This study investigates the sources of difficulties that Damascus University learners face in their composition writing courses at the Department of English Language and
Literature. The research is carried out through a longitudinal study of both the context and the product of writing across a four year EFL writing course. Findings suggest that the writing problems that students face are inherent in the writing pedagogy in current practice at the University.

Most studies in ESL/EFL writing have looked at the final product in isolation from the context in which it has been produced. This work has attempted a study of the process of
teaching and evaluating writing at Damascus University across four years and analysed longitudinally, in the light of the contextual findings, the final products (written under the influence of the context described) of the same group of learners. Research on ESL writing too has focused mainly on the teaching of writing in smaller classes. This work is unique too in having to deal with a large class situation.

In addition to the introduction and conclusion, the thesis comprises six main chapters. The first chapter looks at the theoretical developments in the teaching of Li writing and
their impact on ESL,/EFL perceptions and writing pedagogies. Based on the insights gained from the above survey, chapters two and three attempt to evaluate the Damascus University context of teaching writing across the four year program. Chapters four and five analyse longitudinally the syntactic and the discourse level features of an authentic sample of students' written exam products, produced under the effect of the context of
writing described in chapters two and three. The aim of this is twofold, to investigate the influence of the context on the product of writing and to trace the development that learners make across the four year program. Chapter six incorporates the relevant
theoretical beliefs outlined in the work with an understanding of the Damascus University context to present suggestions for instructional practices that are to make of the writing course a more effective, purposeful and useful one.

The approach to writing pedagogy upheld in this work focuses on the 'process' and 'context' of writing without ignoring the 'product'. Its ultimate aim is not only the
improvement of the writing abilities of learners but also their growth and development through the composing experience.


Preface. Chapter 1: Internal Control, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board. Internal Controls over Property, Plant, and Equipment Mandatory but Weak. Internal Controls over Working Capital. Securities and Exchange Commission and Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Scrutiny of Financial Statements. Why Do Auditors Not Spend More Time on Property, Plant, and Equipment? Who Is Responsible for Internal Control over Property, Plant, and Equipment? What Is So Hard about the Job? . Note. Chapter 2: Capitalization versus Expense. Capitalization Theory. Why Capitalization Levels Matter. Consequences of Increasing Minimum Capitalization Level. What Is the Optimum Capitalization Limit? Summary. Note. Chapter 3: Asset Life Cycle Controls and Software. Software Is the Key. Input, Output, and Reporting Capability. How to Evaluate Software Vendors. Assign Responsibility for Implementation and Beyond. Charging Departments Will Ensure Individual Responsibility. Return on Investment Analysis. Summary. Note. Chapter 4: Depreciation and Amortization for Books and Taxes. Internal Control for Depreciable Tangible Assets. Determining Useful Lives Whenever New Assets Are Acquired. Choosing Accounting Lives. How Valuation Specialists Determine Economic Lives. Determining Lives for Intangible Assets. Changing Lives and Depreciation for Existing Assets. Leasing as a Way to Utilize Depreciation. Summary. Note. Chapter 5: Impairment Testing. Testing Intangible Assets That Are Not Amortized. Testing for Impairment of Property, Plant, and Equipment, and Amortizable Intangibles. Reviewing Lives for Assets Already in Service. Testing for Goodwill. Reporting Units. Determining the Fair Value of a Reporting Unit. Phase II Test of Accounting Standards Codification 350. Understanding Impairment Charges. Summary. Note. Chapter 6: Physical Control of Property, Plant, and Equipment. Tagging of Property, Plant, and Equipment. Alternative Tagging Methods. Barcode Tagging. Radio Frequency Identification Tags. Asset Tagging for Expensed Assets. Recommendation. Summary. Notes. Chapter 7: Taking a Physical Inventory. Planning and Using the Physical Inventory. Who Should Be Responsible? Use Own Staff, or Outsource? What Minimum Dollar Cutoff Should We Use? Initial Effort Partial Facility versus Total. The $64,000 Question Assets to Listing or Listing to Assets? Reconciliation of the Inventory to the Records. Fully Depreciated Assets. Reconciliation Process. Revised Asset Lives. Summary. Note. Chapter 8: Reconciliation of Physical Inventory to Accounting Records. Two Approaches to Reconciliation. Ghost Assets. Zombie Assets. Netting Out Ghost and Zombie Assets Is It Permissible? Netting Out Gains and Losses. Performing the Inventory and Reconciliation Piecemeal. Summary. Chapter 9: Fixed Assets in a Business Combination. Carryover of Target s Book Value. Applying Indexes to the Target Company s Asset Register. Inaccuracies in the Target s Asset Property Register. Detailed Valuation of Property, Plant, and Equipment. Summary. Note. Chapter 10: Insurance for Fixed Assets. Using the Master Property Record for Insurance. Insurable Values Are NOT Fair Value or Fair Market Value. How Appraisers Determine Insurable Values. Indexing. Proof of Loss. Summary. Chapter 11: Property Taxes Personal Property and Real Estate. Reporting Fair Market Values upon Acquisition. Equity among Taxpayers. Appealing Personal Property Tax Assessments. Indexed Costs May Not Reflect Fair Market Value of Property, Plant, and Equipment. Real Estate Taxes and Appeals. Contingency Consultants. Summary. Note. Chapter 12: Developing the Fair Value of Fixed Assets. What Is the Fair Value of Property, Plant, and Equipment? Value in-Use of Property, Plant, and Equipment. What Would Happen if Fair Value Reporting for Property, Plant, and Equipment Was Required? Connection between Fair Value and Book Value. What Would Investors Learn from Fair Value Disclosures of Property, Plant, and Equipment? Summary. Chapter 13: Control of Fixed Assets under International Financial Reporting Standards. Component Depreciation. Asset Revaluation. Investment Property. What Is the Cost of Property, Plant, and Equipment? Summary. Note. Chapter 14: Component Depreciation for Buildings. International Financial Reporting Standards Has a Different Approach. Component Depreciation for Taxes. Complying with Internal Revenue Service Requirements. Internal Revenue Service Review of a Cost Segregation Study. Cost Segregation Study for New Construction. Will Cost Segregation Lower My Property Tax Expenses? Componentization for Financial Reporting. Summary. Note. Appendix: Excerpt of Internal Revenue Service Cost Segregation Audit Guide. Introduction. What Are the Most Common Methodologies Utilized for Cost Segregation Studies? What Are the Attributes of Various Cost Segregation Methodologies? Detailed Engineering Approach from Actual Cost Records. About the Author. Index.


Based on the last observation in the learning process for childhood musical skill in PG-PAUD Nusantara PGRI Kediri University, we can conclude that the ability of the students in theories and practice is low. One of the example is the result of song particles in the form of number notations is not proportional. Because of that problem, we can make material of evaluation to increase the ability of students in the musical skill continually. Because of that reason, we need the best inovation in the learning process for making song particles in the form of number notations through "Parnumation 3.0" media. Through this media which is transformation of technology, we hope that students can increase their ability to make song particles in the form of number notation.


Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) patients who develop Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) have limited survival. No current therapeutic standard of care exists. We conducted a multi-center retrospective study of patients with Hodgkin transformation (HT) of CLL. Clinicobiologic characteristics, treatment type, and survival outcomes were analyzed and compared with historic case series. Ninety-four patients were identified. Median age at HT was 67 years (range, 38-85). Median time from CLL diagnosis to HT was 5.5 years (range, 0-20.2). Prior to HT, patients received a median of two therapies for CLL (range, 0-12). As initial therapy for HT, 61% (n=62) received ABVD-based regimens (adriamycin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine). Seven (7%) patients received hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) while in first complete remission (CR1). The median number of treatments for HT per patient was one (range, 0-5) with 59 (61%) patients only receiving one line of therapy. After HT, patients had a median follow-up of 1.6 years (range, 0-15.1). Two-year overall survival (OS) after HT diagnosis was 72% (95% Confidence Interval: 62-83). The patients who received standard ABVD-based therapy had a median OS of 13.2 years. Although limited by small sample size, the patients who underwent HCT for HT in CR1 had a similar 2-year OS (n=7; 67%) compared to patients who did not undergo HCT for HT in CR1 (n=87; 72%; P=0.46). In this multi-center study, HT patients treated with ABVD-based regimens had prolonged survival supporting the use of these regimens as standard of care for these patients.


Diode-laser-based sum-frequency generation of ultraviolet (UV) radiation at 313.5 nm was utilized for high-speed absorption measurements of OH mole fraction and temperature at rates up to 20 kHz. Sensor performance was characterized over a wide range of operating conditions in a 25.4 mm path-length, steady, C2H4-air diffusion flame through comparisons with coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS), planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF), and a two-dimensional numerical simulation with detailed chemical kinetics. Experimental uncertainties of 5% and 11% were achieved for measured temperatures and OH mole fractions, respectively, with standard deviations of < 3% at 20 kHz and an OH detection limit of < 1 part per million in a 1 m path length. After validation in a steady flame, high-speed diode-laser-based measurements of OH mole fraction and temperature were demonstrated for the first time in the unsteady exhaust of a liquid-fueled, swirl-stabilized combustor. Typical agreement of approximately 5% was achieved with CARS temperature measurements at various fuel/air ratios, and sensor precision was sufficient to capture oscillations of temperature and OH mole fraction for potential use with multiparameter control strategies in combustors of practical interest.


