Oxygen availability restricts groundfish to the oxygenated, shallow margins of Saanich Inlet, an intermittently anoxic fjord in British Columbia, Canada. New and previously reported 210Pb measurements in sediment cores compared with flux data from sediment traps indicate major focusing of sediments from the oxygenated margins to the anoxic basin seafloor. We present environmental and experimental evidence that groundfish activity in the margins is the major contributor to this focusing. Fine particles resuspended by groundfish are advected offshore by weak bottom currents, eventually settling in the anoxic basin. Transmittance and sediment trap data from the water column show that this transport process maintains an intermediate nepheloid layer (INL) in the center of the Inlet. This INL is located above the redox interface and is unrelated to water density shifts in the water column. We propose that this INL is shaped by the distribution of groundfish (as resuspension sources) along the slope and hence by oxygen availability to these fish. We support this conclusion with a conceptual model of the resuspension and offshore transport of sediment. This fish‐induced transport mechanism for sediments is likely to enhance organic matter decomposition in oxygenated sediments and its sequestration in anoxic seafloors.


The author studies attentively the various texts of the "Quaestiones" containing Olivi's psychologic teaching concerning the union of body and soul in man and arrives to the conclusion that the Franciscan thinker was not condemned by the Council of Vienne (1311-12). An attempt is made to determine the genuine mind of Olivi when he asserts that the "pars intellective" of the rational soul is not the form of the human body. Taken into account that the terminology is not always all that clear, Olivi's thought can be semmed up as follows: the rational soul is composed of three powers (vegetative, sensitive, intellective); of these the first two are the direct and immediate forms of the body; the third is united to the body thtough the mediation of the former two.


A number of software tools for data management exist in the market. However, the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) seems to be most frequently used at tertiary institutions. This paper suggests that SPSS, or for that matter any other software programme aimed at simplifying quantitative research, should be a prescribed module in post-graduate curricula. Statistical software technology allows for scholarly access to the complexities of the binding element between phenomena. It empowers scholars and researchers to turn knowledge as the basis of their research into an understanding of complex phenomena. The skills to quantify social concepts are an intellectual area of concern in developing political systems, such as South Africa. Well-conducted research and data sets are perhaps both insufficient as well as rather expensive to obtain. It is also true that large volumes of data are generated, but not managed for purposes of scholarly understanding because of the limited capacity of research institutes. The perception that quantitative research requires advanced statistical experience, contributes to the inadequate interest in the discipline. This paper introduces the SPSS programme briefly and reflects on the conceptual qualities of simplification and understanding.


This paper examines the role of livestock products as commodities of trade, responding to the demand and higher prices that many external markets offer, and at the same time providing important contributions to the development process in poorer countries. It highlights that this opportunity is not without its threats: much of the Western world has, over the last half century in particular, invested substantial amounts of money in controlling and eradicating many infectious diseases of livestock, and in building up healthy and highly productive animals, the products derived from which earn them very large sums of money on world markets. Such countries are not willing to take risks that could threaten their livestock industries, and their domestic and export markets that maintain high animal health and food safety standards. The study builds on a number of 'success stories', examples where developing countries have succeeded in exporting livestock or livestock products to external markets. An analysis of the factors governing their success revealed some commonalities: all were driven by strong private sector partners who contributed capital, management expertise and entrepreneurial flair; most concerned livestock products, rather than live animals, which matched the market's requirements; many had developed strong brand identities which had become synonymous with quality, safety and dependability; and many were vertically integrated systems, incorporating small and medium scale out-grower producers. Often these successes have been achieved despite the absence of effective support from the public sector, such as national veterinary authorities. One of the key findings of this study is the disparity between the push for global harmonisation of animal health standards for trade, and the lack of capacity of developing countries, particularly LDCs, to meet these standards. The study considers how this might be rectified and concludes that building capacity of regional bodies to create regional centres of excellence with regard to SPS matters may be the most practical way forward.


The paradigm shift from device-oriented to service-oriented management has also implications to the area of event correlation. Today's event correlation addresses mainly the correlation of events as reported from management tools. However, the correlation of trouble reports from users needs to be addressed as well, because different reports could have the same cause. In such a case the reports could be linked together and a processing has to performed only once. Therefore, the response time for trouble reports could be improved and service level guarantees could be kept with less effort. We refer to such a type of correlation as service-oriented correlation. In this paper we motivate the necessity of such a type of correlation. We use the MNM Service Model, a generic service management model proposed by the MNM Team, to retrieve an appropriate modeling of the necessary correlation information. To show the benefits of the service-oriented correlation we present a real-world scenario, the E-Mail Service offered by the Leibniz Supercomputing Center.


Abstract. A new monospecific "caninioid" genus, Preisingerella n. gen., from the lower Permian of the Karavanke Mountains (Southern Alps, Slovenia) is erected. The type species is Preisingerella stegovnikensis n. sp. The new taxon can be differentiated from other Caninia-type genera by its specific ontogeny and features of its dissepimentarium. Corals with such morphology had a wide distribution during the Carboniferous and early Permian, occurring in mostly shallow-water carbonate rocks. The phylogenetic relationships within this group are mostly unclear due to similarities in the adult stages. The earlier stages reveal the main distinguishing features that are decisive for a generic assignment, but these have rarely been well preserved and properly considered. The new taxon is compared with related genera of the Cyathopsidae and species of Caninella Gorskiy, 1938 characterized by lateral dissepiments. Large numbers of specimens of the new species, representing a monospecific assemblage, have been collected from the Born Formation at Mt. Stegovnik. Sedimentological and microfacies characteristics, as well as macro- and microfossil assemblages, underline this correlation. The fusulinoidean assemblage of the Born Formation, with Sphaeroschwagerina carniolica (Kahler and Kahler, 1937), as the predominant species, corresponds to the time span between the Sphaeroschwagerina moelleri-Schwagerina fecunda and Pseudofusulina moelleri zones, indicating a late Asselian to early Sakmarian age in the Southern Urals.


Title A dynamic model of demand for private health insurance in Ireland Authors(s) Finn, Claire; Harmon, Colm Publication date 2006-11-23 Series UCD Geary Institute Discussion Paper Series; WP/2006/12 Publisher University College Dublin. Geary Institute Link to online version http://geary.ucd.ie/images/Publications/WorkingPapers/gearywp200612.pdf Item record/more information http://hdl.handle.net/10197/1109


In this paper we focus on robust linear optimization problems with uncertainty regions defined by φ-divergences for example, chi-squared, Hellinger, Kullback--Leibler. We show how uncertainty regions based on φ-divergences arise in a natural way as confidence sets if the uncertain parameters contain elements of a probability vector. Such problems frequently occur in, for example, optimization problems in inventory control or finance that involve terms containing moments of random variables, expected utility, etc. We show that the robust counterpart of a linear optimization problem with φ-divergence uncertainty is tractable for most of the choices of φ typically considered in the literature. We extend the results to problems that are nonlinear in the optimization variables. Several applications, including an asset pricing example and a numerical multi-item newsvendor example, illustrate the relevance of the proposed approach.

This paper was accepted by Gerard P. Cachon, optimization.


The exploration of mechanisms that enable species coexistence under competition for a sole limiting resource is widespread across ecology. Two examples of such facilitative processes are intraspecific competition and spatial self-organisation. These processes determine the outcome of competitive dynamics in many resource-limited patterned ecosystems, classical examples of which include dryland vegetation patterns, intertidal mussel beds and Sub-alpine ribbon forests. Previous theoretical investigations have explained coexistence within patterned ecosystems by making strong assumptions on the differences between species (e.g. contrasting dispersal behaviours or different functional responses to resource availability). In this paper, I show that the interplay between the detrimental effects of intraspecific competition and the facilitative nature of self-organisation forms a coexistence mechanism that does not rely on species-specific assumptions and captures coexistence across a wide range of the environmental stress gradient. I use a theoretical model that captures the interactions of two generic consumer species with an explicitly modelled resource to show that coexistence relies on a balance between species' colonisation abilities and their local competitiveness, provided intraspecific competition is sufficiently strong. Crucially, the requirements on species' self-limitation for coexistence to occur differ on opposite ends of the resource input spectrum. For low resource levels, coexistence is facilitated by strong intraspecific dynamics of the species superior in its colonisation abilities, but for larger volumes of resource input, strong intraspecific competition of the locally superior species enables coexistence. Results presented in this paper also highlight the importance of hysteresis in understanding tipping points, in particular extinction events. Finally, the theoretical framework provides insights into spatial species distributions within single patches, supporting verbal hypotheses on co-existence of herbaceous and woody species in dryland vegetation patterns and suggesting potential empirical tests in the context of other patterned ecosystems.


