The configuration of a product from a product line is a decision-making process that requires humans to answer questions. However, questions and their choices tend to affect one another (e. g., one feature depending on another) and decisions on how questions are answered may render other questions obsolete or reduce their choices. There is thus an ideal order in which questions should be answered to minimize the number of questions that need answering to completely configure a product. Unfortunately, this ideal order differs depending on the product -- which cannot be known a priori. Decision-making is thus characterized by either imposing a predefined order on how questions must be answered (usually done manually by product line engineers) or not imposing any order. Both situations have downsides and this paper thus proposes an alternative: an incremental algorithm and tool-support for automatically optimizing the order of questions with every answer. We evaluated our approach on six models, the largest with over 280 questions, and found that the approach is 78-99% optimal and significantly reduces the number of questions that need to be answered manually. For the creators of product line models, this implies savings in not having to predefine the optimal order which is exponentially complex. For the configurator (decision maker) this implies more freedom in the order in which to answer questions while still benefiting from guidance.


Based on data from a sample of 120 Mexican immigrant couples, this study tested an estimated actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) in which the linkages between spouses' perceptions of marital quality (i.e., marital warmth and marital negativity), spousal incongruence in familism attitudes, and spouses' coparenting satisfaction were examined. The model simultaneously explored the moderating effects of spouses' incongruence in familism attitudes, a key Latino cultural value that reflects family cohesion, obligations, and interdependence. Results showed significant actor effects from marital warmth to coparenting satisfaction. Wives' marital warmth was associated with higher levels of wives' coparenting satisfaction and husbands' marital warmth was associated with higher levels of husbands' coparenting satisfaction. A significant interaction qualified the actor effect for wives' marital warmth to her coparenting satisfaction. Spouses' incongruence in familism attitudes moderated this association indicating that the expected positive association between wives' marital warmth and her coparenting satisfaction was present only for couples with low spousal incongruence in familism attitudes (i.e., couples in which spouses are in close agreement on familism attitudes). Marital negativity and incongruence on familism attitudes were not significantly related to spouses' coparenting satisfaction. Findings underscore the link between spouses' marital warmth and their coparenting satisfaction and suggest that effective coparenting is nested within the context of a warm and supportive relationship.


Triaxial MEMS vector field measurement system with triaxial MEMS sensors, such as accelerometer and magnetometer, is typically used to acquire navigation information in strap-down inertial navigation system (SINS). The navigation accuracy of the body is directly affected by the measurement accuracy of the measurement system. This study presents a two-step calibration algorithm for the triaxial MEMS vector field measurement system based on a detailed analysis of the measurement system error model. In the calibration procedure of this method, the first step is to calibrate the triaxial vector sensor error, including bias, scale factors and non-orthogonality using the ellipsoid fitting method; the second step is to calibrate the misalignment between the orthogonal sensor frame and the system body frame using the four-position method. Furthermore, the mathematical analysis of four-position method calibration error is done to study on the factors influencing the misalignment calibration accuracy, numerical simulation and experiments, which are performed for validating the analysis. A series of calibration experiments on a triaxial MEMS accelerometer in the measurement system show significant enhancement of the accuracy of three components measurement data in the system body frame.


Introduction:
Obesity, metabolic syndrome and Type 2 diabetes are clinical states associated with insulin resistance and an increased risk of vascular disease. The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions and there is a growing need for new therapeutic targets. There is a significant body of research that demonstrates an association between obesity, insulin resistance, endothelial dysfunction and accelerated atherosclerosis, but the molecular mechanisms underlying this link are incompletely understood. Biguanides and thiazolidinediones are widely used in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes to improve glycaemia but the precise site, mode and extent of their actions remain uncertain. For example, in the United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS), metformin treatment reduced the incidence of myocardial infarction by 39% in comparison with conventional treatment which is more than would have been predicted by the difference in achieved HbA1c (0.6%). In addition, when the metformin group was compared with a group treated with sulphonylurea or insulin, to control for glycaemia, there was still a significant reduction in the incidence of stroke and any other diabetes-related end-point. The enzyme AMPK is a novel therapeutic target in Type 2 diabetes and the development of specific tissue specific AMPK activators is an attractive prospect for the future. We therefore investigated the role of AMPK in the action of biguanides and thiazolidinediones. Accordingly, the aims of this project were to first determine if metformin improves vascular endothelial function and large artery stiffness in patients with Type 2 diabetes. In parallel, the thesis examines if metformin exerts its beneficial effects in patients with Type 2 diabetes in association with altered AMPK activity in human adipose. Finally, the thesis determines if insulin sensitizers such as metformin and the thiazolidinediones, acting directly on vascular endothelial cells, increase NO production by increasing AMPK activity thus accounting for beneficial effects on endothelial function and, in metformin's case, cardiovascular outcome.

Methods:
Twenty men with Type 2 diabetes were randomised to metformin (500 milligrams three times daily for ten weeks) and gliclazide (80 milligrams twice daily for ten weeks) in a double-blinded, glycaemia controlled, cross-over design. There was a six week run in and washout period. At the end of each ten week phase of therapy routine and non routine blood sampling (including plasma ADMA), PWV and an adipose biopsy were performed to determine resistance artery function and adipose AMPK activity. The effects of metformin, its closely related analogue phenformin and rosiglitazone were characterised in cultured human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs). AMPK activity was assessed using a peptide kinase assay and the quantification of phosphorylation of the AMPK substrate, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) in HAECs incubated in rosiglitazone, phenformin or metformin. Nitric oxide (NO) release was evaluated with a Sievers NO meter.

Results:
The mean age and BMI of subjects in the clinical study was 56.5 years and 31kg/m2. Mean HbA1c after metformin therapy was 8.3% compared with 7.8% following gliclazide therapy. There was no significant difference between resistance artery function and PWV. ADMA was marginally lower following metformin therapy (p=0.019). AMPK activity was 2 fold higher following metformin therapy when compared with gliclazide therapy (p=0.002). Stimulation of human aortic endothelial cells with phenformin and rosiglitazone resulted in the time- and dose-dependent stimulation of AMP-activated protein kinase activity and NO production with concomitant phosphorylation of endothelial NO synthase at Ser1177. Infection of endothelial cells with a virus encoding a dominant negative AMPK mutant attenuated both phenformin and rosiglitazone-stimulated Ser1177 phosphorylation and NO production. Furthermore, the stimulation of AMPK and NO synthesis by rosiglitazone was unaffected by the peroxisome proliferator-activated-receptor-inhibitor, GW9662. Incubation of HAECs with metformin, however, had no effect on AMPK activity or NO synthesis.

Conclusion:
Taken together, the data in this thesis provides further insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying the interactions between insulin sensitizing drugs, the enzyme AMPK and both the human vascular endothelium and adipose. Further work leading to an increased understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which anti-diabetic drugs activate AMPK in both the vascular endothelium and adipose tissue may identify novel therapeutic targets in patients with Type 2 diabetes.


Phenylketonuria (PKU) is an autosomal recessive inborn error of metabolism (IEM) caused by mutations in the phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene. The molecular mechanism underlying deficiency of the PAH protein is, in most of the cases, loss of function due to protein misfolding. PAH mutations induce disturbed oligomerisation, decreased stability and accelerated degradation of hepatic PAH, a key enzyme in phenylalanine metabolism. Since the development of a phenylalanine-restricted diet in the 1950ies, PKU is a prototype for treatable inherited diseases. About 60 years later, the natural PAH cofactor tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) was shown to act as a pharmacological chaperone stabilising the misfolded PAH protein. In consequence, BH4 (KUVAN®) was introduced to the pharmaceutical market as an alternative treatment for BH4-responsive PAH deficiency. Therefore, PKU is also regarded as a prototype for a pharmacologically treatable protein misfolding disease.
Despite the progress in PKU therapy, knowledge on the molecular basis of PKU and the BH4 mode of action was still incomplete. Biochemical and biophysical characterisation of purified variant PAH proteins, which were derived from patient's mutations, aimed at a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms of PAH loss of function. We showed that local side-chain replacements induce global conformational changes with negative impact on molecular motions that are essential for physiological enzyme function. The development of a continuous real-time fluorescence-based assay of PAH activity allowed for robust analysis of steady state kinetics and allosteric behaviour of recombinantly expressed PAH proteins. We identified positive cooperativity of the PAH enzyme towards BH4, where cooperativity does not rely on the presence of phenylalanine but is determined by activating conformational rearrangements. In vivo investigations on the mode-of-action of BH4 revealed differences in pharmacodynamics but not in pharmacokinetics between different strains of PAH-deficient mice (wild-type, Pahenu1/1 and Pahenu1/2). These observations pointed to a significant impact of the genotype on responsiveness to BH4.
The available database information on PAH function associated with PAH mutations was based on non-standardised enzyme activity assays performed in different cellular systems and under different conditions usually focusing on single PAH mutations. These inconsistent data on PAH enzyme activity hindered robust prediction of the patient's phenotype. Furthermore, assays on single PAH mutations do not reflect the high allelic and phenotypic heterogeneity of PKU with 89 % of patients being compound heterozygotes. In addition, the knowledge on enzyme function and regulation in the therapeutic and pathologic metabolic context was still scarce. In order to get more insight into the interplay of the PAH genotype, the phenylalanine concentration and BH4 treatment, we performed functional analyses of both, single, purified PAH variants as well as PAH full genotypes in the physiological, pathological and therapeutic context. The analysis of PAH activity as a function of phenylalanine and BH4 concentrations enabled determination of the optimal working ranges of the enzyme and visualisation of differences in the regulation of PAH activity by BH4 and phenylalanine depending on the underlying genotype. Moreover, these PAH activity landscapes allowed for setting rules for dietary regimens and pharmacological treatment based on the genotype of the patient.
Taken together, precise knowledge on the mechanism of the misfolding-induced loss of function in PAH deficiency enabled a better understanding of the molecular mode of action of pharmacological rescue of enzyme function by BH4. We implemented the combination of genotype-specific functional analyses together with biochemical, clinical and therapeutic data of individual patients as a powerful tool for phenotype prediction and paved the way for personalised medicine strategies in phenylketonuria.


