The North Atlantic thermohaline circulation (THC) carries heat and salt towards the Arctic. This circulation is partly sustained by buoyancy loss and is generally believed to be inhibited by northern freshwater input as indicated by the 'box-model' of Stommel (1961). The inferred freshwater-sensitivity of the THC, however, varies considerably between studies, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The northernmost branch of the Atlantic THC, which forms a double estuarine circulation in the Arctic Mediterranean, is one example where both buoyancy loss and buoyancy gain facilitate circulation. We have built on Stommel's original concept to examine the freshwater-sensitivity of a double estuarine circulation. The net inflow into the double estuary is found to be more sensitive to a change in the distribution of freshwater than to a change in the total freshwater input. A double estuarine circulation is more stable than a single overturning, requiring a larger amount and more localised freshwater input into regions of buoyancy loss to induce a thermohaline 'collapse'. For the Arctic Mediterranean, these findings imply that the Atlantic inflow may be relatively insensitive to increased freshwater input. Complementing Stommel's thermal and haline flow regimes, the double estuarine circulation allows for a third: the throughflow regime. In this regime, a THC with warm poleward surface flow can be sustained without production of dense water; a decrease in high-latitude dense water formation does therefore not necessarily affect regional surface conditions as strongly as generally thought.


New technologies, although developed with optimism, often fall short of their predicted potential and create new problems. Communications technologies are no different. Their utopian proponents claim that universal access to advanced communications technologies can help to feed the hungry, cure the sick, educate the illiterate, improve the global standard of living, and ultimately bring about world peace. The sobering reality is that while communications technologies have a role to play in making the world a better place, the impact of any specific technological advance is likely to be modest.The limitations of new technologies are often not inherent in the technologies themselves but the result of regulatory or economic constraints. While the capability may exist to deliver any information anywhere in the world, many people lack the money to pay for it, the equipment to access it, the skills to use it, or even the knowledge that it might be useful to them. This book examines the complex ways in which communication technologies and policies affect the people whose lives they are intended to improve. The areas of discussion include Internet regulation, electronic voting and petitioning, monopoly and competition in communications markets, the future of wireless communications, and the concept of universal service.


In this study in vitro and in vivo functions were compared between cultured dermal equivalents produced with human fibroblasts isolated either from papillary dermis or adipose tissue of the same donors. Papillary dermal fibroblasts had a normal spindle cell shape; in contrast, adipose tissue fibroblasts had a stellate cell shape, actin stress fibers containing alpha-smooth muscle actin, multiple narrow extensions at their edges, and longer focal adhesion plaques. After dynamic culture for 14 days in PEGT/PBT carrier scaffolds, cell numbers between the two cell sources were comparable, but tissue morphology was different between the cultured groups. In addition, papillary fibroblasts had deposited significantly more glycosaminoglycans (214 +/- 15 versus 159 +/- 21 microg, p < 0.001) and a lower amount of collagen (49 +/- 14 versus 111 +/- 25 microg of hydroxyproline, p < 0.001) than had adipose fibroblasts. Moreover, the latter constructs were significantly more contracted than the papillary fibroblast-cultured constructs (78 +/- 6 versus 96 +/- 3%, p < 0.001). In comparison with the influence of cultured dermal equivalents on wound healing, the transplantation of five groups (control acellular carrier, papillary fibroblast-seeded construct, adipose fibroblast-seeded construct, papillary fibroblast-cultured construct, and adipose fibroblast-cultured construct) to full-thickness wounds on the backs of athymic mice showed clear differences in angiogenesis and tissue ingrowth after 10 days, and in reepithelialization after 21 days. After 10 days, the level of vascular ingrowth in the carrier (von Willebrand staining) for the five groups was as follows: adipose fibroblast-cultured > papillary fibroblast-cultured = adipose fibroblast-seeded > papillary fibroblast-seeded > acellular carrier. After 21 days, only the acellular carriers were not vascularized and the papillary fibroblast-seeded constructs were not completely vascularized. Complete wound reepithelialization (92 +/- 12%) was observed only in the group treated with adipose cultured constructs. Wound contraction was not observed. Staining for HLA-ABC and alpha-smooth muscle actin showed that human fibroblasts had survived and that adipose fibroblasts continued to express the actin isoform. These results showed not only stimulation of skin repair when fibroblasts were present in the carrier, but also significant positive effects of the deposited extracellular matrix (ECM) in the carrier. In addition, the adipose fibroblast-seeded construct, and especially the adipose fibroblast-cultured construct, significantly stimulated angiogenesis and reepithelialization when compared with their corresponding papillary fibroblast constructs. Apparently, tissue source or fibroblast phenotype and the presence of ECM play a crucial role in the stimulation of (impaired) healing and engineering of dermal equivalents.


This paper describes a low-distortion wide-band CMOS direct digital RF amplitude modulator, which uses a 10-bit linear interpolation current-steering digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and a Gilbert-cell-based mixer to generate an amplitude modulated RF signal directly. The linear interpolation increases the attenuation of the DAC's image components. The reconstruction filter is, therefore, eliminated. The DAC's differential current signals are directly sent to the mixer, which improves the linearity of the modulated RF signal. Thus, the RF transmitter structure is simplified, and the low distortion is achieved. This modulator is suitable for system-on-chip (SOC) design and is easily scalable. The chip was fabricated in a 0.35-/spl mu/m 3.3-V double-poly triple-metal CMOS process. The core size of the chip is 0.52 mm/spl times/0.68 mm. With a 3.3-MHz modulation signal, a 50-MHz clock, and a 1-GHz carrier, the distortion components are below -53.81 dBc, and the attenuation of the image signal is 47.45 dB. The output power is -6.5 dBm, and the total power consumption is 159.8 mW.


The First Mirror Test in Joint European Torus (JET) with the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor-like wall was performed with polycrystalline molybdenum mirrors. Two major types of experiments were done. Using a reciprocating probe system in the main chamber, a short-term exposure was made during a 0.3 h plasma operation in 71 discharges. The impact on reflectivity was negligible. In a long-term experiment lasting 19 h with 13 h of X-point plasma, 20 Mo mirrors were exposed, including four coated with a 1 μm-thick Rh layer. Optical performance of all mirrors exposed in the divertor was degraded by up to 80% because of beryllium, carbon and tungsten co-deposits on surfaces. Total reflectivity of most Mo mirrors facing plasma in the main chamber was only slightly affected in the spectral range 400–1600 nm, while the Rh-coated mirror lost its high original reflectivity by 30%, thus decreasing to the level typical of molybdenum surfaces. Specular reflectivity was decreased most strongly in the 250–400 nm UV range. Surface measurements with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and depth profiling with secondary ion mass spectrometry and heavy-ion elastic recoil detection analysis (ERDA) revealed that the very surface region on both types of mirrors had been modified by neutrals, resulting eventually in the composition change: Be, C, D at the level below 1 × 1016 cm−2 mixed with traces of Ni, Fe in the layer 10–30 nm thick. On several exposed mirrors, the original matrix material (Mo) remained as the major constituent of the modified layer. The data obtained in two major phases of the JET operation with carbon and full metal walls are compared. The implications of these results for first mirrors and their maintenance in a reactor-class device are discussed.


The imperative to improve healthcare efficiency is now stronger than ever. Rapidly increasing healthcare demand and the prospect of healthcare cost exploding require that measures be taken to make healthcare organizations become more efficiency-aware. Alignment of organizational interests is therefore important. One of the main hurdles to overcome is the provision of the right incentives to healthcare workers, in particular physicians. In this research we investigate the incentive system for physicians in university hospitals. We present an inquiry held in a large university hospital in the Netherlands and show that non-financial incentives receive significantly more support among physicians than financial incentives. Over 95 percent of the physicians indicated they derive more work stimulus from research possibilities or scientific status than from wage. Over 80 percent of the physicians also indicated they prefer to be able to do more research. We therefore identified a broad class of non-financial incentives aimed at physicians in university hospitals: research facilities. The main tradeoff in using research facilities within an incentive system is between efficient resource utilization and inducement effects. This thesis constructs a principal-multi-agent model where agents engage in both care and research and which includes heterogeneity and private information. We study how research facilities incentives can be used to improve hospital performance if the current wage system is left intact. We show that research facilities are optimally used as incentives for both care and research activities, and that the hospital offers different contracts depending on physician ability and valuation. Moreover, if physicians need to reveal their valuations for research facilities, the hospital finds it optimal to allow physicians to make a rent. We discuss some implications of extending the theoretical results to practice.


A case of HIV-2 infection is described in a 35-year-old woman born in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, who migrated to Madrid, Spain, in 1995. It was determined through questioning the woman that her only HIV-associated risk factor was unprotected heterosexual contacts in her country of origin. Her ex-husband, to whom she had been married for 18 years, was also from Equatorial Guinea and was known to have had multiple sex partners. The woman reported having had heterosexual encounters with five other partners in her native country, although less frequently than with her ex-husband. She was unaware of her sex partners' HIV serostatus and denied having had any sexual relations in Spain during her one-year current residency. The woman was in good health and presented with a CD4+ T cell count of 486 cubic millimeters. HIV-2 infection was identified using the Pepti-LAV immunoassay and Western blot. Isolation of the infecting virus was attempted by coculturing the patient's peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) with PBMCs from an HIV-seronegative donor according to standard protocols for HIV isolation. Nested polymerase chain reaction was later conducted on some DNA from the woman's uncultured PBMCs. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the sequence data obtained clustered with the B subtype of HIV-2.


This perspective discusses the important aspects of the design of molecular gear systems based on triptycene. Molecular systems are categorized into three classes according to the orientation of the gear axes: i) bent (bevel gears), ii) linear, and ii) parallel (spur gears). To date, no examples of molecular gears in which the axes of rotation lie in parallel have been reported; correspondingly, the bulk of this report focuses on the factors one must evaluate to construct such systems.


