Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of mortality. As blood pressure is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular disease, effective management of hypertension is critical in reducing this risk. In addition to high blood pressure, however, several factors have been identified as predictors of future cardiovascular events. These include high cholesterol, cigarette smoking, obesity and diabetes. Taken together, these traditional risk factors do not entirely explain the risk. Thus, many novel risk factors have been proposed for risk prediction of cardiovascular disease. Microalbuminuria is one such factor.
Microalbuminuria is defined as excretion of albumin in the urine above the normal level but less than gross proteinuria. As excretion of albumin exhibits high variability due to many confounders (such as urinary tract infection and strenuous exercise), diagnosis of microalbuminuria should be ideally based on screening of multiple samples using either 24-hour urine collection or first-morning voids. Much evidence suggests that microalbuminuria is a reflection of generalised endothelial dysfunction. This is supported by the observation that microalbuminuria is strongly associated with cardiovascular disease.
My main aim was to study microalbuminuria in people with hypertension attending specialist clinics. Microalbuminuria has been investigated extensively in diabetes and in patients with renal disease. However, the available information on the association of microalbuminuria with hypertension has many limitations since many studies had small sample size, restricted population or were confounded by potential misdiagnosis of microalbuminuria by the use of single samples. This has led to uncertainty about the prevalence of microalbuminuria in hypertension, where reported prevalence ranges from 4.7% to 58%, and probable underestimation of its clinical significance.
I addressed these issues by conducting a series of studies in 1059 hypertensive subjects attending the Glasgow Blood Pressure Clinic or the Aberdeen Hypertension Clinic. Each patient was invited to provide an early morning urine specimen for the assessment of albuminuria. Urinary tract infection was tested using urine strips and, where positive, samples were discarded. If the first sample showed increased albumin excretion, two further samples were requested. Albuminuria (microalbuminuria or gross proteinuria) was diagnosed when two out of the three samples showed increased albuminuria. Two definitions of microalbuminuria were used in the analysis, a conventional definition with the threshold used by most therapeutic guidelines and a new definition that accounts for low excretion of albumin. All patient information was obtained from case-records.
In the first study, I showed that microalbuminuria by the conventional definition was present in 9.5% of non-diabetic hypertensive subjects without renal impairment. Another 10% of this cohort had microalbuminuria by the new definition. Compared with people with normal urinary albumin, individuals with microalbuminuria by both definitions (n= 786, after excluding those with diabetes or severe renal impairment) had significantly higher blood pressure, higher pulse pressure, increased levels of inflammatory markers, poorer renal function, higher triglycerides levels and used more cardiovascular drugs.
In a second study, the association of microalbuminuria with clinical characteristics was investigated. Subjects with microalbuminuria had increased prevalence of risk factors / co-morbidities such as left ventricular hypertrophy (19.2% in normoalbuminuria versus 29.7% and 34.8% for microalbuminuria by the new and the conventional definitions, respectively), ECG abnormalities and cardiovascular disease. In addition, people with microalbuminuria had higher risk scores for subsequent cardiovascular events using two risk calculators, the Framingham and the Joint British Societies equations. In a subcohort with controlled blood pressure and without co-morbidities or risk, microalbuminuria (by combining the two definitions) was found in 14%. Compared with those with normoalbuminuria, subjects with microalbuminuria had higher blood pressure, poorer renal function, higher blood glucose and higher levels of inflammatory markers although the limited sample size precluded statistical significance.
In a further study, the independent association of microalbuminuria with different risk factors was evaluated using multivariate testing. Systolic blood pressure, serum creatinine, left ventricular hypertrophy and fasting triglycerides were among factors linked with microalbuminuria. The risk of microalbuminuria increased in people with poorly controlled blood pressure. I also found that microalbuminuria was associated strongly with left ventricular hypertrophy [odds ratio 1.87 (95% CI, 1.12 - 3.12) for a composite of both definitions- the combined definition] and cardiovascular abnormalities [odds ratio 1.72 (95% CI, 1.05 - 2.80) for the combined definition].
In a fourth study, the reproducibility of microalbuminuria screening was investigated. I discovered that a large proportion of people who had increased urinary albumin excretion on first sample was categorised as normoalbuminuria based on the result of multiple samples (48% at the Glasgow Clinic and 41% at the Aberdeen Clinic). This indicates that even after controlling microalbuminuria confounders, multiple testing can be recommended for more accurate diagnosis. In the final study, I demonstrated that subjects with microalbuminuria by both definitions attending the Glasgow Blood Pressure Clinic had relatively high blood pressure and pulse pressure at first visit and subsequently. This finding indicates that subjects with microalbuminuria require particularly rigorous blood pressure management to achieve blood target blood pressure. Furthermore, individuals with microalbuminuria may be at risk for cardiovascular disease greater than that in those with normoalbuminuria since the eventual blood pressure remained higher in these subjects. Together with the observations that microalbuminuria is associated with clustering of cardiovascular risk factors, my finding support the importance of even small increase in urine albumin excretion as an indicator of eventual cardiovascular disease.
In conclusion, microalbuminuria is found in one-fifth of subjects with essential hypertension. Although my investigation was observational, the large sample size, the use of multiple samples and allowance for the effects of potential confounders enhances the precision of the results. Moreover, subjects involved in this study represent a real hypertension population with few restrictions. My findings support the value of microalbuminuria as a tool to identify subjects at high risk for cardiovascular disease. Before routine screening can be recommended, these observations require confirmation in clinical trials and prospective studies with long-term follow up. Linkage of the records of the patients who participated in this series of studies with national morbidity and mortality statistics offers one approach with the potential to test the clinical relevance of my findings.


