Chapter 1: You and Early Childhood Education Who is an Early Childhood Professional? The Five Goals of Professionalism Pathways to Professional Development New Roles for Early Childhood Professionals Activities for Professional Development Chapter 2: Early Childhood Education Today Issues Influencing the Practice of Early Childhood Education Politics and Early Childhood Education Federal and State Involvement in Early Childhood Programs New Directions in Early Childhood Education Activities for Professional Development Chapter 3: Histories and Theories The Importance of History of Early Childhood Education The Importance of Theories of Learning Famous People and Their Influence on Early Childhood Education From Luther to Today: Basic Beliefs Essential for High Quality Early Childhood Programs Learning Theories and Their Influence on Early Childhood Activities for Professional Development Chapter 4: Implementing Early Childhood Programs Growing Demand for Quality Early Childhood Programs Program Models Federal Programs for Young Children Early Childhood Programs and You Chapter 5: Standards and You What Are National and State Standards for What Students Will Learn and Do? Importance of National, State, and Local Standards How Are Standards Changing Teaching and Learning? What Are Issues Associated with National, State, and Local Standards? Activities for Professional Development Chapter 6: Observing and Assessing Young Children What is Assessment and Why is it an Important Professional Responsibility? Why is it Important for You to Know How to Assess Children and Families? Using Observation to Assess Types of Assessment Assessment in Context What Are the Issues in the Assessment of Young Children? Activities for Professional Developmen Chapter 7: Infants and Toddlers What Are Infants and Toddlers Like? How Do Infants and Toddlers Develop? Motor Development Cognitive Development Language Development Preparing Enriched Environments to Support Infant and Toddler Development Curricula for Infants and Toddlers Infant Mental Health Portraits of Children Activities for Professional Development Chapter 8: The Preschool Years What is Preschool? What Are Preschoolers Like? Ready to Learn: Ready for School Preschool and State Standards The Preschool Curriculum Play in Preschool Programs Successful Transitions to Kindergarten Portraits of Children Activities for Professional Development Chapter 9: Kindergarten Today The History of Kindergarten Education What Are Kindergarten Children Like? Who Attends Kindergarten? Environments for Kindergarteners Curriculum in the Kindergarten Chapter 10: The Early Elementary Grades: 1-3 Teaching in Grades One to Three What Are Children in Grades One to Three Like? Environments That Support Learning in the Primary Grades Curriculum in the Primary Grades Portraits of Children Activities for Professional Development Chapter 11: Educating Children with Diverse Backgrounds and Special Needs The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Children with Disabilities Teaching English Language Learners (ELLS) Multicultural Education Activities for Professional Development Chapter 12: Guiding Children's Behavior Why Guide Children's Behavior? Guiding Behavior in a Community of Learners What is the Social Constructivist Approach to Guiding Behavior? Twelve Steps for Guiding Behavior Activities for Professional Development Chapter 13: Parents, Families, and the Community New Views of Parent/Family and Community Involvement Changing Parents and Families: Changing Involvement Types of Involvement Activities for Involvement The Challenge Activities for Professional Development


Teaching morphology, a fundamental part of medicine curricula is traditionally based on lectures and practical trainings. We introduced peer‐assisted learning (PAL) and student expert teams to the courses to give the students the possibility to improve their free speech and self‐confidence. We involved students in active preparation of online materials such as labelled e‐slides and e‐pics. We offered online digital microscopy (ZoomifyTM) and dissection (CyberPrep) allowing repeating the learned material and studying veterinary morphology outside the dissection theatre. Over 60% of first and third semester students profited from being a peer or being taught by a peer and 50% said the expert teams were an excellent method to learn the topographic anatomy. Almost all students applied ZoomifyTM and CyberPrep and 75% of them found the digital microscopy and dissection to be a helpful or very helpful learning tool. In face of reduced contact hours, these forms of education compensated in part the lost teaching time. We observed improvement of rhetoric and presentation skills and self‐confidence. The approaches should therefore find their constant place in the veterinary medicine curricula.


In the midst of the affective networks of contemporary digital cultures, something seemingly of the opposite order is taking shape. It is a culture that contrasts speed with slowness, displaces the new with the old and the used, and replaces supposedly immaterial streams of data with highly material, tactile technologies, materials and fabrics. This chapter turns to steampunk cultures as compelling examples of a contemporary affective investment in the analog, coupled with intense digital connectivity. Drawing on affect theory in a neo-materialist vein, the author formulates a critique of Brian Massumi's notion of the superiority of the analog and suggests that steampunk, rather than being understood as analog nostalgia, is more aptly understood in terms of the transdigital. The term transdigital accounts for analog passions that are shaped through the digital in ways that concretely activate, but also move across the borders of, or beyond the digital. Steampunk, rather than merely being a return to a bygone era, is a re-consideration, or transing, of the (digital) present. Within this chapter, steampunk is used as an especially intriguing example of a broader tendency toward transdigital modes of using and sensing media in contemporary media landscapes.


In the buildup to the extraordinarily divisive 2016 US presidential election, much discussion focused on an often-ignored group—the "white working class," which was identified early on as a key constituency of Donald Trump. During the election, many pollsters and journalists defined working class as a group comprising people who lack a four-year college degree. This definition, however, lumps together an extraordinarily broad range of groups with diverse histories as well as social and class positionings, contributing to confused media discussion around class during the election. Unpacking what this definition masks is critical to understanding the changing class landscape of the United States and to promoting public discussion of the causes of growing inequality and its socially and politically destabilizing effects.


This paper examines the relationship between Hungary's stock market index and relevant macroeconomic variables. The GARCH model is applied in empirical work. It finds that Hungary's stock market index has a positive relationship with real GDP, the ratio of the government debt to GDP, the nominal effective exchange rate and the German stock market index, a negative relationship with the real interest rate, the expected inflation rate and the government bond yield in the euro area, and a quadratic relationship with real M2 money supply. It indicates that there is a positive (negative) relationship if real M2 money supply is less (greater) than the critical value of 9,563 billion forints. If the quadratic relationship is not specified and tested, the positive coefficient of real M2 will be insignificant at the 10% level, and we may reach a misleading conclusion that the stock market index is not affected by real M2.


As more and more public pension systems are shifting away from a defined benefit only framework, the complexity of the financial decisions facing public employees is increasing. This raises some concerns about the financial literacy of participants and their ability to make informed decisions. While surveys addressing financial education in private plans are available, little is known about what types of education and advice are offered in public plans. This paper fills this gap by presenting new results from the first National Public Pension Plan Financial Education Survey. The paper focuses specifically on primary defined contribution and hybrid plans. The results indicate that some form of education or advice is offered by every surveyed plan and that the sponsoring entity is actively involved in the development of the programs. However, it appears that legal uncertainties related to advice and education may be a problem for a few plans. In addition, more rigorous evaluation methods to test programs are needed. The paper concludes with suggestions for areas of future research.


Federated learning (FL) is a decentralized privacy-preserving learning technique in which clients learn a joint collaborative model through a central aggregator without sharing their data. In this setting, all clients learn a single common predictor (FedAvg), which does not generalize well on each client's local data due to the statistical data heterogeneity among clients. In this paper, we address this problem with PersFL, a discrete two-stage personalized learning algorithm. In the first stage, PersFL finds the optimal teacher model of each client during the FL training phase. In the second stage, PersFL distills the useful knowledge from optimal teachers into each user's local model. The teacher model provides each client with some rich, high-level representation that a client can easily adapt to its local model, which overcomes the statistical heterogeneity present at different clients. We evaluate PersFL on CIFAR-10 and MNIST datasets using three data-splitting strategies to control the diversity between clients' data distributions.We empirically show that PersFL outperforms FedAvg and three state-of-the-art personalization methods, pFedMe, Per-FedAvg and FedPer on majority data-splits with minimal communication cost. Further, we study the performance of PersFL on different distillation objectives, how this performance is affected by the equitable notion of fairness among clients, and the number of required communication rounds. We also build an evaluation framework with the following modules: Data Generator, Federated Model Generation, and Evaluation Metrics. We introduce new metrics for the domain of personalized FL, and split these metrics into two perspectives: Performance, and Fairness. We analyze the performance of all the personalized algorithms by applying these metrics to answer the following questions: Which personalization algorithm performs the best in terms of accuracy across all the users?, and Which personalization algorithm is the fairest amongst all of them? Finally, we make the code for this work available at https://tinyurl.com/1hp9ywfa for public use and validation.


Abstract The diatom genus Entomoneis includes species with a unique morphology, having panduriform frustules in girdle view, often twisted about its apical axis, with some unique characters such as a sigmoid raphe on elevated bilobate keel, differently shaped junction lines, numerous girdle bands and variously perforated striae. Most of the species belonging to this genus are found to be brackish or marine, with some occurrences in freshwater habitats, but not one species has been described as exclusively freshwater. In this study, the new freshwater diatom species Entomoneis triundulata sp. nov. is described based on a detailed morphological observation using light and scanning electron microscopy. The specific features of E. triundulata are its triundulate valve margin; the shape of the transition between keel and valve body having a proximal U-shaped end, a slightly curved middle segment and a distal V-shaped end; and five sub-compartments to the frustule cavity. Besides morphological features unique to E. triundulata, similarities with other Entomoneis species are reported and discussed.