The transition from the fed to the fasted resting state is characterized by, among other things, changes in lipid metabolism and peripheral insulin resistance. Acylcarnitines have been suggested to play a role in insulin resistance, as well as other long-chain fatty acid metabolites. Plasma levels of long-chain acylcarnitines increase during fasting, but this is unknown for muscle long-chain acylcarnitines. In the present study we investigated whether muscle long-chain acylcarnitines increase during fasting and we investigated their relationship with glucose/fat oxidation and insulin sensitivity in lean healthy humans. After 14 h and 62 h of fasting, glucose fluxes, substrate oxidation, and plasma and muscle acylcarnitines were measured before and during a hyperinsulinaemic-euglycaemic clamp. Hyperinsulinaemia decreased long-chain muscle acylcarnitines after 14 h of fasting, but not after 62 h of fasting. In both the basal state and during the clamp, glucose oxidation was lower and fatty acid oxidation was higher after 62 h compared with 14 h of fasting. Absolute changes in glucose and fatty acid oxidation in the basal compared with hyperinsulinaemic state were not different. Muscle long-chain acylcarnitines did not correlate with glucose oxidation, fatty acid oxidation or insulin-mediated peripheral glucose uptake. After 62 h of fasting, the suppression of muscle long-chain acylcarnitines by insulin was attenuated compared with 14 h of fasting. Muscle long-chain acylcarnitines do not unconditionally reflect fatty acid oxidation. The higher fatty acid oxidation during hyperinsulinaemia after 62 h compared with 14 h of fasting, although the absolute decrease in fatty acid oxidation was not different, suggests a different set point.


A dynamic simulation method for multi-body systems is presented in this paper. The special feature of this method is that it satisfies all given constraints by computing impulses. In each simulation step the joint states after the step are predicted. In order to obtain valid states after the simulation step, impulses are computed and applied to the connected bodies. Since a valid joint state is targeted exactly, there is no drift as the simulation proceeds in time and so no additional stabilisation is required. In previous approaches the impulses for a multi-body system were computed iteratively. Since dependencies between joints were not taken into account, the simulation of complex models was slow. A novel method is presented that uses a system of linear equations to describe these dependencies. By solving this typically sparse system the required impulses are determined. This method allows a very fast simulation of complex multi-body systems.


A multidisciplinary study of living plants and herbarium specimens of what was hitherto known as Pelargonium moniliforme Drège ex Harv. (section Hoarea (Sweet) DC.) reveals two different taxa: P. moniliforme, which can reach a height of 400mm when in flower and P. vinaceum EM Marais, which only reaches a height of 180mm in exceptional cases. P. moniliforme also has larger flowers and longer hypanthia than P. vinaceum. The leaves of P. vinaceum are covered with short glandular hairs with appressed bristles along the margins, whereas those of P. moniliforme have long glandular hairs interspersed with soft patent hairs and with appressed or patent stiff hairs along the margins. P. moniliforme always has five fertile stamens, in contrast to the two to four in P. vinaceum. In addition, the taxa have different distributions and flowering times. P. moniliforme has a more southern distribution, in an area with an annual precipitation of 150–350mm, and flowers in September when leaves are still present. P. vinaceum occurs more to the north in an area with an annual rainfall of less than 150mm, and flowers in October and November after the leaves have died. Similarities in the flower and leaf morphology, leaf anatomy and karyology reveal a close relationship between the two species. Illustrations of the two species are provided as well as a combined map of the rainfall figures and the distributions of the two species.


We present flux measurements of dissolved silicon (DSi), biogenic Si (BSi), and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and phosphorus (DIP) on a temperate salt marsh in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, over neap, mid, and spring tide cycles during the spring and the summer seasons to determine the stoichiometry of marsh tidal export and the potential effect on Si availability in the receiving estuary. During the spring, when incoming waters were depleted in DSi (average 1.7 µmol L−1), the marsh was a net sink of BSi (132 mol h−1) and a source of DSi (31 mol h−1) to the estuary. During this period, the DIN : DSi ratio of ebbing water was more than five times lower than that of flood water. Together, these data indicate that marsh nutrient fluxes "outwell" nutrients in ratios that support spring diatom growth in Narragansett Bay. However, during the entire sampling period the marsh served as a net sink for both DSi and BSi, importing, on average, 14 mol DSi h−1 and 86 mol BSi h−1. We hypothesize that the net import and retention of Si by salt marshes provides a previously overlooked ecosystem service of increasing the residence time of Si in estuarine systems. In the absence of salt marshes, we calculate that 5.1 × 104 kmol of Si would be exported from the estuary during the growing season, decreasing the availability of Si in the system and having direct repercussions for phytoplankton species composition in nearby estuarine waters.


ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to examine how and to what extent preservice teachers (PSTs) who engage in teacher inquiry develop a critical reflective stance towards their teaching practices in early childhood classrooms. As we, a team of early childhood teacher educators, incorporated teacher inquiry into our reformed early childhood teacher preparation program and adopted critical reflection as our theoretical framework, we were interested in investigating our PSTs' engagement and enactment of teacher inquiry. This study analyzed early childhood PSTs' final teacher inquiry projects to examine their understanding of the inquiry cycle, selection of inquiry topics and rationales, and varying roles inquiry played in their professional learning. The findings suggest that careful and critical considerations should be given to PSTs' teacher inquiry so that its full potential to transform teaching and learning may be optimized and avoid use as a reproduction tool to reinforce existing school culture and practices.


In recent years, the Interleave-Division Multiple-Access (IDMA) scheme has attracted the attention of researchers to be a promising candidate for next generation networks. And Since then numerous technical papers about IDMA have been published in the literature. In this paper, we have simulated the IDMA scheme with various interleavers and modulation mechanism to establish the fact that tree based interleaver along with QPSK modulation mechanism performs better than other mechanisms. It has also been shown that the tree based interleaver is the optimum interleaver for IDMA receivers because it is the best solution to fading at low cost and without requirement of extra bandwidth.


A fenestration in the left ovarian vein was found in a fresh-frozen female cadaver. The opening did not have any vessels or additional anatomical structures passing through it. The ovarian vein is also referred to as the female gonadal vein. This type of anatomical variation is clinically relevant in procedures that deal with the manipulation of the gonadal veins, specifically conditions such as ovarian vein thrombosis, ovarian vein stenosis, and pelvic congestion syndrome.


The paper discusses the apartheid state's onslaught against the limited rights enjoyed by Africans in urban areas in the 1960s. It focuses attention on the "modern model township" of Daveyton, which was seen in the early years of apartheid as a space where a settled urban African working class could be assured of a permanent presence in "white" urban spaces. But, crucial changes to apartheid policies from the late 1950s saw a reversal of these initial intentions and resulted in African's urban existence constantly being under threat. Not only were the very limited "urban rights" further eroded but, importantly, "official" local politics was eviscerated of any substance, even to its conservative participants.


Abstract The association between treatment of pregnant women with diethylstilbestrol (DES) and reproductive tract abnormalities in their female offspring is well known. Reports of comparable in utero exposure in animals are few. In this paper, pregnant outbred mice were treated s.c. with daily doses of DES ranging from 0.01 to 100 µg/kg on Days 9 to 16 of gestation. This period corresponds with major organogenesis of the reproductive tract in the mouse. Additional groups of pregnant mice were treated during the same time interval with 100-µg/kg doses of either dimethylstilbestrol (DMS), a weakly estrogenic estructural analog of DES, or 17β-estradiol, a potent steroidal estrogen. When female offspring of mice gestationally exposed to DES were sacrificed at 12 to 18 months of age, lesions were found throughout their reproductive tracts. The vagina was characterized by excess keratinization and female hypospadias, and, at the dose of 100 µg/kg, 5 of 20 mice had epidermoid tumors of the vagina; in one of the 35 mice derived from mothers treated with DES (10 µg/kg), vaginal adenocarcinoma was observed. The cervix in the DES-exposed offspring was enlarged, even though the size of its lumen was not different from that in the controls. Stromal stimulation of the cervix was apparent, and a low incidence of benign (leiomyoma, papilloma) as well as malignant (stromal cell sarcoma, leiomyosarcoma) tumors were seen. There was evidence of stimulation in the epithelium, and stroma of the uterus and cystic endometrial hyperplasia was common; a low incidence of benign (leiomyomas) and malignant (adenocarcinoma, stromal cell sarcoma) tumors was observed. The ovaries of prenatally DES-treated females were cystic more often than were those of the corresponding controls; at the highest dose, three ovarian tumors were noted, and the fallopian tubes were inflamed and congenitally malformed. Genital tract tumors were not seen in 85 control females or in the 12 or 10 females exposed prenatally to estradiol or DMS, respectively. In fact, in 12- to 13-month-old females derived from mice exposed during pregnancy to DES (100 µg/kg), common findings, which were absent or in very low incidence in control, estradiol-treated, or DMS-treated mice, included: vaginal concretions and excess keratinization; cervical enlargement; uterine squamous metaplasia and cystic endometrial hyperplasia; and oviductal malformations. The differences in effects among DES, estradiol, and DMS may be linked to differences in relative bioavailability of the compounds to the fetal target tissue. The results presented suggest a role for different embryonic rudiments as well as for tissue components in the observed long-term effects of gestational exposure to DES on the female reproductive tract. Moreover, such prenatal studies with DES in mice may be helpful in understanding the role of estrogens in the functional development of the genital tract and may ultimately provide a useful experimental model.


The handling of complex numbers in the $C^H$ programming language will be described in this paper. Complex is a built-in data type in $C^H$. The I/O, arithmetic and relational operations, and built-in mathematical functions are defined for both regular complex numbers and complex metanumbers of ComplexZero, Complexlnf, and ComplexNaN. Due to polymorphism, the syntax of complex arithmetic and relational operations and built-in mathematical functions are the same as those for real numbers. Besides polymorphism, the built-in mathematical functions are implemented with a variable number of arguments that greatly simplify computations of different branches of multiple-valued complex functions. The valid lvalues related to complex numbers are defined. Rationales for the design of complex features in $C^H$ are discussed from language design, implementation, and application points of views. Sample $C^H$ programs show that a computer language that does not distinguish the sign of zeros in complex numbers can also handle the branch cuts of multiple-valued complex functions effectively so long as it is appropriately designed and implemented.