Objective The purpose of this study was to examine, using a dose–response model, sex differences in computerised neurocognitive performance among athletes with a history of multiple concussions. Design Retrospective with randomly selected concussion cases from four levels/numbers of previous concussion. Setting Multicentre analysis of NCAA student-athletes. Participants Subjects included a total of 100 male and 88 female NCAA athletes. Intervention Sex and four mutually exclusive groups of self-reported concussion history: (1) no history of concussion, (2) one previous concussion, (3) two previous concussions, (4) three or more previous concussions. Main outcome measurements Neurocognitive performance as measured by a computerised neurocognitive test battery (Immediate Postconcussion Assessment Cognitive Testing (ImPACT)). Results A dose–response gradient was found for two or more previous concussions and decreased neurocognitive performance. Females with a history of two and three or more concussions performed better than males with a history of two (p=0.001) and three or more concussions (p=0.012) on verbal memory. Females performed better than males with a history of three or more concussions (p=0.021) on visual memory. Finally, there was a significant difference for sex on both motor processing speed and reaction-time composite scores. Specifically, males performed worse than females on both processing speed (p=0.029) and reaction time (p=0.04). Conclusion The current study provided partial support for a dose–response model of concussion and neurocognitive performance decrements beginning at two or more previous concussions. Sex differences should be considered when examining the effects of concussion history on computerised neurocognitive performance.


Since 1978, AT&T has been developing the call processing simulator (CAPS) to design and evaluate inbound call centers. The current version of CAPS is a user-friendly PC-based system employing a discrete event simulation model with animation and queuing models of both the telecommunications network and AT&T's business customer's call center environment. Using CAPS, AT&T can model a network of call centers utilizing advanced 800 network features before its customers make capital investments to start or change their call centers. In 1992, AT&T completed about 2,000 CAPS studies for its business customers, helping it increase, protect, and regain more than one billion dollars in an eight billion dollar 800-network market. While this is impressive alone, the CAPS tool is also the turnkey for more than $750 million in annual profit for AT&T's business customers who received CAPS studies.


If chondrules were exposed to cosmic rays prior to meteorite compaction, they should retain an excess of cosmogenic noble gases. Beyersdorf‐Kuis et al. (2015) showed that such excesses can be detected provided that the chemical composition of each individual chondrule is precisely known. However, their study was limited to a few samples as they had to be irradiated in a nuclear reactor for instrumental neutron activation analysis. We developed a novel analytical protocol that combines the measurements of He and Ne isotopic concentrations with a fast method to correct for differences in chemical composition using micro X‐ray computed tomography. Our main idea is to combine noble gas, nuclear track, and petrography data for numerous chondrules to understand the precompaction exposure history of the chondrite parent bodies. Here, we report our results for a total of 77 chondrules and four matrix samples from NWA 8276 (L3.00), NWA 8007 (L3.2), and Bjurböle (L/LL4). All chondrules from the same meteorite have within uncertainty identical 21Ne exposure ages, and all chondrules from Bjurböle have within uncertainty identical 3He exposure ages. However, most chondrules from NWA 8276 and a few from NWA 8007 show small but resolvable differences in 3He exposure age that we attribute to matrix contamination and/or gas loss. The finding that none of the chondrules has noble gas excesses is consistent with the uniform track density found for each meteorite. We conclude that the studied chondrules did not experience a precompaction exposure longer than a few Ma assuming present‐day flux of galactic cosmic rays. A majority of chondrules from L and LL chondrites thus rapidly accreted and/or was efficiently shielded from cosmic rays in the solar nebula.


