We provide a dataset that enables the creation of learning agents that can build knowledge graph-based world models of interactive narratives. Interactive narratives -- or text-adventure games -- are partially observable environments structured as long puzzles or quests in which an agent perceives and interacts with the world purely through textual natural language. Each individual game typically contains hundreds of locations, characters, and objects -- each with their own unique descriptions -- providing an opportunity to study the problem of giving language-based agents the structured memory necessary to operate in such worlds. Our dataset provides 24198 mappings between rich natural language observations and: (1) knowledge graphs that reflect the world state in the form of a map; (2) natural language actions that are guaranteed to cause a change in that particular world state. The training data is collected across 27 games in multiple genres and contains a further 7836 heldout instances over 9 additional games in the test set. We further provide baseline models using rules-based, question-answering, and sequence learning approaches in addition to an analysis of the data and corresponding learning tasks.


food safety and sanitation is a major public health concern due to its importance to people's lives and their health; as many diseases are avoidable whenever food consumed was clean, safe, and in a good quality free of pathogens. Our fast life enforces majority of people to consume fast foods and meals outside homes, which if not appropriate, healthy and clean, will be a source of avoidable series of illnesses. data were taken from the Central Laboratories in the Palestinian Ministry of health; oPt, from the period (Jan, 2010Sep, 2013). As excel data file, and we recoded variables and analyzed through SPSS version 17.0. Data was collected from 1265 salad samples of various kinds of salads among Ramallah-Al-Bireh district and examined for different indicators for detection of degree of pathogenicity of eight major microorganisms. From 2010 to 2013, the number of microorganisms samples graded as acceptable decreased for Fecal Coliforms, Mould, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus, Total aerobic count, Total Coliforms and Yeast( N= 1265, 14.3%). All the examined samples tested negative for Listeria monocytogenes (X=0.75, P=0.386 >0.001, df=1). Among the various kinds of salads examined, Hummus was the most contaminated kind of salad, followed by Arabic salad but luckily showed decrease in trend with time, and the kinds that were clear and free of microorganism, continued to be clean, and the microorganismal percentages also decreased with time. Healthy measurements and protocols seems to be applied, good governmental supervision, and hygienic protocols are the much possible applied among restaurants. Legislation and regulations are to be strict, clear and implemented to ensure a highest degree of food safety and quality is being provided to people. Furthermore, regular check-ups and monthly rather than yearly investigations should be done by responsible departments.


The assessment of the distensibility or compliance of an artery by means of ultrasound involves the determination of the instaneous change in diameter as well as the initial diamter. The change in diameter as function of time (distension waveform) can be assessed accurately using sample volumes tracking the positions of the vessel wall-lumen boundaries. However, manual positioning of these sample volumes poses specific problems related to the pulsatile behavior of the lumen diameter. Intermediate storage of rf data over a few seconds will eliminate these problems but this will limit recording time and will increase hardware complexity. A method is described to detect the wall-lumen interface synchronously with ECG allowing for automatic positioning of the sample volumes. The user interference is restricted to a rough identification of the lumen position using the envelope of the received signal. Starting from within the lumen the sample volumes are forced outward until the local envelope exceeds a threshold dynamically adjusting to the peak value of the nearby vessel wall signals. The accuracy and reproducibility of the method has been verified using tubes with various internal diameters in a water tank and repetitive measurements from the common caroid artery of young presumed healthy subjects. The results show that the proposed method is consistent with a standard deviation of 150 micrometers which is on the order of the axial resolution of the ultrasound system used.


New biostratigraphic data based on radiolarians recovered from deep within the oceanic crustal section of Ocean Drilling Program Hole 801C in the western Pacific, along with existing radiometric information, date this oceanic crust as late Bajocian–early Bathonian (170–165 Ma). The overlying basal sediments at Hole 801C are essentially identical in age (middle Bathonian, 164–162 Ma) to the basal sediments at Deep Sea Drilling Program Hole 534A in the central Atlantic. We estimate the time of formation of the Pacific plate as 175–170 Ma and the time of initial separation of the Pangea supercontinent in the central Atlantic as 190–180 Ma. We also identify a time of extensive subduction-zone magmatism (175–159 Ma) at the eastern and western edges of Pangea. We suggest that the initial plate separation of Pangea increased subduction rates at its outer margins and altered the plate boundaries in the Pacific superocean, leading to formation of the Pacific plate.


Algebra uses symbols for generalizing arithmetic. These symbols have different meanings and interpretations in different situations. Students have different perceptions about these symbols, letters and signs. Despite the vast research by on the students" difficulties in understanding letters in Algebra, the overall image that emerges from the literature is that students have misconceptions of the use of letters and signs in Algebra. My empirical research done through this study has revealed that the students have many misconceptions in the use of symbols in Algebra which have bearings on their learning of Algebra. It appears that the problems encountered by the students appeared to have connection with their lack of conceptual knowledge and might have been result of teaching they experience in learning Algebra at the secondary schooling level. Some of the findings also suggest that teachers appeared to have difficulties with their own content knowledge. Here one can also see that textbooks are also not presenting content in such an elaborate way that these could have provided sufficient room for students to develop their relational knowledge and conceptual understanding of Algebra. Moreover, this study investigates students" difficulty in translating word problems in algebraic and symbolic form. They usually follow phrasetophrase strategy in translating word problem from English to Urdu. This process of translating the word problem from English to their own language appears to have hindered in the correct use of symbols in Algebra. The findings have some important implications for the teaching of Algebra that might help to develop symbol sense in both students and teachers. By the help of symbol sense, they can use symbols properly; understand the nature of symbols in different situations, like, in functions, in variables and in relationships between algebraic representations. This study will contribute to future research on similar topics.


In this paper, we present a simulation study of UWAN-MAC, a recently proposed medium access control (MAC) protocol for underwater acoustic networks. While the assumptions behind the protocol are interesting (coordinating the nodes' transmissions through some sort of adaptive TDMA and saving energy through sleep/awake cycles), yet they bring further challenges into the picture, e.g., the need to keep nodes synchronized in an efficient way. We present a set of results that show how critical the assumptions behind the protocol are, and specifically focus on how quickly the network performance degrades in the absence of updated synchronization information. Our results show that a periodic resynchronization is necessary and allow a study of the tradeoff between the signaling overhead and the overall network performance, in terms of throughput, success ratio, asynchrony among nodes, and energy consumption.


Flow characteristics of underfill encapsulant were evaluated to improve the flow of encapsulation resin into small gap between LSI chip and substrate so as to achieve uniform and void-free underfill encapsulant for high-reliability flip-chip interconnection. Encapsulant flow was observed through crystal TEG LSI chips using a video camera and its flow characteristics were evaluated using the Newtonian laminar flow model. The relationships between flow rate of underfill encapsulant and the bump stand-off height, the bump pitch and the bump gap of the adjoining bumps were obtained. The flow rate and flow distance were found to be functions of these bump design parameters. The bump design parameters for encapsulation to be perfectly complete and the maximum chip size permitting encapsulation were obtained from the results for high-reliability flip-chip interconnection. This paper describes the flow characteristics of underfill encapsulant that are necessary to achieve the uniform and void-free underfill encapsulant for LSI which has large chip size, small bump pitch and high I/O number.


This analytical note assesses the state of play of EPA implementation in the CARIFORUM region. It shows that the regulatory, legislative and policy changes necessary for EPA implementation in the areas of trade in goods and services are at varying stages of implementation among member states, with many countries being very far from fully implementing the agreement. No country is near completion with regards to these changes. A major reason for the slow implementation is that CARIFORUM countries are not receiving the financial and technical support which was anticipated for implementation in 2008 when the Agreement was signed. They are therefore facing debilitating financial and human resource constraints. To compound their already weak financial positions, the European Union's proposed differentiation policy will further reduce bilateral financial assistance to these countries. CARIFORUM states will therefore continue to strain under the weight of EPA implementation, which will only further delay the process by way of the regulatory and policy changes necessary for the EPA to be fully implemented, and therefore fully operational.


Objective: To assess the quality of life of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy assisted in a High Complexity Centre for Cancer Treatment in Southern Brazil. Method: cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted at a High Complexity Centre for Cancer Treatment in Southern Brazil. Authors used a sociodemographic clinical questionnaire and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer and the Quality of Life Core - 30 - Questionnare. For data analysis, authors used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Windows, version 18.0. Results: participants were 437 patients whose mean age was 57.46 ± 13.26 years. There was prevalence of women (60%), married people (68.6%), with incomplete primary education (63.8%) and with income of 01-02 minimum wages (60.2%). The Quality of Life Core -30-Questionnare showed that the most affected domains were role performance, emotional function and symptoms of "fatigue", "pain" and "insomnia". The overall quality of life reached satisfactory score and financial deficiency was also indicated by patients with an average of 27.05. Conclusion: quality of life is affected by chemotherapy treatment for its potential to cause symptoms and change the daily life of individuals. Health professionals need to provide care taking into consideration the individual as an indivisible whole.