SUMMARY: Knowledge is increasingly being recognised as a vital organisational resource that provides competitive advantage. Managing knowledge assets can be a challenge, especially in the construction industry, where short-term working contracts and temporary coalitions of individuals can inhibit knowledge sharing. The role of information technology (IT) in knowledge management (KM), is an essential consideration for any company wishing to exploit emerging technologies to manage their knowledge assets. This paper presents research, which has been conducted to identify the technologies that are currently used to manage knowledge in the construction industry. The effectiveness of these technologies has also been explored, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of particular IT for KM. In addition, it attempts to highlight some of the challenges and complexities associated with managing knowledge in a project-based environment. A postal questionnaire was distributed among construction organisations in order to obtain generalisable data about the role of IT for KM, in the construction industry. This approach was supplemented by ethnographic interviews to reveal richer data about the nature of IT for KM, in five small, medium and large construction organisations. The research revealed that conventional technologies, such as the telephone, are used more frequently to manage knowledge, than more radical IT, such as Groupware or video-conferencing. In construction organisations, the potential benefits of IT for KM, are not fully exploited and many have expressed a need for greater implementation of IT, appropriated by sufficient training and education of staff.


Background and aims: Hearing loss (HL) happens due to the genetic or environmental causes or both. Risk factors include congenital infections and congenital deformities of auricle and ear duct. The present study was performed to briefly explain the genetics, molecular biology and epidemiology of HL in Middle East especially in Iran. Methods: An intense an comprehensive literature search was prformed through heading journals in the field. All data was organized using Mendeley software and incorporated to the text as required. Results: While the etiology of 25% of HL cases remains indistinct, it is estimated that at least 50% of pre lingual HL cases have a genetic cause. About 70% of genetic HL cases are non Syndromic (NSHL) without anomaly, whereas the remaining 30% are Syndromic. Autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss forms (ARNSHL) are the severest forms of congenital HL with defect in cochlea. In addition to X-linked (DFNX), autosomal dominant (DFNA), autosomal recessive (DFNB) and Y-linked (DFNY) inheritance patterns, HL can be inherited through mitochondrial genes including MT-RNR1 and MT-TS. At least 120 genes have been reported to be associated with HL. Among them, mutations in connexin 26 (GJB2) have been shown to play a very important role in developing ARSNSHL in many populations depending on geographical location and ethnicity. In Caucasians and Spainish/Italian populations, 50% and 79% of HL cases have respectively been reported to be occurred due to mutations in GJB2 gene. Conclusion: In the Middle East, the prevalence seems different as an average of 14-20% of the HL in several region of Iran is due to mutation in GJB2 gene. Alternatively similar studies showed the prevalence of GJB2 mutations around 25% and 6.1% in Turkey and Pakistani populations respectively.


Over the past quarter century, a growing volume of rural-focused criminological work has emerged. In this article, the literature related to three rural criminological issues are examined and discussed in terms of their lessons for critical criminology. Research on rural communities and crime is examined as a way to criticize and challenge mainstream criminological theories and concepts like social disorganisation and collective efficacy, and to remind critical criminologists of the importance for developing critical perspectives for place-based or ecological theories of crime. Agricultural crime studies are discussed in terms of the need to develop a critical criminology of agriculture and food. Finally, criminological studies of rural 'others' is used to show the need for critical criminologists to give greater analytic attention to divisions and marginalities of peoples living in smaller and more isolated places based on gender, race, and lifestyles, among other factors.


Finding the shortest paths from a single source to all other vertices is a fundamental method used in a variety of higher-level graph algorithms. We present three parallel friendly and work-efficient methods to solve this Single-Source Shortest Paths (SSSP) problem: Work front Sweep, Near-Far and Bucketing. These methods choose different approaches to balance the trade off between saving work and organizational overhead. In practice, all of these methods do much less work than traditional Bellman-Ford methods, while adding only a modest amount of extra work over serial methods. These methods are designed to have a sufficient parallel workload to fill modern massively-parallel machines, and select reorganizational schemes that map well to these architectures. We show that in general our Near-Far method has the highest performance on modern GPUs, outperforming other parallel methods. We also explore a variety of parallel load-balanced graph traversal strategies and apply them towards our SSSP solver. Our work-saving methods always outperform a traditional GPU Bellman-Ford implementation, achieving rates up to 14x higher on low-degree graphs and 340x higher on scale free graphs. We also see significant speedups (20-60x) when compared against a serial implementation on graphs with adequately high degree.


Introduction: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most important complications of mechanical ventilation and cause of mortality in traumatic patients under mechanical ventilation admitted in the ICU (intensive care unit). The aim of current study was comparing sedationreceived as bolus and infusion at incidence of VAP in intubated traumatic patients in the ICU. Methods: This study was a prospective descriptive-analytical one. Current study was carried out on the patients under mechanical ventilation admitted to ICUs in Imam Khomeini hospital of Sari city, from September 2015 to September 2016. Inclusion criteria included traumatic patients older than 18 years admitted to the ICU and under mechanical ventilation for more than 48 hours. In addition to demographic data, patients' clinical information was daily recorded. Patients' followed-up was continued until discharge from the ICU, ventilator weaning or death. Results: total of 2304 patients were admitted to the ICU, of which 186 traumatic patients under mechanical ventilation longer than 48 hours were reviewed and analyzed. Among 66 traumatic patients receiving sedation(82.8%), 66 patients (42.9%) as blouse, and 42 patients (27.3%) as infusion had received sedationdrug. The incidences of VAP in the patients receiving sedationas bolus or infusion were 6.1% and 52.4%, respectively. The comparison of VAP incidence among the patients receiving sedationas bolus and infusion, showed a significant difference (p<0.005). Conclusion: Sedative injection as infusion and continuous for more than 24 hours can remarkably increase incidence of VAP in traumatic patients under mechanical ventilation in the ICU in comparison to the sedation injection as blouse. Therefore, paying attention to this risk factor for controlling and reducingthe incidence of VAP is necessary in these patients.


Book synopsis: The first to use Judith Butler's work as a reading of how the legal subject is formed, this book traces how Butler comes to the themes of ethics, law and politics analyzing their interrelation and explaining how they relate to Butler's question of how people can have more liveable and viable lives.

Acknowledging the potency and influence of Butler's 'concept' of gender as process, which occupies a well developed and well discussed position in current literature, Elena Loizidou argues that the possibility of people having more liveable and viable lives is articulated by Butler within the parameters of a sustained agonistic relationship between the three spheres of ethics, law and politics.

Suggesting that Butler's rounded understanding of the interrelationship of these three spheres will enable critical legal scholarship, as well as critical theory more generally, to consider how the question of life's unsustainable conditions can be rethought and redressed, this book is a key read for all students of legal ethics, political philosophy and social theory.


The Greek industry achieved its best performance in the 1970s when it participated in GDP with approximately 20% and around 400,000 employees or 12% of all employees. Today, the participation percentage of manufacturing in GDP has been reduced to 5.4% with 168,000 jobs or 4.5% of total employment. The aim of this paper is to monitor through appropriate indicators the evolution of performance and competitiveness of Greek industry during the last twenty years to investigate the causes of the manufacturing industry decline. More specifically, based on the updated data of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) covering the period 1995 - 2013, the evolution of manufacturing economic fundamentals (investments, value added, employment, etc.), the export performance and evolution of competitiveness are analyzed. By competitiveness we mean measurable factors, i.e. labor costs per unit of product and labor productivity in manufacturing.