This paper contrasts technical default, debt service default and bankruptcy, and establishes that the valuation effects of their announcements are significant and increasingly severe. We show the events are interrelated. That is, technical default increases the likelihood of future debt service default and bankruptcy, and bankruptcy is more likely following debt service default. Further, we show that technical default is a timely warning of further distress insofar as adverse stock price effects of debt service default are mitigated if preceded by technical default. We also evaluate explanations of how debt service default and bankruptcy occur without firms first reporting technical default. We find that it is not because debt covenants are written with too much slack. While disclosure rules allow discretion in reporting technical default, our evidence suggests that non-reporting of covenant defaults occurs only in cases where the potential default is immaterial. We conclude that covenants do not always provide warnings of future difficulties.


Trimeric intracellular cation channels (TRIC-A and TRIC-B), found in the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum (SR/ER) and nuclear membranes, are thought to provide countercurrents to balance Ca2+-movements across the SR, but there is also evidence that they physically interact with ryanodine receptors (RYR). We therefore investigated if TRIC channels could modulate the single-channel function of RYR2 after incorporation of vesicles isolated from HEK293 cells expressing TRIC-A or TRIC-B with RYR2 into artificial membranes under voltage clamp. We also examined the gating and conductance properties of TRIC channels. Co-expression of RYR2 with either TRIC-A or TRIC-B significantly altered the gating behavior of RYR2; however, co-expression with TRIC-A was particularly effective at potentiating the activating effects of cytosolic Ca2+. Fusing membrane vesicles containing TRIC-A or TRIC-B together with RYR2 into bilayers produced large currents of rapidly gating current fluctuations of multiple amplitudes. In 740 cytosolic/210 luminal mM KCl gradient, current-voltage relationships of macroscopic currents revealed average reversal potentials (Erev) of -13.67 ± 9.02 (n = 7), -2.11 ± 3.84 (n = 11), and 13.19 ± 3.23 (n = 13, **, P = 0.0025) from vesicles from RYR2 only, RyR2 + TRIC-A, or RyR2 + TRIC-B cells, respectively. Thus, with the incorporation of TRIC channels, the Erevs depart further from the calculated Erev for ideally selective cation channels than occurs when vesicles from RYR2-only cells are incorporated, suggesting that TRIC channels are permeable to both K+ and Cl-. In conclusion, our results indicate that both TRIC-A and TRIC-B regulate the gating of RYR2, but that TRIC-A has greater capacity to stimulate the RYR2 opening. The results also suggest that TRIC channels may be relatively nonselective ion channels being permeable to both cations and anions. This property would enable TRIC channels to be versatile providers of counter-ion current throughout the SR of many cell types.


The rates of ammonolysis of alkyl benzoate and phenylacetate esters in liquid ammonia increase with the acidity of the leaving group alcohol and show relatively large Bronsted βlg values of −1.18 and −1.34, respectively, when plotted against the aqueous pKa of the alcohol. The Bronsted βlg obtained using the pKa of the leaving group alcohol in liquid ammonia is significantly reduced to ~ −0.7, which indicates that the rate-limiting step involves a reaction of the tetrahedral intermediate with little C–OR bond fission in the transition state. The solvolysis reaction is subject to significant catalysis by ammonium ion, which, surprisingly, generates a similar Bronsted βlg indicating little interaction between the ammonium ion and the leaving group. It is concluded that the rate-limiting step for the ammonium-ion-catalysed solvolysis of alkyl esters in liquid ammonia is the diffusion-controlled protonation of the zwitterionic tetrahedral intermediate T+- to give T+, which is rapidly deprotonated to give T0 which is compatible with the rate-limiting step for the uncatalysed reaction being the formation of the neutral T0 by a 'proton switch


The emergence of independent Tibetan filmmakers in China only began in the twenty-first century; however, their productions are already being premiered and are winning awards at international film festivals. In their productions the cinematic images of Tibetan cultural landscapes are markedly different from their Western and Chinese counterparts. Both the verisimilitude and believability of their scenes and characters point to the inextricability of Tibetan Buddhism from Tibetan cultural identity. Using a case study of the films of Pema Tseden, the leading Tibetan indie filmmaker in China, this article illustrates the transnational nature of his filmmaking. At the same time it discusses how he cinematically depicts Tibetan Buddhist values being destabilized by the forces of globalization and modernization in the context of contemporary China.


Leaf lifespan varies widely among plant species, from a few weeks to >40 years. This variation is associated with differences in plant form and function, and the distribution of species along resource gradients. Longer leaf lifespans increase the residence time of nutrients and are one mechanism by which plants conserve nutrients; consequently, leaf lifespan should increase within species with declining soil nutrient availability. The Franz Josef chronosequence is a series of post-glacial surfaces along which soil fertility declines strongly with increasing soil age. We used this fertility gradient to test whether leaf lifespans of six common indigenous woody species increased as soil nutrient availability declined. Leaf lifespan varied from 12.4 months in Coprosma foetidissima (Rubiaceae) to 47.1 months in Pseudopanax crassifolius (Araliaceae). These leaf lifespans sample 12% of the full range of leaf lifespans reported globally and occupy a relatively conservative portion of global leaf trait space. Contrary to our expectations, leaf lifespan of two species (Pseudopanax crassifolius and Prumnopitys ferruginea) decreased by 44-61% with increasing soil age and there were no other relationships between soil age and leaf lifespan. Across all species, leaf nutrient residence times increased by 85% for N and 90% for P with declining soil fertility, but this was caused by increased nutrient resorption efficiency rather than by increased leaf longevity. These data demonstrate that plants increase leaf nutrient resorption efficiency rather than leaf lifespan as a within- species response to long-term declines in soil fertility.


This paper addresses the problem of Bangla basic character recognition. Multi-font Bangla character recognition has not been attempted previously. Twenty popular Bangla fonts have been used for the purpose of character recognition. A novel feature extraction scheme based on the digital curvelet transform is proposed. The curvelet transform, although heavily utilized in various areas of image processing, has not been used as the feature extraction scheme for character recognition. The curvelet coefficients of an original image as well as its morphologically altered versions are used to train separate k– nearest neighbor classifiers. The output values of these classifiers are fused using a simple majority voting scheme to arrive at a final decision.


The concept of system design, or codesign, includes a variety of possible definitions according to the considered relevant aspects, the application field, and the system granularity of the analysis. The novelty of codesign with respect to the design of pure hardware and software, which are well-known subjects, arises from the tight integration between the two types of design and from the global scope of the design constraints. Since such applications strive for high volumes, there is a payoff for size, power, and speed optimization techniques. This article presents a system-level design methodology to specify, analyze, and explore different hardware/software solutions, whose benefits have been tested by redesigning a commercial device.


As cybersecurity detectors increasingly rely on machine learning mechanisms, attacks to these defenses escalate as well. Supervised classifiers are prone to adversarial evasion, and existing countermeasures suffer from many limitations. Most solutions degrade performance in the absence of adversarial perturbations; they are unable to face novel attack variants; they are applicable only to specific machine learning algorithms. We propose the first framework that can protect botnet detectors from adversarial attacks through deep reinforcement learning mechanisms. It automatically generates realistic attack samples that can evade detection, and it uses these samples to produce an augmented training set for producing hardened detectors. In such a way, we obtain more resilient detectors that can work even against unforeseen evasion attacks with the great merit of not penalizing their performance in the absence of specific attacks. We validate our proposal through an extensive experimental campaign that considers multiple machine learning algorithms and public datasets. The results highlight the improvements of the proposed solution over the state-of-the-art. Our method paves the way to novel and more robust cybersecurity detectors based on machine learning applied to network traffic analytics.


It has been suggested that open educational resources (OER) can lower cost and lead to greater flexibility, however while there has been significant investment in opening up content there have been few studies looking at how these resources are perceived by those who might use them. This quantitative article contributes to fill a gap in our knowledge of how K-12 educators teaching in face-to-face, online and blended contexts currently think about and use OER. It is part of the research carried out by the Hewlett-funded OER Research Hub (OERRH) Project to examine the impact of OER on teaching and learning practices. The authors report findings from a survey of 600+ schoolteachers who answered a set of attitudinal and behavioural questions in relation to how they use OER, what types of OER they use and what influences their selection of content, in addition to the purpose, challenges and perceived impact of OER in the K-12 classroom. The research highlights how OER allow schoolteachers to personalise learning through adaptation, and argues that mainstreaming OER in K-12 education is not only a matter of raising awareness but of changing teachers' habits.


Solid CO2 films have been grown on a stainless steel substrate and processed by X-ray bombardment for up to 6 hr.. The reactions induced were monitored using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and mass spectrometry. The XPS results are twofold: direct X-ray photolysis of the CO2 ice produced CO and an unidentified O product, possibly atomic O; secondary effects resulting from surface reactions between CO, O, and residual H from the vacuum environment produced H2CO, CH3OH, and a water ice cap on the CO2 film. The rate of production of CO from direct X-ray photolysis of CO2 is measured to be 5.4 × 102 molecule photon-1, corresponding to a formation cross section of 4.7 × 10-20 cm2. The growth rate for the water cap is calculated to be 2.6 × 10-4 monolayers s-1 for a partial pressure of H equal to 2 × 10-10 Torr. The appearance of gas-phase products from the film showed a time lag which indicates that the diffusion of the product species in the bulk CO2 is affected by some time-dependent process, possibly the creation of defects in the film. A model for the observed time dependence of the dissociation products in the gas phase yields diffusion coefficients in the CO2 of 5 × 10-12 and 1 × 10-12 cm2 s-1, for O and CO, respectively.