The surgical treatment of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) is still the object of debate in terms of its timing and surgical techniques. Particularly in the most recent years, there has been an increasing interest in this field and the series reported by Kim et al 1 provide some important data regarding the preoperative predictors of outcome in patients submitted to tricuspid valve (TV) surgery for primary or secondary severe TR. In this study the great majority of TV surgery was carried out during left-sided valve surgery, reflecting an advanced stage of the disease. A minority of the patients had isolated tricuspid repair or replacement, either for severe primary TR or late tricuspid insufficiency following left-sided valve surgery. Although half of the patients were in New York Heart Association (NYHA) functional class III or IV, hospital mortality was very low. Nevertheless, major complications occurred in 20% of the patients after repair and in 33% of the cases after replacement. Moreover, at a median follow-up time of 63 months, 22.2% of the patients in the repair group and 25% of those in the replacement group died, reflecting the significant complexity of the patients and the advanced stage of their pathology. Predictors of mortality and adverse events were identified. Interestingly the surgical technique (repair vs replacement) and the aetiology of TR (primary vs secondary) had apparently no influence on the outcome. On the other hand, age, gender, NYHA functional class, liver cirrhosis and a number of laboratory markers (haemoglobin, albumin, glomerular filtration rate) were identified as important risk factors for all-cause mortality and for the composite end-point of death, tricuspid reoperation and congestive heart failure. These findings emphasise once more that survival after TV surgery is affected more by preoperative factors like advanced heart failure symptoms, comorbidities and end-organ dysfunction than by the type of …


In this paper, I take marriage as the point of entry for exploring social alliances amongst an affluent cluster of the Bangladeshi middle class. Using semi-structured interviews, biographies, family histories, intergenerational data, matrimonial biodata, chat histories, group discussions and blogs, I traced marital genealogies from Bangladesh to Britain in order to understand the strength of their transnational network. I argue that homogamy has become instrumental for this class in consolidating its power as new networks are forged through marriage and in which women play a significant role. These alliances result in the conflation of different kinds of capital, generating a convergence of influence and access among individuals that transcends national boundaries, reconfiguring the group as a cosmopolitan class. This provides a novel perspective on how Bangladeshi women of this class exercise power in marital negotiations while navigating normative practices and patriarchal structures.


This paper proposes a distant speech recognition system based on a novel speaker localization and beamforming (SRLB) algorithm. To localize the speaker an algorithm based on steered response power by utilizing harmonic structures of speech signal is proposed. This new scheme has the ability of speaker verification by fundamental frequency variation; therefore it can be utilized in the design of a speech recognition system for verified speakers. Then the performance of the Farsi speech recognition engine is evaluated under notorious conditions of noise and reverberation. Simulation results and tests on real data shows that by utilizing proposed localization scheme, recognition accuracy improves by 28% in high noise and reverberant conditions compared to the accuracy of single channel recognition. The capability of this algorithm in localizing a verified speaker improves system robustness to speech noises and reduces recognition errors up to %52 in the presence of speech noise.


Abstract. Marine ecosystems are increasingly stressed by human-induced changes. Marine ecosystem drivers that contribute to stressing ecosystems – including warming, acidification, deoxygenation and perturbations to biological productivity – can co-occur in space and time, but detecting their trends is complicated by the presence of noise associated with natural variability in the climate system. Here we use large initial-condition ensemble simulations with an Earth system model under a historical/RCP8.5 (representative concentration pathway 8.5) scenario over 1950–2100 to consider emergence characteristics for the four individual and combined drivers. Using a 1-standard-deviation (67% confidence) threshold of signal to noise to define emergence with a 30-year trend window, we show that ocean acidification emerges much earlier than other drivers, namely during the 20th century over most of the global ocean. For biological productivity, the anthropogenic signal does not emerge from the noise over most of the global ocean before the end of the 21st century. The early emergence pattern for sea surface temperature in low latitudes is reversed from that of subsurface oxygen inventories, where emergence occurs earlier in the Southern Ocean. For the combined multiple-driver field, 41% of the global ocean exhibits emergence for the 2005–2014 period, and 63% for the 2075–2084 period. The combined multiple-driver field reveals emergence patterns by the end of this century that are relatively high over much of the Southern Ocean, North Pacific, and Atlantic, but relatively low over the tropics and the South Pacific. For the case of two drivers, the tropics including habitats of coral reefs emerges earliest, with this driven by the joint effects of acidification and warming. It is precisely in the regions with pronounced emergence characteristics where marine ecosystems may be expected to be pushed outside of their comfort zone determined by the degree of natural background variability to which they are adapted. The results underscore the importance of sustained multi-decadal observing systems for monitoring multiple ecosystems drivers.


Thee electricity supply chain is changing, due to increasing awareness for sustainability and an improved energy efficiency. The traditional infrastructure where demand is supplied by centralized generation is subject to a transition towards a Smart Grid.
In this Smart Grid, sustainable generation from renewable sources is accompanied
by controllable distributed generation, distributed storage and demand side load
management for intelligent electricity consumption.The transmission and distribution grid have to deal with increasing fluctuations in demand and supply. Since realtime balance between demand and supply is crucial in the electricity network, this increasing variability is undesirable.
Monitoring and controlling/managing this infrastructure increasingly depends
on the ability to control distributed appliances for generation, consumption and
storage. In the development of controlmethodologies,mathematical support, which
consists of predicting demand, solving planning problems and controlling the Smart Grid in realtime, is of importance. In this thesis we study planning problems which are related to the Unit Commitment Problem: for a set of generators it has to be decided when and how much electricity to produce to match a certain demand over a time horizon. The planning problems that we formulate are part of a control methodology for Smart Grids, called TRIANA, that is developed at the University of Twente.
In a first part, we introduce a planning problem (the microCHP planning
problem), that considers a set of distributed electricity generators, combined into a Virtual Power Plant. A Virtual Power Plant uses many small electricity generating appliances to create one large, virtual and controllable power plant. In our setting, these distributed generators are microCHP appliances, generating Combined Heat and Power on a domestic scale. Combined with the use of a heat buffer, operational flexibility in supplying the local heat demand is created, which can be used in the planning process, to decide when to generate electricity (which is coupled to the generation of heat). The power output of a microCHP is completely determined by the decision to generate or not.
The microCHP planning problem combines operational dependencies in sequential
discrete time intervals with dependencies between different generators in
a single time interval, and searches for a combined electricity output that matches a desired form. To illustrate the complexity of this problem, we prove that the microCHP planning problem is NP-complete in the strong sense. We model the microCHP planning problem by an Integer Linear Programming formulation and
a basic dynamic programming formulation. When we use these formulations to
solve small problem instances, the computational times show that practical instance sizes cannot be solved to optimality. This, in combination with the complexity result, shows the need for developing heuristic solution approaches. Based on the dynamic programming formulation a local search method is given that uses dynamic programs for single microCHP appliances, and searches the state space of operational patterns for these individual appliances. Also, approximate dynamic programming is proposed as a solution to deal with the exponential state space.
Finally, a column generation-like technique is introduced, that divides the problem in different subproblems for finding operational patterns for individual microCHPs and for combining individual patterns to solve the original problem. This technique shows the most promising results to solve a scalable Virtual Power Plant.
To apply the microCHP planning problem in a realistic setting, the planned total
output of the Virtual Power Plant is offered to an electricity market and controlled in realtime. For a day ahead electricity market, we propose stepwise bid functions, which the operator of a Virtual Power Plant can use in two different auction mechanisms. Based on the probability distribution of the market clearing price, we give lower bounds on the expected profit that a Virtual Power Plant can make.
To control in realtime the operation of the Virtual Power Plant in the TRIANA
approach, the planning is based on a heat demand prediction. It has been shown
that deviations from this prediction can be 'absorbed' in realtime. In addition to that, we discuss the relation between operational freedom and reserve capacity in heat buffers, to be able to compensate for demand uncertainty.
As a second planning problem, we integrate the microCHP planning problem
with distributed storage and demand side load management, in the classical framework of the Unit Commitment Problem. In this general energy planning problem we give a mathematical description of the main controllable appliances in the Smart Grid. The column generation technique is generalized to solve the general energy planning problem, using the real-world electricity infrastructure as building blocks in a hierarchical structure. Case studies show the practical applicability of the developed method towards an implementation in a real-world setting.


The goal of this paper is to propose a mathematical framework to define and analyze a general parametric form of an arbitrary nonsingular Mueller matrix. Starting from previous results about nondepolarizing matrices, we generalize the method to any nonsingular Mueller matrix. We address this problem in a six-dimensional space in order to introduce a transformation group with the same number of degrees of freedom and explain why subsets of O(5,1), the orthogonal group associated with six-dimensional Minkowski space, is a physically admissible solution to this question. Generators of this group are used to define possible expressions of an arbitrary nonsingular Mueller matrix. Ultimately, the problem of decomposition of these matrices is addressed, and we point out that the "reverse" and "forward" decomposition concepts recently introduced may be inferred from the formalism we propose.


There is a growing movement in engineering and industry for students and practitioners to learn to embrace failure and develop resilience. The design process is naturally full of iteration and failures that can inherently be leveraged as learning opportunities for students. This study establishes a set of failure-related interventions implemented in an introductory design course, and then examines potential links to students' experiences and attitudes towards failure. These interventions included a failure-themed "speaker seminar" series, a virtual gallery of design mistakes ("mistake museum"), and the introduction of a prototype logger for students to intentionally reflect on each iteration of their own design projects, including what went wrong and what was learned from the iteration. Students found these interventions to be effective in gaining perspective on failure and learning to embrace it. Students' perceptions of the openness to failure of the class, perceptions of the field of design's openness to failure, and perceptions of their major's openness to failure all changed significantly, while their perceptions of their own openness to failure and their academic institution's openness to failure were unchanged over the duration of the design course. Students also self-reported that the reflective processes of logging prototypes made them feel more comfortable with failure.