Virus and bacteria are microbes which are very common cause human infection. Most of the bacterial infection can be eradicated by antibiotics and infection symptoms disappear. But for virus infection, once infected, the virus will persistently stay in the host, even undergo not only a lytic cycle but also integrated into host genome. Nowadays, at least 6 virus type are consistently related to human cancer, such as EBV,HPV,HTLV,HBV,HCV,HKSV, and the new one Merkel Virus (MCV). Although not every infected people will get cancer, but around 20% of the whole cancer in human are caused by viral oncogene. Class one oncogenic bacterial is Helicobacter pylori . Infection with this bacteria can cause persistent gastro duodenal inflammation which cause some alteration in gastric cell growth into transformation. Expression of Cag gene and Vac gene and some expression of OMP protein usually link to gastric cancer. Molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis for every virus which cause infection  is a very complex , which include several processes caused by cell transformation. Besides, other host and environmental factors are also play a significant role in cancer development. Some scientist put a Hallmark analysis as a model to quickly summarize what pathobiology process will happen and what gene or protein caused the process. The Hallmark analysis comprise of several process which may happen simultaneously because some of the Hallmark is caused by the same protein. The Hallmark consists of various virus strategies in oncogenesis such as promoting angiogenesis, avoiding immune destruction, genome instability and mutation, deregulating cellular energetic, resisting cell death, sustaining proliferative signaling, evading growth suppressors, enabling cellular immortality, promoting inflammation and activation metastasis. For example, infection by HPV, will cause low grade dysplasia which can continue to invasive cervical cancer. After host cell transformation, in the long control region genes, E6 and E7 protein will cause several strategies in oncogenesis including resisting cell death and evading growth suppressors.  HBV infection will end without any serious liver damage, but after cell transformation, almost all Hallmark strategies of viral oncogenesis are happening step by step in line with the severity of liver cell damage. As the onset of cancer development after infection can last years, there are an opportunity to design either vaccine or genetic therapy to minimalize further risk of cancer in human


Aim/Purpose The study aimed to examine teacher educators' perceptions regarding their ability to implement innovative pedagogies following a year during which they used a newly equipped Active Learning Classroom (ALC), designed for teacher training Background To this end, we asked how participants perceived the effective use of the ALC and how they were able to leverage the use of the ALC to implement innovative pedagogies. Methodology Using the grounded theory method, we conducted qualitative analysis of data collected from semi-structured in-depth personal interviews. The sample included 22 randomly-selected teacher educators in a single teacher-education college, who had used the ALC over the last year. Average teaching tenure was 22 years. Contribution As part of the transition to using innovative pedagogies in an ICT (Information Communication Technology) enhanced teaching environment, our proposed model can be used to map teachers' perceptions and proficiencies, so as to address the specific needs of each group. Findings Analysis revealed four pedagogic teaching patterns. Based on the TPACK (Technology, Pedagogy, and Content, Knowledge) model as a Faculty Usage of the Active Learning Classroom 486 theoretical framework, we were able to relate these patterns to participants' strengths and weaknesses in technological and pedagogic knowledge and the ways in which they used the ALC. These patterns testify that there are different levels of use and integration of technology and pedagogy by teacher educators. Recommendations for Practitioners Enhancing teachers' knowledge, promoting innovative concepts and removing barriers for ICT usage require integrated technologicalpedagogic guidance, which should be provided to the teachers by instructors with integrated TPK (Technology Pedagogy Knowledge). Recommendations for Researchers The ability to map technological and pedagogic strengths in accord with teaching patterns and styles provides an advantageous and applicable foundation that can be used by any future studies that wish to pursue this line of investigation. Impact on Society Formulating new strategies in teacher education would effectively make teacher educators the leading force driving the desired transformation, whereby teachers have the skills and knowledge to prepare students to become productive members of society in the 21st century. Future Research Future studies are encouraged to use our proposed model (which maps technological and pedagogic strengths in accord with teaching patterns) to examine additional questions, for example, what is the relationship between teaching style and teaching effectiveness and can it provide the impetus to attempt to shift teachers' attitudes and styles?


A number of studies investigating the biological effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) have found that it may affect local levels of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), glutamate and glutamine (commonly measured together as "Glx" in spectroscopy), and N-acetyl aspartate (NAA), however, these effects depend largely on the stimulation parameters used and the cortical area targeted. Given that different cortical areas may respond to stimulation in different ways, the purpose of this experiment was to assess the as yet unexplored biological effects of tDCS in the posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG), an area that has attracted some attention as a potential target for the treatment of auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia patients. Biochemical changes were monitored using continuous, online MRS at a field strength of 3 Tesla. Performing intrascanner stimulation, with continuous spectroscopy before, during and after stimulation, permitted the assessment of acute effects of tDCS that would otherwise be lost when simply comparing pre- and post-stimulation differences. Twenty healthy participants underwent a repeated-measures experiment in which they received both active anodal and sham intrascanner stimulation in a stratified, randomized, double-blind experiment. No significant changes in GABA, Glx, or NAA levels were observed as a result of anodal stimulation, or between active and sham stimulation, suggesting that a single session of anodal tDCS to the pSTG may be less effective than in other cortical areas that have been similarly investigated.


Environmental sustainability has become important considering limited natural resources and an ever increasing consumption. Sustainability assessment is a complex procedure which is used to quantify and measure sustainability of a system. It needs to be performed in an organized and coherent manner to avoid unintended negative consequences. A systems-level, overarching, integrated model coupled with underlying process models would provide structure to sustainability assessment of coupled systems, thereby making the procedure more effective. The first objective of the study is to illustrate such a systems-level, overarching, framework using a simple, idealized, hypothetical model of a watershed as an example. The essential elements of underlying process models are utilized in building a simple, System Dynamics (SD) model, which is integrated at the overarching level. Orientors and indicators are used to assess sustainability. Two additional scenarios are modeled in order to improve system sustainability: technological advancement by implementing a rainwater use policy in the existing watershed model; and human behavior modification by coupling a social model with the existing watershed model. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the System Dynamics modeling approach in integration of multiple, varied systems. The second and ultimate objective of this study is to propose a generic framework for the overarching, systems-level model, providing a definite structure but allowing others to define their own model elements and relationships. This would enable more effective sustainability assessment of coupled complex systems.


Increased physical activity is important for reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, among people with disabilities, inactivity is prevalent. In order to encourage exercise among members of this group, an exercise system combining arm ergometry with video gaming, called the GAME/sup Cycle/ was previously developed. User input was received through an arm crank ergometer on a swivel, with the angular velocity of the ergometer resistance wheel controlling one axis and rotation of ergometer about the swivel controlling the other. The purpose of this study was to detail the algorithms used in this device and present novel features included in a second generation of the GAME/sup Cycle/. The features include a wheel on base, a steering return mechanism, and wireless fire buttons. A focus group of clinicians (n=8), wheelchair users (n=8), and clinician wheelchair users (n=2) was conducted to evaluate the features of the GAME/sup Cycle/. The focus group suggested improvements to the steering mechanism and to reduce vibration in the system. However, the focus group enjoyed the GAME/sup Cycle/ and felt that it would encourage exercise among persons with disabilities.


Drawing on Habermas' theory of communicative action, this conceptual paper proposes the Organizational Social Media Lifeworld (OSML) as a useful model for disentangling the complex use of social media in organizations and its enabling role for organizational communication. Based on the OSML model, we show how social media are intrinsic to each of these four elements—actors, action, entity and culture—and how it enables the two overarching organizational processes of structuration and socialization. Herefrom we delineate a set of communication archetypes for making sense of the plethora of social media activities in organizational contexts, which can further guide research and practice. In order to illustrate the OSML model, we provide seven illustrative vignettes of the use of Facebook Pages for organizational communication pertaining to the various foundational actions and processes within an organization that are supported through four functional material properties. Finally, we provide implications for future research.


Jasmonates (JAs) are plant hormones that regulate defense against microbial pathogens and insect herbivores via two antagonistic branches of the JAs signaling pathway leading to activation of distinct sets of defense genes. In Arabidopsis thaliana defense against herbivores is regulated by JAs alone which act via the receptor COI1 to cause degradation of Jasmonate-ZIM (JAZ) repressors thereby leading to activation of MYC transcription factors. In defense against microbial pathogens, JAs synergize with ethylene (ET). The APETALA2/Ethylene Response Factor (AP2/ERF)-domain transcription factor ORA59 integrates the JAs/ET signaling pathways and regulates resistance against necrotrophic pathogens. In search for ORA59-interacting proteins we found the CCCH zinc finger proteins ZFAR1 and ZFAR2, which in turn interacted with the JAs-responsive repressor JAZ1 to repress ORA59 activity. Gibberellins (GAs) modulate JA/ET signaling depending on DELLAs, key repressors of GA signaling. Here, we show that DELLAs directly interact in vivo and in vitro with ZFAR1, ZFAR2, and JAZ1. DELLAs repress the activity of ZFAR and JAZ1, and, thereby, enhance the activity of ORA59 resulting in higher expression levels of its target genes including PDF1.2. Thereby we provide a unifying model for the role of the JAZ repressors in the pathogen and herbivore branches of JAs signaling.


Introduction : Diabetes Mellitus is a chronic disease that requires long-term treatment. In this case caregiver ability is needed because merupakn one important factor management of Diabetes Mellitus disease. Methods : This study aims to determine the effect of psychoeducation on the ability of caregiver in the treatment of Diabetes Mellitus patients.This research uses quasi experimental research design with pre post with control group method in treatment group and control group.The sample consisted of 46 caregivers corresponding to the inclusion criteria and divided into 2 groups of psychoeducation treatments (n = 23) and control (n = 23).The variables measured in this study support caregiver.Results :This research uses paired t test statistic, independent test with level (p value 0.05).From the statistical test obtained results (p value 0.001 <0, .05) so it is concluded that statistically shows there are differences in treatment groups and control after psychoeducation intervention.Analysis : Based on the results of this study psychoeducation can be used as an independent intervention of nursing in improving the ability of caregiver in the treatment of Diabetes Mellitus type II.


Abstract Enteric fever remains a major cause of morbidity in developing countries with poor sanitation conditions that enable fecal contamination of water distribution systems. Historical evidence has shown that contamination of water systems used for household consumption or agriculture are key transmission routes for Salmonella Typhi and Salmonella Paratyphi A. The World Health Organization now recommends that typhoid conjugate vaccines (TCV) be used in settings with high typhoid incidence; consequently, governments face a challenge regarding how to prioritize typhoid against other emerging diseases. A key issue is the lack of typhoid burden data in many low- and middle-income countries where TCV could be deployed. Here we present an argument for utilizing environmental sampling for the surveillance of enteric fever organisms to provide data on community-level typhoid risk. Such an approach could complement traditional blood culture-based surveillance or even replace it in settings where population-based clinical surveillance is not feasible. We review historical studies characterizing the transmission of enteric fever organisms through sewage and water, discuss recent advances in the molecular detection of typhoidal Salmonella in the environment, and outline challenges and knowledge gaps that need to be addressed to establish environmental sampling as a tool for generating actionable data that can inform public health responses to enteric fever.