Acoustical studies are undertaken in 0.025 m aqueous solution of SDS with the addition of n-alkyl amines (ethylamine, diethyl amine and triethyl amine) at various concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 0.05 molar at 303 K. From the measured values of velocity, density, viscosity and observed absorption (α/f 2 ) obs, various other parameters such as compressibility, free length, free volume, relative association, Rao's constant, classical absorption (α/f 2 )cl, excess absorption (α/f 2 )ex, volume viscosity and relaxation time are calculated and reported. The results indicate that the addition of amines to the surfactant activates the micellar growth and leads to solubilization of shorter chain amines.


Pain teaches the reader to recognize and appropriately treat a variety of pain disorders using a case study format. Divided into three section, chronic pain conditions, chronic pain and related disorders, and treatment overview, and derived from consultation requests from providers in medical practice, the cases are written in a format that encourages the reader to formulate a differential diagnosis and treatment plan for a variety of pain problems. Succinct in its presentation and logical in its layout, Pain is the perfect resource for the busy practitioner on the go.


ABSTRACT Purpose: To assess the economic burden of non-infectious inflammatory eyedisease (NIIED) in a commercially-insured population in the United States Methods: Adult patients with a NIIED diagnosis between 2006 and 2015 were selected from a de-identified, privately insured claims database and were matched 1:1 to a non-NIIED control. Ophthalmologic complications, direct healthcare resource use and costs, and indirect work loss (from the payer perspective) were calculated for a 12-month period and compared across the 2 cohorts. Results: Among the 14 876 matched pairs, NIIED patients were significantly more likely than controls to experience ocular complications, including glaucoma and cataracts (p < 0.001). NIIED patients had significantly higher healthcare resource utilization and costs compared with matched controls (relative difference 40%, p < 0.001). NIIED patients missed 12.2 days of work ($2925 annual work-loss costs), 46% more than non-NIIED patients (p < 0.001). Conclusion: NIIED imposes a significant clinical and economic burden, suggesting an unmet need for expanded access to alternative treatment options.


This paper presents a method for simply and interactively modeling and reusing 3D sleeve. Firstly, 3D sketches of basic sleeve skeleton are generated based on the recognized body feature points and sizes, and the sleeve surface can be quickly constructed; secondly, a sleeve surface modification method driven by sketch is adopted to build complex sleeve shape more freely; finally, we joint the sleeve and garment mesh by using armhole seam lines as benchmarks, the sleeve and garment shape is preserved well and the connected mesh is smooth. An encoding algorithm is employed to obtain the sleeve design information from sketches as a template, and when decoding this template on a new garment, it automates the sleeve surface generation for existing sleeve reusing. Examples show that our technique can greatly improve the efficiency and the quality of sleeve design in garment CAD.


Although Robert Louis Stevenson's short story 'Olalla' does not use the word 'vampire' at any point, it contains a cluster of motifs that have led critics to identify it as a vampire tale: specifically, a character addicted to drinking human blood and an ancient family fallen into decline. 'Olalla' is unusual, however, in that it features a very different conception of vampirism than that popularised by Bram Stoker's Dracula and which has become canonical to vampire literature since. This article differentiates between the Dracula and the 'Olalla' models of vampiric reproduction, and argues that although the Dracula framework dominated the twentieth century, the 'Olalla' model has re-emerged in intriguing ways in recent decades. This paper identifies the tale's literary legacy, suggesting that the 'Olalla' model foreshadows a recent trend in vampire story: vampirism as genetic inheritance.
 To date, literary criticism of 'Olalla' tends to use the tale to throw light on more famous Stevenson texts: Irving Massey, for example, reads 'Olalla' as illuminating The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, in its depiction of human duality and the need to resist base animal desire, and Hilary Beattie makes a similar move, arguing, 'Olalla' can be read as 'itself the double of Jekyll and Hyde'. Given that it is one of Stevenson's relatively few works to foreground a woman's experience, the tale has also inspired critics to examine its engagement with gender. Ellen Rees argues that 'at the heart of … Stevenson's [story]… lie[s] patriarchal terror in the face of female sexuality', and Massey notes that the mother is described in terms which emphasise her base, animal nature. Beattie notes that 'Olalla' 'falls within the general romantic tradition of the vampire woman and the femme fatale', and argues that the tale can be read in terms of profound, archaic repression of experience of the maternal body, 'a monstrous and overwhelming female presence'. Common to all these approaches is interest in the story's depiction of atavistic subhuman or pre-human states, and this preoccupation is no accident: Linda Dryden and Ed Block go to the heart of this atavism when they suggest that the story is symptomatic of late nineteenth-century anxieties over evolutionary degeneration. Valuable though all these approaches are, the story can also be read as a prescient commentary on late twentieth- twenty-first century concerns, specifically the emergence of what has been called genetic 'previvorship'. First, I will summarise the way in which 'Olalla' exemplifies the evolutionary anxieties of the moment in which it appeared, and then I will show the lacunae of such a reading, instead connecting the story to trends in twentieth-century vampire fiction and culture.


Toxic contaminants found in cannabis extracts cause serious harm when ingested. Learn directly from expert separation scientists the best methodologies to remove contaminants and provide clean cannabis products. Live Wednesday, Jul. 17, 2019 at 11am EDT | 8am PDT | 4pm BST | 5pm CEST On demand available after airing until Jul. 17, 2020 http://www.chromatographyonline.com/lcgc_w/eliminate


The emissive properties of proton implanted fused silica surfaces have been studied by laser beam annealing. When submitted to a high thermal step from a focused CO2 laser, an intense near infra-red transient incandescence (TI) peak rises from stressed silica. The TI presents the characteristics of a thermoluminescent (TL) emission that occurs above a thermal rate threshold. We show that TI rises at the stress relaxation.


The focus of urban water system metabolism studies has, by and large, been restricted to what comes under the domain of the urban water utilities: water treatment and supply, and wastewater collection, treatment, and disposal. The material and energy flows both necessitated and facilitated by the supply of treated water to households—the water demand subsystem—are by no means negligible. This article studies the key flows into households associated with water consumption and the environmental impacts related to the same for India as a whole. Electricity consumption in washing machines and water heaters contributes the most to almost all the 13 environmental impact categories considered. This is easily explained by the fossil fuel heaviness of the Indian mix (>60%). Soaps contribute the most to terrestrial eco‐toxicity and malodorous air. In India, on a national scale, all the environmental impact categories deserve attention. The absolute consumption of electricity, soaps, and detergents, and the demand for home appliances will increase in the years to come.


The question of exactly who should receive credit and bear responsibility for scientific publications has been discussed repeatedly in recent years. The majority of journals in the medical arena adhere to the authorship standards that have been developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The ICMJE's Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals aim to combat ghost and guest authorship and to allow appropriate recognition and accountability for what was done and how it is published. However, consideration of the ICMJE's Ethical Considerations in the Conduct and Reporting of Research leads to the following questions. Should substantial contributions by peer reviewers be openly declared? Should some reviewers perhaps even be credited as authors?

Admittedly, reviewers' contributions arrive after a study has been planned, conducted, analysed, and written up. However, diligent reviewers examine how research was designed and data collected, analysed, and interpreted (meeting ICJME criterion 1).1 In addition, reviewers suggest modifications to both design and text that often substantially improve the paper (criterion 2).1 The reviewer's recommendation to accept the paper for publication could qualify as final approval of the paper (which is criterion 3).1 In …


Objectives It has been hypothesised that ectopy may be associated with increased susceptibility to sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In this cross-sectional study, we wanted to explore the association between STIs (including HIV) and cervical ectopy. Methods We included 700 sexually active young women attending randomly selected high schools in a rural district in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The district is endemic of HIV and has a high prevalence of STIs. We did computer-assisted measurements of the ectocervical area covered by columnar epithelium (ectopy) in colposcopic images and STI analyses on cervicovaginal lavage and serum samples. All participating women answered a questionnaire about sexual behaviour and use of contraceptives. Results The mean age was 19.1 years. Ectopy was found in 27.2%, HIV in 27.8%, chlamydia in 25.3% and gonorrhoea in 15.6%. We found that age, parity, chlamydia and gonorrhoea, years since menarche, years since sexual debut and number of sexual partners were associated with ectopy. In multivariate analysis with chlamydia infection as the dependent variable, women with ectopy had increased odds of having chlamydia infection (adjusted OR 1.78, p=0.033). In women under 19 years of age, we found twofold higher odds of being HIV-positive for those with ectopy (OR 2.19, p=0.014). Conclusions In conclusion, cervical ectopy is associated with Chlamydia trachomatis infection and HIV in the youngest women.