Landscape in the southern United States changed dramatically during the 1930s and the following decades when massive agricultural and abandoned logging lands were converted to forest lands through natural restoration and silviculture. The impacts of this forest restoration on hydrology were investigated in this study by conducting numerical experiments with a regional climate model. Climatic and hydrological conditions for the months of January and July during an 8‐year period were simulated with prior and post forest conversion land cover, respectively. The assembled results of the simulations and experiments during the period indicate that overall precipitation decreases in July and increases in January in the restoration region (RR) in response to the restoration, mainly caused by the reduction in the corresponding prevailing winds due to increased surface roughness. Evapotranspiration and root‐layer soil moisture increase in both months, mainly caused by the changes in vegetation and soil properties. Solar radiation increases due to smaller albedo, most of which is used to increase sensible heat. Large increases in July precipitation, evapotranspiration, and runoff in the remote central Midwest are found, resulting from the change in the large‐scale atmospheric circulation. The implications of the results for the projected vegetation changes due to the climate change and the silviculture project in the Southeast in the future are discussed. Published in 2010. This article is a US Government work and is in the publich domain in the USA.


Perovskite-based photovoltaics have, in recent years, become poised to revolutionise the solar industry. While there have been many approaches taken to the deposition of this material, one-step spin-coating remains the simplest and most widely used method in research laboratories. Although spin-coating is not recognised as the ideal manufacturing methodology, it represents a starting point from which more scalable deposition methods, such as slot-dye coating or ink-jet printing can be developed. Here, we introduce a new, low-boiling point, low viscosity solvent system that enables rapid, room temperature crystallisation of methylammonium lead triiodide perovskite films, without the use of strongly coordinating aprotic solvents. Through the use of this solvent, we produce dense, pinhole free films with uniform coverage, high specularity, and enhanced optoelectronic properties. We fabricate devices and achieve stabilised power conversion efficiencies of over 18% for films which have been annealed at 100 °C, and over 17% for films which have been dried under vacuum and have undergone no thermal processing. This deposition technique allows uniform coating on substrate areas of up to 125 cm2, showing tremendous promise for the fabrication of large area, high efficiency, solution processed devices, and represents a critical step towards industrial upscaling and large area printing of perovskite solar cells.


Kaposi sarcoma is the most common malignant tumour associated with HIV infection. In the majority of cases oral tissues are involved and in 22% the initial presentation is in the oral cavity. The oral lesions are either single or multifocal, and the palate, gingiva and tongue are the sites most frequently involved. The pathogenesis of Kaposi sarcoma in HIV-seropositive subjects is complex. It involves interaction between human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) and HIV, altered cellular signal transduction pathways, and increased production of cytokines and growth factors. The multifactorial nature and clinical stages in the growth of oral Kaposi sarcoma are discussed.


Synthetic mooring lines are becoming a popular alternative to conventional chain mooring systems. For marine renewable energy devices, they have been considered as an enabling technology for this nascent sector, given their reduced costs and ease of deployment. However, the extreme operating environment has led to an increased interest in the 'in-situ' condition monitoring of these mooring lines. This paper considers the use of polymer fibre optic technology and the optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR) technique for the condition monitoring of synthetic mooring lines. To establish the operating envelope of the fibres, Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) polymer optical fibres are mechanically tested. Additionally, an OTDR is used to monitor fibres whilst under elongation using a tensile test machine, and the sensitivity of the system in monitoring strain is established. At the lowest strain rate, the average proportional limit and yield points of the fibres are found at 1.16% strain and 5.41% strain, respectively. Fatigue exposure of fibres up to 1.25% strain identifies no measurable effect on fibres' proportional limit or yield point. The occurrence of significant creep is identified for fibres strained beyond 1.5%. The OTDR system is able to identify strains at and above 4%. The study identifies important criteria that should be considered in the integration of polymer optical fibres for mooring applications. Limitations are discussed and suggestions for progressing this technology are provided.


This collection of the papers of Tony Honore, is taken from his work in the field of legal philosophy over the last quarter century. The introductory essay is followed by three chapters describing the building blocks of legal systems - groups or societies, laws, and the motives to obey or conform. Succeeding papers discuss norms and obligations, rights and justice, analysing such fundamentals as ownership, property rights and the assertion of rights. The book concludes with an essay arguing for the use of law to encourage or reinforce morality.


The large-scale production of crop-based biofuels has been one of the fastest and most controversial global changes of recent years. Global biofuel outputs increased six-fold between 2000 and 2010, and a growing number of countries are adopting biofuel promotion policies. Meanwhile, multilateral bodies have been created, and a patchwork of biofuel policies is emerging. This article investigates the global biofuel policy context and analyzes its nature, its institutional architecture, and issues of access and allocation. Our assessment reveals a density of national policies but a paucity of international consensus on norms and rules. We argue that the global biofuel context remains a non-regime and that it has overlooked serious issues of access even as a risky North-South allocation pattern is created. Although biofuel governance is not completely absent, existing international institutions do not take account of the different voices in the debate and leave a large vacuum of unaddressed social and environmental issues.


When the world's most populous nation, commanding ample resources and a booming economy, begins to strengthen militarily, it cannot help but draw attention to itself. China has indeed done so through naval expansion in recent years and the upgrading of all aspects of its forces. While it has reassured the world of its peaceful intentions, speculation as to its motives is understandable. Intentions may, of course, be inferred from capability; but most strategic analysts recognise that capability alone is not enough. Rather than focusing on capability, this paper subscribes to the view that intentions are better understood if examined within the context of culture and philosophy. Moreover, as the central concern over China's changing military profile is one of the implications of expanding national power, Chinese perceptions of power need to be addressed. The findings can be thoughtprovoking: If it is a truism that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, how does this rest with the traditional Chinese conception of power as virtue? Will the world, under the influence of stronger Chinese leadership conditions in the 21st Century, be assimilated into an alternative power system a 'power politics' of virtue? This question issues from the discussion in Part One (previous paper) of the Daoist perspective of international relations.(1) It concludes with the weight of cultural-philosophical evidence in favour of responsible statecraft on the part of the world's biggest and potentially most


In view of the extensive use of Cr as a grain growth inhibitor in WC-Co cemented carbides this thesis comprises a combined experimental and ab initio study of a number of critical issues pertaining to phase equilibria of the subsystems to the W-Co-Cr-C system.To be able to predict which of the stable Cr-carbides forms above the solubility limits of Cr and C in the fcc phase the respective solubility of Co in Cr23C6, Cr7C3 and Cr3C2 are investigated experimentally. Furthermore, the site occupancies of Co in Cr7C3 are investigated by neutron diffraction as a first step towards a more realistic model for this phase.The energetics of the ternary intermetallic R-phase and the unstable Co3C2 end-member compound are investigated by density functional theory. For Co3C2, the quasi-harmonic vibrational Gibbs energy is also calculated.By subsequent CALPHAD assessment an improved thermodynamic description is developed and its agreement with experiment is investigated. The resulting thermodynamic description allows for improved accuracy in predicting the formation of carbide phases as a function of C content and Co/Cr ratio as well as liquidus and solidus temperatures.Remaining issues may be attributed to the thermodynamic description of the W-Cr-C system and the stability of the Cr-based carbides in the Cr-C system. In the case of the Cr-based carbides, severe experimental scatter prevents an accurate determination of the stability of either of them. As a first attempt to resolve the situation, a state of the art ab initio approach is applied to calculate the finite temperature thermodynamic properties of Cr3C2, benchmarked with reported heat capacity and relative thermal expansion measurements.


Cardiolipin (CL) is an essential phospholipid for mitochondrial structure and function. Here we present a small mitochondrial protein, NERCLIN, as a negative regulator of CL homeostasis and mitochondrial ultrastructure. Primate-specific NERCLIN is expressed ubiquitously from GRPEL2 locus on a tightly regulated low level, but induced by heat stress. NERCLIN overexpression severely disrupts mitochondrial cristae structure and induces mitochondrial fragmentation. Proximity labeling suggested interactions of NERCLIN with CL synthesis and prohibitin complexes on the matrix side of the inner mitochondrial membrane. Lipid analysis indicated that NERCLIN regulates mitochondrial CL content. The regulation may occur directly through interaction with PTPMT1, a proximal partner on the CL synthesis pathway, as its product phosphatidylglycerol was also reduced by NERCLIN. We propose that NERCLIN contributes to stress-induced adaptation of mitochondrial dynamics and turnover by regulating the mitochondrial CL content. Our findings add NERCLIN to the group of recently identified small mitochondrial proteins with important regulatory functions.


When Joshua Lederberg (known to friends and colleagues as Josh) died on 2 February 2008, the world lost one of the most extraordinary scientists of the twentieth century. It is difficult to write an adequate memorial for him, or to convey on paper the outpouring of admiration and affection expressed in written and oral presentations by experts in widely diverse fields of inquiry. Even listing his various interests and achievements is a formidable task, and adequately evaluating the importance of his contributions to science and society is almost impossible. As the founding father of bacterial genetics, Lederberg was the first to demonstrate the conjugal transfer of genetic markers in bacteria. Together with his associates, he went on to make many more discoveries that laid the foundations of molecular genetics. For this work he received the 1958 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, sharing the award with G. W. Beadle and E. L. Tatum. While retaining an interest in bacterial genetics, he went on to explore and make seminal contributions to numerous other disciplines including exobiology (a term he coined), the application of computers and artificial intelligence to chemistry and medicine, and the epistemology of science. He advised US presidents and international organizations on a wide variety of issues, and devoted a prodigious amount of time and effort to the task of informing policy makers and the larger public on important scientific matters. Joshua Lederberg was a man not only of towering intellect but also of impeccable integrity and dedication to human welfare.