Children's social, political and economic spaces are protected to some degree in every society and the ways in which the child-adult transition is managed are as diverse as culture itself. While the applicability of definitions of childhood under international legal frameworks such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child has been subject to question, there is little doubt that armed conflict undermines the familial and community stability that permits children safe space for growth, development and learning. In recent years civil wars in Africa have erased the boundaries between soldiers and civilians; a situation in which children have become the targets of atrocities that include forced recruitment, sexual violence, genocide, and other assaults clearly intended to jeopardise the continuity of communities. The phenomenon of child soldiers has simultaneously become prominent in the media. Underlying what have verged on graphic and even exploitive portrayals of children in the name of advocacy is a trend that began even before Africa's colonial liberation struggles - the systematic political and military mobilisation of children and youth for political change. Beyond the debate on whether children can be considered volunteers, given the social and economic pressures they face, and beyond the litany of violations of children's rights that drives child advocacy, young people hold political and military potential that has consistently been exploited by conflict stakeholders and ignored by conflict analysts. This article explores the nature of child and youth agency in conflict in an attempt to show that young people are not only victims of conflict, but actors and stakeholders who are overlooked to the detriment of our understanding of conflict.


Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA

INTRODUCTION

Next generation sequencing (NGS) of patients has significantly changed our ways to study cancer genomics as it provides precise estimates of gene expression, fusion transcripts, expressed single nucleotide variants (eSNVs), splice variants and copy number variants. The Breast Cancer Genome Guided Therapy (BEAUTY) is an ongoing clinical study in which RNA sequencing (RNAseq) and whole exome sequencing (WES) are performed prior to, during and after neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Here we report the use of these sequencing technologies to investigate gene expression levels and mutational profiles in a triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) patient enrolled in BEAUTY whose disease did not respond to neoadjuvant paclitaxel and anthracycline/cycphosphamide.

METHODS

Computational approaches were used to integrate WES and RNAseq data obtained before therapy (V1T), after 12 weekly paclitaxel treatments (V2T) and after anthracycline-based regimen at surgical resection (V3T) to study a single patient with persistent TNBC disease after neoadjuvant chemotherapy.

RESULTS

Using RNA-Seq data, we identified an inter-chromosomal fusion transcript between chromosome 20 and 22 (GNAS-TTC38) that was highly expressed at V1T, V2T and V3T. We also identified intra-chromosomal fusion transcripts that were expressed at two time points, such as fusion transcript (KANSL1-ARL17A) on chromosome 17 for V1T and V2T and fusion transcript (RBM12B-LINC00535) on chromosome 8 for V2T and V3T time points. Several gene expression changes were also observed. Gene expression analysis of V1T, V2T and V3T tumors was performed. Differential temporal gene expression profiles of 9884 genes that were significant and varying at different time points were obtained for pathway analysis. Pathway analysis of 9884 genes identified up regulation and down regulation of several transcription factors with a fold change of 2x or more. When compared to blood, DNA tumor and RNA-Seq data, we identified 81 common somatic eSNVs that were expressed in both V1T and V2T time points and we are in the process of investigating V3T data. We found alterations of key transporter domains (CD225, Coatamer\_beta\_C, DUF2435, Dynamitin, EI24, GLTP, LMF1, Porin\_3, V-ATPase\_C) in our V1T and V2T SNV data. Similar to gene expression analysis, we are in the process of obtaining the list of mutations at various time points to identify driver and passenger mutation candidate genes for this specific TNBC patient.

CONCLUSIONS

Our initial time-series analysis of eSNV, fusion transcripts and gene expression data demonstrate that intensive analysis for individual patients is feasible. Further investigation of drug transporters and transcription regulators may help develop personalized treatment strategies for patients with disease resistant to current regimens.

Citation Format: Krishna R. Kalari, Xiaojia Tang, Kevin J. Thompson, Douglas W. Mahoney, Poulami Barman, Jason P. Sinnwell, Hugues Sicotte, Peter Vedell, Steven N. Hart, Travis J. Dockter, Katie N. Jones, Amy L. Conners, Ann M. Moyer, Daniel W. Visscher, Jia Yu, Bowen Gao, Sarah A. McLaughlin, John A. Copland, Alvaro Moreno-Aspitia, Donald W. Northfelt, Richard J. Gray, Vera J. Suman, Jeanette E. Eckel Passow, Jean-Pierre A. Kocher, Eric D. Wieben, Gianrico Farrugia, Cloann G. Schultz, James N. Ingle, Richard Weinshilboum, Matthew P. Goetz, Liewei Wang, Judy C. Boughey. Analysis of sequencing data to identify potential drug targets for an individual newly diagnosed with basal breast cancer who failed to respond to current standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 4185. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-4185


While the artist is constructing his sculpture, he, on the one hand, produces analytical thoughts considering all plastic issues of sculpture, he, on the other hand, should search for possible answers about its location within the space. The space at issue here is primarily an a posteriori space and it belongs to the nature. What is done is the physical and aesthetic calculations of giving meaning to form by utilizing a space as well as giving meaning to a space by utilizing the structure of the form. The necessities of sculpture are emptiness and mass. In other words, sculpture is a form of art taking place, coming to existence within emptiness. The space emerging pursuing the construction of the sculpture is an a priori space and it no more belongs to the nature; it belongs to the historical and cultural being of human; it is situated in nature but it is against nature. This space acquiring variety within the emptiness obtained by fracturing the structure constructing the form will both dwell somewhere within the sculpture and confine its frames. The present article aims to investigate the history of relation between the art object and space and by deriving from the findings of this history, the adventure and transformations of the associations of sculpture and space gone throughout the centuries. .


Solving multi-objective optimization problems that involve computationally expensive functions is a normal part of many engineering applications. Runtime issues are magnied when one moves from a single discipline to multiple disciplines in a multidisciplinary design optimization setting. The tools selected to perform a design space exploration within this setting must be chosen with care. Normal-Boundary Intersection (NBI) is a robust general purpose multi-objective optimization method for design problems. In the setting of computationally expensive functions, running NBI directly using the simulation requires a prohibitive amount of computational cost. Alternatively, running on a surrogate model approximation to the simulation fails to produce suciently accurate solutions. Our approach combines the use of models and simulations in a way similar to the general surrogate management framework by iteratively using both the models and the simulations. While this approach can be executed with the push of a button, it is best used, especially at the beginning of a new problem, as one step in a larger design space exploration process. The process includes the design, execution and analysis of computer experiments, surrogate model development, single objective optimization and problem renement. This paper outlines the surrogate model management framework approach to solving multi-objective optimization problems within the context of a general design exploration process. The importance of the use of data visualization techniques will be highlighted in the discussion. We conclude with a representative aircraft design problem from the aerospace industry.


What has happened to ethics in the modern world? New scandals erupt every day, involving American presidents and adultery, soap stars and sex, politicians and sleaze. As religious observance declines in the West, have we lost our moral compass? Or has tabloid culture obscured the fact that a new morality is emerging - secular, international and democratic. MORALITIES argues that our traditional anxieties about sex and private life have been replaced by new concerns: torture, arms trading, the environment and the unequal distribution of wealth. The great struggle of the 21st century will be between global capital and universal rights and a passionate belief in justice and equality is already transforming the way we live.


The book examines the underlying principles that guide effective teaching in an age when everyone, and in particular the students we are teaching, are using technology. A framework for making decisions about your teaching is provided, while understanding that every subject is different, and every instructor has something unique and special to bring to their teaching. The book enables teachers and instructors to help students develop the knowledge and skills they will need in a digital age: not so much the IT skills, but the thinking and attitudes to learning that will bring them success.


Glaciers are sensitive indicators of past climate and thus valuable sources of climate history. Unfortunately, direct determinations of glacier changes (variations in length and mass balance) did not start with increasing accuracy before the end of the nineteenth century. Therefore, historical and geomorphological evidence has to be used to reconstruct glacier variability for preceding time periods. Here we present new glacier length reconstructions for selected outlet glaciers of Jostedalsbreen and Folgefonna (two ice caps in southern Norway). A wealth of different historical sources (drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, maps, written accounts; about 400 documents) allows reconstruction of glacier length variations for the last 300 (Jostedalsbreen), and 200 years (Folgefonna), respectively. We present historical material newly collected for Briksdalsbreen, Bøyabreen, Store Supphellebreen, Bergsetbreen, Nigardsbreen, Lodalsbreen (all Jostedalsbreen), and Bondhusbrea, Buerbreen (both southern Folgefonna). At Jostedalsbreen, glaciers reached their 'Little Ice Age' (LIA) maximum extent around AD 1750. Nigardsbreen is best documented, where also the advance in the mid-eighteenth century can be quantified. However, the nearby Bergsetbreen shows more distinct glacier advances and retreats since the LIA maximum extent. A minor peak is documented in the 1870s for all outlet glaciers of Jostedalsbreen studied. At southern Folgefonna, the LIA maximum was attained in the late 1870s (second peak around 1890). So far, there is no direct historical evidence for the time before AD 1800.


