Abstract. This study reports the discovery of spectacular abyssal giant pockmarks located at the toe of the Bahamian carbonate platform, along the Black Bahama structurally-controlled Escarpment (BBE) that exhibits up to 4 km of submarine elevation above the San Salvador Abyssal Plain (SSAP). Analysis of seismic reflection and bathymetric data collected during the CARAMBAR 2 cruise revealed the presence of 29 pockmarks; their water depths range from −4584 m to −4967 m whereas their bathymetric depressions are elliptical in shape, range in diameter from 255 m to 1819 m, and in depth from 30 m to 185 m. The pockmarks alignment trends parallel to the BBE as well as the structural lineaments of the area, exclusively between 2200 and 5000 m from its toe, and overlies a buried carbonate bench in which a high-amplitude seismic anomaly has been detected. The pockmark density interestingly increases where the recognized structural lineaments intersect the BBE. The aforementioned observations suggest an atypical relationship between the spatial occurrence of the abyssal fluid releases, the carbonate platform tectonic structures, the buried carbonate bench that underlies the hemipelagites in the San Salvador abyssal plain and the physiography of the area. Indeed, the ground water entrance during low-level stands, the dissolution of evaporites by meteoric water, the platform-scale thermal convection and the seawater entrance at the platform edge most probably act in concert to favor the circulation of brines and therefore the corrosion within the Bahamian carbonate platform. These mechanisms are particularly efficient along the structural heterogeneities (i.e. faults and fractures) which act as fluid conduits and control the physiography of the area by maintaining the location of the sedimentary pathways. The dense fluids migrate along the faults towards the BBE free edge and are subsequently trapped into the buried carbonate bench that laterally disappears below the low-permeability deep-sea hemipelagics of the SSAP. In consequence, the trapped corrosive fluids dissolve the carbonates preferentially along the tectonic structures such as the Samana Fracture Zone, at the origin of the BBE curvature and triggers collapse-structures in the overlying fine-grained deposits generating giant pockmarks. This structurally-directed process of dissolution is believed to have played a major role in the BBE 5–6 km erosional retreat and also probably explains the occurrence of plunge pools in the area.


Hosting the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games prompted the Chinese government to employ a relaxed foreign media policy, which signaled a temporary change in the rigorous media control practice in China. This study examined the effectiveness of the relaxed policy by analyzing news content regarding China from the International Herald Tribune in two time periods: the 656 days on which the policy applied, and the 656 days before the policy announcement. A total of 1,418 news stories were analyzed, and the results showed that the Chinese government's change in foreign media censorship led to more news coverage of controversial issues on China. The findings suggest an improvement in the Chinese government's treatment of foreign media in the relaxed policy period. The foreign journalists gained access to sources that used to be off limits, and the international readers were therefore able to obtain news content that challenged the Chinese authorities. Nonetheless, the short span of the relaxed media policy indicates a limited degree of foreign press freedom in China. Future research on the foreign media censorship in China after the Games is required to examine how the Chinese government copes with the idea of a freer media environment.


The 1948 Genocide Convention, Article 2(e) declares that the forcible transfer of children from a protected group to another group is an act that amounts to genocide when it is conducted �with intent to destroy� the group, �as such,� at least �in part.� Although listed co-equally with mass killing and forced sterilizations, and despite what appear to be repeated violations, this provision has received little attention. This Article lays out the prima facie elements that must be satisfied to bring a claim of genocidal forcible child transfer. It asserts that a perpetrator�s mixed intents or benevolent motivations toward the individual children involved will not absolve the perpetrator when forcible child transfers amount to genocide. This Article also places Article 2(e) in historical context by considering the factors that led to its inclusion in the Genocide Convention, and contextualizes 2(e) within the emerging international case law on genocide. In addition, by fully developing the arguments around Article 2(e), this Article broadens current conceptions of genocide. In particular, it challenges current doctrine, which limits culpability to purely physical and biological destruction, by exploring the manner in which forcible child transfer has cultural effects that destroy protected groups. Finally, this Article highlights several programs, including the American Indian boarding school program and Australia�s Aboriginal removal programs, and argues that these could be considered genocide.


In this paper, multi-agent systems minimizing a sum of objective functions, where each component is only known to a particular node, is considered for continuous-time dynamics with time-varying interconnection topologies. Assuming that each node can observe a convex solution set of its optimization component, and the intersection of all such sets is nonempty, the considered optimization problem is converted to an intersection computation problem. By a simple distributed control rule, the considered multi-agent system with continuous-time dynamics achieves not only a consensus, but also an optimal agreement within the optimal solution set of the overall optimization objective. Directed and bidirectional communications are studied, respectively, and connectivity conditions are given to ensure a global optimal consensus. In this way, the corresponding intersection computation problem is solved by the proposed decentralized continuous-time algorithm. We establish several important properties of the distance functions with respect to the global optimal solution set and a class of invariant sets with the help of convex and non-smooth analysis.


&NA; Drug resistance remains the key problem in cancer treatment. It is now accepted that each myeloma patient harbors multiple subclones and subclone dominance may change over time. The coexistence of multiple subclones with high or low chromosomal instability (CIN) signature causes heterogeneity and drug resistance with consequent disease relapse. In this study, using a tandem affinity purification‐mass spectrometry (TAP‐MS) technique, we found that NEK2, a CIN gene, was bound to the deubiquitinase USP7. Binding to USP7 prevented NEK2 ubiquitination resulting in NEK2 stabilization. Increased NEK2 kinase levels activated the canonical NF‐&kgr;B signaling pathway through the PP1&agr;/AKT axis. Newly diagnosed myeloma patients with activated NF‐&kgr;B signaling through increased NEK2 activity had poorer event‐free and overall survivals based on multiple independent clinical cohorts. We also found that NEK2 activated heparanase, a secreted enzyme, responsible for bone destruction in an NF‐&kgr;B‐dependent manner. Intriguingly, both NEK2 and USP7 inhibitors showed great efficacy in inhibiting myeloma cell growth and overcoming NEK2‐induced and ‐acquired drug resistance in xenograft myeloma mouse models.


Neurons originate from epithelial cells that, after proliferation and cell fate decisions, undergo a series of polarity transitions to achieve the differentiated state. The fate of neural progenitors depends on the interplay between cell cycle and neuroepithelial polarity by two main mechanisms: (1) asymmetric inheritance of cytoplasmic determinants, such as molecules of the apical adhesion complexes, and (2) interkinetic nuclear migration through gradients of signalling molecules such as Notch. Regarding cell fate, divisions can be symmetric or asymmetric. After a neuron is born, differentiation initiates with a downregulation of epithelial polarity, followed by cell detachment and migration, and the final acquisition of a neuronal morphology. All these transitions are based on extremely conserved molecular mechanisms, including the involvement of polarity protein complexes (such as the PAR3 complex) and small GTPases that mostly affect actin and microtubule dynamics. However, some important variations have been observed in different neuronal types and experimental conditions.

Key Concepts

Neurons are highly polarised cells that are generated from progenitors with a different kind of polarity: neuroepithelial cells.
The neuroepithelium is an embryonic tissue characterised by its pseudo-stratified organisation, with a basal lamina, sub-apical cadherin-based adhesion complexes and an apical primary cilium.
The pseudo-stratified organisation of the neuroepithelium is actively maintained by interkinetic nuclear migration, a process by which cell nuclei locate at different apicobasal positions, according to their stage in the cell cycle.
Interkinetic nuclear migration provides the neuroepithelium with the possibility of rapidly proliferating while maintaining a relatively reduced size in the embryo.
Neuroepithelial polarity and interkinetic nuclear migration favour the asymmetric distribution of signalling cues (including extracellular molecules and cytoplasmic determinants), which are essential for neurogenesis, neuronal migration and neuronal polarisation.
Neurons are post-mitotic cells, which are born from a progenitor cell division that can be symmetric (generating two neurons) or asymmetric (generating one neuron and another progenitor cell).
After the last cell division close to the apical surface, neuroblasts must migrate to their final differentiation position, and this migration is also influenced by cell polarity cues.
Neuronal polarisation mechanisms have largely been studied using cell cultures, where neurons extend an axon after a period of radially symmetric, multipolar organisation.
In the living tissue neurons must not only polarise (form one axon and oppositely directed dendrites) but also orient properly (the axon and dendrite must be directed to the right orientation).
In vitro, mechanisms of neuronal polarisation rely mostly on intrinsic signals, such as the asymmetric accumulation of the PAR3 complex; in vivo, however, these intrinsic molecules are modulated by extrinsic signals such as Laminin-1 or N-Cadherin.