SCIENTIFIC MISCONDUCTRINGBERG, BAVARIA, AND EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND-- A rising tide of retracted papers and some high-profile fraud cases have begun to stir European research managers into action on the issue of fraud. Ethics committees and working groups are now hard at work in the United Kingdom, Germany, and other countries churning out new guidelines and procedures for good lab practice and publication, and conferences on scientific ethics and misconduct were recently held in the U.K. and Germany. But rather than policing misconduct, they aim to nip it in the bud.


Abstract: In this essay, I examine Henry Norman Hudson, an understudied yet pivotal figure in the emergence of Shakespeare studies as a discrete and institutionalized academic discipline in the United States. Professionalizing Shakespeare studies in the late nineteenth century, I argue, entailed considerable conflict and negotiation between two methodological approaches—aesthetic humanism and scientific philology—and two modes of professional comportment—the gentlemanly man-of-letters and the credentialed research specialist. Hudson helped bridge this scholarly rift by disseminating his humanist ideas in erudite scholarly editions that encouraged careful reading and analysis, offering at least the semblance of objectivity that placated the new literary professional while still appealing to students and other nonspecialists. Finally, I show that the methodological tensions that Hudson illuminated have become a consistent feature of professional scholarship and continue, even today, to cast a shadow over the discipline.


ABSTRACT The Peacebuilding Compared project deployed South Asian data to conclude that war tends to cascade across space and time to further war, crime to further crime, war to crime, and crime to war. This article is an analytic sketch of crime as a cascade phenomenon. Examining crime through a cascade lens helps us to imagine how to more effectively cascade crime prevention. Like crime, crime prevention often cascades. Braithwaite and D'Costa (2018) show how peacemaking can cascade non-violence, how it cascades non-violent social movement politics, and vice versa. Seeing crime through the cascade lens opens up fertile ways of imagining macrocriminology. Self-efficacy and collective efficacy are hypothesised as catalysts of crime prevention cascades in such a macrocriminology. Australian successes with gun control and drunk driving point to the importance of explicitly connecting evidence-based microcriminology to a macrocriminology of cultural transformation. More structurally, building collective efficacy in families, schools and primary work groups may cascade collective efficacy into neighbourhoods and vice versa. The microcriminology of hot-spot policing might be elaborated into a macrocriminology of inkspots of collective efficacy that cascade and connect up.


TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 810 I. THE SUMPTUARY CODE AND THE PROBLEM OF COPYING TECHNOLOGY 817 A. The Sumptuary Code and the Fashion Process 819 B. The Limits of Competitive Consumption 824 C. The Social Problem of Copying Technology 830 II. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW AS SUMPTUARY LAW 836 A. The Ideology of the Copy 840 B. Intellectual Property Law as Antidilution Law 845 1. The Legal and Cultural Concept of Dilution 845 2. Trademark Law as Antidilution Law 848 3. Copyright Law as Antidilution Law 859 4. Design Protection Law as Antidilution Law 862 C. Intellectual Property Law as Authenticity Law 868 1. Geographical Indications Protection 870 (a) TRIPS Article 23 871 (b) The U.S.-E.C. Wine Agreement of 2006 873 2. Traditional Cultural Expressions Protection 875 III. THE FAILURE OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW AS SUMPTUARY LAW 878 A. The Futility of Sumptuary Intellectual Property Law 880 B. From Sumptuary to Philanthropic Intellectual Property Law 884 CONCLUSION: FIAT PROPERTY 888 INTRODUCTION The Roman leges sumptuariae sought to regulate luxury expenditure and enforce social hierarchy in republican and imperial Rome. (1) Since these early Roman precursors, the history of sumptuary law has been a bizarre one. (2) Consider the Japanese decree of 1668 that provided that "[p]uppet costumes must not be sumptuous. Gold and silver leaf must not be used on anything. But puppet generals only may wear gold and silver hats." (3) Or consider a sumptuary ordinance of seventeenth-century Nuremberg that lamented that "[i]t is unfortunately an established fact that both men- and womenfolk have, in utterly irresponsible manner, driven extravagance in dress and new styles to such shameful and wanton extremes that the different classes are barely to be known apart." (4) Most remarkable, perhaps, is the behavior of the Venetian Senate. In 1472, it called for the appointment of Provveditori sopra le Pompe, supervisors of luxury, to enforce the state's sumptuary laws, (5) and in 1511, it issued, not for the last time, (6) a decree to the effect that "all new fashions are banned. ... [H]ence-forth no new fashion that may be imagined or told shall be suffered." (7) The next year, as the powerful League of Cambrai prepared to attack, the Senate found itself debating sleeve widths and shoe designs. (8) But it is not just the content of such laws that may strike the reader as strange. For all of the "enormous sumptuary productivity" (9) of early modern Europe or the "ferocity of detail" (10) of Tokugawa sumptuary law, these laws were almost invariably ignored, circumvented, or openly defied (11)--so that an eighteenth-century London stage character would declare: "I don't care for it, now it is not prohibited." (12) Indeed, the history of sumptuary law is filled with the likes of one Hannah Lyman, who, in 1676, chose to appear before a court in Northampton, Massachusetts, in the very dress that she was proscribed from and there being tried for wearing. (13) Though historians have advanced many competing theories to explain the pervasiveness and persistence of sumptuary regulation in human social history, one general proposition appears to be well accepted: societies impose sumptuary laws in an effort to regulate and enforce their sumptuary codes. A society's sumptuary code (14) is its system of consumption practices, akin to a language (or at least "a set of dialects" (15)), by which individuals in the society signal through their consumption their differences from and similarities to others. …


