Behind the War on Terror: Western Secret Strategy and the Struggle for Iraq by: Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed Manufacturer: Clairview Books Release Date: 23 June, 2003 Media: Paperback Sales Rank: 3,781 This afterword to this brilliant book starts from the assumption that both Europe and the Arab world are facing the same tendency of a basic and underlying shift in global economic activity away from the West of the Euro/Asian/African landmass towards the countries of the Pacific, and that the United States Government's main interest today is in preserving and intensifying the US Government global hegemony after the end of the Cold War, and to maximize access to global wealth and energy resources in a world that looks more and more like the late 19th Century. The conditions of this political economy of the 21st Century were spelled out by the world system theory school of thought in the social sciences, pioneered by such scholars as Samir Amin, Giovanni Arrighi, Volker Bornschier, Christopher K. Chase-Dunn, Andre Gunder Frank, and Immanuel Wallerstein (Professor Wallerstein's work is actually referred to in the book). Chances to arrive at an alternative world order – one that is based on strengthened United Nations, on global cooperation, and global civilizational dialogue, were lost in the decade after the end of the Cold War. The positioning in the global power game, and nothing else, was the reason for this Iraq war, and forget all about the fight against "WMD" (weapons of mass destruction) and all the other "holy" principles. Nafeez Mosaddeq Ahmed is to be specially praised for his well-balanced conclusions and analysis of the foreign policies of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, based on dissenting, but very senior and well-informed Israeli sources. Yes to Medinat Israel – the secular State of Israel in the framework of the encompassing peace process (Medinat Israel being the Hebrew usage by Israeli politicians from David Ben Gurion to Yitzhak Rabin, referring to a democratic, secular Jewish state), but political disagreement with a concept of an Eretz Israel, in Likud usage also a Hebrew word for "State of Israel", but referring to the biblical concept of a much larger and non-secular entity. America's long term agenda under Bush, the argument runs, is not just interested in establishing its vision in the Near East (something that the present book brilliantly shows), but in the end is interested in blocking European peaceful ascent to global leadership – as envisioned by the European Union's Lisbon agenda until 2000 – at the same time. As it is well-known, at the Lisbon European Council (March 2000), the European Union set itself a new strategic goal for the next decade: to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. The rift between Europe and America – especially between France, Germany and Russia on the one hand and the US on the other hand, has a very basic political economic background – the growing hegemonic rivalry between the world's leading capitalist blocs, that characterize world capitalism since 1450. An EU comprising up to 40 nations of the third and fourth enlargement wave indeed would be a major change in the structure of the international system and could be driven by America's power play, but also by its own internal deficient dynamics, characterized by low innovation and high government spending, into such a position. A large, wider Europe, driven into hegemonic rivalry by the present hyperpower play by the United States - is a somber scenario, it enjoys a high kind of probability, and it has dire world political consequences.


To evaluate the tubal patency after methotrexate therapy compared to linear salpingostomy using saline infusion sonohysterography. It was a case-series study that was done at Ain Shams University Maternity Hospital (ASMUH) and included women who were admitted for having tubal pregnancy and treated by a single modality either methotrexate (MTX) or linear salpingostomy, over a 5-year period, between January 2010 and December 2014. 300 patients were recruited and divided into two equal arms 150 women in each. Group I were treated by methotrexate either single dose or multiple doses, while group II included women who underwent conservative surgical management (linear salpingostomy) either through laparoscopy or laparotomy. Saline infusion sonohysterography was performed for all participants and tubal patency was assessed in all women. Data was gathered from patient records present at "Patient Records Department" at ASUMH. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups as regards to the tubal patency either on affected side or contralateral side. However, patients had multiple doses of methotrexate had less tubal patency rates than those who treated by a single dose therapy. The approach of linear salpingo(s)tomy did not show a significant difference in tubal patency.


Through his alcoholism and her mental illness, his career highs (and lows) and her institutional confinement, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald's devotion to each other endured for more than twenty-two years. Now, for the first time, the story of the love of these two glamorous and hugely talented writers can be given in their own letters. Introduced by an extensive narrative of the Fitzgeralds' marriage, the 333 letters - three-quarters of them previously unpublished or out of print - have been edited by the noted Fitzgerald scholars, Jackson R. Bryer and Cathy W. Barks. They are illustrated throughout with a generous selection of familiar and unpublished photographs.


Previous research has consistently demonstrated a positive relation between firm size and skill premium. We decompose this result by type of skilled worker using data from Chilean firms and find that returns in skill premium to size are an order of magnitude larger for owners and managers compared to other types of skilled workers. We interpret this to imply that firm structure is important for understanding the relationship between skill premium and firm size. We propose an original model of firm hierarchy which rationalizes our empirical finding. In our model, more productive firms maximize profits by choosing to employ more levels of management. These managers require a higher average skill level and command a higher average skill premium. Additionally, our model predicts that skill premium is increasing in the ratio of workers to managers, a fact we also observe in the Chilean data.


Bilateral investment treaties are agreements between sovereign states that give broad protections to investors and investments made within the jurisdiction of the other state. The prevailing view in the academy and practice is that developing countries sign bilateral investment treaties in order to reassure investors from developed states that their investments will be safe from changes in domestic law. Without these "credible commitments," investors would be deterred from making investments, depriving developing countries of foreign capital. This Article disputes that view by demonstrating that foreign investors and host states effectively contract around the risk of changes in the law. This Article applies transaction cost economic theory to the most comprehensive empirical study of stabilization clauses (provisions intended to manage post-investment changes in domestic law) recently conducted under the auspices of the World Bank's International Finance Corporation. The analysis shows that investors and states demonstrate principles of efficient contracting even without the protections of bilateral investment treaties (BIT). This finding adds to current research focusing on the "credible commitment" story. The Article concludes that (1) BITs can be explained as instruments developed and developing states use in their competition for markets and capital and (2) differences in the reasons states execute BITs raise significant doubts about conclusions drawn based on aggregate phenomena.


This article addresses the politics and policy-making of alternative forms of basic education in the context of EFA, with an emphasis on non-formal education (NFE) for school-age children. It explores how policy-makers interpret the relevance of such alternatives, the steps that are taken to implement the reforms and factors that play a role in decision-making. Data are drawn from two case studies of NFE policy processes, in Uganda and in Kenya. It is suggested that, while governments make progress in moving towards diversified basic education, they tend to follow different models of integrating NFE. The solutions they find seem to depend on the national dynamics in which the roles of non-state actors, international agencies and, above all, the state are paramount. Their interactions reflect differences of power and of national education traditions.


The first part of the paper reports on the present state of the work of compiling 'The Atlas of Contemporary Hungarian Surnames'. The author speaks about the development of the search engine and the geographic information system needed to generate the maps for the Atlas, as well as about the elaboration of the necessary mathematical support programs. The author also discusses the theoretical and methodological approaches adopted in the compilation of frequency lists and in the definition of lexical types. The second part of the paper, based on thematic maps on the surname Orsós, gives us an insight into the process of how one can make some valid statements about the relationship between the observed surname and the Hungarian Beas Gypsies, when showing on maps the geographical distribution of the relevant data stored in MMCsA / DHS (A mai magyar családnevek adatbázisa / The Database of Hungarian Surnames), including more than 10 million surnames.


This book discusses the way ideas and forms traveled between Britain and France during the eighteenth century, and the extent to which the circulation of ideas between the two countries could be difficult. The volume shows that this difficulty, because it was acknowledged and often thematized, contributed to an increased awareness of what was really at stake in the very concept of Enlightenment. The examination of points of contact between the two cultures - contacts that became very much the fashion in the course of the eighteenth century - helps us understand how apparently common concepts and concerns fared differently from one country to the next, while being enriched by those contacts. The conversation of aesthetic theories and artistic forms of expression between the two countries sheds interesting light on the overall confrontation of conflicting theories of power and control that expressed themselves throughout the period of complete political redistribution. The ways myths and stories, forms and theories, traveled and changed currency gives us a clearer political grasp on the whole history of exchanges, as writers and artists, encouraged or irritated by the new myth of Progress, kept putting forward nothing else but models and strategies of public and private political economy. Frederic Ogee is Professor of English Literature at the University of Paris 7 - Denis Diderot.


The microstructure evolution of W-Cu composites during solid state sintering at 1050°C is studied on samples quenched after different sintering times. The microstructure is formed by 3 phases: tungsten (W), copper (Cu) and pores. During the process, the initial mixture of Wand Cu-powder is transformed by migration of Cu and rearrangement of W particles. These microstructural changes are studied to identify the underlying phenomena and to control the material properties. Based on experiments performed with two different W powders, this paper deals with various aspects of the quantitative analysis of the observed evolution. A careful preparation of the images is necessary. The porous samples are impregnated with a resin under vacuum before being cut and carefully polished. Low voltage (<10 kV) is used during image acquisition on a scanning electron microscope. Area fraction measurements are used to check the quality of the images and the segmentation process. Classical measurements are used to study the spreading of Cu onto the surface of W particles: surface area of each phase, area of contact between phases, chord length distributions. New measurements based on classical methods are also developed to distinguish between two mechanisms of Cu migration in the microstructure : Cu spreading on W surface (wetting of the surface), and capillary penetration in the inter-W channels. An analysis of the location of Cu and pores in the space between W particles (inter-W space) is performed using a granulometry based on 2D openings. It evidences the mechanism of capillary penetration of Cu in the inter-W space in the case of small W-particles.


