three-dimensional seismic data is proposed, on the basis of geometrical criteria plus additional image-quality and preservation criteria that assign a level of confidence to the assessment.


This study investigates the challenges encountered and the coping strategies used by final year undergraduate students of Sociology in project writing in Kogi State University, Anyigba, Nigeria using both case study and ex-post facto design. The study population comprises of all final year undergraduate students of Sociology in the faculty of social sciences of the institution, totalling two hundred and twenty one (221). However, to qualify as sample, the students must have registered for project course (Soc 406), carried out his/her field work, and final copies of his/her project work made ready for submission. Those who met these criteria were totalling one hundred and sixty three (163) and they were all selected for the study using purposive sampling technique. Data were collected using structured questionnaire and the data collected were statically analysed using frequencies, percentage, and weighted means, while the hypotheses formulated were tested using Levene's independent sample t-test for equality of variance. Results of the study showed that of all the challenges encountered by the respondents in project writing, inadequate fund to meet the financial demand of their project work is the most common. Likewise, of all the coping strategies used by the respondents, sourcing material from cybercafe and library with the help of cyber and library attendants came first. The results of the hypotheses revealed that there is no significant difference in challenges encountered by male and female respondents as well as in the coping strategies used in project writing. In view of these findings, the study recommends that parents should always strive hard to provide adequately for the financial needs of their wards in school since it is their responsibility to do so. Likewise, government should complement parent's efforts as university expenses are a burden many parents can hardly afford presently in Nigeria. Government can do this by supporting students financially either in the form of educational loan (at low or no interest), scholarship or grants to offset their educational expenses or to acquire relevant academic materials needed in the course of their study.


Motivation: Identification of flexible regions of protein structures is important for understanding of their biological functions. Recently, we have developed a fast approach for predicting protein structure fluctuations from a single protein model: the CABS-flex. CABS-flex was shown to be an efficient alternative to conventional all-atom molecular dynamics (MD). In this work, we evaluate CABS-flex and MD predictions by comparison with protein structural variations within NMR ensembles. Results: Based on a benchmark set of 140 proteins, we show that the relative fluctuations of protein residues obtained from CABS-flex are well correlated to those of NMR ensembles. On average, this correlation is stronger than that between MD and NMR ensembles. In conclusion, CABS-flex is useful and complementary to MD in predicting protein regions that undergo conformational changes as well as the extent of such changes. Availability and implementation: The CABS-flex is freely available to all users at http://biocomp.chem.uw.edu.pl/CABSflex. Contact: email@example.com Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) oncogenic fusion proteins, expressed in about 60% of anaplastic large cell lymphomas (ALCL), are tumor-specific molecular targets for such a malignancy. One of the promising ALK-targeted therapeutic options is cancer vaccination. In this study, we investigate whether ALK is a tumor-associated antigen suitable for immune interventions.

DESIGN AND METHODS
The frequency and the functional phenotype of the anti-ALK CD8 precursor repertoire in freshly isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from healthy donors and ALK-positive patients were determined by major histocompatibility complex (MHC)/tetrameric analyses. The anti-ALK secondary immune responses were evaluated as PBMC-specific interferon (INF-gamma) release by ELISPOT. In addition, the ability of the anti-ALK immune response to specifically lyse ALK-positive lymphoma cells was investigated by in vitro stimulation with ALK-derived peptide p280-89.

RESULTS
Tetrameric MHC/peptide complexes revealed high frequencies of CD8/ALK-tetramer-positive cells both in patients and in healthy individuals. However, the functional phenotype of the CD8/ALK-tetramer-positive lymphocytes showed the presence of effector and memory T lymphocytes only in patients. The anti-ALK cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) of patients, but not healthy donors, displayed thresholds of activation comparable to those of CTL precursors of a recall antigen (influenza virus). A polyclonal ALK-specific tumor-reactive T-cell line was isolated from patients' peripheral blood lymphocytes.

INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
The presence of an anti-ALK effector/memory lymphocyte population in the peripheral blood of ALK-positive patients indicates an in vivo antigenic challenge. Thus, ALK is a lymphoma-associated antigen suitable for immune interventions. The high number of anti-ALK memory CD8 T cells present in patients' PBMC may represent a valid source of activated CTL suitable for cancer cell lysis.


When the banana, orange, pear, strawberry and their pals huddle into their clubby fruit bowl, they rather uncharitably inform the tomato it can't come in—it must hang out in the refrigerator crisper with the veggies. Here begins an introductory lesson in the difference between fruits and vegetables, enlightening readers on how both develop on flowering plants, just on different parts. Tomato makes an effective plea for admission, but while the other fruits respond with a chorus of pun-infused sympathy, they're not convinced. They consult a wizened old grape, living amid dust bunnies in the kitchen corner, who begins with an exegesis on life and finally gets around to an unequivocal declaration that, yup, tomato is a fruit. So, in fact, are several other crisper residents such as the pepper, eggplant, and avocado. The expressive, anthropomorphized produce, with their speech bubble banter, will be a hit in primary science units; just don't try this when the lesson for the day is social inclusion. EB


Soils can rarely be described as ideally elastic or perfectly plastic and yet simple elastic and plastic models form the basis for the most traditional geotechnical engineering calculations. With the advent of cheap powerful computers the possibility of performing analyses based on more realistic models has become widely available. One of the aims of this book is to describe the basic ingredients of a family of simple elastic-plastic models of soil behaviour and to demonstrate how such models can be used in numerical analyses. Such numerical analyses are often regarded as mysterious black boxes but a proper appreciation of their worth requires an understanding of the numerical models on which they are based. Though the models on which this book concentrates are simple, understanding of these will indicate the ways in which more sophisticated models will perform.