Keywords:

neuroepithelium;
neural progenitor;
asymmetric cell division;
neuronal migration;
neuronal polarity


Existing seismic
 risk in Pakistan, especially in its Northern Areas, emphasis for a
 detailed and careful design of RC structures to withstand expected
 earthquake loads. The seismic performance of RC multistory
 structures is a complex process. An accurate assessment of seismic
 behavior of RC structures requires an analysis carried out under
 time history or parameters of time history of real time recorded
 earthquakes. In Pakistan, a large data bank of strong motion
 recorders exists in analog form, and its use in performance
 assessment of structures is very difficult without digitizing it.
 The response of a multistory RC building is greatly dependant on
 performance of its columns especially in inelastic range, which can
 be improved by providing sufficient confinement. Post earthquake
 surveys revealed that most of the RC buildings collapsed due to
 insufficient performance of their columns, which were found
 deficient in confinement. A limited work has been carried out in
 Pakistan to study the performance of RC columns under axial and
 lateral loading. Internationally, the efforts are continued to
 enhance the performance of RC columns subjected to seismic loads.
 The objective of this research has three main parts. The first part
 is to collect, segregate and digitize available analog form of
 earthquake data, which has been recorded in Pakistan. The second
 part is to device and test a technique which could enhance strength,
 ductility and stiffness of RC columns subjected to seismic loads and
 result in lesser residual deformations. The third part is to carry
 out seismic analysis of a RC multistory frame, using material
 behavior studied experimentally, under application of ground motion
 data of Pakistan.
 A novel digitizing technique is developed in this study that
 extracts the trace of recorded acceleration as a whole by saving all
 points required to draw digitized ground acceleration. The proposed
 digitizing approach has been compared with the available techniques
 to assess its efficiency.
 The confinement technique for RC columns developed in this study
 utilizes specialized rings of steel strips applied as transverse
 reinforcement in hinge zone. Eight large scale specimens have been
 cast and tested to study the performance of proposed technique. The
 experimental results indicated that proposed confining
 reinforcement, although with lesser volumetric ratio, improved the
 performance of RC columns by enhancing their shear resistance,
 ductility, energy dissipation capacity and reducing residual
 deformations.The columns confined by proposed technique have been
 named as Steel Strip Confined (SSC) columns. The observed column
 behavior has been modeled in Response-2000 and DRAIN-3DX.
 RC frames are modeled in DRAIN-3DX using material properties
 calibrated with experimental data. The frames are analyzed under
 north-south component of El Centro ground motion and east-west
 component of Kashmir earthquake recorded at Abbottabad. The frames,
 modeled with properties of SSC columns, showed better performance by
 reducing the damage. The analysis indicates that Kashmir earthquake
 is more damaging in nature than El Centro ground motion.


The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized a regulation on November 20, 2020 that removed the safe harbor protections for rebates on prescription drugs paid to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and Part D plans. This analysis evaluates the expected impact from this regulation on Medicare premiums and patient out-of-pocket (OOP) costs. Based on the data from the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC), the loss of manufacturer drug rebates would cause the average insurance premiums to increase by $40.96 annually. Across the 12.9 million recipients of the Medicare low-income subsidy, this implies an increase in expenditures of $528.4 million. If OOP costs were to fall by the full share of the concessions paid (as expected from this reform), then patients with high OOP costs ($3,214 annually according to the Kaiser Family Foundation), could expect to save $1,451 annually. These policy trade-offs do not account for the expected improvement in patients' adherence to their medications from lowering their OOP costs. Relying on proxies for these relationships, per patient total health care savings could range between $381 and $1,522 depending upon the actual improvement in medication adherence observed. Across the more than 1 million Medicare Part D patients with high OOP costs, total healthcare expenditures for Medicare could decline between $386.9 million and $1.5 billion. Based on the results of the study, the finalized regulation should meaningfully address the drug affordability problem while imposing only minimal increases in individuals' insurance premiums and total Medicare expenditures.


Trees are a valuable natural resource. People depend on trees for food, and animals depend on trees for food and shelter. But most important, we depend on trees because they add oxygen, a gas we all need, to the air. While trees give us many wonderful products, we must also protect them because we can't live without them.


The most common type of transportation in India is two-wheeler, where the number of accidents are increasing day-by-day. In general, these accidents have occurred due to riding a motorcycle without a helmet. It is very difficult to monitor each and every rider whether they are wearing a helmet or not, by a human labor, where as an electronic detection system can do the same kind of work without any human effort. Image processing is a solution for this kind of problem where there are many advancements in recent times. This works with extracting the features and identifying the objects which resides in the images which are taken out from the video surveillance as multiple frames. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) or Deep learning techniques are used for image or pattern identification along with Visual Geometry Group (VGG) which is mainly used for object detection. If a bike rider is found travelling without a helmet, the image of the number plate of the bike is captured. The number plate is checked with the databases and penalty will be issued. The system uses pure machine learning algorithm for image processing. Identification of the motorcycle can be done in five steps: image capturing, pre-processing of image, finding the errors, image recognition, and feature extraction. Keyword: Machine Learning, Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Visual Geometry Group, Image Processing.


Background: The development of oral chemotherapies (OC) have transformed cancer care for millions of patients. Most patients with brain tumors have temozolomide (TMZ) delivered to their home. While this has improved the patient experience, it presents significant challenges to safety of prescription, administration, and side effect monitoring. While there are guidelines for documentation, there is not a best practices system for managing OC. This project identified areas of latent errors and implemented a standardized process for OC management. Methods: After review of the literature, we developed a process map for our institution's practice and performed hazard analysis. We then evaluated the process at 3 other neuro-oncology practices. Based on these evaluations, changes were implemented at several stages (Table 1). Objective binary measures that could be recorded for every TMZ prescription were collected by chart review of the 6 months prior to process change. These measures were monitored every 2 weeks after process change implementation using run charts. A baseline process mean was calculated for each measure from the 6 months before program implementation. Successful change implementation was defined as 7 consecutive 2-week averages that were continually on one side of the process mean. Results: At the time of this abstract submission, we had successfully reduced refills for OC and increased documentation of dose calculation and dose ordered. There is improvement in independent dose calculation by 2 providers and dedicated chemotherapy teaching visits; however, these have not yet reached criteria for process change. Additionally, oral chemotherapy order sets were created in the electronic medical records system and an on-site specialty pharmacy was added as another safety measure in OC management. Conclusions: This project used published studies and multi-institutional process mapping and hazard analysis to implement a standardized ordering of TMZ for patients with brain tumors. This process can be implemented for OC management in other oncology practices.


In this study, we build and test a stochastic, agent-based model of information diffusion, called dFusion. The model incorporates diffusion research and social network analysis into a framework that is consistent with the findings of digital divide and knowledge gap research. Using three separate real-world data sets, our model demonstrates clear causal relationships between social structure, communication network structure, and the degree of "information equality" (relatively equivalent speed of access to salient information) within a given social network. By focusing on differential, rather than absolute, speed of access to information, we hope to create an evaluative framework for information technology investment that accurately and comprehensively predicts the effects of such interventions on social equality.


Abstract:This qualitative case study explores the career and educational aspirations, college choice process, and college barriers and opportunities of 26 rural, African American high school students. Data included interviews with 26 students and 11 school staff members. Findings suggest that the students' rural context shapes aspirations. In addition, students have emotional support and motivation to attend college from their family members and schools, but the students did not always have the "know how" to prepare for college. Finally, students described financial and academic preparedness barriers for college, but they also mentioned grades and teenage pregnancy as potential barriers for college.


Preventing the onset of a degenerative disease like osteoarthritis by restoring tissue function before cartilage degradation occurs will decrease health costs, reduce socio-economic burdens of patients and preserve quality of life. However, producing ex vivo cartilage implants of clinically relevant size remains a challenge. Culturing isolated chondrocytes in an environment that resembles their native environment can stimulate the cells to deposit and rearrange extracellular matrix that is structurally similar to native cartilage. Bioreactors and hydrogels can provide such a setting ex vivo (Chapter 2). Articular cartilage has a particular location in the joint. It is situated between synovial fluid and the subchondral bone plate. Together with the avascular nature of cartilage, this has an important influence on nutrient supply, growth factor distribution and action of these compounds. Its function is also determined by the mechanical stimulation cartilage is subjected to. Both these key factors are captured in one device (Chapter 3). This bioreactor is then used to test how this particular growth factor and nutrient supply influences chondrocyte behavior in vitro (Chapter 4 and 5). Here we find that and matrix distribution of cells cultured in the bioreactor system show trends that resemble the profiles in native cartilage.


NGC 1097 is a nearby SBb galaxy with a Seyfert nucleus and a bright starburst ring. We study the physical properties of the interstellar medium (ISM) in the ring using spatially resolved far-infrared spectral maps of the circumnuclear starburst ring of NGC 1097, obtained with the PACS spectrometer on board the Herschel Space Observatory. In particular, we map the important ISM cooling and diagnostic emission lines of [OI] 63 μm, [OIII] 88 μm, [NII] 122 μm, [CII] 158 μm and [NII] 205 μm. We observe that in the [OI] 63 μm, [OIII] 88 μm, and [NII] 122 μm line maps, the emission is enhanced in clumps along the NE part of the ring. We observe evidence of rapid rotation in the circumnuclear ring, with a rotation velocity of ~220 km s^(−1) (inclination uncorrected) measured in all lines. The [OI] 63 μm/[CII] 158 μm ratio varies smoothly throughout the central region, and is enhanced on the northeastern part of the ring, which may indicate a stronger radiation field. This enhancement coincides with peaks in the [OI] 63 μm and [OIII] 88 μm maps. Variations of the [NII] 122 μm/[NII] 205 μm ratio correspond to a range in the ionized gas density between 150 and 400 cm^(−3).