COMPUTATION AND CONTROL OF FLOW-INDUCED NOISE BEHIND A CIRCULAR CYLINDER USING AN ACOUSTIC ANALOGY APPROACH by Sirivit Taechajedcadarungsri The computational aeroacoustics (CAA) research, which focuses on predicting acoustics by means of advanced numerical techniques, has recently gained a great deal of progress. In most applications, the prediction of both the sound source and its far-field propagation is necessary as required by regulations. Recently, powerful computers and reliable algorithms have allowed the prediction of far-field noise through the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) data as near-field sound sources. One of the most useful analytical methods, used for the computation of noise, is Lighthill's acoustic analogy. The latter will be used in the present study. Lighthill's acoustic analogy, combined with the two-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes flow computation at low Mach Number (M < 1), is used to predict the noise generated by laminar vortex shedding from a circular cylinder at the Reynolds number values Re = 100 and Re = 160. The computed velocity and pressure in the flow field are used as input data for noise source functions. The noise prediction is determined by using Curie's solution of Lighthill's acoustic analogy. Due to the fact that the magnitude of the quadrupole noise source (0(21/ 3 )) for this type of flow is much smaller than that of the dipole source (0(M 2 )) at low Mach Number, this study concentrates on investigating only the effect of the dipole source on the flow field. The noise amplitude and frequency obtained by using Curle's solution agree well with published data. For both values of Reynolds numbers Re = 100 and Re = 160, the "lift" dipole source function, caused by the lift force acting on a circular cylinder, is the dominant source term that affects the total acoustic density fluctuation. The objective of this research is to study the suppression of flow-induced noise behind a circular cylinder using a flow control method. The selected method is the electro-magnetic feedback control method developed by Chen and Aubry (2000). The results show that at Re = 100 and Re = 160 the nondimensional acoustic density fluctuation is decreased by five orders of magnitude. COMPUTATION AND CONTROL OF FLOW-INDUCED NOISE BEHIND A CIRCULAR CYLINDER USING AN ACOUSTIC ANALOGY APPROACH by Sirivit Taechajedcadarungsri A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of New Jersey Institute of Technology in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering Department of Mechanical Engineering


Antarctica, the fifth largest continent, covers almost 14 M km2 and extends to 20 M km2 as sea ice develops in the austral winter..Some 98 percent of the continent scovered by ice with an average thickness of 2450m. The icecap gives Antarctica the greatest average elevation of all continents at 2300 m (the Australian continent averages 340 m). The highest elevation on the icecap rises to a height of 4100 m.
The continent is divided into two regions by the mainly exposed Transantarctic Mountains extending some 3500 km from Cape Adare to isolated ranges close to the Filchner Ice Shelf (Drewry 1987). East of the Transantarctic Mountains is East or Greater Antarctica, a Precambrian shield almost completely covered by an ice sheet. The Gamburtsev Mountains are the largest within the continental interior and rise to 3800 m.
West of the Transantarctic Mountains lies West or Lesser Antarctica, characterised by various mountain ranges such as the Ellsworth Mountains, mountain massifs found along the Pacific coast, and the rugged Antarctic Peninsula. It is here, adjacent to the Ronne Ice Shelf, in the Ellsworth Mountains, that the highest mountain, Mt. Vinson (4897 m), is located.
The Ellsworth region (discussed later) was considered in 1976 as "being perhaps the last extensive unexplored area on earth ... " with scientific studies at the time adding 38 000 km2 to the land area of Antarctica (Swithinbank et al. 1976, p.295). The Rutford Ice Sheet which is dammed up and diverted around the northern end of the Ellsworth Mountains, consists of floating ice 1860 m thick; the thickest ice ever found floating on the sea. Within 60 km of Mt. Vinson a trench extends some 1600 m below sea level (Swithinbank et al, 1976).


Evidence supporting a broad role for the inactivation of the p53 gene in human tumorigenesis has been provided by studies showing that the p53 gene is mutated in many human cancers. In this study, we report on the mutational status of the p53 gene in prostate cancer cells and provide functional evidence that the wild-type p53 gene may have a role in suppressing prostatic tumorigenesis. Sequence analysis of exons 5-8 of the p53 gene reveals that three of five prostate cancer cell lines (TSUPr-1, PC3, DU145) contain mutations which alter the amino acid sequence of this most highly conserved portion of the gene. One of two primary prostatic cancer specimens examined also contained a mutation in this region. Transfection of the wild-type p53 gene rrr.v«.\ a mutated p53 gene into two cell lines with p53 mutations results in reduced colony formation. Wild-type pS3 gene expression is apparently incompatible with continued growth of these tumor cells inasmuch as none of the colonies which formed after wild-type transfections retain the transfected p53 sequences. Immunocytochemical data indicate that prostate carci noma cells expressing the transfected wild-type p53 gene are growth arrested because they exhibit a reduced level of thymidine incorporation into DNA. This study is the first report of p53 gene mutations in prostate cancer cells and suggests a functional role for thep53 gene in suppressing prostatic tumorigenesis.


This paper considers the interaction of legal norms and social norms in the regulation of work and working relations, observing that, with the contraction of collective bargaining, this is a matter that no longer attracts the attention that it deserves. Drawing upon two concepts from sociology – Max Weber's 'labour constitution' and Seymour Martin Lipset's 'occupational community' – it focuses on possibilities for the emergence, within groups of workers, of shared normative beliefs concerning 'industrial justice' (Selznick); for collective solidarity and agency; for the transformation of shared beliefs into legally binding norms; and for the enforcement of those norms. If labour law is currently in 'crisis', then a promising route out of the crisis, we argue, is for the law to recover its procedural focus, facilitating and encouraging these processes.


The aim of this study was to investigate whether the UK process of cycle audit and cycle review should be introduced in New Zealand. The researchers interviewed traffic engineers and planners, road safety co-ordinators and cycle officers in nine local authorities, as well as cycle advocates, regional authority staff and Transit staff They used a standard set of questions as a basis for the interviews. The results include information on the safety audit processes currently used, how cyclists are considered in the design process, whether cycling is encouraged, whether cyclist safety is provided for, and whether road controlling authorities would be likely to use the process of cycle audit and cycle review. The results show that there are gaps in providing for cycling in the current design processes . Recommendations include suggestions for introducing cycle audit and review and improvements to processes for catering for cyclists in road design. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see IRRD abstract no. E202589.


Abstract. In this study, the meteorological drought represented by Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and agriculture drought represented by Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) are analysed in seven regions over Turkey. VCI calculated using the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data obtained from NOAA AVHRR, SPEI obtained from the SPEI global database with the version (SPEI base v2.5), and Land use/cover obtained from CORINE datasets. The study covers the period from January 1982 to December 2015 due to the availability of NDVI data. The correlation between monthly and seasonal VCI and SPEI (lag months 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12) was investigated in a regional and provincial scale. Monthly correlation found to be the highest in the Central Anatolia, Aegean, Marmara and Mediterranean regions respectively, while other regions have lower and non-homogenous values. One lag time of the VCI with respect to SPEI 12 improves the correlation. The regional correlation showed that, the highest correlation between two parameters is obtained for all the regions with SPEI 12 during summer, then followed by Autumn, and Spring months, the maximum values are recorded for the Central Anatolia (0.656) and Mediterranean (0.625) in Summer, and Aegean (0.643) in Autumn respectively; rather lower correlation values did occur in Marmara (0.515) in Autumn, Eastern Anatolia (0.501), SE Anatolia (0.375) and Black Sea (0.297) regions in Summer. The provincial investigation between seasonal VCI and SPEI indicated that the presence of a positive correlation in general in most of the provinces in all seasons with several exceptions in the Eastern Anatolia, South eastern Anatolia, Black sea, and Marmara. The land cover types with high correlation coefficients are noticed to be covered by forest, agricultural lands, non-irrigable lands and mostly covered by fruits (grape, olive etc.) using CORINE land cover map.


The aim of this study was to associate the distribution of waders (Charadriiformes) with physical attributes of estuaries and map the distribution of estuaries that have the potential to support large diverse wader populations. Maximum wader abundance and the maximum number of species recorded (1983-1994) at 94 estuaries on the North Island, New Zealand were related to physical attributes of the estuaries using General Linear Modelling techniques. Parameters describing the estuary type, area, tidal influence, catchment area, catchment rainfall, intertidal area and temperature were used as independent variables. Anaiysis revealed strong positive relationships between the size and diversity of a wader population and estuary area. A negative relationship between catchment runoff and wader abun- dance and diversity existed in some estuaries. The model predicted that relatively small estuaries (100 to 999 ha) could support large, diverse wader populations if catchment runoff was low. A map of estuaries predicted by the model to support large diverse populations of wading birds is presented. This study highlights the value of large estuaries in New Zealand in maintaining large populations and high species diversity of migratory and nonmigratory waders. Whelan, M.B.; Hume, T.M.; Sagar, P.M.; Shankar, U.; Liefting, R. 2003. Relationship between physical characteristics of estuaries and the size and diversity of wader populations in the North Island of New Zealand. Notornis 50(1): 11-22.


Massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is considered as one of the key technologies that will enable the next generation of wireless communications. In order to perform downlink (DL) beamforming algorithms with large antenna arrays, the biggest challenge is the acquisition of accurate channel state information at the transmitter (CSIT). To take up this challenge, time division duplex (TDD) is favorable to massive MIMO systems thanks to its channel reciprocity in DL and uplink (UL). However, while the physical channel in the air is reciprocal, the radio-frequency (RF) front-ends in transceivers are not; therefore, calibration should be used in practical systems to compensate the RF hardware asymmetry. In this thesis, we focus on turning massive MIMO concept into reality based on TDD reciprocity calibration. The contributions can be summarized as follows. First, we propose a unified framework for reciprocity calibration, which generalizes various calibration methods existing in literature, providing a higher level view on the calibration problem as well as opening up possibilities of numerous innovations on calibration methods. Second, based on this general representation, we propose three new calibration schemes: a fast calibration method based on antenna grouping, a calibration scheme for hybrid beamforming architecture, as well as a calibration parameter tracking and system health monitoring mechanism which allows fast detection of parameter change. Third, we carried out measurements of calibration parameters on a real platform in order to reveal the hardware properties. Fourth, we study, from a system point of view, how accurately a TDD massive MIMO system should be calibrated. Last but not least, enabled by TDD reciprocity calibration, we build up an open source long term evolution (LTE) compatible massive MIMO testbed based on the OpenAirInterface platform, which can directly provide Internet service to a commercial device. The testbed demonstrates the feasibility of integrating massive MIMO into current 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards and its usage in 5G can be a smooth evolution from current 4G systems.


Groundwater is the primary source of drinking water for small municipalities and individuals. However, groundwater can be polluted by almost any land use. Consequently, many governments have acquired groundwater information in the aim of protecting the resource. Nevertheless, the resulting data are often ill-fitted to planning needs. In a previous study, a method was developed to help planners interpret hydrogeological data. It combines land planning and hydrogeological data through multicriteria analysis, in order to obtain groundwater contamination risk maps. The method proved efficient and useful. However, it could not be easily implemented by land planners, who do not always have training with these types of data and geographical information system (GIS). This paper presents how the method was integrated into a web-based interface called Amenagement du Territoire et Eau Souterraine (ATES). ATES allows planners to view groundwater basic maps, evaluate the present contamination risk for groundwater, and analyse new planning scenarios. ATES also suggests mitigation measures and offers tools to discuss the possible solutions. The tool has been developed, tested and validated with land planners. To our knowledge, it is the first geo-informatics tool developed especially for planners that aims at facilitating the incorporation of groundwater into planning. Moreover, an innovative approach called MACBETH was used for data aggregation, a novelty in groundwater management and spatial data integration.


Osteoma is one of most common benign tumors of the nose and paranasal sinuses, with the frontal sinus being its most frequent location. It may be locally destructive and aggressive with possible intracranial complications. Osteoma of the frontal sinus comprises 57% of all osteomas in the paranasal sinuses. In 1939, Childrey reviewed 3,510 consecutive sinus radiographs taken for any reason and found an incidence of 0.43% of paranasal sinus osteomas. There are many operative approaches for frontal sinus osteomas, such as external frontoethmoidal approach and osteoplastic frontal sinusectomy, both with high recurrence rates. Those traditional operative methods cannot radically eradiate the osteoma grown in the posterior table of the frontal sinus. From July 1991 to June 1992, three patients with symptomatic frontal sinus osteomas were operated by a craniofacial approach. One patient is presented here in detail. A coronal incision is used and is found to be beneficial both in surgical exposure and in reconstruction with a calvarial bone graft. The patient has been followed for 3.5 years without osteoma recurrence.


MARK A. RAIMER [*] WHEN ASKED how he had accomplished so much in the sciences, Sir Isaac Newton replied, "If I have seen farther than others, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants." [1] Newton recognized that science operates as a social function, a time-binding endeavor, the latest achievements of which stand on a foundation built by past generations. Without this quintessential human trait of recording "knowledge" for others to use later, Newton could never have studied Copernicus, Kepler, Bruno, Galileo, and Descartes - whose works helped mold Newtonian physics. Without it, we would have no time-binded model of Newtonian physics [right arrow] no theory of relativity (Einstein) [right arrow] no De Sitter cosmology, Schrodinger/Heisenberg quantum mechanics, general semantics (Korzyb ski), neurolinguistics, transactional psychology, etc. (2) Recognizing the singular importance of passing knowledge from one generation to another (time-binding), we trust that those who document the discoveries of science do not abuse their positions, do not attempt to distort our shared history. (3) In this essay, the present author shall attempt to amusenalyze (amusingly analyze) just such an abuse of the time-binding "ethic" from within one of America's s most prestigious institutions, the Smithsonian. In short, the Smithsonian [Institution.sup.1995-1999] (SI) seems to present the public with an extremely biased version of electrical engineering history. (4) As we shall soon see, certain individuals within the SI have used rather loathsome linguistic legerdemains in their attempt to erase the great Serbian-American inventor Nikola Tesla from the history books. Students of general semantics, I think, will find an examination of this semantic sabotage quite entertaining. The curator and others staff members within the SI credit Thomas Alva Edison for our worldwide system of electricity and Marchese Guglielmo Marconi for the invention of radio. In contradistinction to these assertions, we find the publicly available decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Patent Office, both of which recognize Tesla - not Marconi or Edison - for innovations in radio and AC electrical development. (How many readers assumed, up until this point, that Marconi did in fact invent radio and that Edison did spark an "electrical revolution" around the turn of the 20th century?) Tesla holds over forty U.S. patents (c. 1888) covering our worldwide system of polyphase alternating current (AC). We cannot accurately describe Edison's system of direct current (DC) as "revolutionary" because it used already existent technology in its development. [5] (Read: Edison copied the work of other scientists, namely Zenobe T. Gramme and Friedrich von HefnerAlteneck, who had created a successful DC generator in 1872.) As to the credit Guglielmo Marconi receives from the SI, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Marconi's basic patent in favor of Tesla for the invention of radio. [6] The court ruled unequivocally that Tesla's four-tuned circuits (two circuits on the transmitting side and two on the receiving side) predated Marconi's patents on radio. [7] (Read: Marconi's two-tuned circuit system represented nothing more than the work earlier advanced by Heinrich Hertz and offered no more advantage than the system Mahlon Loomis proposed back in the 1870s.) Perhaps the mainstream's myopia in this matter results from the sheer prestige associated with the SI. Perhaps the dizzying eminence attached to a title such as "Curator of the Smithsonian" can induce some form of neurolinguistic narcosis, leaving the hapless reader believing that such a title bestows infallibility upon a person so tagged. Whatever the cause, assigning sole credit to Edison for our worldwide system of electricity and Marconi for inventing radio represents one of the most audacious assaults on the scientific annals in contemporary history. …


In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, transcription of several drug transporter genes, including the major transporter gene PDR5, has been shown to peak during mitosis. The significance of this observation, however, remains unclear. PDR1 encodes the primary transcription activator of multiple drug transporter genes in S. cerevisiae, including PDR5. Here, we show that in synchronized PDR1 and pdr1-3 (multidrug resistant) strains, cellular efflux of a known substrate of ATP-binding-cassette transporters, doxorubicin (a fluorescent anticancer drug), is highest during mitosis when PDR5 transcription peaks. A genetic screen performed to identify regulators of multidrug resistance revealed that a truncation mutation in ELM1 (elm1-300) suppressed the multidrug resistance of pdr1-3. ELM1 encodes a serine/threonine protein kinase required for proper regulation of multiple cellular kinases, including those involved in mitosis, cytokinesis, and cellular morphogenesis. elm1-300 as well as elm1Δ mutations in a pdr1-3 strain also caused elongated bud morphology (indicating a G2/M delay) and reduction of PDR5 transcription under induced and noninduced conditions. Interestingly, mutations in several genes functionally related to ELM1, including cla4Δ, gin4Δ, and cdc28-C127Y, also caused drastic reductions in drug resistance and PDR5 transcription. Collectively, these data show that ELM1, and genes encoding related serine/threonine protein kinases, are required for regulation of multidrug resistance involving, at least in part, control of PDR5 transcription.


One of the more effective anti-union techniques used by employers during labor organizational campaigns is the holding of employee captive audience meetings. Employees, in the midst of deciding whether or not to join a union, are compelled to attend an assembly where management has a one-way conversation with them about the evils of unionism. These meetings occur during working hours, when the employer is best able to exert its economic authority over employees and to play on fears of job loss if employees vote for the union. While employees are free to leave these meetings in the formal sense, they may only do so at the peril of losing their jobs. Further, employers can exclude pro-union employees from such meetings and can fire employees for attempting to ask questions. When one also considers that unions generally lack access to employer property to disseminate pro-union messages, one begins to understand the imbalance of this workplace dynamic. What is most amazing to those who hear about the captive audience meeting tactics for the first time is that such actions by employers are not only tolerated in the United States, but have been considered lawful under the National Labor Relations Act for over sixty years.Based on employee free choice, the conduct/speech distinction in labor picketing cases, and the threadbare nature of NLRB precedent in this area, this Article contends that the Board should return to its Clark Bros. doctrine and make employer captive audience meetings a per se violation of Section 8(a)(1) of the NLRA. No need exists for statutory amendment of the NLRA because the current language of the Act, even in light of the Section 8(c) employer free speech provisions, readily supports this alternative interpretation. Without the proverbial gun to their heads, employees will again be able to exercise free choice in deciding whether they wish to be represented by a labor organization.


As computers are increasingly more integrated into our daily lives, we need aiding mechanisms for separating legitimate software from their unwanted counterparts. We use the term Privacy-Invasive Software (PIS) to refer to such illegitimate software, sometimes loosely labelled as spyware. In this thesis, we include an introduction to PIS, and how it differs from both legitimate and traditionally malicious software. We also present empirical measurements indicating the effects that PIS have on infected computers and networks. An important contribution of this work is a classification of PIS in which we target both the level of user consent, as well as the degree of user consequences associated with PIS. These consequences, affecting both users and their computers, form a global problem that deteriorates a vast number of users' computer experiences today. As a way to hinder, or at least mitigate, this development we argue for more user-oriented countermeasures that focus on informing users about the behaviour and consequences associated with using a particular software. In addition to current reactive countermeasures, we also need preventive tools dealing with the threat of PIS before it enters users' computers. Collaborative reputation systems present an interesting way forward towards such preventive and user-oriented countermeasures against PIS. Moving the software reputations from old channels (such as computer magazines or friends' recommendations) into an instantly fast reputation system would be beneficial for the users when distinguishing unwanted software from legitimate. It is important that such a reputation system is designed to address antagonistic intentions from both individual users and groups thereof, so that users could depend on the reputations. This would allow users to reach more informed decisions by taking the reported consequences into account when deciding whether they want a specific software to enter their computer or not.


