ABSTRACT Background Naturally occurring aflatoxins may contribute to poor growth and nutritional statuses in children. Objectives We analyzed the relationship between contemporary and lagged aflatoxin exposure and 1) length-for-age z-score (LAZ); and 2) length, knee-heel length, stunting, weight-for-age z-score (WAZ), and weight-for-length z-score (WLZ). Methods We conducted a longitudinal birth cohort study involving 1675 mother-infant dyads in rural Nepal. Participants were repeatedly visited from pregnancy to 2 years of age (2015–2019). One blood sample was collected during pregnancy and 4 samples were collected from the children at 3, 6, 12, and 18–22 months of age to measure concentrations of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1)-lysine adduct. Multivariate linear fixed-effects and logistic models with generalized estimating equations were used to identify associations between child growth and aflatoxin exposure. Results AFB1-lysine adducts were detected in the majority of children (at 3 months, 80.5%; at 6 months, 75.3%; at 12 months, 81.1%; and at 18–22 months, 85.1%) and in 94.3% of pregnant women. Changes in contemporary ln child AFB1‐lysine adduct concentrations were significantly associated with changes in LAZ (β, −0.05; 95% CI, −0.09 to −0.02; P = 0.003), length (β, −0.19; 95% CI, −0.29 to −0.10; P < 0.001), knee-heel length (β, −0.09; 95% CI, −0.13 to −0.05; P < 0.001), and WAZ (β, −0.04; 95% CI, −0.07 to −0.005; P = 0.022). Serum aflatoxin concentrations were associated with stunting (OR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.05–1.32; P = 0.005). Similar results were found in the models using changes in contemporary ln AFB1 adjusted for changes in child weight, with significant associations with changes in WLZ (β, −0.07; 95% CI, −0.10 to −0.03; P < 0.001). Changes in time-lagged ln AFB1 (unadjusted and adjusted for changes in child weight) were associated with changes in length and knee-heel length. Conclusions Our results add to the growing body of evidence confirming chronic aflatoxin exposure and suggest that exposure is significantly correlated with various negative growth outcomes, which may vary by child weight status. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03312049.


Determining the specific nanomaterial features that elicit adverse biological responses is important to inform risk assessments, develop targeted applications, and rationally design future nanomaterials. Embryonic zebrafish are often employed to study nanomaterial-biological interactions, but few studies address the role of the chorion in nanomaterial exposure and toxicity. Here, we used chorion-intact (CI) or dechorionated (DC) embryonic zebrafish to investigate the influence of the chorion on copper-based nanoparticle toxicity. We found that despite higher dissolution and uptake, CuO NPs were less toxic than Cu NPs regardless of chorion status and did not cause 100 % mortality at even the highest exposure concentration. The presence of the chorion inhibited Cu toxicity: DC exposures to Cu NPs had an LC50 of 2.5 ± 0.3 mg/L compared to a CI LC50 of 13.7 ± 0.8 mg/L. This highlights the importance of considering zebrafish chorion status during nanotoxicological investigations, as embryo sensitivity increased by one order of magnitude or more when chorions were removed. Agglomerate size, zeta potential, and dissolved Cu did not sufficiently explain the differences in toxicity between Cu NPs and CuO NPs; however, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation did. Cu NPs generated ROS in a concentration-dependent manner, while CuO did not and generated less than Cu NPs. We believe that the differences between the toxicities of Cu NPs and CuO NPs are due in part to their ability to generate ROS which could and should be a hazard consideration for risk assessments.


Stunting syndrome is an enteric disease of young turkeys that results in reduced growth (stunting) of poults and impaired feed efficiency. A virus, which has been termed the stunting syndrome agent (SSA), causes stunting syndrome. In this study passive immunity was evaluated as a method of protecting poults from stunting syndrome. One-day-old poults were injected with either tryptose phosphate broth, an anti-SSA antibody preparation, or an anti-Newcastle disease virus antibody preparation before challenge by placing them into SSA-contaminated isolators or control (nonchallenge) isolators. Poults that received anti-SSA antibodies were significantly heavier (P < 0.05) and did not display as severe clinical disease compared to birds that did not receive the anti-SSA antibodies. However, the birds that received anti-SSA antibodies and were challenged were significantly lighter (P < 0.05) than birds that were not challenged. The results of this trial demonstrate that the injection of anti-SSA antibodies benefited poults undergoing stunting syndrome. The role of passive immunity, either through breeder hen vaccination or through supplying antibodies to poults artificially (i.e., at the hatchery), may have future applications in alleviating stunting syndrome.


The formation of expectations is a fundamental part of the process when people decide about engaging in an entrepreneurial venture. We evaluate the accuracy of newly self-employed people's predictions of their overall future wellbeing. Based on individual panel data for Germany, we find that they are overly optimistic when we compare their predicted life satisfaction with their actual life satisfaction five years later on. This overoptimism also holds for those entrepreneurs who successfully remain in business for at least five years. A possible reason might be that they underestimate the heavy workload reflected in higher working hours than desired and the drop in leisure satisfaction.


Freedom of expression and censorship are frequently cast in opposing but symmetrical terms. According to the conventional narrative, the right to free speech was acquired when first the American and then the French Revolution overthrew the repressive censorship apparatus of the ancien regime. However this account of increasing emancipation overlooks the important role played by the French Revolution in establishing a new definition of censorship that was both tolerant of free speech and repressive of political difference. This paper contends that precisely when political representation in the widest possible sense is at stake, freedom of speech cannot be reduced solely to a question of rights. It begins by revisiting the Directory period when the enlightened ideal of an unmediated public sphere openly clashed for the first time with the opposing ideal of an 'unmediated' or 'popular' sovereignty promoted by the radical press. It then focuses on the Conspiracy of Equals to show how the presumed neutrality of the liberal press was forged by repressing competing understandings of the right to free speech. Rather than assume that revolutionary propaganda is the 'other' of liberalism, this paper demonstrates the joint origins of both liberal and revolutionary understandings of free speech in the new censorship laws that attempted to separate the message from the medium of revolution.


[1] Pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia nearly doubled from 111 in 2008 to 217 in 2009 [International Maritime Bureau, 2009, International Maritime Bureau, 2010]. Consequently, merchant vessel traffic in the area around Somalia significantly decreased. Many of these merchant vessels carry instruments that record wind and other weather conditions near the ocean surface, and alterations in ship tracks have resulted in a hole sized at about 2.5 million square kilometers in the marine weather-observing network off the coast of Somalia. The data void exists in the formation region of the Somali low-level jet, a wind pattern that is one of the main drivers of the Indian summer monsoon. Further, a stable, multidecadal record has been interrupted, and consequently, long-term analyses of the jet derived from surface wind data are now showing artificial anomalies that will affect efforts by scientists to identify interannual to decadal variations in the climate of the northwestern Indian Ocean.


Population distribution, land-use, industrial activity, urban agricultural activities, and pollution control strategies in Harare, Zimbabwe, have all changed significantly since independence in 1980. The effects of these changes on water quality and the consequences on human and ecological health are of major economic and social importance. This study looked at pollution in the Marimba River, one of the major inflow rivers into the Lake Chivero, Harare city's main water supply source. The river was characterised using standard physical and chemical methods to assess water quality from June 2000 to December 2001. Monthly sampling results indicated high pollution levels, especially nutrients. Nitrogen values averaged 13.5 ±2.0 mg·l -1 as N, and phosphorus 2.6 ±0.6 mg·l -1 as P at the river's discharge point into Lake Chivero. The high nutrient values, exceeding acceptable limits, are indicative of industrial, agricultural, and sewage discharges upstream. The gross river pollution levels are detrimental to the downstream Lake Chivero. It was concluded that although there are other significant incidental sources of nutrient pollution in Marimba River, sewage effluent is by far the major polluter. It was established that pond overflow from Crowborough Sewage Treatment Works is the major source of sewage inflows and treating this to tertiary standard would result in 46% and 35% reductions respectively for total nitrogen and total phosphorus loads in the Marimba River


This paper presents case studies of attacks aimed at tactical software defined radios based on a classification with the most common sources of vulnerabilities, classes of attacks, and types of intrusions that military radio sets may suffer. Besides that, we also describe how attack mitigation strategies can impact the development of SDR infrastructures. By using such approach, we identify several possible sources of vulnerabilities, attacks, intrusions, and mitigation strategies, illustrating them onto typical tactical radio network deployment scenarios, as an initial and necessary step for the definition of realistic and relevant security requirements for military software defined radio applications.


The present article underlines strikes the necessity of social realism in contemporary cultural sociology. It introduces the concept of "transcultural hybridization" as the most adequate analytical and interdisciplinary instrument for explaining a whole series of sociocultural phenomena as they have emerged from the process of globalization and the postmodern condition. Based at one and the same time on the cognitive and ethical conditions of a "reflexive modernity" and on the analytical value of concepts such as "acculturation," "transculturality," and "multiculturality," it is argued that the introduction of the concept of "transcultural hybridization" necessarily entails a revision of all the categories that have to date been used to explain the socio-cultural dynamics in the era of globalization.


Reviewing decades of sanctions on Iran, the authors write that a diplomatic resolution should be the approach to resolving the standoff with Iran over its nuclear program. Any form of negotiated settlement will require sanctions relief, notably from the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations Security Council. But what, exactly, are the mechanics involved in removing these sanctions? The authors write that the most difficult sanctions to lift are US congressionally imposed measures. President Barack Obama, they write, must overcome the obstacles in his path should the time arrive to begin reversing sanctions.