FeFe hydrogenase enzymes efficiently catalyse the reduction of protons to dihydrogen. The active site (H-cluster) of the enzyme is Fe2(μ-SCH2XCH2S)(CO)3(CN)2(H2O)(S(cys)(Fe2S2)) (X = CH2, NH or O). Although the enzyme is highly catalytic and consists of abundant elements, it has several drawbacks; for example, sensitivity to oxygen. Thus it has been proposed that complexes with similar structure to the H-cluster could be strategically designed in order to alleviate these drawbacks, and generate cheap catalysts for hydrogen generation. This dissertation reports on eleven mimics of the H-cluster, each expanding on the simplest model in the literature: Fe2(μ-SCH2CH2CH2S)(CO)6. The aim of the research was to assess the electrocatalytic ability of these complexes, and interpret these results to assist in developing more efficient catalysts in the future. The first two complexes investigated (Fe2(μ-SC6F5)2(CO)6 and Fe2(μ-SC6F5)2(CO)4(Ph2PCH2PPh2)) had a highly electron withdrawing dithiolate bridge to decrease the electron density on the Fe centres. The influence of the bridge was found to have a significant benefit to the overpotential required for catalysis. The next four complexes analysed (Fe2(μ-X)(CO)3(μ,η2-Ph2PCH2CHP(Ph)CH2CH2PPh2); X = SCH2CH2CH2S, SCH2N(CH2C6H5)CH2S, (SCH3)2 or SCH2CH2S) used a triphos ligand to exert steric and electronic influence on the complexes. Although the complexes were found to be catalytic, the overpotential required for catalysis was large. As a sub-investigation, a range of electrolyte solutions were used, and found to have a significant influence on the electrocatalytic behaviour of the complexes. Three tri-iron complexes have been investigated (Fe3(μ-SCH2CH2S)2(CO)7-x(PPh3)x; x = 0, 1, 2). It was found that moving from a di- to a tri-iron system significantly improved the catalytic overpotential. Finally, two isomeric complexes exhibiting a ligand bound to the di-iron centres in both a bridging or chelating orientation (Fe2(μ-SCH2CH2CH2S)(CO)4(Ph2PN(CH2CHCH2)PPh2)) were analysed. The orientation of the ligand played a role in the susceptibility to protonation of the complexes, and therefore their catalytic activities.


Hedonic house price indices adjust the average sales prices for the change in the quality of the property sold over time. This paper proposes a framework to disentangle the contribution of each individual dwelling characteristic to this quality change. We apply our framework to a unique dataset for Belgium for the period 2011Q3-2021Q2 in which we combine the universe of residential real estate transactions with the datasets of the energy performance certificates of the regional energy authorities. We find that the price of an identical dwelling has increased by 7 % less over the past decade compared to the average price of the houses sold and this is largely the result of the improved energy performance over the past decade. Moreover, taking into account the energy efficiency in house price indices will only become more important as it will need to improve substantially more to reach the European climate goal of having an energy efficient building stock by 2050. Turning to the recent period, we show that the strong price increases observed in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic are not due to changes in the quality of the property sold as the average dwelling characteristics remained broadly stable. Furthermore, despite the slightly increased price discount of terraced houses and small garden and dwelling sizes, price growth continued to be slightly higher in cities compared to their rural urban fringe and the commuter belt.


This short paper focuses on games that can tailor the provided game experience to the individual player (personalised games), typically by eectively utilising player models. A particular challenge in this regard, is utilising player models for assessing online (i.e., while the game is being played) and unobtrusively which game adaptations are appropriate. We propose design criteria for approach for personalising the space in which a game is played (i.e., levels) { to the end of tailoring the experienced challenge to the individual player during actual play of the game. Our approach specically considers two persisting design challenges, namely implicit user feedback and high risk of user abandonment. Our contribution to this end is proposing a clear separation between (intelligent) oine exploration and (safety-conscious) online exploitation. We are presently assessing the eectiveness of the developed approach in an actual video game: Infinite Mario Bros. [5]. To this end, we have enhanced the game such that its process for procedural-content generation allows the game spaces (i.e., levels) to be personalised during play of the game. We use data from intelligent oine exploration to determine both a model of experienced challenge as well as safe level design parameters for use on new players. Online, we use a gradient ascent algorithm with designerspecied domain knowledge to select the next set of level design parameters.


The Principles & Processes of Interactive Design is aimed at new designers from across the design and media disciplines who want to learn the fundamentals of designing for interactive media. This book is intended both as a primer and companion guide on how to research, plan and design for increasingly prevalent interactive projects. With clear and practical guidance on how to successfully present your ideas and concepts, Jamie Steane introduces you to user-based design, research and development, digital image and typography, interactive formats, and screen-based grids and layout. Using a raft of inspirational examples from a diverse range of leading international creatives and award-winning agencies, this is required reading for budding digital designers. In addition, industry perspectives from key design professionals provide fascinating insights into this exciting creative field, and each chapter concludes with workshop tutorials to help you put what you've learnt into practice in your own interactive designs. Featured contributors include: AKQA, BBC, Dare, Edenspiekermann, Electronic Arts, e-Types, Komodo Digital, Moving Brands, Nordkapp, Onedotzero, Onformative, Preloaded and Razorfish.


Summary You simply cannot go to Glasgow in Scotland and be a shrinking violet. Or at least this is what we were told when we attended the European Sleep Research Society (ESRS) Congress in Glasgow in 2008. This report aims to illustrate how collaboration and communication between specialists can help to facilitate breakthroughs in clinical practice. We leave it up to the reader to decide whether those who attended also made breakthroughs in learning local customs.


This dissertation investigates the contemporary mediators and networks that played an important role in the canonization of Joseph Roth's (original and translated) work in Flanders and the Netherlands. These mediators and networks made a substantial contributionto Roth's intellectual and literary life (and were the key to his 'survival') in the period of his exile in these countries. The theoretical framework employed in this study is based on Von Dorleijn and van Rees's views on the literary field (2006). Even beforehis time in exile, Roth established and maintained numerous contacts with Dutch speaking mediators, who promoted his work in the Low Countries. During his stay in the Netherlands in 1936 he made a concerted effort to achieve the best possible financial arrangements with his publishers and he preferred to keep company with well known journalists and artists, who were willing to promote his work. His ability to influence his mediators clearly depended on his personal contacts with them and his physical presence in Amsterdam. The popular literary critic Anton van Duinkerken for example, was a friend who gave invaluable support to Roth helping him to survive both financially and intellectually during his exile in Amsterdam. The analysis of this particular acquaintance (that was established in 1934) shows that there was a clear mutual interest in each other's inner circle. On the one hand Roth and his editor wanted to win over the Dutch 'literary Pope'; on the other hand van Duinkerken also profited from the connections as it allowed him to expand his own network and to promote his position among Roth's friends. Roth would refer to almost all of those who lent him support and promoted his work as 'a friend', for instance the hotel manager Blansjaar, the 'Chef de Reception' Andries van Ameringen, the art historian and drinking companion Frans Hannema, the Jewish author Maurits Dekker or the director of the publishing company De Gemeenschap, Cornelius Vos. However he was, and would remain, more deeply committed to those friends he had met before 1933, especially Stefan Zweig, and also Hermann Kesten and Walter Landauer, staff members of the Amsterdam 'exile publishing companies' Allert de Lange and Querido. Also, he never lost contact with Nico Rost, the journalist Roth had met in Berlin in the Twenties. Rost used his relationship with different exile publishing companies to arrange contracts for Roth and tried to promote Roth's work in the Flemish newpaper Vooruit. Rost is therefore the most important node in Roth's 1924-1940 network. This study highlights the significance to Roth's work of Flemish mediators such as Toussaint van Boelaere, Urbain Van de Voorde and Johan De Maegt. It also shows the importance of Roth's stay in The Netherlands in 1936 and in Belgium in 1936 and 1937 in terms of both his work and the work of his Dutch speaking mediators.


In pursuing their enterprises, cocoa farmers now need financial sustainability. This research focuses on financial sustainability because it is linked to the accessibility of agricultural funding and the effect on society for current and future generations in order to guarantee a sustainable livelihood. This study considers the personal profiles of cocoa farmers, which are sex, education level, number of dependents, and farm sizes. The cocoa farmers profile has a divergent view on their financial sustainability. The study is quantitative research andcorrelational design research. The sample population of 1,000 Cocoa farmers was conveniently sampled from the six cocoa-growing regions of Ghana as respondents. The study used selfconstructed questionnaires to measure financial sustainability, which had sub-variables of financial viability, financial self-sufficiency, and financial impact. The statistical analysis for the differences was computed by using SPSS 23 with T'Test and ANOVA. The results of the study revealed that there was no significant difference in a number of dependents and educational level of cocoa farmers on their financial sustainability. Also, farm size and sex proofed to have a significant difference in the financial sustainability of the cocoa farmer. Large farm size indicated a major difference in financial sustainability as compared to small farm size. Male cocoa farmers were better than the female cocoa farmers on their financialsustainability. The dominance of males in cocoa farming in Ghana makes them consider the financial sustainability of the cocoa farming venture more than females. This is because they are mainly supporting the livelihood of their families. Farm Size as a determinant of financialsustainability is evident by the yield larger farm size can give a cocoa farmer. The study recommends that in order to attain financial sustainability for the cocoa farmer, the farm size and sex must be considered.


The distribution and three-dimensional relationship of myofibrillar and cytoskeletal components during myofibrillogenesis were examined in preparations of neonatal rat cardiac myocytes processed in parallel for scanning electron microscopy (SEM), intermediate voltage transmission electron microscopy (IVEM) and immunofluorescence (IF). Of the various methods used for processing, optimal results were achieved by pre-extraction with Triton X-100 in an actin-stabilizing buffer. This procedure effectively removed the surface membrane, as viewed by SEM images, while preserving myofibrillar and cytoskeletal structure, as evidenced by IF for actin, alpha-actinin and vinculin. Cytoskeletons in SEM images consisted of a cortex of anastomosing filaments through which ran parallel filament bundles oriented in the long axis of the cell and attached along their length to the substrate by numerous fine filaments. In IVEM images, myofibrils were laterally connected at the level of the Z bands. Myocytes grown on different extracellular matrices showed different patterns and distributions of both striated myofibrils and focal adhesions, as determined by IF for alpha-actinin and vinculin, respectively. Cells on collagen I and III contained striated myofibrils which extended to the cell perimeters where focal adhesions were predominately located. Cells on laminin and fibronectin matrices exhibited myofibrils and focal adhesions more centrally located. In addition, cells on laminin contained circumferential arcs of filaments near the cell periphery.