[1] The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA's satellites, Terra and Aqua, dramatically improves our ability to accurately and continuously monitor the terrestrial biosphere. MODIS information is used to estimate global terrestrial primary production weekly and annually in near-real time at a 1-km resolution. MODIS terrestrial primary production requires daily gridded assimilation meteorological data as inputs, and the accuracy of the existing meteorological reanalysis data sets show marked differences both spatially and temporally. This study compares surface meteorological data sets from three well-documented global reanalyses, NASA Data Assimilation Office (DAO), European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) (ERA-40) and National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis 1, with observed weather station data and other gridded data interpolated from the observations, to evaluate the sensitivity of MODIS global terrestrial gross and net primary production (GPP and NPP) to the uncertainties of meteorological inputs both in the United States and the global vegetated areas. NCEP tends to overestimate surface solar radiation, and underestimate both temperature and vapor pressure deficit (VPD). ECMWF has the highest accuracy but its radiation is lower in tropical regions, and the accuracy of DAO lies between NCEP and ECMWF. Biases in temperature are mainly responsible for large VPD biases in reanalyses. MODIS NPP contains more uncertainties than GPP. Global total MODIS GPP and NPP driven by DAO, ECMWF, and NCEP show notable differences (>20 Pg C/yr) with the highest estimates from NCEP and the lowest from ECMWF. Again, the DAO results lie somewhere between NCEP and ECMWF estimates. Spatially, the larger discrepancies among reanalyses and their derived MODIS GPP and NPP occur in the tropics. These results reveal that the biases in meteorological reanalyses can introduce substantial error into GPP and NPP estimations, and emphasize the need to minimize these biases to improve the quality of MODIS GPP and NPP products.


In Democracy and Trusts, Professor Carla Spivack argues that, pursuant to the numerus clausus principle, a court is empowered to impair legislation authorizing a certain trust form where the legislation was not the product of "democratic decision-making." This imaginative claim is predicated upon two antecedent claims. First, Professor Spivack argues that the numerus clausus principle should apply to equitable interests. Second, she argues that the numerus clausus principle does not invest legislatures with the sole authority to determine allowable property forms; rather, courts also have an important role to play in composing the list of property forms. This review essay first briefly considers the two antecedent arguments before evaluating Professor Spivack's main claim that, in certain circumstances, the numerus clausus principle bestows upon courts a type of veto power over trust legislation.


The influence of hypothermia (2 degrees, 15 degrees and 28 degrees C) upon the effect of X-irradiation on chromatin from human diploid fibroblast cells (AG1518) was studied using the fluorescent halo assay. Rewinding of supercoils was inhibited in a dose-dependent manner when cells were irradiated with 4, 8 or 16 Gy. This inhibition of rewinding was reduced when cells were irradiated at subnormal temperatures compared with cells irradiated at 37 degrees C. One hour's preincubation at low temperature did not influence rewinding. When AG1518 cells were irradiated at 37 degrees C in the presence of the radical scavenger DMSO (0.5 M), the radiation-induced damage was reduced. No additional protection of DMSO in hypothermic cells (2 degrees C) was found, possibly indicating that OH-radical-mediated effects are more temperature dependent. These results are similar to those recently found for the malignant MCF-7 cell line.


PurposeOffice markets and particularly international financial centres over the past decade have experienced rapid financialisation, developments and indeed changes in the post-global financial crisis (GFC) landscape. Importantly, the volume and types of international capital flows have witnessed more foreign actors and vehicles entering into the investment landscape with the concentration of investment intensifying within key financial centres. This paper examines the interaction of international real estate capital flows in the London, New York and Tokyo office markets between 2007 and 2017.Design/methodology/approachUsing Real Capital Analytics (RCA) data comprising over 5,700 office property transactions equating to $563bn between 2007 and 2017, the direct global capital flows into the London, New York and Tokyo office markets are assessed using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. Further, Granger causality tests are examined to analyse the short-run interaction of international real estate capital flows into these three major office markets.FindingsBy assessing the relativity of internal to external investments in these three central business district (CBD) office markets, differences in market dynamics are highlighted. The London office market is shown to be highly dependent on international flows and the USA, the foremost source of cross-border investment on the global stage. The cointegration and causality analysis indicate that cross-border real estate investment flows in these markets (and financial centres) show both long- and short-run relationships and suggest that the London office market remains more distinct and the most reliant on international capital flows with a wider geographical spread of investment activities and investor types. In the case of New York and Tokyo, these markets appear to be driven by more domestic investment activity and capital seemingly due to subtle factors pertaining to investor home bias, risk aversion and diversification strategies between the markets in the aftermath of the GFC.Originality/valueGiven the importance of the CBD offices in London, New York and Tokyo as an asset class for institutional investors, this paper provides some insights as to their level of connection and the interaction of the international capital flows into these three major cities.


Image segmentation is a critical stage in many computer vision and image process applications. Accurate segmentation of medical images is very essential in Medical applications but it is very difficult job due to noise and in homogeneity. Fuzzy C-Mean (FCM) is one of the most popular Medical image clustering methods. We noticed that for some images, FCM is sensitive to initialization of centre of clusters. This article introduced a new method based on the combination of genetic algorithm and FCM to solve this problem. The genetic algorithm is used to find initialized centre of the clusters. In this method, the centre is obtained by minimizing an object Function. This object Function specifies sum of distances between each data and their cluster centres. Then FCM is applied with to the case. The experimental result demonstrates the effectiveness of new method by able to initialize centre of the clusters.


A variation of particle image velocimetry is described that uses a third, unequally spaced, laser pulse to resolve the direction of a velocity vector extracted from an image. The use of a CCD camera makes the complete process electronic and therefore quicker and more convenient. The analysis method produces correlation functions with fewer noise correlations, resulting in less vector drop-out.


The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) was an international commercial agreement among 12 nations in the Asia-Pacific region representing about 38 per cent of the global economy. It included wide-ranging obligations to eliminate almost all tariffs and reduce other barriers to trade and investment in goods and services, new rules governing domestic policies that affect international commerce, and enforcement and dispute resolution procedures to promote compliance with the TPP provisions. In terms of the breadth and depth of the reforms agreed by the partner countries, the TPP was more comprehensive than any commercial accord since the ill-fated 1948 Charter for an International Trade Organization (ITO). The USA was the lead architect of the TPP; the pact closely resembled and augmented previous US free trade agreements (FTAs) and required relatively minor changes in existing US law and practice. After almost six years of negotiations, the TPP agreement was signed on 4 February 2016. But despite the preponderant US influence on the treaty text, there still was strong opposition in the US Congress to specific provisions of the TPP, which delayed congressional action on the trade pact. As with the ITO, Congress never considered that the TPP would be implementing legislation in 2016. The new Trump Administration subsequently withdrew the US signature in late January 2017 for unspecified but largely political reasons. Interestingly, the US withdrawal from the TPP did not kill the deal. Instead, the remaining signatories decided to go forward with a slightly revised pact, renamed the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). The basic deal was kept intact with only minor revisions to the original substantive obligations and entry into force provisions. On 23 January 2018, the 11 remaining TPP signatories agreed to finalize work on the CPTPP provisions and to sign the revised deal in Chile on 8 March 2018.


Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a disabling combination of emphysema and chronic bronchitis, relies on spirometric lung function measurements for clinical diagnosis and treatment. Because spirometers are unavailable in most of the developing world, this project developed a low cost point of care spirometer prototype for the mobile phone called the "TeleSpiro." The key contributions of this work are the design of a novel repeat use, sterilisable, low cost, phonepowered prototype meeting developing world user requirements. A differential pressure sensor, dual humidity/pressure sensor, microcontroller and USB hardware were mounted on a printed circuit board for measurement of air flow in a custom machinelathed respiratory air flow tube. The embedded circuit electronics were programmed to transmit data to and receive power directly from either a computer or Android smartphone without the use of batteries. Software was written to filter and extract respiratory cycles from the digitized data. Differential pressure signals from Telespiro showed robust, reproducible responses to the delivery of physiologic lung volumes. The designed device satisfied the stringent design criteria of resource-limited settings and makes substantial inroads in providing evidence-based chronic respiratory disease management.


The present study attempts to develop a comprehensive perspective of the wind regime on the Romanian territory, focusing on the characteristics and tendencies encountered over the past 50 years, as well as on the NAO projection on it, using several data categories gathered from 167 meteorological stations. Based on the recorded multiannual averages and on the strong correlation (r = 0.87) established between altitude and wind speed in wind exposed areas, we created the map of mean (multi)annual wind speed. The highest aeolian potential corresponds to the Carpathians (7-10 m/s on the ridges and 3-7 m/s on the slopes and within valleys) and the Black Sea Shore (5-7 m/s); nevertheless, the two areas develop extreme values of the wind turbulence – maximum in the Carpathians and minimum in the coastal units. Tablelands in Moldova and Dobrogea, as well as the northern part of Bărăgan show ideal conditions for the development of aeolian parks (moderate and strong winds, low turbulences). On a country-size scale, the month with the highest mean wid speed is March, whereas August is the calmest one. For the first time, the map of resultant wind direction (DRV) was designed, expressing both the resultant wind orrientation and its intensity (high intensity = low directional variability). Concerning NAO, a negative correlation is observed between its indices and the wind speed (mean speed, frequency and intensity of the stromic events) at a multiannual and multidecadal scale. The correlation coefficients present high values in the extra-carpathian areas and small or moderate values in the intra-carpathian areas. The positive (negative) NAO associated with low (high) cyclogenesis over the Mediterranean area induce low (high) winds over the Romanian territory due to diminished (enhanced) frequency of cyclones reaching Romanian regions.


Background. HIV mutates to escape selective pressure from antiretroviral medications and HLA-mediated immune responses. Escape mutations can, but do not necessarily, revert to "wild type" (WT) when the selective pressure is withdrawn. Worldwide, HIV has diversified into numerous clades and recombinant forms, and these variations generally follow geopolitical boundaries. Genetically similar human populations also follow these boundaries, so we hypothesized that population HLA has driven HIV evolution and its diversification into the clades.