Subcontracted trades undertake most of the physical construction work in construction projects. While many research projects have examined relationships between designers, developers and head contractors, there has been limited focus on detailed analysis of the relationships between subcontractors. Where relationships in the supply chain have been examined it has tended to be along the dimension of contractual relationships between subcontractors and their suppliers. This paper looks at the relationships between subcontractors in a second dimension where they build on each other's work on the construction site, but are not contractually related, except through the head contractor. Initial investigations carried out during this research confirm that subcontractors focus on the head contractor as their primary customer, and hence attention on the following trade as a customer is minimal. This paper proposes a shift in focus, whereby a subcontractor (preceding trade) attempts to meet the product and service quality expectations of the trade that will be building upon that subcontractor's work (following trade) leading to an improved project culture and better overall project quality outcomes. Tools were developed to increase the interaction between preceding and following trades and communicate product and service quality expectations. These were implemented on three construction sites in Sydney, Australia while three other sites were monitored for changes in customer focus and culture without any interventions. Results to date show that the tools developed have in fact increased focus on following trades resulting in improvements in overall project characteristics.


PURPOSE
To investigate the relationship between gas-challenge blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging measurements and hepatic disease progression in a rat model of diethylnitrosamine (DEN)-induced liver fibrosis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
The institutional animal care and use committee approved all experiments. Liver fibrosis was induced in 27 male Wistar rats by means of weekly oral gavage with 5 mL of 1.5% DEN solution per kilogram of body weight for 3-11 weeks, which produced varying degrees of liver fibrosis. Eight rats developed nonsubstantial fibrosis; eight rats, substantial fibrosis; and 15 rats, cirrhosis. Four nontreated healthy rats served as controls. Multiple-gradient-echo MR images were acquired in the rats at steady-state normoxia and hyperoxia and then during dynamic gas challenges. The change in R2* (DeltaR2*) during the gas challenge and the ratio of number of activated voxels to total number of voxels in the liver were quantified. Masson trichrome staining of liver tissue was used to identify collagen tissue. Liver fibrosis was assessed by using a semiquantitative METAVIR scoring system and quantitative analysis of the percentage of liver fibrosis. Hepatic hemodynamic responses at BOLD MR imaging were compared across the fibrosis stages at independent-sample t test and linear regression analyses.

RESULTS
DeltaR2* was well correlated with gas-challenge interval. Mean DeltaR2* decreased during liver fibrosis progression, from 19.60 sec(-1) +/- 4.47 (standard deviation) in animals without substantial fibrosis to 14.02 sec(-1) +/- 2.88 and 6.26 sec(-1) +/- 7.40 in animals with substantial fibrosis and cirrhosis, respectively (P = .006 for rats without vs rats with substantial fibrosis, P = .001 for rats with substantial fibrosis vs rats with cirrhosis, P < .001 for rats without substantial fibrosis vs rats with cirrhosis). Mean DeltaR2* (r = -0.773) and liver activation (r = -0.691) were inversely correlated with liver fibrosis (P < .001).