We completely solve the problem of enumerating combinatorially inequivalent $d$-dimensional polytopes with $d+3$ vertices. A first solution of this problem, by Lloyd, was published in 1970. But the obtained counting formula was not correct, as pointed out in the new edition of Grunbaum's book. We both correct the mistake of Lloyd and propose a more detailed and self-contained solution, relying on similar preliminaries but using then a different enumeration method involving automata. In addition, we introduce and solve the problem of counting oriented and achiral (i.e., stable under reflection) $d$-polytopes with $d+3$ vertices. The complexity of computing tables of coefficients of a given size is then analyzed. Finally, we derive precise asymptotic formulas for the numbers of $d$-polytopes, oriented $d$-polytopes and achiral $d$-polytopes with $d+3$ vertices. This refines a first asymptotic estimate given by Perles.


The negative ion MALDI-MS and ESI-MS behaviour of sulphonated. copper phthalocyanine dyes has shown the presence of both anionic and radical anionic species. Substituent groups such as sulphonates and linker arms, as are present in commercial dyes such as Remazol TB and Everzol TB, are found to be labile and the dyes undergo in-source fragmentation in both MALDI-MS and ESI-MS. Ions corresponding to sodium salts can be formed. It appears that Cu is firmly bound in the phthalocyanine structure, unlike the corresponding Mg and Al chelates that can undergo demetallation. The application of ESI-MS' confirmed that these labile groups can be fragmented from the dye molecules and, in addition, SO2 losses are observed as for EI-MS. Hydrolysed commercial azo dyes such as Remazol Black B (I) and Remazol Red RB (III) showed both singly and doubly charged molecular anion species as well as sodium salts using negative ion ESI-MS, but did not desulphonate like the copper phthalocyanine dyes. The application of ESI-MSn revealed fragmentation of the dye molecules with the loss of entities such as HOCH2CH2SO2C6H4N2 (for both dyes) and SO2 (for Remazol Black B). MALDI-MS, ESI-MS and ESI-MSn can therefore be used for the characterisation of such dyes by exploiting these fragmentation processes, and some structural information can be obtained for the dyes whose structures are not in the public domain. Copyright (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The intrinsic steady-state fluorescence and fluorescence decay of Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, and Bacillus subtilis have been observed. Excitation spectra were obtained while emission at 430, 455, 487 and 514 nm was being monitored. Emission spectra were obtained with the use of excitation wavelengths of 340, 365, 405, 430 and 460 nm. Fluorescence lifetimes were measured at 430, 487, and 514 nm while selective excitation was caused at 340, 405, and 430 nm. The complex nature of the excitation and emission spectra reflects the presence of a number of different fluorophores. Attempts have been made to describe portions of the bacterial fluorescence in terms of the measured fluorescence properties including lifetimes of molecular components known for their widespread occurrence in bacteria and their relatively high quantum yields. Candidate fluorophores which have been considered include the pteridines, the structurally related flavins, and the pyridine coenzymes. The observation that characteristic sets of lifetimes have been obtained for each organism suggests that measurements of fluorescence lifetimes may be helpful in the rapid characterization of bacteria. Results are especially definitive in cases such as Pseudomonas fluorescens, where one marker fluorophore, a pteridine, is produced in large amounts.


Abstract Tropical deforestation through logging activities poses a direct threat to biodiversity. However, the detection of logging has remained a challenge. Based on study sites in Zimbabwe and Zambia, we tested whether the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Coefficient of Variation in NDVI (CVNDVI) derived from high and medium spatial resolution satellite data could be used to detect logging in dry and wet miombo woodlands. Separately, we integrated NDVI and CVNDVI in logistic regression to test whether each can be used to successfully predict logging in the study sites. We tested whether the spatial resolution of satellite data has an effect in detection of logging using NDVI and CVNDVI derived from Landsat 8 and Worldview-2. Based on the ROC curves, we concluded that remotely sensed data could provide an effective predictive tool for detecting logging. However, in wet miombo woodlands the predictive power of remotely sensed data is weak.


We present FPGA-based emulation of a synchronous phase-coded quantum cryptography system. Several of the emulated subsystems are used for implementation in a free space demonstrative QPSK scheme for quantum key distribution with continuous variables (CV-QKD) using a base and optical phase synchronization. The CV-QKD systems are commonly implemented using QPSK modulation with switched or simultaneous detection. In this paper we only make use of one base of the QPSK system in order to get a simpler modulation (BPSK) scheme, used for demonstrative purposes. The reported results from the emulation and the experiment in terms of Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER) and mutual information for different values of the number of photons per bit are in good agreement.


In Discovering Complexity, William Bechtel and Robert Richardson examine two heuristics that guided the development of mechanistic models in the life sciences: decomposition and localization. Drawing on historical cases from disciplines including cell biology, cognitive neuroscience, and genetics, they identify a number of "choice points" that life scientists confront in developing mechanistic explanations and show how different choices result in divergent explanatory models. Describing decomposition as the attempt to differentiate functional and structural components of a system and localization as the assignment of responsibility for specific functions to specific structures, Bechtel and Richardson examine the usefulness of these heuristics as well as their fallibility -- the sometimes false assumption underlying them that nature is significantly decomposable and hierarchically organized. When Discovering Complexity was originally published in 1993, few philosophers of science perceived the centrality of seeking mechanisms to explain phenomena in biology, relying instead on the model of nomological explanation advanced by the logical positivists (a model Bechtel and Richardson found to be utterly inapplicable to the examples from the life sciences in their study). Since then, mechanism and mechanistic explanation have become widely discussed. In a substantive new introduction to this MIT Press edition of their book, Bechtel and Richardson examine both philosophical and scientific developments in research on mechanistic models since 1993.


This talk will review recent developments in the use of statistical methods for inversion of data that are acquired compressively. A particular focus will be placed on dictionary learning and its connection to mixture models. It will be explained how these methods can be used to achieve very efficient inversion, with state-of-the-art accuracy. The basic framework will be demonstrated as applied to real compressively acquired data. In particular, we will consider compressive measurements with respect to time, spectrum and focus. Article not available.


© 2015 Paul Gill. All rights reserved. This book provides the first empirical analysis of lone-actor terrorist behaviour. Based upon a unique dataset of 111 lone actors that catalogues the life span of the individual's development, the book contains important insights into what an analysis of their behaviours might imply for practical interventions aimed at disrupting or even preventing attacks. It adopts insights and methodologies from criminology and forensic psychology to provide a holistic analysis of the behavioural underpinnings of lone-actor terrorism. By focusing upon the behavioural aspects of each offender and by analysing a variety of case studies, including Anders Breivik, Ted Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh and David Copeland, this work marks a pointed departure from previous research in the field. It seeks to answer the following key questions: Is there a lone-actor terrorist profile and how do they differ?. What behaviours did the lone-actor terrorist engage in prior to his/her attack and is there a common behavioural trajectory into lone-actor terrorism?. How 'lone' do lone-actor terrorists tend to be?. What role, if any, does the internet play?. What role, if any, does mental illness play?. This book will be of much interest to students of terrorism/counter-terrorism studies, political violence, criminology, forensic psychology and security studies in general.


The Pearson correlation coefficient r, a scale free measure in [-1, 1], indicates the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two variables. When data are partitioned into two groups, r can be decomposed into a between-group component which is the product of two effect sizes (ESp) and a within-group component (WGc) which is the sum of within-group correlations weighted by a coefficient that is inversely related to ESp magnitude. Both zero and nonzero correlations can arise in multiple ways. A zero r could emerge from either (i) zero ESp and zero WGc, or (ii) ESp and WGc of similar magnitude but in opposed direction. A nonzero r could emerge from either (i) zero ESp and nonzero WGc, or (ii) zero WGc and nonzero WGc, or (iii) ESp and WGc in the same direction, or (iv) ESp and WGc that differ in magnitude and direction. Bipartitions that are theoretically interpretable include (i) natural zero points of variables (e.g., semantic differentials, IATs) and (ii) distinct data subsamples (e.g., males vs. females, Task orders). This decomposition delineates the respective contributions of concordance in group means and quantitative linearity to the observed magnitude and direction of the Pearson correlation.


As part of perpetual policy experimentation and search for that elusive 'silver bullet' to deal with unemployment, the South African government recently introduced the Jobs Fund and continues to mull over the idea of youth wage subsidies - vehemently opposed by trade unions. The success of these programs is highly dependent on effective design and administration. This article evaluates program design features against a number of factors.


Objective: To estimate the lifetime financial burden on Taiwan's national health insurance (NHI) system, life expectancy and years of life expectancy lost (YLEL) attributable to smoking from major smoking related diseases. Methods: 10 major smoking related diseases (seven cancers, stroke, acute myocardial infarction and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) were selected for this study. A survival analysis was conducted on linked cohorts from the National Death Registry database and the National Cancer Registry (NCR) and patients at the National Taiwan University Hospital (NTUH). Estimation of the smoking attributable fraction (SAF) for the study diseases was undertaken by combining the relative risks of smokers against non-smokers and the prevalence of smoking in Taiwan. The YLEL attributable to smoking was calculated for the study diseases by combining the survival analysis results, the SAF and the annual incidences of each disease. The lifetime medical expenditure for the study diseases was estimated by integrating the survival curve and the mean annual medical costs calculated from NHI reimbursement records. Results: There were 241 280 incidents of the 10 study diseases in 2001, of which about 53 648 cases (22.2%) were attributable to smoking, with a total YLEL of 191 313 at an average of about 3.6 YLEL per case. For each case, the average survival time was about 10.2 years. Under two different annual discount rates, the total lifetime financial burden on the NHI was estimated at between $291 million (£147 million; €216 million) (3% discount) and $336 million (1% discount) for all diseases attributable to smoking in 2001, accounting for about 24.6% of the total estimated lifetime medical expenditure for all incidents of the 10 study diseases. Conclusions: Smoking places tremendous financial and health burdens upon both society and individuals. A much more stringent tobacco control strategy is needed to curb the damage from smoking.