The biological transmission of Tomato Venezuela virus (ToVEV) by biotype B of the whitefly species Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) increased (21.7-95.0%), and the time for symptom expression decreased (16-12.6 days) as the number of viruliferous whiteflies allowed access for inoculation to susceptible tomato plants increased from 1 to 20 adults/plant. When acquired only as a nymph, adults of this biotype transmitted the virus to 88.3% of susceptible tomato plants, using 15 viruliferous individuals per test plant, corroborating the circulative nature of the transmission. Disease incidence further increased (up to 100%) when the individuals were allowed to feed again on a virus-infected plant as adults. Leaf area, plant height and dry matter were significantly affected in ToVEV infected tomato plants.


Three-dimensional relocated seismicity in eastern Taiwan reveals two north-to-northeast trending seismogenic zones, one located close to the Longitudinal Valley and the other near to the crest of the Luzon arc. Earth quake focal mechanisms obtained from P-wave first motion polarity data are presented in this study for 70 events in these two seismic zones. The focal mechanism solutions for both seismic zones show mainly thrust and strike-slip faulting in the area south of 23.2°N. The horizontal projection of the events' P-axis indicates a pattern consistent with the regional NW-SE compression. However, the orientation of the events' T-axes indicates that there are different patterns for the two seismic zones. By combining evi dence from seismicity, Pand T-axes, as well as detailed bathymetry, we infer that the two seismic zones (fault systems) might mark the east and west boundaries of the Luzon forearc. According to the transpressional strain model proposed in this study, the Luzon forearc represents a de forming zone, between two relatively rigid blocks, that undergoes shearing from the transcurrent component of oblique convergence in eastern Taiwan. (


BACKGROUND
The clinical benefit of cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) remains inconclusive.

OBJECTIVE
We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy/safety of ChEIs on subjects with MCI.

METHODS
We included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of ChEIs in subjects with MCI, using cognitive function scores as a primary outcome measure.

RESULTS
Fourteen RCTs (six using donepezil, four using galantamine, and four using rivastigmine) with 5,278 subjects were included. We found no significant difference in cognitive function scores between the ChEIs and placebo groups [standardized mean difference (SMD) = -0.06, p = 0.38, I2 = 76% ]. However, in the secondary outcomes, ChEIs were associated with a lower incidence of progression to dementia compared with placebo (risk ratio = 0.76, the number needed to treat = 20). For safety outcomes, ChEIs were associated with a lower prevalence of fall than placebo. On the other hand, compared with placebo, ChEIs were associated with a higher incidence of discontinuation due to all causes, discontinuation due to adverse events, at least one adverse event, abnormal dreams, diarrhea, dizziness, headache, insomnia, loose stools, muscle cramps, nausea, vomiting, and weight loss.

CONCLUSIONS
Although ChEIs have a slight efficacy in the treatment of MCI, there are many safety issues. Therefore, ChEIs are difficult to recommend for MCI. However, the efficacy and safety of ChEIs on MCI with a biomarker-based diagnosis is unclear. Further RCTs are needed to confirm the efficacy and safety of ChEIs when used for individual neuropathological classifications of MCI.


Introduction Obesity has reached the proportions of pandemia. About 1,7 million people worldwide have obesity-related problems. The increase in the prevalence of obesity is related to dyslipidaemia, cardiovascular disease and arterial thrombosis. Most of the studies concerning these conditions were conducted among urban residents and less in the low socioeconomic rural populations. Aim To determine the prevalence of obesity and dyslipidaemia and, their relationship in a rural black population at Ga-Mothapo villages. Methods Empirical, cross-sectional, prospective and quantitative community-based study. The sample consisted of 382 participants, 286 being females and 96 males aged 18-65 years. Fasting blood samples were analyzed for triglycerides, total cholesterol and high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was calculated from total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL-C using Friedewald formula. Height and weight were measured using a stadiometer and a weighing scale, respectively. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from weight and height. Results in Prevalences  Overall prevalence rates were: 10.2% hypertriglyceridaemia, 9.9% hypercholesterolaemia, 6.3% low HDL-C, 13.6% high LDL-C, 23.6% obesity and 30% dyslipidaemia risk. Females prevalence rates were: 11.9% hypertriglyceridaemia, 11.2% hypercholesterolaemia, 6.7% low HDL-C, 15.7% high LDL-C, 29.4% obesity; male prevalence rates were: 5.2%, 6.3%, 4.2%, 7.3% and 6.3%, respectively. Conclusion The study indicated high prevalence of obesity and dyslipidaemia in the rural population studied. Dyslipidaemia was found to be related to BMI. Dyslipidaemia increased with obesity and age in females but irregularly in males. Obesity and dyslipidaemia were thus, highlighted as health problems with risk for dyslipidaemia indicating a high risk for developing arterial thrombosis, cardiovascular disease and hypertension.


Abstract Background NEPA is the first and only fixed oral combination of a long-acting NK1receptor antagonist (RA), netupitant, and a pharmacologically distinct 5-HT3RA, palonosetron. NEPA is approved for prevention of chemotherapy (ctx)-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) in patients (pts) receiving cisplatin-based highly emetogenic ctx (HEC) or moderately emetogenic ctx (MEC). Here we present patient-reported outcomes (PRO) of patients (pts) receiving NEPA as an antiemetic prophylaxis during platin-based chemotherapy in a prospective non-interventional study. This group of patients presents a population at high risk for CINV. Methods The ongoing prospective AkyPRO study was designed to evaluate quality of life (QoL) in 2500 pts receiving NEPA for CINV prevention in single or two-day MEC or HEC over 3 cycles. The primary endpoint QoL was recorded by FLIE questionnaires. Secondary endpoints were efficacy, reported by pts and physicians on a 4-point scale; antiemetic rescue medication, and safety. Results In this interims analysis 595 pts receiving platin-based ctx were evaluated. PRO data show that ctx-induced vomiting can be controlled very efficiently in the majority of platin-receiving pts. Between 80-90% of pts reported no impact on daily life due to vomiting and between 84-90% of pts had a complete response (no vomiting, no rescue medication) in the 3 analysed cycles, independently of which type of platin-ctx they received. Furthermore, the majority of pts (74%, 81% and 68%, respectively) reported no or mild nausea in the cisplatin-, carboplatin- and oxaliplatin-subgroup in cycle 1. However, even mild nausea seems to have a strong impact on daily life with 40% of pts receiving cisplatin- or carboplatin-based chemotherapy and 46% of oxaliplatin-receiving pts reporting an impact on daily life due to nausea in cycle 1. Conclusions NEPA was proven highly effective in controlling both vomiting and nausea over three cycles of ctx independent of the type of platin administered. Despite the reported MEC classification of oxaliplatin in contrast to the HEC classification of cis- and carboplatin, nausea was more difficult to control in oxaliplatin-receiving patients. Legal entity responsible for the study Riemser Pharma. Funding Riemser Pharma. Disclosure M. Karthaus: Advisory / Consultancy: Helsinn; Advisory / Consultancy: Riemser. J. Schilling: Advisory / Consultancy: Riemser. All other authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


This thesis explores improvements to well-known algorithms for integer multiplication and factorization. The Schonhage-Strassen algorithm for integer multiplication, published in 1971, was the first to achieve complexity O(n log(n) log(log(n))) for multiplication of n-bit numbers and is still among the fastest in practice. It reduces integer multiplication to multiplication of polynomials over finite rings which allow the use of the Fast Fourier Transform for computing the convolution product. In joint work with Gaudry and Zimmermann, we describe an efficient implementation of the algorithm based on the GNU Multiple Precision arithmetic library, improving cache utilization, parameter selection and convolution length for the polynomial multiplication over previous implementations, resulting in nearly 2-fold speedup. The P-1 and P+1 factoring algorithms find a prime factor p of a composite number quickly if p-1, respectively p+1, contains no large prime factors. They work in two stages: the first step computes a high power g 1 of an element g 0 of a finite group defined over F p , respectively F p^2 , the second stage looks for a collision of powers of g 1 which can be performed efficiently via polynomial multi-point evaluation. In joint work with Peter Lawrence Montgomery, we present an improved stage 2 for these algorithms with faster construction of the required polynomial and very memory-efficient evaluation, increasing the practical search limit for the largest permissible prime in p-1, resp. p+1, approximately 100-fold over previous implementations. The Number Field Sieve (NFS) is the fastest known factoring algorithm for ``hard'' integers where the factors have no properties that would make them easy to find. In particular, the modulus of the RSA encryption system is chosen to be a hard composite integer, and its factorization breaks the encryption. Great efforts are therefore made to improve NFS in order to assess the security of RSA accurately. We give a brief overview of the NFS and its history. In the sieving phase of NFS, a great many smaller integers must be factored. We present in detail an implementation of the P-1, P+1, and Elliptic Curve methods of factorization optimized for high-throughput factorization of small integers. Finally, we show how parameters for these algorithms can be chosen accurately, taking into account the distribution of prime factors in integers produced by NFS to obtain an accurate estimate of finding a prime factor with given parameters.