This paper evaluates the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) at Bahrain Polytechnic in developing graduates who are innovative practitioners. The key research questions addressed are: what the most effective PBL approach is at Bahrain Polytechnic and how PBL can be enhanced to ultimately deliver on Bahrain Polytechnic"s graduate profile, which includes innovation and entrepreneurship amongst its employability skills. The main reason for the implementation of PBL is that research shows that it is well-placed to develop the kinds of "soft skills" that employers frequently say they need in their employees. In addition however, PBL promises to go beyond employability alone, and it is hoped that a number of graduates will apply what they have learned to develop the Bahraini economy into new and innovative directions. This paper evaluates a number of initial cases of teachers who have adopted PBL as their primary teaching method in their classrooms, and have presented their experiences in seminar form. In combination with the literature review, this is then used to draw some preliminary conclusions about the effectiveness of PBL and to make some recommendations about the promising transferable elements of these experiences, especially in the context of the Gulf.


Polarization mode dispersion (PMD) mitigation is performed using an optical 3R (re-amplification, re-shaping, re-timing) regenerator based on electro-absorption modulator (EAM) with wavelength conversion. System performance without and with 3R regeneration was separately studied by eye analysis and bit-error rate (BER) measurements. The signal quality was significantly improved by 3R regeneration under serious first order PMD (up to 40% of the bit interval) combined with second order PMD (up to about 520 ps2). The PMD mitigation margin of the proposed method is also investigated by measuring the sensitivity at BER 10^(-10). Further studies indicate that 3R regenerators have the potential to combat with the effects of PMD combined with polarization dependent loss (PDL) and polarization hole-burning (PHB).


This work presents the study of active vibration control for a FPSE/ LA engine to ensure a reliable engine operation within a broader range of operation frequencies [50 ± 3 Hz] complying with new regulations. An ATMD is discussed as a potential solution for increasing the operational envelope from original frequency requirements of [50 ± 0.5 Hz] to the new range while maintaining vibration amplitudes below 20 µm. A suitable vibration model of the engine setup is discussed and experimentally validated. The active vibration control for the vibration model is achieved by integrating the model of a current controlled Voice coil Motor (VCM). Zero-placement with relative acceleration/position and optimal linear quadratic control with a state observer were studied and compared in the time and frequency domains. The analysis shows that the active control accomplishes damping of vibration even at higher frequencies that coincide with the resonance of the entire system. A set of specifications were obtained based on actuator parameters such as power consumption, actuator strokes and force. The effect of time delays on the stability with each control strategy was investigated based on the proposed vibration model. Delays were found to affect stability depending on both the control methodology and excitation frequency.


New geochemical data for the Carrock, Threlkeld, Ennerdale, Shap, Skiddaw and Eskdale granites of the Lake District are presented and discussed with particular reference to the metasomatism and petrogenesis of the intrusions. The Caledonian granites of the Lake District have more associated hydrothermal activity and mineralization than their equivalents north of the Iapetus suture in Scotland. Pervasive high-temperature metasomatism which affects the Shap, Skiddaw and Eskdale intrusions is accompanied by remobilization of the large ionic lithophile elements (K, Rb, Sr, U) and Li and B, although high field strength elements, including the rare earth elements, remain unaffected except near greisen and mineral veins. The Threlkeld intrusion appears to have suffered loss of a Ba and Sr during a low-temperature event. However, there is no consistent relationship between granite composition, hydrothermal activity and mineralization which could be used to support the granite cupola model for mineralization in the province. Rather, the episodic mineralization which affects the Lake District may be related more to the broad geothermal field consequent upon the emplacement of the deeper Lake District batholith, identified from geophysical data. Despite the variable metasomatic perturbations of their primary chemistry, three distinct groups of intrusions can be recognized on geochemical grounds. The Carrock granophyre is a product of tholeiitic fractionation and the Threlkeld and Ennerdale bodies are more typical calc-alkaline intrusions, whereas the Eskdale, Shap and Skiddaw plutons show a progressive evolution towards more complex geochemical patterns, suggesting decreasing hornblende but increasing plagioclase control of fractionating processes. The culmination of this trend may have been the emplacement of a large, high heat production granite beneath the Lake District at the end of the Caledonian orogeny. The suggestion made on geophysical grounds that the Eskdale intrusion is a cupola of the Lake District batholith cannot be simply reconciled with geochemical modelling. None of the Lake District granites has geochemical or isotopic characteristics which are convincingly S-type (i.e. formed by partial melting of a sedimentary protolith), and a model of subcrustal magmagenesis beneath an evolving arc or continental margin appears to be more appropriate.


Over the past 20 years there have a number of instances where nuclear power plant operators have discovered gas voids—typically air but occasionally other gases such as undissolved hydrogen—in fluid systems whose function is important to reactor safety. These systems have included emergency core cooling systems, decay heat removal systems, and containment spray systems. The amount of gas has, in some cases, been sufficient to call into question the operability of the systems; had they been needed. The automatic initiation of a system with a gas void present may lead to gas binding of its pumps, or destructive water hammer. The sources of the gas have been various and not readily controlled. The need for licensees to manage gas accumulation has been formally identified in an NRC generic letter (1). The letter points out a need for continuous monitoring, to detect and quantify gas voids in these systems, thereby to ensure their availability in accordance with design basis requirements. The letter further notes that periodic functional tests of the critical systems will not provide the required assurance of operability; if a periodic test finds a system's functionality questionable because of gas accumulation, the question of how long its operability has been compromised is unanswered. The system described in this paper—the Linewatch Gas Void Detection System—addresses these issues definitively. It provides the means to detect the onset of void formation in any one of multiple pipes in multiple systems on a continuous basis and, following void formation, the means to quantify the amount of these voids, again continuously.Copyright © 2009 by ASME


Introduction: MOOCs are referred to Massive Open Online Courses that provide chances for expanding public access to education. The aim of this study is to discuss the concepts, types, application and emergence of MOOCs in medicine and medical education. Methods: This is an applied study that has been conducted through Literature Review method. Electronic journals and databases have been searched to obtain the required data. Findings: The emphasis in CMOOCs is on knowledge production, whereas XMOOCsr main stress is on knowledge proliferation. Due to the adoption of modern technologies in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases in developed countries, they have found it cost-effective to apply MOOCs in medical continuing education.n MOOCs are also used in areas such as training medical students, promoting public health literacy, patient education, and teaching main health issues.n Conclusion: MOOCs have shortly attracted a wide range of educators, students, businesses, media, and the public. Currently, many prominent universities offer their courses in MOOC format. In Future, MOOCs will likely be part of the landscape of higher education, especially medical education. So, it is suggested that higher education authorities provide the facilities and infrastructure for the establishment of MOOCs in the country.


We consider a set of minimal identification conditions for dynamic factor models. These conditions have economic interpretations, and require fewer number of restrictions than when putting in a static-factor form. Under these restrictions, a standard structural vector autoregression (SVAR) with or without measurement errors can be embedded into a dynamic factor model. More generally, we also consider overidentification restrictions to achieve efficiency. General linear restrictions, either in the form of known factor loadings or cross-equation restrictions, are considered. We further consider serially correlated idiosyncratic errors with heterogeneous coefficients. A numerically stable Bayesian algorithm for the dynamic factor model with general parameter restrictions is constructed for estimation and inference. A square-root form of Kalman filter is shown to improve robustness and accuracy when sampling the latent factors. Confidence intervals (bands) for the parameters of interest such as impulse responses are readily computed. Similar identification conditions are also exploited for multi-level factor models, and they allow us to study the spill-over effects of the shocks arising from one group to another.


This work considers inventory systems with two demand classes, where advance demand information is available. Three related scenarios are presented: three-stage production-inventory systems are studied in first two, whereas pure inventory systems are studied in the last scenario. In the first scenario, continuous review production-inventory systems are considered, where only one class provides advance demand information and early demand fulfillment is permitted. A new approach for production replenishment and order fulfillment in such systems is proposed, which combines the benefits of early fulfillment with Kanban-based pull systems. Simulation is used to compare the performance of the resulting policy with two other policies for a variety of scenarios (depending on the arrival rates, system utilizations, cost structures, arrival ratio, priority levels and amount of the advance demand information). A simulation-based lower bound on the optimal cost is established for some specific scenarios. The proposed policy outperforms the existing policies in every setting considered. Also, the proposed policy has added advantage of both retaining the benefit at high system utilizations and increasing the benefit up to the maximum level of advance demand information provided. A small fraction of customers providing advance demand information with early fulfillment acceptable is shown to have higher benefit than all customers providing same advance demand information with no early fulfillment. In second scenario, both classes provide advance demand information in production-inventory systems, though only one class accepts early fulfillment. Different levels of system utilization, arrival ratio and backorder cost are considered in the simulation experiments to show the superiority of early fulfillment. Also, experiments suggest that lowering the expected supply lead time may be more beneficial than increasing the demand lead time by the same amount for production-inventory systems with utilization dependent supply lead times. In third scenario, pure inventory systems are considered, where the demand classes provide different amount of advance demand information, and only one class accepts early fulfillment. The structure of an optimal policy is analytically characterized for periodic review systems under some specific conditions.