The concepts news flow, global journalism/news and media regime are under theoretical construction. News media content is becoming increasingly deterritorialized, involving complex relations and flows across national borders and continents. Consequently, it becomes more difficult to categorize news in the traditional binary context as either national or international news as was the case with news flow studies since the mid-1990s. These changes are perhaps most evident in centres outside the global North, where rapid development of media infrastructures, coupled with political and social shifts as a result of widespread democratization since the mid-1990s, have brought about complex configurations of the local/global relationship in news. Global journalism/news is suggested as an alternative concept and the notion of media regimes is introduced as a way to interrogate assumptions about global news flows as it relates to Africa. A content analysis of TV news channels in three world regions was conducted to facilitate the analysis.


In this paper, we present a preliminary study and conceptual idea concerning 3D printing water-sensitive glass, using a borosilicate glass with high alkali and alkaline oxide contents as an example in direct ink writing. The investigated material was prepared in the form of a glass frit, which was further ground in order to obtain a fine powder of desired particle size distribution. In a following step, inks were prepared by mixing the fine glass powder with Pluoronic F-127 hydrogel. The acquired pastes were rheologically characterized and printed using a Robocasting device. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments were performed for base materials and the obtained green bodies. After sintering, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were carried out in order to examine microstructure and the eventual presence of crystalline phase inclusions. The results confirmed that the as obtained inks exhibit stable rheological properties despite the propensity of glass to undergo hydrolysis and could be adjusted to desirable values for 3D printing. No additional phase was observed, supporting the suitability of the designed technology for the production of water sensitive glass inks. SEM micrographs of the sintered samples revealed the presence of closed porosity, which may be the main reason of light scattering.


Cucumber productivity in Nigeria is low due to low native fertility status of the soil among other factors. This field experiment was conducted in February to June of 2015 and 2016 at the Experimental Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria to evaluate the effects of cattle and poultry manures on the productivity of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) and their post-harvest effect on the chemical properties of the soil. The experiment was in a 2 x 4 split plot arrangement fitted into a randomized complete block design with three replications with the organic fertilizers (cattle and poultry manures) as main treatments the application rates (0, 5, 10 and 15 t ha- 1) as sub plots. Data were collected on growth and yield variables of cucumber. The results revealed that organic fertilizer types had no significant (p>0.05) effect on growth, yield and post-harvest variables except vine girth. The rate of application had significant (p<0.05) effect on growth, yield and post-harvest soil chemical properties. The highest fruit yields were 3.99 and 3.66 t ha-1 observed on plants treated with 15 and 10 t ha-1 of organic fertilizer, respectively. Based on convenience and cost, 10 t ha-1 of poultry manure is thereby recommended for farmers.


The Payment Services Directive (PSD) was published in late 2007, constituting the legal basis for the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The industry initiative launched on 28 January 2008 aims at replacing fragmented national markets for payment services with one integrated system. Although deadlines for both the transposition of the PSD into national law and the full availability for SEPA standards are set, many questions lack clear answers and need to be addressed accordingly. Given the numerous directives and different regulations affecting payment service providers, the partial duplication and interlinking between the various provisions are prone to creating a legislative labyrinth. This ECRI Research Report attempts to address the main concerns, as it tests the PSD against some of the most advanced payment business models, and to offer a comprehensive evaluation of the Community regulation of payment services within SEPA. While evidencing a number of critical issues in the reading and implementation of the PSD, the paper looks at this ambitious and challenging exercise of the European institutions and presents a number of provocative considerations that it is hoped will be of general value.


A graph is an efficient open domination graph if there exists a subset of vertices whose open neighborhoods partition its vertex set. We characterize those graphs $G$ for which the Cartesian product $G \Box H$ is an efficient open domination graph when $H$ is a complete graph of order at least 3 or a complete bipartite graph. The characterization is based on the existence of a certain type of weak partition of $V(G)$. For the class of trees when $H$ is complete of order at least 3, the characterization is constructive. In addition, a special type of efficient open domination graph is characterized among Cartesian products $G \Box H$ when $H$ is a 5-cycle or a 4-cycle.


PURPOSE
To describe the technique of using SPECT brain blood flow imaging to identify patients at risk for having strokes after balloon or surgical ligation of an internal carotid artery.

PATIENTS AND METHODS
29 patients underwent temporary balloon occlusion of the internal carotid artery and blood flow imaging studies were obtained prior to sacrifice of the vessel; 11 internal carotid arteries were indeed sacrificed and form the basis of our study. Follow-up of these patients ranged from 3 to 65 days.

RESULTS
Three groups emerged: group I, patients with symptoms during occlusion and an abnormal blood flow study (one patient); group II, patients with no symptoms during the occlusion but with an unequivocally abnormal blood flow study (two patients); group III, patients without symptoms during occlusion and a normal or slightly abnormal blood flow study (eight patients).

CONCLUSION
Carotid sacrifice without initial and temporary balloon occlusion is unnecessarily risky. Imaging of blood flow in the brains of these patients can further improve the safety of occlusion procedures in the internal carotid artery.


Until the partial opening of the borders through the Balkans in summer 2015, Patras – Greece's third city and harbour – used to be the main transit port for irregular migrants heading to Italy and the rest of Europe. In 2011, relocation of the port in the southern part of the city prompted hundreds of refugees and migrants to move into an abandoned industrial area just in front of the new port. Mostly Afghans and Sudanese populate these empty factories facing the port, waiting for a chance to sneak under a lorry and embark onto a ferryboat towards Italy. Among the newcomers, most (mainly of Afghan nationality) chose not to apply for asylum; their only hope is to illegally leave the country before the expiry date of their paper, valid for thirty days, without leaving any trace (or fingerprint). After that term, they would become illegal and possibly face detention. In the Greek asylum system different procedures apply according to the applicant's nationality and to the period in which the asylum application was lodged. Since December 2014, Syrians have been able to benefit from a fast-track examination procedure that lets them have an answer within the same day. Unsurprisingly, this generates resentment among those seeking asylum. The eagerness of refugees and migrants to leave Greece and travel to other European countries is quite evident. Whether recent arrivals, or waiting for a response to asylum claims submitted some time before, or facing detention, or even having fallen into irregularity and thus being unable to leave legally, one thing unites them: the unrelenting longing to leave Greece.


Few can match the tremendous impact that Arsene Wenger has had since his arrival at Arsenal. In his 12 seasons at the club, the world-class Frenchman has developed the Gunners into a team capable of challenging for top domestic and European honours every year. His three Premiership titles - two of which came in 'Double' winning campaigns - are evidence of Wenger's unique tactical skill and his famous ability to spot talented young footballers.After a modest playing career in France, Wenger gained managerial experience in his homeland with Nancy and Monaco before taking on a stint at Japanese side Grampus Eight. The lure of the English league, though, was too strong in 1996 and Arsene agreed to fill the vacant post at Highbury. Arriving almost unknown to English football, his incredible achievements since then have shown that Arsene at Arsenal was indeed destined to be a successful fit.Inspiring the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry to produce the best form of their careers, Wenger has led the club to Premiership triumphs in 1997/98, 2001/02 and 2003/04 as well as the 2006 Champions League final. He is the only foreign manager ever to have won the English Double, and in 2004 guided his cosmopolitan team through a whole season without a single league loss.The current crop of players are performing so well under his expert tutelage that 2007/08 could be another momentous campaign for the Gallic genius. The phenomenal Gunners boss, nicknamed 'The Professor', has signed a new contract which commits him to the club until 2011 and Arsenal fans can look forward to a bright red future. This fully up-to-date biography tells the full story of one of world football's leading masterminds.


How folding of proteins is coupled to their synthesis remains poorly understood. Here, we apply single-molecule fluorescence imaging to full protein synthesis in vitro. Ribosomes were specifically immobilized onto glass surfaces and synthesis of green fluorescent protein (GFP) was achieved using modified commercial Protein Synthesis using Recombinant Elements that lacked ribosomes but contained purified factors and enzyme that are required for translation in Escherichia coli. Translation was monitored using a GFP mutant (F64L/S65T/F99S/M153T/V163A) that has a high fluorophore maturation rate and that contained the Secretion Monitor arrest sequence to prevent dissociation from the ribosome. Immobilized ribosomal subunits were labeled with Cy3 and GFP synthesis was measured by colocalization of GFP fluorescence with the ribosome position. The rate of appearance of colocalized ribosome GFP was equivalent to the rates of fluorescence appearance coupled with translation measured in bulk, and the ribosome–polypeptide complexes were stable for hours. The methods presented here are applicable to single-molecule investigation of translational initiation, elongation and cotranslational folding.


Stepwise reduction of the diiminopyridine (dimpyr) complex, dimpyrZnCl2, by KC8 leads to molecular zinc compounds dimpyrZnCl (2) and dimpyrZnCl(DMAP) (3, DMAP = 4-dimethylaminopyridine), which were characterized by X-ray diffraction and EPR spectroscopy. Compound 2 shows an unusual nearly square planar geometry of the zinc atom equally ligated by two imine groups. X-ray crystallographic and EPR data suggest significant delocalization of the zinc 4p electron onto the non-innocent dimpyr ligand. The chloride in 2 can also be substituted by a methyl group upon addition of methyl lithium to generate compound 4, dimpyrZnMe. The novel alkylzinc compound displayed approximate square planar geometry around the zinc centre and significant delocalization of electron density onto the dimpyr ligand, as revealed by X-ray crystallographic studies and EPR spectroscopy, akin to 2. Further reduction of 3 leads to compound 5, dimpyrZn(DMAP)2. X-ray diffraction study of 5 revealed an unprecedented see-saw geometry around the four-coordinate zinc center with significant electron density transfer to the dimpyr ligand, supported by DFT calculations.