The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is pleased to present the 2008 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR), the fourth in a series of reports on homelessness in the United States. The reports respond to a series of Congressional directives calling for the collection and analysis of data on homelessness. The 2008 AHAR breaks new ground by being the first report to provide year-to-year trend information on homelessness in the United States. The report provides the latest counts of homelessness nationwide - including counts of individuals, persons in families, and special population groups such as veterans and chronically homeless people. The report also covers the types of locations where people use emergency shelter and transitional housing; where people were just before they entered a residential program; how much time they spend in shelters over the course of a year; and the size and use of the U.S inventory of residential programs for homeless people. This AHAR also is the first to compare Point-in-Time estimates reported by Continuums of Care across several years.


Two fly ash samples (one from UK, UKFA, and another from South Africa, SAFA) were washed with water and 1 M hydrochloric acid (followed by water) prior to incorporation (at 65% wt) into polypropylene homopolymer, containing an unsaturated carboxylic acid coupling agent (Lubrizol Solplus® C800) with dicumyl peroxide free radical initiator. Melt blending was achieved using a Haake Rheomix 600 mixing chamber, and composite test plaques were compression moulded. Flexural and impact testing was then carried out. Unwashed and water washed fly ash-based composites responded well to C800 modification, and flow microcalorimetry (FMC) and diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy studies confirmed strong interaction between C800 and fly ash. However, washing the fly ash with HCl led to a reduction in composite flexural and impact properties. Scanning electron microscopy imaging of the latter composite fracture surfaces revealed poor filler-matrix adhesion, which was thought to be due to reduced interaction between C800 and HCl washed fly ash. The latter was confirmed using FMC. Reduction of C800/fly ash interaction led to a reduction in the nucleation of polypropylene (PP) crystallization and a decrease in melt flow rate. The latter may be due to a shift in locus of PP-C800 addition reactions from the interfacial region to the bulk matrix. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers.


In this study a comparative analysis of the Rural Development Plans (RDPs) in four intermediate rural regions (Northern Netherlands, Lower Saxony, Wales and Emilia Romagna) and four most urban regions (Southern Netherlands, North Rhine-Westphalia, Flanders and Lombardia) is made. Such plans are designed in the scope of the second pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In particular, the focus was on the question whether the menu approach of the second pillar enables EU member states and regions to design Rural Development Plans with a tailor-made set of measures which address their specific rural development needs. The findings of this study suggest that the current menu of rural development measures is sufficient to suit the wide range of socio-economic, ecological and physical circumstances in the EU regions. The analysis also revealed that there is some overlap between the three rural development priorities of the second pillar. Therefore, an outline of future rural development priorities and measures in the EU is designed, in which it is attempted to avoid overlap between the various rural development priorities and in which each measure contributes to the achievement of one development priority only. In addition, it is proposed that regions would select only those measures in their Rural Development Plan which really address the rural development needs in their region, even if this results in a Rural Development Plan with only one or two rural development measures. Such an approach of selecting rural development measures according to regional needs will result in a large variation in rural development measures implemented and may be considered regional differentiation of EU rural development policy.


Electro-optic (EO) effect and thermo-optic (TO) effect are jointly considered on the basis of field-induced and temperature-affected perturbations of the operating point in waveguide components. TO coefficients of EO fluorinated polyimide films with side-chain azobenzene chromophore were measured by attenuated-total-reflection (ATR) technique at different temperatures with TE- and TM-polarized lights, respectively. It is found that the absolute values of TO coefficients increase with the increments of both chromophore concentration and film thickness, but the polarization dependence of TO coefficients increases with the increment of chromophore concentration and decreases with the increment of film thickness.


This thesis contributes a sociological perspective on the practice of feminist zine production and distribution in the UK. Feminist zines facilitate the development of 'feminist zine subculture', a trans-local subcultural space that centres on a relatively collectivised adherence to DIY feminist subjectivity. The main objective of the work is to show how this subculture is characterised by its own aesthetics, geographical organisation, internal politics and wider subcultural affiliations.
Through the utilisation of an Integrated Textual Analysis (ITA) of 74 'feminist zines', interviews with 29 zine creators, and on-site observations of zinefests, this work argues for a revised perspective on the study of subculture. Feminist zine creators' recognition of the limited ways in which feminist history has been documented, and their investment in DIY lifestyles, motivates their involvement in the subculture. However, participants also embody 'insider' and 'outsider' subjectivities within this space, meaning that many experience a form of 'peripheral participation', caused by their geographical location or the extent to which they subscribe to the dominant values of DIY subculture.
This thesis situates the spatial negotiations, embodied subjectivities, and cultural production practices of the participants within a broader understanding of subculture as the product of multiple 'fields of reference'. Utilising an adaptation of Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of 'field', 'habitus' and 'capital', this work develops 'subcultural cartography'; a method of data presentation that shows how feminist zine subculture is internally characterised, and how this characterisation is influenced by a variety of different cultural fields. Ultimately, this work argues for a more nuanced perspective on how structural inequalities and hierarchies manifest within subcultures themselves.


The 3.4‐Ga Strelley Pool Formation (SPF) at the informally named 'Waterfall Locality' in the Goldsworthy greenstone belt of the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia, provides deeper insights into ancient, shallow subaqueous to possibly subaerial ecosystems. Outcrops at this locality contain a thin (<3 m) unit of carbonaceous and non‐carbonaceous cherts and silicified sandstones that were deposited in a shallow‐water coastal environment, with hydrothermal activities, consistent with the previous studies. Carbonaceous, sulfide‐rich massive black cherts with coniform structures up to 3 cm high are characterized by diverse rare earth elements (REE) signatures including enrichment of light [light rare earth elements (LREE)] or middle rare earth elements and by enrichment of heavy metals represented by Zn. The massive black cherts were likely deposited by mixing of hydrothermal and non‐hydrothermal fluids. Coniform structures in the cherts are characterized by diffuse laminae composed of sulfide particles, suggesting that unlike stromatolites, they were formed dominantly through physico‐chemical processes related to hydrothermal activity. The cherts yield microfossils identical to previously described carbonaceous films, small and large spheres, and lenticular microfossils. In addition, new morphological types such as clusters composed of large carbonaceous spheroids (20–40 μm across each) with fluffy or foam‐like envelope are identified. Finely laminated carbonaceous cherts are devoid of heavy metals and characterized by the enrichment of LREE. This chert locally contains conical to domal structures characterized by truncation of laminae and trapping of detrital grains and is interpreted as siliceous stromatolite formed by very early or contemporaneous silicification of biomats with the contribution of silica‐rich hydrothermal fluids. Biological affinities of described microfossils and microbes constructing siliceous stromatolites are under investigation. However, this study emphasizes how diverse the microbial community in Paleoarchean coastal hydrothermal environment was. We propose the diversity is at least partially due to the availability of various energy sources in this depositional environment including reducing chemicals and sunlight.


Abstract Women in South Africa experience high levels of poverty, as they are forced to eke out a living on the margins of society. Main drivers of this poverty are unemployment and low-waged, menial work. Many women are found in non-standard or precarious forms of employment, including work in the informal economy, and fall outside the protection of labour law. A major factor contributing to this unenviable position is the double-working day phenomenon ' a function of women's gender. Women spend inordinate amounts of time in reproductive and subsistence functions for the family and community and this often acts as a barrier to their ability to compete with men in the job market, including job creation schemes. The article addresses the question whether a constitutional right to work is necessary to address the precarious position of women in the workforce, thereby alleviating their poverty – an essential prerequisite for social justice. It analyses three forms of the right – the right to work as provision of a job, the right of access to inputs to enable women to find work, and the right to protection at work. These conceptualisations of the right are assessed in the context of international law and applied to the current position of women in the labour force. The article concludes that a right to work could play a valuable role in alleviating the plight of women, both in terms of the provision of work and access to work. Insofar as current labour law is unable fully to protect women in work, a right to work could also address those lacunae.


Gene flow and introgression from cultivated to wild plant populations have important evolutionary and ecological consequences and require detailed investigations for risk assessments of transgene escape into natural ecosystems. Sugar beets (Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris) are of particular concern because: (i) they are cross–compatible with their wild relatives (the sea beet, B. vulgaris ssp. maritima); (ii) crop–to–wild gene flow is likely to occur via weedy lineages resulting from hybridization events and locally infesting fields. Using a chloroplastic marker and a set of nuclear microsatellite loci, the occurrence of crop–to–wild gene flow was investigated in the French sugar beet production area within a 'contact–zone' in between coastal wild populations and sugar beet fields. The results did not reveal large pollen dispersal from weed to wild beets. However, several pieces of evidence clearly show an escape of weedy lineages from fields via seed flow. Since most studies involving the assessment of transgene escape from crops to wild outcrossing relatives generally focused only on pollen dispersal, this last result was unexpected: it points out the key role of a long–lived seed bank and highlights support for transgene escape via man–mediated long–distance dispersal events.


On 4 December 2009, the European Council unanimously adopted conclusions on an enhanced patent system in Europe, which inter alia intends to establish a new EU patent as well as a new common patent judiciary – the European and European Union Patent Court (EEUPC). The EEUPC will constitute a new sui generis, transnational court system with exclusive jurisdiction in respect of civil litigation related to the infringement and validity of European patents and EU patent. This paper considers this proposal for the establishment of the EEUPC under two basic observations, namely that substantive law requires legal institutions, which support the purposes and policies underlying the substantive law in question, and that legal institutions affect the law. The first observation leads to a discussion of the requirements which a common judiciary in the European patent system should satisfy and different models for the institutional design of such a judiciary. The second observation leads to a discussion of how the EEUPC may affect the European patent system. It is concluded that the need for a common judiciary in the European patent system may be satisfied in different ways and that the EEUPC may not be the optimum solution.