In light of increased awareness on environmental impacts from construction wastes, waste management has become an important factor in construction project management. Various waste managements have been developed by researchers to manage construction wastes. Nevertheless, less attention is given towards the management of waste handling processes on construction sites such as waste sorting and waste transport. In fact, proper flow of these processes could improve waste management effectiveness. The aim of the study is to examine waste handling process during construction through the mapping of ten project sites in Melaka using the free-flow mapping presentation technique. This will lead to the development of a proposed waste management mapping model (WMMM), which incorporates the good operations embodied in the existing practices and also the outcomes of interviews with the project proponents. The WMMM could serve as a tool assisting in planning waste management procedures as well as a vehicle for comparing waste management practices among construction sites; thus, weaknesses and good practices could be identified and improvement measures may be implemented accordingly. Personal interviews with questionnaires and on site observations were administered for data collection. Analysis was performed on results tabulated in matrix table with interpretation assisted by statistical computations. Qualitative approach was of dominant where comparative evaluation was extensively performed on the waste management practices between these ten sites. Findings revealed that the advantages of waste handling practices outnumbered the weaknesses. The WMMM was proposed based on guidelines derived from the analysis which took into account factors pertaining to cost, environmental protection and time in waste handling management. It was suggested that the proposed WMMM could be incorporated into the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report to assist waste management planning. Overall, the findings of the study have contributed to the basic understanding of the waste management practices within construction sites in Malaysia


A nonionic and water-soluble polyphosphoester, poly(2-hydroxyethyl propylene phosphate) (PPE3), was synthesized by chlorination of poly(4-methyl-2-oxo-2-hydro-1,3,2-dioxaphospholane), followed by esterification with 2-benzyloxyethanol and deprotection of the hydroxyl group by catalytic hydrogenation in the presence of Pd-C. PPE3 degraded rapidly in PBS 7.4 at 37 degrees C. The cytotoxicity and tissue compatibility assays suggested good biocompatibility of PPE3 in vitro and in vivo. The expression of pVR1255 Luc plasmid in mouse muscle after intramuscular (i.m.) injection of DNA formulated with PPE3 solution in saline was enhanced up to 4-fold compared with that of naked DNA. These results suggest the potential of this polyphosphoester for naked DNA-based gene therapy. The advantages of this polymer design include the biodegradability of the polyphosphoester and its structural versatility, which allows the fine-tuning of the physicochemical properties to optimize the enhancement of gene expression in muscle.


A carefully structured Tobacco Harm Reduction (THR) initiative, with e-cigarettes as a prominent THR modality, added to current tobacco control programming, is the most feasible policy option likely to substantially reduce tobacco-attributable illness and death in the United States over the next 20 years. E-cigarettes and related vapor products are the most promising harm reduction modalities because of their acceptability to smokers. There are about 46 million smokers in the United States, and an estimated 480,000 deaths per year attributed to cigarette smoking. These numbers have been essentially stable since 2004. Currently recommended pharmaceutical smoking cessation protocols fail in about 90% of smokers who use them as directed, even under the best of study conditions, when results are measured at six to twelve months. E-cigarettes have not been attractive to non-smoking teens or adults. Limited numbers non-smokers have experimented with them, but hardly any have continued their use. The vast majority of e-cigarette use is by current smokers using them to cut down or quit cigarettes. E-cigarettes, even when used in no-smoking areas, pose no discernable risk to bystanders. Finally, addition of a THR component to current tobacco control programming will likely reduce costs by reducing the need for counseling and drugs.


This book explores the revolutionary development of the theory of the firm over the past 35 years. Despite rapid progress in the field, new developments in the microeconomic and industrial organization literature have been relatively scant. This book attempts to redress the balance by providing a comprehensive overview of the theory of the firm before moving on to examine firms and the organization of their economic activities. The contributors also investigate the impact of ownership structure and board composition on firm performance and study how the institutional framework of an economy affects investment decisions.


Yurok is a severely endangered language still spoken by about half a dozen elderly people in northwestern California. Though it has not been used on a daily basis in any households for a decade or longer, there is an active language revitalization program and considerable community interest in linguistic and cultural revival. Academic anthropologists and linguists have documented Yurok since 1901 (non-academic documentation began earlier), with especially intense phases of work in the first, sixth, and ninth decades of the twentieth century and since 2001. A short grammar was published by R. H. Robins (1958) and numerous analytic publications have appeared in linguistics journals over the years. But the vast majority of documentary work is still unpublished, in the form of field notes by numerous scholars (A. L. Kroeber, Edward Sapir, J. P. Harrington, and others) and audio recordings in various media. The latter range from wax cylinders recorded as early as 1902 to recordings made in 2008. The Yurok Language Project at the University of California, Berkeley has assembled new and legacy data into a set of integrated databases, comprising a lexicon, several thousand short audio files, more than a hundred separate texts, and photos and other encylopedic information. We have developed an innovative web-based interface allowing users to move seamlessly among the various sub-parts of the database, for example looking up lexicon entries while reading texts or seeing illustrative text examples and hearing sample audio clips within the lexicon. The resulting web archive is among the largest integrated databases of its kind for any nonliterary language. In this presentation I will illustrate the web interface and describe the structure of the underlying database.


Here is an alphabetically presented, richly illustrated guide to 88 of the most creative bicycle makers working today, includes established names such as Achielle, Cielo Cycles and Corima and new kids on the block such as Art & Industry, Bondi Beach Cruisers and Foffa, as well as product designers (Torkel Dohmers, Marc Newson). Today's cyclists are seeking increasingly custom-made bicycles as reflections of their personalities whether a Danish-style cargo bike, a recumbent, a cyclocross trainer or a randonneur. Often working in tiny studios and workshops in hidden parts of our cities, the master craftsmen featured in these pages produce pieces that are highly personal and sought after and rarely seen.


Shared features, and especially shared grammaticalization patterns, may result from geographic proximity, contact, and borrowing ("copying"). Related languages "will pass through the same or strikingly similar phases": this "parallelism in drift" (Sapir 1921: 171‒172) accounts for additional similarities between related languages, even for those "long disconnected". Parallelism in drift may also account for shared patterns of grammaticalization. The paper explores the ways in which patterns of shared grammaticalization which are demonstrably due to areal diffusion may differ from patterns which can be shown to result from parallelism in drift. To work towards an answer, we focus on the data from two different areas of substantial linguistic diversity: the Arawak languages of northwest Amazonia, and the Ndu languages of the Sepik region of New Guinea.


We explore spin-torque induced magnetic reversal in magnetic tunnel junctions using combined AC and DC spin-current pulses. We calculate the optimal pulse times and current strengths for both AC and DC pulses as well as the optimal AC signal frequency, needed to minimize the Joule heat lost during the switching process. The results of this optimization are compared against numeric simulations. Finally, we show how this optimization leads to different dynamic regimes, where switching is optimized by either a purely AC or DC spin-current, or a combination AC/DC spin-current, depending on the anisotropy energies and the spin-current polarization.


This article is an examination of audience responses to Sighted , two solo dance performances presented individually and simultaneously. The work was presented at venues related to different disciplines. Audience members, who numbered up to 20 and who were free to choose where to stand or move around the space and how to behave, were invited immediately following the performance to write down their responses. This was in order to elicit direct and undigested thoughts before conversation or dialogue has started. These, together with interviews with the dancers, form the basis for this research, which looks at the nature of venues and audiences and to what extent privately felt and communally understood audience commentary can correlate.


Industrial control engineers, who are often faced with the problem of dealing with projects involving unknown or poorly modelled systems, usually have at their disposal a limited number of options to develop, implement, and maintain controllers, namely PID and, lately, fuzzy-based controllers. The large use of the PID controller comes from the widespread knowledge of its theory and easy tuning methods and its prompt availability in control equipment and supervisory systems. Nevertheless, depending on the manufacturer's discretion, at least five gains have to be set. Fuzzy controllers for a SISO system usually demand between fifteen and twenty parameters. That's also a problem for the maintenance personnel. The proposed SISO controller needs two heuristically defined gains to be set, based on knowledge about the free response of the plant and expected disturbances. Its simplicity allows its implementation on devices with memory and processor constraints.


This paper analyzes the causal relationship between unemployment and intimate-partner violence (IPV) introducing a gender-identity approach. I argue that local social predominance of different family structures (stem vs nuclear) in the past shaped distinct present cultural norms regarding the appropriate role of men and women, and that as a result IPV responds differently to changes in relative unemployment rates of men vs women. Coresidence of younger couples with in-laws in stem families in the past reduced the burden of household work, allowing a higher contribution of the younger wife to nondomestic work. In nuclear families, conversely, wives'activities were more confined to the domestic sphere. I construct an exogenous measure of unemployment and find heterogeneous impacts: for individuals living in territories with a nuclear-family tradition, a decrease in female unemployment relative to male unemployment increases IPV, potentially because men feel their traditional breadwinner role threatened. These effects are offset, and sometimes even reversed, for individuals living in provinces where the stem family was socially predominant in the past. I propose a new rationale for IPV in which violence is a way to reinstate the loss of utility generated by what some men perceive as an insult, and provide evidence in favor of this novel explanation.


This essay focuses on the female character Catherine Barkley inA Farewell to Arms (1929)written by Ernest Hemingway. The main question is: To what extent does the iceberg technique contribute to the way Catherine Barkley is portrayed and perceived in the novel?The novel itself has been studied along with biographies and essays on the subject of Hemingway's female characters and his iceberg technique. Hemingway's novel was also used in a classroom activity at an upper secondary school, as a ground for discussing the iceberg technique and the effect it had on Catherine Barkley. The conclusion is that the iceberg technique contributed to the stereotyping of Catherine Barkley, but not on its own. Other aspects need to be addressed as well, such as the use of a male narrator and the stream-ofconsciousness in dialogues.


Abstract Objective Hoarding disorder (HD) is difficult to treat. In an effort to increase efficacy and engagement in cognitive‐behavioral therapy (CBT), we developed and evaluated a novel intervention comprising group CBT combined with between‐session Internet‐based clinician support for people with HD. Method Twenty participants with HD received group CBT combined with an Internet‐support system enabling therapist–participant communication between group sessions. Results The treatment was associated with a significant reduction on the Saving Inventory—Revised (SI‐R) and a large effect size (Cohen's d = 1.57) was found at posttreatment. Treatment gains were maintained at the 3‐month follow‐up. Group attendance was high and no participants dropped out from treatment prematurely. Between‐session motivational support from the therapist was most frequently mentioned as the main strength of the system. Conclusion The results of this study support adding Internet‐based clinician support to group CBT for HD to increase treatment adherence and, potentially, improve the overall efficacy of CBT.