CONCLUSION
Carbogen gas-challenge BOLD MR imaging can depict hepatic hemodynamic alterations during the progression of fibrosis and has the potential to serve as a noninvasive, nonenhanced imaging method for liver fibrosis diagnosis and staging.


Diphenhydramine (DPH) was used to treat a number of conditions including allergic symptoms and itchiness, common cold, insomnia, motion sickness, and extrapyramidal symptoms, are associated with some adverse effects such as dry mouth and throat, increased heart rate, pupil dilation, urinary retention and etc. This study aims to evaluate hydrogel drug delivery of DPH by tree gelling agents. Carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC), Hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose (HPMC) and methyl cellulose (MC) in the presence of 1 and 2% of DPH. All gel samples were evaluated for physical appearance, drug release and stability for the period of two months. Drug release studies were done by Franz diffusion cell. This in vitro study demonstrates the advantages of gelling polymers in transdermal drug delivery applications. The ability of molecules to diffuse into (drug loading) and out of (drug release) a hydrogel enables to use this system for drug delivery. DPH gel formulations prepared with different gelling agents HPMC, CMC and MC showed acceptable physical properties and drug release study. Among all gel formulations, MC gels revealed superior physical properties and drug release. The result obtained suggests the feasibility of designing transdermal delivery systems for DPH successful and effective besides overcoming the drawbacks of oral administration.


This presentation focuses on a specific kind of learning situation in the classroom, desk interactions. This means situations when students work individually at their desks while the teacher moves around in the classrooms to help and supervise them. Almost without exceptions these interactions involve the use of texts; they are literacy events linked to school specific literacy practices (Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Barton, 2007; Street, 1983). This presentation aims at exploring how and which literacy practices gets produced and reproduced in these literacy events in interactions between teachers, students and texts. It builds on video-data from an ethnographic classroom study in year 4 and 5 focusing on school subjects Swedish and Geography. Conversation Analysis (Hutchby & Wooffitt, 2008; Goodwin, 2001) has been used to show how teachers and students, using both verbal and non-verbal resources, continuously relate to, use and contribute to shape institutionally shaped literacy practices as resources in interaction. The result shows that texts in these situations are primarily used to make short references to index where to find knowledge, remind each other of previously shared knowledge or to regulate school work. A conclusion is that the literacy practices that evolve in these situations to a higher degree promotes students responsibilities to independently make choices, solve problems and move on with their work, than making explorations of the texts themselves the object of learning.


Abstract The use of camera vision and real-time computation as plant identification tool has become an active research. Application of both methods can not be separated from a pretension that the computation must produce correct results within the specified time interval where the truth of the calculation depends not only on logical truth but also on the time in which results are produced. The purpose of this  study is to identify plants with fractal dimension analysis and the application of parallel computing. Fractal dimension analysis results showed that each plant has a typical Fractal dimension value. Filtration process with a small window size is accompanied by the use of multiple processors indicates that the image processing in parallel show results much faster than processing with a single processor. Keywords: camera vision, f ractal d imension a nalisys , filtration , parallel computing Diterima: 24 Mei 2010; Disetujui: 13 September 2010


The queen honey bee is known to mate with multiple drones, and can produce over a million offspring in its lifetime. Its presence is vital to the growth and survival of a beehive. This reference book is a detailed guide to queen honey bees. The book starts by providing deep insights into the fascinating biology of the queen honey bees, their morphometric features, developmental synchronicity, genetics, hormones, pheromones, colonial organization and swarming. Further, the book describes artificial queen rearing techniques that facilitate healthy bee colony growth and increase apiculture productivity. The book equips readers with all the knowledge they need to know about queen bee development, their role in the colony and improving the health of their colony.

Key Features

- 14 reader-friendly chapters that comprehensively present information about queen honey bees

- Comprehensive coverage about queen bee biology, including their physical morphology, genetics, proteomics, development and behavior (including worker and drone interactions)

- Information about the role of queen bees in colonial organization and life-cycle events

- Practical information that helps to improve bee colony health for research and apiculture (disease mechanisms and control, artificial breeding)

The book is an essential primary reference on queen honey bees for biology and entomology students, academicians and researchers at all educational levels. Apiculturists, bee keeping enthusiasts, and general readers interested in honey bees can also benefit from the breadth of information presented.