Teachers in isolated schools are often under-resourced and overwhelmed with additional pressures. Teaching in an isolated community can sometimes challenge teachers' skills and knowledge, particularly when additional pressures such as behavioural issues associated with students with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) like behaviours are present. Teachers in isolated schools catering for students exhibiting elements of ODD need additional support and resources, but distance and isolation are barriers to the provision and receipt of these services. Professional support networks are often relied on by these teachers, but these support communities can be hard to build because of the physical distances occurring in rural NSW. Thus, teachers in isolated schools are often faced with dealing with stress and student behaviours on their own, with very little support, which might leave them feeling disconnected. One method of connecting isolated teachers is through an online Community of Practice (CoP).
Websites which can enable the development of a CoP have been proposed as a way of solving this problem. This study was developed to examine the building of an online support structure named 'Bringing It To The Teachers' to provide for an emergent online professional network for teachers in isolated rural NSW schools. The study involved ten teachers from five isolated schools catering for students who had been identified as displaying oppositional and defiant behaviours. This paper presents the preliminary findings of the study, investigating the elements required for successful development of an online CoP for teachers in isolated rural communities.


This study investigates the role and success of small businesses in North Yorkshire, setting them firstly in context within the UK as a whole and the region, then in a more in depth analysis of the characteristics of a sample of small businesses (less than 10 employees) from the Harrogate and Ryedale Districts of North Yorkshire. The phenomenon of the growth in size and significance of the small business sector has been part of economic life in this country in recent decades, and is one of the possible pieces of evidence of a regional economic resurgence. The growing importance of small businesses, in terms of their numbers, is undoubtedly a feature of the new economic landscape of the 1980 ' s and 1990 ' s .Some traditional preconceptions are challenged, for instance, previous studies suggest that new firm foundations in rural areas are not stimulated by economic recession, as normally expected, and studies suggest the growing significance of embeddedness and networking, aspects which are not important to traditional economic theory. The research in North Yorkshire provides evidence to support the existence of a new economic landscape. The research describes the current economic climate in North Yorkshire in terms of wealth indicators, employment and VAT registrations and deregistrations, which underline the relatively healthy circumstances of the county. In the second part of the study, based on a survey of small businesses, the particular characteristics of small businesses, including their location, their longevity and reasons for their establishment are examined. The typical small business was found to be a 'niche ' type service, established on the outskirts of a village or small market town, typically in home premises, established there for an average of around 11 years, and set up after voluntarily leaving employment, not redundancy. Many of the founders were qualified and a moderate level of technology was used in the business. There was firm evidence of local embeddedness and informal networking, though little or no evidence of agency assistance and formal networking, such as membership of business associations. The various characteristics were exhaustively cross - tabulated to further determine the characteristics of the sampled firms. Finally, the results of the sample survey were compared and contrasted with previous studies in the field of small business characteristics, particularly recent studies of small businesses in rural areas, and the results generally conformed to the patterns - there is a new economic landscape where countless small businesses play a small but significant role, perhaps a more static role in North Yorkshire than is commonly supposed.


Globally, geckos (Gekkonidae) are one of the most successful reptile families for exotic species. With the exception of the widespread invader, Hemidactylus mabouia, however, introductions of exotic gecko species are a more recent occurrence in the Caribbean islands despite extensive introductions of exotic geckos in the surrounding Caribbean region. Here we report three new exotic gecko species establishments on the mid-sized Caribbean island of Curacao (Leeward Antilles). Of the three new exotic species, the mourning gecko, Lepidodactylus lugubris (Dumeril and Bibron, 1836) has the largest distribution on Curacao and has likely been established for the longest time. The common house gecko, Hemidactylus frenatus (in Dumeril, 1836) has a limited distribution and was likely a more recent introduction. Finally, the Tokay gecko, Gekko gecko (Linnaeus, 1758), escaped from captivity and is known from a single locality. Both L. lugubris and H. frenatus have had widespread distributions in the greater Caribbean region for over 70 years yet have only been reported from Caribbean islands within the past decade. Comparatively, the scope of G. gecko introductions on Caribbean islands is similar to L. lugubris and H. frenatus but introduced populations of G. gecko in the greater Caribbean region are virtually absent. These patterns indicate that different introduction pathways (intentional vs passive) may affect the size of exotic geographic ranges, and that the rate of exotic gecko introductions to Caribbean islands may now be increasing.


Adequate and affordable housing is a basic human need, and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), housing is treated as a right of every Emirati national. This study examines the efficacy of the two national housing programs in the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah that provide subsidies for affordable homeownership—the Sheikh Zayed Housing Program (SZHP) and the President's Initiative (PI). Beneficiaries of these two programs seem largely satisfied, but suggest improvement to the approval process, eligibility criteria, housing design and standards, and location decisions. Also, the growth spurred by the two programs, especially SZHP, has significantly shaped the current sprawling urban form of the Ras Al Khaimah municipality. The question of long-term sustainability of the two programs looms large, funded as they are entirely by the government, with little or no participation from the private or informal sector. To make housing programs financially and environmentally sustainable, every stakeholder must play a role: the federal government and the Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah need to enable other sectors of the economy to participate in housing provision; the Ras Al Khaimah Municipality will have to strengthen and enforce its development standards; and, individual beneficiaries need to follow local plans, embrace sustainable practices of building and use the programs in a judicious way.


Motif Discovery (MD) is the process of identifying meaningful patterns in DNA, RNA, or protein sequences. In the field of bioinformatics, a pattern is also known as a motif. Numerous algorithms had been developed for MD, but most of these were not designed to discover species specific motifs used in identifying a specifically selected species where the exact location of these motifs also needs to be identified. Evaluation of these algorithms showed that the results are unsatisfactory due to the lower validity and accuracy of these algorithms. At present, DNA sequencing analysis is the most utilised technique for species identification where patterns of DNA sequences are determined by comparing the sequence to comprehensive databases. However, several false and gap sequences had been identified to be present in these databases which lead to false identification. Therefore, this study addresses these problems by introducing a hybrid algorithm for MD. In this study, the MD is a process to discover all possible motifs that existed in DNA sequences whereas Motif Identification (MI) is a process to identify the correct motif that can represent a selected species. Particle Swarm Optimisation (PSG) was selected as the base algorithm that needs improvement and integration with other techniques. The Linear-PSO algorithm was the first version of improvement. However due to the longer time required for complete execution of this algorithm, the Binary Search technique was integrated and a new version of the algorithm was developed, namely the Linear-PSO with Binary Search (LPBS) algorithm. A total of 11 experiments were conducted in this research, where the aim of the first four experiments was algorithm improvement; the next four experiments were for identifying suitable input data, while the final three experiments were for algorithm validation. Several DNA sequences from different species were collected from the GenBank and TRansCompel databases and used as input for the algorithm. The collected DNA sequences were from the Mitochondrial Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit I (COXl) gene. Due to the limitation of available data, only four species were collected for Motif Discovery, namely pig, cow, yak, and chicken. Another five species were used for Motif Identification, which were human, sheep, dog, frog, and rat. The algorithm was run on an Intel(R) Core(TM) Duo CPU 1.73 GHz notebook with 3 GB RAM. The results showed that the LPBS algorithm was able to discover possible correct motifs that can represent a species with higher validity and accuracy as compared to previous algorithms. The motifs discovered were consistent for each execution with higher calculated fitness values.


Primary objective: Describe physical impairment at rehabilitation admission and 1-year after moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury. Research design: Prospective longitudinal multi-centre descriptive analysis. Methods and procedures: Physical examination variables were analysed for all subjects in the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems database from 1988–2002 that had data both at rehabilitation admission and at 1 year. Main results: Standing balance was more commonly and severely impaired at admission (82% of sample impaired) and 1 year (24% impaired) compared to other examination variables. Sitting balance was impaired in 52% of the sample at admission, largely resolving (5% abnormal) by 1 year. The profile of impaired strength, coordination and tone was similar among the four limbs. Impaired limb strength was most common and persistent over the study period compared to coordination and tone, but strength was normal in greater than 80% of subjects at 1 year. Dysphagia present at admission (40% of sample) largely resolved by 1 year (0.4% unable to swallow). Impairment in audition and vision was uncommon and changed little during the study period. Conclusions: Acute impairment was present in all variables. A minority of the sample had detectable impairment at 1 year. Standing balance was most severely and persistently impaired.


Urolithiasis is a common disease in companion animals, but the etiopathogenesis and frequency in rabbits is poorly known. Conventional therapy can be surgical or medical. An alternative treatment based on the use of the plant «stonebreaker» (Phyllantus niruri) is commonly used in human urolithiasis in Peruvian traditional medicine, despite pharmacologic mechanisms are not completely understood yet. It is reported the case of a male rabbit showing dysuria and abdominal pain. Radiologic examination revealed the presence of a radiopaque body in the urethra. Urolithiasis was diagnosed, surgery was scheduled for the next morning and «stonebreaker» tea was suggested as a complementary therapy. The following day the owner found the urolith near the pet's hutch. Ultrasonography revealed the absence of calculus in the urinary tract. Laboratory analysis revealed the urolith was composed by ammonium magnesium phosphate.


Many wastewater pumping stations ranging in size and purpose currently operate in West of Scotland Water (WoSW). In recent years substantial investment in large-capacity coastal pumping stations has been undertaken to transfer domestic sewage to treatment, limit storm spillage and hence comply with the Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive (UWWTD) in terms of frequency of storm sewage discharge. In addition the requirement of the UWWTD to cease dumping of sludge at sea from December 1998 has meant transfer of sludge produced in the Glasgow area to a single sludge treatment centre located to the east of the city. This has meant the design and construction of a network of pumping mains and pumping stations across the city.