Perfect fluid tori with a uniform distribution of the specific angular momentum, ℓ(r, θ) = const, orbiting the Kerr–de Sitter black holes or naked singularities are studied. It is well known that the structure of equipotential surfaces of such marginally stable tori reflects the basic properties of any tori with a general distribution of the specific angular momentum. Closed equipotential surfaces corresponding to stationary thick discs are allowed only in the spacetimes admitting stable circular geodesics. The last closed surface crosses itself in the cusp(s) enabling the outflow of matter from the torus due to the violation of hydrostatic equilibrium. The inner cusp enables an accretion onto the central object. The influence of the repulsive cosmological constant, Λ > 0, on the equipotential surfaces lies in the existence of the outer cusp (with a stabilizing effect on the thick discs) and in the strong collimation of open equipotential surfaces along the rotational axis. Both the effects take place near a so-called static radius where the gravitational attraction is just balanced by the cosmic repulsion. The outer cusp enables excretion, i.e., the outflow of matter from the torus into the outer space. The plus-family discs (which are always co-rotating in the black-hole backgrounds but can be counter-rotating, even with negative energy of the fluid elements, in some naked-singularity backgrounds) are thicker and more extended than the minus-family ones (which are always counter-rotating in all backgrounds). For co-rotating discs in the naked-singularity spacetimes, the potential well between the centre of the disc and its edges at the cusps is usually much higher than in the black-hole spacetimes. If the parameters of naked-singularity spacetimes are very close to the parameters of extreme black-hole spacetimes, the family of possible disc-like configurations includes members with two isolated discs where the inner one is always a counter-rotating accretion disc.


Based on an ethnography of clinical practices around gender-nonconforming and transgender children in the United States, this article explores the cultural and scientific notions of identity that shape this field. It examines the practice of diagnosing true gender identity in the clinic and situates the search for the foundation of identity in the inner depths of the self, and in children as harbingers of authenticity, as part of a broader cultural history. It addresses the scientific substantiation of the faith in innateness ("born this way") and interiority ("from within") of identity, as well as their political appeal. This article challenges the often taken-for-granted association of science with materialism—and the distribution of matter-idea along the nature–culture axis—by demonstrating the idealism that drives the siting of identity in the brain. Finally, it questions the assumption that it is the appeal of nature and biology that underlies the cultural attachment to entities such as the gene and the brain as locations for the origin of identity in the contemporary United States. Rather than the nature–culture dyad, this article argues that the internal-external dyad more accurately captures and explains this cultural attachment.


Title of Document: MECHANISMS OF RESISTANCE TO IONIZING RADIATION IN EXTREMOPHILES Kimberly Michelle Webb, Master of Science, 2012 Directed by: Dr. Frank T. Robb, Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences Extremophiles display an astonishing array of adaptations to harsh environmental conditions. We analyzed the mechanisms of ionizing radiation resistance from a diverse group of extremophilic archaea and bacteria. In Halobacterium salinarum IR resistance is conferred by antioxidant Mn 2+ -complexes, and protein-free cell extracts (ultrafiltrates, UFs) of super-resistant (IR + ) isolates of H. salinarum had increased concentrations of Mn, PO4 and amino acids compared to the founder strain. Proteomic analysis determined that IR + isolates with increased Mn had elevated protein expression for central carbon metabolism, suggesting a Mn-stimulated metabolic route to increased IR resistance. We examined the role of mannosylglycerate, di-myo-inositol phosphate, and trehalose in the IR resistance of various thermophiles; aerobic thermophiles had UFs which were radioprotective of enzyme activity under aerobic conditions, which is attributed to Mn, PO4 and trehalose accumulation. In contrast, anaerobic thermophile UFs did not contain significant amounts of Mn, and were radioprotective only under anaerobic conditions; we conclude the anaerobic environment confers their IR resistance. MECHANISMS OF RESISTANCE TO IONIZING RADIATION IN EXTREMOPHILES


Introduction: Chest pain is a frequent cause for admission to the emergency department (ED). It can be a sign of various conditions, from a minor disorder to a life-threatening disease such as acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Despite the availability of modern-day tools for the diagnosis of AMI, about 5% of patients with AMI are missed in the ED, with subsequent associated morbidity and mortality. QT dispersion as a marker for arrhythmic potential being a marker of in-homogeneity of ventricular repolarization. The QT dispersion is increased in myocardial ischemia. Aims: This study we hypothesized that QTD could accurately identify patients with the acute coronary syndrome (ACS) who presented with chest pain and nondiagnostic initial electrocardiograms (ECGs). Subjects and Methods: The study population included (50) patients (37 males, 13 females) and (10) chronic stable ischemic patients as a control group, they were all in sinus rhythm on admission. All the studied patients were subjected to: History taking; complete physical examination was performed to rule out any other medical problems, standard 12-lead ECG, cardiac markers, echocardiographic examination. QT interval was calculated. The difference between the maximum and minimum QT intervals, occurring in any of the 12 leads, was measured as QTD. A corrected QT interval (QTc) of >440 ms is defined as abnormal, and the difference between QTc max and QTc min was calculated as QTcD. QT dispersion ≤40 ms was considered normal. Results: In the present study, we found that 26 patients (52%) have prolonged QTD (mean 78.800 ms, standard deviation [SD] ±49.555) and 44 patients (88%) have prolonged cQTD (mean 83.322 ms, SD ± 48.491) For patients who were admitted to the ED with chest pain and nondiagnostic initial ECG but later diagnosed as having ACS. Furthermore, we found that only 6 (12%) of patients have a significant prolongation QTD than normal in initial nondiagnostic ECG with elevated cardiac biomarkers (creatine kinase myocardial band at 0 h 48, mean creatine kinase myocardial band (CK MP) at 12 h was 145.833 ± SD 52.660, creatine phosphokinase (CPK) at 0 h: 635.33, mean CPK at 12 h 2448.66 ± SD 538.744). It has been suggested that the initial QTD level has a low predictive power for new cardiac events but that QTD can be more helpful for low-risk patients. Conclusion: Hence, in this study, we found that QTD and QTcD values are higher for ACS patients than for patients without ACS with nondiagnostic initial ECG.


Black Slavonian pig (BS) and Turopolje pig (TP) are two Croatian autochthonous pig breeds. At the beginning of this century attempts were made to preserve and re-establish them, which included also employment of the genetic methods for studying genetic characteristics of both breeds. The number of Black Slavonian breed sows was increased from 237 in 2001 to 1305 last year, while the number of Turopolje breed sows rose from 45 to 132 in the same period. A set of 18 microsatellite markers was used to genotype 20 BS pigs, 20 TP pigs and 20 wild boars. The basic statistical analysis included number of samples, number of alleles for each locus, expected and observed heterozygosity, FIS and their statistical significance FISsign. In observed populations, a relatively high variety of loci was present. Average heterozygosity was between 0.35 and 0.64. The average fixation index (FST) was 0.24. Multilocus FST values indicated that around 24% of the total genetic variation was explained by population differences, with the remaining 78% corresponding to differences among individuals within population. Genetic distances between populations were made with PCA method and it was noticed that studied populations are clearly defined. The analysis of population structure indicates no admixture among analysed breeds. However, some substructuring in the Black Slavonian pig population was observed. Results confirmed usefulness of microsatellites for studying genetic diversity among Croatian autochthonous pig breeds, but for obtaining more accurate results, a study involving larger number of animals and other related breeds would be required.


Actor coordination armoured with a suitable protocol description language has been a pressing problem in the actors community. We study the applicability of multiparty session type (MPST) protocols for verification of actor programs. We incorporate sessions to actors by introducing minimum additions to the model such as the notion of actor roles and protocol mailboxes. The framework uses Scribble, which is a protocol description language based on multiparty session types. Our programming model supports actor-like syntax and runtime verification mechanism guaranteeing communication safety of the participating entities. An actor can implement multiple roles in a similar way as an object can implement multiple interfaces. Multiple roles allow for cooperative inter-concurrency in a single actor. We demonstrate our framework by designing and implementing a session actor library in Python and its runtime verification mechanism. Benchmark results demonstrate that the runtime checks induce negligible overhead. We evaluate the applicability of our verification framework to specify actor interactions by implementing twelve examples from an actor benchmark suit.


Private equity is a relatively common investment discipline in many Western countries and is an asset class that, over the years, has become an important component of many institutional portfolios. It refers to investments in private companies in the form of venture capital or leveraged buyouts (LBOs). Venture capital is risk capital for starting, expanding, or acquiring private companies and is important for the growth of any economy. LBOs refer to the purchase of generally established and cash flow–positive companies using only a small amount of equity and paying for the rest of the acquisition with debt financing. In addition to venture and buyouts, private equity encompasses privately issued defaulted debt, mezzanine (junior debt), funds-of-funds, and secondary purchases. In this memorandum, the term private equity will be used primarily to refer to venture capital and debt financing. Buyouts and other categories of private equity are rare in Russia and are not the focus of this analysis.