In this book Christopher Norris develops the case for Scientific Realism by tackling various adversary arguments from a range of anti-realist positions. Through a close critical reading he shows how they fail To make adequate sense on any rational, consistent, and Scientifically-informed survey of the evidence. Along the way he incorporates a number of detailed case-studies from the history and Philosophy of science. Norris devotes much of his discussion To some of the most prominent and widely influential source-texts of anti-Realism. Also included are the sophisticated versions of verificationism developed - albeit in very different ways - by thinkers such as Michael Dummett and Bas van Fraassen. Central To Norris's argument is a prolonged engagement with the once highly influential but nowadays neglected work of Norwood Russell Hanson. This book will be welcomed especially by readers who possess some knowledge of the background debate and who wish To deepen and extend their understanding of these issues beyond an introductory level.


In this paper we propose a new technique for robust keyword spotting that uses bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BLSTM) recurrent neural nets to incorporate contextual information in speech decoding. Our approach overcomes the drawbacks of generative HMM modeling by applying a discriminative learning procedure that non-linearly maps speech features into an abstract vector space. By incorporating the outputs of a BLSTM network into the speech features, it is able to make use of past and future context for phoneme predictions. The robustness of the approach is evaluated on a keyword spotting task using the HUMAINE Sensitive Artificial Listener (SAL) database, which contains accented, spontaneous, and emotionally colored speech. The test is particularly stringent because the system is not trained on the SAL database, but only on the TIMIT corpus of read speech. We show that our method prevails over a discriminative keyword spotter without BLSTM-enhanced feature functions, which in turn has been proven to outperform HMM-based techniques.


The placement of an asphalt seal coat under an asphalt concrete overlay has been used to provide an impervious membrane to stop the intrusion of surface or subsurface moisture. It is also specified to enhance the bond of subsequent applications on asphalt concrete pavement. However, underseals have contributed to premature cracking, rutting, stripping, and flushing or bleeding. The objective of this study was to develop the criteria needed to determine when and where to place an underseal. Researchers reviewed the literature, and surveyed and interviewed engineers in Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) districts to determine the current practice, experiences, and problems around the state regarding the use of underseals. Case studies of forensic investigations of pavements where underseals or lack of underseals have contributed to pavement failures are presented. A decision tree and criteria were developed and evaluated to determine when and where to place an underseal. Guidelines and training materials were developed on the use of underseals as a moisture barrier.


Rebecca Navarro, best-selling authoress of Regency romances, suffers a paralysing stroke. Assisted by her nurse, Rebecca plans her revenge on her unfaithful husband. But will Freddy Royle, hospital trustee, celebrity and necrophiliac, thwart those plans? Dave Thornton, soccer thug, has lost his heart to flawed beauty Samantha Worthington. Together they go in search of the man who marketed the drug that crippled her - in order to cripple him. Lloyd from Leith has a transfiguring passion for the unhappily married Heather. Together they explore the true nature of house music and chemical romance. Will their ardour fizzle and die in the grim backstreets of Edinburgh, or will it ignite and blaze like a thousand suns?


Forage crop production is largely limited by abiotic stress such as drought, salinity, temperature and other edaphic stresses because most forages are grown in marginal agricultural lands that have even poorer soil and land management system featured with low water holding capacity, infrequent irrigation, limited fertility or high salt content. Conventional and genetic engineering approaches have been used to improve stress tolerance of forage grasses and legumes. Modern conventional plant breeding is undergoing revolutionary changes that embrace new marker technologies and more profound understanding of the mechanisms that constitute complex traits. Traditionally, major gene and polygenic variation has been analyzed in different ways, but the use of new DNA markers and techniques of QTL analysis now allow to more integrated approaches in dissecting complex traits and assessing gene effects. Useful information on the genetic basis of abiotic stress tolerance has been obtained by moving genes between plants of the same or closely related species. Gene introgression achieved by conventional cross pollination means that created a range of genetic variation available to understand and manipulate genetic adaptation to environmental change is greatly enhanced. Drought and cold tolerance has been improved within the Lolium / Festuca species complex. A link was found between drought tolerance and enhanced deeper root growth under water limiting conditions in tall fescue and alfalfa. The differences in the level of freezing tolerance between non-hardy and hardy alfalfa cultivars was found to be related to the capacity of the plants to accumulate raffinose and stachyose in their roots and crowns other than the capacity to accumulate sucrose earlier than non-dormant plants. Proline content in alfalfa leaves and roots increased dramatically when plants were subjected to drought and two genes controlling the transcriptional regulation of key proline cycle enzymes in alfalfa have been identified and cloned. Wide hybridization with relative species followed by chromosome and / or chromosome fragment introgression has been considered an efficient way to transfer drought, salt and other stress tolerance gene(s) to the target species to widen the gene pool. Intergeneric hybrids between Lolium (Ryegrass) and Festuca (Fescue) species have received much attention by forage breeders. Enhanced drought tolerance in cowpea is accompanied with (i) better wateruse efficiency and tolerance to water –deficiency and extreme heat conditions, (ii) better recovery of plants after drought is removed i.e., on re-watering. Both types of drought tolerance are dominant traits controlled by a single dominant gene Rds1 and Rds2 respectively. In white clover drought tolerance improvement programme, introgression has also been used as a route to transfer the morphological or physiological traits from its related wild species that show more drought tolerance or have better persistence. Endophyteinfected grasses are better adapted than non-infected grasses to abiotic stresses i.e., drought and marginal soil conditions due to direct changes affecting water status in shoots and indirect changes in root morphology and function.