Methods. HIV isolates from 2 HLA-typed cohorts of antiretroviral-naive patients were analyzed; these isolates included 107 sequences from Caucasian patients in Australia infected with clade B, and 96 from patients in Durban, Africa, infected with clade C. Polymorphism rates were calculated for each amino acid residue in p24 and p17. Associations between HLA and each amino acid residue (comparing consensus vs all nonconsensus) were quantified using multiple logistic regression models with stepwise selection of HLA class I genotype as covariates. Consensus protein sequences for clades A, B, C, D, F, and G obtained from the Los Alamos HIV database were aligned and compared with the locations of polymorphism and HLA association.

Results. In p24 and p17, amino acid polymorphism (> 10% of the isolates differed from consensus) occurred at 50 and 56 residues in the Australian and African sequences, respectively. Of these, 33 were in common. Most of the alternative residues found in the Australian and African cohorts were the consensus amino acids for clades other than B and C, respectively. In each cohort, we found 38 residues with significant (p < 0.05) positive and/or negative associations between HLA and sequence polymorphism. The consensus protein sequences for clades A, B, C, D, F, and G differed at 79 residues. In both cohorts almost all of the polymorphic residues—42 (84%) for Australia and 46 (82%) for Africa—and HLA associations—32 (84%) for Australia and 30 (79%) for Africa—occurred at positions where the clade consensus sequences differed. These distributions were highly significant (Fisher p < 0.0001 for both).

Conclusions. After introduction of an HIV variant into a host, CTL-mediated immune pressure drives viral evolution within that host. At a population level we propose that the evolution of clades similarly reflects both founder effects and the selective pressures provided by the population HLA distribution.


Maintenance of genome integrity is a crucial cellular focus that involves a wide variety of proteins functioning in multiple processes. Defects in many different pathways can result in genome instability, a hallmark of cancer. Utilizing a diploid Saccharomyces cerevisiae model, we previously reported a collection of gene mutations that affect genome stability in a haploinsufficient state. In this work we explore the effect of gene dosage on genome instability for one of these genes and its paralog; SAM1 and SAM2. These genes encode S-Adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) synthetases, responsible for the creation of AdoMet from methionine and ATP. AdoMet is the universal methyl donor for methylation reactions and is essential for cell viability. It is the second most used cellular enzyme substrate and is exceptionally well-conserved through evolution. Mammalian cells express three genes, MAT1A, MAT2A, and MAT2B, with distinct expression profiles and functions. Alterations to these AdoMet synthetase genes, and AdoMet levels, are found in many cancers, making them a popular target for therapeutic intervention. However, significant variance in these alterations are found in different tumor types, with the cellular consequences of the variation still unknown. By studying this pathway in the yeast system, we demonstrate that losses of SAM1 and SAM2 have different effects on genome stability through distinctive effects on gene expression and AdoMet levels, and ultimately separate effects on the methyl cycle. Thus, this study provides insight into the mechanisms by which differential expression of the SAM genes have cellular consequences that affect genome instability.


The brain activity during cooperation as a form of social process is studied. We investigate the relationship between coinstantaneous brain-activation signals of multiple participants and their cooperative-task performance. A wearable near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) system is used for simultaneously measuring the brain activities of two participants. Each pair of participants perform a cooperative task, and their relative changes in cerebral blood are measured with the NIRS system. As for the task, the participants are told to count 10 s in their mind after an auditory cue and press a button. They are also told to adjust the timing of their button presses to make them as synchronized as possible. Certain information, namely, the "intertime interval" between the two button presses of each participant pair and which of the participants was the faster, is fed back to the participants by a beep sound after each trial. When the spatiotemporal covariance between the activation patterns of the prefrontal cortices of each participant is higher, the intertime interval between their button-press times was shorter. This result suggests that the synchronized activation patterns of the two participants' brains are associated with their performance when they interact in a cooperative task.


The authors assayed 209 stage I and II mammary carcinomas for the estrogen receptor (ER) with an immunocytochemical assay (ICA) and quantitated the nuclear stain with the SAMBA 4000 Cell Image Analysis System (Imaging Products International, Inc., Chantilly, VA). The cases had been followed for 54-214 months (average, 64 months). The results were correlated with the patients' overall and disease-free survival times. Three of the parameters obtained from the quantitative analysis were evaluated: labeling index, mean optical density, and quick score. Statistical analysis was performed with the Kaplan-Meier product limit estimator for quantitated values and Cox regression for risk of mortality and disease progression. Mean optical density of the nuclei at a cut-off value of 10 produced the strongest association between quantitative ERICA and overall and disease-free survival times in discriminating high- and low-risk groups (P = .016 and P = .018, respectively). When the mean optical density results were categorized into ranges of values of potential biologic significance according to overall survival times, patients with mean optical density greater than 15 were found to be at lowest risk; patients with values between 5 and 15 had a statistically significant intermediate risk; and the group with values less than 5 had the worst outcome (P = .018). The probability of disease-free survival also was statistically significant (P = .038) among the three groups with cut-off points of less than 10, 10-35, and greater than 35. These results showed that quantified optical density has better discriminating power for risk prediction than that obtained by the biochemical assay for ER at a cut-off value of 10 or 20 fmol/mg. Estrogen receptor ICA has been adequately shown to be as or more accurate than ligand-binding assays. Our results corroborate those studies and support the utility of ICA assays for ER by showing that quantitation performed by image analysis is an objective and reproducible method yielding clinical prognostic information of higher reliability than that given by the dextran-coated charcoal ER assay.


Changing the priorities of economic development in transition to post-industrial society inevitably causes reviewing approaches to the role of innovation in modern economy. If in the era of industrial development of society innovations are considered mainly as a factor of technological development, in case of a post-industrial society innovations should be considered in a broader perspective. Innovative technologies in all their diversity are being introduced not only in the technological sphere, but also in education, in the service industry, housing and communal services, life support sphere, etc. The problem of shifting regions and separate territories to innovative development approaches is one of the key issues in forming an economy based on knowledge. "Nuclear" cities, where development of nuclear technologies is implemented both for defense and civilian purposes (nuclear power plants, nuclear fuel production, etc.), can be ideally used as territories of advanced social and economic development (TASED) primarily thanks to human potential of these cities. The article analyzes recent humanitarian and technological changes, called the "humanitarian technological revolution" (HTR), and their impact on the speed and effectiveness of innovative changes in this area.


The slow growth rate of anammox bacteria is a pressing problem for system efficiency and stability. An innovative solution was explored in this study that involves accelerating anammox in microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) and alleviating their dependence on anammox bacteria. Batch tests showed that 85% of total nitrogen (TN) was removed in the MEC system, whereas only 62% of TN was removed in conventional anammox. Simulation of the modified Nernst–Monod model revealed that the maximum specific utilization rate (0.30 to 0.38 mmol g−1 VSS h−1) in the anammox MEC was 60% higher than in conventional anammox (0.18 to 0.20 mmol g−1 VSS h−1). Harvesting the power generated in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) to support the MECs substantially saved energy consumption and effectively utilized the low power output of MFCs. Simulation of the power management system (PMS) interface demonstrated the charge/discharge cycles for power supply by the MFCs and for power consumption by the MECs. The integrated MEC-MFC system accelerated anammox, required no external carbon source, effectively utilized wastewater energy, and thus achieved self-sustained nitrogen removal.


This paper characterizes transparent current mirrors with n-type amorphous gallium-indium-zinc-oxide (a-GIZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs). Two-TFT current mirrors with different mirroring ratios and a cascode topology are considered. A neural model is developed based on the measured data of the TFTs and is implemented in Verilog-A; then it is used to simulate the circuits with Cadence Virtuoso Spectre simulator. The simulation outcomes are validated with the fabricated circuit response. These results show that the neural network can model TFT accurately, as well as the current mirroring ability of the TFTs.


This paper outlines the design of a scheduling algorithm that allocates outstabling locations to railway trains. From time to time railway trains may need to be outstabled to temporary locations, such as stations, sidings, depots, etc., until they are needed for regular operations. This is common for urban rail transit, and especially so for those that do not operate 24 hours. During non-traffic hours (NTH), trains are outstabled to various locations along the rail network so that when operations start again next day, the trains will be nearby their originating station or conveniently located so that they can be put into service whenever needed. However, this is complicated by the fact that engineering works, such as rail testing, installation, regular maintenance, etc. are done during the NTH. Therefore, passenger trains must be outstabled in such a way that they do not interfere with night-time engineering works or the movements of associated engineering trains. Since the engineering works scheduling is done separate to outstabling, this is a mixed-system problem. This paper shows how we modeled this as a constraint-satisfaction problem (CSP) and implemented into an "Outstabling System" (OSS) for the Hong Kong Mass Transit Railway (MTR) using a two-stage search algorithm


Motherhood surrogacy is almost considered as a new way to born next to natural born, adoption and IVF treatments. If the other practices are accepted by the social and scientific community, the motherhood surrogacy brings some problems, especially on a social point of view. This happens because of the big sufferance of the women involved in this practice and because of the social distortion of this practice transforming the traditional family structures and bringing social, legal and healthy problems for the persons involved. The aim of this work is to study this phenomenon also on the interest point of view in which feminism and religious position are united.