This study examines 1) the direct effects of job-related, organization and managerial practice variables on trust in management; 2) the direct effects of organizational and managerial practice variables on commitment to change; 3) the indirect effects of these three variables on commitment to change through trust in management. The job-related variables consist of feedback, job autonomy, employee participation and goal clarity. The organizational variables studied include procedural justice, perceived organizational support, transformational leadership, and shared values. The managerial practice variables consist of opportunistic behavior and communication. Data were gathered from 294 managers in a service provider organization in Malaysia using self-administered questionnaires. The study used structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis to determine the direct and indirect effects of determinant variables on trust in management and commitment to change. The results of structural equation modeling analysis indicated the need for a revised version of the model. It was found that job related variables had direct effects on trust in management and commitment to change. However, organizational and managerial practice variables had no significant direct effects on trust in management and commitment to change. The effects of determinant variables on commitment to change were not mediated by trust in management.
In conclusion, this study found that the determinants of trust in management and commitment to change strongly related to the way job-related variables among the managers in Organization X were managed. Hence, it is highly pertinent for the management team to pay close attention to feedback, job autonomy, employee participation, and goal clarity in order to gain greater trust and commitment to change in the organization. The management in Organization X has to ensure that people affected by the change agree with, or at least understand, the need for change, and have a chance to decide how the change will be managed, and to be involved in the planning and implementation of the change. Theoretically, this study contributes to the expansion of the commitment and trust model. The dynamic relationships among the variables involved in the organizational change commitment model might result in other probable competing or rival models that could be studied in the future.


In this paper, a new approach for Self-evolving PArameter-free fuzzy Rule-based Controller (SPARC) is proposed. Two illustrative examples are provided aiming a proof of concept. The proposed controller can start with no pre-defined fuzzy rules, and does not need to pre-define the range of the output or control variables. This SPARC learns autonomously from its own actions while performing the control of the plant. It does not use any parameters, explicit membership functions, any off-line pre-training nor the explicit model (e.g. in a form of differential equations) of the plant. It combines the relative older concept of indirect adaptive control with the newer concepts of (self-)evolving fuzzy rule-based systems (and controllers, in particular) and with the very recent concept of parameter-free, data cloud and data density based fuzzy rule based systems (and controllers in particular). It has been demonstrated that a fully autonomously and in an unsupervised manner (based only on the data density and selecting representative prototypes/focal points from the control hyper-surface acting as a data space) it is possible generate a parameter-free control structure and evolve it in on-line mode. Moreover, the results demonstrate that this autonomous controller is effective (has comparative error and performance characteristics) to other known controllers, including self-learning ones, but surpasses them with its flexibility and extremely lean structure (small number of prototypes/focal points which serve as seeds to form parameter-free and membership function-free fuzzy rules based on them). The illustrative examples aim primarily proof of concept.


Internationally there have been serious efforts to identify effective modes of delivering civic education for preparing youth for the future challenges of citizenship. This article addresses the research question, 'why is an independent subject not preferred in civic education by Hong Kong civic education teachers?'. It starts with a brief review of international debates and of the development of civic education policy in Hong Kong. Then it moves on to discuss why teachers tend to reject civic education as an independent subject based on the findings from an interview informed research study. The findings reveal that teachers' misunderstandings of the nature of civic education are the major reasons. Treating civic education as comprising educational activities involving the nurturing of attitudes, values and skills of students with little content knowledge, the teachers consider that civic education is best accomplished through, for example, extra-curricular activities and not as a subject that demands time slots in the school timetable. It is argued that these misunderstandings will have negative impacts on the effectiveness of civic education, which is unfavourable to the nurturing of democratic cultures necessary for the development of the democratic system in Hong Kong and has to be rectified. Lastly, some recommendations for rectification that relate to civil society are discussed. Hopefully, this article can shed light on the understanding of the preferences towards the modes of implementation of front line practitioners in schools internationally, since this phenomenon is common in some other nations.


The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act intensified debates over the role of government in the distribution of healthcare. A nationally-representative sample of Americans reported their estimated and ideal distributions of healthcare (unmet need for prescription medications) and death (gains in life expectancy). Respondents across the demographic and political spectrum wanted mortality and healthcare to be distributed more evenly among the rich and poor than they estimated them to be. For example, respondents estimated that Americans in the poorest quintile lived 1.5 months longer over the previous 20 years while those in the richest quintile lived 4.7 months longer, but reported ideal figures of 2.5 and 3.6 months – both were far more equal than the actual figures: -1.8 and 7.2 months. Despite heated debates about healthcare, Americans share a consensus belief that current disparities in death and healthcare are far from their ideals.


Human ribosomal protein S3 (rpS3), which has a DNA repair endonuclease activity, is a multifunctional protein. This protein is involved in DNA repair, translation, and apoptosis. In particular, rpS3 has a lyase activity, which cleaves the phosphodiester bond of damaged sites such as cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and AP sites. Here, using deletion analysis, we identified that the repair endonuclease domain resides in the C-terminal region (165-243aa) of rpS3. We also found that ectopic expression of GST-rpS3 in bacterial strain BL21 promoted the resistance of these cells to ultraviolet (UV) radiation and hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) treatment. The repair domain of rpS3 was sufficient to exhibit the resistance to UV irradiation and recover cell growth and viability, showing that the repair activity of rpS3 is responsible for the resistance to UV irradiation. Our study suggests that rpS3 is able to process DNA damage in bacteria via its repair domain, showing the resistance to genotoxic stress. This implies that rpS3-like activity could be operative in bacteria.


This article examines the collusion between the only two major banks to operate in British West Africa for most of the colonial period after 1916, Barclays and the Bank of British West Africa. The companies' records reveal that the alliance was more far-reaching than has previously been shown, escalating to include not only comprehensive price-fixing but also restrictions on the products offered. The article considers the reactions of African and European customers and the colonial governments, and analyzes the motives that sustained the collusion for so long and the political circumstances that permitted it. The arrangement was partly a defensive response to a perception that the market was too small for full rivalry, but there was a rent-seeking element too. Finally, the article explores the implications of the bank alliance for the broader economies, reflecting on the relation between the security that the banks achieved through their agreements and their very cautious lending policies.


The current study examined the venoms of the following eight species of snakes: Naja haje, Naja kaouthia, Naja melanoleuca, Naja mossambica, Naja nigricollis, Naja siamensis, Naja sputatrix and Pseudechis australis. The first seven species are cobras, from the genus Naja, and are found throughout Africa and Asia, while the king brown/mulga snake (P. australis) is native to Australia. Cobras (Naja spp.) are a medically important species of snake as they are one of the major contributors to the incidence of snakebite in Africa and Asia. In the current study, a pharmacological profile of the neurotoxic and coagulant activity of each of the seven snakes was established. The data indicated that the rank order neurotoxic potency (based on t90 values), from most to least potent, was: N. kaouthia > N. sputatrix > N. melanoleuca > N. haje > N. mossambica > N. siamensis > N. nigricollis. Further studies also confirmed the presence of anticoagulant proteins in all seven Naja spp. venoms tested. Following from these preliminary findings, experiments examining the in vitro effectiveness of antivenoms were completed using Egyptian cobra (Naja haje) venom, as this snake has been documented to come in contact regularly with humans in northern Africa (i.e. it is the snake of choice for charmers and street performers). Antivenom cross-reactivity (also known as paraspecificity or cross-neutralisation) is when an antivenom raised against a distinct snake venom is effective in neutralising the venom from an unrelated species. In these experiments, native commercial antivenom (i.e. CSL Ltd) raised against the tiger snake (Notechis scutatus) effectively neutralised the neurotoxic activity of Egyptian cobra venom. Likewise, antivenom raised against the Egyptian cobra was able to neutralise the neurotoxic effect of tiger snake venom. This may be due to immunological and biochemical similarities within the elapid family of snakes. Subsequently, an α-neurotoxin (α-elapitoxin-Nh1) was isolated from the Egyptian cobra venom and was pharmacologically characterised. α-Elapitoxin-Nh1 abolished nerve-mediated twitches with a t90 value of one third the time of the whole venom (i.e. ~12 min versus ~38 min). Moreover, α-elapitoxin-Nh1 inhibited cumulative concentration-response curves to carbachol in the unstimulated chick biventer cervicis nerve-muscle preparation with a calculated pA2 value of 8.2, i.e. approximately 80 times more potent that d-tubocurarine. The molecular weight of α-elapitoxin-Nh1 was 6812 Da, and partial amino acid sequencing showed a high sequence homology with other elapid toxins isolated from Naja spp. venoms, as well as toxins from Australian elapids such as α-scutoxin-1 (O. s. scutellatus) and oxylepitoxin-1 (O. microlepidotus). The clinical outcomes due to the presence of anticoagulant proteins in snake venoms can be significant after snakebite, yet the mechanism behind these effects is still not fully understood. To gain further insight into these toxins, an anticoagulant protein (Ac-Pa1) was isolated from the venom of the king brown (mulga) snake (Pseudechis australis). Ac-Pa1 had a molecular mass of 13,128 Da with PLA₂ activity of 262 ± 6 U/ml. Ac-Pa1 inhibited the effect of innovin, (lyophilised recombinant human tissue factor) on normal plasma and also prolonged aPTT. CSL black snake antivenom inhibited the anticoagulant effect of Ac-Pa1. The full amino acid sequence of Ac-Pa1 showed it to be highly homologous with previously isolated enzymes from the king brown snake, as well as toxins isolated from Notechis spp. and Naja spp. venoms, albeit with significant amino acid substitutions at key points central to the structure function relationship of this particular class of toxin. It is evident that amino acid substitutions in key locations within a protein sequence of a snake toxin have a marked impact on the biochemical and pharmacological activity of that toxin, and possibly the whole venom. This research is the first to pharmacologically compare seven (N. haje, N. kaouthia, N. melanoleuca, N. mossambica, N. nigricollis, N. siamensis and N. sputatrix) different cobra venoms from both spitting and non-spitting species, is important in the contribution of snakebite envenoming and treatment with appropriate antivenom, and further serves as a pathway for new drug discoveries and targets using snake venoms and toxins.