The successful protection of sites of high conservation value from the unintentional introduction of species necessitates an understanding of the drivers and impediments to action, and the manner in which research, policy development and praxis interface to constitute an appropriate level of protection - in theory and in practice.

Factors bearing on how the quarantine protection of such sites is constituted are usefully explored in relation to islands - on account of the heightened planning considerations associated with their geographies and destination appeal, and their relatively small size, notionally defendable edges and oft-cited vulnerability and importance as refuges for rare and endangered species. Eight Australian Islands designated IUCN Category 1a Protected Areas (Strict Nature Reserves) were selected as case studies using a mixed, purposeful sampling strategy that deferred to each case's likely intrinsic merit in illustrating a diversity of protection issues, and in providing balance and variety of information. Insights into biosecurity praxis were elicited by conducting semi-structured interviews with policy makers, land managers and the proponents of island activities; reviewing the grey literature of stakeholder agencies; and observing quarantine management practices.

Factors found to impact upon praxis included perspectives held about the activities providing for introductions and the extent to which these pathways can and need to be managed, how non-indigenous species issues are articulated and scoped, the sometimes default and problematic reliance placed on quarantine arrangements constituted at the national level, the degree to which land management agencies and land users are compelled to act and perspectives on the efficacy of past protection efforts.


On-Line Shopping Is A Recent Phenomenon In The Field Of E-Business And Is Definitely Going To Be The Future Of Shopping In The World. Most Of The Companies Are Running Their On-Line Portals To Sell Their Products/Services On-Line. Though Online Shopping Is Very Common Outside India, Its Growth In Indian Market, Which Is A Large And Strategic Consumer Market, Is Still Not In Line With The Global Market. The Potential Growth Of On-Line Shopping Has Triggered The Idea Of Conducting A Study On On-Line Shopping In Mumbai. The Present Research Paper Has Used Qualitative And Quantitative Research Methods To Study The Impact Of Demographic Factors Of Consumers On On-Line Shopping Parameters Like Satisfaction With On-Line Shopping, Future Purchase Intention, Frequency Of On-Line Shopping, Numbers Of Items Purchased, And Overall Spend On On-Line Shopping. The Data Was Collected Through Questionnaires On A Sample Of 500 Respondents From Mumbai. The Results Of Study Reveal That On-Line Shopping In Mumbai Is Significantly Affected By Various Demographic Factors Like Age, Gender, Marital Status, Family Size And Income. The Results Of The Study Could Be Further Used By The Researchers And Practitioners For Conducting Future Studies In The Similar Area.


In order to improve the uniformity of linear laser distribution and the sharpness of laser beam line width, a laser beam shaping system is designed and optimization. This system contains two kinds of optical element. One is a laser beam expander, which can reduce the divergence of laser beam and adjust the width of laser line. The other is an aspheric column lens, which can change the Gaussian beam distribution into the straight line distribution. The beam expander adopts 2× beam expander with the form of Galilean telescope and the expression of aspheric column lens is solved by the law of energy conservation and refraction rule. The ray tracing and the optimization of the whole system will be performed by the optical design software. The experimental results show that the laser beam shaping system has obtained a 0.32 mm line width spot in 1 m working distance, which increases by three-times the uniformity than the traditional method.


Quantum dots (QDs) are common as luminescing markers for imaging in biological applications because their optical properties seem to be inert against their surrounding solvent. This, together with broad and strong absorption bands and intense, sharp tuneable luminescence bands, makes them interesting candidates for methods utilizing Forster Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET), e. g. for sensitive homogeneous fluoroimmunoassays (FIA). In this work we demonstrate energy transfer from Eu3+-trisbipyridin (Eu-TBP) donors to CdSe-ZnS-QD acceptors in solutions with and without serum. The QDs are commercially available CdSe-ZnS core-shell particles emitting at 655 nm (QD655). The FRET system was achieved by the binding of the streptavidin conjugated donors with the biotin conjugated acceptors. After excitation of Eu-TBP and as result of the energy transfer, the luminescence of the QD655 acceptors also showed lengthened decay times like the donors. The energy transfer efficiency, as calculated from the decay times of the bound and the unbound components, amounted to 37%. The Forster-radius, estimated from the absorption and emission bands, was ca. 77Å. The effective binding ratio, which not only depends on the ratio of binding pairs but also on unspecific binding, was obtained from the donor emission dependent on the concentration. As serum promotes unspecific binding, the overall FRET efficiency of the assay was reduced. We conclude that QDs are good substitutes for acceptors in FRET if combined with slow decay donors like Europium. The investigation of the influence of the serum provides guidance towards improving binding properties of QD assays.


In an increasingly globalized society, a clear understanding of international healthcare systems is a fundamental step toward improving the quality of health and healthcare systems in the United States and abroad. Comparative Health Systems: Global Perspectives explores the health systems of 17 countries through comparative study. Using a consistent framework, the chapters offer an overview of each country's history, geography, government, and economy, as well as a detailed analysis of the country's healthcare system facilities, workforce, technology, cost, quality, and access. Current and emerging issues are also explored. The book concludes with a look at the changing U.S. healthcare system and the global challenges and opportunities for health. Ideal for courses in global health, international affairs, health administration, and public health, this innovative text challenges its readers to reflect deeply about how health care is organized and delivered. Key Features: Each chapter follows a consistent framework to allow the reader to easily compare and contrast the divergent systems of various countries. Chapter contributors are scholars and experts from countries including Canada, India, Japan, Nigeria, Germany, Australia, Mexico, the United States, and more. A forthcoming companion website will feature interactive student resources to further enhance learning as well as resources for the instructor including an Instructor's Manual, Test Bank, PowerPoint slides.