Late Miocene, 8 to 6 million years ago (Ma), climatic changes brought about dramatic floral and faunal changes. Cooler and drier climates that prevailed in the Late Miocene led to expansion of grasslands and retreat of forests at a global scale. Palaeogeographic studies suggest a global vegetation change causing an abrupt increase in C4 plant biomass while C3 biomass decreased between 8 and 6 Ma. Subsequent cycles of cooler and drier climatic conditions during the Mid-Pliocene (3.5–3 Ma) and Pleistocene (2.8–2.5; 1.8–1.6; 1.0–0.8 Ma) also caused forests to retreat into isolated refugia which played an important role in events that led speciation and radiation of Muroid (Order Rodentia, Superfamily Muroidea) rodents. Muroid rodents are comprised of 6 families (Placanthomyidae, Spalacidae, Calomyscidae, Nesomyidae, Cricetidae, and Muridae) and make up close to one-third of named mammal species. Family Cricetidae and Muridae are especially speciose (containing ~1600 species altogether) and much of the diversity within these families arose during or after the Late Miocene. My dissertation deals with the systematics and historical biogeography of these fast-evolving groups of rodents with an emphasis on the genera Apodemus and Hybomys (Subfamily Murinae, Family Muridae), and Neodon (Subfamily Arvicolinae, Family Cricetidae). Habitat specialists such as Apodemus that occupy broadleaf forests, and Hybomys that occupy rainforests were likely isolated in forest refugia after the retreat of forests facilitating allopatric speciation. While voles in the subfamily Arvicolinae, that are associated with grasslands, expanded their range when forests retreated and speciated when grasslands retreated. In addition, field work carried out for this project in Nepal included several localities previously not sampled for small mammals. Most of Nepal is poorly surveyed and the first chapter focuses on the history of mammalogical surveys in Nepal and adds new localities for small mammal species, expanding the known range of the Nepalese endemic Himalayan wood mouse (Apodemus gurkha).


1. The vegetative thallus of Actinomyces consists of a mycelium composed of profusely branching hyphae, the terminal growing portions of which are densely filled with protoplasm. Toward the center of the thallus the vacuoles increase in size and may be associated with the presence of metachromatic granules, the latter having nothing in common with bacterial endospores or "micrococci," for which they were mistaken by early observers. 2. The vegetative mycelium attains an extent incomparably greater than the branching figures recorded for bacteria of the acid-fast group, and the hyphae lack the uniformity in diameter generally characteristic of the Schizomycetes. 3. The aerial mycelium produced on suitable substrata by most species occurs usually in the form of a mat of discrete fructifications; but in other species these fructifications are frequently combined to form numerous and peculiar erect Isarioid sporodochia. 4. In any case each individual fructification represents a well characterized sporogenous apparatus, consisting of a sterile axial filament bearing branches in an open racemose or dense capitate arrangement. The primary branches may function directly as sporogenous hyphae, or may proliferate branches of the second and of higher orders, sporogenesis in the latter case being confined to the terminal elements, the hyphal portions below the points of attachment of branches remaining sterile. 5. Two tendencies in the development of fructifications are recognizable: one leading to an erect drendroidal type, in which successively proliferated fertile elements undergo processes of sporogenesis in continuous sequence; and the other leading to a prostrate racemose type, in which sporogenesis is delayed in the older branches until the younger branches have also attained their final extension. The majority of species show these tendencies combined in different ways. 6. The sporogenous hyphae of most species are coiled in peculiar spirals, sometimes resembling the spores of the hyphomycetous genus Helicoon. These spirals exhibit pronounced specific characteristics in the number, diameter, and obliquity of their turns, and especially in the direction of rotation (whether dextrorse or sinistrorse). 7. Sporogenesis, where it can be followed, begins at the tips of the fertile branches and proceeds basipetally. In the larger number of species the process involves the insertion of septa which, in certain cases, are relatively very massive, and in others so thin as to be barely discernible. The disposition of these septa, while the delimited spores undergo maturation processes, varies with the species: (1) they may remain more or less unaltered; (2) they may suffer a median split, the two resulting halves being then separated as the result of the longitudinal contraction of the young spores, leaving alternate portions of hyphal walls completely evacuated; or (3) they may first become considerably constricted and subsequently converted into non-stainable isthmuses connecting the mature spores. The apparent absence of septa in the sporogenous hyphae of other forms is perhaps attributable to optical difficulties. 8. Granules are readily differentiated in the spores of many species which possess the staining properties and uniformity of size characteristic of nuclei; they generally occur singly, but in the larger spores of a few forms two are often found occupying diagonally opposite positions. 9. As in the vegetative thallus, metachromatic granules occur in the aerial mycelium, being very rarely found in the spores or sporogenous hyphae, but becoming very abundant in degenerate sterile hyphae. 10. The older axial filaments of some species show marked distensions which, in extreme cases, result in figures simulating Leptomitus. These arise as local distensions at the points of attachment of the more extensive lateral sporogenous processes. Cuneate modifications of the sterile axial filaments below the origins of branches also occur. 11. Curious spherical structures appear regularly in some forms, both in the sterile axial hyphae, where they may contain either a median septum or a number of peripheral metachromatic granules, and in the sporogenous hyphae, where they are associated with the regularly spaced septa. 12. The spores germinate readily in suitable solutions, producing 1-4 germ tubes, the approximate number being more or less characteristic of the species. 13. Owing to the absence of any well defined bacterial characteristics, the writer is of the opinion that the view that Actinomyces represents a transition between the Hyphomycetes and the Schizomycetes, as well as the phylogenetic corollary based upon it, may safely be abandoned. If mere size is to be regarded as important, it would appear to be equally profitable to look for bacterial affinities in some ascomycetous and sphaeropsideaceous forms, the hyphae of which are similarly very minute. It is doubtful whether far-reaching taxonomic generalizations can be based on the "acid-fast" staining reaction, especially as this reaction has not played a very important role in mycological research. There seems to be no adequate reason why the genus should not be classed in an unqualified manner with the Hyphomycetes, as a mucedineous group with tendencies toward an erect Isarioid habit.


This thesis fills a significant gap in secondary literature on the role of Jewish refugee soldiers from Germany and Austria, who served in the British army during the Second World War, 1939-45. It goes further than any previous specialised works in this area by examining the social issues surrounding the refugee soldier's experiences in the army, such as their relationship with British soldiers and their personal attitudes towards the policies of the War Office.

There are few surviving documentary sources specifically detailing the service of refugees. To compensate this there has been an emphasis on the gathering of oral testimonies. These interviews, conducted by the author, provided the opportunity to analyse crucial issues left unanswered within other documentary sources, principally the underlying theme of the refugees' religious and national identities.

This study examines the development of the refugees' identities from their experiences under Nazi rule, to their service In the British army and eventual naturalisation as British citizens. The thesis is organized into eight chapters. Each analyses key moments and dilemmas experienced during the refugee servicemen's army service.

This study demonstrates the dynamic interplay that existed between the refugees' own sense of self, and that which was held by the government in power. It also examines the perception of refugees held by British born soldiers and the general civilian population. These interactions were crucial in determining the lives of these men. The thesis concludes by illustrating that the refugees' Jewish and national identities altered considerably as a consequence of their wartime experiences, and that the British War Office largely remained needlessly suspicious of the refugee soldiers throughout much of the war.


This article offers a formal normative assessment of political satire. It summarizes social scientific research on the influence of political satire and findings on the normative implications of political satire within a democratic framework. Two cogent lines of empirical research, persuasion and understanding, receive special attention. Political satire's potential to generate normatively positive democratic effects is examined according to three competing theories of democracy: republicanism, pluralism, and elitism. Reports of its relatively small effect prevent clear normative judgments on satire as good or bad for democracy. However, its relationship to internal political self-efficacy merits further investigation. At the system level, political satire might generate significant normatively positive effects in the republican and elitist democratic frameworks. Examples of U.S. traditional political satire reveal the boundaries within which satire functions and their impact on the normative roles of this potentially important form of political discourse.


The use of business process models has become prevalent in a wide area of enterprise applications. But while their popularity is expanding, concerns are growing with respect to their proper creation and maintenance. An obvious way to boost the efficiency of creating high-quality business process models would be to reuse relevant parts of existing models. At this point, however, limited support exists to guide process modellers towards the usage of appropriate model content. In this paper, a set of content-oriented patterns is presented, which is extracted from a large set of process models from the order management and manufacturing production domains. The patterns are derived using a newly proposed set of algorithms, which are being discussed in this paper. The authors demonstrate how such Domain Process Patterns, in combination with information on their historic usage, can support process modellers in generating new models. To support the wider dissemination and development of Domain Process Patterns within and beyond the studied domains, an accompanying website has been set up.