This paper asks a simple question: if humans and their actions co-evolve with hydrological systems (Sivapalan et al., 2012), what is the role of hydrological scientists, who are also humans, within this system? To put it more directly, as traditionally there is a supposed separation of scientists and society, can we maintain this separation as socio-hydrologists studying a socio-hydrological world? This paper argues that we cannot, using four linked sections. The first section draws directly upon the concern of science-technology studies to make a case to the (socio-hydrological) community that we need to be sensitive to constructivist accounts of science in general and socio-hydrology in particular. I review three positions taken by such accounts and apply them to hydrological science, supported with specific examples: (a) the ways in which scientific activities frame socio-hydrological research, such that at least some of the knowledge that we obtain is constructed by precisely what we do; (b) the need to attend to how socio-hydrological knowledge is used in decision-making, as evidence suggests that hydrological knowledge does not flow simply from science into policy; and (c) the observation that those who do not normally label themselves as socio-hydrologists may actually have a profound knowledge of socio-hydrology. The second section provides an empirical basis for considering these three issues by detailing the history of the practice of roughness parameterisation, using parameters like Manning's n , in hydrological and hydraulic models for flood inundation mapping. This history sustains the third section that is a more general consideration of one type of socio-hydrological practice: predictive modelling. I show that as part of a socio-hydrological analysis, hydrological prediction needs to be thought through much more carefully: not only because hydrological prediction exists to help inform decisions that are made about water management; but also because those predictions contain assumptions, the predictions are only correct in so far as those assumptions hold, and for those assumptions to hold, the socio-hydrological system (i.e. the world) has to be shaped so as to include them. Here, I add to the "normal" view that ideally our models should represent the world around us, to argue that for our models (and hence our predictions) to be valid, we have to make the world look like our models. Decisions over how the world is modelled may transform the world as much as they represent the world. Thus, socio-hydrological modelling has to become a socially accountable process such that the world is transformed, through the implications of modelling, in a fair and just manner. This leads into the final section of the paper where I consider how socio-hydrological research may be made more socially accountable, in a way that is both sensitive to the constructivist critique (Sect. 1), but which retains the contribution that hydrologists might make to socio-hydrological studies. This includes (1) working with conflict and controversy in hydrological science, rather than trying to eliminate them; (2) using hydrological events to avoid becoming locked into our own frames of explanation and prediction; (3) being empirical and experimental but in a socio-hydrological sense; and (4) co-producing socio-hydrological predictions. I will show how this might be done through a project that specifically developed predictive models for making interventions in river catchments to increase high river flow attenuation. Therein, I found myself becoming detached from my normal disciplinary networks and attached to the co-production of a predictive hydrological model with communities normally excluded from the practice of hydrological science.


Introduction Although relevant, specific instruments are necessary to better understand the relationship between features of neighbourhood and health events, very few studies have developed instruments to measure neighbourhood features in developing countries. Objective To develop valid and reliable measures of neighbourhood context useful in a Latin American urban context; assess their psychometrics and ecometrics properties and examine individual and neighbourhood-level predictors of these measures. Methods We analysed data from a multistage (census tracts, households, and residents) household survey (2008–2009) conducted in Belo Horizonte City by the Observatory for Urban Health. One adult in each household was selected to answer the questionnaire that was composed of six domains. Neighbourhood was defined as census tract. Scales to represent different dimensions of neighbourhood were created using individual responses. Internal consistency was evaluated by Cronbach's α and three-level multilevel models were used to evaluate each scale. Results 4048 survey respondents represented 149 census tracts. We assessed nine neighbourhood environment dimensions: Public Services (8 items), Aesthetic Quality (4 items), Walking Environment (7 items), Violence (6 items), Social Cohesion (6 items), Activities with Neighbours (11 items), Neighbourhood Physical Disorders (8 items), Neighbourhood Social Disorders (5 items) and Neighbourhood Problems (16 items). Cronbach's α coefficient ranged from 0.53 to 0.83, intraneighborhood correlation ranged 0.02–0.53 and neighbourhood reliability were 0.76–0.99. Most scales were associated with individual and neighbourhood predictors. Conclusion These findings illustrated the measurement properties of neighbourhood-level constructs can be measured reliably, confirming their use in multilevel analysis to assess the neighbourhood effects on health outcomes.


The existence of water, energy, and food (WEF) is critical for people to fulfil their basic needs, to achieve welfare, and to support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The WEF security topic is becoming widely discussed in developing and developed countries. Major components of WEF security i.e. availability, accessibility, and quality should be achieved integratedly to avoid unexpected impacts. The interconnectedness among endogenous and exogenous variables such as environmental, socio-economic, and political factors makes this issue immensely complex. The nexus approach attempts to integrate management and governance across sectors and scales to improve WEF security. This study aims to grasp WEF security in a local context and evaluate the implications of planned local interventions by developing a conceptual and quantitative analysis with local stakeholders. Karawang Regency in Indonesia is chosen as the case study. Several strategies for WEF-related sectors are formulated using location quotient (LQ) and competitive position (CP) methods. In addition, qualitative and quantitative system dynamics models are established by involving related stakeholders through group model building. Finally, a nexus-based framework for WEF security is developed to assist local policymakers in doing the evaluation and planning of WEF resources in the region.


The signaling lipid phosphatidic acid links chemoattractant signals to directional movement of neutrophils. During chemotaxis, the small GTPase Rac is locally activated to extend membrane protrusions in the direction of migration. This localized Rac activation is achieved, at least in part, by focusing Rac GEFs (guanine nucleotide exchange factors) at the leading edge of the cell, yet the mechanism controlling subcellular localization of Rac GEFs is poorly understood. DOCK2 is a Rac GEF that regulates motility and polarity during neutrophil chemotaxis. Nishikimi et al. (see the Perspective by Côté and Vuori) provide evidence that intracellular DOCK2 dynamics are sequentially regulated by two distinct phospholipids. In response to chemoattractants, DOCK2 rapidly translocates to the plasma membrane of chemotaxing neutrophils. This initial translocation is mediated by phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate (PIP3), whereas subsequent accumulation of DOCK2 at the leading edge requires de novo synthesis of phosphatidic acid (PA). PA focuses DOCK2 localization through direct binding to DOCK2's C-terminal polybasic clusters, resulting in local induction of actin polymerization. When this interaction is blocked, neutrophils fail to form leading edges properly and exhibit defects in chemotaxis. Thus, PA is critical for leading edge formation and stabilization during chemotaxis. A. Nishikimi, H. Fukuhara, W. Su, T. Hongu, S. Takasuga, H. Mihara, Q. Cao, F. Sanematsu, M. Kanai, H. Hasegawa, Y. Tanaka, M. Shibasaki, Y. Kanaho, T. Sasaki, M. A. Frohman, Y. Fukui, Sequential regulation of DOCK2 dynamics by two phospholipids during neutrophil chemotaxis. Science 324, 384–387 (2009). [Abstract] [Full Text] J.-F. Côté, K. Vuori, Two lipids that give direction. Science 324, 346–347 (2009). [Summary] [Full Text]


An innovative fluorescence lifetime technique, called transient fluorescence spectroscopy, has been developed and applied toward the determination of the fluorescence lifetimes (a value near 1 ms) of terbium doped dipicolinic acid (DPA-Tb). This different lifetime measurement technique uses a high-pulse-repetition-frequency (8 kHz) pulsed UV laser excitation source and a slow modulated chopper (50to1000 Hz) to produce the modulated emission intensity from the DPA-Tb, and compares these to a theoretical transient solution of the population rate equations for the DPA-Tb energy levels. Curve fitting of the transient solution of the modulated emission intensity to that obtained experimentally yielded a value for the fluorescence lifetime.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the effect of professional experience and lighting conditions on visual shade selection on natural teeth and comparing the visual-shade-selection results with those of instrumental methods.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
Shade selection was performed on five maxillary central incisors. The 25 observers were divided into five groups according to their professional experience. Observers performed visual-shade-selection using shade guide (Vita 3D Master, Vita Zahnfabrik, Bad Säckingen, Germany) under two lighting conditions (4000 and 6500 K) from the cervical, middle and incisal thirds of the teeth. Same teeth were measured using an intraoral scanner (Trios 3Shape, Copenhagen, Denmark) and spectrophotometer (Vita Easyshade Compact, Vita Zahnfabrik, Bad Säckingen, Germany), under the same two lighting conditions.

RESULTS
Visual-shade-selection outcomes were not affected by professional experience under both lighting conditions (P < .05). Outcomes of visual-shade-selection and intraoral scanner were not significantly different than that of spectrophotometer (P > .05). Lighting conditions had no effect on the shade measurement outcomes of visual shade selection, Vita Easyshade Compact, and Trios 3Shape (P > .05).

CONCLUSIONS
Shade measurement outcomes were not affected by the lighting conditions (4000 and 6500 K). The shade measurement feature of the T-3S could be an alternative to V-ES and VSS.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
This study suggests professional experience and lighting conditions has no effect on visual shade selection. Trios 3Shape could be used for shade determination as an alternative to a Vita Easyshade Compact spectrophotometer.