Get hands-on guidance for using Microsoft Windows Workflow Foundation to create process-managed applications for Microsoft Windows-one step at a time. Understanding Windows Workflow Foundation is essential for every developer who works with multiple applications and services that must exchange data or results. Windows Workflow Foundation defines a process flow amongst people, applications, and services-mapping dependencies and sequences to allow automation of tasks across previously stand-alone programs. With STEP BY STEP, you work at your own pace through hands-on, learn-by-doing exercises to understand the core capabilities and fundamental techniques for working with Windows Workflow Foundation. New-to-topic developers can take a sequential approach to understanding workflows and learning how to create Windows Workflow Foundationi¾–enabled applications and services. This book includes practice exercises and code samples to help developers accelerate their productivity.


The papers printed below were contributed by scientists who attended the second Arthur Holmes European Research Meeting held in Reykjavik, Iceland in early July 1994. The igneous rocks produced by mantle plumes and at seafloor spreading-centres provide a powerful probe for investigating the state of the mantle beneath the lithosphere. Iceland is a particularly good window into the convecting mantle because the North Atlantic spreading-centre crosses directly above the mantle plume: the plate divergence allows decompression melting to occur to depths as shallow as 15 km below the surface. In other mantle plumes, such as Hawaii, the thick lithospheric lid above the plume prevents the convecting mantle rising shallower than the base of the lithosphere which lies at a depth of many tens of kilometres. A further feature of the NE Atlantic is that decompression melting beneath the spreading centres adjacent to Iceland samples the asthenospheric mantle consistently at all distances from the mantle plume: this allows the spatial and temporal extent and variability of the plume to be investigated. The Arthur Holmes meeting was held early July 1994 in Reykjavik, Iceland, fittingly enough at a location almost on top of the European-North American plate boundary, and directly above the Iceland plume. The presentations covered six main themes: melt generation; the relative importance of plume, depleted mid-ocean ridge basalt and other magma sources; breakup processes and effects on marginal basins; the timing and expression of volcanic and tectonic events; and geochemical and geophysical manifestations of the plume through space


The Effect of Age on Second Language Acquisition in Older Adults Charisse Alaine Major Department of Linguistics and English Language, BYU Master of Arts A primary purpose of second language (L2) research is to determine what factors hinder or help L2 acquisition. One aspect that has a strong effect on L2 proficiency is learners' age of onset of acquisition (AOA) (Johnson & Newport, 1989). These studies and others suggest that younger learners are more adept than older learners at learning an L2, especially to a near-native level. However, some older learners can become quite proficient in an L2 (Ioup, et al. 1994; Bialystok, 1997; Bongaerts, 1999), although learners who have acquired the L2 over the age of 30 are rarely studied. Why is it that some older learners are more adept at learning a second language than others? Some argue cognitive abilities (Hyltenstam & Abrahamsson, 2002; DeKeyser, 2006) while others argue social and affective factors (Moyer, 1999) differ across the lifespan, causing younger learners to achieve a higher proficiency than older learners. Little research, however, has examined both these factors, especially in learners who acquired a language beyond early adulthood. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine 1) if there are age effects between groups of older adults learning an L2 and 2) what causes any differences found. This study examines a variety of both cognitive, affective and demographic factors that have been previously shown to affect language learning. The participants included 38 native Spanish speakers placed into four AOA groups: 10-19, 20-29, 30-39, and over 40. In order to test cognitive factors a working memory task as well as a switch task were included (Abrahamsson, 2012; Paradis, 2009). Other factors were assessed using a survey that inquired about motivation, amount of time using the L1 versus the L2, and musical ability (Slevc & Miyake, 2006). Subjects also participated in an elicited imitation task to assess global proficiency in the L2 (Erlam, 2009). Results suggest that age effects are found even in older learners. Participants with a younger AOA who spend more time speaking the L2 (English) tended to have greater proficiency in the L2. Attentional control was also a predictor.


Several researchers have reported that parenting a child diagnosed with autism is linked with a high risk of presenting mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. The current study gave the opportunity to eight mothers of children diagnosed with mild or moderate symptoms of autism to voice the challenges they face in their parental role so as to better understand their needs, and to provide appropriate services for them. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the mothers and were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Three themes arose from the analysis of data. The first theme is ambiguous loss, and is concerned with mothers' way of dealing with the loss of their dreamed-for child. The second theme is identity shift, and is concerned with the change in the way mothers experienced and identified themselves after their child was diagnosed with autism. The third theme is withdrawing from others, and focuses on mothers' descriptions of their experiences of others' reaction towards both them and towards their child's condition. 'Disequilibrium' emerged as the essence of maternal experience as mothers described their difficulty in balancing their personal needs with those of their child. The information from this study may be used to provide professionals working with this population with advanced understanding about the experiences and the challenges faced by mothers in their attempt to sustain their sense of self and remain sensitive to the needs of their children.