Author(s): Rabkin, Sarah | Abstract: One of the most widely experienced and influential figures in California organic agriculture, Amigo Bob Cantisano is perhaps best known as the founding organizer of the annual Ecological Farming Conference, which celebrates its 30th anniversary in January 2010 and is the largest sustainable- agriculture gathering in the Western United States. Recognized among conference-goers for his adept leadership of Eco-Farm's popular bus tour of Central Coast organic farms—and for sporting trademark shorts and sandals no matter what the weather—Amigo (a high-school girlfriend gave him the nickname) has been involved with diverse aspects of organic foods and farming since the late 1960s. In 1990 he and his wife Kalita Todd received the Stewards of Sustainable Agriculture (Sustie) award from the Ecological Farming Association.Cantisano is a ninth-generation Californian, directly descended from a lieutenant in the 1775-76 Juan Bautista de Anza expedition, which created the first land route between New Spain and Alta California. He began gardening in earnest while living on communes in Northern California. He had a stint as dishwasher and prep cook at an early San Francisco vegetarian cafe (Good Karma) and as an employee of the city's first natural foods emporium (New Age)—both owned by Fred Rohe, whom Cantisano calls "the founder of the whole natural foods movement." These experiences, plus exposure to Rodale Press's Organic Gardening magazine and a speaker's warnings about chemical pesticides at San Francisco's first Earth Day celebration, clinched Cantisano's early interest in organic food.While living on the shores of Lake Tahoe in the early 1970s, Cantisano and some friends started a natural foods buying club. This evolved into a wholesale distribution company and retail storefront, eventually introducing him to many organic growers and producers in California and beyond. He was involved in early efforts to certify organic farms and products, helping to found California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), and he collaborated in the production of an early organic-products trade journal.Cantisano has also worked as an organic farmer, growing a variety of crops over the years in a succession of California locations. His search for a reliable source of organic inputs led him to found a farm supply company, Peaceful Valley, which grew at an astonishing pace and currently operates under different owners in Grass Valley, California. His desire for better communication among organic growers in California prompted him to organize a 1981 gathering—featuring a talk by pioneering beneficial-insect purveyor Everett "Deke" Dietrick—that evolved into EcoFarm (whose organizers have recently dropped the hyphen in their moniker.). Cantisano established the first organic agriculture advising business in the country, and served for many years as the only independent organic farming advisor on the West Coast. Operating for more than two decades now as Organic Ag Advisors, he has consulted with hundreds of small and large growers of fruits, vegetables, wine grapes, grains, and other crops—advising both organic farmers and those making the transition from conventional farming.A lively narrator with vivid recollections of many significant chapters and characters in the history of California organic culture and agriculture, Amigo Bob Cantisano has countless stories to tell. Sarah Rabkin interviewed him on April 7th and 9th, 2008, in the farmhouse kitchen of his Heaven and Earth Farm, located on the San Juan Ridge in California's Sierra Nevada foothills, north of Nevada City.


From the Publisher:
It's time. International best-selling author, Lynda Weinman, circles back to update this HTML guide and to add her unique creative energy and wisdom to The first edition is best known for its unique quality of combining solid design with coding technique and HTML theory. This second edition will incorporate the significant changes in Web tools and technology since this original edition published in December 1997. Updated content includes coverage of Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks, GoLive! and more! In standard Lynda Weinman style, you will find easy reading, straightforward talk - practical "how to's" that reads like you expect her to talk — with just the right amount of coding and technical coverage to provide you with a solid HTML guide.


The Chien Tan Dragon Boat train will be the flagship station of the 87 km Taipei Rapid Transit System (RTS) in Taiwan, which consists of eight heavy rail lines, two medium-capacity lines and 80 stations. As the largest rail line in Asia (final construction cost is estimated at more than $24 billion), RTS could help solve the area's future traffic problems. The population of the Taipei metropolitan area is projected to swell from 4 million in 1981 to more than 7 million in the year 2021. At the same time, the Chien Tan station pays homage to Taipei's cultural heritage. With the graceful profile of its cables, its concrete suspended roof and inclined pylons, the station resembles the dragon boats that race during the annual Dragon Boat festival. The drape of a catenary suspension cable spans the length of the station, producing a spacious column-free platform, and creating a curving ridge line similar to the form of traditional Chinese roofs. By canting the pylons out, the traditional dragon boat form is achieved. A key part of the engineering was wind tunnel testing. Researchers constructed laboratory models to corroborate and predict loads and the dynamic behavior of the structure--especially under the effects of trains pulling in and out of the station. The study was particularly important considering Taiwan can be hit with up to three typhoons a year, packing winds over 140 km per hour. To solve roof vibration problems, structural engineers also designed a passive damper system using viscoelestic material.


The aim of this study was to investigate cortisol and progesterone (P4) trends in hair from birth up to postweaning in Italian trotter foals. Hair sampling is non-invasive and hair concentrations provide retrospective information of integrated hormone secretion over periods of several months. Samples were collected at birth and at a distance of 30 days, collecting only regrowth hair, up to post weaning.
From birth to 3 months, foals cortisol falls from 47.64±5.6 to 4.9±0.68 pg/mg (mean±standard error), due to the interruption of foetal-placental connection and progressive adaptation to extrauterine life. From the third month of life to post weaning concentrations don't vary significantly, underlining a non-chronic activation of the HPA axis.
Hair P4 significantly decreases in the first two samples (from 469.68±72,54 to 184.65±35.42 pg/mg). At 2 (111.78±37.13 pg/mg) and 3 months (35.96±6.33 pg/mg) hair concentrations don't show significant differences. These concentrations are not due to interactions of the utero-placental tissues with foals, animals are still prepuberal and P4 isn't produced by adrenals as a result of high stress. We could therefore hypothesize that the source of foal hair P4 could be milk, suckled from mares. The high individual variability in hair at 2 and 3 months is due to a gradual and subjective change in foal diet, from milk to solid food, and to the fact that mares do not allow to suckle. From fourth month to post weaning P4 concentration in hair remains around 37.56±6.45 pg/mg.
In conclusion, hair collected at birth, giving information about last period of gestation, could be used along with traditional matrices, to evaluate foals maturity. Hair cortisol could give indications about foals capacity to adapt to extra-uterine life. Finally milk, configuring as a bringer of nutrients and energy and assuming the characteristic of a nutraceutical, could give fundamental information about parental care.


Fractal scaling and self-similar connectivity behaviour of scale-free (SF) networks are reviewed and investigated in diverse aspects. We first recall an algorithm of box-covering that is useful and easy to implement in SF networks, the so-called random sequential box-covering. Next, to understand the origin of the fractal scaling, fractal networks are viewed as comprising of a skeleton and shortcuts. The skeleton, embedded underneath the original network, is a spanning tree specifically based on the edge-betweenness centrality or load. We show that the skeleton is a non-causal tree, either critical or supercritical. We also study the fractal scaling property of the k-core of a fractal network and find that as k increases, not only does the fractal dimension of the k-core change but also eventually the fractality no longer holds for large enough k. Finally, we study the self-similarity, manifested as the scale-invariance of the degree distribution under coarse-graining of vertices by the box-covering method. We obtain the condition for self-similarity, which turns out to be independent of the fractality, and find that some non-fractal networks are self-similar. Therefore, fractality and self-similarity are disparate notions in SF networks.


CD4 + T helper cells, especially Th17 cells, combined with immune regulatory network dysfunction, play key roles in autoimmune diseases including multiple sclerosis (MS). Betulinic acid (BA), a natural pentacyclic triterpenoid, has been reported to be involved in anti-inflammation, in particular having an inhibitory effect on pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-17 and IFN-γ production. In this study, we screened BA derivatives and found a BA derivative, SH479, which had a greater inhibitory effect on Th17 differentiation. Our further analysis showed that SH479 had a greater inhibitory effect on Th17 and Th1, and a more stimulatory effect on Tregs. To evaluate the effects of SH479 on autoimmune diseases in vivo , we employed the extensively used MS mouse model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Our results showed that SH479 ameliorated clinical and histological signs of EAE in both prevention and therapeutic protocols by regulating the Th17/Treg balance. SH479 dose-dependently reduced splenic lymphocyte pro-inflammatory factors and increased anti-inflammatory factors. Moreover, SH479 specifically inhibited splenic lymphocyte viability from EAE mice but not normal splenic lymphocyte viability. At the molecular level, SH479 inhibited Th17 differentiation by regulating STAT3 phosphorylation, DNA binding activity, and recruitment to the Il-17a promoter in CD4 + T cells. Furthermore, SH479 promoted the STAT5 signaling pathway and inhibited the NF-κB signaling pathway. Together, our data demonstrated that SH479 ameliorated EAE by regulating the Th17/Treg balance through inhibiting the STAT3 and NF-κB pathways while activating the STAT5 pathway, suggesting that


A new analysis technique for the evaluation of the degree of synchronization between the physiological state of a group of people and changes in the Earth's magnetic field based on their cardiac inter-beat intervals was developed and validated. The new analysis method was then used to identify clusters of similar synchronization patterns in a group of 20 individuals over a two-week period. The algorithm for the identification of slow wave dynamics for every person was constructed in order to determine meaningful interrelationships between the participants and the local magnetic field data. The results support the hypothesis that the slow wave rhythms in heart rate variability can synchronize with changes in local magnetic field data, and that the degree of synchronization is affected by the quality of interpersonal relationships.


Abstract The relationship between tourism, health and well-being is a complex one based on interactions between the motivations of the travellers and the opportunities provided by the destinations. Much of the discussion to date has been dominated by descriptions of emerging opportunities and services, a focus on the provision of services such as health spas and wellness retreats and definitions based on this supply rather than demand. This paper argues that the focus on the supply side can distort our understanding of the phenomenon and therefore focuses on the demand side of wellness tourism and explores tourist motivation in a series of surveys conducted with tourists to Australia's Great Barrier Reef region over a seven year period. An analysis of the changing patterns of travel motivation to this destination provides some evidence that tourist motives to this region have moved towards incorporating a greater focus on aspects of well-being. More detailed examination of the recent surveys revealed the existence of two motive clusters with links to wellness—one focussed on family well-being and the other one emphasizing the restorative elements of being in a natural environment. The results support the existence of two different expressions of an interest in well-being reflecting an inner-outer directedness dichotomy common in psychology. The paper concludes with implications for understanding wellness tourism and tourism motivation in general.