James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) left the United States for Europe at the age of 21, never to return, and his style developed independently of American art currents. Nonetheless, he left an indelible mark on the art of his native land, for his modernist aesthetic influenced the work of a generation of American painters. This illustrated book, published to commemorate the centenary of the artist's death, addresses Whistler's extraordinary legacy and establishes his pivotal place in the history of American art. "After Whistler" juxtaposes 14 of the artist's most important works with an array of pictures by 38 other American painters - including Henry Ossawa Tanner, William Merritt Chase, and John Singer Sargent - to demonstrate how Whistler's American contemporaries were affected by his techniques, colour palette, compositions and subject matter. The introduction to the book provides an overview of Whistler's association with American artists and the reception of his work in the United States. The essays that follow discuss Whistler's Venetian sojourn and its effect on the American artists who flocked to that city, his relationship with Philadelphia's art community, the Whistler Memorial Exhibition held in Boston in 1904, and much more.


Breast histopathological image analysis helps in understanding the structure and distribution of the nucleus, thereby assisting in the detection of breast cancer. But analysis of histopathological image is challenging due to various reasons such as heterogeneity of nucleus structure, overlapping nuclei, clustered nuclei, variations in illumination, presence of noise etc. Limited availability of breast histopathological image dataset with fine annotations for detection of nucleus has restricted the analysis of histopathological images at the pixel-level. This paper presents fine annotations for nucleus segmentation of breast histopathological image datasets. Various textures such as Filter Banks, Gray Level Co-occurrence matrix and Local Binary Patterns are studied along with colour features for semantic segmentation of nuclei from histopathological images. Support Vector Machine and Multi Layer Perceptron algorithms are trained to perform pixelwise classification. The performance of the three texture features are evaluated on the two datasets and the results are presented in this paper.


Since the early 2000s, the FTC creatively employed its capacious statute to target shoddy data practices. Although the FTC's actions arguably were needed at the time to fill a gap in enforcement, there are reasons to believe that its current approach has outlived its usefulness and is in serious need of updating. In particular, our analysis shows that the FTC's current approach to data security is unlikely to instill anything close to optimal incentives for data holders. These shortcomings cannot be fixed through changes to the FTC enforcement approach, as they are largely generated by a mismatch between the tools that Congress gave it over a century ago and what it needs to foster firms' incentives to mimic socially optimal levels of care for the data they hold. Not only does the current framework likely suffer from informational deficiencies attendant to its focus on "reasonable" security that render liability standards uncertain, it also lacks the ability obtain the type of relief that will force firms to internalize the costs of their data security decisions. We examine the problem of data security enforcement through the lens of the economics of optimal precautions and identify several reasons why a strict liability regime administered by the FTC in which firms pay for the expected harm from breaches they cause is likely to be superior to the current framework that revolves around the concept of reasonableness. The benefits from strict liability flow from the likelihood that firms do not fully internalize the costs and benefits of their data security decisions and the relatively large informational burdens associated with measuring actual and optimal care under a negligence regime. We also show why in this informational environment strict liability is better than negligence for developing a vibrant market for cyber insurance, which will allow data security regulation to be de facto outsourced to insurers who will contract with firms for optimal levels of care. Because these private contracts will harness private information on costs and benefits from precautions, they are likely to incentivize more efficient behavior.


Madden (in press) hopes that it is "Game Over" regarding the "Walrasian Fixed Supply Conjecture" and "Contest-Nash" solutions. In this paper, I argue that framing the debate as such misses the point of Winfree and Fort (2012). Furthermore, Madden (in press) argues that under certain assumptions, which need to be made, the model that follows was previously given in Madden (2011). However, I argue that Madden (2011) is one of many models that might follow and his assumptions do not hold in all leagues.


The evolving role of local government in immovable property asset management lacks a platform for dialogue, compared to most disciplines in the public sector. Being owners of substantial portfolios of properties with a substantial value, playing an important role in the creditworthiness of a local authority. Engagement amongst role players on optimising these important assets is becoming critical. Preserving and/or optimising the monetary, social and economic value of property assets within the South African context is an intricate concept which requires a multifaceted implementation approach.
The City of Cape Town has embarked on such an approach through a business improvement project that proved in many ways to test all known principles of a business transformation initiative, which is still evolving on a daily basis.


Here, we report a simple and efficient method to functionalise dextran with catechin – a polyphenol present in red wine, red berries, and green tea. Aldehyde functionalised dextran was reacted with catechin in the presence of acetic acid to yield dextran-aldehyde-catechin conjugates via a condensation reaction. 1D and 2D (DOSY) 1H NMR and UV-Vis analyses were employed to characterise the polymers. The degree of catechin conjugation was easily manipulated by varying the aldehyde amount in the dextran, the catechin concentration and the reaction temperature and conjugates with up to 38 wt% catechin functionalisation were prepared. In particular, the conjugation reaction was found to be especially sensitive to temperature and this was shown to be partially due to the equilibrium between the aldehyde and the hemiacetal in dextran aldehyde shifting to a greater proportion of aldehyde groups as the temperature increased. The stability of the dextran–aldehyde–catechin conjugates was enhanced in comparison with native catechin in both deionised water and phosphate buffer solution. Finally, the anticancer properties of the dextran–aldehyde–catechin conjugates were investigated in vitro, demonstrating cytotoxic efficacy against neuroblastoma cells whilst showing no cytotoxicity towards normal cells.