This white paper describes a new project exploring the design and implementation of "self-* storage systems:" self-organizing, self-configuring, self-tuning, self-healing, self-managing systems of storage bricks. Borrowing organizational ideas from corporate structure and automation technologies from AI and control systems, we hope to dramatically reduce the administrative burden currently faced by data center administrators. Further, compositions of lower cost components can be utilized, with available resources collectively used to achieve high levels of reliability, availability, and performance.


Membrane-deforming proteins can interact through the curvature fields they create. In the case of many such proteins a cell model approach can be used to calculate the energy per protein and predict, whether it would lead to phase segregation or bud-formation. Using covariant differential geometry exact results are derived for the lateral pressure in terms of geometric properties at the cell boundary. Numerical solutions of the exact shape equations in the highly nonlinear regime are found and it is seen that both phase segregation and bud formation can occur.


A series of well publicised corporate collapses has focused the minds of policy makers, business representatives, unionists and academics on the problem of how best to protect the entitlements owed to employees of a failed enterprise. The Federal Government has developed a two track policy – strengthening, on the one-hand, the insolvency provisions of the Corporations Law and, on the other, putting in place the 'Employee Entitlements Support Scheme' (EESS) to provide up-front payments to eligible workers. The EESS is fully funded by taxpayers at a three year cost of $135 million. These policies are premised on the idea of market failure: some firms go bad, the State should step in. In an era where free-market ideology has been so deeply accepted, so that even the tea-lady day-trades, this seems a less than sanguine response. This paper attempts to posit an alternative, market-based solution where unions, government and the finance industry can all play a role. The aim is to develop a model for the securitisation of employee entitlements.


In July 2002, the first Real Estate Investment Trust (REITs) was launched publicly on the Singapore Stock Exchange for trading by different investors. Since then, the local REITs market has grown rapidly to reach an estimated market capitalization of SGD 26 billion in April 2007. However, due to its short history in the local investment scene, there were limited research and studies done to investigate the nature and performance of these local financial instruments, i.e. the Singapore REITs or S-REITs. This exploratory research thus seeks to plug this research gap by reviewing the actual performance data of the S-REITs between the period of January 2003 and December 2007. Three major areas relating to the S-REITs were examined within the scope of this research. First is whether the S-REITs is an asset class comparable to other major or similar asset classes. Second major investigations related to the potential diversification and performance enhancement that S-REITs as an asset class can bring to a multi-asset class investment portfolio of an investor. Finally this research studied the issue of strategic asset allocation within multi-asset class investment portfolios comprising of equities, government bonds and S-REITs. The S-REITs, market is still relatively young and many investors are still learning about the nature and merits of this particular class of investment asset. The results of this research provided some evidences that S-REITs could be considered as a separate asset class when investors look to diversify and strategically better allocate their asset composition within their investment portfolios. While this research attempted to answer several fundamental questions relating to the nature and performance of the S-REITs as an asset class, it is hoped that it will also serve as a platform for other researchers to investigate into related and similar issues of concern as the local S-REITs market continues to grow.


ABSTRACT This article addresses the design of the Blippoo Box, an audio sound generator that operates according to the principles of chaos theory. By designing the Blippoo Box, the artist attempts to bridge a crossover space between abstract (sonic) art, music and artistic craftsmanship. In the hands of performing musicians the Blippoo Box becomes an electronic music instrument that invites performers to improvise with the chaotic nature of the box. Despite this chaotic behavior, the produced sounds have particular characteristics that are roughly predictable and enable a performer to build a performance around a composed scheme.


Compounds approved for therapeutic use and in vitro inhibitors of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) were evaluated for inhibition in the mouse SARS-CoV replication model. A hybrid interferon, interferon alpha (IFN-α) B/D, and a mismatched double-stranded (ds) RNA interferon (IFN) inducer, Ampligen® (poly I:poly C124), were the only compounds that potently inhibited virus titres in the lungs of infected mice as assessed by CPE titration assays. When mice were dosed intraperitoneally (i.p.) with IFN-α B/D once daily for 3 days beginning 4 h after virus exposure, SARS-CoV replication in the lungs of infected mice was reduced by 1 log10 at 10,000 and 32,000 IU; at the highest dose of 100,000 IU, virus lung titres were below detectable limits. Ampligen® used i.p. at 10 mg/kg 4 h prior to virus exposure also reduced virus lung titres to below detectable limits. Nelfinavir, β-D-N4-hydroxycytidine, calpain inhibitor VI, 3-deazaneplanocin A and Alferon® (human leukocyte IFN-α-n3) did not significantly reduce lung virus titres in mice. Anti-inflammatory agents, chloroquine, amodiaquin and pentoxifylline, were also inactive in vivo, suggesting that although they may be useful in ameliorating the hyperinflammatory response induced by the virus infection, they will not significantly reduce the replication of the virus, the inducer of inflammatory response. Thus, anti-inflammatory agents may only be useful in treating virus lung infections if used in combination with agents that inhibit virus replication. In summary, the data suggest that induction of IFN by mismatched dsRNA or actual treatment with exogenous IFN-α can inhibit SARS-CoV replication in the lungs of mice.


In this paper, the performance of maximum-likelihood multiuser detection in space-time-coded code-division multiple-access (CDMA) systems with imperfect channel estimation is analyzed. A K-user synchronous CDMA system that employs orthogonal space-time block codes with M transmit antennas and N receive antennas is considered. A least-squares estimate of the channel matrix is obtained by sending a sequence of pilot bits from each user. The channel matrix is perturbed by an error matrix that depends on the thermal noise and the correlation between the signature waveforms of different users. Because of the linearity of the channel estimation technique, the characteristic function of the decision variable is used to obtain an exact expression for the pairwise error probability, and by using it, an upper bound on the bit error rate (BER) is obtained. The analytical BER bounds are compared with the BER obtained through simulations. The BER bounds are shown to be increasingly tight for large SNR values. It is shown that the degradation in BER performance due to imperfect channel estimation can be compensated by using a larger number of transmit/receive antennas


This paper describes the procedures used to create a distributed collection of topographic maps of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Spezialkarte der Öesterriechisch-ungarnischen Monarchie, Masse. 1:75,000 der natur. This set of maps was published in Vienna over a period of years from 1877 to 1914. The part of the set used in this project includes 776 sheets; all sheets from all editions number over 3,665. The paper contains detailed information on how the maps were converted to digital images, how metadata were prepared, and how Web-browser access was created using ArcIMS Metadata Server. The project, funded by a 2004 National Leadership Grant from the Institute for Museums and Library Science (IMLS), was a joint project of the Homer Babbidge Library Map and Geographic Information Center at the University of Connecticut, the New York Public Library, and the American Geographical Society's Map Library at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee.


This lively book traces the development of American conservatism from Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, and Daniel Webster, through Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Herbert Hoover, to William F. Buckley, Jr., Ronald Reagan, and William Kristol. Conservatism has assumed a variety of forms, historian Patrick Allitt argues, because it has been chiefly reactive, responding to perceived threats and challenges at different moments in the nation's history. While few Americans described themselves as conservatives before the 1930s, certain groups, beginning with the Federalists in the 1790s, can reasonably be thought of in that way. The book discusses changing ideas about what ought to be conserved, and why. Conservatives sometimes favored but at other times opposed a strong central government, sometimes criticized free-market capitalism but at other times supported it. Some denigrated democracy while others championed it. Core elements, however, have connected thinkers in a specifically American conservative tradition, in particular a skepticism about human equality and fears for the survival of civilization. Allitt brings the story of that tradition to the end of the twentieth century, examining how conservatives rose to dominance during the Cold War. Throughout the book he offers original insights into the connections between the development of conservatism and the larger history of the nation.


Sampling by the continuous plankton recorder (CPR) survey over the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea has enabled long-term studies of phytoplankton biomass. Analysis of an index of phytoplankton biomass, the phytoplankton colour index (PCI), has previously shown an increase in phytoplankton biomass in the NE Atlantic. In the current study, further investigations were conducted to determine the contribution of diatom and dinoflagellate cell counts to the PCI, their fluctuations over the last 45 yr and their geographical variations in the eastern North Atlantic and the North Sea. An increased contribution of dinoflagellates to the PCI was revealed over the south NE Atlantic and the northern North Sea. In contrast, the contribution of diatoms decreased in the north NE Atlantic and the northern North Sea. No discernible trends were found in the other regions of the North Sea. The relative contributions of diatoms and dinoflagellates to the PCI led to the identification of 3 geographically distinct dynamic regimes in the diatom/dinoflagellate dynamics in the NE Atlantic and the North Sea. Finally, it is stressed that the discrepancy observed in the pat- terns of PCI and diatom and dinoflagellate cell counts suggests that changes in PCI do not reflect changes in the community structure and that the exclusive use of PCI is not adequate to investigate the long-term trends in the trophic link between phytoplankton and herbivorous zooplankton.