This paper presents the accounts of eight instructors' metaphorical travels in landscapes without bearings. The instructors were part of a pilot project at a Canadian university involving the integration of a synchronous communication and collaboration environment into asynchronous distance education courses. To establish their bearings, the instructors need to be aware of their goals and combine them with strategies and techniques that effectively manage the affordances and constraints of the environment. That process may require a degree of risk–taking combined with a willingness to help students lead themselves. It requires developing a proficiency in the simultaneous use of multiple tools and recognizing the differences and similarities between Web–based synchronous environments and face–to–face or asynchronous environments. Above all, it requires an interest in and focus on pedagogy.


Linked data is the current paradigm. All works, projects and applications have it as main tool, because of its potentiality. In linking data, the selected information, authorized, validated, recorded and structured in their databases for long time by cultural institutions as libraries, necessarily is going to play an important role. The work carried out by IFLA ISBD Review Group has had this goal in mind, to make possible that the information in our databases will be in the cloud, that is, "enhance the portability of bibliographic data in the semantic web environment and the interoperability of the ISBD with other content standards" as said in the Purpose of Consolidated ISBD, 2010. Many voices have spoken about the obscure language for users that represent the library language. Linked data can help in making it understandable. To reach this big objective much more, work than converting information in linked data is necessary. Declarations in RDF, definitions, and translations are essential to make really multilingual understanding, not only English semantic web.


The present work deals with the history of the Guhilas of Mewar from c. A.D.550 up to the conquest of Chitor by 'Ala-ud-Din Khalji in A.D.1303, when Mewar was sacked and for a short time this brave Rajput clan remained in abeyance. The first chapter is a brief introduction to this monograph, in which we have outlined the sources of our history and discussed the importance of this Rajput race, which produced personalities such as Maharana Kumbhakarna, Maharana Samgramasimha and Maharana Pratapa, who never bent before the Muslim monarchs of their times. The second chapter deals with the origin of the Guhilas, controversial like those of other ruling dynasties of India. After examining all known sources we have found reason to believe in their priestly origin, similar to those of the Kadambas, Satavahanas, Cahamanas, Pratiharas and other important dynasties, who after acquiring kingdoms gave up their priestly calling and gradually became known as the important Rajput or Ksatriya races of India. The rise of the Guhilas is included in the third chapter, which presents the history of Guhila, the founder of this dynasty, and other princes up to Kalabhoja or Bappa, the eighth prince, whose reign ended in A.D. 753 and who is regarded as the founder of the importance of this dynasty. The fourth chapter is devoted to the history of the Guhilas, whose power was in abeyance at the time when the struggle for empire convulsed the whole Indian polity from the ninth century onwards. The tripartite struggle between the Palas, Pratiharas and the Rastrakutas left no room for the rise of the Guhilas and they were insignificant during this period. This chapter includes the history of the Guhila princes from Khommana I to Saktikumara, i.e. from A.D. 753 to the last quarter of the tenth century. Our fifth chapter covers the history of this dynasty from Ambaprasada to Samantasimha, i.e. from about the end of the tenth century to A.D. 1179, the last known date of Samantasimha, who tried to consolidate the Guhila power and ultimately came into conflict with the Caulukyas of Gujarat and the Cahamanas of Jalor.The Guhilas at their zenith and at the beginning of their decline are discussed in the sixth chapter, which covers the history of Mewar up to A.D.1301-2. The reign of Jaitrasimha marked an epoch in the history of the Guhilas, when Mewar faced various attacks but successfully repelled its enemies. Jaitrasimha founded a very strong government which lasted for some time, but during the reign of Samarasimha Mewar could not resist the Muslim raids and he finally saved the country only after paying homage to the Muslims. The seventh chapter gives the history of the fall of the Guhilas in the reign of Ratnasimha, when Chitor was sacked by 'Ala-ud-Din Khalji. We have discussed at length the various traditions and legends about the Padmini episode and its historicity. The conclusion consists of a short account of Mewar under the governorship of Khizr Khan, the son of 'Ala-ud-Din, and then under the Songira Cahamanas of Jalor, enlisted as vassals of the Delhi sultanate. The monograph ends with a short account of the recovery of Mewar by the Sesodiya (Guhila) Hammira, who was remotely related to the Guhilas of the main line.


Background.
There is an increasing evidence base concerning the need for effective and timely postnatal care to prevent physical and physiological maternal and infant morbidity, but there is little evidence of women's experiences of postnatal care or their views of their recovery after birth. The ethnographic study presented in this thesis sought to increase our understanding of the role of postnatal care and birth recovery over time through the experiences and voices of mothers.
Method.
The study was located in the neighbourhoods of Salford and Trafford in the North West of England. A period of participant observation in two maternity units using a continuum-based approach was undertaken to explore the
influence of the context and environment of postnatal care on women's immediate recovery from birth. This was followed by in-depth conversational interviews with 17 women (three interviews were conducted with each woman) during the first seven months following birth.
Findings.
Analysis of observational and interview data revealed that initially the impact of power of place of birth impinged upon the celebration of birth as the atmosphere of the postnatal wards with their established rules and care
ethos sought to confine women in an unhelpful way. The ward experience revealed contested views between the women and the staff in terms of needs and wants. Thus the promotion of choice and individualised care relied more on chance rather than a formal process of care available for all women.
During the provision of formal care giving, constructs of 'normal' were attached to women as midwives searched to manage the occupants of the wards (mothers and babies) and engaged in body regulation processes as a means to judge adaptation to motherhood and recovery.
Over time notions of 'self care' prevailed in that women learnt how to manage and cope with their own recovery from birth and adaptation to motherhood.
The health and wellbeing outcomes that mattered to the women were centred upon the ways in which they interpreted motherhood and claimed back the self.
Conclusions.
This study reveals that the current planning and content of routine provision of postnatal care in hospital requires urgent revision. Women's expectations of their health and wellbeing and their needs in the early weeks and months
after giving birth, differ from those understood by professionals who continue to adhere to a traditional and ritualistic provision of care. Midwifery needs to re-examine its role in postnatal care, take account of what women say and consider new ways of addressing care after birth.


This article links organizational forces to individual decision making on retirement. We examine to what extent work characteristics and organizational context (organizational policies and workplace norms toward retirement) affect the (planned) retirement age of workers aged 50 and over. We use data from the NIDI Work and Retirement Panel. This is a longitudinal study among older workers of three private sector organizations and among civil servants in the Netherlands. We use information for those employees that participated in 2001 as well in 2007 (N = 1,611). The results indicate that job characteristics are associated with retirement decision making: older individuals with attractive jobs (in terms of challenge and growth) have a higher (planned) retirement age, the opposite holds for older workers with demanding jobs. Social forces in the work place are relevant as well. The results indicate that older workers in organizations with an 'early exit culture', where almost all co-workers take early retirement, show a low propensity to continue working. Perceived supervisor support for extending working life has the opposite effect. Workers that feel that their supervisor has a positive attitude towards working longer, have a higher (planned) retirement age. Keywords: retirement intention, retirment timing, work context, organizational context, normative context, supervisor support.


Alkylating agents often generate 3-methylcytosine (3meC) lesions that are efficiently repaired by AlkB homologues. If AlkB homologue proteins are not functional, or the number of 3meC lesions exceeds the cellular repair capacity, the damage will persist in the genome and become substrate of DNA polymerases (Pols). Though alkylating agents are present in our environment and used in the clinics, currently nothing is known about the impact of 3meC on the accuracy and efficiency of human Pols. Here we compared the 3meC bypass properties of six human Pols belonging to the three families: B (Pol δ), X (Pols β and λ) and Y (Pols κ, ι and η). We show that under replicative conditions 3meC impairs B-family, blocks X-family, but not Y-family Pols, in particular Pols η and ι. These Pols successfully synthesize opposite 3meC; Pol ι preferentially misincorporates dTTP and Pol η dATP. The most efficient extenders from 3meC base-paired primers are Pols κ and η. Finally, using xeroderma pigmentosum variant patient cell extracts, we provide evidence that the presence of functional Pol η is mandatory to efficiently overcome 3meC by mediating complete bypass or extension. Our data suggest that Pol η is crucial for efficient 3meC bypass.


The aim of this study was to assess health professionals' opinions of their competence levels in responding to health needs of victims of sexual violence. This study used a cross-sectional design with a descriptive approach. A total of 104 physicians, nurses and social workers participated in the study. The data was collected using a questionnaire consisting of open and close-ended questions.  Overall, 75% of the respondents were university graduates, but only a quarter of them felt they have adequate competence to care for these women; 36% had difficulties with general health assessment of assaulted women. The results indicated that nurses are critical professionals in caring for victims of sexual violence, that they see these women more than any other professional category. However, they are more likely than other categories to report being incompetent. Access to continued education was difficult, and more so for clinically-oriented health professionals than for others social professionals. Human resources capacity strengthening and particularly that of nurses will be the key investment in addressing assaulted women's health needs in this region. Clinical researchers are called to identify rapid methods to reinforce nurses' capacity and role in such a context with deprived health systems.