Context. Reliable measurements of the solar magnetic field are restricted to the phoptosphere. As an alternative to measurements, the field in the higher layers of the atmosphere is calculated from the measured photospheric field, mostly under the assumption that it is force-free. However, the magnetic field in the photosphere is not force-free. Moreover, most methods for the extrapolation of the photospheric magnetic field into the higher layers prescribe the magnetic vector on the whole boundary of the considered volume, which overdetermines the force-free field. Finally, the extrapolation methods are very sensitive to small-scale noise in the magnetograph data, which, however, if sufficienly resolved numerically, should affect the solution only in a thin boundary layer close to the photosphere. Aims. A new method for the preprocessing of solar photospheric vector magnetograms has been developed that, by improving their compatibility with the condition of force-freeness and removing small-scale noise, makes them more suitable for extrapolations into three-dimensional nonlinear force-free magnetic fields in the chromosphere and corona. Methods. A functional of the photospheric field values is minimized whereby the total magnetic force and the total magnetic torque on the considered volume above the photosphere, as well as a quantity measuring the degree of small-scale noise in the photospheric boundary data, are simultaneously made small. For the minimization, the method of simulated annealing is used and the smoothing of noisy magnetograph data is attained by windowed median averaging. Results. The method was applied to a magnetogram derived from a known nonlinear force-free test field to which an artificial noise had been added. The algorithm recovered all main structures of the magnetogram and removed small-scale noise. The main test was to extrapolate from the noisy photospheric vector magnetogram before and after the preprocessing. The preprocessing was found to significantly improve the agreement of the extrapolated with the exact field.


The aim of this study is to give a crosslinguistic account of semantic paralellisms concerning verbs meaning "eat". It is mainly based on both synchronic and diachronic data from Indo-European languages, and some comparisons are made with data from a few languages from other genetic stocks: Nahuatl, Mwotlap, Inuit and classical Arabic. The semantic parallelisms are organized semantically into three categories: concrete aspects, perceptual aspects and cognitive aspects. The study of the data suggests the possibility that there exists some universal semantic association for the concept of eating with the concepts of suffering and tormenting.


The use of non-aqueous media in CE was investigated primarily in an attempt to identify alternative mobile phases for application in CEC. Several solvents were found to support a rapid EOF even without the presence of a supporting electrolyte. These initial experiments led to the development of a separation involving an active pharmaceutical ingredient (Cimetidine) and a series of related materials. The latter displayed alternative selectivity relative to a comparable aqueous-based separation and offered a number of advantages. However, the underlying fundamental principles that govern separations in non-aqueous media were not well understood and method development was somewhat of a "black art". Further studies were therefore undertaken in order to gain an understanding of the mechanisms that influence separations in non-aqueous media. Under certain conditions the mode of separation appeared to be based on some form of interaction with the background electrolyte and the choice of a suitable EOF marker was not straightforward. HPLC separations of EPA priority pollutant phthalate esters were developed to assess the ease by which they could be transferred to CEC and determine any advantages offered by the electrically-driven technique. The practicalities of fabricating columns for CEC separations are critically discussed along with the unsuitability of some of the stationary phases employed. Attempts to utilise non-aqueous media in CEC separations are also described. A series of "real" applications were undertaken to assess the practicality of various electrically-driven separation techniques. The latter comprised a series of alkyltin compounds, the pesticide pirimicarb and its related metabolites and the determination of ethylenediammine (EDA). No meaningful separations were achieved with alkyltin compounds. However, the use of NMF as a non-aqueous mobile phase for CEC was demonstrated. Investigations involving EDA also did not lead to a successful separation. However, issues with the proposed derivatisation schemes were uncovered. The separations involving pirimicarb clearly demonstrated the enhanced scope available for method development offered by the various modes of CE that are available. Only partial separations were possible using CE in both aqueous and non-aqueous media. However, complete resolution of the 4 structurally similar materials was achieved using MEKC.


Interactions between microbes and minerals can play an important role in metal transformations (i.e. changes to an element's valence state, coordination chemistry, or both), which can ultimately affect that element's mobility. Mineralogy affects microbial metabolism and ecology in a system; microbes, in turn, can affect the system's mineralogy. Increasingly, synchrotron-based X-ray experiments are in routine use for determining an element's valence state and coordination chemistry, as well as for examining the role of microbes in metal transformations.


The sending and receiving of post and parcel is a vital aspect of daily living in the United States. Despite this vitality, the setup for post and parcel delivery in the United States has been heavily criticized. This Note, in response to these criticisms, explores whether postal reform is warranted in the United States today. To do so, this Note examines the origins of the public/private dichotomy inherent in the delivery of post and parcel, governmental regulation of the United States Postal Service and its private competitors, and the monopolies possessed by the United States Postal Service. It then analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of the current regime from the perspective of the United States Postal Service's private-sector competitors and consumers. Ultimately, this Note concludes that postal reform is necessary and proposes avenues for such reform. 358 WILLIAM & MARY BUSINESS LAW REVIEW [Vol. 2:357