To develop efficient therapies and identify novel early biomarkers for chronic kidney disease (CKD) an understanding of the molecular mechanisms orchestrating it is essential. We here set out to understand how differences in CKD origin are reflected in gene regulatory mechanisms. To this end, we collected and integrated publicly available human-kidney glomerular microarray gene expression data for nine kidney disease entities that account for a majority of CKD worldwide [Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), Minimal Change Disease (MCD), FSGS-MCD, IgA nephropathy (IgAN), Lupus nephritis (LN), Membranous glomerulonephropathy (MGN), Diabetic nephropathy (DN), Hypertensive nephropathy (HN) and Rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis (RPGN)]. We included data from five distinct studies and compared glomerular gene expression profiles to that of non-tumor part of kidney cancer nephrectomy tissues. A major challenge was the integration of the data from different sources, platforms and conditions, that we mitigated with a bespoke stringent procedure. This allowed us to perform a global transcriptome-based delineation of different kidney disease entities, obtaining a landscape of their similarities and differences based on the genes that acquire a consistent differential expression between each kidney disease entity and tumor nephrectomy. Furthermore, we derived functional insights by inferring signaling pathway and transcription factor activity from the collected gene expression data, and identified potential drug candidates based on expression signature matching. These results provide a foundation to comprehend the specific molecular mechanisms underlying different kidney disease entities, that can pave the way to identify biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets.


Introduction: The six minute walk test (6MWT) is generally used for evaluating the functioning of people with chronic diseases; the main result is the distance a person may walk for 6 minutes. The 6MWT was originally developed to measure the submaximal level of functioning in adult cardiac or chronic disease patients with moderate-to severe heart or lung disease and has been widely used in other patient subgroups. Because the test provides a level of training close to that of daily life, it is easy to use and increasingly is being used as a functional outcomes measurement for people with chronic disease, to include pediatric populations.

Patients and methods: Our study is cross sectional study included 100 cases (55 males and 45 females) who had congenital heart diseases surgically repaired in one stage (34 had Tetralogy of Fallot, 27 had ventricular septal defect, 15 had atrial septal defect, 10 had patent ductus arteriosus, 5 had congenital valvular aortic stenosis, 4 had sub aortic membrane, 3 had coarctation of aorta and 2 had d-transposition of great arteries). The study included pediatric patients who had been admitted to the pediatric cardiology department of Assiut Children's Hospital from 5 to 18 years of age and for a one year period from 1st August 2016 to 31st July 2017. Control: One hundred (100) healthy children (55 males, 45 females).

Results and conclusion: The 6MWT is a simple, applicable test with a significant value in the demonstration of the effect of one stage surgically repaired congenital heart diseases on the functional capacity of pediatric cardiac patients


It is a hard sell to convince lawyers that they need to learn how to innovate. However, when we consider the skillset and mindset that is honed in the process of learning how to innovate, this decision should be a no-brainer. This is because, as discussed in prior chapter (Innovation: A New Key Discipline for Lawyers and Legal Education), the call for innovation by clients is also a call for service transformation. When clients ask their lawyers to innovate, they are asking for their lawyers to co-collaborate more proactively and with a different mindset and skillset. The easy sell is that, in the process of learning how to innovate, lawyers learn to do just that: they learn to co-collaborate and hone the mindset and skillset that clients desire. An additional and under-emphasized benefit to learning how to innovate and honing the innovator's DNA is that we also hone the DNA of leaders. When you compare the key qualities of an inclusive, adaptive leader with the key qualities of an innovator, they overlap. Research demonstrates that innovators, like leaders, have high emotional intelligence and communication skills: they are empathetic, open- and growth-minded, self-aware, associative, and audacious. This is why I believe that all lawyers should try their hand at innovation, even if their business model is not broken. This is also why I believe that innovation should be the new, key discipline in legal education for practicing and aspiring lawyers. By teaching practicing and aspiring lawyers how to innovate, we are, in turn teaching collaboration and leadership—and the lawyers don't even know it. It's like getting away with putting broccoli in someone's ice cream—it's the secret sauce.

But it's not an easy sauce to whip together. That is, although these benefits may make the need for teaching innovation an easy sell, teaching lawyers how to innovate is not an easy task. This chapter (first published by Stampfli Verlag in the book: New Suits: Appetite for Disruption in the Legal World) begins by explaining why this is so and why we need to utilize a method of innovation designed specifically for lawyers. It then describes the method of teaching innovation that I designed, re-designed, and tested over the past 10 years on over 200 multidisciplinary teams that included lawyers, business professionals, and law and business students: The 3-4-5 Method of Innovation for Lawyers. It then explains the secret sauce, why this new method works. Finally, this chapter concludes with a call to action for law schools, law firms, and legal departments to put on "New Suits" by creating a culture that inspires lawyers and aspiring lawyers to learn how to innovate (i.e., that cultivates intrinsic motivation) and that provides external rewards (the extrinsic motivation) to those that do.


Detailed mapping of the fresh surficial ruptures in the right step between the Homestead Valley Fault and the Emerson Fault, two right-lateral en echelon faults that broke in the 1992 Landers earthquake, indicates that the transfer of dextral slip between the faults is accommodated primarily by a series of obliquely striking right-lateral strike-slip cross faults. Right-lateral slip on the cross faults and counterclockwise rotation of the interior blocks are sufficient to transfer virtually 100% of the dextral slip and to accommodate the extension across the jog. Asymmetry of the dextral slip curves along the cross faults indicates that some of them may have been induced to fail by slip on the Homestead Valley Fault, while others were induced to fail by slip on the Emerson Fault. Comparison of the magnitude of slip in 1992 to bedrock and geomorphic offsets suggests that the Homestead Valley Fault and several secondary faults have experienced about 100 nominal Landers events and that the stepover structure originated at the same time as the Homestead Valley Fault, about 1 m.y. ago. Because the Emerson Fault has an order of magnitude greater total offset but only slightly greater surficial slip in 1992, we conclude that it is a significantly older fault. Repetition of 1992-like events should eventually lead to a merging of the Homestead Valley Fault with the Emerson.


The state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, has experienced rapid land use changes from the expansion of rain-fed agriculture (primarily soybean and pasture). This study presents changes to evapotranspiration contributions from terrestrial ecosystems in Mato Grosso over the 2000–9 period. Instead of focusing on land use change to infer hydrologic change, in this paper we assess hydrologic changes using remote sensing, meteorological and agricultural production data to determine the rainforest, crop and pasture components of total evapotranspiration. Humid tropical rainforest evapotranspiration represented half of the state's total evapotranspiration in 2000 despite occupying only 40% of the total land area. Annual evapotranspiration fluxes from rainforest declined at a rate of 16.2 km3 y−1 (R2 = 0.82, p-value < 0.01) as a result of deforestation between 2000 and 2009, representing a 25% decline in rainforest evapotranspiration since 2000. By 2009, rainforest cover accounted for only 40% of total evapotranspiration. Over the same period, crop evapotranspiration doubled, but this increase was offset by a decline in pasture evapotranspiration. Pasture fluxes were at least five times larger than crop evapotranspiration fluxes in 2000–9, with increases spatially focused at the agricultural frontier. The results highlight the expanding appropriation of soil moisture stocks for use in Mato Grosso's rain-fed agroecosystems.


Fresh and composted organic wastes [beet vinasse (BV), sewage sludge (SS), and a cotton gin crushed compost (CCGC)], were applied for 4 yr to a Typic Xerofluvent in dryland conditions near Seville, Spain. Organic wastes were applied at rates of 5,7.5, and 10 Mg organic matter ha -1 , respectively. The effect on the soil's physical properties, soil microbial biomass, and six soil enzymatic activities (dehydrogenase, urease, protease, β-glucosidase, arylsulfatase, and alkaline phosphatase activities) and the yield parameters of wheat (Triticum aestivum cv. Cajeme) were ascertained. The application of CCGC compost improved the soil's physical (structural stability, bulk density), chemical (exchangeable sodium percentage, ESP), and biological properties (microbial biomass, soil respiration, and enzymatic activities) and the wheat yield parameters; however, the application of SS adversely affected the soil biological properties and reduced the wheat yield, probably because high of amounts of heavy metals. The application of fresh BV also adversely affected the soil's physical, chemical, and biological properties and the wheat yield, probably because high amounts of Na and fulvic acids were introduced into the soil by the vinasse, which destabilized its structure. Wheat yield decreased 22.5% in BV with respect to CCGC-amended soil, 13.6% in SS with respect to CCGC-amended soil, and 7.9% in BV with respect to SS-amended soil. These results suggest that the chemical composition of the three organic wastes notably influenced the soil properties and therefore the wheat yield parameters. Of the three organic wastes studied, alone the application of CCGC originated a positive effect in the soil and in the wheat yield parameters, while the application of BV and SS originated a negative effect in the soil properties and therefore in the wheat yield parameters.


Purpose: This article assesses how different aspects of the school climate relate to students' intended future electoral engagement. Until now, political socialization researchers found evidence for a relation between formal citizenship education in school and students' participation levels. There is less consensus, however, in how multiple aspects of informal political socialization can contribute to individuals' participatory acts. Method: To learn more about several aspects of informal political socialization and their relevance for student intended electoral participation this work draws on educational sciences and political socialization literature and focuses on multiple dimensions of school climate (cf. Konold, 2014; Lenzi, 2014) and their relationship to future electoral engagement. We rely on the English and Irish International Civic and Citizenship Survey (ICCS) 2009 data to operationalize multiple dimensions of the school climate. We estimate a structural equation model in which school climate is measured by indicators based on student and teacher questionnaire data aggregated at the school level.  The relationship between multiple dimensions of school climate and student future electoral participation is tested. Findings: We find that in order to engage students in voting; schools should focus not only on the formal curriculum but also on more informal aspects (the school climate). Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.