In eukaryotes, mitosis requires the activation of cdc2 kinase via association with cyclin B and dephosphorylation of the threonine 14 and tyrosine 15 residues. It is known that in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a homologous kinase, Cdc28, mediates the progression through M phase, but it is not clear what specific mitotic function its activation by the dephosphorylation of an equivalent tyrosine (Tyr-19) serves. We report here that cells expressing cdc28-E19 (in which Tyr-19 is replaced by glutamic acid) perform Start-related functions, complete DNA synthesis, and exhibit high levels of Clb2-associated kinase activity but are unable to form bipolar spindles. The failure of these cells to form mitotic spindles is due to their inability to segregate duplicated spindle pole bodies (SPBs), a phenotype strikingly similar to that exhibited by a previously reported mutant defective in both kinesin-like motor proteins Cin8 and Kip1. We also find that the overexpression of SWE1, the budding-yeast homolog of wee1, also leads to a failure to segregate SPBs. These results imply that dephosphorylation of Tyr-19 is required for the segregation of SPBs. The requirement of Tyr-19 dephosphorylation for spindle assembly is also observed under conditions in which spindle formation is independent of mitosis, suggesting that the involvement of Cdc28/Clb kinase in SPB separation is direct. On the basis of these results, we propose that one of the roles of Tyr-19 dephosphorylation is to promote SPB separation.


Credit Derivatives are continuing to enjoy major growth in the financial markets, aided and abetted by sophisticated product development and the expansion of product applications beyond price management to the strategic management of portfolio risk. As Blythe Masters, global head of credit derivatives marketing at J.P. Morgan in New York points out: " In bypassing barriers between different classes, maturities, rating categories, debt seniority levels and so on, credit derivatives are creating enormous opportunities to exploit and profit from associated discontinuities in the pricing of credit risk ". With such intense and rapid product development Risk Publications is delighted to introduce the first Guide to Credit Derivatives, a joint project with J.P. Morgan, a pioneer in the use of credit derivatives, with contributions from the RiskMetrics Group, a leading provider of risk management research, data, software, and education. The guide will be of great value to risk managers addressing portfolio concentration risk, issuers seeking to minimise the cost of liquidity in the debt capital markets and investors pursuing assets that offer attractive relative value.


This work aims to guide conservation prioritization by identifying areas of conservation critical to achieving an interconnected Arizonan landscape. A landscape connectivity assessment conducted with this goal in mind resulted in the identification of Important Connectivity Zones (ICZs) throughout the state. The assessment used graph theoretic and shortestpath betweenness centrality spatial modeling methods to evaluate structural connectivity with landscape integrity data as a permeability surrogate. The analysis yielded a landscape lattice comprised of 382,740 hexagonal nodes, each 100 hectares in size. Selection of nodes that exhibited the greatest cumulative facilitation of ecological flows throughout the entire landscape lattice resulted in the delineation of ICZs. The ICZ network constitutes a series of 'wildways' comprised of highly natural zones contributing the most to the connectivity of the entire landscape. The ICZs identified here may serve as a potential blueprint for guiding statewide connectivity efforts as well as informing future conservation action, land management, and planning efforts. Additionally, as ICZs include a metric quantifying their relative importance, this analysis provides a framework upon which local and finescale linkage designs can be evaluated within the context of the entire landscape. Such an evaluation may prove useful in identifying locations where finescale linkage designs are needed, ranking their relative contribution to connectivity of the whole, and prioritizing their implementation throughout the state.


Informal long-term relationships and mutual confidence play a crucial role in modern economies in at least two dimensions. First, the performance of firms is strongly affected by their capacity to solve organizational questions effectively and this capacity is apparently strongly related to their ability to maintain informal long-term relationships. Second, countries that are better at maintaining unwritten agreements and where interactions are more strongly guided by a sense of trust fare better in terms of economic welfare than others. This paper provides a simple general equilibrium model which reconciles these two findings: we offer a micro-founded explanation of how the trust that prevails in an economy gets transmitted into higher economic well-being and we thereby highlight the role of managers with low time preference. Our analysis builds on the model of Antras and Helpman (2004) and a formalization of the notion of relational contracting developed in Baker, Gibbons and Murphy (2002).


The mammalian dentition is uniquely characterized by a combination of precise occlusion, permanent adult teeth and a unique tooth attachment system. Unlike the ankylosed teeth in most reptiles, mammal teeth are supported by a ligamentous tissue that suspends each tooth in its socket, providing flexible and compliant tooth attachment that prolongs the life of each tooth and maintains occlusal relationships. Here we investigate dental ontogeny through histological examination of a wide range of extinct synapsid lineages to assess whether the ligamentous tooth attachment system is unique to mammals and to determine how it evolved. This study shows for the first time that the ligamentous tooth attachment system is not unique to crown mammals within Synapsida, having arisen in several non-mammalian therapsid clades as a result of neoteny and progenesis in dental ontogeny. Mammalian tooth attachment is here re-interpreted as a paedomorphic condition relative to the ancestral synapsid form of tooth attachment.


Abstract Common vehicle navigation systems employ mostly GPS satellite positioning to track the vehicle's position and velocity. The tracked position can be dynamically shown on a digital map or automatic route guidance can be performed. So-called "Intelligent GPS Vehicle Navigation Systems", simply speaking, are extensions of common GPS vehicle navigation systems. It can be said, that they are GPS vehicle positioning systems with embedded intelligence. From the authors' point of view, an intelligent system should be able to detect the changes of the real-world situation and to give an appropriate response to the changes. Therefore, an Intelligent GPS Navigation System should have all the basic functionality of a common GPS navigation system, and be able to detect and react to the conditions that are of concern of the driver or the vehicle manager. To achieve this, an intelligent GPS navigation system should be integrated with different types of sensors and communication devices that are able to monitor and perform event reporting to the vehicle's real-word situation. Hence, event reporting is an essential component of an Intelligent Vehicle Navigation System (IVNS). With regard to the navigation part of the system, it is essential that the vehicle's trajectory can be continuously tracked to provide necessary guidance for the driver. However, for GPS-alone systems a reliable position determination in urban canyons may not always be possible, therefore it is necessary to investigate the integration of other vehicle tracking devices and methods. After the discussion of the potential applications of an event reporting IVNS, a more detailed description of a prototype system will be given. Such a system is being developed in a research project at the Department of Land Surveying and Geoinformatics of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Finally, field test results of the prototype IVNS conducted in Hong Kong are presented and the integration of wireless location services for positioning and a new GPS-alone position tracking method for urban canyons are briefly discussed.


The perception that peat swamp land is a marginal land and sago is a marginal crop
is an understatement. It is an understatement that omits the environmental costs and
benefits associated with sago peat swamp forest management. Sago peat swamp
forest serves important ecological and environmental functions and provides
perpetual benefits, if managed in a sustainable manner. One of the measures for
sustainability is the valuation of the resource. This study uses the disciplines of
economics in order to generate the set of values. Hence the total economic valuation
(TEV) approach is adopted. In order to demonstrate the TEV, the components of
sago peat swamp forest to be estimated and quantified are the stumpage value, fish,
domestic water, carbon sequestration and wildlife. The methods adopted in valuation
of these benefits are market price, damage cost avoided and contingent valuation.
The objective of the study is to estimate the TEV of sago harvesting regimes that are
most efficient both financially and environmentally. The samples are the heads of
the households from the villages that surround the study site. This is to ensure the
samples are familiar with the study site.
iii
The analysis is conducted in three parts. The first part is the willingness-to-pay
(WTP) for the benefits provided by the Mukah Sago peat swamp forest. The analysis
reveals that the determination of WTP is the income earned from the benefits. The
second part is the quantification of each component of TEV used in the study. The
analysis shows that the economic value is higher under sustainable option when
compared with unsustainable option. The final part is the financial analysis. The
financial and economic internal rates of return are calculated. The financial internal
rate of return highlights only the income derived from the sago logs, the tangible
asset. However, the economic rate of return aggregates all the values of the other
benefits, both tangible and intangible into the income calculation.
The results are significant at both local and state levels. At the local level, the sago
peat swamp forest plays an important role in income contribution to the farmers.
However, their attitudes towards the conservation and maintenance of the sago peat
swamp forest have to change towards sustainability for perpetual benefits. At the
state level, sustainability needs proactive management to make the sago peat swamp
forest more productive by implementing environmentally friendly projects that
generate income for the benefit of the stakeholders.


Donald Ostwald, Jr., DVM, DABVP (Canine & Feline) Introduction The American Animal Hospital Association recommends these nutritional assessment guidelines because good nutrition enhances pets' quality and quantity of life, and is integral to optimal animal care. Incorporating nutritional assessment into regular animal care is critical for maintaining pets' health, as well as their response to disease and injury. It requires little to no additional time or cost. The specific goals of this article are to provide:


Due to the need for a microrheometer monitoring the high-frequency viscoelasticity of soft matter in situ, we describe a cantilever-based microrheometer to achieve this purpose. The elastic and viscous moduli of complex fluids can be measured with an acceptable accuracy over a high-frequency bandwidth of 1–100 kHz. Some preliminary data on small samples (∼10–100 µL) of simple Newtonian and viscoelastic polymer and surfactant solutions showed the ability to measure the dynamic moduli in the range 0.01–10 kPa. This approach will provide a new way to characterize in situ, dynamic microrheology of minute and trace materials and will advance the field of biorheology, microfluidics and polymer processing.