The Conway Segment of the dextral-slip Hope Fault is one of the fastest slipping fault segments along New Zealand s
plate boundary, but has not ruptured co-seismically in the historic period and little paleoseismic data exist to constrain its
large earthquake record. Two paleoseismic trenches were opened adjacent to Greenburn Stream near Kaikoura for the
2001 ILP Paleoseismology Conference. Both trenches were excavated into deposits ponded against an uphill-facing shutter
scarp. Trench 1, dug through a cobbly soil and surface deposit was dominated by a thick fan/fluvial sequence that was
radiocarbon dated at 4409 ± 60 C14 years BP (4844-5288 cal years BP) at the base of the trench. This trench exhibited
evidence of complex deformation from many paleoseismic events. The most recent earthquakes are difficult to constrain
due to a lack of cover stratigraphy on the fan deposits. However, the modern soil appears to be faulted and is covered by
cobbles with a weathering rind-derived age of 220 ± 60 years. Trench 2, dug ?? 50 m to the west has an expanded sequence
of the younger cover deposits. Paleoseismic event horizons have been recognised from the combined evidence of upwardterminating
faults, offset and mismatched units, a sandblow deposit, and abrupt landscape change shown by the burial of
paleosol surfaces that form the event horizons. Two paleosols underlying the modern soil are clearly faulted by two separate
rupture events. A dome of sand interpreted as a liquefaction sandblow deposit overlies the lower paleosol (event
horizon). Both paleosols are overlain by metre-thick debris deposits, interpreted as earthquake-induced rock avalanches
that cascaded off the hillslope following Mw 7 + events. Four radiocarbon dates place some constraints on the timing of
the three recent surface-rupturing events. The youngest and lowest date is 548 ± 60 C14 years BP (504-656 cal years BP)
and occurs below the lower paleosol. It constrains the maximum duration of time in which the last 2 earthquake events
occurred to be 545 years (1295-1840 A.D.). This is consistent with the average Recurrence Interval (RI) of 180-310 years
that we determine using two independent paths. The soil record indicates that each event is separated by a significant period
of time, comparable to the calculated RI. The most recent event is constrained between ca. 1780 A.D. ± 60 years, taking
into account the dates from these trenches, a weathering rind age, and from stratigraphic correlation at the site. Event
III probably occurred before 1220 A.D. A maximum dextral slip rate of 23 ± 4 mm/yr is calculated from the minimum
fan age and the offset/deflection of a stream channel along the shutter ridge. In concert with the estimate of single event
displacement (5-6 m), these results show that the Conway Segment of the Hope Fault is fast-slipping and has ruptured
regularly as a result of large earthquakes prior to the European colonisation of New Zealand.


Health systems strengthening has become a new buzzword in international health. Understanding how health systems function and react can be quite complex. In order to clarify what health systems are, the present working paper describes the six main foundations of a health system: human resources, finance, health information, governance, service delivery and consumables and technology. Then through concrete examples, the authors show how general health systems can contribute to improve the impact of eye care services. Finally, the authors show how health systems have become a crucial determinant of eye care programmes in developing countries and show how health systems research can generate more evidence that will help eye care managers to make informed decisions.


Biosurfactants are surface active molecules which contain both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups. Due to its amphiphilic nature it has the properties like foaming, emulsification, dispersing and detergency. Due to the various advantages of biosurfactants over chemical surfactants such as environment friendly, lower toxicity, biocompatibility, higher biodegradability, higher stability, extreme etc. they are widely utilized. They possess various applications in industries like health care, cosmetics, bioremediation, oil industries, etc. These biosurfactants are produced by wide range of microbes as an extracellular compound. The present study was done to isolate the potential biosurfactant producing bacteria and effect of pH on production of biosurfactant. All the isolates were screened for biosurfactant production and the presence of surfactant activity was determined by the oil displacement technique, emulsification index and CTAB assay. After identifying the potential isolate optimization of pH was done.


OF DISSERTATION THE METABOLOMIC EFFECTS OF METFORMIN ON COLON CANCER Metformin is an oral biguanide that is prescribed to over 120 million people worldwide for the treatment of conditions including type II diabetes mellitus, polycystic ovarian syndrome, and gestational diabetes. This hypoglycemic agent is rapidly emerging as a potential cost-effective anti-oncogenic agent. Over the past decade multiple epidemiologic studies have consistently associated metformin with decreased cancer incidence and cancer-related mortality. More recently numerous preclinical and clinical studies have demonstrated anti-cancer effects of metformin, leading to the proposal of numerous clinical trials to better understand this drug and its mechanisms of action. Previously experts believed metformin primarily targeted AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a crucial cellular energy sensor, but more recent data suggest the impact of metformin has a multi-faceted impact on various metabolic pathways. Current understanding of the potential anti-cancer effects of metformin raises the intriguing possibility of a duality of action, suggesting that metformin has the ability to act directly on a tumor while also indirectly lowering insulin levels in the host. This complexity creates challenges in determining the true impact of this drug in the clinical and translational setting. Despite an increase in investment, only one in every 10 new molecular therapeutic agents that enters clinical development receives approval from the Food and Drug Administration. This warrants a demand for better designed clinical trials with more elegant and robust analyses of relevant primary endpoints to determine which targeted therapies are cost-effective, and more importantly which agents will provide the best care for our patients. Stable isotope resolved metabolomics (SIRM) is a powerful tool capable of robust analyses that can address these questions. Using these capabilities we have determined that metformin does significantly impact cellular metabolism by shifting colon cancer cells into glycolytic overdrive, ultimately leading to decreased proliferation and protein synthesis in cancer cells. This study contributes to the literature and implores that we continue to elucidate the full potential of this drug, especially in the setting of personalized medicine where select patients may receive maximal benefit from this agent.


Autonomous observatories collecting acoustic data in areas (periodically) inaccessible to humans are a promising tool to advance our knowledge concerning species inhabiting these remote regions. Here we introduce the PerenniAL Acoustic Observatory in the Antarctic Ocean (PALAOA) which was constructed to obtain real-time, year-round broadband underwater acoustic data from the Antarctic coastal ocean. The PALAOA-observatory is located at 70°31S 8°13W, on the Ekstrom ice shelf, at 1.5 to 3 km distance to the ice shelf edge, Eastern Weddell Sea. The observatory utilizes a hydrophone array deployed underneath the Antarctic ice shelf to autonomously and continuously record the underwater soundscape. The PALAOA-observatory has been operational since January 2006 and has collected a total of 8191 hours of data over 438 days (by November 2007). In this talk, we provide 1) information on the observatorys technical features, 2) an overview of (bio-) acoustic signatures recorded so far, 3) preliminary results concerning cetacean and pinniped species that have acoustically been identified in the PALAOA recordings and 4) an outlook of ongoing and future PALAOA based projects.