Aims. The outburst of nova CSS 081007:030559+054715 (HV Cet) was extensively followed by Swift to study the evolution of its X-ray and UV emission. Methods. We obtained Swift X-ray and UV observations, at times with high cadence, over an interval of 266 days and analysed the temporal and spectral properties of the object. Optical polarisation measurements were also obtained, but no significant circular polarisation was identified. UV data from GALEX and AAVSO optical data were investigated in addition. Results. A variable supersoft source was discovered, with a 1.77d periodic modulation in its X-ray, UV and optical emission, in phase across all three bands. High cadence observations revealed a declining trend of the X-ray modulation amplitude, while the UV oscillation became stronger over this interval; the UV data also show occasional secondary minima. The X-ray and UV flux declines sharply ∼150 days after discovery (the date of optical outburst peak is uncertain). While bright, the UV and, to a lesser extent, the X-ray light curves show two cycles of a ∼40‐50 day modulation. We believe the 1.77d modulation to be orbital, likely caused by structured disc-rim occultation. The X-ray spectra were soft at all times, with negligible flux above 1 keV. These spectra were fitted with an NLTE white dwarf model atmosphere of kT = 60‐80 eV, with no spectral changes related to the 1.77d or possible ∼40-day periodicities seen. A Cloudy model demonstrated that it is possible to account for the UV flux through the reprocessing of X-rays. The UV flux is far in excess of the soft X-ray spectral component. We propose that the apparently sub-Eddington white dwarf luminosity is due to permanent obscuration by the accretion disc rim: we see only X-rays scattered by optically thin plasma interior to the disc rim, whereas the UV flux is mostly created by reprocessing in the disk rim interior surface. The in-phase 1.77d UV and X-ray modulation is caused by the region in which the gas stream from the secondary raises the disc rim, the maximum X-ray obscuration coinciding with the minimum aspect of the UV reprocessing area. In summary, HV Cet had characteristics of both classical novae and persistent super-soft X-ray sources.


With advances in sensing and positioning technology, fueled by the ubiquitous deployment of wireless networks, location-aware computing has become a fundamental model for offering a wide range of life enhancing services. However, the ability to locate users and mobile objects opens doors for new threats - the intrusion of location privacy. Location anonymization refers to the process of perturbing the exact location of users as a cloaking region such that a user's location becomes indistinguishable from the location of a set of other users. A fundamental limitation of existing location anonymization techniques is that location information once perturbed to provide a certain anonymity level cannot be reversed to reduce anonymity or the degree of perturbation. This is especially a serious limiting factor in multi-level privacy-controlled scenarios where different users of the location information have different levels of access. This paper presents ReverseCloak, a new class of reversible location cloaking mechanisms that effectively support multi-level location privacy, allowing selective de-anonymization of the cloaking region to reduce the granularity of the perturbed location when suitable access credentials are provided. We evaluate the ReverseCloak techniques through extensive experiments on realistic road network traces generated by GTMobiSim. Our experiments show that the proposed techniques are efficient, scalable and provide the required level of privacy.


This paper investigated the current situation of oral English teaching, learning, and assessment at the tertiary level in China through needs analysis and explored the implications for the development of a diagnostic speaking test. Through random sampling, the researcher administered both a student questionnaire and a teacher questionnaire to over 200 students and 30 teachers respectively. Results revealed that students regarded the use of communicative strategies, range of vocabulary and fluency as the most difficult things in their oral English learning. Results also demonstrated that the majority of college English teachers paid much attention to oral English teaching. However, most college English teachers seldom administered classroom oral assessment, and their practices of classroom oral assessment were considered as lack of systematic and standardized procedures. Implications for further improvement in oral English teaching and assessment were also discussed.


There is a notable shortage of empirical research directed at measuring the magnitude and direction of stress effects on performance in a controlled environment. One reason for this is the inherent difficulties in identifying and isolating direct performance measures for individuals. Additionally, most traditional work environments contain a multitude of exogenous factors impacting individual performance, but controlling for all such factors is generally unfeasible (omitted variable bias). Moreover, instead of asking individuals about their self-reported stress levels, we observe workers' behaviour in situations that can be classified as stressful. For this reason, we have stepped outside the traditional workplace in an attempt to gain greater controllability of these factors using the sports environment as our experimental space. We empirically investigate the relationship between stress and performance, in an extreme pressure situation (football penalty kicks) in a winner take all sporting environment (FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Cup competitions). Specifically, we examine all the penalty shootouts between 1976 and 2008 covering in total 16 events. The results indicate that extreme stressors can have a positive or negative impact on individuals' performance. On the other hand, more commonly experienced stressors do not affect professionals' performances.


The welfare of the poor turns in large measure not only on technocratic development "policies", but the effective delivery of key public services, core elements of which require thousands of face-to-face discretionary transactions ("practices") by service providers. The importance of (often idiosyncratic) "practices" was largely ignored in the 1960s and 70s, however, as planners in developing countries sought to rapidly emulate the service delivery mechanisms of the developed countries, namely standardized (top-down) "programs" managed by a centralized civil service bureaucracy. Although this approach could claim some notable successes in poor countries, it soon became readily apparent that it had failed early and often in virtually all sectors. Three common civil service reforms in the 1980s also yielded disappointing results, so in the 1990s scholars and practitioners began to tout more radical "participatory" (or bottom-up) proposals for improving service delivery. These new proposals have generated a series of unusual alliances and antagonisms in contemporary development debates. We attempt to unravel these debates by distinguishing between the original solution and eight current proposals for improving service delivery, on the basis of a principal-agent model of incentives that explores how these various proposals change flows of resources, information, decision-making, delivery mechanisms, and accountability. We briefly assess the arguments made by proponents and detractors of each approach, and suggest some of the implications of this framework for education, research, and those charged with improving service delivery.


Resiliency of exascale systems has quickly become an important concern for the scientific community. Despite its importance, still much remains to be determined regarding how faults disseminate or at what rate do they impact HPC applications. The understanding of where and how fast faults propagate could lead to more efficient implementation of application-driven error detection and recovery. In this work, we propose a fault propagation framework to analyze how faults propagate in MPI applications and to understand their vulnerability to faults. We employ a combination of compiler-level code transformation and instrumentation, along with a runtime checker. Using the information provided by our framework, we employ machine learning technique to derive application fault propagation models that can be used to estimate the number of corrupted memory locations at runtime.


Relaxation is applied to the segmentation of closed boundary curves of shapes. The ambiguous segmentation of the boundary is represented by a directed graph structure whose nodes represent segments, where two nodes are joined by an arc if the segments are consecutive along the boundary. A probability vector is associated with each node; each component of this vector provides an estimate of the probability that the corresponding segment is a particular part of the object. Relaxation is used to eliminate impossible sequences of parts, or reduce the probabilities of unlikely ones. In experiments involving airplane shapes, this almost always results in a drastic simplification of the graph with only good interpretations surviving. The approach is also extended to include curve linking and gap filling. A chain coded input image is broken into segments based on a measure of local curvature. Gap completions linking pairs of segments are then proposed and represented in a graph structure. A second graph, whose nodes consist of paths in the above graph, is constructed, and the nodes of the second graph are probabilistically classified as various object parts. Relaxation is then applied to increase the probability of mutually supporting classifications, and decrease the probability of unsupported decisions. A modified relaxation process using information about the size, spatial position, and orientation of the object parts yielded a high degree of disambiguation.


Low back pain (LBP) is highly prevalent, generally categorised as 'non-specific' as clear diagnosis for pain is often absent, and further categorised into acute, sub-acute and chronic, with 69-75% of acute cases developing into chronic. This chronic LBP population accounts for the majority of economic costs worldwide associated with LBP. Although LBP is often 'non-specific', many physical dysfunctions are associated with it. Thus LBP can be regarded as multifactorial in nature. Dysfunctions include, but are not limited to: deconditioning of the lumbar extensor musculature, limited range of motion (ROM), gait abnormality and disc disorders. The novel approach of this thesis was to consider lumbar extensor deconditioning, LBP and its associated physical dysfunctions within a multifactorial framework, and the potential improvement of associated dysfunctions from intervention using isolated lumbar extension (ILEX) specifically aimed at addressing lumbar extensor deconditioning. Findings from three empirical studies are reported. The first examined limited ROM ILEX exercise compared with full ROM exercise. Results from this study support that limited ROM training is as effective as full ROM training at improving full ROM ILEX strength, pain and disability. The second study examined the effects of ILEX exercise upon lumbar spine kinematic waveform pattern variability during gait. Results from this study demonstrate that ILEX exercise significantly improves sagittal plane variability in chronic LBP participants. The final study examined the effects of ILEX exercise upon disc hydration determined indirectly through measurement of spinal height using seated stadiometry. Results from this study showed improved ILEX strength, pain and disability but did not demonstrate improvement in disc hydration. These results provide evidence for adopting a multifactorial conceptualisation of LBP in the use of ILEX exercise as a treatment. It is concluded that a wide range of improvements including pain, disability and various aspects of function relating to the multifactorial model are possible through use of a single minimal intervention involving ILEX. This conclusion has potential implications for considering direction of treatments from clinicians towards chronic LBP. Such a minimal intervention offering a wide range of benefits may reduce the need for costly and complex multi-disciplinary interventions.


OBJECTIVES
We examined the role that novelty plays in determining interactions between chronic and acute stress, when both the chronic and acute stressors emphasize emotional processing (i.e. stressful stimuli that do not present immediate threats to somatic homeostasis, and are processed primarily by limbic and forebrain circuits).

METHODS
Rats were exposed to a chronic variable stress (CVS) regimen, and were subsequently tested to evaluate responses to novel and familiar acute stressors. One group was exposed to CVS that included restraint, and was then tested with this familiar stressor. Another group was exposed to CVS that did not include restraint, and were tested with restraint as a novel stressor. Additional rats were not chronically stressed. Plasma adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (CORT) were assayed.

RESULTS
When the rats were exposed to familiar acute stress after CVS, ACTH responses were blunted. The ACTH responses were normal in the rats that were tested with novel acute stress--the responses resembled those of rats that had no prior stress experience. CORT responses did not differ between the groups, regardless of stress history.

CONCLUSIONS
Despite the fact that all the chronic and acute stressors emphasized emotional processing of aversive stimuli, and thus likely involved overlapping limbic and forebrain circuits, the hormonal responses differed depending upon familiarity with the acute stressor. Further research is required to identify the neuronal mechanisms that mediate these differing responses to novel and familiar emotional stressors.