In this thesis different mechanical properties for shotcrete (sprayed concrete) such as compression strength, bond strength, bending tensile strength, elastic modulus, free and restrained shrinkage as a function of its age was investigated. One of the main issues was to investigate the difference between ordinary cast concrete and shotcrete. Reliable material data for young and hardening shotcrete is scarce which in the past have made such comparisons difficult. Also, less accurate data representative for cast concrete has often been used in numerical modelling and design analyses. The focus of the project has particularly been on the properties bond strength and restrained shrinkage for which two new testing methods has been developed and evaluated. Microstructural studies have also been performed as a complement to the bond strength testing.The bond to rock is one of the most important properties for shotcrete used as rock reinforcement. During the very first time after spraying the physical properties and the bond to the rock depend on the set accelerator and the micro structure that is formed. The investigation of early age bond strength of shotcrete is of great importance both from a production perspective and a safety perspective. The newly developed method was tested and evaluated and proved that it can be used for bond strength testing already from a couple of hours after shotcreting. The bond, or adhesion, depends on several factors such as texture of the rock, the type of accelerator, application technique, etc. In this work the development of the microstructure in the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) and strength of the bond was investigated. The results show that the bond strength is related to the hydration process, i.e. the strength gain of the shotcrete. The early development of the ITZ was here studied using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) making it possible to observe changes over time, before and after proper cement hydration.Restrained shrinkage cracking of shotcrete, especially in the case of shotcrete sprayed on soft drains that are parts of a tunnel lining not continuously bonded to the rock, can be detrimental for the sustainability of an infrastructure tunnel system. Maintenance and repair costs can be high over time. It is shown that the developed test method realistically captures the behaviour of shotcrete drains on hard rock in situ. The method can be used in the evaluation of different technical solutions for avoiding or minimizing shrinkage cracks in shotcreted soft drains. It can also be used to assess the performance of shotcrete fully bonded to a rock surface, with respect to the ability to prevent cracking or to distribute possible shrinkage damage into several fine cracks instead of one wide.


"All at Sea about Hamlet at Sea" argues that the record of performances of Hamlet off the coast of Africa in 1607 is a forgery and should not be used as a basis for discussions about performances of the play-as it is continually. The essay further suggests that the forger is John Payne Collier, who had a hand in countless forgeries in works of early modern literature. Who forged the 1607 document is less important, however, than the fact that it is forged. The essay discusses the history of arguments for and against the document's reliability and finishes with a review of three recent essays that use the document to advance their arguments. It concludes by noting the difference between the attitude of historians toward the 1607 document and that of literary critics who rely on historical documents to support their arguments.


Purpose: To evaluate the relevance between lumican expression patterns and the clinical course of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), and to investigate the role of lumican in PDAC progression. Experimental Design: One hundred thirty-one patient tumors were chosen for tissue microarray staining, and Cox regression analysis was used to test the associations between lumican expression and clinical, pathologic, and oncologic outcomes in all patients. Primary PDAC cells and recombinant human lumican protein were used to establish a working model to mimic the in vivo interactions between stromal lumican and PDAC cells. Using this model, we tested the effects of lumican on EGFR signaling via Akt and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF1α) and its subsequent influence on glucose consumption, lactate production, intracellular ATP, and apoptotic cell death. Results: Lumican was present in the stroma surrounding PDAC cells in roughly one-half of primary tumors and the direct xenografts. Patients with stromal lumican were associated with a profound reduction in metastatic recurrence after surgery and 3-fold longer survival than patients without stromal lumican. In PDAC cells, extracellular lumican reduced EGFR expression and phosphorylation through enhanced dimerization and internalization of EGFR and the resultant inhibition of Akt kinase activity. Lumican also reduced HIF1α expression and activity via Akt. PDAC cells with enhanced HIF1α activity were resistant to lumican-induced inhibition of glucose consumption, lactate production, intracellular ATP, and apoptosis. Conclusions: There is a positive association between stromal lumican in primary PDAC tumors and prolonged survival after tumor resection. Lumican plays a restrictive role in EGFR-expressing pancreatic cancer progression. Clin Cancer Res; 20(24); 6529–40. ©2014 AACR.


We present far-infrared polarimetry observations of M82 at 53 and 154 μm and NGC 253 at 89 μm, which were taken with High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera-plus (HAWC+) in polarimetry mode on the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. The polarization of M82 at 53 μm clearly shows a magnetic field geometry perpendicular to the disk in the hot dust emission. For M82 the polarization at 154 μm shows a combination of field geometry perpendicular to the disk in the nuclear region, but closer to parallel to the disk away from the nucleus. The fractional polarization at 53 μm (154 μm) ranges from 7% (3%) off nucleus to 0.5% (0.3%) near the nucleus. A simple interpretation of the observations of M82 invokes a massive polar outflow, dragging the field along, from a region ∼700 pc in diameter that has entrained some of the gas and dust, creating a vertical field geometry seen mostly in the hotter (53 μm) dust emission. This outflow sits within a larger disk with a more typical planar geometry that more strongly contributes to the cooler (154 μm) dust emission. For NGC 253, the polarization at 89 μm is dominated by a planar geometry in the tilted disk, with weak indication of a vertical geometry above and below the plane from the nucleus. The polarization observations of NGC 253 at 53 μm were of a insufficient signal-to-noise ratio for a detailed analysis.


Conditions in informal settlements are complex, at times violent, and continually changing. Managing these settlements in a way that will result in a functional, healthy urban environment constitutes a major challenge. Effective upgrading strategies require accurate, up-to-date social, economic and spatial information. This is especially so when the information is used for adjudication and titling. Moreover the information should be regarded as legitimate by settlement residents themselves. Thus, residents participating in collecting data can contribute to an upgrade project succeeding. We describe two pilot studies where residents, with moderate levels of literacy, volunteered as field workers to collect data. They used a palm computer linked to a GPS and, using the Cybertracker system, collected socio-economic and spatial information. These studies were in an informal settlement in Cape Town, South Africa, and a rural land reform project close by. To simplify the process, icons were developed to represent questions or items of data to be recorded. After some initial difficulties, the field workers proved to be competent in using the hardware and software and the data that they collected were accurate. However, using icons to represent data items was found to be impractical. Instead, short text phrases were found to be appropriate and practical.


Summary
1.
The parasite rate, employing the thick blood film method, on 11,000 adult Haitian negroes was 23.5 per cent, while the same test on 1102 of their children showed a rate of 41.9 per cent.
2.
The spleen rate on these same adults was 3.05 per cent and on the same children was 22.78 per cent.
3.
Of the 2585 adult negroes whose blood films were positive for the parasites of malaria, only 110 had palpable spleens. Therefore, 2475 men with malaria would have been overlooked had the spleen index alone been employed. Of the 462 children whose blood films were positive for malaria, 175 had palpable spleens. Therefore, 287 children with malaria would not have been considered infected if we had used only the spleen index.
4.
Of the 335 adult negroes who had palpable spleens, 225 did not have malarial parasites in their blood films. Of the 251 negro children who had palpable spleens, 76 failed to reveal parasites in their blood films. Two hundred and sixty-four, or 78.7 per cent, of the palpable spleens found in the adult negroes were barely palpable; while 131, or 52.2 per cent, of the palpable spleens in the children were of the same type. It is possible that all the palpable spleens recorded, even though not associated with parasites in the blood films, represented latent or recent malaria. Nevertheless, the error in the spleen rate was so much greater than in the parasite rate that it has great significance for those of us who wish to treat the active cases of malaria in an adult male labor force, or even in the general inhabitants of a community. The thick blood film examination of a large labor force or community on a single day does not, of course, disclose all of the individuals who may be positive for malaria. Interval surveys are indicated. The combined application of the blood and the spleen surveys would have greater value in the Latin-American labor forces, because the spleens of this race seem to show a greater degree and more permanent reaction to malarial infections than the spleens of the West Indian negroes show. I think, however, that the thick blood film survey, even in the Latin Americans, will include nearly all of the malarial infections that are active.
5.
The application of both the parasite and spleen survey methods will fail to detect all cases of malarial infections, as can be easily proved by the routine examination at autopsy of films prepared from the rib marrow and splenic pulp.
6.
Of the 335 palpable spleens found in these adult negroes, only 71, or 21.2 per cent, were below the costal margin. Of the 251 palpable spleens found in the negro children, 120 or 47.8 per cent were below the costal margin. The spleens which extended below the costal margin were not associated, in any regular manner, with the group of individuals showing "heavy parasite" infections in their blood films. These large spleens were very likely due to malarial chronicity rather than to one or two acute attacks.
7.
Extreme cases of splenic enlargement, 1000 grams or more in weight, were commonly found in the Latin American labor class of the autopsy series; and were very rarely encountered in the negro, even though he had lived for a number of years on the mainland under the same environment as the Latin Americans.
8.
Analysis of the autopsy series of cases indicates that acute enlargement of the spleen in negroes is more significant and constant in typhoid fever and lobar pneumonia than in malaria of the estivo-autumnal type.
9.
The approximate range in weight of the normal spleen in these negroes is, apparently, 140 to 160 grams. See tables 7, 11 and 16.
10.
It would appear, from analysis of the clinical records associated with the weights of the spleen at autopsy, that in adults this organ must exceed 300 grams in size before palpation can score a very high rate of success. See table 9.
11.
The series of lobar pneumonia cases in the negro (table 8) revealed spleens with a weight in excess of 300 grams in 20 cases; yet in 6 instances, or 30 per cent, these spleens were not palpable. A disease of this nature may interfere with a low excursion of the diaphragm, which would ordinarily force the spleen down; and an inflated stomach and intestine could further handicap efforts in palpation.
12.
These series of cases, in the autopsy records on cases dying from some of the various causes of external violence, indicate that the approximate normal weight of the spleen in the West Indian negro is 130 to 150 grams; while in two groups of 7 and 8 cases of the Latin Americans, it was for Panama and Honduras respectively 325 and 456 grams. A group of twelve white people from the United States gave an average weight of 122 grams. Two adult Chinese men revealed an average weight of 80 grams. The body weight and height do not have as much relation to the size of the spleen as one might think. Race seems to play a more important role than the size of the body. See tables 7, 11, 12, 13 and 16. It is not considered safe to assume that the average spleen weight given here for the Latin American labor class is their normal spleen weight, even though the cases recorded were persons who were apparently in good health prior to the time that they lost their lives due to some form of external violence. It seems probable that there is a more permanent reaction of the spleen to former or latent diseases in this race than in the other races mentioned. It may be true that the descendants of the African race do not respond to the malarial stimulus to the same degree that the natives of Central America do. Perhaps, this feature tends to show that malaria was imported to the Caribbean area during the days of slavery.