ABSTRACT To evaluate the cross-resistance profile of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 protease inhibitor (PI) atazanavir (BMS-232632), a panel of 551 clinical isolates exhibiting a wide array of PI resistance profiles and a variety of genotypic patterns were assayed for susceptibility to atazanavir and six other PIs: amprenavir, indinavir, lopinavir, nelfinavir, ritonavir, and saquinavir. In general, reductions in atazanavir susceptibility in vitro required several amino acid changes and were relatively modest in degree, and susceptibility was retained among isolates resistant to one or two of the currently approved PIs. There was a clear trend toward loss of susceptibility to atazanavir, as isolates exhibited increasing levels of cross-resistance to multiple PIs. Atazanavir appeared to have a distinct resistance profile relative to each of the other six PIs tested based on susceptibility comparisons against this panel of resistant isolates. Analysis of the genotypic profiles of 943 PI-susceptible and -resistant clinical isolates identified a strong correlation between the presence of amino acid changes at specific residues (10I/V/F, 20R/M/I, 24I, 33I/F/V, 36I/L/V, 46I/L, 48V, 54V/L, 63P, 71V/T/I, 73C/S/T/A, 82A/F/S/T, 84V, and 90M) and decreased susceptibility to atazanavir. While no single substitution or combination of substitutions was predictive of atazanavir resistance (change, >3.0-fold), the presence of at least five of these substitutions correlated strongly with loss of atazanavir susceptibility. Mutations associated with reduced susceptibility to each of the other six PIs were also determined.


Recently there has been an interest in the potential of learning generative models from a single image, as opposed to from a large dataset. This task is of significance, as it means that generative models can be used in domains where collecting a large dataset is not feasible. However, training a model capable of generating realistic images from only a single sample is a difficult problem. In this work, we conduct a number of experiments to understand the challenges of training these methods and propose some best practices that we found allowed us to generate improved results over previous work. One key piece is that, unlike prior single image generation methods, we concurrently train several stages in a sequential multi-stage manner, allowing us to learn models with fewer stages of increasing image resolution. Compared to a recent state of the art baseline, our model is up to six times faster to train, has fewer parameters, and can better capture the global structure of images.


Background : In the review of medical imaging techniques, an important fact that emerged is that radiologists and physicians still are in a need of high-resolution medical images with complementary information from different modalities to ensure efficient analysis. This requirement should have been sorted out using fusion techniques with the fused image being used in image-guided surgery, image-guided radiotherapy and non-invasive diagnosis. Aim : This paper focuses on Dual Channel Pulse Coupled Neural Network (PCNN) Algorithm for fusion of multimodality brain images and the fused image is further analyzed using subjective (human perception) and objective (statistical) measures for the quality analysis. Material and Methods : The modalities used in fusion are CT, MRI with subtypes T1/T2/PD/GAD, PET and SPECT, since the information from each modality is complementary to one another. The objective measures selected for evaluation of fused image were: Information Entropy (IE) - image quality, Mutual Information (MI) – deviation in fused to the source images and Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) – noise level, for analysis. Eight sets of brain images with different modalities (T2 with T1, T2 with CT, PD with T2, PD with GAD, T2 with GAD, T2 with SPECT-Tc, T2 with SPECT-Ti, T2 with PET) are chosen for experimental purpose and the proposed technique is compared with existing fusion methods such as the Average method, the Contrast pyramid, the Shift Invariant Discrete Wavelet Transform (SIDWT) with Harr and the Morphological pyramid, using the selected measures to ascertain relative performance. Results : The IE value and SNR value of the fused image derived from dual channel PCNN is higher than other fusion methods, shows that the quality is better with less noise. Conclusion : The fused image resulting from the proposed method retains the contrast, shape and texture as in source images without false information or information loss.


Bycatch and mortality in fishing gear poses a conservation threat worldwide to many marine species. Resource managers and conservation scientists face challenges in identifying bycatch mitigation solutions that work for multiple taxa while maintaining acceptable levels of target fish catch. The most successful mitigation measures to address bycatch concerns are those that (1) minimize bycatch with limited or no impact on target species catch, (2) have been proven through at-sea experimental research, (3) are practical, affordable, and easy to use, and (4) do not risk the safety of the fishing vessel crew or the bycaught animals. We conducted a review of mitigation measures in fishing gears that target tuna and tuna-like species and that either prevent capture of non-target species in fishing gear or facilitate alive post-capture release, and evaluated these against 4 defined criteria: effective, proven, practical, and safe. This paper outlines the most effective bycatch mitigation measures, as based upon the best scientific information available, in commercial and artisanal pelagic longline and purse seine fisheries, specifically those that target tuna and tuna-like species. This review includes information on gear and operational changes to fishing practices that reduce bycatch for protected and threatened species across taxonomic groups, with a focus on cetaceans, sea turtles, seabirds, sharks, and istiophorid billfishes. The information provided can guide future research and management efforts in Regional Fisheries Management Organizations that are specific to tuna fishing and that aim to minimize impacts to protected and threatened species while maintaining viable commercial fisheries.


The foundation for future space mission Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) is the ability to produce climate change benchmark records and provide on-orbit calibration standard through the highly accurate and Système Internationale-traceable observations. The accuracy of CLARREO measurements is set to 0.3% (k=2) for spectrally resolved reflectance. The instrument sensitivity to polarization and polarization of reflected light at the top of atmosphere are the sources for systematic uncertainty. In this paper, we estimate radiometric errors due to polarization effects for CLARREO benchmark and reference intercalibration observations. Data from the Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectance for Atmospheric Sciences coupled with Observations from Lidar (PARASOL) instrument, a spaceborne polarimeter, have been used in combination with the orbital modeling of Earth's sampling. For the CLARREO benchmark data, we used simulated annual nadir sampling for the polar orbit with 90° inclination, and for the intercalibration with cross-track sensors on the JPSS, such as CERES and VIIRS, we simulated on-orbit matched data sampling. Selected PARASOL data over one full solar year provided polarization parameters in visible (VIS) spectral range. For estimating polarization in near infrared (NIR) spectral range, we used a radiative transfer model. Our results show that to limit error contribution due to polarization to half of the allowed total, the sensitivity to polarization of CLARREO reflected solar instrument should not exceed 0.5% (k=2) in spectral range from VIS to NIR.


STANEV, S., T. ZAGORCHEVA and I. ATANASSOV, 2016. Lavender cultivation in Bulgaria – 21st century developments, breeding challenges and opportunities. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 22: 584–590 Bulgaria has a near century long tradition in lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill) cultivation and essential oil production. Following signifi cant reduction of lavender plantations during the country's transition period at the end of the last century, the industrial lavender cultivation gained considerable attention and rapid expansion during the last decade. Here we present the main trends of the 21st century developments of the industrial lavender cultivation in Bulgaria. The data of parallel growing and essential oil production of the currently cultivated Bulgarian lavender varieties demonstrate the higher impact of cultivating vegetative propagated varieties instead of seed derived lavender populations. The main directions and challenges of the 21st century lavender growing in the country related to increased lavender cultivation are pointed out. The recent advances in development of lavender genomic resources, molecular markers, comparative analysis of fl ower volatiles and related opportunities for targeted breeding and marker assisted selection are discussed.


The State of Qatar is experiencing tremendous growth in infrastructure including road network and highways. The current methods used in design of asphalt pavements in the State of Qatar are empirical and might not be suitable for the design of long-lasting pavements. Given the significant increase in traffic, road authorities in the State of Qatar have been considering the use of mechanistic-empirical methods in the design and analysis of asphalt pavements. This study documents the results of a study in which the mechanistic-empirical pavement design guide (M-E PDG) software was used in the design of asphalt pavements with input parameters that were carefully selected to reresent local materials and climatic conditions. The selection of material properties was based primarily on specifications and design guides in the State of Qatar and on published literature about these materials. The mechanistic-empirical method was also used to assess the benefits of adopting the concepts of perpetual pavement design and also to compare the performance of pavement structures in which various bitumen grades, granular bases and chemically stabilised sub-base were used. A life-cycle cost analysis was carried out to determine the design with the highest net present value among the various options investigated. It is expected that the outcomes of this study would promote the use of mechanistic-empirical methods in the State of Qatar and the region. Inevitably, this will require significant efforts to calibrate material and damage prediction models used in the M-E PDG for more accurate representation of material properties and measured pavements performance.


In commenting on the instructive, comprehensive and entertainingly written article by Prof. Colquhoun (hereinafter referred to as 'the author'), we state unequivocally that we have no truck with its motivation. Indeed, we too often find the Fisherian approach troubling. Nor do we wish to become involved in the relative merits of 'Bayesian' versus 'Fisherian' methods. Rather we wish to focus on the author's underlying model, reminding the reader that the output of any mathematical model is only as good as its input parameters. In this regard, we find the numeric value of 0.1 for the parameter describing 'the probability that the putative effect is real' to be wholly unrealistic for divining the appropriate p-value to be used as the basis for deciding whether the outcome of an experiment provides evidence 'for' or 'against' rejection of the null hypothesis.