The author has been responsible for the project management of several of the above schemes. This paper highlights and discusses some of the key areas of wastewater pumping station project definition and development, utilising experience gained from those projects.

The paper initially discusses some of the factors influencing the development of a wastewater pumping station design. Then, using a case study, it gives examples of how these have been catered for.


This paper details the First-Year Career Development Program (First-Year Program) a component of a comprehensive multi-year program designed to guide business students through self-assessment and the selection of an appropriate business major and ultimately to prepare them to secure professional career positions. The First-Year Program is designed to integrate student self-assessment and career and business major exploration into the First-Year Experience. A survey of students who participated in the First-Year Program indicated a high level of student satisfaction. It further indicated that participants were more positive about completing their degree programs at the regional university where the First-Year Program is conducted. The First-Year Program was developed collaboratively by Career and Academic Planning Center professionals and College of Business faculty.


The case report of laryngeal Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) in 59 year old HIV-negative man infected by herpes virus 8 (HHV-8) is in the paper. The primary onset of KS was on the legs. Lesion of laryngeal mucosa was developed sequentially, resulted in laryngeal stenosis and led to application of tracheostome. The skin and laryngeal mucosa lesions had homotypic histological structure and corresponded to early manifestation of KS preceded tumor node appearance.


Pentraxins are a superfamily of conserved molecules with immune functions such as complement activation and opsonization. PTX3 is the prototypic long pentraxin and is produced by different cell populations after proinflammatory stimuli. Different studies have demonstrated the up-regulation of PTX3 during ruminant mastitis, but its role is still unknown. The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of PTX3 in the immune response to S. aureus intra-mammary infection (IMI). Given that no data are available on PTX3 expression in goat tissues, we first studied its pattern of expression in goat normal tissues, and then we investigated the role of PTX3 during mammary infection. Six healthy goats were infused with PBS in the right udder and with S. aureus in the left udder. Mammary biopsies from udders were collected 30h post infection, formalin fixed and routinely processed for microscopic evaluation or immediately stored in RNAlater. Tissue samples were collected at the slaughterhouse from healthy goats and were stored in RNAlater. Blood and milk were collected from healthy and infected goats; cells from blood and milk were isolated and processed for RNA extraction or for cytospins. Total RNA from different organs, blood or milk cells, milk fat globules and mammary tissues was extracted and used as template in qPCR for PTX3. PTX3 expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry on formalin fixed paraffin embedded mammary tissue samples and on cytospins of isolated goat blood and milk cells. PTX3 mRNA was expressed with very high levels in bone marrow, mammary gland, aorta, pancreas, skin and lung. Given the high expression in the mammary gland, we investigated which cell population expressed PTX3. PTX3 was mainly expressed in the apical cytoplasmic portion of mammary gland epithelial cells, and in macrophages. During S. aureus infection PTX3 was up-regulated by epithelial cells. Macrophages and mammary secretum didn't show PTX3 modulation, but PMNs recruited during infection were variably intensely positive. PTX3 mRNA expression was low in healthy organs and tissues of goats as has been reported indeed the molecules commonly induced after pro-inflammatory stimulation. As expected, PTX3 was constitutively expressed in bone marrow, rich in PMNs and monocytes, in aorta covered by endothelium and in the skin. PTX3 was up-regulated in epithelial mammary cells and in milk cells after S. aureus infection, demonstrating that it represents a first line of immune defense in goat udder. No modulation was observed in macrophages, in the secretum and in the ductal epithelial cells. Further experiments are needed to elucidate the role of PTX3 in the pathogenesis of S. aureus infection. References Daigo et al. 2014. Immunology Letters 161(1):38-43; Brenaut et al. 2014. Veterinary Research 45:16; Cremonesi et al. 2012. BMC Genomics 13:540 PTX3 is up-regulated in epithelial mammary cells during S. aureus intra-mammary infection


My question for now is: in what ways have the new currents of transnationality affected existing forms of cultural sensibility in the 'post-colony'? Realised as a system of representation of the global popular, recent articulations of popular experience tend to be absorbed into generic cross-cultural media representations shared on the glocal level of operation by cultural producers, consumers and practitioners across geographical borders. In this paper, I shall focus on the changing spectacle of 'the local' through its cinematic action (along with its alternative heroine mediation), in light of such a transnational articulation as the emerging dominant. My purpose is to examine how local action has been re-imagined and can be re-aligned in relation to the specifically historical, national and postcolonial mode of imagination under the contemporary glocal context of the Hong Kong 'Special Administrative Region' (HKSAR), as this particular post-colony is officially renamed.


This paper investigates whether a Taylor rule accurately describes the South African Reserve Bank's reaction function in setting interest rates using quarterly data, covering the period since inflation targeting was formally adopted in 2000. The classic Taylor rule is modified to determine whether the South African Reserve Bank takes into account inflation expectations and labour market conditions.Our findings indicate that a modified Taylor rule does describe the South African Reserve Bank's policy rate adjustments. Our estimates of the modified rule yield two significant findings: the South African Reserve Bank's policy rate decisions respond to expected inflation (rather than current inflation), and its relationship to real economy fluctuations is evident in measures of labour market conditions rather than output gap variables.We conclude that under inflation targeting, South Africa's monetary policy has had a forward-looking inflation target that is pursued flexibly in the light of labour market conditions.


ABSTRACT
Legumes form mutualistic associations with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi which increases nutrient availability to the plant. Nodulation is generally restricted to legumes and has co-opted genes required for the AM symbiosis. As a result, both associations share common genes and have analogous infection strategies, including the early lipochitooligosaccharide (LCO) signals that plants perceive from the symbionts.
In order to discover novel genes required for both these symbioses, I used both forward and reverse genetic approaches. A forward genetic screen in Medicago truncatula revealed an H+-ATPase mutant Mtha1 with a defective arbuscule phenotype. The reverse screen investigated several candidates previously identified as having enhanced expression in the nodule inception mutant during nodulation that were also expressed in AM-colonized roots. Four of these genes were chosen for further study. The first, a novel AM-specific gene, BiFunctional Protein (BFP) has a predicted a role in lipid modification. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that BFP was restricted to AM host plants including a member of the liverworts, Marchantia paleacea. BFP expression during AM interactions in M. truncatula was found to be dependent on the common symbiotic gene DOES NOT MAKE INFECTIONS 3. AM colonization assays using mutants for BFP in M. truncatula and Oryza sativa were inconclusive.
Three CCAAT-Binding Factor transcription factors were also studied (CBF1, CBF2 and CBF3). Promoter-reporter studies revealed that these genes are also expressed during rhizobial infection of wild type plants. While the M. truncatula cbf1 mutant did not exhibit a consistent nodulation phenotype, mutant analysis for CBF3, showed it is required for normal infection during root hair colonisation of rhizobia in M. truncatula. Based on these results and a further analysis of expression data and published work, I propose a model in which CBF3 forms a complex with NF-YA1 and NF-YC2 during early responses to LCOs during nodulation.


The Horn of Africa has long been a recipient of foreign security assistance, with significant funds increasingly devoted to supporting subregional civilian-oriented counterterrorism efforts over the past decade. Despite efforts to better coordinate delivery, counterterrorism programming in the subregion generally remains fragmented, short-term, and siloed in implementation. This article argues that it is time to rethink the international community's approach to counterterrorism assistance to the Horn of Africa and calls for a cohesive regional approach that not only bridges the gap between security and development, but also the gap between counterterrorism and human security. It emphasizes that the international community must not only better coordinate existing streams of counterterrorism assistance to the region, but also rethink how this assistance is designed and the ways it can be delivered to complement broader subregional development and security agendas. After a brief introduction to international counterterrorism assistance to the Horn of Africa, the article examines linkages across three thematic streams of programming being delivered to the subregion: anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism; criminal justice capacity building assistance to counter terrorism; and, countering violent extremism. This discussion will highlight the need for a regional risk reduction strategy for the Horn of Africa that not only builds on the interplay of different streams of counterterrorism assistance, but on synergies across broader subregional development and security agendas as well.


The experiments discussed in this paper involve the motion of discrete solid particles on a plane slope under spilling breaking wave conditions. Particle Image Velocimetry was used to capture images of seeder particles in water so the motion of the fluid particles and solid particles could be traced. The images produced from the experiments have two phases. Since the behavior of the water and the sediment particles must be studied individually, the two phases of the image must be separated. A series of functions in MATLAB allows the two-phase image to be separated into two images—one containing only the sediment particles and one with the background seeder particles which represent the fluid phase. The ultimate goal of this study was to determine how the sediment particles behave under spilling breaker wave conditions. MATLAB was used to fit a fourth order polynomial to seven data points from which the sediment particle velocities and accelerations could be found. Three situations of interest were investigated: (1) no large-scale turbulence in the field of view, (2) a turbulence burst landing shoreward of a sediment particle, and (3) a turbulence burst occurring seaward of a sediment particle. It was found that regardless of which of the above three situations occurred, the net transport of the sediment particles over one wave cycle was offshore for the spilling breaker case. The intensity and location of the downbursts determined only the magnitude of the net offshore transport.


Polymers are used in many everyday technologies and their degradation due to environmental exposure has lead to great interest in materials which can heal and repair themselves. In order to design new self healing polymers it's important to understand the fundamental healing mechanisms behind the material.Healable Polymer Systems will outline the key concepts and mechanisms underpinning the design and processing of healable polymers, and indicate potential directions for progress in the future development and applications of these fascinating and potentially valuable materials. The book covers the different techniques developed successfully to date for both autonomous healable materials (those which do not require an external stimulus to promote healing) and rehealable or remendable materials (those which only recover their original physical properties if a specific stimulus is applied). These include the encapsulated-monomer approach, reversible covalent bond formation, irreversible covalent bond formation and supramolecular self-assembly providing detailed insights into their chemistry.Written by leading experts, the book provides polymer scientists with a compact and readily accessible source of reference for healable polymer systems.