Deep reinforcement learning has led to many recent-and groundbreaking-advancements. However, these advances have often come at the cost of both the scale and complexity of the underlying RL algorithms. Increases in complexity have in turn made it more difficult for researchers to reproduce published RL algorithms or rapidly prototype ideas. To address this, we introduce Acme, a tool to simplify the development of novel RL algorithms that is specifically designed to enable simple agent implementations that can be run at various scales of execution. Our aim is also to make the results of various RL algorithms developed in academia and industrial labs easier to reproduce and extend. To this end we are releasing baseline implementations of various algorithms, created using our framework. In this work we introduce the major design decisions behind Acme and show how these are used to construct these baselines. We also experiment with these agents at different scales of both complexity and computation-including distributed versions. Ultimately, we show that the design decisions behind Acme lead to agents that can be scaled both up and down and that, for the most part, greater levels of parallelization result in agents with equivalent performance, just faster.


We study the interannual and seasonal variability in the Mediterranean Sea over the period 1958-2004 by comparing a numerical simulation (the 1/4o ORCA-R025 G70 model run, 'ORCA' hereafter) with altimetry and the MEDAR temperature and salinity database. The model is forced by the ERA40 atmospheric forcing and has a salinity restoring term applied at surface. Comparing temperature between ORCA and MEDAR shows good interannual variability agreement (correlations of ~0.8 in the western Mediterranean and ~0.5 in the eastern Mediterranean) at surface layers (0-150 m), but slightly higher mean values in the model (0.08-0.16°C). The salinity analysis shows that the surface salinity restoring term has obliterated most of the interannual variability. Mean surface salinities are slightly lower in the model (~0.3), replicated in deeper layers to a lesser degree, and could mean that the restoring term applies insufficient evaporation to compensate for a weak atmospheric forcing (ERA40) water loss flux. The sea level analysis comparing sea surface height (SSH) and steric height from ORCA and sea level anomalies from altimetry (1993-2004) shows good correlations (~0.8) in the interannual variability and annual cycle. However, the model's SSH overestimates (~15 mm/yr) observed positive altimetric trends (~3-4 mm/yr). In an attempt to identify the source of this overestimation, a water budget calculation was performed between the horizontal and vertical water fluxes in the Mediterranean Sea. Horizontal transport through the main straits shows appropriate values when compared to observations. Thus, the cause of the exaggerated SSH trend is probably a water flux imbalance. By improving surface salinity restoring and atmospheric forcing, the ORCA simulations can provide very promising tools for studies of interannual variability in the Mediterranean Sea.


The increasing presence of non-profit and non-governmental organizations as healthcare providers in Uganda has altered the role of the nation state in providing health services. This alteration is especially salient in Bududa district, located in a region of Uganda that has been labeled as "the forgotten district," where traditional modes of the government oftentimes do not reach. Through three months of ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Bududa, this thesis attempts to address the ways in which individuals understand their relationship to the government vis à vis the health welfare system, and the ways in which the presence of the non-profit alters this understanding. I argue that the non-profit clinic changes the citizen-state relationship through its ability to provide the health services that the state cannot. Within this argument, I first establish that political forms of the state do not directly reach the rural district of Bududa. Rather, healthcare becomes the primary way through which individuals interact with the Ugandan government. I then argue that individuals measure the efficacy of this government service through the pharmaceuticals that they do or do not receive, as well as through their characterization of healthcare workers who distribute the pharmaceuticals as corrupt. Lastly, I demonstrate that these logics of pharmaceuticals as a measurement of adequate treatment qualify the non-profit as a more desirable site to receive care. In this process, the non-profit creates a form of governance that functions as an alternative to the state. I end by thinking through the implications of these multiple forms of governance on the current and future role of the Ugandan state in development of the country.


Abstract. An important roadblock to improved intensity forecasts for tropical cyclones (TCs) is our incomplete understanding of the interaction of a TC with the environmental flow. In this paper we re-visit the canonical problem of a TC in vertical wind shear on an f-plane. A suite of numerical experiments is performed with intense TCs in moderate to strong vertical shear. We employ a set of simplified model physics – a simple bulk aerodynamic boundary layer scheme and "warm rain" microphysics – to foster better understanding of the dynamics and thermodynamics that govern the modification of TC intensity. In all experiments the TC is resilient to shear but significant differences in the intensity evolution occur. The ventilation of the TC core with dry environmental air at mid-levels and the dilution of the upper-level warm core are two prevailing hypotheses for the adverse effect of vertical shear on storm intensity. Here we propose an alternative and arguably more effective mechanism how cooler and drier (lower θe) air – "anti-fuel" for the TC power machine – can enter the core region of the TC. Strong and persistent, shear-induced downdrafts flux low θe air into the boundary layer from above, significantly depressing the θe values in the storm's inflow layer. Air with lower θe values enters the eyewall updrafts, considerably reducing eyewall θe values in the azimuthal mean. When viewed from the perspective of an idealised Carnot-cycle heat engine a decrease of storm intensity can thus be expected. Although the Carnot cycle model is – if at all – only valid for stationary and axisymmetric TCs, a close association of the downward transport of low θe into the boundary layer and the intensity evolution offers further evidence in support of our hypothesis. The downdrafts that flush the boundary layer with low θe air are tied to a quasi-stationary, azimuthal wave number 1 convective asymmetry outside of the eyewall. This convective asymmetry and the associated downdraft pattern extends outwards to approximately 150 km. Downdrafts occur on the vortex scale and form when precipitation falls out from sloping updrafts and evaporates in the unsaturated air below. It is argued that, to zero order, the formation of the convective asymmetry is forced by frictional convergence associated with the azimuthal wave number 1 vortex Rossby wave structure of the outer-vortex tilt. This work points to an important connection between the thermodynamic impact in the near-core boundary layer and the asymmetric balanced dynamics governing the TC vortex evolution.


Midwives are responsible for providing advice regarding the complex issues of healthy eating and weight management during pregnancy. This study utilised an inductive data-driven thematic approach in order to determine midwives' perceptions, knowledge, and experiences of providing healthy eating and weight management advice to pregnant women. Semistructured interviews with 17 midwives were transcribed verbatim and data subjected to thematic analysis. The findings offer insight into the challenges facing midwives in their role trying to promote healthy eating and appropriate weight management to pregnant women. Three core themes were identified: (a) "If they eat healthily it will bring their weight down": Midwives Misunderstood; (b) "I don't think we are experienced enough": Midwives Lack Resources and Expertise; and (c) "BMI of 32 wouldn't bother me": Midwives Normalised Obesity. The midwives recognised the importance of providing healthy eating advice to pregnant women and the health risks associated with poor diet and obesity. However, they reported the normalisation of obesity in pregnant women and suggested that this, together with their high workload and lack of expertise, explained the reasons why systematic advice was not in standard antenatal care. In addition, the current lack of UK clinical guidance, and thus, possibly lack of clinical leadership are also preventing delivery of tailored advice. Implementation literature on understanding the barriers to optimal health care delivery and informing clinical practice through research evidence needs to be further investigated in this field. This study has recommendations for policy makers, commissioners, service providers, and midwives.


Associative brain centers are able to account for an infinite amount of possible associations through randomized sensory input. Life is often unpredictable. The brain thus needs to draw on past experience to prepare for future events. It does so by associating sensory stimuli, such as an odor, with desirable or undesirable outcomes. The smell of burning wood, for example, can evoke the soothing recollection of a cozy campfire or the traumatic memory of a burning house. It is through such associations that sensory stimuli that are a priori neutral become endowed with meaning. But life is full of possibilities. So how are associative brain centers able to account for an infinite number of possible associations?


While there exists extensive assessment of urban heat, we observe myriad methods for describing thermal distribution, factors that mediate temperatures, and potential impacts on urban populations. In addition, the limited spatial and temporal resolution of satellite-derived heat measurements may limit the capacity of decision makers to take effective actions for reducing mortalities in vulnerable populations whose locations require highly-refined measurements. Needed are high resolution spatial and temporal information for urban heat. In this study, we ask three questions: (1) how do urban heat islands vary throughout the day? (2) what statistical methods best explain the presence of temperatures at sub-meter spatial scales; and (3) what landscape features help to explain variation in urban heat islands? Using vehicle-based temperature measurements at three periods of the day in the Pacific Northwest city of Portland, Oregon (USA), we incorporate LiDAR-derived datasets, and evaluate three statistical techniques for modeling and predicting variation in temperatures during a heat wave. Our results indicate that the random forest technique best predicts temperatures, and that the evening model best explains the variation in temperature. The results suggest that ground-based measurements provide high levels of accuracy for describing the distribution of urban heat, its temporal variation, and specific locations where targeted interventions with communities can reduce mortalities from heat events.


Quantum field theory has been a great success for physics, but it is difficult for mathematicians to learn because it is mathematically incomplete. Folland, who is a mathematician, has spent considerable time digesting the physical theory and sorting out the mathematical issues in it. Fortunately for mathematicians, Folland is a gifted expositor. The purpose of this book is to present the elements of quantum field theory, with the goal of understanding the behavior of elementary particles rather than building formal mathematical structures, in a form that will be comprehensible to mathematicians. Rigorous definitions and arguments are presented as far as they are available, but the text proceeds on a more informal level when necessary, with due care in identifying the difficulties. The book begins with a review of classical physics and quantum mechanics, then proceeds through the construction of free quantum fields to the perturbation-theoretic development of interacting field theory and renormalization theory, with emphasis on quantum electrodynamics. The final two chapters present the functional integral approach and the elements of gauge field theory, including the Salam-Weinberg model of electromagnetic and weak interactions.