A tetramer of two regulatory domains forms a gating ring that regulates calcium ion activation. BK channels are potassium ion channels found on the surface of a variety of cell types that are essential for the regulation of several key physiological processes, including smooth muscle tone and neuronal excitability. BK channels are regulated by both membrane voltage and intracellular Ca2+. The channel comprises an integral membrane pore, an integral membrane voltage sensor domain, and a large cytoplasmic region that confers Ca2+ sensitivity. Now Yuan et al. (see the Perspective by Weyand and Iwata) have determined the crystal structure of the cytoplasmic domain of the human BK channel. Four cytoplasmic regions form a gating ring at the intracellular membrane surface with four Ca2+ binding sites on the outer perimeter. P. Yuan, M. D. Leonetti, A. R. Pico, Y. Hsiung, R. MacKinnon, Structure of the human BK channel Ca2+-activation apparatus at 3.0 Å resolution. Science 329, 182–186 (2010). [Abstract] [Full Text] S. Weyand, S. Iwata, Old gate gets a new look. Science 329, 151–152 [Abstract] [Full Text]


BACKGROUND: Prolonged chest tube duration is less well studied in patients with pneumothorax. We investigated the impact of prolonged chest tube duration on patient outcomes and the risk factors associated with prolonged chest tube duration. METHODS: This retrospective observational study included 69 subjects who had been treated with chest tube duration for pneumothorax between 2008 and 2015 at Charles Nicolle teaching Hospital. Clinical, demographic data and outcomes were collected and analyzed. The subjects were divided into a prolonged chest tube duration group (> 10 d) and a non-prolonged group (≤ 10 d). RESULTS: Mean period of chest tube drainage was 9.84 ± 4.35 days, 25% of subjects had prolonged chest tube duration. Compared with non-prolonged group, patients with prolonged chest tube duration group were older (58.38 versus 35.73, p=0.001). Subjects with prolonged chest tube duration were significantly associated with comorbidities (62.5% vs 33.33%; p=0.04), existence of cough (68.75% vs 29.16%; p = 0.005), fever (25% vs 6.25%; p=0.037), Small chest tubes drainage (46.8% vs 18.75; p=0.048), more complications (31.25% vs 2%; p=0.003), a higher number of unresolved pneumothorax (31.25% vs 6.25%; p=0.009) and a longer hospitalization (18.25 days vs 8.44 days; p=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Through this study, we could find several predictors of prolonged chest tube duration, and the negative impact on clinical outcomes of these patients. These findings may improve chest tube management.


Attentional bias to faces can be seen from 9 minutes old in typical development (TD; Goren Sarty & Wu, 1975) and this is thought to underlie face processing expertise observed in adults (Johnson & Morton, 1991). In contrast people with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) have deficits in orienting towards social information (e.g. Dawson et al., 2004). Novel methods, the Visual Dot Probe (VDP; Mathews, MacLeod & Tata, 1986) to measure automatic bias (at both sub and supra threshold presentation times) and Face-in-the-Crowd (FITC) to measure conscious bias (Hansen & Hansen, 1988), will be used to examine attentional bias for face stimuli in ASD and control participants.Experiments 1 and 3 examined attentional bias for faces (including emotional faces; Study Three) compared to non-face stimuli using the VDP task. In Study One neither group showed a sub-threshold bias. However at supra threshold durations the TD group had a bias for faces that was absent in the ASD group. In Study Three the TD group had a sub-threshold bias for neutral faces compared to non-face stimuli. However the ASD group showed no bias. Neither group had a supra-threshold bias.Experiments 2 and 4 used the FITC task to examine participants' attentional bias for faces (including emotional faces; Study Four) compared to non-face stimuli. In Study Two both groups showed an attentional bias for faces compared to non-face stimuli. However in Study Four neither group showed a bias for faces.Previous research has shown the social presentation of ASD to be heterogeneous (Wing & Attwood, 1987) and in the normative literature findings using the VDP and FITC tasks relate to personality variables (e.g. Mogg & Bradley, 1999a; b). In Chapter 7 the consistency of bias across tasks was relatively poor. In the ASD group bias for faces was found to relate to increased anxiety, reduced ASD severity, and increased intelligence. Psychometric variables did not to predict bias for faces in controls.In conclusion the control group show a bias for faces and there are some indications that the ASD group shows a face bias when under conscious control however this does not appear to be an automatic process. This suggests a potential cognitive model of ASD reliant on automatic social inattention as a key variable in ASD.


In this paper, we present a method of assembling intercrystallite boundaries in graphene from well-defined structural units containing the multipoles of non-hexagonal carbon rings (disclinations). We demonstrate that two types of intercrystallite boundaries are possible in graphene: those with misorientation between neighboring regions of the crystal and the others with a zero angle of misorientation. The misorientation is controlled by the type of disclination multipoles composing the intercrystallite boundaries. The energies of "5-8-5" boundaries, consisting of pentagonal and octagonal carbon rings, are calculated by molecular dynamics simulations.


There is increasing recognition of the role eHealth will play in the effective and efficient delivery of healthcare. This research challenges the assumption that students enter university as digital natives, able to confidently and competently adapt their use of information and communication technology (ICT) to new contexts. This study explored health sciences students' preparedness for working, and leading change, in eHealth-enabled environments. Using a cross-sectional study design, 420 undergraduate and postgraduate students participated in an online survey investigating their understanding of and attitude towards eHealth, frequency of online activities and software usage, confidence learning and using ICTs, and perceived learning needs. Although students reported that they regularly engaged with a wide range of online activities and software and were confident learning new ICT skills especially where they have sufficient time or support, their understanding of eHealth was uncertain or limited. Poor understanding of and difficulty translating skills learned in personal contexts to the professional context may impair graduates ability to confidently engage in the eHealth-enabled workplace. These results suggest educators need to scaffold the learning experience to ensure students build on their ICT knowledge to transfer this to their future workplaces.


Advertising and Cultural Politics in Global Times traces daringly transgressive convergences between cultural politics and global advertising media. It engages with a range of interpolations between cultural politics and advertising technologies including: the governmental rationality of neoliberal vistas, transgressive aesthetics and the cultural politics of representation, the political sign-economy of citizen branding, techno-political convergences between the social and political, and the marking of a new exciting geo-political terrain for cultural politics in global times.

Tracing global advertising practices to the cultural politics commonly manifested in the postmodern political caesura of advertising, this book makes use of extensive case studies, whilst drawing on the work of Baudrillard, Giroux, Foucault, Castells and Latour to illustrate the manner in which advertising continues to revolutionize the political sphere. As such, it will be of interest to a range of readers across media studies, cultural studies and sociology.

Contents: Preface; Introduction: liberal vistas and the political economy of the sign; Part I Governmentalization of Visual Culture: Governing neoliberal vistas and the cultural politics of economic life; Governmentality and the political economy of the sign. Part II Postmodern-Political Caesura: Inversions in the political economy of global signs; Aesthetic disruptions in the cultural politics of representation; Semiology of time in postmodern cultural politics. Part III Geo-Political Caesura: Political economy of citizen branding; Aesthetics as the transgressive politics of the self. Part IV Techno-Political Caesura: Technoscapes and the geo-politics of global advertising; Conclusion: towards a transgressive techno-political caesura; References; Index.


Abstract This paper provides an analysis of 326 edge-ground hatchet heads collected from the region surrounding Sydney, New South Wales. A study of attributes based on raw material and form reveals that the majority of blanks in all areas are likely to have originated in gravels of the present Nepean/Hawkesbury River and abandoned palaeo-channels, which are mainly located about 50 km inland from Port Jackson. This finding supports sparse ethnographic and some archaeological accounts but contradicts a number of reports that have postulated sources for these hatchets considerably further afield. Results of the study also invalidate a commonly held belief about raw material type, which has influenced the identification of sources in the past. The findings have implications for studies of social factors such as trade and exchange, selection criteria, the accessibility of raw materials and time budgeting.


Compared to lowland (polar) regions, permafrost in high mountain areas occurs in a large variety of surface and subsurface materials and textures. This work presents an eight-year (2002–2010) data set of borehole temperatures for five different (sub-) surface materials from a high alpine permafrost area, Murtel-Corvatsch, Switzerland. The influence of the material on the thermal regime was investigated by borehole temperature data, the temperature at the top of the permafrost (TTOP-concept) and the apparent thermal diffusivity (ATD). The results show that during the last eight years, material-specific temperature changes were more significant than climate-induced temperature trends. At coarse blocky, ice-rich sites, no changes in active layer depth were observed, whereas the bedrock and the fine-grained sites appear to be highly sensitive to changes in the microclimate. The results confirm that the presence and growth of ice as well as a thermally driven air circulation within the subsurface are the key factors for the occurence and preservation of alpine permafrost.