The intervertebral disc (IVD) is a complex orthopaedic tissue that is located between the vertebrae in the spine. Degeneration of the IVD is thought to be a contributor to low back pain (LBP), which affects up to 80% of the population at enormous economic cost. The role of the intervertebral disc in supporting and resisting applied loading to the spine, along with the observation of disorders associated with abnormal spinal loading, provide support to the theory that applied mechanical loading is crucial in maintaining the health of the intervertebral disc. The encompassing goal of this work was to examine the biological response of the intervertebral disc to changes in the surrounding mechanical environment in a large animal model. Aim 1 utilized an organ culture model to explore the relationship between disc mechanics and biology in needle puncture injury, a commonly used model of experimentally induced disc degeneration, thus providing a possible mechanism for in vivo injury induced disc degeneration models. Aim 2 was to explore the interaction between the amplitude of applied mechanical loading and intervertebral disc cell signaling, also performed in an organ culture model to include cell-matrix signal transduction. Aim 3 addressed frequency and age effects on the IVD response to mechanical stimulation, performed in vitro to control for the effects of varying matrix compositions between old and young animals. Finally, Aim 4 utilized kmeans and fuzzy c-means clustering techniques to reveal patterns in experimental phenotype (determined by gene expression data) and gene response to experimental conditions. The application of biclustering, where the gene responses within experimental phenotypes are clustered to elucidate possible mechanisms for different gene level-responses to experimental conditions, was also accomplished. Finally, the ability for the model to predict the behavior of other genes critical to IVD mechanobiology, or in determining the membership of an unexamined experimental phenotype was explored. Overall, applied dynamic compression was not found to significantly alter disc mechanics, while a disruption in the annulus through needle puncture rapidly decreased the compressive modulus. Changes in disc mechanics may precede biological remodeling, with little evidence of remodeling present without mechanical alteration. Aging, however, crucially impacts disc cell biology, particularly in the nucleus pulposus, and will interact with applied loading to further impact the ability for the intervertebral disc cells to maintain a healthy extracellular matrix.


Orthopaedic surgeons, like all physicians, must make clinical decisions based on the best available evidence. This evidence comes from individual clinical experience and external sources1. Although clinical experience is left to the physician, the medical and surgical literature provides the best external evidence. To facilitate the process of determining the best evidence to answer a clinical question, The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery assigns level of evidence (LOE) ratings to all clinical articles.

Since 20032, The Journal has used a hierarchical rating system based on the recommendations of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) in Oxford, United Kingdom, to rank articles according to the study design used to answer the primary research question3. In 2011, the CEBM updated its recommendations. After robust internal and external discussion, The Journal has decided to keep pace with the CEBM and has updated our LOE …


A Community of Practice Knowledge Exchange (CPKE) comprising of practitioners and academics with an interest in complexity theory was formed. The central activity of the CPKE was an agreement that each would develop a case study that integrated complexity theory and challenges in practice. In the first phase, members agreed definitions of core concepts and used them to describe the systems they were working in.  Frequent contact was via a virtual learning environment.  This activity was supplemented with face-to-face contact, in the form of half-day workshops. After several months, the CPKE agreed two core pieces of reading to provide a theoretical basis. These were popular because of their applied focus. The CPKE evolved to a second phase.  Diverse case studies of practice-based challenges were used to share experiences of complex systems. A key event was the presentation of case studies as complex systems using a shared conceptual language generated by earlier learning. In the final phase, the CPKE considered interventions into the case studies and created and applied a management toolkit to develop approaches to possible management interventions. Through the development of the toolkit, the CPKE became interested in the role of values in a complexity-based practice and how coherent and shared values could aid more informed interventions. The use of complexity theory changed the ontology of management practice by facilitating an understanding and acceptance of uncertainty and that optimal approaches often required a relational and cooperative approach built on shared values, rather than an instrumental and singular management orthodoxy.


Over the last decade, a variety of external file formats such as Parquet, ORC, Arrow, etc., have been developed to store large volumes of relational data in the cloud. As high-performance networking and storage devices are used pervasively to process this data in frameworks like Spark and Hadoop, we observe that none of the popular file formats are capable of delivering data access rates close to the hardware. Our analysis suggests that multiple antiquated notions about the nature of I/O in a distributed setting, and the preference for the "storage efficiency" over performance is the key reason for this gap.

In this paper we present Albis, a high-performance file format for storing relational data on modern hardware. Albis is built upon two key principles: (i) reduce the CPU cost by keeping the data/metadata storage format simple; (ii) use a binary API for an efficient object management to avoid unnecessary object materialization. In our evaluation, we demonstrate that in micro-benchmarks Albis delivers 1.9-21.4× faster bandwidths than other formats. At the workload-level, Albis in Spark/SQL reduces the runtimes of TPC-DS queries up to a margin of 3×.


Background:The process of taking care of older people with dementia at home is complex and influenced by cultural factors, necessitating a better understanding of the interrelationships of factors within the context of culture. Objectives:The aim of this study was to test the proposed Dementia Caregiving Model, specifying how caregiving appraisal, coping, perceived social support, and familism influence the impact of caregiving stressors on the psychological health of caregivers. Methods:A cross-sectional correlational design with a convenience sample (n = 96) from three outpatient clinics of hospitals in China was used. Questionnaires were utilized to measure the variables in the model. Path analysis was used to assess model fit and paths. Results:The original proposed model did not fit the data, butminor modifications produced a very good model fit (&khgr;2(10, n = 96) = 8.14, p = .62; goodness-of-fit index = .98, comparative fit index = 1.00, and root mean square error of approximation < .001). Care recipients' behavioral problems had direct and indirect negative effects on caregivers' psychological health. Perceived social support had direct and indirect positive effects on caregivers' psychological health. Familism had indirect positive effects on caregivers' psychological health in relation with caregiving satisfaction and coping. Caregiving appraisal and coping were mediators in the model. Conclusions:The model findings lend support that caregivers' cognitive appraisal and coping explain some observed individual differences in stress response and outcomes. The findings broaden understanding of the effects of familism on caregivers' psychological health. In the future, programs should include interventions for caregivers, as well as interventions for care recipients.


Abstract. Geospatial data are available in raster and vector formats and some of them are available in open data form. The technique and tools to handle those data are also available in open source. Though it is free of charge, the knowledge to utilize those data is limited to non-educated in the specific field. The data and technology should be promoted to those levels to utilize in required fields with priceless in developing countries. Before utilize open data, which are required to verify with local knowledge to become usable information for the local people as priceless data resources. Developing country, which economic is based in agriculture, required more information about precise weather data and weather variation by the climate change impact for their socioeconomic development. This study found that rural to urban migration occurs in the developing countries such agriculture based country likes Myanmar when the agriculture economic are affected by unpredictable impact by the climate change. The knowledge sharing using open data resources to non-educated local people is one of the curable solutions for the agriculture economy development in the country. Moreover, the study will find ways to reduce the rural to urban migration.


In her research, Anisykurlillah et al. (2016) have formulated a model of gross profit calculation report that is used by tool to reduce the problem of agency in Mudharabah financing transactions between Baitul Maal Wat (BMT) and market traders. This study was conducted to apply gross profit calculation report generated by Anisykurlillah. It was an experimental method in which researchers applied the model developed by Anisykurlillah et al. (2016). A sample of the research was determined by purposive sampling method with criteria of BMT Mitra Hasanah member Semarang, Indonesia, receiving Mudharabah financing, and Mudharabah funds are used for trade finance in the traditional market. The research method used real experiment methods. The result showed that market traders were able to generate the report of gross profit calculation that could be used as media in calculating profit sharing for BMT and traders. Nevertheless, the report generated was less reliable and relevant. It was caused by the determination of sale price calculated based on the traders' memory. Thus, it is needed a tool that can record goods sale and purchase, so that the resulting report is more reliable and relevant. Aus. J. Isla. Finan. & Busi. Vol  4(1),  April 2018, P 11-18


Computational Auditory Scene Analysis (CASA) has attracted a lot of interest in segregating speech from monaural mixtures. In this paper, we propose a new method for single channel speech separation with frame-based pitch range estimation in modulation frequency domain. This range is estimated in each frame of modulation spectrum of speech by analyzing onsets and offsets. In the proposed method, target speaker is separated from interfering speaker by filtering the mixture signal with a mask extracted from the modulation spectrogram of mixture signal. Systematic evaluation shows an acceptable level of separation comparing with classic methods.


Due to excessive maneuverability, mobile manipulators which consist of one or more manipulators mounted on a mobile base have attracted much of interest. Tipping over is one of the most important problems in mobile manipulators especially in manipulating heavy objects, also during maneuvers in unknown environment or on rugged terrains. Therefore, estimation and evaluation of dynamic stability with appropriate easy-computed measure throughout the motion of such systems is a challenging task. In this study, a new tip-over stability measure named as moment--height stability (MHS) measure is presented for wheeled mobile manipulators. The suggested MHS measure can be effectively used for both legged robots and mobile manipulators. The required computational effort of the MHS for a given system is compared to other measures, which reveals the efficiency of the MHS over the others. Finally, various case studies are presented to demonstrate the new MHS measure performance compared to the results of other measures. All calculations for system dynamics modeling have been performed using a symbolic code developed in Maple VI, and the obtained models were transferred to another code in Matlab VII to complete numerical simulations. The obtained results show the merits of the new proposed MHS measure, in terms of prediction of the exact time of instability occurrence, without extra unnecessary precautions which may confine the maneuverability of the system and its operation.