Hybrid organically bridged silica membranes are suitable for energy-efficient molecular separations under harsh industrial conditions. Such membranes can be useful in organic solvent nanofiltration if they can be deposited on flexible, porous and large area supports. Here, we report the proof of concept for applying an expanding thermal plasma to the synthesis of perm-selective hybrid silica films from an organically bridged monomer, 1,2-bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane. This membrane is the first in its class to be produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. By tuning the plasma and process parameters, the organic bridging groups could be retained in the separating layer. This way, a defect free film could be made with pervaporation performances of an n-butanol–water mixture comparable with those of conventional ceramic supported membranes made by sol–gel technology (i.e. a water flux of ∼1.8 kg m−2 h−1, a water concentration in the permeate higher than 98% and a separation factor of >1100). The obtained results show the suitability of expanding thermal plasma as a technology for the deposition of hybrid silica membranes for molecular separations.


This paper was designed in two phases. The first phase determines the important aspects playing role in the successful early childhood inclusion. Based on related literature, teachers, school administrators, children with and without special needs, parents of children with and without special needs and physical environment were considered as the important aspects and discussed in the paper. In the second phase, some research studies conducted in Turkey about early childhood inclusion and opinions and attitudes of teachers and other people regarding inclusion were examined. The results of the research studies were also discussed.


The objective of this study is to evaluate the life cycle costs and market barriers associated with using reflective paving materials in streets and parking lots as a way to reduce the urban heat island effect. We calculated and compared the life cycle costs of conventional asphalt concrete (AC) pavements to those of other existing pavement technologies with higher reflectivity-portland cement concrete (PCC), porous pavements, resin pavements, AC pavements using light-colored chip seals, and AC pavements using light-colored asphalt emulsion additives. We found that for streets and parking lots, PCC can provide a cost-effective alternative to conventional AC when severely damaged pavements must be completely reconstructed. We also found that rehabilitating damaged AC streets and intersections with thin overlays of PCC (ultra-thin white topping) can often provide a cost-effective alternative to standard rehabilitation techniques using conventional AC. Chip sealing is a common maintenance treatment for low-volume streets which, when applied using light-colored chips, could provide a reflective pavement surface. If the incremental cost of using light-colored chips is low, this chip sealing method could also be cost-effective, but the incremental costs of light-colored chips are as of yet uncertain and expected to vary. Porous pavements were found to have higher life cycle costs than conventional AC in parking lots, but several cost-saving features of porous pavements fell outside the boundaries of this study. Resin pavements were found to be only slightly more expensive than conventional AC, but the uncertainties in the cost and performance data were large. The use of light-colored additives in asphalt emulsion seal coats for parking lot pavements was found to be significantly more expensive than conventional AC, reflecting its current niche market of decorative applications. We also proposed two additional approaches to increasing the reflectivity of conventional AC, which we call the chipping and aggregate methods, and calculated their potential life cycle costs. By analyzing the potential for increased pavement durability resulting from these conceptual approaches, we then estimated the incremental costs that would allow them to be cost-effective compared to conventional AC. For our example case of Los Angeles, we found that those allowable incremental costs range from less than $1 to more than $11 per square yard ($1 to $13 per square meter) depending on street type and the condition of the original pavement. Finally, we evaluated the main actors in the pavement market and the existing and potential market barriers associated with reflective pavements. Apart from situations where lifecycle costs are high compared to conventional AC, all reflective paving technologies face a cultural barrier based on the belief that black is better. For PCC, high first costs were found to be the most significant economic barrier, particularly where agencies are cons trained by first cost. Lack of developer standards was found to be a significant institutional barrier to PCC since developers are often not held accountable for the long-term maintenance of roads after initial construction, which creates a misplaced incentive to build low first-cost pavements. PCC also faces site-specific barriers such as poorly compacted base soils and proximity to areas of frequent utility cutting.


[1] ULF field line resonance frequencies (f R ) of three different magnetic shells (L = 1.61, 1.71, and 1.83) have been monitored during a 4-year period (2001-2004) using a cross-phase analysis of magnetic measurements recorded at the South European Geomagnetic Array (SEGMA). We find that the variations of the daily averages of f R , which reflect changes in plasmaspheric mass density, follow the variations of the daily values of the 10.7-cm solar radio flux F 10.7 with an estimated time delay of 1-2 days. The analysis of selected events indicates that the sensitivity of f R to short-term (27-day) variations in the solar flux is the same as that for long-term (solar cycle related) variations. On the other hand, the results of the overall statistical analysis seem to indicate a lower sensitivity (by a factor of ∼2) of f R to short-term solar flux variations with respect to long-term variations. Geomagnetic activity effects and/or different solar variabilities of EUV and 10.7-cm flux for different timescales are suggested as a possible cause for such a difference. Experimental results are also compared with those provided by a physical-numerical model of the ionosphere-plasmasphere system. Last, we find some evidence for a slight annual variation in f R with an estimated summer/winter ratio of ∼ 1.1-1.2. The inferred corresponding annual variation in the equatorial mass density is in line with previous estimates for the European longitudinal sector as obtained from whistler measurements.


This paper presents a new approach for determining the effective control signals for damping of oscillations by using fuzzy logic based Interline Power Flow Controller [IPFC]. The IPFC performance is tested with PI controllers in comparison with fuzzy logic based controller on Modified Phllips-Heffron Model of Single Machine Infinite Bus System to achieve improved damping performance by selecting effective control signals such as deviation in pulse width modulation index of voltage series converter 1 in line 1, pulse width modulation index of voltage series converter 2 in line 2, deviation in phase angle of the injected voltage of convertor 1, injected voltage phase angle deviation of convertor 2. Investigations reveal that coordinated tuning of Interline Power Flow Controller with Fuzzy Logic Controller provides the robust dynamic performance. The Fuzzy Logic Based Interline Power Flow Controller [IPFC] is designed with simple fuzzy rules to coordinate the additional damping signal. The proposed controllers for IPFC are able to achieve improved designed performance of the power system. Validity of effective control signals has been done by eigen value analysis.


The United States military is currently one of the most powerful forces on the face of the planet. It achieves this in part through a high level of organization and interoperability borne through the use of the continental staffing system by the U.S. and many of its NATO allies. This system is meant to separate functions and facilitate efficient flow of information to those who need to make command decisions. While it has proven effective in prior conflicts, it has become outmoded in the information age, instead stifling necessary coordination and collaboration through isolation and insulation between roles. This paper contends that the constructs used by the continental staffing system, like that of area of operation, and rigid segregation of duty through tradition, expose a seam in the system which leads to unanticipated and negative consequences on friendly forces referred to as "cyber fratricide." Cyber Fratricide may be considered the unintentional impedance or interference between operational/tactical elements of friendly forces in the cyber realm involving the compromise or liquidation of assets, information, or capabilities of those forces. This is especially important when considering active or transactional hostilities by multiple actors. This is especially true in the case of shooting back in cyber space or active defence. By observing the most common possible forms of cyber fratricide and their enabling factors, conclusions may be drawn on possible mitigations through technical controls and reengineering of the continental staffing system to reduce cyber fratricide in active defence. This paper is a discussion of one issue in active defence and is not meant to be a complete treatise on the topic.


This award-winning clinical text covers the vast array of conditions that oral and maxillofacial surgeons need to be prepared to identify and treat, ranging from common reactive disorders to carcinoma to rare salivary gland neoplasms to malignancies of bone. In addition to its clinical presentation, each disease entity includes its pathogenesis, differential diagnosis, diagnostic work-up, histopathology, treatment, and prognosis, offering the reader the complete context necessary for understanding and managing it. This updated two-volume edition includes several new disease entities, the latest information on recognizing and treating previously described conditions, and new clinical images and cases that better portray the clinical presentation and/or treatment of specific diseases. Significant additions include the section on bisphosphonate-induced osteonecrosis of the jaws (BIONJ), which includes over 50 new images and outlines the complete staging and treatment for both oral and intravenous BIONJ, and the incorporation of new reconstructive techniques using recombinant human bone morphogenetic protein, stem cell concentrates, and tissue-engineering principles where appropriate. It is an essential reference for any oral and maxillofacial surgeon or resident.


Amil zaka in zaka institutions has the right as one of eight ashnaf. Their rights are usually used by zaka institutions as operational cost. However, not all of the intitutions which manage zaka take amil's right, one of them is Yayasan Nurul Hayat. This institution does not take amil's right and it is independent in its operational cost. To support this operational cost, Yayasan Nurul Hayat establish business unit with utilize its profit. This study aimed to discover the capability of business unit in supporting operational cost of Yayasan Nurul Hayat. This study used a qualitative approach with descriptive case study method. The selections of informant are using purposive sampling method. Data collection was conducted by semi-structured interviews and documentation. This data is analyzed using descriptive method. The result of this study shows that Yayasan Nurul Hayat Employments' Salary is taken from business unit's profit. It is also used to give bonus for employments and grow the business unit of Yayasan Nurul Hayat up. From the result of this study, it can be concluded that the business unit which is developed has great capability to support operational cost of Yayasan Nurul Hayat.