This thesis examines two potential conservation problems for a residential sub-population of ~75 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) in Cockburn Sound, a small embayment within the southern metropolitan waters of Perth, Western Australia: (1) human-induced habitat change and (2) illegal feeding (i.e. unregulated provisioning) of dolphins. The work is important because Cockburn Sound is the most intensively utilised marine environment in Western Australia and industrial, commercial, and recreational uses of the area will intensify in coming decades. These considerations, coupled with the demographic and ecological vulnerability of residential populations of small cetaceans, suggested a risk of population decline without a more informed scientific basis for management. This study (2000 - 2003) complemented an earlier study of the Cockburn Sound dolphins (1993 - 1997) to provide a decade-long longitudinal study of the population. The original contributions of this study relate to: (a) the foraging ecology of dolphins;(b) the effects and mechanisms of human-dolphin interaction, particularly interactions based on unregulated provisioning; and (c) an integration of previous research and other information.

Studies of the foraging ecology of dolphins within Cockburn Sound were undertaken between 2000-2 to determine the areas used by dolphins and their feeding behaviours so that the implications of human-induced habitat change could be assessed. These studies used belt transect sampling and event-specific sampling of foraging aggregations of dolphins to quantify the foraging habitat use of dolphins within the Sound and to characterise spatial and temporal patterns in aggregations of foraging dolphins. The results showed that the density of foraging dolphins varied significantly across habitats and that foraging aggregations consistently occur in an area known as the Kwinana Shelf during the austral autumn-spring period. The studies also suggested that the foraging ecology of dolphins in Cockburn Sound reflects the consistent utilisation of both: (a) low-density prey species (i.e. individual or weakly-schooling prey) and (b) high-density prey species (i.e. schooling species such as forage fish). These findings indicate that ecosystem-based conservations of the population should consider the conservation requirements of dolphin prey species and the ecological integrity of key foraging habitats like the Kwinana Shelf.

Human-dolphin interactions based on the illegal feeding of dolphins in Cockburn Sound escalated between 1993 and 2003. By 2003, a total of 14 individuals exhibited behaviours indicative of conditioning to human interaction by food reinforcement, including some individuals that engaged in provisioning interactions on a chronic (i.e. long-term) basis. Observations of the effects of unregulated provisioning indicated that: (a) provisioned dolphins sustained increased higher rates of human-induced injury than non-provisioned dolphins and (b) provisioning was associated with substantial and enduring behavioural changes including changes in ranging and association patterns. Other observations of human-induced injury in Cockburn Sound included seven instances of calf entanglement. These findings indicate that the effects of illegal feeding and other forms of direct human-dolphin interaction (e.g. entanglement) could achieve biological significance for the population.

The possible contribution of (a) human influences, (b) social learning, and (c) behavioural propensities (e.g. age and sex) on the acquisition of an attraction response to human provisioning was examined through logistic regression analysis using age, sex, use of high-boat density areas, and the number of close associates that were previously provisioned as predictor variables and the acquisition of an attraction response as the dependent variable. This analysis was supplemented by behavioural observations of interactions between provisioned and naive individuals during provisioning interactions. The results supported three findings: (1) a relatively high level of exposure to human provisioners was a significant predictor for the acquisition of an attraction response by dolphins; (2) social learning contributed to the acquisition of an attraction response in those individuals that more frequently utilised high-boat density areas; and (3) the potential contribution of behavioural propensities relating to age and sex was uncertain. These conclusions suggest that the acquisition of an attraction response to human provisioning can best be understood as the outcome of a complex of interacting factors.

The findings also indicate: (a) the management value of individual-specific and longitudinal data for the management of harmful human-wildlife interactions and (b) the potential for social learning to contribute to the development and persistence of these interactions. The findings of this study indicate that population decline in Cockburn Sound could be induced by: (1) a reduction in the Sound?s environmental carrying capacity or (2) mortality, injury, and behavioural changes resulting from interactions with humans. The potential for such a decline and evidence demonstrating the harmful effects of human activities on dolphins supports the application of preventative approach to the management of illegal feeding and entanglement and a precautionary approach to environmental impact assessments of proposed developments. Mitigation of direct human-dolphins like illegal feeding requires an enforcement and education program to encourage more responsible human attitudes towards interactions with dolphins. Research on the ecology and composition of finfish assemblages and the trophic structure of the Kwinana shelf would assist efforts to mitigate the impact of human-induced habitat change.