Cryotherapy is currently used in various clinical, rehabilitative, and sporting settings. However, very little is known regarding the impact of cooling on the microcirculatory response. Objectives: The present study sought to examine the influence of two commonly employed modalities of cryotherapy, whole body cryotherapy (WBC; -110°C) and cold water immersion(CWI; 8±1°C), on skin microcirculation in the mid- thigh region. Methods: The skin area examined was a 3 × 3 cm located between the most anterior aspect of the inguinal fold and the patella. Following 10 minutes of rest, 5 healthy, active males were exposed to either WBC for 3 minutes or CWI for 5 minutes in a randomised order. Volunteers lay supine for five minutes after treatment, in order to monitor the variation of red blood cell (RBC) concentration in the region of interest for a duration of 40 minutes. Microcirculation response was assessed using a non-invasive, portable instrument known as a Tissue Viability imaging system. After a minimum of seven days, the protocol was repeated. Subjective assessment of the volunteer's thermal comfort and thermal sensation was also recorded. Results: RBC was altered following exposure to both WBC and CWI but appeared to stabilise approximately 35 minutes after treatments. Both WBC and CWI affected thermal sensation (p 0.05). Conclusions: As both WBC and CWI altered RBC, further study is necessary to examine the mechanism for this alteration during whole body cooling.


Discourse ethics represents an exciting new development in neo-Kantian moral theory. William Rehg offers an insightful introduction to its complex theorization by its major proponent, Jurgen Habermas, and demonstrates how discourse ethics allows one to overcome the principal criticisms that have been leveled against neo-Kantianism. Addressing both "commun-itarian" critics who argue that universalist conceptions of justice sever moral deliberation from community traditions, and feminist advocates of the "ethics of care" who stress the moral significance of caring for other individuals, Rehg shows that discourse ethics combines impartiality with solidarity. He provides the first systematic reconstruction of Habermas's theory and explores its relationship to the work of such contemporary philosophers as Charles Taylor. His book articulates a bold alternative to the split between the "right" and the "good" in moral theory and will greatly interest philosophers, social and legal scholars, and political theorists.


Mises alert to the mistake of confusing Economic History with Economics and maintains that economic history should be interpreted with the help of theories developed by Economics. Explains what reason determines all actions of all men, that is, the removal of any unrest, directly or indirectly and to the greatest extent possible. In seeking this intent men are affected by all the weaknesses and failures of human existence but what determines the real course of events, the price formation and other phenomena called economics, as well as other events of human history, are the thoughts of these fallible men and the effects produced by their actions liable to error. Mises also criticizes the economists' inability of thinking logically, their abandonment of methodological individualism and the macroeconomic method.


The ingress of meteoric fluids into the crests of salt structures typically results in the formation of anhydrite-dominated caprock. The migration of connate fluids up the margins of salt structures has also been documented, although the products related to this are rarely sampled in the deep subsurface. We use 3D seismic reflection and borehole data to document the geometry and lithology of a salt diapir. Seismic data suggest that a weld is developed along the diapir stem, although borehole data indicate that the stem consists of an inner, c. 1500 m thick, halite-dominated zone, and an outer, c. 250 m thick, anhydrite-dominated 'sheath'. The anhydrite may have formed early in the basin history, as a depositional anhydrite or crestal caprock. An alternative interpretation is that the anhydrite represents 'lateral caprock', which formed late in the basin history in response to the migration of NaCl-poor fluid up the margins of the diapir and dissolution of halite. The possibility that lateral caprock may form adjacent to salt structures has implications for understanding the patterns and vigour of groundwater flow in sedimentary basins. Furthermore, our study shows the margins of steep-sided salt structures may be misidentified by several hundred metres if time-migrated seismic reflection data are used.


There is little doubt that today Simin Behbahani is at the pinnacle of her fame and perhaps the most popular and beloved of living Iranian poets. Perhaps no other poet in Iranian history has been as popular during her or his life. Longevity in historical memory, however, is more than mere passing fame of a poet. Clearly, there are literary criteria by which the beauty and linguistic flourishes of a poem and the imaginative power of its creator may be assessed.
In reviewing only one of Behbahani's poems, "Be emza-ye del" [My Heart's Signature], one can sense the presence of long lasting qualities. In the poem, her fear and anxiety over the impending damage to one of Iran's oldest historical monuments is not describe in simple and uni-dimensional images or allegories. She does not simply bemoans a possible catastrophe but sees all the calamities that have befallen her home land in all ages. She highlights the eternal battle between light and darkness, survival and death. It is not only about her home land and the destiny of its people; it bewails the misfortunes afflicting humanity at all times. By all measures, the author concludes, it is quite likely that Simin Behbahani will forever remain embedded in the collective literary memory of the Iranian people.