Results of a search for decays of massive particles to fully hadronic final states are presented. This search uses 20 . 3 fb − 1 of data collected by the ATLAS detector in ffiffiffi s p ¼ 8 TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC. Signatures based on high jet multiplicities without requirements on the missing transverse momentum are used to search for R -parity-violating supersymmetric gluino pair production with subsequent decays to quarks. The analysis is performed using a requirement on the number of jets, in combination with separate requirements on the number of b -tagged jets, as well as a topological observable formed from the scalar sum of the mass values of large-radius jets in the event. Results are interpreted in the context of all possible branching ratios of direct gluino decays to various quark flavors. No significant deviation is observed from the expected Standard Model backgrounds estimated using jet counting as well as data-driven templates of the total-jet-mass spectra. Gluino pair decays to ten or more quarks via intermediate neutralinos are excluded for a gluino with mass m ~ g < 1 TeV for a neutralino mass m ~ χ 01 ¼ 500 GeV. Direct gluino decays to six quarks are excluded for m ~ g < 917 GeV for light-flavor final states, and results for various flavor hypotheses are presented.


We screened, for the first time, plasmid-mediated colistin resistance mcr-3 genes among 636 Escherichia coli isolates collected from swine in South Korea. Whole-genome sequencing showed that the E. coli strain harbored the mcr-3 gene in a p17S-208 plasmid with an IncHI2-ST3 plasmid type and a size of 260,399 base pairs. The deduced amino acid sequences revealed that persistent evolution in the bacterial genome has resulted in mcr gene variants. There is a need for extensive surveillance to prevent the dissemination of colistin resistance mcr genes from animal to human.


What explains the puzzle of life without parole (LWOP) sentencing in the United States? In the past two decades, LWOP sentences have reached record highs, with over 50,000 prisoners serving LWOP. Yet during this same period, homicide rates have steadily declined. The U.S. Supreme Court has limited the use of juvenile LWOP in Eighth Amendment rulings. Further, death sentences have steeply declined, reaching record lows. Although research has examined drivers of incarceration patterns for certain sentences, there has been little research on LWOP imposition. To shed light on what might explain the sudden rise of LWOP, we examine characteristics of the more than 1,627 cases in which LWOP was imposed from 1995 to 2017, in North Carolina, one of the states that imposes the largest numbers of these sentences. We begin by analyzing defendant race, crime, and sentence patterns by county. We associate LWOP with homicide rates, and examine interactions between homicide, victim race, and prior LWOP sentencing. This first empirical analysis of adult LWOP sentences finds important local variations in its imposition. We find that as the homicide rate increases within a county, we observe fewer LWOP sentences. We find that fewer LWOP sentences are predicted to occur as the number of black victim homicides increase in a county, but no such relationship is found when considering the number of white victim homicides. Finally, we find a strong path dependency and concentration of LWOP sentences in counties, where counties that have imposed LWOP sentences in the past are more likely to continue to do so. These findings have implications for efforts to reconsider the most severe sentences in the U.S., and they suggest that prosecutorial discretion in seeking long sentences will be important subjects for future research and policy.


The shift from Web of Document into Web of Data based on Linked Data principles defined by Tim Berners-Lee posed a big challenge to build and develop applications to work in Web of Data environment. There are several attempts to build service and application models for Linked Data Cloud. In this paper, we propose a new service model for linked data "LinkedOWL" which is based on RESTful services and OWL-S and copes with linked data principles. This new model shifts the service concept from functions into linked data things and opens the road for Linked Oriented Architecture (LOA) and Web of Services as part and on top of Web of Data. This model also provides high level of dynamic service composition capabilities for more accurate dynamic composition and execution of complex business processes in Web of Data environment.


Milk derived tripeptides IPP (Ile-Pro-Pro) and VPP (Val-Pro-Pro) have shown promise as anti-hypertensive agents due to their inhibitory effects on angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE). Due to the key inter-related roles of hypertension, chronic inflammation and insulin resistance in the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome, there is growing interest in investigating established anti-hypertensive agents for their effects on insulin sensitivity and inflammation. In this study, we examined the effects of IPP and VPP on 3T3-F442A murine pre-adipocytes, a widely used model for studying metabolic diseases. We found that both IPP and VPP induced beneficial adipogenic differentiation as manifested by intracellular lipid accumulation, upregulation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) and secretion of the protective lipid hormone adiponectin by these cells. The observed effects were similar to those induced by insulin, suggesting potential benefits in the presence of insulin resistance. IPP and VPP also inhibited cytokine induced pro-inflammatory changes such as reduction in adipokine levels and activation of the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway. Taken together, our findings suggest that IPP and VPP exert insulin-mimetic adipogenic effects and prevent inflammatory changes in adipocytes, which may offer protection against metabolic disease.


ABSTRACT Year 2 findings are reported from a longitudinal, experimental-control study involving 31 Spanish-speaking preschoolers (aged 38–48 months) randomly assigned to two Head Start classrooms. In Year 1, classrooms differed only in the language of instruction, with teachers using only Spanish in one classroom and only English in the other. In Year 2, an experimental transitional bilingual education (TBE) model was implemented, with English being gradually introduced in the TBE classroom until a ratio of 30:70 English-to-Spanish was achieved and Spanish being gradually introduced in the predominantly English (PE) classroom until a ratio of 70:30 English-to-Spanish was achieved. Year 2 results were consistent with Year 1, with the TBE classroom exceeding the PE classroom on all Spanish measures of language and literacy development and no significant differences favoring the PE classroom. Results also indicated that Year 2 trajectories were conditional on first-year effects, suggesting that sustained growth in dual language learner's early literacy may depend on early intervention among 3-year-old preschoolers.


Hysteria is probably the condition which best illustrates the tight connection between neurology and psychiatry. While it has been known since antiquity, its renewed studies during the 19th century were mainly due to the work of Jean-Martin Charcot and his school in Paris. This publication focuses on these early developments, in which immediate followers of Charcot, including Babinski, Freud, Janet, Richer, and Gilles de la Tourette were involved. Hysteria is commonly considered as a condition that often leads to spectacular manifestations (e.g. convulsions, palsies), although both structural and functional imaging data confirm the absence of consistent and reproducible structural lesions. While numerous hypotheses have tried to explain the occurrence of this striking phenomenon, the precise nosology and pathophysiology of hysteria remain elusive. This volume offers an enthralling and informative read for neurologists, psychiatrists, and psychologists, as well as for general physicians, historians, and everyone interested in the developments of one of the most intriguing conditions in medicine.


The common perception is that originalism and popular constitutionalism are incompatible. Supporting this perception is the widely-shared opinion that most advocates for popular constitutionalism are liberal while most originalists are conservative-libertarian. Not only is this the perception, it has a basis in reality. Looking at the names of leading originalists and popular constitutionalists reveals that there is significant overlap between originalism and conservatism-libertarianism, and between popular constitutionalism and liberalism. In this Article, I argue that the common perception that originalism and popular constitutionalism are incompatible is mistaken. Instead, I show that there is no uniquely correct answer to the question of whether and/or how originalism is compatible with popular constitutionalism. Instead, because of the theoretical compatibility of the two methods, the conceptual distance between popular constitutionalism and originalism depends on the particular conception of originalism one is utilizing. With some conceptions, the differences between popular constitutionalism and originalism loom large. With others, the similarities emerge prominently. I argue that whether originalism is related to popular constitutionalism is contingent on the form of originalism in question. I describe five axes upon which originalism pivots toward or away from popular constitutionalism. These five axes are: (1) whether originalism embraces departmentalism in place of judicial interpretative supremacy; (2) whether originalism requires judicial deference to popular interpretative judgments; (3) the extent to which the Constitution's original meaning permits the popular branches to engage in authoritative constitutional interpretation; (4) the extent to which the popular branches authoritatively construct constitutional meaning when the Constitution is underdetermined; and (5) whether originalism includes a place for nonoriginalist precedent. This raises the question, however, of why originalism is identified with conservative constitutional theory and popular constitutionalism with liberal constitutional theory. I therefore offer three reasons why, despite the theoretical compatibility of originalism and popular constitutionalism, they do not converge in perception and practice.


This study deals with the prediction, by a mathematical model, and the corresponding experimental confirmation of the mechanochemical synthesis conditions ofMgO. The ballmilling process is a easy to implement in industry process but that involves several parameters whichmake it very complex to identify the optimum operating conditions. It was established that the reaction zone ofMgO is between accumulative energies of 41 to 64MJ/mol regardless of the grinding material or the conditions used.Above this region only MgO is obtained. It is necessary to have energies between 24 and 48 Wh/g and to have energies of impact greater than 0.025 J/hit to trigger the mechanochemical synthesis of MgO.


In Australia, the 'remote education system' presents itself as a simple system where the right inputs, such as quality teachers and leaders will engender the outputs that have been set by the system, such as certain levels of English literacy and numeracy. The system has measures in place, including national testing, to report on its success. For the most part, this system seems to be working quite well. However, this modelling breaks down when the education system of remote Australia is presented. This remote system is presented in much of the literature and in the press, as disadvantaged, under-resourced and underperforming. Reported results indicate that current activities are not bringing the desired outcomes. The so-called mainstream system makes adjustments using its model of input to output, but without success. There is a clear need for change. Just what this change might look like is the focus of this article. Theorising in this space is considered from two positions; the first being the published work of a number of Indigenous Australian educators and leaders writing in this space; the second, a consideration of western theorising using complex adaptive systems. Throughout the article, a metaphor of 'red dirt thinking' is applied as a mechanism to ground the thinking in the lives and lands of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of remote Australia.