We theoretically investigate the classical analog of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) and electromagnetically induced absorption (EIA) in a planar metamaterial at optical frequency, which originates from destructive and constructive interference between dark and radiative elements. The metamaterial consists of two coupled resonators with different geometries. An EIT-like transparent window with low absorption is observed and found to be strongly affected by resonant states of the resonators. The transition between the EIT and EIA is achieved by changing the split width and coupling distance. The absorption is enhanced up to 2.5 times compared with the dipolar case. The excitation of the dark mode is very important for EIT- and EIA-like responses of the proposed metamaterial. The EIT and EIA phenomena offer a potential method for manipulating electromagnetic response in metamaterial-based devices.


Introduction: Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis (PFIC) type 3 (PFIC3) is an autosomal recessive disorder of biliary phospholipid excretion leading to cholestasis and biliary cirrhosis. These cholestatic disorders show falsely elevated urinary copper and low ceruloplasmin together with increase in copper associated protein content on liver tissue mimicking Wilson's disease leading to diagnostic delay. Case Report: We report a case of a 21-yearold male who presented with complaints of gradually progressive jaundice with ascites for past 3 months. His work up revealed low serum ceruloplasmin and high 24-hour urinary copper. He was diagnosed as having Wilson's disease and living donor liver transplant was performed. Explant liver revealed prominent copper associated protein within hepatocytes and numerous Mallory Denk Bodies, findings suggestive of Wilson's etiology for cirrhosis. Patient was discharged in a stable condition. The story continued when 4 months later his 3 siblings (20 year male, 15 year old female and 11 year old female) came with complaints of itching all over the body were evaluated. Possibility of PFIC3 was kept in differential this time due to clinical scenario and liver biopsies were performed in all three. Liver biopsy in all shows prominent bile ductular reaction, increased fibrosis and hepatic copper associated protein. MDR3 immunostains was performed in these cases was negative. Index patient slides were retrieved and MDR3 stain performed showed absent staining confirming the diagnosis of PFIC 3. Conclusion: Cholestatic liver diseases frequently mimic Wilson's disease. Criteria for diagnosis of Wilson's does not completely holds true for cholestatic liver diseases in children and adolescents.


Dissolved total saccharides (DTS) and dissolved free monosaccharides (DFMS) in streamwater were determined by high‐performance liquid chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection (HPLC‐PAD). HPLC identification was verified with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry measurements. The method for DTS was improved by using a column with an anion exchange capacity of 4,500 µeq and a mobile phase of 350 mM NaOH. The detection limits for individual monosaccharides ranged from 2 to 14 nM. The average recovery for monosaccharide standards was 82% after hydrolysis, and 75% of the monosaccharides in streamwater hydrolysates were recovered following a desalting procedure. Hydrolysis of model substances showed recoveries of monosaccharides between 78 and 98%. The C.V. for a hydrolyzed stream sample was 15% for the DTS. Stream samples stored at room temperature after filtration and acidification to pH 1.1 were stable for at least 23 d. Concentrations of DTS in White Clay Creek, including sugar alcohols and amino sugars, ranged from 0.64 to 12.70 µM and accounted for 2.9–12.1% of the dissolved organic carbon pool. Neutral sugars dominated the DTS pool, and glucose and galactose were the most abundant molecules. Concentrations of DFMS ranged from 0.05 to 0.38 µM and accounted for 0.06–0.33% of the dissolved organic carbon pool.


The unprecedented prolongation of life in the United States has been accompanied by increased numbers of disabled people in their 80s and 90s, who have high needs for health care and social services. The paper reports longitudinal findings on 150 individuals, 85 years and older. Over three years, their functioning on activities of daily living significantly declined at the same time that they continued to described their health as good and to report contentment about their life. Families were active in sustaining community living of the oldest old, but those most at risk of institutionalization were the childless. Over time, 48% of the survivors stayed functionally fit, while 28% became increasingly disabled and dependent and 24% remained stable at a high level of disability. The means by which the oldest old coped with their disabilities include practical steps in simplifying their environment and narrowing their social world. They also used cognitive regulation by modifying their health beliefs and delimiting those areas over which they could exert a sense of control.


The potential excessive nutrient and/or microbial loading from mismanaged land application of organic fertilizers is forcing changes in animal waste management. Currently, it is not clear to what extent different rates of poultry litter impact soil microbial communities, which control nutrient availability, organic matter quality and quantity, and soil degradation potential. From 2002 to 2004, we investigated the microbial community and several enzyme activities in a Vertisol soil (fine, smectitic, thermic, Udic Haplustert) at 0 to 15 cm as affected by different rates of poultry litter application to pasture (0, 6.7, and 13.4 Mg ha(-1)) and cultivated sites (0, 4.5, 6.7, 9.0, 11.2, and 13.4 Mg ha(-1)) in Texas, USA. No differences in soil pH (average: 7.9), total N (pasture: 2.01-3.53, cultivated: 1.09-1.98 g kg(-1) soil) or organic C (pasture average: 25-26.7, cultivated average: 13.9-16.1 g kg(-1) soil) were observed following the first four years of litter application. Microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) increased at litter rates greater than 6.7 Mg ha(-1) (pasture: MBC = >863, MBN = >88 mg kg(-1) soil) compared to sites with no applied litter (MBC = 722, MBN = 69 mg kg(-1) soil). Enzyme activities of C (beta-glucosidase, alpha-galactosidase, beta-glucosaminidase) or N cycling (beta-glucosaminidase) were increased at litter rates greater than 6.7 Mg ha(-1). Enzyme activities of P (alkaline phosphatase) and S (arylsulfatase) mineralization showed the same response in pasture, but they were only increased at the highest (9.0, 11.2, and 13.4 Mg ha(-1)) litter application rates in cultivated sites. According to fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis, the pasture soils experienced shifts to higher bacterial populations at litter rates of 6.7 Mg ha(-1), and shifts to higher fungal populations at the highest litter application rates in cultivated sites. While rates greater than 6.7 Mg ha(-1) provided rapid enhancement of the soil microbial populations and enzymatic activities, they result in P application in excess of crop needs. Thus, studies will continue to investigate whether litter application at rates below 6.7 Mg ha(-1), previously recommended to maintain water quality, will result in similar improved soil microbial and biochemical functioning with continued annual litter application.


Subjective quality assessment is widely used to understand and to study human perception of multimedia quality and as a basis for developing objective metrics to automatically predict the quality of audiovisual presentations. There are several recognized international protocols and procedures for reliable assessment of quality in multimedia systems and services, with emphasis on speech, audio and video modalities. However, the aspect of certification is not yet well understood in this context. This paper discusses various issues regarding certification of multimedia quality assessment. To be concrete, the discussion is illustrated by the procedure implemented to assess 3D video compression technologies within the MPEG effort for the definition of a 3D video coding standard. Selected results from four laboratories, Acreo, EPFL, NTNU and UBC, which participated in the assessment are presented. This case study is used in an early attempt to define a process for certification of subjective test campaigns, based on a cross-validation of the test results across different laboratories, towards the ultimate goal of Quality of Experience (QoE) certification.


Research in Information Retrieval (IR) seeks to develop methods which better assist users in finding information which is relevant to their current information needs. Personalization is a significant focus of research for the development of next generation of IR systems. Commercial search engines are exploring methods to incorporate models of the user's interests to facilitate personalization in IR to improve retrieval effectiveness. However, in some situations there may be no opportunity to learn about the interests of a specific user on a certain topic. This is a significant challenge for IR researchers attempting to improve search effectiveness by exploiting user search behaviour.

We propose a solution to this problem based on recommender systems (RSs) in a novel IR model which combines a recommender model with traditional IR methods to improve retrieval results for search tasks, where the IR system has no opportunity to acquire prior information about the user's knowledge of a domain for which they have not previously entered a query. We use search behaviour data from other previous users to build topic category models based on topic interests. When a user enters a query on a topic which is new to this user, but related to a topical search category, the appropriate topic category model is selected and used to predict a ranking which this user may find interesting based on previous search behaviour. The recommender outputs are used in combination with the output of a standard IR system to produce the overall output to the user. In this thesis, the IR and recommender components of this integrated model are investigated.


Genomic DNAs of Escherichia coli O157:H7 strains isolated from patients and food samples were analyzed by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. The rare-cutting endonucleases SfiI and XbaI generated 6 and 10 distinct genomic profiles, respectively, for the 22 strains analyzed, indicating that this technique may find application for epidemiologic studies. Summation of XbaI fragments from five E. coli O157:H7 strains estimated the genomic length at ca. 4.7 Mb.


Providing fundamental knowledge necessary to understand graphene's atomic structure, band-structure, unique properties and an overview of groundbreaking current and emergent applications, this new handbook is essential reading for materials scientists, chemists and physicists. Since the 2010 physics Nobel Prize awarded to Geim and Novosolev for their groundbreaking work isolating graphene from bulk graphite, there has been a huge surge in interest in the area. This has led to a large number of news books on graphene. However, for such a vast inflow of new entrants, the current literature is surprisingly slight, focusing exclusively on current research or books on previous "hot topic" allotropes of carbon. This book covers fundamental groundwork of the structure, property, characterization methods and applications of graphene, along with providing the necessary knowledge of graphene's atomic structure, how it relates to its band-structure and how this in turn leads to the amazing properties of graphene. And so it provides new graduate students and post-docs with a resource that equips them with the knowledge to undertake their research. It discusses graphene's fundamental structure and properties, acting as a time-saving handbook for validated research. It demonstrates 100+ high-quality graphical representations, providing the reader with clear images to convey complex situations. It reviews characterization techniques relevant to grapheme, equipping the reader with experimental knowledge relevant for practical use rather than just theoretical understanding.