Rock burst is a physical explosion associated with enormous damage at a short time. Due to the complicity of mechanics of rock burst in coal mine roadway, the direct use of traditional investigation method applied in tunnel is inappropriate since the components of surrounding rock are much more complex in underground than that of tunnel. In addition, the reliability of the results obtained through these methods (i.e., physical simulation, theoretical analysis, and monitoring in filed application) is still not certain with complex geological conditions. Against this background, present experimental study was first ever conducted at initial site to evaluate the effect of shock wave during the rock burst. TDS-6 microseismic monitoring system was set up in situ to evaluate the propagation of shock wave resulting in microexplosions of roadway surrounding rock. Various parameters including the distance of epicentre and the characteristic of response have been investigated. Detailed test results revealed that the shock wave attenuated exponentially with the increase of the distance to seismic source according to the equation of ; particularly, the amplitude decreased significantly after being 20 m apart from explosive resource and then became very weak after being 30 m apart from the seismic source; the response mechanics are characteristic with large scatter based on the real location of surrounding rock despite being at the same section. That is, the surrounding rock of floor experienced serious damage, followed by ribs, the roof, and the humeral angles. This in situ experimental study also demonstrated that microseismic monitoring system can be effectively used in rock burst through careful setup and data investigation. The proposed in situ monitoring method has provided a new way to predict rock burst due to its simple instalment procedure associated with direct and reasonable experimental results.


In the late 1990s, Morris and Shin proposed a new theoretical framework of financial crises, which generalised traditional models of strategic complementarity and self-fulfilling beliefs by incorporating idiosyncratic uncertainty about the state. The innovative feature of their framework is expressed by its capacity to account for seemingly unwarranted speculative attacks under equilibrium uniqueness and to thus place policy analysis on a firm footing. The macroeconomic implications of the framework have been questioned, however, because it ignores the issue of information aggregation via market prices. Motivated by such criticism, this paper modifies the Morris-Shin setup by allowing prices to adjust freely to market conditions. It is then shown that all of the appealing characteristics of that setup are preserved even when public information has an endogenously disseminated component. Moreover, the prevailing weak form of strategic complementarity, in conjunction with heterogeneity of private agents' information sets, leads to a less restrictive prerequisite for equilibrium uniqueness. Further, the paper's model delivers new policy implications and suggests a change in the approach of structural currency crisis empirical analysis.


The traditional view of pyramidal neurons, which are excitatory, is that they can only excite their downstream target cells. However, Ren et al. report that cortical pyramidal neurons can elicit an inhibitory synaptic current in another neighboring pyramidal neuron. These unusual responses were caused by axo-axonic disynaptic connections onto γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-releasing terminals located on or near the soma of the postsynaptic pyramidal cell. These so-called interpyramidal inhibitory postsynaptic currents were remarkably large and frequent, which suggests that they play an important role. M. Ren, Y. Yoshimura, N. Takada, S. Horibe, Y. Komatsu, Specialized inhibitory synaptic actions between nearby neocortical pyramidal neurons. Science 316, 758-761 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]


If health service delivery is poorly managed, then increases in inputs or ability may not translate into gains in quality. However, little is known about how to increase managerial capital to generate persistent improvements in quality. We present results from a randomized field experiment in 80 primary health care centers (PHCs) in Nigeria to evaluate the effects of a health care management consulting intervention. One set of PHCs received a detailed improvement plan and nine months of implementation support (full intervention), another set received only a general training session, an overall assessment and a report with improvement advice (light intervention), and a third set of facilities served as a control group. In the short term, the full intervention had large and significant effects on the adoption of several practices under the direct control of the PHC staff, as well as some intermediate outcomes. Virtually no effects remained one year after the intervention concluded. The light intervention showed no consistent effects at either point. We conclude that sustained supervision is crucial for achieving persistent improvements in contexts where the lack of external competition fails to create incentives for the adoption of effective managerial practices.


Colleges and universities are at the forefront of efforts to preserve the earth's resources for future generations. Carbon neutrality, renewable energy sources, green building strategies, and related initiatives require informed and courageous leaders at all levels of higher education. James Martin and James E. Samels have worked closely with college and university presidents, provosts, and trustees to devise best practices that establish sustainable policies and programs in the major areas of institutional operations. While almost seven hundred chief executive officers have signed the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, several thousand have yet to do so. This book identifies four of the most formidable challenges facing these presidents and leadership teams along with solutions to address them: effectively institutionalizing sustainability thinking; developing an efficient, flexible system of sustainability benchmarks; implementing an accountable university budget model; and engaging boards of trustees in the campus sustainability agenda. The volume's contributors, including recognized authorities on sustainability as well as campus executives with broad-ranging experience, consider these challenges and discuss specific action plans, best practices, and emerging trends in sustainability efforts. They offer sustainability solutions for almost every major operational area of campus and consider what sustainability means for colleges and universities - and the legacy of those entrusted with shaping their future. The meaning of sustainability is evolving, and it differs from one campus to the next. This timely and comprehensive volume guides institutional leaders past the myths and misconceptions to the sustainable university.


Background Therapeutic de-escalation enables us to improve the effectiveness of empirical antimicrobial therapy and avoids the development of resistance. Purpose To analyse the preliminary results of a pilot project of pharmacy interventions to achieve de-escalation of treatment with carbapenems, within a programme of optimisation of antibiotics use. Materials and Methods Prospective study of pharmacy interventions aimed at de-escalation in patients starting treatment with carbapenems, over three months (from March to June 2012) in a tertiary hospital, based on available microbiology results. The de-escalation suggestion was made through the electronic prescribing software. The variables analysed were: number of patients prescribed carbapenems, prescribing speciality, request for cultures, microorganisms isolated and interventions performed. De-escalations carried out without pharmacy intervention were also assessed. Results Total number of prescriptions was 433. The most prescribed carbapenem was ertapenem (37.6%) followed by meropenem (36%). The carbapenem most used in Internal Medicine was meropenem (58.2%) and in Urology, imipenem (75%). Ertapenem was used more frequently in General Surgery (53.7%) and Vascular Surgery (86.0%). Out of a total of 316 requested tests, 172 (54.4%) were positive. The most common pathogen isolated was Escherichia Coli (24.7%) 20.8% of which were Extended-Spectrum Beta-Lactamase (ESBL)-producing, 60% of which were sensitive to piperacillin-tazobactam or fosfomycin. Klebsiella spp. were isolated in 3.6%, of which 33.3% were ESBL-producing and 50% were sensitive to piperacillin-tazobactam. Total treatments subject to de-escalation were 96 (55.8%), out of 172 showing this possibility, where 74 (77.1%) were carried out by initiatives of medical teams and 22 (22.9%) after pharmacy interventions. The Services with a higher degree of acceptance of pharmacy interventions were Internal Medicine (36.4%) and General Surgery (27.3%). Conclusions Although the therapeutic de-escalation of empirical treatments with carbapenems was a low percentage, nevertheless pharmacy interventions achieved an increase of this practise, with the more receptive specialties being Internal Medicine and General Surgery. No conflict of interest.