Objective: To study the effects of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α (TNF-α) and anti-TNF-α Monoclonal Antibody (McAb) in myocardial injury of rats with traumatic hemorrhagic shock.
Methods: Twenty-four adult male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into the control group (A1 group), lactate Ringer's solution resuscitation group (A2 group) and anti-TNF-αMcAb resuscitation group (A3 group). A knife was used to cut about 5 cm in the middle of abdomen in rats of the A2 and A3 groups. Animal models of traumatic hemorrhagic shock were established through the femoral artery bleeding. The A2 group was treated with lactate Ringer's solution resuscitation, A3 group was treated with lactate Ringer's solution resuscitation containing anti-tumor necrosis factor-α monoclonal antibody (3 mg•kg-1), while the A1 group was under the same conditions without blood loss and trauma. The contents of Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and Malondialdehyde (MDA) in myocardium were measured. The levels of serum TNF-α and CK-MB were detected in every group. The pathological changes of myocardium were observed by light microscopy.
Results: The levels of serum TNF-α, CK-MB and the content of MDA in myocardium were increased in A2 and A3 groups comparing with A1 group (P<0.05), while the content of SOD was decreased (P<0.05). The levels of TNF-α (106.85 ± 14.65 pg/ml), CK-MB (535.3 ± 96.7 U/L) and the content of MDA (4.403 ± 0.979 nmol/mgprot) in myocardium in A3 group were much lower than those in the A2 group (P<0.05), but the content of SOD (36.125 ± 2.558 U/mgprot) was increased compared with the A2 group (SOD 28.200 ± 3.752 U/mgprot) (P<0.05). The changes of myocardium histopathology were minor in the A3 group while the A1 group had no manifest change.
Conclusions: TNF-α is an important media in myocardial injury induced by traumatic hemorrhagic shock. Anti-tumor necrosis factor-α monoclonal antibody can reduce myocardial injury, the mechanism perhaps antagonistic activity of TNF-α.


The purpose of this paper is to take a critical, analytical approach to the concepts of waste and value in the lean literature and how the concepts are applied in organisations' lean efforts and the ambiguity surrounding the concept of value. A review of the literature of lean was undertaken with a specific focus of the definitions of waste and value. In addition, it is illustrated how four case companies work with waste and value within a lean context. The literature review revealed that there have been significantly more frequent and exhaustive discussions of waste than of value. Waste is often related to the seven wastes, but value is rarely clearly defined. The cases show an exclusive focus on waste reduction, which we argue can result in a loss of value. This paper provides a critical review of the relationship between waste and value and some of the consequences caused by the actions taken by companies regarding solely focusing on waste. This paper demonstrates the order winner and order qualifier dimensions should be regarded in the analysis of waste and value, and incorporated in the lean toolbox. In the lean research literature there is lack of discussion of the actual value for the customer. We argue that finding a special concept of value in the lean literature would be desirable, and elaborating on value as a specific tool in the lean toolbox, since the concept of 'waste' cannot replace the concept of 'value'.


Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) is a popular generative probabilistic model that enables researchers to analyze large semantic datasets; however, few open-source software tools with Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) are available to researchers. This study identifies an open-source software tool that, in conjunction with a popular electronic spreadsheet software application, can be used to perform topic modeling. A process is developed and evaluated against a pre-existing expert review that examines work published in Management Science on the topics of technological innovation, product development, and entrepreneurship between 1954 and 2004 (Shane and Ulrich, 2004). The process is then replicated using an expanded corpus that includes all articles published in Management Science between 2005 and 2015. The discussion includes an analysis of the process and insights generated by using topic modeling. A replicable process for researchers and suggestions for practitioners are provided.


When performing architectural analysis on legacy software systems, it is frequently necessary to extract the architecture of the system, because it has not been documented, or because its documentation is out of date. However, architectural information does not exist directly in the artifacts that we can extract. The architecture exists in abstractions; compositions of extracted information. Thus, extracted artifacts must be able to be flexibly aggregated and combined. We call this process "view refinement and fusion". This paper presents a workbench for architectural extraction called Dali, and shows how Dali supports flexible extraction and fusion of architectural information. Its use is described through two extended examples of architectural reconstruction.


We present an analytical phase expression for an Offner triplet telescope stretcher based on ray tracing and apply it to analyze a chirped-pulse-amplification (CPA) system that includes an Offner stretcher. The results of our calculations show that the aberration caused by an off-center grating arrangement of an Offner stretcher can be used to cancel out the material dispersion of the CPA system. The optimization of the grating position provides a flat and broadband phase window for the CPA system, which leads to high-fidelity recompressed pulses.


The objective of this study was to investigate depth perception in astronauts during and after spaceflight by studying their sensitivity to reversible perspective figures in which two-dimensional images could elicit two possible depth representations. Other ambiguous figures that did not give rise to a perception of illusory depth were used as controls. Six astronauts and 14 subjects were tested in the laboratory during three sessions for evaluating the variability of their responses in normal gravity. The six astronauts were then tested during four sessions while on board the International Space Station for 5–6 months. They were finally tested immediately after return to Earth and up to one week later. The reaction time decreased throughout the sessions, thus indicating a learning effect. However, the time to first percept reversal and the number of reversals were not different in orbit and after the flight compared to before the flight. On Earth, when watching depth-ambiguous perspective figures, all subjects reported seeing one three-dimensional interpretation more often than the other, i.e. a ratio of about 70–30%. In weightlessness this asymmetry gradually disappeared and after 3 months in orbit both interpretations were seen for the same duration. These results indicate that the perception of "illusory" depth is altered in astronauts during spaceflight. This increased depth ambiguity is attributed to the lack of the gravitational reference and the eye-ground elevation for interpreting perspective depth cues.


Housing markets are subject to many interrelated sources of instability on both a microeconomic and macroeconomic scale. Housing decisions of different individuals will be interdependent, generating non-linearities, discontinuities and feedback effects. This paper focuses in on some behavioural factors that contribute to complexity in housing demand. In particular, the impact of herding and social influence is captured using a model incorporating the impact of social information on willingness to pay. This model is tested in an experimental context and this experimental evidence confirms first, that social information has a statistically significant impact and, second, this impact is determined by a person's individual characteristics including gender and personality traits.


The broad prediction that ectotherms will be more vulnerable to climate change in the tropics than in temperate regions includes assumptions about centre/edge population effects that can only be tested by within-species comparisons across wide latitudinal gradients. Here, we investigated the thermal vulnerability of two mangrove crab species, comparing populations at the centre (Kenya) and edge (South Africa) of their distributions. At the same time, we investigated the role of respiratory mode (water- versus air-breathing) in determining the thermal tolerance in amphibious organisms. To do this, we compared the vulnerability to acute temperature fluctuations of two sympatric species with two different lifestyle adaptations: the free living Perisesarma guttatum and the burrowing Uca urvillei, both pivotal to the ecosystem functioning of mangroves. The results revealed the air-breathing U. urvillei to be a thermal generalist with much higher thermal tolerances than P. guttatum. Importantly, however, we found that, while U. urvillei showed little difference between edge and centre populations, P. guttatum showed adaptation to local conditions. Equatorial populations had elevated tolerances to acute heat stress and mechanisms of partial thermoregulation, which make them less vulnerable to global warming than temperate conspecifics. The results reveal both the importance of respiratory mode to thermal tolerance and the unexpected potential for low latitude populations/species to endure a warming climate. The results also contribute to a conceptual model on the latitudinal thermal tolerance of these key species. This highlights the need for an integrated population-level approach to predict the consequences of climate change.


Dynamic Finite Element (DFE) and conventional finite element formulations are developed to study the flexural - torsional vibration and stability of an isotropic, homogeneous and linearly elastic pre-loaded beam subjected to an axial load and end-moment. Various classical boundary conditions are considered. Elementary Euler - Bernoulli bending and St. Venant torsion beam theories were used as a starting point to develop the governing equations and the finite element solutions. The nonlinear Eigenvalue problem resulted from the DFE method was solved using a program code written in MATLAB and the natural frequencies and mode shapes of the system were determined form the Eigenvalues and Eigenvectors, respectively. Similarly, a linear Eigenvalue problem was formulated and solved using a MATLAB code for the conventional FEM method. The conventional FEM results were validated against those available in the literature and ANSYS simulations and the DFE results were compared with the FEM results. The results confirmed that tensile forces increased the natural frequencies, which indicates beam stiffening. On the contrary, compressive forces reduced the natural frequencies, suggesting a reduction in beam stiffness. Similarly, when an end-moment was applied the stiffness of the beam and the natural frequencies diminished. More importantly, when a force and end-moment were acting in combination, the results depended on the direction and magnitude of the axial force. Nevertheless, the stiffness of the beam is more sensitive to the changes in the magnitude and direction of the axial force compared to the moment. A buckling analysis of the beam was also carried out to determine the critical buckling end-moment and axial compressive force.


The development of high-throughput techniques has lead to a paradigm change in biology from the small-scale analysis of individual genes and proteins to a genome-scale analysis of biological systems. Proteins and genes can now be studied in their interaction with each other and the cooperation within multi-subunit protein complexes can be investigated. Moreover, time-dependent dynamics and regulation of these processes and associations can now be explored by monitoring mRNA changes and turnover. The in-depth analysis of these large and complex data sets would not be possible
without sophisticated algorithms for integrating different data sources, identifying interesting patterns in the data
and addressing the high variability and error rates in biological measurements. In this thesis, we developed such methods for the investigation of protein interactions and complexes and the corresponding regulatory processes.

In the first part, we analyze networks of physical protein-protein interactions measured in large-scale experiments. We show that the topology of the complete interactomes can be confidently extrapolated despite high numbers of missing and wrong interactions from only partial measurements of interaction networks. Furthermore, we find that the structure and stability of protein interaction networks is not only influenced by the degree distribution of the network but also considerably by the suppression or propagation of interactions between highly connected proteins. As analysis of network topology is generally focused on large eukaryotic networks, we developed new methods to analyze smaller networks of intraviral and virus-host interactions. By comparing interactomes of related herpesviral species, we could detect a conserved core of protein interactions and could address the low coverage of the yeast two-hybrid system. In addition, common strategies in the interaction of the viruses with the host cell were identified.