Macrophages are cells of the innate immune system and play essential roles in the regulation of inflammatory responses in all parts of the body. Furthermore, macrophages are also involved in different tissue–specific functions and maintenance of the tissue homeostasis. These functions are controlled by the epigenetic landscape, consisting of promoters and enhancers that together regulate gene expression. Enhancers are stretches of regulatory genomic sequences in the non–coding regions of the genome that can be bound by lineage– determining transcription factors. These enhancers can loop in three–dimensional space to be in close proximity to promoters and contribute to the regulation of gene expression. Previous studies suggest that there are about 1 million enhancers in the mammalian genome, of which only about 30,000 – 40,000 are selected in each specific cell type. This dissertation studies the regulation of the epigenetic landscape of murine macrophages by utilizing different tissue macrophages, different complex and simple stimuli, as well as natural genetic variation as a mutagenesis screen.
The overarching research question of this dissertation is to understand how the enhancer landscape in macrophages gets selected and regulated in order to control gene expression. In more detail, the main questions answered in this dissertation are: What are the epigenetic mechanisms that are responsible for tissue–specific functions? How do complex stimuli change the epigenetic landscape of macrophages in comparison to simple stimuli? How does natural genetic variation influence the epigenetic landscape and gene expression in murine macrophages?
In Chapter 1 (Gosselin, D., Link, V. M., Romanoski, C. E. et al. (2014) appeared in Cell) we investigate the influence of the tissue environment on the epigenetic landscape in mouse macrophages. We compare macrophages residing in the brain (microglia) with macrophages from the peritoneal cavity by measuring mRNA expression, as well as enhancer activation (H3K4me2, H3K27ac, and PU.1). We find highly expressed genes unique to one population of macrophages, which correlates well with the activity signature at enhancers in the corresponding cells. By analyzing the enhancer landscape, we find that the macrophage lineage–determining transcription factor PU.1 plays a key role in establishing the enhancer repertoire, creating a common, macrophage–specific enhancer landscape. Furthermore, expression of tissue–specific transcription factors in collaboration with PU.1 drives a subset of tissue–specific enhancers regulating the differences in gene expression between different tissue–specific macrophage populations.
In Chapter 2 (Eichenfield, D. Z., Troutman, D. T., Link, V. M. et al. (2016) appeared in eLife) we investigate the effect of complex stimuli onto the epigenetic landscape in macrophages on the example of wounds. Stimulation of macrophages with homogenated tissue to mimic a wound environment shows a unique pattern of gene expression, which is different from gene expression patterns found after single stimuli (e.g. LPS, IL–4 etc.). To gain insight into the regulation of the enhancer landscape after complex stimuli, we compare the epigenome after single stimuli and tissue homogenate and find substantial differences in enhancer selection and activation. We find that the complex damage signal promotes co–localization of several signal–dependent transcription factors to enhancers not observed under the single stimuli. Therefore, more complex polarizations of cells lead to new combinations of signal–dependent transcription factors and an epigenetic landscape different than observed with single stimuli.
In Chapter 3 (Link et al. (2018b) appeared in bioRxiv) MARGE (Mutation Analysis for Regulatory Genomic Elements) is presented, a new method to analyze the effect of natural genetic variation on transcription factor binding and open chromatin. MARGE provides a suite of software tools that integrates genome–wide genetic variation data (including insertions and deletions) with epigenetic data. It provides software to create custom genomes based on a reference genome and variation data, to shift coordinates between different custom genomes, as well as do downstream ChIP–seq analysis. The main algorithm in MARGE analyzes if mutations in transcription factor binding motifs are significantly affecting transcription factor binding or open chromatin. MARGE provides a pairwise comparison, in which the significance of each motif is calculated with a student's t–test. It compares the transcription factor binding distribution of each mutated motif in individual one with the distribution in individual two. For a more general approach that allows comparisons of many individuals MARGE implements a linear mixed model, modeling transcription factor binding with fixed effects motif existence and random effects locus and genotype. The development of this software allows in depth analysis of genetic variation data in combination with epigenetic data.
In Chapter 4 (Link et al. (2018a) under review in Cell) we analyze the effect of natural genetic variation in five diverse strains of mice on the epigenetic landscape. We choose three well–known laboratory inbred mouse strains, as well as two very diverse wild–derived inbred mouse strains. We investigate the enhancer landscape, open chromatin and binding of the most important macrophage lineage–determining transcription factors. We observe substantial strain–specific differences in gene expression of which the majority can be explained by cis–regulatory elements. Application of MARGE onto the transcription factor binding data reveals roles of about 100 transcription factors in establishing the enhancer repertoire in macrophages. Unexpectedly, we find that a substantial fraction of strain– specific DNA binding of transcription factors cannot be explained by local mutations. Investigation of this phenomenon in more detail shows highly interconnected clusters of transcription factors that reside within topologically associating domains. These interconnected clusters are highly correlated with activation of enhancers and gene expression of the nearest gene, uncovering a new layer of transcriptional regulation.
In Chapter 5, I briefly discuss additional contributions to the field of macrophage biology I made during my Ph.D. Namely, I was involved in two additional projects. In the first project (Pirzgalska et al. (2017) appeared in Nature Medicine) we identify sympathetic neuron–associated macrophages (SAM) that import and degrade norepinephrine via expression of solute carrier family 6 member 2 (Slc6a2) and monoamine oxidase A (MAOa). We demonstrate that SAM–mediated clearance of extracellular norepinephrine contributes to obesity and we show the relevance of this finding in humans, as we found that SAMs are also present in human tissues. The second project (Oishi et al. (2017) appeared in Cell Metabolism) studies the role of nuclear receptors (LXR and SREBP) in induction of anti–inflammatory fatty acids. We find that right after stimulation of TLR4 (during the induction phase) NF–kB dependent genes are upregulated, whereas LXR dependent genes are repressed. This leads to activation of SREBP1, which drives the expression of enzymes involved in mono–unsaturated and omega–3 polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis. The fatty acids produced by these enzymes repress inflammatory genes under the control of NF–kB and the inflammatory signal gets resolved.
In summary, my studies used a combination of experimental and computational approaches to investigate the effect of tissue–environment and factors, complex stimuli and natural genetic variation on the epigenetic landscape in macrophages. These studies broadened our understanding of the regulation of gene expression by the epigenetic landscape substantially. We showed that there is a core set of lineage–determining transcription factors in macrophages, which require diverse signal–dependent transcription factors to establish the enhancer landscape. Not only did we show that transcription factors regulated by the local environment play essential roles in establishing and maintaining tissue–specific functions of macrophages, but also that more complex stimuli can re–direct and combine signal–dependent transcription factors to establish new enhancers, not observed under the single stimuli. Using natural genetic variation as a mutagenesis screen allowed us to estimate the involvement of about 100 transcription factors in shaping the enhancer landscape, as well as to uncover a new layer of transcription regulation due to highly interconnected clusters of concordantly bound transcription factors.


This investigation was carried out in Brazilian Pantanal: region with important biodiversity. This region's climatic conditions, hydrology and geomorphology as well as the existence of great variety of wild species favor the maintenance of the Leptospira in the environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate IgG ELISA with recombinant protein LipL32 in comparison with microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and additionally contribute to the knowledge of the distribution of the one of most important worldwide zoonotic infection, assessing the seropositivity of bovine leptospirosis in beef cattle herds of Brazilian Pantanal, an important ecological preserved area, where cattle constitute not only the most important economic resource but also the major activity compatible of the conservation of natural resource of the region. Out of 282 samples of cattle serum analyzed, 143 (50.71%) were positive in MAT. The serovar Hardjo (genotypic Hardjoprajitno and Hardjobovis), Wolffi and Ballum showed the largest frequency of reactive samples. In the IgG ELISA rLipL32, 161 samples (57.09%) were positive. This result was higher than obtained by MAT (p<0.001). The sensitivity of the ELISA test was 99.30% and the specificity was 86.33%, based on the MAT. This test was shown to be a more sensitive, specific and accurate test for the diagnosis of bovine leptospirosis compared to the MAT.


Tistedalen Paper Laboratory forms a space in which
material is processed - in this case, paper - from raw
material to resultant product. Through investigations
of material, time, and place, this diploma forms a
study of the role in which continual processing and
reprocessing has the capacity to form the foundation
of an architectural investigation – one that coexists
with physicality, fragmentation, and memory.
As a laboratory for experimentation, the project forms
a space that can tie into the active paper mill
downstream. The proposed paper laboratory will
allow for small scale testing and experimentation,
assisting with new breakthroughs and methods in the
production of paper.
In the architecture, the paper physically modifies and
forms its surrounding spaces, showcasing the various
phenomena that are present within such a rich media.
In one moment, the space for drying, its thinness
allows it to flutter in the breeze, with the ways in
which it hangs showing the strength and mass of
something that is simultaneously robust yet fragile.
The coexistence of these opposites, much like that of
the new and existing architecture, searches for that
delicate tension inherent within their composition. It's
through this discovery of the fiber, as well its resultant
structure and composition, that I have uncovered
layers of memory, mystery, and place. The
architecture exposes and celebrates these moments,
allowing for a space in which a bodily experience of
material can take place – a space in which we truly
process – both in terms of material production but also
through human perception.