This article argues that any attempt to conceive of a new narrative of the postcolonial Arctic will fail if it does not also entail a new narrative of European history. It begins by asserting the strong afterlife of colonial narratives of the Arctic through the example of the author's own difficulty in writing an authentic, ethically acceptable report about East Greenland. By drawing on further examples, and by introducing narratological theory, the article moves on to consider the colonial narrative of the Arctic. It argues that the prototypical colonial narrative of the Arctic is modelled on Moby-Dick: a hunting and whaling story in which the setting is made up of landscape, wildlife and indigenous populations. The colonial narrative is gradually transformed as the indigenous peoples of the Arctic leave the setting and become agents in the narrative. Indeed, it is only when the indigene attains the place of the subject telling the story that we can seriously claim to have a postcolonial narrative of the Arctic. The article goes on to analyse two instances of such transformations of the colonial narrative: the works of the Danish-Greenlandic visual artist and researcher Pia Arke and the Sami visual artist Katarina Pirka Sikku. Both question the narrating subject in travel literature and scientific discourse about the Arctic, reclaiming that position for themselves.


We describe a drying setup where a liquid drop of a molecular mixture is confined between two circular plates and left to evaporate in a controlled manner. The direct observation of the drying kinetics in such a confined geometry, which includes the measurement of the volume of the drop against time and the monitoring of a series of nucleation events, permits the reconstruction of a rough phase diagram for the case of an aqueous triblock copolymer solution. Accurate estimations of the phase boundaries are obtained thanks to spatially-resolved Raman spectroscopic measurements of the temporal evolution of the solute concentration field within the drop. The comparison of such measurements with a theoretical model describing the drying kinetics of binary mixtures [L. Daubersies and J. B. Salmon, Phys. Rev. E, 2011, 84, 031406] yields estimations of the activity of the solution and of its mutual diffusion coefficient against the solute concentration.


In the last decade, life-science research has become increasingly data-intensive and computational. Nevertheless, basic bioinformatics and data stewardship are still only rarely taught in life-science degree programmes, creating a widening skills gap that spans educational levels and career roles. To better understand this situation, we ran surveys to determine how the skills dearth is affecting the need for bioinformatics training worldwide. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we found that respondents wanted more short courses to help boost their expertise and confidence in data analysis and interpretation. However, it was evident that most respondents appreciated their need for training only after designing their experiments and collecting their data. This is clearly rather late in the research workflow, and suboptimal from a training perspective, as skills acquired to address a specific need at a particular time are seldom retained, engendering a cycle of low confidence in trainees. To ensure that such skill gaps do not continue to create barriers to the progress of research, we argue that universities should strive to bring their life-science curricula into the digital-data era. Meanwhile, the demand for point-of-need training in bioinformatics and data stewardship will grow. While this situation persists, international groups like GOBLET are increasing their efforts to enlarge the community of trainers and quench the global thirst for bioinformatics training.


In-situ measurements of the structural bending moments and torque about the shank-fluke interface of the dolos armor unit have been made for 42-ton (36-metric tonne) dolosse at Crescent City, California jetty. The measurements include the static loads on the dolosse as well as wave induced forces. The data were obtained from internal strain gages cast into the dolos during construction along with a special data acquisition system. The measurement system was also capable of capturing impact forces caused by dolos rocking or movement. Measurements were made during the winter storm seasons from January 1987 through May 1988. Coincident with the structural measurements, wave height and period were measured at several water depths approaching the breakwater, including a site directly in front of the dolos test section. The Crescent City jetty is a shallow water breakwater with depth limited waves in about 10 meters of water depth. The structural measurements were made from 14 dolos units arranged in a rectangular section on the top layer of the trunk portion of the jetty. Four of these dolosse are also instrumented with an accelerometer platform to measure motion with six degrees of freedom. In addition, there are three instrumented dolosse on the bottom layer of the breakwater. These dolosse measure the static stress due to the units placed on top of them, as well as pulsating forces. The structural and wave measurements, reported here, are supplemented with hydrostatic pore pressure measurements in the core material of the breakwater, and by aerial photogrammetric motion analysis (Kendall, 1988), land based surveys, boudary condition surveys, hydrographic surveys, and side scan sonar surveys.


The right to free speech is usually thought of as rooted in the autonomy of the speaker: An autonomous individual may speak freely and the state may not stop her. Some commentators have found such an autonomy-based view of our free speech rights abstract and divisive. Turning instead to the interests of the audience, they start with our commitment to democracy and regard the right to free speech as instrumental to our democratic interest in open public dialogue. (1) I argue here that free speech law does--and should--revolve around an alternative organizing principle: the autonomy of the listener. The particular conception of autonomy I advance here is deliberative autonomy. Deliberative autonomy looks to the purposes of state regulation and asks whether they are consistent with the liberal conception of the person that underlies the constitution. In the context of free speech, deliberative autonomy precludes the government from denying citizens access to others' speech based on presumptions about how listeners will react. This point is especially important today, when it is tempting to shut down the speech of fundamentalists who do not believe in the constitutional rights that would protect them. (2) The reason that the United States government may not prevent such individuals from proclaiming the evils of a religion, a society, or a nation lies neither in their right to express hatred nor in the public interest in hearing or 'airing' such hatred. Rather, the government must allow speakers to express disdainful and even indirectly dangerous views because to disallow speech out of fear that the speech will be persuasive violates the deliberative autonomy of those whom censorship aims to protect. Deliberative autonomy is deliberative not in the general sense that government should not interfere with deliberation, but in the more specific sense that the government may not act in a manner that denies our capacity to reason and deliberate. (3) As a consequence of its nature as a demand for recognition, in the first instance, deliberative autonomy constrains state purpose. State purpose is not identical with the reasons that a government gives a court; it must be inferred from the social meaning of the state's justifications. I begin in Part I by developing the concept of deliberative autonomy and contrasting it with alternative conceptions of autonomy that have been proposed under the First Amendment. In Part II, I show how deliberative autonomy already manifests itself in free speech doctrine. Part III explores the relationship between deliberative autonomy and democracy, and argues that, contrary to theories that treat autonomy as merely instrumental for democracy, autonomy motivates democracy and is in that sense prior to it. In Part IV, I defend the focus on state purpose and advocate the interpretation of state purpose by way of social meaning. State purpose is essential to a number of constitutional doctrines, including free speech, but the interests of autonomy are best served where, for historical reasons, the Court is most sensitive to the social meaning of state action. Part V responds to two frequent challenges to autonomy-based theories of the First Amendment, by showing how, because deliberative autonomy is only a regulative principle, (4) it depends neither on empirical conditions nor on a holistic moral philosophy. Finally, in Part VI, I discuss how the application of the principle of deliberative autonomy can place negative and positive burdens on the state. I. THE CONCEPT OF DELIBERATIVE AUTONOMY Joel Feinberg identified four types of autonomy: first, "the capacity to govern oneself"; second, "actual condition[s] of self-government"; third, "an ideal of character"; and fourth, "sovereign authority." (5) An authority conception of autonomy may derive from a view about our capacities and virtues, but as a principle, it asserts a kind of jurisdictional right of persons over certain aspects of themselves. …


This paper discusses the emergence and growth of various media industries in Britain. It shows how a rise in real wages and leisure time, rapid urbanisation and the development of fast urban transport networks, and a rapid growth of the market's size let to a sharp rise in the demand for media and entertainment products and services, which was met by ever-new technologies coming from constantly emerging new industries, such as recorded music, film, radio, television, cable, videogames, internet, and social media. The paper argued these industries contributed to a sharp productivity rise by industrialising traditional media and entertainment, and to a sharp welfare growth as consumers valued them so highly that they were willing to incur ever-higher opportunity costs to consume them. It also discusses how four factors quality races, marginal revenues equalling marginal profits, the superstar effect and agglomeration benefits shaped the evolution of individual industries, and it assesses the success or failure of British industrial policy towards media industries. The paper observes media's impact on the aggregate economy through opportunity costs, expectations and aspirations, the functioning of the market, education, and, finally, through shaping the means of institutional change. In addition, the paper makes new decennial benchmark estimates for British consumer expenditure on books between 1870 and 1900, on recorded music between 1900 and 1930 and on cinema between 1910 and 1930, for which previously no estimates were available


This case explores the impact of the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon on various aspects of the seafood industry. Nielsen syndicated point-of-purchase scanner data for frozen fish, shrimp, and crab are used to gauge consumer response at several points during the event. Traceability systems for seafood harvested from both aquaculture production and capture fisheries are also discussed. The role of corporate environmental policies for seafood procurement is highlighted for Whole Foods Market. The case concludes with a discussion of British Petroleum's historic settlement with the US government, five states adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico, and numerous local governments.


Drilling is widely used in manufacturing of products which need holes, for example for fluid channels, screws or pins. Depending on application, workpiece material, cutting parameters and economic considerations, different types of drills are employed. Indexable insert drills are types of drills which facilitate inserts to make holes. These types of drills can make high pitch noises due to vibrations. The focus of this thesis is to investigate the mechanism behind these vibrations in order to help reducing the generated noise in the future designs. Primary investigations show that the main mechanism which results the mentioned noise is regenerative chatter vibrations due to axial and torsional flexibilities. There is a gap in modeling of chatter vibrations in indexable drills where loadings and geometries are asymmetrical and due to torsional vibrations, delay terms are variable. The first step of simulating regenerative chatter vibrations in the drill is to model static cutting forces in a reliable way. In this thesis, a model is proposed which is capable of predicting static cutting forces through segmentation of cutting edges. Since, using this model, forces can be calculated separately on each insert, it is possible to consider differences of inserts in estimationof the cutting loads. The obtained loads are used in the chatter simulation.A model is proposed to simulate chatter vibrations by considering axialand angular deflections and the coupling between them. The resulted model isa system of delay differential equations with variable delays. Variations in timedelays, tool jump-outs and backward motions of inserts have been included inthe proposed time-domain simulation. A set of experiments is conducted toverify the model.