Prescribed fire is an important management tool in southern US forests, with more acres burned in the South than any other region of the US. Research from prescribed fire studies shows high temporal and spatial variability in available fuel loads due to physiographic, edaphic, meteorological and biological factors. In an effort to account for parts of this variation and contribute to the expanding southern fuels database, we measured forest fuels on sites in North Carolina's Croatan and Uwharrie National Forests prior to and following prescribed burns. Results confirm previous findings that well-executed prescribed fires are an effective tool to reduce litter and live shrub fuel loads, especially on sites with high understory biomass; however, the increase in dead shrub biomass may contribute to future fireline intensity. Prescribed fire on these sites had almost no detectable influence on dead woody fuels. The use of site-specific shrub biomass equations had a significant impact on estimates of understory fuels.


AIMS
Ecstasy, the street name for 3,4-meththylenedioxymethamphetamine, has been associated with a range of psychiatric symptoms and impaired psychological health in both problem and recreational users. The purpose of the present paper is to determine how these impairments are related to the history of polydrug use, and the conditions under which individuals ingest ecstasy.

DESIGN
Associations between the variables of interest were investigated utilizing negative binomial regression.

SETTING
Liverpool and Preston in the North West of England.

PARTICIPANTS
A convenience sample of 159 recreational ecstasy/polydrug users (80 males, 79 females). The sample was composed primarily of undergraduates.

MEASUREMENTS
The dependent variable was the number of reported ecstasy-related adverse effects. Independent variables included quantitative aspects of ecstasy and other drug use, and the various beliefs and behaviours associated with ecstasy use.

FINDINGS
The number of adverse effects was associated positively with life-time exposure to ecstasy and negatively with period of abstinence from the drug. Adverse effects were more common among those who consumed ecstasy and alcohol concurrently, but were unrelated to other aspects of polydrug use. They were unaffected by whether the user took precautions when using the drug, and only weakly related to prior beliefs concerning the effects of ecstasy.

CONCLUSIONS
Greater life-time exposure to ecstasy and consuming the drug concurrently with alcohol increase the likelihood of experiencing adverse effects, including paranoia, poor general health, irritability, confusion and moodiness. Adverse effects decrease with the period of abstinence from the drug.


The NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, Curiosity, has safely landed near a 35-km-long dark dune field in Gale Crater on Mars. This dune field crosses the landing site from the northeast to the southwest and lies along Curiosity's traverse to Aeolis Mons. Here we present the first evidence of recent aeolian activity in the form of ripple and dune migration, and further estimate wind directions within the dune field through analysis of ripple and dune morphologies and the Mars Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (MRAMS). We measured a minimum ripple migration rate of 0.66 m per Earth year, and dune migration rate of 0.4 m per Earth year, in the southwest portion of the field. A strongly bidirectional ripple crestline orientation, nearly orthogonal dune slipfaces, and linear seif or oblique dunes indicate a bidirectional wind regime with winds mainly coming from the ENE and from the northwest; however, MRAMS results indicate primary winds from the ENE. Our constraints on the wind regime provide the unique opportunity to use ground measurements from MSL to test the accuracy of winds predicted from orbital data.


The International Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda hold farreaching sentencing powers. At the same time, consistency and fairness in sentencing are of utmost important to the practice of the Tribunals. Accordingly, the sentencing powers of the Tribunals demand for a system of control. One crucial procedural safeguard to facilitate such control is the scrutiny exercised by the Appeals Chamber. This study analyses both sentencing and appellate law in the International Tribunals. Its fundamental objective is to ensure consistency in punishment by means of appellate review. The study analyses the substantive guidelines for the sentencing decision and describes how these have evolved in the practice of the Tribunals. It then explores the nature and scope of the appeal. In doing so it examines the most important procedural devices and instruments and assesses their practical importance to the appellate process. Finally, it analyses the importance the respective practice of the Tribunals will hold for the future practice of the International Criminal Court.


The current paper discusses the characteristics of principal growth stages of hemp ( Canabis sativa ), provides a  brief description of these stages and of the coding system according to the BBCH scale. The growing season of hemp is divided into nine principal growth stages: germination and sprouting (0), leaf development (1), formation of lateral shoots (2), stem elongation (3), inflorescence emergence (5), flowering (6), development of fruit (7), ripening of fruit (8) and senescence (9). The principal growth stages are subdivided into secondary stages based on their main distinctive features. The classification system of hemp growth stages presented in the paper is designed for hemp growers and researchers, including plant breeders, physiologists, entomologists and other agricultural producers. Using the  uniform coding system of the  phenological stages of hemp is a valuable tool to ensure a more efficient planning and implementation of crop and soil management practices and techniques.


Information technology (IT) has the potential to play a critical role in managing natural and human made disasters. Damage to communications infrastructure, along with other communications problems exacerbated the difficulties in carrying out response and recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina. To assist government planning in this area, the Congress, in the E-government Act of 2002, directed the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to request the NRC to conduct a study on the application of IT to disaster management. This report characterizes disaster management providing a framework for considering the range and nature of information and communication needs; presents a vision of the potential for IT to improve disaster management; provides an analysis of structural, organizational, and other non-technical barriers to the acquisition, adoption, and effective use of IT in disaster; and offers an outline of a research program aimed at strengthening IT-enabled capabilities for disaster management.


Anti-K 1 phages were more active in vitro and in vivo against an 018:K1:H7 ColV+ Escherichia coli strain, designated MW, than were other phages. A single intramuscular dose of one anti-K1 phage was more effective than multiple intramuscular does of tetracycline, ampicillin, chloramphenicol, or trimethoprim plus sulphafurazole in curing mice of a potentially lethal intramuscularly or intracerebrally induced infection of MW; it was at least as effective as multiple intramuscular doses of streptomycin. When MW and the phage were inoculated into different gastrocnemius muscles of the same mice, a rapid reduction in numbers of MW organisms occurred in the MW-inoculated muscle and in other tissues; the numbers of phage particles in the MW-inoculated muscle increased rapidly and greatly. MW failed to proliferate in the brains of intracerebrally infected mice that had been inoculated intramuscularly with the phage at the same time; many more phage particles were found in the brains of these mice than in other sites. The few phage-resistant mutants of MW found in the phage-treated mich were K1-; previous studies had shown such mutants to be of greatly reduced virulence. The phage administered intramuscularly 3-5 d before challenge with a potentially lethal intramuscularly induced infection of MW was protective, the protective effect varying between phage propagated on different bacterial strains.


Abstract Direct stacks of teleseismic waveforms recorded at a station have been used as an alternative to receiver functions for the retrieval of crustal 1D S ‐wave velocity models through inversion. Although they generally feature lower signal‐to‐noise ratios, their use has recently gained some attention because they do not rely on deconvolution. Avoiding deconvolution in waveform processing is a significant advantage for probabilistic (Bayesian) inversion methods that rely on a realistic assumption about the statistical distribution of waveform noise. However, the preservation of the effective source time function (STF) in the waveform data poses new challenges in the data processing. In this short note, we show that the simple technique that has been applied to directly stack waveforms to date lacks precision, because waveforms with emergent onsets or more complicated STFs are often stacked out of phase, which leads to artifacts in the stacked trace. We introduce a new cross‐correlation‐based stacking technique that avoids phase errors by stacking groups of mutually coherent traces and creating stacks for each of these families of traces. This separates the dataset into groups of events with similar STFs, which can be inverted jointly or separately. Electronic Supplement: Figure of stacks for four additional global stations.


A fundamental feature of effective distributed systems is that the entities comprising the system have some set of guidelines--some plan to follow--that leads them into making good decisions about what to communicate and when. Traditionally, these protocols for communication have been given to the entities at the time that they are designed. For example, knowledgebased entities (agents) have been designed with protocols that allow them to make deals, allocate tasks, negotiate over solutions, and so on. Such distributed systems, however, will be brittle if the agents ever need to go beyond the pre-existing protocol. To constitute a robust system, the agents would benefit from the ability to discover new ways of communicating, and to generalize these into new protocols. This paper extends the recursive modeling method to address issues of embedded communications-communications occurring in a larger context of other physical and/or communicative activities, and describes how behaviors like question-answering and order-following could emerge as rational consequences of agents' decisionmaking. These types of embedded communicative acts can form the building blocks of more complex protocols, given that agents can not only derive these embedded communicative acts but can generalize and reuse them appropriately.


Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling leads to the activation and nuclear translocation of the terminal kinase in the pathway extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), of which there aretwo isoforms, ERK1 and ERK2. ERKs are activated by phosphorylation by an upstream kinase MEK1 or MEK2. ERK2 mutants that could not bind MEK1 or MEK2 were phosphorylated and activated with similar kinetics and to a similar extent as was wild-type ERK2 when the cells were stimulated with growth factors, suggesting that the basal complex between MEK and ERK2 is not required for signaling through the pathway. However, when the MAPK pathway was activated by expression of a constitutively activated form of MEK1, bypassing the multiple signals that are initiated by an activated growth factor receptor, the MEK-binding mutants of ERK2 were not phosphorylated efficiently. MEK1 could not phosphorylate the ERK2 mutants in vitro either. Inhibition of Ras signaling blocked phosphorylation of the ERK2 mutants in response to growth factors and a constitutively active mutant of Ras stimulated phosphorylation of the mutant ERK2s. Activated forms of Rac and Cdc42 promoted the interaction between wild-type ERK2 and MEK1, but neither of these activated guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases) led to the formation of a detectable complex between the ERK2 mutants and MEK1. Mutation of the two PAK1 phosphorylation sites on MEK1 inhibited Rac-induced MEK1-ERK2 complex formation. MEK2 lacks the consensus PAK1 phosphorylation sites and the interaction between MEK2 and ERK2 is not influenced by activation of Rac. Kinase-defective PAK1 inhibited the MEK1-ERK2 interaction and inhibited ERK2 phosphorylation in response to cell adhesion on fibronectin. Thus, there appears to be a Rac-stimulated interaction, mediated by PAK1 phosphorylation of MEK1, between MEK1 and ERK2 that may explain how signals can converge to activate ERK2 and how MEK1 and MEK2 isoforms may differentially regulate ERK activation. S. T. Eblen, J. K. Slack, M. J. Weber, A. D. Catling, Rac-PAK signaling stimulates extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation by regulating formation of MEK1-ERK complexes. Mol. Cell. Biol. 22, 6023-6033 (2002). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Once CPAs have become familiar with pension valuation and developed referral sources, they will be able to offer a service for which there's growing demand. CPAs generally have overlooked the consulting opportunity available in evaluating pension benefits in marital dissolutions. Millions of American workers participate in retirement plans - and a large percentage of marriages end in divorce. When a marriage is ending, the future benefits of an employee's retirement plan often are a hotly contested item. CPAs have let economists and actuaries take the lead in this lucrative business, although accountants are particularly well suited for it because they have the proper training, knowledge and problem-solving ability. CPAs' educational background in present value analysis, finance and law, as well as their training in examining complex issues, constitute the needed foundation on which to build an expertise in the area of pension valuations. The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) developed a set of actuarial and mortality tables that are being used in pension plan valuation in divorce cases. Also, there are excellent sources of published information available to illustrate the evaluation process. PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY CORPORATION The PBGC was established under provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) to provide pension benefits in plan terminations. Its purpose was to ensure that workers earning retirement credit would not lose their benefits if a company went bankrupt or if the plan terminated for other reasons. The PBGC's actuarial factors used to value the benefits of terminated plans were published in the Prospective Actuarial and Mortality Tables. In recent years, these tables have been used more and more in the valuation of pension plans in divorce cases. Prospective Actuarial and Mortality Tables contains a set of 21 actuarial tables for immediate annuities at interest rates ranging from 6% to 11%, as well as the mortality tables on which the actuarial tables are based. The current interest rate used can be obtained by telephone or by getting on a monthly mailing list from the PBGC. (The address for relevant information is PBGC, communications and public affairs department, 2020 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006-1806. The current immediate PBGC annuity interest rate can be obtained by calling [202] 778-8899.) PENSION VALUATION IN MARITAL DISSOLUTION Evaluating the cash flows of future pension benefits involves determining the cash flows' actuarial present value. This means discounting for interest, for mortality and, when applicable, for vesting. As will be seen, the task can be simplified by using the PBGC tables. For example, John Brown and his wife are in the process of dissolving their marriage. Mr. Brown participates in a retirement plan at work. Determining the value of his retirement benefits is an important part of the divorce deliberations. Exhibit 1 on page 64 shows important dates and information for Mr. Brown. Pension specifics. Mr. Brown is a healthy male who is fully vested in a defined benefit plan. In a defined benefit plan, retirement payments are determined by a formula based on factors such as years of service under the plan, the participant's average salary before retirement (for example, that of the last three years) and the participant's age at retirement. In almost all cases, the value of a defined benefit plan is more difficult to calculate than the value of a defined contribution plan. In a typical defined contribution plan - such as a profit-sharing plan - value usually is determined by the individual's balance in his or her account at a specific date. In this example, pension benefits for Mr. Brown's plan are determined by multiplying each year of service by 0.02 (or 2%). This value is multiplied by the average of the last three years of the employee's compensation, which is $60,000. …


Objectives: The objective of our study was to determine the distribution of different electrophysiological variants of GBS and its relationship with albuminocytological dissociation (ACD). The rationale of the study was to determine whether presence or absence of albuminocytological dissociation has any association with NCS findings and whether can be relied upon as an indirect predictor of axonal variant which warrants poor patient out comes versus demyelinating. Materials and Methods: A consecutive series of 76 patients who presented at PIMS over a 12 month period with GBS were included. Nerve Conduction studies (NCS) and Electromyographic (EMG) findings with CSF characterization for albuminocytological dissociation were recorded. P value < 0.05 was taken significant. Results: NCS revealed AIDP as the most common variant (44; 57.8%) followed by AMAN (19; 25%) and AMSAN (7; 9.2%).For 5(6.5%) patients with normal NCS, EMG revealed early neuropathic changes in 4 (80% of normal NCS; 5.2% of total) (suggesting axonal degeneration). Total axonal degenerative type accounted for (AMAN + AMSAN + axonal neuropathy on EMG=30) 39.4% while demyelinating (AIDP + prolonged/absent F-wave=45) 59.2%. ACD was found in 60 (78.9%) patients.There was no signification association between ACD and NCS variants (p>0.05). Conclusion: AIDP is the most prevalent (58%) GBS variant in our population, at least in the vicinity of Islamabad. There is high prevalence of axonal variants (≈40% of total) as compared to Western countries. There is no correlation between ACD and NCS variants. ACD cannot be used as an independent predictor of NCS variant. Presence or absence of ACD has no definite predilection for axonal variant which itself warrants poor patient outcomes versus demyelinating type.


Productivity alone is not the most important defining character of contemporary agriculture. On the grounds of the dominant models of market liberalization and multifunctionality, farmers have been urged to take new roles beyond food production. By deploying a 'normative' view of multifunctionality, based on the acknowledgment of spatial heterogeneity, and on an actor-oriented explanation of agricultural change, this paper investigates Finnish farmers' visions on the redefined and redifining role of contemporary agriculture. From a review and anaylsis of sixteen qualitative semi-structured interviews, it emerges that such visions — through their components of identity, opponent, and project — are constructed upon three factors which are linked to each other to a various extent: 1) farming contingent conditions (as location, climate, terrain); 2) externalities (including international policy environment, and market liberalization); 3) farmers' personal views on profitability and risk. In a policy context dominated by uncertainty, decision-making has shifted mainly from the national to the international level, and the collected data supports the dominance of productivist actions and thoughts. On one hand, farmers still tend to prioritize the continuity of production, which contribute both to resistance identity, and to the identification of a variety of opponents. Yet on the other hand, farmers are, to an embryonic stage, upgrading themselves to meet the challenges faced by contemporary agriculture.


NY-ESO-1 is one of the most immunogenic tumor antigens known to date. Spontaneous humoral and cellular immune responses against NY-ESO-1 are detected in a substantial proportion of patients with NY-ESO-1 positive cancers. NY-ESO-1 serum antibody is dependent on the presence of NY-ESO-1+ cancer cells, and antibody titers correlate with the clinical development of the disease. NY-ESO-1 serum antibody is associated with detectable NY-ESO-1-specific CD8+ T cell reactivity. High titers of NY-ESO-1 serum antibodies are found in patients with advanced NY-ESO-1+ malignancies. Urine samples of seropositive patients with normal kidney function were tested for NY-ESO-1 antibody by Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Antibodies to NY-ESO-1 were found in the urine of patients whose NY-ESO-1 serum antibody titers were 1:10,000 or higher by Western blotting. In patients with weak (positive at 1:250, negative at 1:1,000) or no reactivity, urine antibody was not detectable. No urine NY-ESO-1 antibody was found in patients without detectable NY-ESO-1 serum antibody. Our results show that urine analysis for NY-ESO-1 antibody identifies patients with strong NY-ESO-1 immunity. Urine antibody detection may also be of value in the monitoring of spontaneous and vaccine-induced immunity against other defined tumor antigens.


Roles of variables is a new concept that captures tacit expert knowledge in a form that can, e.g. be taught in introductory programming courses. A role describes some stereotypic use of variables, and only ten roles are needed to cover 99 % of all variables in novice-level programs. This paper presents the first results of an experiment where roles were introduced to novices learning Pascal programming. Students were divided into three groups that were instructed differently: in the traditional way with no treatment of roles; using roles throughout the course; and using a role-based program animator in addition to using roles in teaching. The results suggest that the introduction of roles improves program comprehension and program writing skills. Moreover, the use of the animator affects the way students describe programs: they stress data-related issues concerning the deep structure of a program, as opposed to directly visible operations and control structures.


Peptidoglycan (PG) is made of a polymer of disaccharides organized as a three-dimensional mesh-like network connected together by peptidic cross-links. PG is a dynamic structure that is essential for resistance to environmental stressors. Remodeling of PG occurs throughout the bacterial life cycle, particularly during bacterial division and separation into daughter cells. Numerous autolysins with various substrate specificities participate in PG remodeling. Expression of these enzymes must be tightly regulated, as an excess of hydrolytic activity can be detrimental for the bacteria. In non-tuberculous mycobacteria such as Mycobacterium abscessus, the function of PG-modifying enzymes has been poorly investigated. In this study, we characterized the function of the PG amidase, Ami1 from M. abscessus. An ami1 deletion mutant was generated and the phenotypes of the mutant were evaluated with respect to susceptibility to antibiotics and virulence in human macrophages and zebrafish. The capacity of purified Ami1 to hydrolyze muramyl-dipeptide was demonstrated in vitro. In addition, the screening of a 9200 compounds library led to the selection of three compounds inhibiting Ami1 in vitro. We also report the structural characterization of Ami1 which, combined with in silico docking studies, allows us to propose a mode of action for these inhibitors.