This paper is part of a major project about the Northern Cape Land Reform and Advocacy (NCLRA) programme being implemented by FARM-Africa* in South Africa. The NCLRA programme had initiated a financial mechanism to help poor communities to get access to finance and training in order to enable them to make better use of their newly-acquired land. One prominent aspect of the programme is the implementation of Livestock Banks, or the use of animals as financial products. The paper provides an analytical framework with which to evaluate the effectiveness of Livestock Banks in the poor communities of the Northern Cape in South Africa. It focuses on the design, implementation and future of Livestock Banks. The paper argues that Livestock Banks need to be reformed and enhanced if they are to continue to play a key role in the goal of creating financial and economic value in Africa, particularly when the primary objective is simultaneously to help reduce poverty.


The main purpose of the study is enabling the prospective teachers to make self-regulations by video recording their piano performances with their instructors and feedbacks of their instructors and detect the views of specific students concerning these video records. The research was carried out during 2008-2009 academic year in Marmara University, Ataturk Faculty of Education, Department of Music Teacher Education. In the research, four prospective teachers from different grades have been covered and data have been gathered through semi-structured interviews. The results, in general, showed that prospective teachers had benefited and positive experiences from their video records. The prospective teachers also reported that the use of video records of their piano performances as feedback improve the quality of their piano performances. Key Words: Self regulation, feedback, piano education, performance evaluation, video recording ********** As of 2005-2006 academic year, The Ministry of National Education started to gradually adapt the secondary education curriculum into constructivist teaching approach. Similar practices have taken place in elementary education curriculum as well. Within this framework, certain regulations based on constructivist approach have been set to implement in elementary school (1st-8th grades) starting from 2007-2008 academic year (MEB, 2007). All these regulations in the curriculums of primary and secondary education have inevitably affected curriculums of higher education institutions for teacher training as well. Consequently prospective teachers have been more equipped regarding practices and learning experiences reflecting constructivist approach in the curriculums of primary and secondary education institutions they are to be employed after graduation. Parallel to the other fields, in music teacher training programs as well, efforts that fit into constructivist teaching approach have been made. Constructivism is a knowledge theory or philosophical explanation concerning the nature of learning. Constructivism underlines that by forming teaching and learning experiences in a way to activate students' thoughts we should assist them in structuring new information (Schunk, 2009:275). The main point in constructivism is that the learner constructs new information based on his/her past experiences and knowledge. Nonetheless, as stated by Acikgoz (2008:67) too, constructivism is not explaining the way to perform teaching but rather the way how student learns; hence the reflection of constructivism in class environment is possible only via active learning methods. In active learning, the learner bears the responsibility for his/her own learning process. Active learning is the kind of a learning process where learner is given the opportunity to take decisions regarding several aspects of learning process and make self-regulation and it is a system where the learner is forced to employ his/her mental skills while learning by means of complex teaching practices (Acikgoz, 2008:17). Throughout this process, use of metacognitive skills plays a significant role in enhancing the quality of learning process. Constructivist theory of Vygotsky concerning human development led him to self-regulation. Vygotsky believed that human beings and their cultural environments structured interactive social systems. By means of communication and action, folks around children taught them the tools they need to gain skills (such as language, symbols, signs etc.). As these tools are employed within the system students develop higher levels of metacognitive functions like concept acquisition or problem solving. When he employed the term 'high mental function' Vygotsky pointed to an intentionally driven thought system. From this perspective, self-regulation may be viewed as a high mental function. Self-regulation includes in itself the coordination of mental procedures like memory, planning, synthesis and evaluation. …


Twin Peaks is unusual in that it participates in recent public conversations about the effects of child sexual abuse, the victimisation of the daughter, and the culpability of the adult male aggressor. I would like to suggest that in its exploration of the behavior of abusive men and the damage suffered by their victims. Twin Peaks is informed by, rather than at odds with, recent feminist discussions about sexual violence. Indeed, the series exposes the regularity with which women find themselves victimized by men. By sympathetically focusing its audience's attention on the sexual victimization of women. Twin Peaks demands that its audience understand not just that sexual violence occurs, but that our culture tolerates a range of practices that serve to authorize violence against women. Those who turned the series off because they were made uneasy by the incest, the wife battering and the pornographic pages of Flesh World have said they turned it off because it was "pandering" (Goldstein 742). Some have made the ludicrous suggestion that Twin Peaks was somehow aberrant in that it portrayed sexual violence against women on television. This is too disingenuous. Anyone who watches television gels a regular dose of pleasure from watching women sexually objectified, kidnapped, threatened, beaten, stripped, killed. In its familiar form, such violence is not hard to watch. Indeed, most of the time, the audience simply accepts as natural that such activities should cohere around the female characters of (he plot. What made Twin Peaks hard to watch was its powerful suggestion that sexual violence is not pleasurable or natural but is common and is practiced by lots of seemingly average men. Twin Peaks horrified us because it held a mirror up to the American family and what we saw when we gazed upon it was a brutality that made many of us sick. Twin Peaks is thus unsettling because it disruptively implicates its audience in the family violence that it simultaneously suggests is a customary, even banal, feature of the average, middle-class American family. In the process, the spectator is constituted as sympathetic to the victim of incest and compelled to regard as unacceptable those behaviors that permit men to victimize women. But Twin Peaks is also radical in that it provides an extended challenge to traditional understandings of the incest experience by displacing the pornographic trope of the Seductive Daughter. Some feminist critics have professed shock that the central female figure of a television series is a victimized teen-age girl and have questioned the morality of David Lynch and Murk Frost in their focus on Laura Palmer.1 But it's important to remember that an understanding of father-daughter incest in terms of aggressor and victim is a relatively new cultural phenomenon, one that arises from feminist discourse about child abuse and one that has been given wide support both in scholarly accounts of incest and the mass media. True crime texts sympathetic to real-life victims of incest, like the Cheryl Pierson and Shelley Sessions stories, have proliferated even as some fictional accounts of incest have recounted the evil powers of the incest victim, as in Mary McGarry Morris's Vanished (1988) and Anne Rice's The Witching Hour (1990).2 Unlike other fictions of incest and like the feminist texts, Twin Peaks lays no blame for the incestuous assault on the victim. Instead of viewing the daughter as a child with nearly supernatural powers of sexual attraction and seduction, both Twin Peaks and the feminist texts disrupt more traditional beliefs about incest by proposing that the daughter is a victim of sexual assault, that her father is her rapist, and that particularly complex power problems within the family make it difficult for her to escape the horrors of her existence. As a temptress who corrupts men by forcing them to be sexual with their children, the Seductive Daughter is a well-established part of literary and religious tradition. …


TiO 2 photocatalytic oxidation was combined with microfiltration (MF) (PCOMF) to remove humic acid (HA) in waters through investigating the flux performance, TOC, UV254 and UV436 removal efficiency, the fouled membrane surfaces by SEM. The results demonstrated that the combined PCOMF process showed a high removal efficiency of UV254 and UV436 of HA (close to 100%). The removal efficiency of TOC was about 84.34% indicating that most of HA was mineralized into water and carbon. The SEM images witnessed that the fouling on the membrane surfaces contaminated by PCO effluents after UV254 and UV365 light irradiation was mainly attributed to cake layer, which was reversible due to the increase of aggregated particles size consisting of HA and TiO 2 . Eventually, the combined PCOMF process displayed an improved effect on HA removal and fouling control to a certain level.


The author of this article presents a review of the published empirical and theoretical literature to date on similarities and differences in intimate partner violence (IPV) in rural locales compared to urban and suburban locales. A review of 63 studies indicates that (1) the rates of IPV are generally similar across rural, urban, and suburban locales, although some groups of rural women (e.g., multiracial and separated/divorced) may be at increased risk for IPV compared to similar groups of urban women, and rates of intimate partner homicide may be higher in rural locales than urban and suburban locales; (2) IPV perpetrator and victim characteristics in rural locales are generally similar to IPV perpetrator and victim characteristics in other locales with the exception of some demographic characteristics that can generally be accounted for by broader rural–urban–suburban demographic differences; (3) IPV perpetrators in rural locales, compared with perpetrators in urban locales, may perpetrate more chronic and severe IPV, which could be due to the higher rates of substance abuse and unemployment documented among rural perpetrators; (4) IPV victims in rural locales may have worse psychosocial and physical health outcomes due to the lack of availability, accessibility, and quality of IPV services; and (5) attitudes about IPV vary to some extent across locales, with individuals in rural locales generally supporting less governmental involvement in IPV issues than in urban locales. Limitations of the literature are reviewed and suggestions for research are provided as well as implications for practice and policy efforts, which primarily center on improving availability, accessibility, and quality of IPV services in rural locales.


This paper critically assesses the assumption that more and more work is being detached from place and that this is a 'win-win' for both employers and employees. Based on an analysis of official labour market data, it finds that only one-third of the increase in remote working can be explained by compositional factors such as movement to the knowledge economy, the growth in flexible employment and organisational responses to the changing demographic make-up of the employed labour force. This suggests that the detachment of work from place is a growing trend. The paper also shows that while remote working is associated with higher organisational commitment, job satisfaction and job-related well-being, these benefits come at the cost of work intensification and a greater inability to switch off.


The purpose of this chapter was to study the influence of humic substances on the formation of the safety and quality of poultry meat. The high abilities of the natural and organic complex of humic acids "Reasil®HumicHealth" (produced in Russia, Saratov) to sorb and desorb five mycotoxins of compound feed (aflatoxin B1, ochratoxin, toxin T-2, zearalenone and fuminisin B1) were experimentally established. The hepatoprotective ability of humic acids was observed in experiments on broilers using rapeseed meal containing an increased amount of secondary plant metabolites that could cause liver damage. It was found out that the inclusion of humic acids in the amount of 1 and 1.5 g per 1 kg of feed to the main diet of broiler chickens has a more stable positive effect, both in terms of slaughter indicators (yield of semieviscerated carcasses and carcasses of complete evisceration), and in the production of the most valuable natural semi-finished products (breast, chicken legs) due to the intensive growth of muscle tissue. A clear improvement in the morpho-biochemical and immunological parameters of blood and micromorphometric characteristics of the organs of the immune system of poultry was noted with the use of different concentrations of humic acid salts. The use of the additive at the rate of 1 and 1.5 g per 1 kg of feed does not negatively affect the sensory indicators of finished culinary products.