As the number of bacterial genomes increases dramatically, the demand for easy to use tools with transparent functionality and comprehensible output for applied comparative genomics grows as well. We present BlAst Diagnostic Gene findEr (BADGE), a tool for the rapid prediction of diagnostic marker genes (DMGs) for the differentiation of bacterial groups (e.g. pathogenic / nonpathogenic). DMG identification settings can be modified easily and installing and running BADGE does not require specific bioinformatics skills. During the BADGE run the user is informed step by step about the DMG finding process, thus making it easy to evaluate the impact of chosen settings and options. On the basis of an example with relevance for beer brewing, being one of the oldest biotechnological processes known, we show a straightforward procedure, from phenotyping, genome sequencing, assembly and annotation, up to a discriminant marker gene PCR assay, making comparative genomics a means to an end. The value and the functionality of BADGE were thoroughly examined, resulting in the successful identification and validation of an outstanding novel DMG (fabZ) for the discrimination of harmless and harmful contaminations of Pediococcus damnosus, which can be applied for spoilage risk determination in breweries. Concomitantly, we present and compare five complete P. damnosus genomes sequenced in this study, finding that the ability to produce the unwanted, spoilage associated off-flavor diacetyl is a plasmid encoded trait in this important beer spoiling species.


Innovative seismic forward modeling is used to illustrate the sensitivity within seismic data, and its application in the interpretation of onlap and pinch-out of terminating deep-water sandstones, two critical components in deep-water exploration and production. Sandstone quality, net-to-gross estimates, volume calculations, vertical connectivity, and stratigraphic trapping are all dependent on the sandstone extent and their seismic characteristics in these settings. However, seismic resolution is commonly insufficient to resolve the critical reservoir parameters. Seismic modeling of termination styles based on integrated outcrop and subsurface properties allows for depth- and resolution-focused predictive models to be built for improved subsurface analysis. This technique is currently underused as a method to better understand the sensitivity of seismic data to the target lithologies and their geometries. The Gres d'Annot Formation is a well-studied sand-prone deep-water system of Paleogene age, deposited in a bathymetrically complex setting. Six end-member termination styles are discussed, including three sand-prone styles—simple onlap (O s), draping onlap (O d), and bed thickening (O t)—and three heterolithic styles—advancing pinch-out (P a), convergent pinch-out (P c), and convergent thickening and pinch-out (P ct). Local thickening close to the system margins is common in both sand-prone and heterolithic terminating strata and plays an important function in the appropriate distribution of sandstone. The outcrops are interpreted as potential (process) analogs for the complex sandstone distribution and termination patterns observed in plays like the Paleogene of the Gulf of Mexico and the Jurassic of the northern North Sea.


Nowadays, there is an increasing need of new skills for PhD students to face the future labour market prospects. PhD graduates must have qualities attractive not only in academia but also outside, in both manufacture and service-oriented enterprises, in small innovative companies, and in the civil services and public administration, among others. To know what the needs of these future employees are, is of great importance to be able to improve their personal and academic formation. The aim of this work was, in the framework of the EC-funded ISEKI_Food 4 network, to evaluate the most desirable specific and soft skills that PhD students should acquire by the end of their doctoral studies. To this aim, several surveys were conducted and sent to the different stakeholders (academia and food industry partners) in order to collect the information needed. Results showed that competences related to research skills and techniques, research management, personal effectiveness and communication skills were considered to be the most valuable skills to be acquired by our PhD students to meet the future needs of the labour market.  The importance of these skills was appreciated differently, depending on the stakeholder. To sum up, some recommendations to integrate such valuable skills into the curricula of the PhD student are given.


Social capital can be defined in various ways. In most of these definitions at least three dimensions can be distinguished. First there is 'bonding' (the horizontal relationships between people operating within different social networks and with specific norms and values). The second dimension is 'bridging' (bonds that transcend differences in religion, ethnicity, culture and socio-economic status). This dimension prevents horizontal ties from becoming the basis for narrow and even sectarian interests. Normally, a third dimension called 'linking' also forms part of social capital, and ideological aspects come into focus here. This dimension includes aspects such as justice, political power and the equitable distribution of income and property. When leadership in Acts is analysed through the lenses of these multi-focal spectacles, interesting perspectives are discovered that can enrich theories on leadership. These discoveries can also open up new perspectives on aspects of being a missional church in our South African context from within the context of Acts.


Europeana Fashion is a best practice network co-funded under the CIP ICT-PSP program and composed of 22 partners from 12 European countries, which represent the leading European institutions and collections in the fashion domain. The consortium will aggregate and provide Europeana with outstanding and rich material about the history of European fashion, including more than 700.000 fashion-related digital objects, ranging from historical dresses to accessories, photographs, posters, drawings, ...


Purpose To draw attention to incentives and disincentives inherent in current health and social care provision in Austria by following common and possible pathways of an older and care dependent person across the Austrian long-term care system. To learn from continuity and discontinuity in transition processes as well as from elements of national and European good practice, which may serve to fill gaps and bridge missing links. Context Ageing societies have significantly changed the demand towards current health and social care provision. In particular, a strong increase in multi-morbidity and chronic diseases, often affecting all different dimensions of human life, has elucidated the urgent need for intensified cooperation and better coordination within and between health and social care provision. However, transition processes, which may efficiently link the different health and social care service sectors and which allow to optimally and with dignity deal with complex individual situations, are often hindered or even blocked by inappropriate regulations or disincentives inherent in the present systems. The adverse effects of such disincentives usually become apparent in regularly recurring troubles and sometimes even paradox situations for users and providers at the level of everyday practice. To follow the pathway of a common example case and to use it for a systematic survey and analysis of transition processes at the practical level is expected to facilitate the insight in underlying incentives and disincentives. To additionally put such pathways in a wider European context and comparison allows the highlighting of national and international initiatives of good practice and to bring to light regulations, which are well or inappropriately adapted to current needs.


Associated with chronic and short-term health effects, the public health consequences of ambient air pollution are considerable. Accurate measurement of air pollutants is critical for assessing exposure to pollutants as well as an essential step in reducing public health impacts through implementation of regulations and emission controls. Passive sampling devices are often used for the regional-scale determination of pollutants when knowledge of hourly fluctuations in concentrations is unnecessary. Often advantageously described as cost-effective and simple to use, passive samplers are increasingly utilized as an alternative to conventional active sampling. However, the accuracy of these descriptions is challenged by the findings of the subsequent research. The overall objective of this research was to assess the ability of a well-known passive sampler to accurately measure concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the ambient environment. While the passive measurement of numerous pollutants is heavily studied, literature evaluating the use of passive sampling devices for the measurement of NOx is exceedingly limited. NOx is a generic term for a group of highly reactive gases composed of oxygen and nitrogen but most commonly NOx is defined as the sum of nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The trapping of NOx using filters coated with 2-phenyl-4,4,5,5-tetramethylimidazoline-1-oxyl-3-oxide (PTIO) for quantitative analysis was investigated using various methods including ambient sampling, electronic absorption spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and electron paramagnetic resonance. A first of its kind air sampling campaign in New Zealand measured ambient NOx concentrations at multiple locations using Ogawa passive samplers. High spatial variability in pollutant concentrations was found across the sampling area but accuracy of the concentrations was questioned. At low ambient NOx concentrations PTIO was found to contribute significantly to the analytical absorbance value. The fraction contributed by PTIO became increasingly difficult to quantitate as the contribution was not uniform across exposed filters. Degradation of PTIO during ambient exposure, evident by the loss of the filter color, was heavily dependent on the sampling environment. Intra- and inter-season variations in the magnitude of degradation are reported. Common limitations of various types of passive samplers are presented as well as challenges currently unaddressed in the literature.


The bandwidth requirements for tracking through turbulence have been studied for the case in which a closed-loop transfer function of the form H(f) = (1 + if/f3dB)−1 is used. The results illustrate that the one-axis one-sigma (rms) jitter σθ is given by the expression σθ = (fT/f3dB)(λ/D), where λ is the wavelength of light used, D is the diameter of the tracking aperture, and fT is the fundamental turbulence-tracking frequency that is determined so that, when the servo bandwidth f3dB is equal to fT, σθ is equal to the diffraction angle λ/D. In practice a tracking system may measure one of various kinds of tilt. As a consequence both G tilt (obtained from a centroid measurement) and Z tilt (the direction that is defined by the normal to the plane that minimizes the mean-square wave-front distortion) have been evaluated in detail. The fundamental turbulence-tracking frequencies fTG and fTZ corresponding to the G tilt and the Z tilt, respectively, are found to be almost identical and are given by the expressions fTG = 0.331D−1/6λ−1[∫ dzCn2(z)V2(z)]1/2 and fTz = 0.368D−1/6λ−1[∫ dzCn2(z)V2(z)]1/2, where z is the range coordinate, Cn2() is the refractive-index structure function, and V() is the wind-velocity profile. For turbulence models that are applied to systems of interest the fundamental turbulence-tracking frequency that is defined by these expressions is about one ninth of fG, the Greenwood frequency associated with higher-order wave-front distortion. This illustrates the important point that the bandwidth that is necessary to control the turbulence-induced tilt is significantly less than the bandwidth that is necessary to control the turbulence-induced higher-order wave-front distortion.