We readily admit that we have no more idea than does the author regarding the true value of the 'prevalence' parameter for experimental science, so we have adopted three distinct approaches to estimate it. (i) First, and with reference to the author's charmingly apposite introductory quote from George Elliot's Middlemarch, we state our 'gut instinct' estimate to be 'greater than 50%'. (ii) Second, and widening the scope, we have canvassed the senior investigators in our Department of Physiology for their personal estimates of the fraction of times that their explicit, experimentally testable hypotheses have proven to be supported by experimental results. We are aware of the somewhat circular logic of this undertaking because, in each case, 'classical' hypothesis testing underlies the 'guesstimates'. Nevertheless, we consider that well-informed scientists can do better than a flip-of-the-coin (and certainly better than the roll of a decahedral die) in guessing the pathway along which truth lies. (iii) Finally, we have examined the statistical analyses of a selection of published papers (N=25), predominantly in the field of 'cardiovascular biology' (our personal areas of interest). Our criteria for selection of papers were as follows: (i) those listed in PubMed and published or pre-published during the months of March or April 2015, and available in full, sans cost; and (ii) those in which an experimentally testable hypothesis was either explicitly stated or strongly implied ('we hypothesize', 'we infer', 'we propose', 'we aim to test', etc.). We rejected reviews, meta-analyses, case studies, investigations of genetic associations and those articles of a purely descriptive nature. That is, we focused exclusively on studies based on experimental interventions. In all 25 cases, the Fisherian approach had been adopted by the authors, with the value of α either stated explicitly or implied in Results to be 0.05. Analyses of variance and t-tests prevailed. In 14 cases, the authors reported p-values of <0.05:<0.02,<0.01,<0.001 or <0.0001 (in one novel case, as an undefined sequence of asterisks embedded in graphs presented in Results). References 1 to 25 were the articles we surveyed.

The outcomes of both surveys were surprising but comparable. The 'guesstimates' of predictive success by our senior investigator co-workers (N=11) ranged from 50% to 90% with the mean ± standard deviation of 69.6% ± 13.1%. With respect to the 'literature survey', in only three cases were the authors obliged to state that their results did not support their explicitly stated hypothesis—i.e. the null hypothesis could not be rejected or, in plain English, the authors' scientific hypothesis was declared to be wrong. The complement (22 manuscripts in each of which the null hypothesis was rejected) represents a 'prevalence' of 0.88 (a value that exceeds even our (probably inflated) 'gut feelings').

How are these apparently convincing results to be explained vis-a-vis Prof. Colquhoun's counter-conclusion? Do they represent yet another example of publication bias 26; 27 (across some 15 different Journals and journal Editors)? Or have all the investigators succumbed to one or more of: HARKing 28, file drawer-ing 29; 30, under-powering 31; 32, data-stretching 33, bias 30, over-interpretation, p-stretching, Bayes-watching 34 or any of the other sins of which hypothesis-testing is accused? It seems unlikely that 'circular reasoning' (reflecting the unavoidable fact that, in every case, classical hypothesis testing provided the decision-basis) could have played a large role, especially given that 14 of the results would have satisfied Berger's maximum-likelihood criterion (see appendix A5 of Colquhoun 32). Perhaps we are all unwitting players in a great academic hoax. In this regard, we find it noteworthy that granting agencies commonly favour the presentation of results from 'pilot studies'. These require the submitter to walk a narrow path between necessarily few observations while avoiding any hint that the study has already been performed. Do such 'pre-nuptials' simultaneously dupe both the benefactor and the academic mendicant?

Instead of such speculation, we find it instructive to present an analysis (appendix 1) and graph (figure 1), based on Prof. Colquhoun's 'tree diagrams' (figures 2 and 3 in the original).

Figure 1.

Proportion of 'false-positive' rejections of the null hypothesis as a function of the probability that the hypothesized effect exists (i.e. is 'real'). The curve is drawn for the case when α (the 'significance ...

In figure 1, the vertical line at 0.1 intersects the curve at a value of 0.36, thereby duplicating the data shown in figure 2 of Colquhoun 32. Its location is predicated on the author's implied assumption that biomedical scientists make correct predictions only some 10% of the time. The dashed horizontal line intersects the curve at a value of 0.55. That is, if a scientist makes hypotheses that are correct at least 55% of the time, then he or she is, in fact, already working at the commonly assumed 'significance' level of 0.05 (given by the intercept on the ordinate), so that there would be little justification for its 50-fold reduction, as advocated by Prof. Colquhoun. This is perhaps not unexpected, given that nearly 50% of the 25 papers that we surveyed report p-values very much smaller than their pre-assigned values of α. Furthermore, it accords with the other two of our admittedly 'free-form' estimates. Finally, we note that Prof. Colquhoun has examined a specific case of a p-value close to 0.05. Our investigation of this issue (performing simulations using Prof. Colquhoun's R-based software program) leads us to conclude that the resulting false discovery rate is likewise dependent on input parameters (especially the critical effect size). Because we wish to maintain focus strictly on the input parameter: 'prevalence', we present the results of that investigation in appendix 2 in the electronic supplementary material.

In conclusion, we find it difficult to imagine how science could have achieved its manifold successes if scientists have been wrong 90% of the time. Hence, we suspect that a number of behaviours facilitate a high probability of a real effect, thereby rendering scientific hypotheses robust against extreme probabilities of failure. We count among these behaviours the following common practices: achievement of familiarity with the literature and relentless self-criticism, together with willingness to test ideas in the crucible of public debate, to seek direction from the outcome of under-powered pilot studies, to exploit the power of even simple mathematical models and, on occasion, to disregard much of the preceding and, instead, 'to go with one's gut-feeling'.


Using detailed survey data on management practices, this paper uses recent advances in unconditional quartile analysis to study the changes in the within country distribution of management quality associated with country convergence to the managerial frontier. It then decomposes the contribution of potential explanatory factors to the distributional changes. The US emerges as the frontier country, not because of on average better management, but because its best firms are far better than those of its close competitors. Part of the process of convergence to the frontier across the development process represents a trimming of the left tail, much es movement of the central mass and, for rich countries, it is actually the best firms than lag the frontier benchmark. Among potential explanatory variables that may drive convergence, ownership and human capital appear critical, the former especially for poorer countries and that latter for richer suggesting that the mechanics of convergence change across the process. These variables lose their explanatory power as firm and average country management quality rises. Hence, once in the advanced country range, the factors than improve management quality are less easy to document and hence influence.


The purpose of this paper is to establish if Marshallian and Jacobian knowledge spillovers affect job creation in the green energy sector. Whether these two effects exist is important for the number of jobs created in related fields and jobs pushed away in other sectors. In the analysis, the production efficiency, in terms of jobs and job spillovers, from inventions in solar, wind and energy efficiency, is explored through data envelopment analysis (DEA), based on the Malmquist productivity index, and tobit regression. A panel dataset of American and European firms over the period of 2002–2017 is used. The contribution to the literature is to show the role of the spillovers from the same technology sector (Marshallian externalities), and of the spillovers from more diversified activity (Jacobian externalities). Since previous empirical evidence concerning the innovation effects on the production efficiency is yet weak, the paper attempts to bridge this gap. The empirical findings suggest negative Marshallian externalities, while Jacobian externalities have no statistical impact on the job creation process. The findings are of strategic importance for governments who are developing industrial strategies for renewable energy.


With his characteristic care and sophistication, Richard Fallon has turned his attention to, as he puts it, "the sometimes peculiar problems posed by judicial inquiries into the intentions of multimember legislative bodies...." Those problems, of course, stem from the fact that although individual legislators have mental states and motivations, it is unclear to what, if anything, the intention of a legislature refers. We can ask whether some legislators had the same intentions and motivations, and if so, whether the number of such legislators is sufficient for us to say that their intentions and motivations constitute the intentions and motivations of the legislature itself. But is that number, even if empirically ascertainable by courts, the correct number, and if so, why? And what if the number of shared intentions and motivations fall short of that number? Is the resulting absence of the intention and motivation of the legislature a problem, and why?
Fallon's discussion of legislative intention is complex and nuanced. His bottom line, however, can be simply put: "[u]ltimate determinations of constitutional validity should always depend on the content and effects of challenged legislation, not the subjective intentions of the enacting legislature...." Fallon would, however, permit a role for legislators' intentions in raising the level of judicial scrutiny and also in assessing the stigmatic effects of legislation.
I am not going to rehash Fallon's rather intricate arguments here. Instead, I am going to attempt to show why his bottom line cannot be correct. Inquiry into the mental states of legislators is unavoidable in a constitutional system such as ours that (1) grants legislatures the authority to create the legal norms to which we are subject, and (2) contains constitutional provisions that forbid unequal treatment but do not require any specific treatment beyond that prohibition. I shall take these two points up in the order I presented them.


Purpose: The purpose of this work was to create a Monte Carlo BEAMnrc/EGSnrc model of the electron beam delivery system of an Elekta Infinity linear accelerator that could simulate electron percent depth doses and off-axis profiles to within a specified tolerance criteria,±2% relative quantities (Dmax) or 1 mm distance to agreement (DTA), when compared to a subset of the measured commissioning data for the accelerator's existing set of scattering foils and applicators. Methods: The model was constructed with the BEAMnrc user code from vendor provided schematics and correspondence with manufacturer engineers under a nondisclosure agreement. The spatial distribution of the initial electron source was derived by matching the large field (open-insert 25x25 cm2 applicator) cross beam profiles calculated by the model with the measured data. The measured data was re-sampled and symmetrized about the central axis (CAX) and the simulation data was smoothed before the two data sets were normalized to reference values along the CAX. The two data sets were compared to test to the hypothesis. Results: The model was able to meet the tolerance criteria (2% of Dmax or 1 mm DTA) for all large-field %DD curves. The model was unable to meet the criteria for any large field, shallow depth cross-beam profiles. The low energy (7-, 9-MeV) and high energy (16-, 20-MeV) models over-predict off-axis dose. The medium energy (10-, 11-, 13-MeV) beam model under-predict off-axis dose. These off-axis dose discrepancies were not pronounced at smaller field-sizes (6x6 and 14x14 cm2) for the subset of the clinical beam energies (7-, 13-, 20-MeV) that were compared. Conclusions: The Monte Carlo model of the Elekta Infinity electron beam delivery system could not simulate the considered subset of measured beam data to within the tolerance criteria of the study. The model could accurately reproduce the smaller field-sizes that were compared but could not reproduce the measured large field data. The large-field off-axis dose discrepancies observed with the medium beam energies (10-, 11-, 13-MeV) could be resolved by introducing a small initial angular spread ( ∼2◦) to the incident electron source of the model.