The global tree cover percentage is an important parameter used to
understand the global environment. However, the available percent tree cover
products on global or continental-scale are few, and efforts to quantitatively
validate these maps have been limited. We produced a new percent tree cover
dataset at 500 m resolution in 2008 for Eurasia using reference data interpreted
from Google Earth. It is a part of percent tree cover (PTC)
data in Global Mapping project. In this study, the dataset was compared with
existing global percent tree cover dataset, MODIS Vegetation Continuous Fields,
MOD44B. We assessed the agreement of these datasets with two existing global
categorical land cover datasets and statistic data in Eurasia.
The result showed that estimates of tree cover in our new map and MOD44B were
relatively similar at randomly sampled sites. Our map and MOD44B agreed with
either or both of land cover maps at 93% of sites and 91% of sites,
respectively, for pixel blocks. However, we found that MOD44B disagreed with
our map and categorical land cover datasets at about half of the sampled sites
where the difference of tree cover percentage between our map and MOD44B was
large, especially in the areas with significant differences (more than 50%).
Disagreed areas were concentrated in forests of Russia and Indonesia, and in
herbaceous dominated vegetation of UK and Ireland. We also found that both our
map and MOD44B were somewhat different from the data reported by FRA 2010.


Institutional and legal differences between countries increase entry costs and reduce the ability of banks to expand abroad. We use bilateral foreign banking data for 176 countries to estimate a gravity model in which bilateral cross-border banking activity is explained, in addition to standard variables, by legal and institutional differences. We find that foreign banking is negatively affected by absolute differences in the legal setup and in basic institutions between source and host countries. Differences in the legal origin, for example, reduce bilateral participation in the banking system by nearly 11 percent. Additionally we do not find strong evidence suggesting asymmetries in adapting to "better" or "worse" institutional/legal environments.


Endocytic processes are mediated by multiple protein-protein interacting modules and regulated by phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. The Eps15 homology domain containing protein 1 (EHD1) has been implicated in regulating recycling of proteins, internalized both in clathrin-dependent and clathrin-independent endocytic pathways, from the recycling compartment to the plasma membrane. EHD1 was found in a complex with clathrin, adaptor protein complex-2 (AP-2) and insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R), and was shown to interact with Rabenosyn-5, SNAP29, EHBP1 (EH domain binding protein 1) and syndapin I and II. In this study, we show that EHD1, like the other human EHDs, undergoes serine-phosphorylation. Our results also indicate that EHD1 is a serum-inducible serine-phosphoprotein and that PKC (protein kinase C) is one of its kinases. In addition, we show that inhibitors of clathrin-mediated endocytosis decrease EHD1 phosphorylation, while inhibitors of caveolinmediated endocytosis do not affect EHD1 phosphorylation. The results of experiments in which inhibitors of endocytosis were employed strongly suggest that EHD1 phosphorylation occurs between early endosomes and the endocytic recycling compartment.


In the contemporary world, the domains of laws overlap a lot. With human activity (business, family, political, creative) unfolding at a greater distance as well as thickness, what people do increasingly implicates multiple sovereigns. Almost nothing important, whether it be a public act of a government or a transaction among private parties, goes forward without encountering overlapping domains. Assigning problems that arise in this behavior to particular legal domains is a pervasive issue.What makes this issue immediately important, and not just a technical exercise in thinking about law, is the growth of the international-law enterprise over the last quarter-century. Both the ambitions and the institutions of international law expanded greatly in the decade after the collapse of the Soviet system. Even as they currently face assault from nationalist populists in the rich world and elsewhere, these institutions continue to play a critical role in many fields. Their influence means more frequent and more intrusive claims about the domain of international law to the derogation of national and subnational law. Such domain conflicts always existed, but they have grown in salience.Rather than looking at the problem of international law nested within national legal systems in isolation, we can see this issue as a particular instance of the general problem of competition among sovereigns and the domains of their laws. Reframing the problem in this way lets us draw on a great body of practical experience. Legal actors wrestle with domain problems all the time and have worked out approaches that manage potential conflicts in a reasonably helpful fashion. As the ambitions of international law have grown, we see the same practice at work there.This article offers the first systematic analysis of conflicts over domain assignments across different kinds of sovereignty. It provides five explanations for these patterns. The article begins by providing an account of the ways that domains overlap, the kinds of conflicts that may result, and how authoritative actors might resolve these conflicts. It proposes a rational-choice model that can explain consistent patterns of deference in domain assignments. The article then surveys the evidence in support of the model, drawing on examples from tax law, the law of federal courts, and international law. The article concludes by considering whether a systematic approach to domain assignments based on the rational interest of states should prevail. Why not give greater normative content to assignment rules?


Given the powerfully negative and ongoing impact of the Great Recession on western economies, the question of whether historically wealthy nations--the US, Western European countries, Japan--can stay wealthy has become an overriding concern for virtually every interested observer. Can their middle classes remain comfortable as more and more good and technically jobs disappear to other parts of the world? Can they support themselves as they devote more and more economic resources to an aging population base? In The Third Globalization, eminent political economists Dan Breznitz and John Zysman gather some of the discipline's leading scholars to assess the prospects for growth and prosperity among advanced industrial nations. Throughout, they examine the core transformation in the economies of the advanced countries, the character of the challenge from the emerging economies, and the varied policy responses of the advanced countries. And, via a series of case studies, the contributors consider the central challenges these countries face internally and the nature of their responses. In particular, they ask what governments might do to achieve the goal of generating and retaining highly productive economic activity, which they collectively regard as necessary for sustained growth. In total, the book directly challenges a number of core policy and academic assumptions about the dynamics of contemporary advanced economies by looking at the problem from three different angles: a) a macro perspective, which considers the forces changing the policy and political economy landscape after the crisis; b) a sectoral perspective, which explains how these forces unleashed major shifts within critical domains and industries; and c) a policy perspective that concentrates on the responses to the Great Recession of both the already rich nations and the new, game transforming, competitors such as China and India. All told, the book's powerful analysis of a current global problem--weak growth in the world's longtime growth engines--that is of concern to everyone will make this essential reading for scholars and policymakers from across the social sciences. Available in OSO:


Data from studies of elbow-flexor (EF) or knee-extensor (KE) muscles suggest that a fatigue-related decrease in motoneuron excitability only occurs in EF. It is unknown how motoneuron excitability changes after sustained fatiguing maximal voluntary isometric contractions (MVICs) in EF and KE in the same participants. In two sessions, eight healthy men performed a 2-min MVIC of EF or KE to induce fatigue with brief MVICs before and six times after the 2-min MVIC. Electromyographic responses elicited by corticospinal tract stimulation at the transmastoid [cervicomedullary motor-evoked potential (CMEP)] or thoracic [thoracic motor-evoked potential (TMEP)] level were recorded from EF and KE, respectively. To account for muscle excitability, CMEPs and TMEPs were normalized to maximal M-wave (Mmax) elicited by peripheral nerve stimulation during each brief MVIC. Immediately after the 2-min MVIC, biceps brachii and brachioradialis CMEP/Mmax were 88% (SD 11%) (P = 0.026) and 87% (SD 12%) (P = 0.029) of pre-MVIC values, respectively, and remained lower than PRE after 5 s of recovery [91% (SD 8%), P = 0.036 and 87% (SD 13%), P = 0.046, respectively]. No subsequent time points differed from PRE (all P ³ 0.253). TMEP/Mmax for rectus femoris and vastus lateralis were not different from PRE at any time during the recovery period (all P > 0.050). A different recovery pattern in motoneuron excitability occurred in EF as it recovered by 60 s whereas KE motoneurons were unaffected by the fatiguing task. The present findings may contribute to better understand muscle-specific neurophysiological differences in spinal excitability.


In this work, we propose a weakly supervised graph propagation method to automatically assign the annotated labels at image level to those contextually derived semantic regions. The graph is constructed with the over-segmented patches of the image collection as nodes. Image-level labels are imposed on the graph as weak supervision information over subgraphs, each of which corresponds to all patches of one image, and the contextual information across different images at patch level are then mined to assist the process of label propagation from images to their descendent regions. The ultimate optimization problem is efficiently solved by Convex Concave Programming (CCCP). Extensive experiments on four benchmark datasets clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed method for the task of collective image parsing. Two extensions including image annotation and concept map based image retrieval demonstrate the proposed image parsing algorithm can effectively aid other vision tasks.