This article presents and discusses results from a study of radical left-wing activism online carried out by the Swedish Media Council, a report that suggested that the Internet (i.e. the web, web 2.0, and social media) is not a prioritized arena for propaganda and recruitment for the radical left in Sweden. The purpose of this article is to re-evaluate some of these findings and add to the discussion on online activity and connectivity in political communication online, as well as to problematize simplified notions of radicalization and recruitment to pro-violent groups. Based on a hermeneutic inquiry regarding modes of communication, representations of political visions, and community, the article shows how the sites and groups studied favor one-way communication before interactivity, that political visions are limited to short-term goals in the immediate future, and that they give very little information about their activist activities to recruit supporters.


There is increasing evidence of skill shortages in Australian commerce and industry, as global competition, changes in technology and in Government regulation place greater demands on company employees. There is, consequently, strong corporate interest in new educational paradigms, such as e-Learning, particularly web-based education, to maintain staff competences in a changing workplace environment. Simultaneously, workplace reform driven by the productivity imperative, and by unfavourable demographic changes in the Western world are increasing employee turnover and individual stress.

Training managers, while addressing the corporate demands vigorously, are seriously challenged by the scope and difficulty of re-skilling a mobile and diverse workforce. Considerable difficulty, for example, has been experienced in introducing electronic content into new, or even existing, business training scenarios!

While Learning Reinforcement (LR) provides a generic Framework for greater cost-effectiveness, new LR strategies are now in prospect based on our enumeration and generalisation of open learning models in professional practice, from studies of workplace training models and from results using blended LR.


An inhomogeneous medium has a cylindrical index distribution if the refractive index depends only on the distance from some fixed line, the axis of the distribution. Formulas are given whereby the third-order aberration coefficients of a symmetric optical system may be computed exactly when the optical media have such cylindrical index distributions. The formulas are valid for both diverging and converging media. A comprehensive numerical illustration of the use of the various formulas is included.


Seasonal variation in the water, sugar, organic acid and cation contents of developing grape berries (Vitis vinifera L. 'Grenache noir') under different levels of water supply (with and without deficit irrigation) and leaf:fruit ratios (18, 10 and five leaves per primary shoot, with one bunch per shoot), were investigated over two successive years in Mediterranean conditions (South of France). Fourteen shoots per vine were left for each leaf:fruit ratio level, and each vine was considered as having homogeneous primary shoots. The growth rate of the berries was increased with irrigation. Total dry matter content of the berry was not affected by leaf:fruit ratios, but the sugar loading decreased during berry development with a lower leaf:fruit ratio (five leaves per bunch). Treatments had little effect on organic acid contents and pH. Berry cation accumulation depended on vine water status and not on the total leaf area of the vine. Under irrigated conditions, calcium continued to accumulate in the berries after veraison. This confirms a partial functioning of the berry xylem during the post-veraison period. The seasonal variation in berry composition was less dependent on the leaf:fruit ratio than on the water status of the vine (mainly cations and sugar). This study provides evidence for the importance of plant water status effects on berry composition, irrespective of the leaf:fruit ratio. Vine water status is a major regulating factor for source-sink relationships.


This article explores the ways in which learning itself is a form of organizational change and, as such, supports organizational readiness for change. The study considers a continuing education unit within a major Canadian university that managed to transform its decentral ized and independent student records and administration system (student registration, student financials, student academic records) by merging into the university's central student management system. The technological implementation and transformation took place over 18 months and was enabled by a series of formal committees and working groups, involving a wide range of members across the university's communities and within the continuing education unit. The empirical data consist of responses given during in-depth interviews with a set of participants involved in the change initiative and technology implementation. Managers' reactions to and reflections on organizational change figure prominently in the research findings and discussion. The article aims to show that creating an environment for sustainable organizational change in higher education, and perhaps more generally, is supported by recognizing that learning itself is change, and that workplace learning may therefore help to create organizational readiness for change.


This article focuses on the chapter on India in An-Na'im's Islam and the secular state. It first sets out the general context of An-Na'im's writing and his specific commitment in Islam and the secular state to distinguish between the secularity of the state, on the one hand, and the basically private realm of shari'a. This forms the basis of An-Na'im's contention that shari'a and state law should be kept separate and that the state is not competent to enforce shari'a. The chapter then goes on to examine the basis for secularism in India's experience of British colonialism, and locates its roots in India's encounter with British Protestantism. The discourse of secularism has survived in post-colonial India and become a constitutional commitment, although its theological underpinnings continue to exacerbate ethno-religious conflict. The answer to such conflict must lie outside the domain of the opposition between religion and secularism therefore, and potentially in India's long consciousness of pluralism, including legal pluralism. As an example of the continued vitality of such pluralism the issue of courts and judging in the Muslim law context is taken up, with a focus on some controversial litigation in matters of Muslim personal law. These examples actualize the claim of the article that An-Na'im's thesis in Islam and secular state may actually not be workable in concrete contexts outside of the theological premises which underpin it.


High-resolution regional climate model (RCM) simulations are found to be very useful in deriving realistic climate change projection information. This study uses high-resolution dynamical downscaling framework (CCSM4-WRF) for India. To delineate the advantage of high resolution, we compared the results of 9-km resolution CCSM4-WRF simulations against the 50-km resolution RCM simulations under Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment-South Asia (CORDEX-SA) programme. Quantitative estimations show that majority of CORDEX-SA models exhibit large dry bias (<-4mm/day) and low pattern correlation coefficient (PCC) over the Western Ghats (WG). Mean climatology of Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall simulated by high-resolution CCSM4-WRF outperforms the CORDEX-SA RCMs with low negative biases (~ 1mm/day) and high PCC (≥ 0.755). This skill of CCSM4-WRF provides better confidence in its future projection at local scale. CCSM4-WRF projects future intensification of monsoon rainfall over most parts of India and reduction over southern WG, which is consistent with recent observed trends, but none of the CORDEX-SA RCMs could simulate this rainfall reduction. For all-India rainfall, ensemble mean of CORDEX-SA models projects an increase by 1.3 ± 0.9mm/day and CCSM4-WRF projects 0.67mm/day. Projected changes in socioeconomic variables such as population and gross domestic product (GDP) exhibit future enhancement over most parts of India but with spatial heterogeneity. Shared Socioeconomic Pathways scenarios show pronounced future population growth over Indian coastal areas, and large enhancement in productivity over urban areas. Therefore, climate change projection information of ISM rainfall, together with enhanced future population and GDP, is useful for taking necessary steps for adaptation and mitigation in a sustainable manner.


An analysis is presented of the stratospheric zonal wind and temperature variations supplied by the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). The derived zonal-mean variations are employed. Stimulated by modeling studies, the data are separated into the hemispherically symmetric and anti-symmetric components, and spectral analysis is applied to study the 12-month annual oscillation (AO) and the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). For data samples that cover as much as 40 years, the zonal wind results reveal a pronounced 5-year modulation of the symmetric AO in the lower stratosphere, which is confined to equatorial latitudes. This modulation is also seen in the temperature variations but extends to high latitudes, qualitatively consistent with published model results. A comparison between different time intervals of the data indicates that the signature of the 5-year oscillation is larger when the QBO of 30 months is more pronounced. Thus there is circumstantial evidence that this particular QBO period is involved in generating the oscillation as was shown in a modeling study (Mayr et al., 2000). In agreement with the model, the spectral analysis also reveals a weak anti-symmetric 5-year oscillation in the zonal wind data, which could interact with the strong anti-symmetric AO to produce the modulation of the symmetric AO. The 30-month QBO is well suited to be synchronized by, and phase-locked to, the equatorial semi-annual oscillation (SAO), and this may explain why this QBO periodicity and its 5-year spin-off are observed to persist for many cycles.


Purpose: The receptor for advanced glycation end products (RAGE) contributes to multiple pathologies, including diabetes, arthritis, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. Despite the obvious need, no RAGE inhibitors are in common clinical use. Therefore, we developed a novel small RAGE antagonist peptide (RAP) that blocks activation by multiple ligands. Experimental Design: RAGE and its ligands were visualized by immunohistochemical analysis of human pancreatic tissues, and siRNA was used to analyze their functions. Interactions between RAGE and S100P, S100A4, and HMGB-1 were measured by ELISA. Three S100P-derived small antagonistic peptides were designed, synthesized, and tested for inhibition of RAGE binding. The effects of the peptide blockers on NFκB-luciferase reporter activity was used to assess effects on RAGE-mediated signaling. The most effective peptide was tested on glioma and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) models. Results: Immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the expression of RAGE and its ligands S100P, S100A4, and HMGB-1 in human PDAC. siRNA silencing of RAGE or its ligands reduced the growth and migration of PDAC cells in vitro. The most effective RAP inhibited the interaction of S100P, S100A4, and HMGB-1 with RAGE at micromolar concentrations. RAP also reduced the ability of the ligands to stimulate RAGE activation of NFκB in cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Importantly, systemic in vivo administration of RAP reduced the growth and metastasis of pancreatic tumors and also inhibited glioma tumor growth. Conclusion: RAP shows promise as a tool for the investigation of RAGE function and as an in vivo treatment for RAGE-related disorders. Clin Cancer Res; 18(16); 4356–64. ©2012 AACR.