Background Treatment outcomes and tolerability are not easily predicted in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, especially in those patients with renal or hepatic dysfunction, where dose modifications become necessary. Purpose To evaluate drug dose modifications made in cancer patients with renal and hepatic impairment receiving antineoplastic treatment. Material and methods A review of several dose modification protocols was previously made (Cancer Care Ontario, UpToDate and the EMA product information). A prospective, observational study was done (March 2014–June 2014). All adult cancer patients being treated with antineoplastic treatment (chemotherapy, hormonal or biological therapy) were included. Gender, age, tumour type, protocol, drugs given, dose, body surface area and liver (bilirubin and transaminases) and renal (creatinine clearance) function tests were recorded for each course of treatment. Prescribed dose and recommended dose modification according to protocols were also analysed. Results 370 patients were evaluated (51.6% male; mean age 65.2 years). 1.764 blood tests were reviewed. Liver and renal impairment was observed in 37.7% of blood tests (19% liver impairment only, 13% renal impairment only and 6% both). According to protocols, only 10.2% of these altered blood tests would make dose modifications necessary. But of these patients, the dose was modified in only 53.7% of the administrations and protocols dosage recommendations were followed in just 38.8% of these dose modifications. Conclusion The rate of protocol-guided dose modifications of antineoplastic treatment in patients with renal and hepatic impairment was low. A dose modifications protocol, based on published guidelines and agreed with the departments involved, should be implemented in all units administering treatment to cancer patients. Other considerations apart from laboratory tests, such as tolerability and tumour response, should be taken into account. References and/or Acknowledgements No conflict of interest.


Within the framework of a longitudinal study of deaf children with cochlear implants, 11 children with implants were interviewed. The objective was to shed light on what it is like for a child to use a cochlear implant, based on these children's own experience with implants, which ranged from 5.0 to 7.5 years. Six of the children were in schools for the deaf, five in regular classes. All but one used an implant daily. The children appreciated that an implant enabled them to perceive sounds in the environment. Some of the children in regular classes could take part in one-to-one conversations with teachers but had difficulty following teaching and discussions. This observation was consistent with what the children's parents and teachers had maintained. Peer interaction was said to be best when other children had the use of at least some signs.


We present an algebraic account of the Wasserstein distances $W_p$ on
complete metric spaces, for $p \geq 1$. This is part of a program of a
quantitative algebraic theory of effects in programming languages. In
particular, we give axioms, parametric in $p$, for algebras over metric spaces
equipped with probabilistic choice operations. The axioms say that the
operations form a barycentric algebra and that the metric satisfies a property
typical of the Wasserstein distance $W_p$. We show that the free complete such
algebra over a complete metric space is that of the Radon probability measures
with finite moments of order $p$, equipped with the Wasserstein distance as
metric and with the usual binary convex sums as operations.


Detecting semantic relations in text is an active problem area in natural-language processing and information retrieval. For question answering, there are many advantages of detecting relations in the question text because it allows background relational knowledge to be used to generate potential answers or find additional evidence to score supporting passages. This paper presents two approaches to broad-domain relation extraction and scoring in the DeepQA question-answering framework, i.e., one based on manual pattern specification and the other relying on statistical methods for pattern elicitation, which uses a novel transfer learning technique, i.e., relation topics. These two approaches are complementary; the rule-based approach is more precise and is used by several DeepQA components, but it requires manual effort, which allows for coverage on only a small targeted set of relations (approximately 30). Statistical approaches, on the other hand, automatically learn how to extract semantic relations from the training data and can be applied to detect a large amount of relations (approximately 7,000). Although the precision of the statistical relation detectors is not as high as that of the rule-based approach, their overall impact on the system through passage scoring is statistically significant because of their broad coverage of knowledge.


The recognition of Turkey's candidacy for European Union (EU) membership at Helsinki
European Council Summit in December 1999 marked a profound shift in EU-Turkey
relations, which has been difficult and turbulent for decades. Turkey started undergoing a
drastic transformation after the Helsinki Summit and was successful in clinching a date from
the EU in October 2004 to launch accession talks. In between these two dates the two
consecutive governments issued a series of new legislations in order to comply with EU
conditionality, particularly with political criteria also known as the 'Copenhagen criteria' and
finally started membership negotiations in October 2005.
This study aims to investigate and analyse the impact of the EU on policy-making processes
in Turkey between 1999 and 2005 by focusing on a specific policy area: broadcasting. At the
simplest level, it is motivated by an academic interest in the complexity of Turkey's everlasting
association with Europe and seeks to explore the dynamics of the post-Helsinki
candidacy process by employing various theoretical tools offered by research on
Europeanisation. Thus, although it questions the whole rationale of the pre-accession
process in Turkey, it looks into the domestic arena of broadcasting policy-making to explore
how 'EU accession conditionality' is translated into domestic policy responses.
It concludes that Turkey's response to EU conditionality was not unified across different
issues of broadcasting policy. Its response to 'democratic conditionality' was directly
influenced by prevailing ideas about 'the credibility of the EU' as well as calculations of the
'costs of compliance', and its response to 'acquis conditionality' resulted in a regulatory chaos.
Overall, this research reveals that where broadcasting policy-making is concerned, changes
as a result of the EU's impact on Turkey were limited. Rather than transformation, the
outcome of this process was a minimal degree of adaptation.


Abstract. The aerosol dynamics module MADE has been coupled to the general circulation model ECHAM4 to simulate the chemical composition, number concentration, and size distribution of the global submicrometer aerosol. The present publication describes the new model system ECHAM4/MADE and presents model results in comparison with observations. The new model is able to simulate the full life cycle of particulate matter and various gaseous particle precursors including emissions of primary particles and trace gases, advection, convection, diffusion, coagulation, condensation, nucleation of sulfuric acid vapor, aerosol chemistry, cloud processing, and size-dependent dry and wet deposition. Aerosol components considered are sulfate (SO4), ammonium (NH4), nitrate (NO3), black carbon (BC), particulate organic matter (POM), sea salt, mineral dust, and aerosol liquid water. The model is numerically efficient enough to allow long term simulations, which is an essential requirement for application in general circulation models. Since the current study is focusing on the submicrometer aerosol, a coarse mode is not being simulated. The model is run in a passive mode, i.e. no feedbacks between the MADE aerosols and clouds or radiation are considered yet. This allows the investigation of the effect of aerosol dynamics, not interfered by feedbacks of the altered aerosols on clouds, radiation, and on the model dynamics. In order to evaluate the results obtained with this new model system, calculated mass concentrations, particle number concentrations, and size distributions are compared to observations. The intercomparison shows, that ECHAM4/MADE is able to reproduce the major features of the geographical patterns, seasonal cycle, and vertical distributions of the basic aerosol parameters. In particular, the model performs well under polluted continental conditions in the northern hemispheric lower and middle troposphere. However, in comparatively clean remote areas, e.g. in the upper troposphere or in the southern hemispheric marine boundary layer, the current model version tends to underestimate particle number concentrations.


SMEs have been the object of economic and political support from donors and national governments. The Philippines are no exception. This article reveals, however, that import protection measures, such as quotas and tariffs, designed to stimulate home-grown industries, have had the effect of promoting large industries over small. Comparing a number of Asian countries with different levels of open trade policies, as well as the effect of different policies as they were applied over 30 years in the Philippines, the authors argue that import restrictions often prevent the growth and employment generation of the SME sector.


John Deere's biomass bundler unit is an effective machine for harvesting forest residues, which can be used as a source of fuelwood and/or a feedstock for biofuel production. This project explored an avenue that could supply a promising source of readily available energy in southeastern forested lands. Typical southern harvesting operations consist of whole-tree harvesting in which trees are felled and then skidded to a landing. Limbs and tops are usually either deposited over the landscape or piled in windrows. The biomass bundler captures the otherwise nonmerchantable material and maximizes the marketability of the entire tree. In order to reduce costs, maximize efficiency, and implement the bundler in a tree-length harvesting operation, this project tested a prototype harvesting system. This venture (1) adapted the John Deere B380 bundler unit to a motorized trailer, (2) designed an optimum landing configuration, and (3) conducted a productivity study of the bundler unit. The unit produced 13.2 tonnes ...


When Portugal's colonial rule in Angola ended in 1974, three liberation groups--UNITA (National Union for the Total Independence of Angola), FNLA (National Front for the Liberation of Angola), and MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola)--agreed to a tripartite movement for the fledgling nation. Conflicts quickly arose and the MPLA, with Cuban and Soviet assistance, drove its rivals from the capital, instigating a civil war, which continues into three periods (1975-1991, 1992-94, and 1998-2002). This volume covers the first period, focusing on the political history of the UNITA movement and its struggles with the MPLA. The Angolan civil war was the product of personal jealousies, contrasting ideologies, and ethnic animosities. From its inception, the conflict between UNITA and Angola's Marxist government was an international affair involving the U. S., the USSR, China, and many African states: W. Martin James III, who wrote his book near the close of the first period of civil war, contends that despite Gorbachev's "new thinking" and talk of peaceful solutions to regional conflicts, Soviet policy toward Angola marked a reversion to the Brezhnev Doctrine. The biggest MPLA-Cuban offenses occurred during Gorbachev's tenure with Soviet advisers at the brigade level directing an MPLA offensive. American policy toward Angola is also examined here. This is the first book to emphasize the dynamic role of UNITA in the Angolan liberation movement. James acknowledges that the importance of foreign powers in guaranteeing a government of national reconciliation. Just as important are strategies of compromise requiring trust in a political context where it is violated and submission for the common good where defiance is a remnant of the colonial past. Foreign policy analysts, African area specialists, and scholars of post-colonial history find this volume indispensible.