Abstract In this paper, the borderlands, in the context of the psychological perception of frontiers, were presented. The common relationships between different nationalities living in border twin towns was a principal point of analysis. During the investigation two main research questions were asked: Is a frontier a barrier or a bridge in the common relationships between nationalities living on both sides of the borderline? and Does the trans-border casual social integration stimulate openness to neighbours? The study was conducted in two double towns: la Jonquera (Els límits) - Le Perthus at the Spanish-French border and Słubice - Frankfurt-am-Oder at the Polish-German border. The data were gathered from surveys by questioning locals and visitors during street polling. The design of the questionnaire included three main groups of questions relating to: 1) the perception of the borderline and the role of the border twin towns, 2) the attitude towards neighbours and identification with the borderlands, and 3) the future of the borderline in the context of the twin towns existence and cross-border linkages. The results showed that the historical circumstances and cultural background play a crucial role in the current bilateral interrelations between nations sharing the common space of the twin towns. These two aspects of the borderland have an influence on the psychological perception of the border that creates mental boundaries in local societies. However, as the results proved, the necessity of living together pushed locals to be more open-minded, which as a consequence supported the establishment of social bonds.


Oxidative stress, associated with either normal metabolism or disease conditions, affects many cellular activities. Most of our knowledge in this field is derived from fully differentiated cells. Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have attracted enormous attention for their potential applications in cell therapy, but little is known about how the unique properties of ESCs are affected by oxidative stress. We have investigated the effects of oxidative stress induced by H(2)O(2) on several cellular activities of mouse ESCs. Like differentiated cells, ESCs are sensitive to H(2)O(2)-induced apoptosis when continuously exposed to H(2)O(2) at the concentrations above 150 microM. However, unlike differentiated cells, ESCs are resistant to oxidative stress induced senescence. This is demonstrated by the results that when subjected to a short-term sublethal concentration and duration of H(2)O(2) treatment, fibroblasts enter the senescent state with enlarged flattened cell morphology concurrent with increased expression of senescence marker p21. On the contrary, ESCs neither show any sign of senescence nor express p21. Instead, ESCs enter a transient cell cycle arrest state, but they have remarkable recovery capacity to resume the normal cell proliferation rate without losing the ability of self-renewal and pluripotency. Our results further revealed that H(2)O(2) inhibits cell adhesion and the expression of cyclin D1, which are early events proceeding apoptosis and cell cycle arrest. In conclusion, our data suggest that ESCs are sensitive to H(2)O(2) toxicity, but may have unique mechanisms that prevent H(2)O(2)-induced senescence and protect self-renewal capacity.


IMPORTANCE
Millions of surgical and minimally invasive cosmetic procedures of the face are performed each year, but objective clinical measures that evaluate surgical procedures, such as complication rates, have limited utility when applied to cosmetic procedures. While there may be subjective improvements in appearance, it is important to determine if these interventions have an impact on patients in other realms such as psychosocial functioning. This is particularly important in light of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and its emphasis on patient-centered outcomes and effectiveness.

OBJECTIVES
To review the literature investigating the impact of facial cosmetic surgery and minimally invasive procedures on relevant psychological variables to guide clinical practice and set norms for clinical performance.

EVIDENCE REVIEW
English-language randomized clinical trials and prospective cohort studies that preoperatively and postoperatively assessed psychological variables in at least 10 patients seeking surgical or minimally invasive cosmetic procedures of the face.

FINDINGS
Only 1 study investigating minimally invasive procedures was identified. Most studies reported modest improvement in psychosocial functioning, which included quality of life, self-esteem, and body image. Unfortunately, the overall quality of evidence is limited owing to an absence of control groups, short follow-up periods, or loss to follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
The current literature suggests that a number of psychosocial domains may improve following facial cosmetic surgery, although the quality of this evidence is limited (grade of recommendation 2A). Despite the dramatic rise in nonsurgical cosmetic procedures, there is a paucity of information regarding the impact of chemodenervation and soft-tissue augmentation on psychosocial functioning.


In this paper insight is given in the potentials for energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, specifically when applied to the built environment in the Netherlands. To this end, an analysis is presented of the building stock development from now to 2050 and building concepts and scenarios for a mid-century energy-neutral built environment in the Netherlands. The analysis deals with new and existing residential and non-residential buildings and distinguishes different aspects of the energy balance; space heating and cooling, domestic hot water and electricity consumption. An analysis is made of the mix of measures which is needed to reach net energy-neutrality in the built environment in 2050. With the term 'net energy-neutrality', the overall annual energyusage of the complete building stock, including built environment related systems such as streets within cities is meant, incorporating energy exchange with the industry and transport sectors. For the separate measures the technological feasibility is assessed and set against the current research developments in the Netherlands.


It is now widely believed in many Western countries that the segregation of students with special educational needs is problematic, and that wherever possible these students should be educated alongside their peers in regular education settings. There has been a general move towards integrating special and regular education into one system that caters for a much wider range of students. But the outcomes in various countries have been very different. This book describes and evaluates these outcomes. The book provides both quantitative and qualitative information, analysing the similarities and differences between integration practices in six Western countries.


In the treatment of dermal wounds, wound-dressing materials prepared from natural mucopolysaccharides are widely used because of their advantages such as nonirritation, nontoxicity, and ease in topical application. In the present study, alginate hydrogels modified with N-acetyl glucose amine (NAG) were prepared as wound-dressing material. Physical, chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties of the hydrogels were studied. Cytotoxicity of the hydrogels on endothelial (HUVEC) and keratinocyte (HaCaT) cells were examined. Anti- and proinflammatory cytokine levels of human monocyte-macrophage cells (THP-1) stimulated with hydrogels were determined. According to the results, increasing the NAG concentration led to an increase in the swelling and nitrogen ratios in the hydrogels. Additionally, increasing the NAG concentration decreased elastic modulus and degradation time. Hydrogels were not cytotoxic on HaCaT and HUVEC cells. It stimulated IL-10 and TNF-alpha levels at a small rate.