New affinity purification methods now make it possible to directly study associations of proteins in complexes. Due to experimental errors the individual protein complexes have to be predicted with computational methods from these purification results. As previously published methods relied more or less heavily on existing knowledge on complexes, we developed an unsupervised prediction algorithm which is independent from such additional data. Using this approach, high-quality protein complexes can be identified from the raw purification data alone for any species purification experiments are performed. To identify the direct, physical interactions within these predicted complexes and their subcomponent structure, we describe a new approach to extract the highest scoring subnetwork connecting the complex and interactions not explained by alternative paths of indirect interactions. In this way, important interactions within the complexes can be identified and their substructure can be resolved in a straightforward way.

 To explore the regulation of proteins and complexes, we analyzed microarray measurements of mRNA abundance, de novo transcription and decay. Based on the relationship between newly transcribed, pre-existing and total RNA,
 transcript half-life can be estimated for individual genes using a new microarray normalization method and a quality control can be applied. We show that precise measurements of RNA half-life can be obtained from de novo transcription which are of superior accuracy to previously published results from RNA decay. Using such precise measurements, we studied RNA half-lives in human B-cells and mouse fibroblasts to identify conserved patterns governing RNA turnover. Our results show that transcript half-lives are strongly conserved and specifically correlated to gene function. Although transcript half-life is highly similar in protein complexes and \mbox{families}, individual proteins may deviate significantly from the remaining complex subunits or family members to efficiently support the regulation of protein complexes or to create non-redundant roles of functionally similar proteins.

These results illustrate several of the many ways in which high-throughput measurements lead to a better understanding
of biological systems. By studying large-scale measure\-ments in this thesis, the structure of protein interaction networks and protein complexes could be better characterized, important interactions and conserved strategies for herpes\-viral infection could be identified and interesting insights could be gained into the regulation of important biological processes and protein complexes. This was made possible by the development of novel algorithms and analysis approaches which will also be valuable for further research on these topics.


Early mature, Pukeiwitahi Formation (Late Cretaceous) coals from Galleon-1 and Endeavour-1 wells in the Canterbury Basin, New Zealand have been analysed by petrographic, bulk chemical and thermal extraction- and pyrolysis-GC techniques and compared with similar coals in the Taranaki Basin to determine the primary controls on their paraffinic oil potential. The Pukeiwitahi coals, which are moderately perhydrous (HI 180–305 mgHC g−1TOC), vitrinite-rich (73–95%) and relatively liptinite-poor (<10%), accumulated in gymnosperm-dominated, planar mires in a temperate, coastal plain environment. Pyrolysate compositions are representative of high-wax, paraffinic–naphthenic–aromatic crude oil-generating coals. Petrographic data and the n-alkyl chain length distributions of extracts and pyrolysates suggest that the long-chain aliphatic hydrocarbons are derived primarily from leaf-derived liptinites (cutinite and liptodetrinite). The paraffinic oil potential of the coals is accordingly dependent on the net amount of leaf biomass in the precursor peats, following partial degradation of the available leaf litter under generally high surface water levels and dilution with other, less paraffinic biomass, particularly wood. The coals in Endeavour-1 generally contain more leaf-derived liptinites than those in Galleon-1 and, thus, have greater paraffinic oil potentials despite commonly lower HI values. Brackish conditions within the depositional environment caused the Galleon-1 and Endeavour-1 coals to be variably enriched in hydrogen but not in aliphatics. HI is, therefore, not a reliable indicator of the paraffinic oil potential of marine-influenced coals.


Retirement on reaching a certain age has long been taken for granted. Moreover, older persons have as a matter of course, been regarded as lesser employees. Demographic trends during the last two to three decades have changed the scene entirely. People live longer and there is a general decline in the birth rate. Hence many countries are re-arranging the deck chairs by increasing the age of retirement, to make it possible to utilise the services of older persons, and by legislating to outlaw discrimination on the ground of old age. This article deals with these new developments, focusing on South African legislation that still discriminates without regard to demographic, social and economic consequences.


English: In the last few decades a number of methods have been proposed for the
acquisition of 3D models from real objects, including 3D scanning, 3D point-
based photography and image-based modeling, among others. These tech-
niques provide users with highly-detailed models, especially for simple and
convex objects, which can be sampled from all the view directions surround-
ing the object. However, the detailed acquisition of very large models of
natural environments is a challenging problem for several reasons, including
inaccessibility (e.g. forest area), insu cient lighting (shadowed areas) and
presence of highly self-similar structures. For example, point-based models
of outdoor environments often combine highly-detailed areas with low-detail
or even unsampled areas. In this work we propose a reconstruction method
for enhancing and enriching the geometry and appearance of point-based
models of natural environments. Although our technique is orthogonal to
the original acquisition technique, we mostly focus on enhancing models ac-
quired through image-based modeling techniques such as multi-view stereo.
Our method uses information from highly-detailed areas to ll unsampled or
poorly sampled areas. Since most components in natural environments, and
in particular the terrain, are fractal by nature, we propose to estimate the
fractal dimension of the surface in highly-detailed areas and to use fractal
generation techniques to both improve the overall appearance by increasing
the amount of detail and ll-in undersampled areas with new geometry hav-
ing similar fractal characteristics.
Our method starts by computing a triangle mesh approximating the input
point-based model. The main purpose of this step is to create a triangle
mesh lling the holes corresponding to poorly sampled regions of the input
model. Then, we subdivide the mesh by using a fractal perturbation scheme until the model has the desired level of detail. The output of our algorithm
is a triangle mesh which approximates the input point-based model but has
much more detail and better appearance. Although the resulting model is
not a faithful copy of the original environment, it provides a plausible visu-
alization with much higher quality and does not su er from undersampled
areas.


Robots that operate in complex physical environments can improve the accuracy of their perception systems by fusing data from complementary sensing modalities. Furthermore, robots capable of motion can physically interact with these environments, and then leverage the sensory information they receive from these interactions. This paper explores the use of sound data as a new type of sensing modality to classify vehicle-terrain interactions from mobile robots operating outdoors, which can complement more typical non-contact sensors that are used for terrain classification. Acoustic data from microphones was recorded on a mobile robot interacting with different types of terrains and objects in outdoor environments. This data was then labeled and used offline to train a supervised multiclass classifier that can distinguish between these interactions based on acoustic data alone. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first time that acoustics has been used to classify a variety of interactions that a vehicle can have with its environment, so part of our contribution is to survey acoustic techniques from other domains and explore their efficacy for this application. The feature extraction methods we implement are derived from this survey, which then serve as inputs to our classifier. The multiclass classifier is then built from Support Vector Machines (SVMs). The results presented show an average of 92% accuracy across all classes, which suggest strong potential for acoustics to enhance perception systems on mobile robots.


Probing protein-deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is gaining popularity as it sheds light on molecular mechanisms that regulate the expression of genes. Currently, tiling-arrays and next-generation sequencing technology can be used to measure these interactions. Both methods generate a signal over the genome in which contiguous regions of peaks on the genome represent the presence of an interacting molecule. Many methods do exist to identify functional regions of interest (ROIs) on the genome. However the detection of ROIs are often not an end-point in research questions and it therefore requires data dragging between tools to relate the ROIs to information present in databases, such as gene-ontology, pathway information, or enrichment of certain genomic content. We introduce hypergeometric analysis of tiling-array and sequence data (HATSEQ), a powerful tool that accurately identifies functional ROIs on the genome where a genomic signal significantly deviates from the general genome-wide behavior. HATSEQ also includes a number of built-in post-analyses with which biological meaning can be attached to the detected ROIs in terms of gene pathways and de-novo motif analysis, and provides differ- ent visualizations and statistical summaries for the detected ROIs. In addition, HATSEQ has an intuitive graphic user interface that lowers the barrier for researchers to analyze their data without the need of scripting languages. We compared the results of HATSEQ against two other popular chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) methods and observed overlap in the detected ROIs but HATSEQ is more specific in delineating the peak boundaries. We also discuss the versatility of HATSEQ by using a Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcrip- tion 1 (STAT1) ChIP-Seq data-set, and show that the detected ROIs are highly specific for the expected STAT1 binding motif. HATSEQ is freely available at: http://hema13.erasmusmc.nl/


Appropriate eye protection is a prerequisite for the safe operation of ultrashort laser systems in industrial and laboratory environments. In this paper we report on the measurement of the transmission of ion-doped phosphate glass filters for pulses having a center wavelength of 800nm, a duration of 10fs to 1.2ps and a fluence range of 0.01 to 30J/cm(2). The measurements suggest, that the filter material preserves its protective features over the whole range. Saturation of absorption was only observed in the picosecond pulse duration range.