The mechano growth factor (MGF) is expressed in mechanically overloaded skeletal muscle. MGF was discovered in 1996 as an alternative splice product of the IGF-1 gene. Since then, its significance has been investigated particularly in skeletal muscle, because the local expression of MGF could provide an explanation for the specific hypertrophy of overloaded muscle. In the present thesis, regulation of MGF in skeletal muscle and heart was investigated, and compared with that of IGF-1Ea. The first experimental Chapter shows that a single bout of 15 min of lengthening contractions initiates a number of various molecular responses in isolated mouse skeletal muscle, independent of any circulating systemic factor. Simultaneously with contraction-induced MGF mRNA expression, genes like MyoD and PCNA were induced suggesting the activation muscle stem cells. The subsequently observed mRNA expression of IGF-1Ea might stimulate differentiation of muscle stem cells into myotubes. At that time PCNA mRNA is no longer expressed is, indicating stem cells are no longer in the S-phase. Because MGF was induced in skeletal muscle by mechanical loading, its expression in heart was investigated in a series of in vivo and in vitro experiments. In mice treated with thyroid hormone (T3) for 12 days to induce cardiac hypertrophy, cardiac MGF expression strongly correlated with the increased beating frequency in hyperthyroid mice. In contrast to skeletal muscle, MGF was constitutively expressed in the heart, may be as a result of its continuous activity. The in vivo observations were compared to heart cells exposed to T3 in culture. Upon T3 treatment, cardiomyocytes showed an increase in beats per minute, as well as increases in MGF and IGF-1Ea mRNA expression. Interestingly, when the T3-exposed cardiomyocytes were contractile arrested by KCl, up-regulation of MGF was not observed, whereas IGF-1Ea was still induced. These findings suggest that MGF is induced in mechanically stressed cardiomyocytes and potentially mediates the adaptive hypertrophic response towards thyroid hormone treatment. The next Chapter shows that expression of MGF increases during early cardiac embryonic development, decreases during postnatal development, and re-emerges shortly after acute myocardial infarction in adult mice. Since myocardial infarction results in an insufficient supply of oxygen and nutrition into the infarcted area, we evaluated the influence of hypoxia and starvation on MGF expression. We exposed cardiomyocyte cell cultures to desferrioxamine (DFO), which stabilizes hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), and found induction of MGF. In contrast, starvation of cardiomyocytes decreased MGF. These findings demonstrate that MGF is induced during embryonic development and upon ischemic injury of the heart, where hypoxia/HIF-activated pathways are likely to be important for MGF regulation, rather than nutritional shortage. In conclusion, the results presented in this thesis contribute to the understanding of the regulation of the Mechano Growth Factor. The final Chapter focuses on the possible beneficial effects of MGF on health. It addresses the issue whether MGF could be useful for a therapeutic approach in patients with muscle or heart diseases, as well as the (mis)use of MGF in sports.


With the advent of globalization - where corporate organizations and the commercial relations that accompany them are argued to be becoming increasingly transnational - the locus of powers, authorities, and responsibilities has shifted to the global level. The nation-state arena is losing its capacity to regulate and control commercial processes and practices as a transformational logic kicks-in, associated with new forms of global rule-making and governance. It is this new arena of global rule-making that can be considered as a surrogate form of global constitutionalization, or 'quasi-constitutionalization'. But as might be expected, this surrogate process of constitutionalization is not a coherent system or set of rounded outcomes but full of contradictory half-finished currents and projects: an 'assemblage' of many disparate advances and often directionless moves - almost an accidental coming together of elements. It is this assemblage that is to be investigated and unbundled by the analysis of the book. The book discusses governance, law, and constitutional matters in the context of international corporate constitutional governance. It examines how and why the business world, commercial relations, and company activities have increasingly become subject to legal and constitutional forms of regulation and governance at the international level. It analyses how we should characterize the process that has seen the international corporate arena increasingly subject to juridical and constitutional-like regulatory initiatives and interventions and whether this amounts to a new attempt to subject international commercial relations to the 'rule of law' and, indeed, to rule the world through these very means.


The Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert Equation describes the dynamics of ferromagnetism, where strong nonlinearity and non-convexity are hard to tackle. Based on the work of S.Bartels and A.Prohl "Convergence of an implicit finite element method for the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation" ([4]), we present in this report a fully implicit finite element scheme with exchange and magnetostriction. We verify unconditional convergence and present numerical examples


A new algorithm for symbol recognition is proposed in this paper. It is based on the AutoClass classifier [1], [2], which itself is a version of the evolving fuzzy rule-based classifier eClass [3] in which AnYa[1] type of fuzzy rules and data density are used. In this classifier, symbol recognition task is divided into two stages: feature extraction, and recognition based on feature vector. This approach gives flexibility, allowing us to use various feature sets for one classifier. The feature extraction is performed by means of gist image descriptors[4] augmented by several additional features. In this method, we map the symbol images into the feature space, and then we apply AutoClass classifier in order to recognise them. Unlike many of the state-of-the-art algorithms, the proposed algorithm is evolving, i.e. it has a capability of incremental learning as well as ability to change its structure during the training phase. The classifier update is performed sample by sample, and we should not memorize the training set to provide recognition or further update. It gives a possibility to adapt the classifier to the broadening and changing data sets, which is especially useful for large scale systems improvement during exploitation. More, the classifier is computationally cheap, and it has shown stable recognition time during the increase of training data set size that is extremely important for online applications.


The article analyses the subsidiarity guardianship function of national parliaments and argues that, while a positive development, the current concept and practice of subsidiarity monitoring do not satisfactorily address the problem of competence creep and the need to safeguard domestic socio-economic and politico-legal idiosyncrasies. The analysis critically evaluates the two yellow cards hitherto issued within the early warning mechanism and inspects new initiatives for national parliamentary involvement in EU lawmaking – such as the "red card", "late card" and "green card". It also assesses the Juncker Commission's approach to the political dialogue with national parliaments. The article holds that refocusing parliamentary scrutiny towards the principle of conferral and legislative substance is more conducive to alleviating the democratic deficit and increasing EU legitimacy.


ZnO is a semiconductor material that has received an increased interest because of its excellent optical, electrical and morphological characteristics, in addition to its low cost and low toxicity. ZnO nanostructures such as nanorods have been incorporated into third generation solar cells in order to increase the surface/volume ratio. The CBD (Chemical Bath Deposition) is one of the most used techniques for obtaining nanorods because it is a low cost technique very simple to implement. One of the fundamental steps to achieve homogeneous growth of nanorods on the substrate surface is the so-called activation or sedimentation where very small crystals are formed which act as nucleation points. In this work we will approach the activation method through pulsed laser in comparison with the traditional thermal treatment.


Title of thesis: VISUALIZATION OF THE VORTEX LATTICE DYNAMICS IN SUPERFLUID HELIUM Kristina T. Gaff, Master of Science, 2010 Thesis directed by: Professor Daniel Lathrop Department of Physics We study the lattice structure and dynamics of the quantized vortices in superfluid helium-4 using a new rotating experiment. This setup includes control of the entire apparatus from the rotating frame, installation of a new EMCCD camera that allows for imaging of nanoscale tracer particles, and the development and implementation of a new isolation cell, which permits investigation into new phenomena such as differential rotation in helium-II. We have observed the vortex lattice dynamics in the (r, φ) plane (i.e. transverse to the vortices) and present here the first real-time visualization of Tkachenko waves in helium-II from this cross section. Additionally, we present evidence of differential rotation with distinct Stewartson layer boundaries, possible Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, and the formation and propagation of superfluid collective vortex eddies. We show that the angular velocity is a function of radius and may be driven by the geometry of the isolation cell. We also document the observation and analysis of gravitycapillary surface waves that demonstrate an interaction between the liquid helium free surface and the bulk of the fluid. VISUALIZATION OF THE VORTEX LATTICE DYNAMICS IN SUPERFLUID HELIUM


The utility of 18S and 26S in broad phylogenetic analyses has been much maligned due in large part to the low signal in both genes. However, few analyses have employed complete 26S rDNA sequences over a broad range of taxa, and most alignments of the two genes are done de novo, without taking into account the secondary structure of the two rRNA genes. Here we mine next-generation sequence data to compile large matrices (429 taxa) of complete 18S + 26S gene sequences, and we compare both de novo alignment methods with curated alignments done by eye that take into account secondary structure and hard-to-align regions (profile alignments). The combined 18S + 26S topology is overall very similar to recently published gene trees for the angiosperms based on three or more genes. Overall support for the backbone or framework of the combined tree is low (bootstrap support below 50%). Few major clades have bootstrap support above 50%. Most well-supported clades are tip clades (families and orders sensu APG III 2009). Importantly, the 18S + 26S rDNA topology is consistent with current estimates of relationships: the basalmost angiosperms are recovered (Amborellaceae, Nymphaeales, Austrobaileyales), as are most major clades, including Mesangiospermae, eudicots (Eudicotyledoneae sensu Cantino et al. 2007), core eudicots (Gunneridae sensu Cantino et al. 2007), rosids (Rosidae sensu Cantino et al. 2007), asterids (Asteridae sensu Cantino et al. 2007), and Caryophyllales. Most clades recognized at the ordinal level (sensu APG III 2009) are also recovered. However, there are also some unusual placements in the 18S + 26S topology, but none of these receives bootstrap support above 50%. The profile and de novo alignments gave very similar topologies. 18S + 26S trees remain useful sources of data in large combined analyses. This is the first time a large data set of complete 26S gene sequences has been employed at this scale; this gene in particular proved to be useful phylogenetically. Targeted sequencing of 18S/26S rDNA is not advocated here, but given that these regions provide useful phylogenetic information and are abundant in next-generation sequencing runs, we suggest that the data be used rather than discarded.


A beam-shaped 20-W diode bar has longitudinally pumped a Nd:YAG laser in a ring configuration. Unidirectional single-frequency operation is enforced by a Faraday rotator. Intracavity frequency doubling with a KTP crystal has produced 3 W of stable single-frequency TEM00 output at 532 nm.


In 2009, the National Research Council of the National Academies released a report on A New Biology for the 21st Century. The council preferred the term 'New Biology' to capture the convergence and integration of the various disciplines of biology. The National Research Council stressed: 'The essence of the New Biology, as defined by the committee, is integration—re-integration of the many sub-disciplines of biology, and the integration into biology of physicists, chemists, computer scientists, engineers, and mathematicians to create a research community with the capacity to tackle a broad range of scientific and societal problems.' They define the 'New Biology' as 'integrating life science research with physical science, engineering, computational science, and mathematics'. The National Research Council reflected:

'Biology is at a point of inflection. Years of research have generated detailed information about the components of the complex systems that characterize life––genes, cells, organisms, ecosystems––and this knowledge has begun to fuse into greater understanding of how all those components work together as systems. Powerful tools are allowing biologists to probe complex systems in ever greater detail, from molecular events in individual cells to global biogeochemical cycles. Integration within biology and increasingly fruitful collaboration with physical, earth, and computational scientists, mathematicians, and engineers are making it possible to predict and control the activities of biological systems in ever greater detail.'