An electro-optic Q-switched Nd:YAG ceramic laser operating at kHz repetition rate was demonstrated. Thermal induced lens' focus of ceramic rod was measured and compensated by plano-convex cavity structure. Depolarization loss at different output powers was measured in Nd:YAG single crystal and ceramic lasers. High-energy high-beam-quality laser pulse output was obtained in both laser structures. Pulse energy of about 20 mJ and pulse width of less than 12 ns were achieved, and the average power reached 20 W. The divergence of output laser beam was less than 1.2 mrad, and the beam propagation factor M2 was about 1.4.


Tsafiki reciprocal constructions have fairly unique characteristics due to the nature of the constructions from which they arise and the overall grammatical structure of Tsafiki. Reciprocals are coded by elements that are already grammaticalised for other functions. Symmetrical positional reciprocal constructions consist of a subset of positionals that inherently code reciprocity. There are two basic types of active reciprocal constructions. The semantic distinction between the two concerns mirative notions such as the degree to which the event concurs with the speaker's expectations and general knowledge. The function of each reciprocal element is explored by examining its role in other constructions.


An historical and typological survey of abstract art in the twentieth century, rejecting the widely accepted notion that the story of abstraction can be traced as a succession of stylistic trends each set within its own art historical context, offering instead readings of specific works by artists as diverse as Kasimir Malevich, Wassily Kandinsky, Naum Gabo, Piet Mondrian, Willem de Kooning and Lucio Fontana, and treating them as exemplary of particular tendencies within the overlapping histories of abstraction.

The central issues addressed by the book concern the philosophical distinctions that underlie the various manifestations of international abstract art, and the critical weaknesses of a history of abstraction that dealt with it as a series of discrete 'movements'. This publication offers readings of specific paintings and sculptures treating them as exemplary of particular tendencies within an overlapping, non-linear history of abstraction. Defining distinctions between types of abstract art that may appear similar, and discovering underlying correspondences between those that may seem different, enables the reader to identify links between abstract works across traditional art-historical periods.

The primary critical approach used isolates individual works, and analyses them specifically in their historical and philosophical contexts. Following an introduction that explores the problems of definition in an historical context, the book is divided into four main sections: dealing with the great metaphysical abstractionists of the early twentieth century; tracing the relations of Cubism to photography; investigating Tatlin's materialism and the international constructivisms of de Stijl, El Lizzitsky, Gabo, Moholy-Nagy and Vordemberge-Gildewart; and exploring the diverse transformations of the abstract idea in art effected in post-war New York and Europe, including considerations of Abstract Expressionism, European existential abstraction, abstraction and the visible natural world, and the spiritual abstractions of such artists as Ad Reinhardt, Klein, Fontana and Agnes Martin among others.


This essay addresses recurring issues that arise when two or more occupiers of real property would use their property in ways that conflict. The real property owner's interest in using and enjoying property as the owner pleases is almost universally regarded as one of the important "sticks" in the bundle of property interests held by the real property owner. But this important interest in using and enjoying property frequently conflicts with the interests of other property owners to use and enjoy their property. Because real property is useful, it has market value, and the relationship between the market value of land and its usefulness for one or more of these varied possible purposes is quite close. The market value of land will be greater if it is intrinsically more useful than other land. Market value has long been considered one aspect of the property owner's use and enjoyment. Therefore, destroying potential future uses of land, which will inevitably negatively affect the market value of the land, is considered an interference with the owner's interest in the land's use and enjoyment – a nuisance. Not all sticks in the property owner's bundle of interests share this complication of potential conflict with neighboring uses. For example, one property owner's right to exclusive possession of his property never conflicts with the same right of another property owner to the exclusive possession of a separate piece of property. Parties may disagree over who properly holds the right of possession, but once the proper holders of the right to exclusive possession of various tracts of land are identified, each property owner can exercise her right of exclusive possession to the fullest possible degree without ever conflicting with another property owner's similar right of exclusive possession.In this way, trespass is unlike nuisance. Trespass always can be avoided by each property owner exercising only her own right of possession. Therefore, a trespass always is actionable. The interest in exclusive possession of property is purely private. Nuisance is different – a property owner's exercising her own interest in using and enjoying her property might unavoidably interfere with another property owner's interest in using and enjoying his property, creating a nuisance. This is what is meant by the phrase "the public nature of the right to use and enjoy property" in the title of this essay – neighboring interests in the use and enjoyment of property are necessarily correlative, not absolute like the private right to exclusive possession. A property owner simply cannot possibly go about using and enjoying his property without that use and enjoyment implicating the similar interest of his neighbors. For this reason, nuisance is not as easily avoided as trespass, and, therefore, unlike trespass, not all interferences with the interest in using and enjoying property (nuisances) are actionable. Because courts often do not fully appreciate the implications of this aspect of the interest in using and enjoying property and its fundamental difference from other more absolute interests, such as the right to exclude, those courts often fail to apply a consistent approach to recurring nuisance issues. Even though the interest in use and enjoyment of property is not, like the trespass interest in exclusive possession, an absolute right that can always be exercised to the fullest possible extent without ever interfering with the interest of another, courts nevertheless frequently view nuisance cases as analogous to cases of trespass, with one property owner infringing the absolute rights of another. The court proceeds as though it need merely identify who is the infringer and who is the "infringee" and then protect the infringee absolutely. But nuisance scenarios often involve, not identifying which property owner is the infringer of another's absolute right, but rather appropriately adjusting inconsistent exercises of two legitimate interests in using and enjoying neighboring properties.Treatment of conflicts between neighboring uses of property was long dominated at common law by the maxim sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas (so use your own property as not to injure your neighbor's). This maxim resembles the "golden rule," one of the most famous teachings attributed to Jesus. Following the golden rule can be difficult for the owner of real property. One property owner may love to play music on her deck while her neighbor cherishes the sound of silence in his back yard. The music lover cannot fully enjoy her property unless she makes some sound. The silence lover cannot fully enjoy his property if his neighbor makes music. The real property owner who would follow the "golden rule" must take into account her neighbors' interests when deciding how to use her own property. This, of course, is easier said than done. Because the property owner's interest in the use and enjoyment of property necessarily impacts the similar interest of neighboring property owners, the interest in use and enjoyment is inherently public. And only a utilitarian approach to cases of conflicting uses of property allows a satisfactory adjustment, the utilitarian approach outlined by Jesus in the golden rule. While there is some surface similarity between the golden rule and the sic utere maxim, the golden rule is significantly different from sic utere. The golden rule may be difficult to follow, but following the literal sic utere maxim might present an even greater challenge. Complying with the sic utere maxim is so challenging because it frequently comes into tension with the property owner's traditional interest in the use and enjoyment of property – it sometimes simply is not possible for all property owners to pursue their legitimate interests in use and enjoyment of property without impinging on a neighbor's similar interest. In this way, applying a utilitarian standard, such as the golden rule, would be more workable than the traditional sic utere maxim, which is based in the idea that property rights are absolute. Sic utere was problematic because its literal application frequently would require property owners to refrain from very productive uses of their property simply because those uses would inevitably conflict, sometimes in a relatively trivial way, with a neighbor's chosen use. The golden rule, on the other hand, would permit all property owners to pursue their chosen property use, so long as they treated their neighbors as they would like to be treated. This idea went largely unrecognized for centuries until Ronald Coase and the law and economics movement elaborated it a few decades ago. The thesis of this essay is that most of the difficulties generated by conflicting exercises of the interest in using and enjoying property can be fairly and efficiently mediated by holding all users of property strictly liable when their volitional acts cause a diminution in market value of their neighbor's property. Recovery then should be limited to that diminution in market value. This approach would leave all property owners free to use and enjoy their property as they see fit and would simultaneously force them to follow the golden rule (not the sic utere maxim) -- property users would be forced to consider the impact of their chosen use and enjoyment on their neighbors. The desirability of this approach flows from the public nature of the interest in the use and enjoyment of property – because the use and enjoyment of real property is inherently public, it simply will not do to treat it as the exercise of an absolute private right.


European oceans are subject to rapid development. New activities such as aquaculture and ocean energy have gained importance. This triggers interest in "multi-use platforms at sea" (MUPS), i.e., areas at sea in which different activities are combined. MUPS are complex features with regards to technology, governance, and financial, socioeconomic, and environmental aspects. To identify realistic and sustainable solutions and designs for MUPS, the MERMAID project applied a participatory design process (PDP) involving a range of stakeholders representing companies, authorities, researchers, and NGOs. This paper evaluates if and how the participatory design process contributed to the design of multi-use platforms. It is based on interviews with the managers of the case study sites and a questionnaire administered to all stakeholders participating in the PDP workshops. Analyzing the four case studies, we conclude that the participatory design process has had a valuable contribution to the development of the four different designs of MUPS, even though the preconditions for carrying out a participatory design process differed between sites. In all four cases, the process has been beneficial in generating new and shared knowledge. It brought new design issues to the table and increased knowledge and understanding among the different stakeholders.