How to Tell God From the Devil is the first book to depict the relationship among comedy, the Devil, and God. Drawing from Jewish and Christian theories, Eckardt describes comedy as a means to distinguish the divine from the diabolic. He presents a thorough critique of efforts throughout history to justify God in the presence of radical evil and suffering. How to Tell God From the Devil is a sequel to Eckardt's fascinating earlier study Sitting in the Earth and Laughing. Eckardt offers a theological vision of the comic, and shows its practical use in differentiating God from the Devil. The viewpoint presupposed is a special application of the incongruity theory of humor, which sees humor as an attempt to deal with inexplicable occurrences. Eckardt shows how humor can make faulty explanations tolerable for examining evil and suffering, particularly the notion that God can somehow be "excused" for the terrible evils extant in the world. Eckardt critiques dualistic views that make the Devil and God independent sovereign beings, and monistic views that try to reduce evil to non-being. Eckardt holds God to be ultimately responsible for evil, in such ways that the only final resolution of evil-if there is such-is a form of divine comedy. Eckardt employs a variety of historical, psychological, sociological, philosophical, and theological sources. He discusses and assesses such diverse figures as Martin Luther, Reinhold Niebuhr, Zen Buddhists, Conrad Hyers, Nancy A. Walker, Jon D. Levenson, and Harvey Cox. How to Tell God From The Devil is an exceptional work, and will be significant and enjoyable for sociologists, theologians, philosophers, and specialists concerned with the study of humor.


Let $\gamma_{m,n}$ denote the size of a minimum dominating set in the $m \times n$ grid graph. For the square grid graph, exact values for $\gamma_{n,n}$ have earlier been published for $n \leq 19$. By using a dynamic programming algorithm, the values of $\gamma_{m,n}$ for $m,n \leq 29$ are here obtained. Minimum dominating sets for square grid graphs up to size $29 \times 29$ are depicted.


In this Article, I develop a model of the enforcement of human rights that attempts to account for financial globalization. I advance two principal arguments. First, I argue that, in practical terms, the traditional approach to protecting human rights, documenting violations of human rights to embarrass states into changing their ways, is becoming much less likely to succeed. This reputational approach, often referred to as naming and shaming, has long been the primary mechanism of enforcing human rights norms. Shaming was sometimes accompanied by a form of economic shunning, with countries who violated human rights norms finding it more difficult to find trading partners in the developed world. The rapid economic growth that is characteristic of globalization, particularly in China and India, has altered this dynamic. Increased competition for the raw materials necessary to sustain economic growth has rendered it more difficult to ignore resource-rich states, even if they are regular violators of human rights. Many states no longer face a powerful incentive to maintain a good reputation for compliance with human rights norms. Second, I argue that as the reputations of states have become less critical, the reputations of corporations have become more important. Two relatively new features of financial globalization have changed the picture and created incentives for firms to act as the watchdogs of other firms. The market for capital is now global. It is only a slight exaggeration to say that firms everywhere are competing for the same investors. Similarly, it is no exaggeration to say that firms from around the world are selling their products in the same markets. Thus, as capital and consumer markets have become more integrated, firms now face powerful incentives to police the human rights conduct of their rivals.


Abstract This paper uses an extensive dataset from more than 200 samples to provide a comprehensive source-to-sink analysis of the Amur River and its delta in the Russian Far East. The majority of sand-sized sediment in the Amur River and its former delta comes from upstream of the Lesser Khingan Ridge, shown by uniformity of sediment composition in the lower 1700 km of the river. Stable mineral ratios, U–Pb age spectra and garnet geochemistry show little stratigraphic provenance-specific variation in the Neogene delta. This renders Miocene–Pliocene drainage capture models unlikely. The onset of uplift in the delta is marked by a decrease in the apatite–tourmaline index (ATi) in Upper Pliocene offshore well samples, caused by dissolution of apatite as sediments were uplifted and eroded onshore Sakhalin. These wells also show variable ATi and garnet–zircon index (GZi) values in Lower Miocene samples, which could potentially be used for stratigraphic correlation. A positive correlation between GZi values and distance from the river mouth is attributed to hydrodynamic sorting across the delta system. This has negative implications for the use of this stable mineral index and others of a similar hydraulic equivalence as regional correlation tools on a basin scale (>100 km). Supplementary material: Heavy mineral data, petrographic data, geochronometric data, sample locations available at www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18643.


Since shortly after 9/11, weaponized drones have become part of the fabric of United States policy and practice in countering Islamic terrorist organizations and personnel. Although many diplomats, UN officials, and scholars have criticized the widespread use of this weapon system for "targeted killing," drones are here to stay. But how much investigation and oversight must a democratic country carry out over such a program, and more critically, how can a country do so effectively when the Executive has handed primary responsibility for drone targeted killing attacks to its clandestine forces, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Special Operations Command?
In a confrontation with extremely violent terrorist organizations, the balance between secrecy and transparency is not easily struck. But compiling, in essence, a hit list and telling our secret agents to employ from the safety of a control room a weaponized drone to target individuals on the list demands greater openness. In addition, the line between lawful killing of combatants and extrajudicial taking of life grows increasingly thin, particularly when the state carries out such killings outside of armed conflict zones. A democratic nation and a superpower needs to do more than claim it is in the right and that it complies with international law — that nation must show that it is doing so.
Since they keep their operations and the effects of all their operations secret, the CIA and JSOC cloud the explosive tactic of targeted killing. Consequently, they literally keep the American public and the world community in the dark about deliberate, institutional taking of life. Such a program of secrecy, with little known accountability, leads to speculation about who and why selected persons were killed and to what extent, if any, civilians were included in their number. Furthermore, such secrecy deprives the United States of the opportunity to show it is complying with applicable international humanitarian law and human rights law.
Because terrorist organizations, to a great extent, operate underground in many countries and because they employ guerilla tactics and can inspire lone wolves anywhere on the globe, little chance exists that the U.S. military alone can eliminate the threat of terrorism. The United States and its Western allies need the help of Muslim countries, Muslim governments, and Muslim communities around the world to stop those extremists who would do us harm. Using our secret forces to engage in such killing may, however, undermine the moral authority of the United States, especially in the eyes of Muslims. Such secrecy suggests we have something to hide. Using the CIA and JSOC, on top of the perceived Muslim immigration bans, can only add to distrust of the United States in the Muslim community, whose cooperation is crucial to eliminating the extremists' threat.
Thus, the United States must take away from the CIA and JSOC the responsibility to conduct drone targeted killing attacks and give that authority to more transparent armed service commands.


Digital Signal Processing is not a recent research field, but has become a powerful technology to solve engineering problems in the last few decades due to the intro‐ duction by Texas Instruments in 1982 of the Digital Signal Processor. Fast digital signal processors have quickly become a cornerstone of high-performance electrical drives, where power electronic conversion systems have heavy online computation burdens and must be controlled using complex control algorithms. In this sense, multiphase drives represent a particularly interesting case of study, where the computational cost highly increases with each extra phase. This technology has been recognized in recent times as an attractive electrical drive due to its usefulness in traction, more-electric aircraft applications and wind power generation systems. However, the complexity of the required control algorithms and signal processing techniques notably increases in relation with conventional three-phase drives. This chapter makes a revision of the necessities of a high-performance multiphase drive from the digital signal processing perspective. One of the most powerful Texas Instruments' digital signal processor (TMS320F28335) is used, and specific control algorithms, electronic circuits and acquisition processing methods are designed, implemented and analyzed to show its interest in the development of a high-performance multiphase drive.


Human resources development and the formation of the professional staff of the customs authorities is the basis of ensuring the provision of quality public services. Theoretical analysis. In this article the quality of the personnel is considered as the most important factor shaping the quality of services provided by the customs authorities. Discussion of results. On the example of Saratov Customs we can see that customs makes every effort to organize effective management of processes and resources and maximize the benefits of the knowledge and skills of staff, so that the reduction of staff does not have a significant impact on the quality of customs services in the region of Saratov Customs. Key underpinning for solving these problems are the target indicators of the Customs Development Strategy of Russian Federation until 2020.


We propose an approach to optical wave field spot-size conversion that uses a waveguide structure. An optical wave field is decomposed with a Hermite-Gaussian basis, and we describe its motion with partial differential equations for the field radius and center parameters derived from the propagation of the lower order components. We use the equations to design a spot-size conversion waveguide structure for expanding and reducing a field spot as an example in a quasi-single-mode optical waveguide.


In the present study a novel 2-[{4-(N-(5-methyl-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-yl)sulfamoyl)phenyl}carbamoyl]benzoic acid (MTSPCB) was prepared by reaction of phthalic anhydride with Sulfamethizole. The prepared ligand was characterized by elemental analysis and spectral studies. The transition metal complexes viz. Cu2+, Ni2+ , Co2+ , Mn2+ and Zn2+ of MTSPCB were prepared and characterized by metal-ligand (M:L) ratio, IR, reflectance spectroscopies and magnetic properties. All the prepared metal complexes and ligand were studies as antimicrobial agent. Among all the metal complexes, Zn2+ and Cu2+ metal complexes have shown significant activity.


Liquid-crystalline droplets and polymer particles display unique director configurations because the liquid-crystalline order is confined within non-planar topologies. The director configurations observed result from a balance between bulk and surface interactions and are therefore dependent on parameters such as particle size, host polarity and temperature. We used polar dispersion polymerization to create monodisperse polymer particles in the low micrometer range from a series of nematic monomers with lateral mesogen attachment. In this series of particles we observed a remarkable switch of the director configuration from bipolar to radial as a result of a small increase in the length of alkyl chains on the mesogen. A copolymerization study using mixtures of monomers which display bipolar or radial textures revealed a third confinement texture which was assigned as the twisted radial director configuration. Furthermore, we were able to observe a reversible switch in the director configuration in response to a change in the solvent polarity. In summary, our research reveals that the ordering in nematic polymer particles is influenced by subtle changes in the mesogen structure and that reversible ordering transitions are triggered by changes in the host environment. A clear change in the optical appearance of the particles is observed which provides a mechanism for sensor applications.