North court, showing a cottage on the east side; The Arizona Biltmore's architect of record is Albert Chase McArthur, yet its authorship is often mistakenly attributed to Frank Lloyd Wright, owing to Wright's on-site consulting for four months in 1928 relating to the masonry unit "Textile Block" construction. Some visitors say the hotel has the look and feel of a Wright building, especially in the main lobby, likely owing to a strong imprint of the unit block design that Wright had utilized on four residential buildings in the Los Angeles area some 6 years earlier. McArthur is indisputably the architect as original linen drawings of the hotel in the Arizona State University Library archives attest, as does the 1929 feature article in Architectural Record magazine. The two architects are a study in contrast with the famous and outspoken Wright being self taught and never licensed as an architect in Arizona. The more soft spoken McArthur was Harvard trained in architecture, mathematics, engineering, and music. McArthur obtained an architect's license in Arizona, number 338, in 1925, the year he arrived in Phoenix to begin his practice. Adding to the confusion, in recent years, FLW influences have been added to the property such as a stained glass window design entitled "Sahuaros" that Wright had designed as a magazine cover for Liberty Magazine in 1926 and was fabricated by Taliesin students and installed during the 1973 hotel renovations and restoration. Reproductions of the geometric 'sprite' statues originally designed by sculptor Alfonzo Iannelli for Wright's 1915 Midway Gardens project in Chicago are placed around the property. Also, the original hotel solarium of 1929 was converted to a restaurant in 1973 and since the mid-1990's has been named 'Wright's'. Authorship of the hotel's design is not a new dispute. Wright has variously condemned McArthur's use of the block system [Wright wanted square blocks as opposed to McArthur's mathematically proportioned rectangle block that was used] and publicly claimed credit for the building's design. Wright issued a carefully-worded letter in 1930 that was published in The Architectural Record (quoted in Brendan Gill's "Many Masks"): "All I have done in connection with the building of the Arizona Biltmore, near Phoenix, I have done for Albert McArthur himself at his sole request, and for none other. Albert McArthur is the architect of that building -- all attempts to take the credit for that performance from him are gratuitous and beside the mark. But for him, Phoenix would have had nothing like the Biltmore, and it is my hope that he may be enabled to give Phoenix many more beautiful buildings as I believe him entirely capable of doing." Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 7/7/2008)


Mass international migration is a response to extreme global inequality, and immigration has a profound impact on the way we live. Yet our views - and those of our politicians - remain caught between two extremes: popular hostility to migrants, tinged by xenophobia and racism; and the view of business and liberal elites that 'open doors' are both economically and ethically imperative. With migration set to accelerate, few issues are so urgently in need of dispassionate analysis - and few are more incendiary. Here, world-renowned economist Paul Collier seeks to defuse this explosive subject. Exodus looks at how people from the world's poorest societies struggle to migrate to the rich West: the effects on those left behind and on the host societies, and explores the impulses and thinking that inform Western immigration policy. Migration, he concludes, is a fact, and we urgently need to think clearly about its possibilities and challenges: it is not a question of whether migration is good or bad, but how much is best? Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford University and a former director of Development Research at the World Bank. He is the author of, among others, the award-winning The Bottom Billion and The Plundered Planet. "Exodus is an important book and one I have been waiting to read for many years ...[it is] a work that is humane and hard-headed about one of the greatest issues of our times". (David Goodhart, Sunday Times). "Paul Collier is one of the world's most thoughtful economists. His books consistently illuminate and provoke. Exodus is no exception". (The Economist). "Tinged with poignancy ...a humane and sensible voice in a highly toxic debate". (Colin Kidd, Guardian). "Paul Collier's new book on international migration is magisterial. It offers a sophisticated, comprehensive, incisive, multidisciplinary, well-written balance sheet of the pros and cons of immigration for receiving societies, sending societies, and migrants themselves. For everyone on all sides of this contentious issue, Exodus is a "must-read"." (Robert D. Putnam, Professor of Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University). [Praise for Paul Collier's The Plundered Planet]: "A must-read". (Sunday Times). "A path-breaking book". (George Soros). "Paul Collier must be read if one is to begin to understand the most vital contemporary arguments". (Bob Geldof).


The influence of lucerne hay quality on the milk production potential and milk composition of Jersey cows was investigated. Three different grades of lucerne hay (Prime, Grade 1, Grade 2; selected according to the New Lucerne Quality Index) were included in a total mixed ration (TMR) and fed to lactating cows. The three dietary treatments consisted of the same basal diet (53% lucerne hay, 7% wheat straw and 40% concentrate), differing only with respect to the lucerne hay quality. Fifty-seven lactating Jersey cows (389 ± 39.07 kg) were selected and blocked according to production potential (milk production, days in lactation, as well as lactation number) and randomly allocated to each of the dietary treatments (n = 19 animals per treatment). After a dietary adaptation period of 14 days, each treatment received their respective diets for the remaining period of 54 days. Average dry matter intake (DMI) and individual milk production was measured on a daily basis and production parameters were calculated accordingly. Milk composition samples were collected every second week. Grade 2 lucerne hay significantly decreased the voluntary DMI of the cows. However, the Prime lucerne hay significantly increased the metabolizable energy intake (MEI), as well as both the protein and milk urea nitrogen (MUN) content of the Jersey milk, compared to the Grade 1 and Grade 2 treatments. In contrast, the efficiency with which ME is utilized for milk production was significantly decreased following Prime lucerne hay inclusion. Milk yield as such was not affected by dietary treatment. Results of the present study seem to indicate that lucerne hay quality does affect the production performance, milk composition and efficiency of energy utilized for milk production purposes of Jersey cows.


Commercial real estate plays a key role in determining the urban sustainability of a metropolitan area. While the residential sector has been the primary focus of energy policies, commercial buildings are now responsible for most of the durable building stock's total electricity consumption. This paper exploits a unique panel of commercial buildings to investigate the impact of building vintage, contract incentives, and human capital on electricity consumption across commercial structures. We document that electricity consumption and building quality are complements, not substitutes. Technological progress may reduce the energy demand from heating, cooling and ventilation, but the behavioral response of building tenants and the large-scale adoption of appliances more than offset these savings, leading to increases in energy consumption in more recently constructed, more efficient structures.


Abstract This study reports results of an acreage supply equation using individual farm data and develops implications for bias introduced by use of aggregate data. The analysis shows that use of aggregate acreage response models underestimates the absolute value of price elasticities and the lagged adjustment process. Further, aggregated analyses cannot incorporate some variables found to be important in explaining from level acreage response.


abstract:Democratic transitions are often followed by conflict. This article explores one explanation: the military's strategic use of violence to retain control of economically valuable regions. The authors uncover this dynamic in Myanmar, a country transitioning from four decades of military rule. Fearing that the new civilian government will assert authority over jade mining, the military initiated violence in mining townships. Using geocoded data on conflict and jade mines, the authors find evidence for this strategic use of violence. As Myanmar started to transition in 2011, conflicts instigated by the military in jade-mining areas sharply rose. The article also addresses alternative explanations, including a shift in the military's strategy, colocation of mines and military headquarters, commodity prices, opposition to a controversial dam, and trends specific to Kachin State. With implications beyond Myanmar, the authors argue that outgoing generals can use instability to retain rents where plausible challengers to state authority provide a pretense for violence.


A mass in the pelvic canal of a 4-year-old pregnant alpaca hembra diagnosed as leiomyosarcoma of the urogenital tract was confirmed by biopsy. Following a tube cystotomy, the alpaca was presented 33 d later, 2 d after the tube cystotomy had been dislodged. A dead cria was delivered by caesarean section.


Benzo[a]pyrene is a procarcinogen present in environment and cigarette smoke, which could be bio-transformed in vivo to B[a]PDE, a potent carcinogen known to form DNA adducts and induce mutations. We observed that curcumin, a known chemopreventive, could significantly inhibit the survival of lung cancer cells exposed to B[a]PDE. It also downregulates B[a]PDE-induced nuclear translocation of NF-κB as assessed by Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay (EMSA) and NF-κB-dependent reporter gene assay. Ames assay demonstrated its ability to revert the mutagenic property of benzo[a]pyrene. These observations prompted us to evaluate the efficacy of curcumin in preventing B[a]P-induced lung carcinogenesis in vivo and to explore the molecular mechanism associated with it. The average number of tumor nodules present in the lungs of the Swiss albino mice, which received benzo[a]pyrene, was significantly high compared to that received curcumin as 2% diet along with B[a]P. Curcumin treatment significantly reverted histopathological deviations in the lung tissues due to benzo[a]pyrene ingestion. Moreover, curcumin diet reduced benzo[a]pyrene-induced activation of NF-κB and MAPK signaling and Cox-2 transcription in lung tissues of mice. Taken together, this study illustrates multifaceted efficacy of curcumin in preventing lung cancer.


It has been established that smallholder farmers have minimal access to various support services that would have otherwise enabled them to increase their output levels. The focus of this paper is to identify and quantify the impact of various support services on the production levels of cocoa in the Eastern region of Ghana. A cross sectional survey of 190 cocoa farmers was obtained using a two-stage sampling technique (purposive and random). Descriptive statistics and an OLS regression model were used to analyse and discuss the results of the study. The various support services identified included labour services, financial services, technical assistance, farmer group support services, Research and Development (R&D) institutional support services, extension services and input support services. The services that significantly influenced output levels of cocoa were extension services, labour supply and technical assistance, among other variables including farm size and quantity of agrochemical used. It is recommended that access to these support services be improved in order to realise an increase in output for the smallholder cocoa farmer.


Five different types of plantain (Musa spp. AAB) planting materials—early sword suckers, late sword suckers, peepers, maidens and bits—were established at the beginning of the rainy season and grown for 9 months, over the first subsequent dry season. Their pre-floral vegetative growth during the 9 month period was then studied. The late sword suckers made most growth and had the best survival rate over the dry season followed by maidens and early sword suckers. Peepers and bits were the least successful materials and are not recommended as propagation materials in areas with long and severe dry seasons.


This paper seeks to investigate White House oversight of agency rulemaking. Specifically, the paper analyses White House review of agency rulemaking accomplished through the White House's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) as required by executive order. It examines White House review of rulemaking from the first Reagan Administration through the second Clinton Administration, focusing especially on the Clinton era. The paper examines such factors as the number of rules the OIRA reviews, the number of rules reviewed from different agencies, the amount of resources OIRA commits to rulemaking review, the frequency with which the White House approves submitted rules without requiring changes, and the frequency with which the White House requires a change in submitted rules. The analysis also examines the types of interests that meet with OIRA concerning rules under review and tests for correlations between, for example, the types of interests that meeting with OIRA, on the one hand, and the fate of rules the subject of such meetings, on the other. In addition to several specific findings, this paper concludes generally that, from the early 1980s through the mid 1990s, the White House used the review process to have a greater influence over agency rulemaking, focusing on fewer rules over the years while requiring a change in a greater percentage, though in an apparently evenhanded way that did not work to the advantage of certain types of interests and the disadvantage of others.