Author(s): Tiraboschi, Maria Isabel A; Trivedi, Mahendra Kumar; Branton, Alice; Trivedi, Dahryn; Nayak, Gopal; Gangwar, Mayank; Jana, Snehasis | Abstract: The present study aimed to investigate the effect of Consciousness Energy Healing based vitamin D3 and DMEM medium on various bone health parameters in MG-63 cells such as alkaline phosphatase enzyme (ALP) activity, collagen levels and bone mineralization. The test items (TI) i.e. vitamin D3 and DMEM medium were divided into two parts. Both the samples received Consciousness Energy Healing Treatment by Maria Isabel Aguilar Tiraboschi and samples were defined as the Biofield Energy Treated (BT) samples, while the other parts of each sample were denoted as the untreated test items (UT). Cell viability using MTT assay showed that cell viability was more than 70% with safe and nontoxic profile on MG-63 cell line. The level of ALP was significantly increased by 191.7% (0.1µg/mL), 127.8% (at 1µg/mL), and 136.1% (at 10µg/mL) in BT-DMEM+UT-TI, BT-DMEM+BT-TI, and UT-DMEM+BT-TI groups respectively as compared with the untreated test item and DMEM group. Collagen level was significantly increased by 267.9%, 128.9%, and 91.8% at 1, 10, and 50µg/mL, respectively in UT-DMEM+BT-TI group, while 169.6% at 1µg/mL in BT-DMEM+UT-TI group respectively as compared with the untreated group. Besides, BT-DMEM+BT-TI group showed an increased collagen value by 155.4% and 100% at 1 and 10 µg/mL respectively as compared with the untreated test item and DMEM group. The percent of bone mineralization was significantly increased by 139.8%, 91%, and 44.7% at 0.1, 10, and 100 µg/mL, respectively in UT-DMEM+BT-TI group, while 126.7%, 79.3%, and 67.5% at 0.1, 10, and 100 µg/mL, respectively in BT-DMEM+UT-TI group as compared with the untreated group. In addition, BT-DMEM+BT-TI group showed a significant increased bone mineralization by 31.3%, 33.2%, and 152.5% at 0.1, 10, and 100µg/mL, respectively as compared with the untreated group. Overall, the experimental data suggested that the Biofield Energy Treated vitamin D3 and DMEM would play an important role in the promotion and maintenance of strong and healthy bones, which improve quality of life. Biofield Energy Treatment might be vital in maintaining the various clinical safety and quality of life by assisting them in maintaining optimal vitamin D levels. It regulates the osteoblast function, improves bone mineralization, and calcium absorption in wide range of bone disorders along with wide range of adverse health conditions, comprising cancer and certain autoimmune diseases.


Introduction: Evaluation is an important part of all educational activities and considering of these evaluations help us to improve all educational institutes. The aim of this study was evaluation of face validity of multiple choice questions in faculty of dentistry in second semester of 1385-1386 at Shahid Sadughi University of medical sciences. Methods : In this study, for evaluating of face validity, all of the multiple choice questions were examined with a check list which were considered and the percentage of face validity established. Then data were analyzed. Results : Introduction page, time of the exam and name of the professor(s) were written in all of the exams. The independency of the questions and the lack of vague words in the question's stem were 100%. The percentage of each professor's contribution in the exam and the length of the choices for each question were 8.7% and 27.7% respectively. Conclusion : Face validity of the questions was 92-99.7%. According to this investigation it is concluded that some of the professors need to pass the question plan courses.


This study reports on application of conductive silver paste smeared glass slides as Raman spectroscopy sample substrates for label-free detection of HIV-1 p24 antigen in blood plasma. It showed that the same substrates can be applied in Raman spectroscopic screening of blood plasma for presence of HIV. The characteristic Raman spectrum of HIV-1 p24 antigen displayed prominent bands that were assigned to Ribonucleic acids (RNA) and proteins that constitute the antigen. These spectra can be used as reference during Raman spectroscopic screening for HIV in plasma within the first few days after exposure (<7 days). The Raman spectra obtained from HIV+ plasma displayed unique peaks centered at wavenumbers 1270 and1446 cm -1 attributed to the Raman active vibrations in the virion proteins. Other bands similar to those reported in literature were also seen and assigned to lipids and carbohydrates. The attachment of the HIV virions to silver nanoparticles via gp120 glycoprotein knobs were thought to be responsible for the enhanced Raman signals of proteins associated with the virus. The principal component analysis (PCA) applied on the combined spectral data showed that HIVand HIV+ spectra had differing spectral patterns. This indicated the great power of Raman spectroscopy in HIV detection when plasma samples are deposited onto silver paste smeared glass substrates. The Raman peaks responsible for the segregation of the spectral data in PCA were mainly those assigned to the viral proteins. Excellent results were also obtained from Artificial Neural Network (ANN) applied on the HIV+ data with R (coefficient of correlation) and R 2 (coefficient of determination) values of 0.9958 and 0.9895, respectively. The method has the potential of being used as quick blood screening for HIV before blood transfusion with the Raman peaks assigned to the virion proteins acting as a reference.


The habitat affiliations of platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) were investigated in the upper Barron River and its tributaries, a modified Wet Tropics catchment in north-eastern Queensland, Australia. A habitat assessment was carried out at 46 sites, and a visual monitoring survey was used to determine whether platypus were present at these sites. Habitat assessment of riparian and in-stream parameters included an evaluation of factors known to influence platypus populations: disturbance level, stream depth and width, riparian continuity, the amount of overhanging vegetation, bare soil along banks, large woody debris, weeds, pool and riffle area and substrate types. Sites where platypus sightings occurred were characterised by a minimum channel width of 3.8m and slow-flowing pools with depths of 0.49–2.0 m. These findings concur with platypus habitat preferences as described in other regions, although some in-stream and riparian factors considered as important components of platypus habitat in other studies (riparian continuity, large woody debris, undercut banks and coarse stream substrate) were not associated with the presence of platypus in this study. This study represents
the first investigation of the influence of human-induced habitat modification on platypus affiliations in an Australian Wet Tropics river system.


We propose a particle filter tracker to track multiple maneuvering targets using a batch of range measurements. The state update is formulated through a locally linear motion model and the observability of the state vector is proved using geometrical arguments. The data likelihood treats the range observations as an image using template models derived from the state update equation, and incorporates the possibility of missing data as well as spurious range observations. The particle filter handles multiple targets, using a partitioned state-vector approach. The filter proposal function uses a Gaussian approximation of the full-posterior to cope with target maneuvers for improved efficiency. By treating the range measurements as images and using smoothness constraints, the particle filter is able to avoid the data association problems. Computer simulations demonstrate the performance of the tracking algorithm


Although it is a widely studied psychiatric syndrome, major depressive disorder remains a poorly understood illness, especially with regard to the disconnect between treatment initiation and the delayed onset of clinical improvement. We have recently validated chronic social defeat stress in mice as a model in which a depression-like phenotype is reversed by chronic, but not acute, antidepressant administration. Here, we use chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-chip assays—ChIP followed by genome wide promoter array analyses—to study the effects of chronic defeat stress on chromatin regulation in the mouse nucleus accumbens (NAc), a key brain reward region implicated in depression. Our results demonstrate that chronic defeat stress causes widespread and long-lasting changes in gene regulation, including alterations in repressive histone methylation and in phospho-CREB (cAMP response element-binding protein) binding, in the NAc. We then show similarities and differences in this regulation to that observed in another mouse model of depression, prolonged adult social isolation. In the social defeat model, we observed further that many of the stress-induced changes in gene expression are reversed by chronic imipramine treatment, and that resilient mice—those resistant to the deleterious effects of defeat stress—show patterns of chromatin regulation in the NAc that overlap dramatically with those seen with imipramine treatment. These findings provide new insight into the molecular basis of depression-like symptoms and the mechanisms by which antidepressants exert their delayed clinical efficacy. They also raise the novel idea that certain individuals resistant to stress may naturally mount antidepressant-like adaptations in response to chronic stress.


In breast cancer diagnosis, the radiologists mainly use their eyes to discern cancer when they screen the mammograms. However, in many cases, cancer is not easily detected by the eyes because of the bad imaging conditions. In order to improve the correct diagnosis rate of cancer, image-enhancement technology is often used to enhance the image and aid the radiologists. In this paper, we develop a new image-enhancement technology in the wavelet domain for radiologists to screen mammograms. The new image-enhancement algorithm has several advantages. First, the proposed image-enhancement technology modifies a multiscale measure which matches the human vision system and thus the enhanced images have better visual quality; second, the image enhancement is accomplished in the wavelet domain and thus it can save time if the image is compressed by wavelet transform based methods; third, the end users can adjust the enhancement by manipulating a single parameter. Experiments were performed on mammograms and the results are progressive.