The amide group in the nine-membered ring of the title compound, C13H17NO5S, has the trans conformation. The molecules are linked into infinite one-dimensional chains by bifurcated intermolecular N-H...O hydrogen bonds involving the amide O atom and one of the sulfonyl O atoms of the same neigh- bouring molecule. The compound was prepared by the Friedel-Crafts acylation of 1,2-dimethoxybenzene and glutaric acid anhydride, followed by reduction of the aryl ketone, esterification, chlorosulfonation, treatment with ammonia, saponification and cyclization of the corresponding 5-(2-sulfamoylphenyl)butanoic acid.


BACKGROUND
Duty hour limits have shortened intern shifts without concurrent reductions in workload, creating work compression. Multiple admissions during shortened shifts can result in poor training experience and patient care.

OBJECTIVE
To relieve work compression, improve resident satisfaction, and improve duty hour compliance in an academic internal medicine program.

METHODS
In 2014, interns on general ward services were allotted 90 minutes per admission from 3 pm to 7 pm, when the rate of admissions was high. Additional admissions arriving during the protected period were directed to hospitalists. Resident teams received 2 patients admitted by the night float team to start the call day (front-fill).

RESULTS
Of the 51 residents surveyed before and after the implementation of the intervention, 39 (77%) completed both surveys. Respondents reporting an unmanageable workload fell from 14 to 1 (P < .001), and the number of residents reporting that they felt unable to admit patients in a timely manner decreased from 14 to 2 (P < .001). Reports of adequate time with patients increased from 16 to 36 (P < .001), and residents indicating that they had time to learn from patients increased from 19 to 35 (P < .001). Reports of leaving on time after call days rose from 12 to 33 (P < .01), and overall satisfaction increased from 26 to 35 (P = .002). Results were similar when residents were resurveyed 6 months after the intervention.

CONCLUSIONS
Call day modifications improved resident perceptions of their workload and time for resident learning and patient care.


On 2011 June 23, stellar occultations by both Pluto (this work) and Charon (future analysis) were observed from numerous ground stations as well as the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). This first airborne occultation observation since 1995 with the Kuiper Airborne Observatory resulted in the best occultation chords recorded for the event, in three visible wavelength bands. The data obtained from SOFIA are combined with chords obtained from the ground at the IRTF, the U.S. Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station, and Leeward Community College to give the detailed state of the Pluto–Charon system at the time of the event with a focus on Pluto's atmosphere. The data show a return to the distinct upper and lower atmospheric regions with a knee or kink in the light curve separating them as was observed in 1988, rather than the smoothly transitioning bowl-shaped light curves of recent years. The upper atmosphere is analyzed by fitting a model to all of the light curves, resulting in a half-light radius of 1288 ± 1 km. The lower atmosphere is analyzed using two different methods to provide results under the differing assumptions of particulate haze and a strong thermal gradient as causes for the lower atmospheric diminution of flux. These results are compared with those from past occultations to provide a picture of Pluto's evolving atmosphere. Regardless of which lower atmospheric structure is assumed, results indicate that this part of the atmosphere evolves on short timescales with results changing the light curve structures between 1988 and 2006, and then reverting these changes in 2011 though at significantly higher pressures. Throughout these changes, the upper atmosphere remains remarkably stable in structure, again except for the overall pressure changes. No evidence of onset of atmospheric collapse predicted by frost migration models is seen, and the atmosphere appears to be remaining at a stable pressure level, suggesting it should persist at this full level through New Horizon's flyby in 2015.


A novel evolutionary method that allows us to study the emergence of modularity for genotype-phenotype mapping in the course of Darwinian evolution is described. The method is based on composite epigenotypes with two parts: a binary genotype; and a mapping of genes onto phenotype characters. For such generalized epigenotypes the modularity is determined in the following intuitive way: The genes are divided into two subgroups; simultaneously with this decomposition there is defined an accompanying decomposition of the set of phenotype characters. We expect that for epigenotypes with modular structures the genes from one group will be mapped onto characters from the same group, that is, that the appearance of crosslink mappings will be maximally suppressed. A fundamental question for all of evolutionary biology (and also for evolutionary algorithms and connectionist cognitive science) is the mechanism of evolutionary emergence of modular structures. The presented explanatory model is an implementation of the assumption that variation in genotype is produced on a faster time scale than variation in the genotype-phenotype mapped part. Moreover, the evaluation of the epigenotype in the evolutionary algorithm is based on directly selectable properties (corresponding to the decomposition of the set of phenotype characters). The modularity of genotype- phenotype mapping emerges in the simulations.


I. INTRODUCTION II. BACKGROUND A. The Definition and Scope of Section 7 Rights: What Is "Concerted Activity?" B. What Is Not Section 7 "Concerted Activity": How an Employee Can Lose Section 7 Protections C. How the Board Defines "Concerted Activity" Within the Social Media Context 1. How the Board Defines "Concerted Activity" Within the Context of Employers' Social Media Policies a. The Board's Decision in Sears Holdings (Roebucks) b. The Board's Decision in American Medical Response of Connecticut 2. How the Board Defines "Concerted Activity" Within the Context of Employers' Disciplinary Action Against Employees Due to the Content of Social Media Posts a. Wal-Mart: "Mere Griping" Is Not Protected Activity b. AMR Revisited: The Famous "Facebook Firing Case" c. Karl Knauz Motors III. ANALYSIS A. Is the Board Examining Employers' Social Media Policies in a Consistent Manner? 1. Does the Board Require a "Reasonable Reading" of an Employer's Rule? 2. Does the Board Require "Limiting Language" in Employers' Social Media Policies? B. Has the Board Properly Guided Corporate Employers About When They May Rightfully Terminate Employees Because of a Social Media Post? 1. The Ambiguity of the "Group Action" Requirement 2. What Is a True "Individual Gripe?" IV. RECOMMENDATION A. The Requirement of Guidance: Social Media Policies Should Be Clear B. If Employees Engage in Conversation Employers Should Proceed with Caution 1. Requiring an Ongoing Trademark Claims Service 2. Expanding the Instances When Trademark Holders Would Be Notified of Infringement V. CONCLUSION I. INTRODUCTION Social media's growing impact on corporate society is staggering. (1) Indeed Facebook is estimated to have one billion active users, (2) and Twitter is estimated to have 175 million registered users. (3) This increase in social media's popularity has created new challenges for traditional labor law. (4) In fact, the National Labor Relations Board (the Board or NLRB) has recently met the social media issue head-on in its decision involving the famous "Facebook firing" cases. (5) Indeed, over the last few years the Board has considered over 129 cases involving social media. (6) In the majority of these cases the Board primarily focuses upon two issues: (1) whether an employer has an overbroad social media policy that unlawfully restricts an employee's use of social media, and (2) whether an employer has unlawfully terminated an employee for the content of the employee's social media post. (7) In many of these cases the Board has found that a employer's social media policy or that the termination of an employee was unlawful because the employer's action violated the employee's section 7 rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), 29 U.S.C. [section][section] 157, 158 (1947). (8) This Note suggests that the Board's stance of protecting employees' section 7 rights in the social media cases is inconsistent with prior precedent and sends conflicting signals to employers. (9) II. BACKGROUND The NLRB is a federal administrative agency that prohibits employers from "interfering with, restraining, or coercing employees in the exercise of rights relating to organizing, forming, joining or assisting a labor organization for collective bargaining purposes, or from working together to improve terms and conditions of employment, or from refraining from any such activity." (10) The NLRA protects employees who fit within the statutory definition of employee as defined in section 2(3) of the NLRA. (11) Thus, the NLRA covers employees in both the public and private sectors. (12) The Board, as an independent federal agency, acts on behalf of employees and protects employee rights under the NLRA. …


The effects of high carbohydrate diet on growth, serum physiological response, and hepatic heat shock protein 70 expression in Wuchang bream were determined at 25 °C and 30 °C. The fish were reared at 25 °C had significantly higher serum C3, respiratory burst activity and hepatic superoxide dismutase activity, lower hepatic malonaldehyde than those were reared at 30 °C (P<0.05). At each temperature, the fish fed the control diet (31% CHO) had significantly higher weight gain, specific growth rate, respiratory burst activity, lysozyme, alkaline phosphatase, hepatic total antioxidative capacity, lower feed conversion ratio, glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, cortisol, hepatic malonaldehyde and the relative level of hepatic HSP70 mRNA than those fed the high-carbohydrate diet (47% CHO) (P<0.05). Significant interactions between temperature and diet were found for glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase, C3, lysozyme, alkaline phosphatase and respiratory burst activity and hepatic superoxide dismutase activity (P<0.05). The present study suggested that higher dietary carbohydrate impact growth performance, the nonspecific immune ability and hepatic antioxidant abilities of Wuchang bream at higher temperature.


Abstract Background This article explores the hypothesis that predisposing and enabling factors of households influence the vaccination status of the children under the age of five in Khartoum State, Sudan. Method The study was a cross-sectional survey among a representative sample of 410 male and female children under five years of age from households with varying socio-economic status and mothers with varying levels of education, from both urban and rural localities in the state. Results The correct vaccination coverage rate for children was found to be high. Children in urban and rural areas differed substantially in their correct vaccination rates and their receipt of each vaccine separately. Walking or travelling time to the place of vaccination was found to be longer in rural areas when compared with urban areas. The vaccination rate increased with an increase in the age of the children and the education level of the mother. Children of older mothers were more likely to have had the correct vaccinations. The mothers' knowledge of and attitudes to vaccination showed a strong relationship with the vaccination status of their children. When the coverage rate for each vaccine was taken separately, the economic level of the households significantly affected only the BCG vaccine coverage. Most vaccinations occurred in public outlet agencies. Conclusion The large differences found in vaccination coverage by place of residence and level of mother's education suggest that much greater efforts are required by the government if better rates of correct vaccination are to be achieved in rural areas.