Several markers of renal changes have been measured in a cohort of 50 workers exposed to elemental mercury (Hg) and in 50 control workers. After application of selection criteria 44 exposed and 49 control workers were retained for the final statistical analysis. Exposed workers excreted on average 22 micrograms Hg/g creatinine and their mean duration of exposure was 11 years. Three types of renal markers were studied--namely, functional markers (creatinine and beta 2-microglobulin in serum, urinary proteins of low or high molecular weight); cytotoxicity markers (tubular antigens and enzymes in urine), and biochemical markers (eicosanoids, thromboxane, fibronectin, kallikrein, sialic acid, glycosaminoglycans in urine, red blood cell membrane negative charges). Several bloodborne indicators of polyclonal activation were also measured to test the hypothesis that an immune mechanism might be involved in the renal toxicity of elemental Hg. The main renal changes associated with exposure to Hg were indicative of tubular cytotoxicity (increased leakage of tubular antigens and enzymes in urine) and biochemical alterations (decreased urinary excretion of some eicosanoids and glycosaminoglycans and lowering of urinary pH). The concentrations of anti-DNA antibodies and total immunoglobulin E in serum were also positively associated with the concentration of Hg in urine and in blood respectively. The renal effects were mainly found in workers excreting more than 50 micrograms Hg/g creatinine, which corroborates our previous estimate of the biological threshold of Hg in urine. As these effects, however, were unrelated to the duration of exposure and not accompanied by functional changes (for example, microproteinuria), they may not necessarily represent clinically significant alterations of renal function.


In this extraordinary tale of union democracy, Dana L. Cloud engages union reformers at Boeing in Wichita and Seattle to reveal how ordinary workers attempted to take command of their futures by chipping away at the cozy partnership between union leadership and corporate management. Taking readers into the central dilemma of having to fight an institution while simultaneously using it as a bastion of basic self-defense, We Are the Union offers a sophisticated exploration of the structural opportunities and balance of forces at play in modern unions told through a highly relevant case study. Focusing on the 1995 strike at Boeing, Cloud renders a multi-layered account of the battles between company and the union and within the union led by Unionists for Democratic Change and two other dissident groups. She gives voice to the company's claims of the hardships of competitiveness and the entrenched union leaders' calls for concessions in the name of job security, alongside the democratic union reformers' fight for a rank-and-file upsurge against both the company and the union leaders. We Are the Union is grounded in on-site research and interviews and focuses on the efforts by Unionists for Democratic Change to reform unions from within. Incorporating theory and methods from the fields of organizational communication as well as labor studies, Cloud methodically uncovers and analyzes the goals, strategies, and dilemmas of the dissidents who, while wanting to uphold the ideas and ideals of the union, took up the gauntlet to make it more responsive to workers and less conciliatory toward management, especially in times of economic stress or crisis. Cloud calls for a revival of militant unionism as a response to union leaders' embracing of management and training programs that put workers in the same camp as management, arguing that reform groups should look to the emergence of powerful industrial unions in the United States for guidance on revolutionizing existing institutions and building new ones that truly accommodate workers' needs. Drawing from communication studies, labor history, and oral history and including a chapter co-written with Boeing worker Keith Thomas, We Are the Union contextualizes what happened at Boeing as an exemplar of agency that speaks both to the past and the future.


The coming of sound to film was an event whose importance can hardly be overestimated; sound transformed not only the Hollywood film industry but all of world cinema as well. As economic and film historian Douglas Gomery explains, the business of film became not only bigger but much more complex. As sound spread its power, the talkies became an agent of economic and social change through the globe, extending America's reach in ways that had never before been imaginable. This is an essential work for anyone interested in early film, film history and economics, and the history of the American media.


Several abnormalities in cardiovascular autonomic function have been found in chronic renal failure patients
and it is associated with increase in mortality in these patients. So the study of autonomic neuropathy in patients of
chronic renal failure was taken up. Methods: A study was done on clinical profiles of autonomic neuropathy in patients
of chronic renal failure patients. Detailed clinical history, a thorough clinical examination, lab investigations and the
following clinical tests for autonomic neuropathy were done. Heart rate variability in response to deep breathing, heart
rate variability in response to standing, heart rate in response to Valsalva maneuver, blood pressure response to
standing and BP response to sustained hand grip exercise were recorded. Values obtained from the various tests were
tabulated into a worksheet. Result: Out of 100 patients, maximum numbers of patients belong to the age group of 50 –
60 years. In 43% of the chronic kidney disease patients the main cause was diabetes, while in 21% patients the
important cause was hypertension. Symptoms suggestive of autonomic neuropathy were present in 64% patients. 42%
patients had evidence of autonomic neuropathy.58.1% of them were diabetic patients and 29.8% of them were nondiabetic
patients. Conclusion: Diabetes mellitus was the commonest etiology for chronic renal failure followed by
hypertension and obstructive uropathy .Autonomic neuropathy is well associated with chronic renal failure patients.
Knowledge of autonomic dysfunction canencourage patients and physicians to improve metabolic control.


Uncertainty about admission chances and constraints on the number of application choices are two integral aspects of most coordinated school assignment systems. And yet, there is sparse empirical evidence on the behavioral and welfare consequences of these features. This paper builds and estimates a model of optimal portfolio choice to quantify the effects of constrained choice and uncertainty. Using the Marginal Improvement Algorithm proposed by Chade and Smith (2006), our strategy allows us to handle cases with large numbers of students and schools and to recover underlying structural parameters. An application based on administrative data from Ghana finds that total welfare is a concave function of the number of ranked choices – expanding the number of choices from 1 to 2 increases total welfare by 26% and reduces the number of unassigned students by approximately 18%. Allowing students to submit an unrestricted number of choices generates three times as much total welfare as allowing for a single choice.


The theory of low self-control has been shown to be a valid predictor of a wide variety of criminal and deviant behaviors. However, a limited number of studies were conducted to understand the relationship between low self-control and bullying and the effects of opportunity factors (i.e., parental supervision, association with other bullies, negative school environment, and disciplinary measures used by teachers) on bullying in the context of low self-control theory. The present study, using a sample of nearly 300 youths, examined the effects of low self-control and opportunity factors on various types of bullying behaviors. Results indicated that youths with low self-control were likely to physically and psychologically bully, consistent with the theory's prediction. When opportunity measures were introduced, they were stronger explanations of bullying than low self-control, especially association with other bullies and youth who experienced disciplinary measures by their teacher. Negative school environment was a significant predictor of psychological bullying but not for physical bullying. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.


Antigen processing and loading of peptides onto MHC class II molecules is a multistep process that involves vesicular transport of the MHCII molecules along the secretory pathway, where they eventually merge with antigen-containing endocytic vesicles or phagosomes (1). It is within these late endosomal or lysosomal compartments that protein antigens become degraded by proteases, most prominently by cathepsins, and where catalyzed peptide exchange by HLA-DM fulfills its role in the efficient replacement of the invariant chain-derived peptide CLIP by high-affinity pathogen- or host cell-derived peptides. Protease action may be limited by protein antigen abundance and redox conditions, while HLA-DM is regulated at several stages, including by expression levels, pH, or the co-expression of the competitive inhibitor HLA-DO. HLA-DM activity leads to significant changes in the immunopeptidome of antigen-presenting cells, thereby tailoring T cell responses and often shifting antigenicity toward high-affinity immunodominant epitopes (2). Control of DM activity by DO has been described to be of prime importance in thymic epithelial cells, in a subset of dendritic cells, and in B cells when entering the germinal centers for affinity maturation and class switching (3, 4). In all of these cases, the switch from a broader, self-peptide (CLIP) dominated immunopeptidome to a more focused repertoire is necessitated by the requirement for more stringent antigen presentation, often preceding more intense T cell reactivity and proliferation. Here, we review data on this cellular switch in the functionality of antigen presentation and propose that it is promoted by an as yet poorly understood molecular switch. Acknowledging that general biophysical parameters such as pH and redox are important for antigen processing in general, an elusive DM-DO switch is postulated that would allow rapid and strong shifts in immunopeptidomes. We capitalize on theoretical considerations to back our opinion that a regulatable switch would have the advantage of allowing for a rapid and possibly signal-dependent change in the peptide selection process, as might be required in the context of rapidly changing immunological conditions.


In this contribution to a Wayne Law Review symposium on the first three years of the Roberts Court, the author normatively assesses the Court's practice of "under-the-table overruling," or "underruling," in high-profile constitutional cases involving abortion, campaign-finance reform, and affirmative action. The Court "underrules" when it renders a decision that undercuts a recent precedent without admitting that it is doing so. The author contends that underruling either is not supported by, or is directly incompatible with, three common rationales for constitutional stare decisis: the noninstrumental rationale, the predictability rationale, and the legitimacy rationale. In particular, while the latter rationale - suggested by the Court's own account of constitutional stare decisis in Planned Parenthood v. Casey - superficially seems to support the practice of underruling, in fact it does not. Casey's association of stare decisis with judicial legitimacy plausibly can be understood to reflect a broader account of the judicial function in constitutional cases, one focusing on the Court's capacity to resolve certain disputes more acceptably than ordinary democratic politics. Underruling may serve this dispute-resolution function by preserving the appearance of the Court's impartiality, although there is reason for doubt. But underruling frustrates the dispute-resolution function in another way: By obscuring the reality of what the Court is doing, it makes meaningful popular participation in constitutional decisionmaking more difficult.