The excessive intake of fluoride ion (F) from drinking water causes dental and skeletal disorders and thus methods for the removal of F from water are desired. A method for removing organic contaminants from water is also desired. Bone char is a composite material composed of char and hydroxyapatite (HA). Bone char can remove F because of the HA in the bone char. It is expected that bone char containing small grain size HAwill remove F effectively because of its high surface area. Additionally, the char in bone char can remove organic matter from contaminated water, and controlling the amount of char in bone char is also important. Bone char is fabricated by heating porcine bone at 200600°C for 1 h under a limited oxygen supply. The grain size of HA in these samples increases with an increase in heating temperature. The amount of organic matter and char in these samples decreases with an increase in heating temperature. Bone char with a controlled HA grain size and the amount of char was fabricated by changing the heating temperature. Their ability to remove F and methylene blue (MB), as a model organic contaminant, was evaluated by immersing the samples in F-containing and MB-containing solutions. The sample prepared at 400°C was able to remove most of the F and less than 1.5mg·dm13 F remained, which is within the World Health Organization recommended level for drinking water. Additionally, the sample prepared at 400°C was also able to remove most of the MB. Bone char can thus be used to remove F and organic contaminants.


This book contains the first documentation of combining house, tree, and person into a single drawing. It helps enrich clinician's test batteries and aids psychologists and physicians in understanding the emotions and self-awareness of their clients. It is richly illustrated and teaches the important skill of using visual metaphors in clinical settings to understand and assist clients. The author covers all aspects of drawing interpretation, including size, placement, stroke or line characteristics, and the possible individual characteristics of each element within the house, tree, and person drawings.


We attempt to discern what Badiou's philosophical system provides for thinking of education in a form which separates it from its contemporary representation in the state. These notes oppose to this state form Badiou's declaration that 'the only education is an education by truths'. We pursue this in three sections. First, we will address the significance and function of the term 'conditions'. Secondly we will address Badiou's essay 'Art and Philosophy' from Handbook of Inaesthetics , the only essay in fact where Badiou addresses education in a specific manner and in which Badiou discusses the link between art and philosophy in terms of the 'pedagogical theme': A theme, he says, that has been brought to collapse. Thirdly we will attempt to discern what might make up what Badiou refers to as the 'fourth modality' of the link between philosophy and its conditions through a somewhat speculative discussion of the dual 'militant' praxis known in Badiou's work as 'subtraction' and 'forcing'.


Leukoaraiosis or white matter hyperintensities are frequently observed on magnetic resonance imaging of stroke patients. We investigated how white matter hyperintensity volumes affect stroke outcomes, generally and by subtype. In total, 5035 acute ischaemic stroke patients were enrolled. Strokes were classified as large artery atherosclerosis, small vessel occlusion, or cardioembolism. White matter hyperintensity volumes were stratified into quintiles. Mean age (± standard deviation) was 66.3 ± 12.8, 59.6% male. Median (interquartile range) modified Rankin Scale score was 2 (1–3) at discharge and 1 (0–3) at 3 months; 16.5% experienced early neurological deterioration, and 3.3% recurrent stroke. The Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test with adjustment for age, stroke severity, sex, and thrombolysis status showed that the distributions of 3-month modified Rankin Scale scores differed across white matter hyperintensity quintiles (P < 0.001). Multiple ordinal logistic regression analysis showed that higher white matter hyperintensity quintiles were independently associated with worse 3-month modified Rankin Scale scores; adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) for the second to fifth quintiles versus the first quintile were 1.29 (1.10–1.52), 1.40 (1.18–1.66), 1.69 (1.42–2.02) and 2.03 (1.69–2.43), respectively. For large artery atherosclerosis (39.0%), outcomes varied by white matter hyperintensity volume (P = 0.01, Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test), and the upper three white matter hyperintensity quintiles (versus the first quintile) had worse 3-month modified Rankin Scale scores; adjusted odds ratios were 1.45 (1.10–1.90), 1.86 (1.41–2.47), and 1.89 (1.41–2.54), respectively. Patients with large artery atherosclerosis were vulnerable to early neurological deterioration (19.4%), and the top two white matter hyperintensity quintiles were more vulnerable still: 23.5% and 22.3%. Moreover, higher white matter hyperintensities were associated with poor modified Rankin Scale improvement: adjusted odds ratios for the upper two quintiles versus the first quintile were 0.66 (0.47–0.94) and 0.62 (0.43–0.89), respectively. For small vessel occlusion (17.8%), outcomes tended to vary by white matter hyperintensitiy volume (P = 0.10, Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test), and the highest quintile was associated with worse 3-month modified Rankin Scale scores: adjusted odds ratio for the fifth quintile versus first quintile, 1.98 (1.23–3.18). In this subtype, worse white matter hyperintensities were associated with worse National Institute of Health Stroke Scale scores at presentation. For cardioembolism (20.6%), outcomes did not vary significantly by white matter hyperintensity volume (P = 0.19, Cochran-Mantel-Haenszel test); however, the adjusted odds ratio for the highest versus lowest quintiles was 1.62 (1.09–2.40). Regardless of stroke subtype, white matter hyperintensities were not associated with stroke recurrence within 3 months of follow-up. In conclusion, white matter hyperintensity volume independently correlates with stroke outcomes in acute ischaemic stroke. There are some suggestions that stroke outcomes may be affected by leukoaraiosis differentially depending on stroke subtypes, to be confirmed in future investigations.


Traditional plant architectural models or 'visualization models' propose to visually create realistic three-dimensional plants. The visualization is based on field sampling and the application of an algorithm to standardize the three-dimensional description of a plant. "Lsystems" and the "Reference Axis" are two such approaches. Mechanistic or physiologically based models, built using mathematical expressions of the interactions between plant components propose to describe how a plant functions. They simulate physiologically realistic plants based on estimates of physiological development and growth. Their equations are derived from field experiments. In this study we integrated both modeling paradigms. We used functions and concepts obtained from mechanistic and architectural modeling theories and developed an integrated system. The system was derived from an enhanced 'mechanistic' model, GOSSYM, with 3D architectural extensions. We accomplished this by associating growth and development functions with actual locations in three-dimensional space. The resulting model allows vastly improved model output interpretation, use of the model as a surrogate experimental environment and to better integrate our knowledge about how plants grow into a unique system. The new model, named COTONS, produces "lifelike" plants. Now the farmer deals with simulation results analogous to the ones he deals with in a 3-dimensional world. Very importantly, variability is captured and expressed visually. This is the first step for better characterizing production risk in human-based terms. This new model symbolizes crop models for the next century. (Resume d'auteur)


This project involves the development of a Web interface to origin-destination statistics from the 1991 Census (in a form that will be compatible with planned 2001 outputs). It provides the user with a set of screen-based tools for setting the parameters governing each data extraction (data set, areas, variables) in the form of a query. Traffic light icons are used to signal what the user has set so far and what remains to be done. There are options to extract different types of flow data and to generate output in different formats. The system can now be used to access the interaction flow data contained in the 1991 Special Migration Statistics Sets 1 and 2 and Special Workplace Statistics Set C. WICID has been demonstrated at the Origin-Destination Statistics Roadshows organised by GRO Scotland and held during May/June 2000 and the Census Offices have expressed interest in using the software in the Census Access Project.


Much of the research on global leadership focuses on specific traits that managers and leaders should possess. While the literature acknowledges the importance of cultural differences in influencing both leadership and followership, it largely ignores differences in cognitive processes that can influence how attitudes are developed and behaviours are manifested in local environments as they relate to leadership. With this in mind, this paper examines the role of culture and cognitive processes in leader behaviour, and works to explain why such differences exist across regions. The example of China is used to illustrate the validity of this approach. Implications for research, theory development, and management practice are discussed.


This paper presents the results of a preliminary study of three Nordic sub-national insular jurisdictions (SNIJs) – Aland, the Faroe Islands and Greenland. The study focuses on the relationships between the jurisdictional powers of these autonomous islands and their economic capacity relationships that reveal intriguing interdependencies that go beyond simple causal explanations. The aims of the study are a) to explore the characteristics of the relationships between jurisdictional powers and economic capacity and the ways they function in the specific insular setting b) to present the findings in such a way that the structure of each SNIJ concerning their political and economic capacity becomes clear c) to uncover, through comparative analyses, the unique as well as the common characteristics, and the strengths and weaknesses of these configurations.


This textbook is written as a unified approach to various topics, ranging from drug discovery to manufacturing, techniques and technology, regulation and marketing. The key theme of the book is pharmaceuticals - what every student of pharmaceutical sciences should know: from the active pharmaceutical ingredients to the preparation of various dosage forms along with the relevant chemistry, this book makes pharmaceuticals relevant to undergraduate students of pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences.This book explains how a particular drug was discovered and then converted from lab-scale to manufacturing scale, to the market. It explains the motivation for drug discovery, the reaction chemistry involved, experimental difficulties, various dosage forms and the reasoning behind them, mechanism of action, quality assurance and role of regulatory agencies. After having a course based on this book, the student will be able to understand: 1) the career prospects in the pharmaceutical industry, 2) the need for interdisciplinary teamwork in science, 3) the techniques and technology involved in making pharmaceuticals starting from bulk drugs, and 4) different dosage forms and critical factors in the development of pharmaceutical formulations in relation to the principles of chemistry.A few blockbuster drugs including atorvastatin, sildanefil, ranitidine, ciprofloxacin, amoxicillin, and the longest serving drugs such as aspirin and paracetamol are discussed in detail. Finally, the book also covers the important current pharmaceutical issues like quality control, safety, counterfeiting and abuse of drugs, and future prospects for pharmaceutical industry.Unified approach explaining drug discovery, bulk drug manufacturing, formulation of dosage forms, with pharmacological and therapeutic actionsManufacturing processes of representative active pharmaceutical ingredients and their chemistry plus formulation of dosage forms presented in this book are based on actual industrial processesCovers many aspects relevant to students of the pharmaceutical sciences or newly employed pharmaceutical researchers/employees. It contains summary information about regulatory agencies of different countries