The National Research Council contended that the New Biology could address a number of pressing challenges. First, it stressed that the New Biology could 'generate food plants to adapt and grow sustainably in changing environments'. Second, the New Biology could 'understand and sustain ecosystem function and biodiversity in the face of rapid change'. Third, the New Biology could 'expand sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels'. Moreover, it was hoped that the New Biology could lead to a better understanding of individual health: 'The New Biology can accelerate fundamental understanding of the systems that underlie health and the development of the tools and technologies that will in turn lead to more efficient approaches to developing therapeutics and enabling individualized, predictive medicine.'

Biological research has certainly been changing direction in response to changing societal problems. Over the last decade, increasing awareness of the impacts of climate change and dwindling supplies of fossil fuels can be seen to have generated investment in fields such as biofuels, climate-ready crops and storage of agricultural genetic resources. In considering biotechnology's role in the twenty-first century, biological future-predictor Carlson's firm Biodesic states: 'The problems the world faces today – ecosystem responses to global warming, geriatric care in the developed world or infectious diseases in the developing world, the efficient production of more goods using less energy and fewer raw materials – all depend on understanding and then applying biology as a technology.'

This collection considers the roles of intellectual property law in regulating emerging technologies in the biological sciences. Stephen Hilgartner comments that patent law plays a significant part in social negotiations about the shape of emerging technological systems or artefacts:

'Emerging technology – especially in such hotbeds of change as the life sciences, information technology, biomedicine, and nanotechnology – became a site of contention where competing groups pursued incompatible normative visions. Indeed, as people recognized that questions about the shape of technological systems were nothing less than questions about the future shape of societies, science and technology achieved central significance in contemporary democracies. In this context, states face ongoing difficulties trying to mediate these tensions and establish mechanisms for addressing problems of representation and participation in the sociopolitical process that shapes emerging technology.'

The introduction to the collection will provide a thumbnail, comparative overview of recent developments in intellectual property and biotechnology – as a foundation to the collection. Section I of this introduction considers recent developments in United States patent law, policy and practice with respect to biotechnology – in particular, highlighting the Myriad Genetics dispute and the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Bilski v. Kappos. Section II considers the cross-currents in Canadian jurisprudence in intellectual property and biotechnology. Section III surveys developments in the European Union – and the interpretation of the European Biotechnology Directive. Section IV focuses upon Australia and New Zealand, and considers the policy responses to the controversy of Genetic Technologies Limited's patents in respect of non-coding DNA and genomic mapping. Section V outlines the parts of the collection and the contents of the chapters.


Several studies have suggested that translation and convergence in a linear trichromatic color space lead to the perception of transparency, but other transformations, such as shear and rotation, do not. We have designed a psychophysical experiment to study the limits of such systemic chromatic changes, adding categories such as different luminance levels and vector lengths. The number of our stimuli and the number of observations provide strong statistical support for D'Zmura's model. Our main results show that for vectors exceeding a minimal length, convergence and translation (except in the equiluminant plane) lead to the perception of transparency, while shear and divergence do not. However, our results reveal that small shears and divergences also appear transparent. We also found that large translations in the equiluminant plane tend to be less often judged as transparent.


In "The Art of a Beautiful Game," Chris Ballard, the award-winning "Sports Illustrated" writer who has covered the NBA for the past decade, goes behind the scenes to examine basketball in ways that will surprise even die-hard fans. An inveterate hoops junkie who played some college ball, Ballard sits down with the NBA's most passionate, cerebral players to find out their tricks of the trade and to learn what drives them, taking readers away from the usual sports talk radio fodder and deep into the heart of the game. Ballard talks to Dwight Howard, a prolific shot-blocker, about the enervating feeling of meeting another man at the height of his leap; challenges Steve Kerr to a game of H-O-R-S-E to understand the mentality of a pure shooter; reveals the roots of Kobe Bryant's unmatched killer instinct; and spends time with LeBron James to better understand both his mental game and his seemingly unlimited physical skills. He tracks down renowned dunkers from Dominique to Shaq to explore the impact of the dunk on the modern game, shadows Shane Battier during his preparations to defend LeBron, takes lessons from a freethrow shooting guru who once hit 2,750 in a row, and attends an elite NBA training camp to feel the pain that turns a prospect into a pro. Packed with lively characters and basketball history, and grounded in superb writing and the reportage that is the hallmark of "Sports Illustrated," "The Art of a Beautiful Game" is an often witty, always insightful look at the men like Steve Nash, Yao Ming, and Alonzo Mourning who devote themselves to this elegant and complicated sport. It ultimately provides basketball fans what they all want: an inside read on the game they love.


Abstract: In 1995, Judge Betty Binns Fletcher posed a question: In the context of the death penalty, can justice be done? She did not answer the question at the time. However, an examination of the procedural hurdles now facing condemned inmates seeking review of claims of constitutional violations suggests the answer is no. Too often courts, including the Supreme Court, have favored finality over fairness, elevating strict adherence to procedural rules over the responsibility to make sure justice is done. Nowhere is the problem clearer than in the arena of actual innocence, where the failure to consider a condemned inmate's claim on the merits could lead to the execution of an innocent person. This Article argues that the Supreme Court's 2009 response to a petition for an original writ of habeas corpus in In re Davis1 shows that courts have gone too far. Rather than merely weeding out frivolous claims or showing deference to reasoned state court decisions, federal courts have allowed arcane procedural rules to prevent even meritorious claims from being heard. The Supreme Court's rare intervention should encourage courts to interpret procedural rules less stringently in an effort to make sure justice is done. INTRODUCTION In the August 2009 case of In re Davis,2 the Supreme Court of the United States took the unusual step of directing a district court in Georgia to conduct an evidentiary hearing on the possible innocence of a death row inmate.3 After seeking relief from the Georgia Supreme Court4 and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit5 without success, the inmate petitioned the Supreme Court for an original writ of habeas corpus.6 The Court had not granted such a writ in nearly fifty years.7 Surprisingly, the Court directed the district court to hold an evidentiary hearing on the claim.8 As Justice John Paul Stevens wrote in a concurring opinion, "The substantial risk of putting an innocent man to death clearly provides an adequate justification for holding an evidentiary hearing."9 The procedural rarity of the case, however, quickly fell under the shadow of Justice Antonin Scalia' s proclamation in a dissent. "This Court," Justice Scalia wrote, has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is "actually" innocent. Quite the contrary, we have repeatedly left that question unresolved, while expressing considerable doubt that any claim based on alleged "actual innocence" is constitutionally cognizable.10 The Supreme Court's dramatic action in Davis highlights the failures of the existing system of appellate and habeas review. Davis, unable to achieve relief through the usual state and federal channels, had to rely on an unlikely action of the Supreme Court to avoid a potentially unconstitutional execution. Given the rarity of such relief, the specter of executing condemned inmates innocent of death penalty crimes looms. Indeed, innocent defendants have been sentenced to death" and evidence suggests some of them have been executed.12 The Davis case highlights a question that most often falls on the shoulders of lower court judges: In the context of the death penalty, can justice be done? Judge Fletcher posed this question in 1995 while giving the Madison Lecture at New York University School of Law.13 In her lecture, Judge Fletcher highlighted the responsibility of federal district and appellate judges in ensuring justice for defendants sentenced to death: "While some may view the courts as obstructions when appeals drag on for years, the federal courts are surely not doing their duty if they fail to protect the constitutional rights of capital defendants and if they tolerate execution of innocent people."14 Judge Fletcher and her fellow judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit shouldered that responsibility under intense public scrutiny in 1992. …


Background: Dairy farming work involves frequent use of poor postures. These postures may increase the risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders among dairy workers. Objective: To assess postural load during performance of various tasks related to dairy farming. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on a dairy farm in Iran. In order to assess postural load, tasks related to dairy farming were divided into 3 categories: feeding, milking, and manure disposal. Each task was then divided into its constituent work subdivisions (tasks). Finally, the working posture for each work subdivision was evaluated using Rapid Entire Body Assessment (REBA). Results: Based on the results from the REBA score, the poorest risk scores (risk level 4) were associated with the following tasks: (1) manure disposal, (2) filling feed bags, and (3) pouring milk into a bucket. Other tasks such as filling corn containers, pouring corn into the milling machine, preparing the feed, pouring food into mangers, attaching the milking machine, and pouring milk from a bucket into a tank imposed high risk (risk level 3). The risk for the tasks of washing and disinfecting the udders were assessed as medium risks. Conclusion: The risk levels associated with most of the tasks on the studied farm were unacceptably high. Therefore, it is essential to implement ergonomic interventions to reduce risk levels of the tasks.


Standard economic theory predicts that firms will not invest in general training and will underinvest in specific training. Empirical evidence indicates, however, that firms do invest in general training of their workers. Evidence from laboratory experiments points to less underinvestment in specific training than theory predicts. We propose a simple model in which a firm invests the socially optimal amounts in general and specific training if the worker is sufficiently motivated by reciprocity. A reciprocal worker may be willing to give the firm the full return on its investment. We present empirical evidence that supports the proposed mechanism. Workers with a high sensitivity to reciprocity have 15 percent higher training rates than workers with a low sensitivity to reciprocity. JEL Codes: J41