Huserl (a mathematician by education) remained a few famous and notable philosophical "slogans" along with his innovative doctrine of phenomenology directed to transcend "reality" in a more general essence underlying both "body" and "mind" (after Descartes) and called sometimes "ontology" (terminologically following his notorious assistent Heidegger). Then, Husserl's tradition can be tracked as an idea for philosophy to be reinterpreted in a way to be both generalized and mathenatizable in the final analysis. The paper offers a pattern borrowed from the theory of information and quantum information (therefore relating philosophy to both mathematics and physics) to formalize logically a few key concepts of Husserl's phenomenology such as "epoché" "eidetic, phenomenological, and transcendental reductions" as well as the identification of "phenomenological, transcendental, and psychological reductions" in a way allowing for that identification to be continued to "eidetic reduction" (and thus to mathematics). The approach is tested by an independent and earlier idea of Husserl, "logical arithmetic" (parallelly implemented in mathematics by Whitehead and Russell's Principia) as what "Hilbert arithmetic" generalizing Peano arithmetics is interpreted. A basic conclusion states for the unification of philosophy, mathematics, and physics in their foundations and fundamentals to be the Husserl tradition both tracked to its origin (in the being itself after Hidegger or after Husserl's "zu Sache selbst") and embodied in the development of human cognition in the third millennium.


Brian Loar believes he has refuted all those antiphysicalist arguments that take as their point of departure observations about what is or isn't conceivable. I argue that there remains an important, popular and plausible-looking form of conceivability argument that Loar has entirely overlooked. Though he may not have realized it, Saul Kripke presents, or comes close to presenting, two fundamentally different forms of conceivability argument. I distinguish the two arguments and point out that while Loar has succeeded in refuting one of Kripke's arguments he has not refuted the other. Loar is mistaken: physicalism still faces an apparently insurmountable conceptual obstacle.


IZA DP No. 14403 MAY 2021 Black Entrepreneurs, Job Creation, and Financial Constraints Black-owned businesses tend to operate with less finance and employ fewer workers than those owned by Whites. Motivated by a simple conceptual framework, we document these facts and show they are causally connected using large firm-level surveys linked to universal employer data from the Census Bureau. We find that the racial financing gap is most pronounced at start-up and tends to narrow with firm age. At any age, Black-owned firms are less likely to receive bank loans, more likely to refrain from applying because they expect denial, and more likely to report that lack of finance reduces their profitability. Yet the observable characteristics of Black entrepreneurs are similar in most respects to Whites, and in some ways higher education, growth-oriented motivations, and involvement in the business would seem to imply higher, not lower, demand for finance. Concerning employment, we find that Black-owned firms have on average about 12 percent fewer employees than those owned by Whites, but the difference drops when controlling for firm age and other characteristics. However, when the analysis holds financial variables constant, the results imply that equally well-financed Black-owned firms would be larger than White-owned by about seven percent. Exploiting the credit supply shock of changing assignment to Community Reinvestment Act treatment through a Regression Discontinuity Design in a firm-level panel regression framework, we find that expanded credit access raises employment 5-7 percentage points more at Black-owned businesses than Whiteowned firms in treated neighborhoods. JEL Classification: J15, G20, H81


The Bird's Head Seascape in West Papua, Indonesia is recognized globally for its unparalleled marine biodiversity. However, scientific investigation of the region begun recently and is still in its infancy, as evidenced by findings of new species with each expedition. The burgeoning network of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the region poses an opportunity to measure the effects of protection on coral cover and fish density and diversity. Here, we synthesize results from ecological assessments coordinated across conservation organizations (Conservation International, The Nature Conservancy, and WWF-Indonesia, along with key local institutions) to better understand underlying ecological patterns, as well as inform efforts to protect these threatened ecosystems. We examined habitat cover and condition, along with fish abundance, density, biomass, and diversity in 6 MPAs over a five-year period, providing a strong baseline. Multi-pronged methods for fish surveys target different taxa of interest. Hard coral cover averages 20-40% across the seascape, varying by MPA and also by survey method: estimates are consistently lower for manta tow swims when compared with point intercept transects. Although the monitoring program is well-designed and well-funded, scaling up from site-level analysis to region-level analysis remains challenging. Looking ahead, the region would benefit from stronger data coordination and inclusion of study sites outside the boundaries of MPAs to serve as controls for these policy experiments. This system would allow better understanding of which characteristics of protected areas design and governance are most influential in conserving ecosystem function and biodiversity.


We study smoking persistence, which can be due to both true state dependence and individual unobserved heterogeneity, in ten European countries. We distinguish between the two sources of persistence by using semi-parametric dynamic panel selection methods, applied to both smoking participation and cigarette consumption. We find that for both smoking decisions true state dependence is generally much smaller when unobserved individual heterogeneity is taken into account, and we also uncover large differences in true state dependence across countries. Finally, allowing for heaping in the reported number of cigarettes smoked considerably improves the fit of our model.


OBJECTIVE: We sought to investigate whether intrapleural topical application of cisplatin with a surgical carrier has a prolonged local tissue level in comparison with cisplatin solution while reducing systemic toxicity. METHODS: Forty immune-competent Fischer rats were inoculated with 10(6) mesothelioma cells. Ten days later, left pneumonectomy with tumor debulking was performed. Twenty animals underwent local application of cisplatin solution (100 mg/m2), whereas the same quantity of cisplatin was topically applied as a gel with the Vivostat (Vivolution) system in 20 other animals. In each group 5 subgroups of 4 animals were defined according to the harvesting time of blood and tissue samples (2, 4, 24, and 72 hours and 1 week) after local therapy. Platinum concentrations in serum and tissue and systemic toxicity were analyzed. RESULTS: Platinum concentrations in tissue were significantly higher in the gel group (group 1) than in the solution group (group 2) at 1, 3, and 7 days after therapy (1510, 1224, and 1069 pg/mg for group 1 vs 598, 382, and 287 pg/mg for group 2; P = .007, P = .005, and P = .0002, respectively). Laboratory findings showed renal insufficiency in the animals of the solution group at 1 week, with values of 98 mmol/L versus 7.7 mmol/L for urea and 410 mumol/L versus 43 mumol/L for creatinine (P = .02 and P = .01, respectively), which was confirmed by means of pathologic analysis. CONCLUSIONS: Intrapleural administration of cisplatin with the carrier Vivostat significantly provides sustained higher platinum concentrations up to 1 week in tissue in comparison with application of cisplatin solution without conferring systemic toxicity in this model.


One of the most important problems in development is how epigenetic domains can be first established, and then maintained, within cells. To address this question, we propose a framework which couples 3D chromatin folding dynamics, to a "recolouring" process modeling the writing of epigenetic marks. Because many intra-chromatin interactions are mediated by bridging proteins, we consider a "two-state" model with self-attractive interactions between two epigenetic marks which are alike (either active or inactive). This model displays a first-order-like transition between a swollen, epigenetically disordered, phase, and a compact, epigenetically coherent, chromatin globule. If the self-attraction strength exceeds a threshold, the chromatin dynamics becomes glassy, and the corresponding interaction network freezes. By modifying the epigenetic read-write process according to more biologically-inspired assumptions, our polymer model with recolouring recapitulates the ultrasensitive response of epigenetic switches to perturbations, and accounts for long-lived multi-domain conformations, strikingly similar to the topologically-associating-domains observed in eukaryotic chromosomes.


Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, progressive, sustained inflammatory autoimmune disease associated with articular, extraarticular, and systemic effects. It is characterized by synovial inflammation, hyperplasia, leading to destruction of articular cartilage, bone erosion, and ultimately permanent deformities. Conventional treatments for RA include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, disease modifying antirheumatoid drugs, corticosteroids, and biological agents. All these therapeutic agents are associated with one or more side-effects, and none of the available treatments are able to achieve the ultimate therapeutic goal, i.e., drug-free remission. Herbal remedies are alternative source to relieve symptoms in patients having RA as well as to overcome the drawbacks associated with present treatment methods. A study conducted by the World Health Organization had reported that about 80% of world's population relies on traditional medicine. More than 450 plants belonging to 100 families are used traditionally in management of arthritis. Some of the important natural compounds reported toexhibit anti-arthritic potential includes anthroquinone (Aloe barbadensis), with anolides (Withania somnifera), terpenes (Zingiber officinale, Boswellia serrata), polyphenols (Camellia sinensis), stilbene (Vitis vinifera, Tripterygium wilfordi). Although a number of herbal medicines are recommended for RA, further research is required to investigate their safety, efficacy, and potential drug interactions.


At the outset of the twentieth century, malaria was Italy's major public health problem. It was the cause of low productivity, poverty, and economic backwardness, while it also stunted literacy, limited political participation, and undermined the army. In this book Frank Snowden recounts how Italy became the world center for the development of malariology as a medical discipline and launched the first national campaign to eradicate the disease. Snowden traces the early advances, the setbacks of world wars and Fascist dictatorship, and the final victory against malaria after World War II. He shows how the medical and teaching professions helped educate people in their own self-defense and in the process expanded trade unionism, women's consciousness, and civil liberties. He also discusses the antimalarial effort under Mussolini's regime and reveals the shocking details of the German army's intentional release of malaria among Italian civilians-the first and only known example of bioterror in twentieth-century Europe. Comprehensive and enlightening, this history offers important lessons for today's global malaria emergency.