This study was undertaken to determine the relationship between price and various wine label design elements. These variables included golden mean, uniform font, proportion of yellow and orange, direction, realistic, abstract, winery/grape image, winery emblem, font type changes, font size changes, horizontal label, vertical label, Sonoma, and Napa. The researcher wanted to determine whether specific combinations of color and images on wine labels reflect greater aesthetic content and relate to their recommended price. Fifty wine labels were randomly selected from a given sample and several researchers evaluated each label looking specifically at the design elements listed above. A regression analysis was performed to determine if there was an overall relationship between price and all of the variables. The regression analysis also determined whether there was a relationship between price and each individual variable. An F-test and t-test were performed in order to evaluate these relationships. The results of the study showed there was a substantiated relationship between price and the art-design variables as a set, and there was a statistical relationship between price and specific label design elements. This relationship was evident between price and direction, price and winery emblem, and price and Napa. The findings of this study are useful for consumers to determine what types of wine label aesthetics reflect a higher price.


Power dissipation has become a major obstacle in performance scaling of modern integrated circuits and has spurred the search for devices operating at lower voltage swing. In this letter, we study p-i-n band-to-band tunneling field effect transistors taking semiconducting carbon nanotubes as the channel material. The on current of these devices is mainly limited by the tunneling barrier properties, and phonon-scattering has only a moderate effect. We show, however, that the off current is limited by phonon absorption assisted tunneling, and thus is strongly temperature dependent. Subthreshold swings below the 60mV∕decade conventional limit can be readily achieved even at room temperature. Interestingly, although subthreshold swing degrades due to the effects of phonon scattering, it remains low under practical biasing conditions.


This paper addresses how much individuals are saving for retirement. The standard measure, the personal saving rate reported in the official U.S. National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA), has fallen dramatically and in 2004 stood at a dismal 1.8 percent of disposable personal income. But is this indicator an accurate measure of saving behavior? NIPA combines the saving of the working-age population with the dissaving of retirees. This study attempts to separate the saving of these two groups. Three conclusions emerge from the analysis. First, adjusting the NIPA personal saving rate shows that personal saving by the working-age population is significantly higher than the reported national rate. Moreover, allocating a portion of business saving to workingage households further raises their saving rate. Second, commentators should be careful not to double count saving through employer-sponsored plans by referring to pension saving and personal saving as if they were different components. In fact, for most of the time between 1980 and 2003, pension saving accounted for all of personal saving. Finally, the analysis (inadvertently) helps explain the puzzle surrounding the collapse of the total NIPA personal saving rate beginning in the early 1980s. While capital gains were part of the story in the 1990s, most of the downward trend can be explained by changes in the saving rate of those 65 and over.


With the purpose of developing the high efficient electrolytic dressing method for bronze bond diamond wheel of a coarse grain, twin electrode electrolytic dressing method using DC power source is devised and the validity of its method is examined by the experiments. In the larger initial electrolytic current value than the critical value, the electrolytic current value decreases with dressing time until a constant corresponding with dressing conditions because the oxide layer generated by the electrolytic reaction increases with dressing time. In the suitable initial electrolytic current value below the critical value, on the other hand, the electrolytic current value is independent on dressing time because the oxide layer does not increase with dressing time. In the suitable dressing conditions, the grain extrusion height from the bond surface increases efficiently in approximately proportion to dressing time beyond the height of 35μm which is about one-third of abrasive grain diameter of #140 wheel. The grinding performance of wheel dressed suitably by twin electrode method has longer dressing life interval, smaller variation of surface roughness in grinding process and larger grinding ratio than single electrode method. From the results, it is referred that the method is useful for dressing of coarse grain wheel of #140.


Eddy covariance was used to measure the net CO2 exchange and energy balance of a moist-tussock tundra ecosystem at Happy Valley, Alaska (69°08.54′ N, 148°50.47′ W), during the 1994–1995 growing seasons (June–August). The system operated for 75–95% of the time, and energy balance closure was within 5%, indicating good system performance.

Daily rates of evapotranspiration (ET) were on average 1.5 mm/d, while seasonal ET ranged between 100 and 150 mm. Daily ET was strongly correlated with daily fluctuations in net radiation. However, the "omega factor" (an index of the relative importance of meteorological and physiological limitations to evapotranspiration) was generally <0.5 throughout June and early July, indicating that biological limitations to ET were relatively more important than meteorological limitations during the first half of the growing season. The biological limitation to ET was presumably due to bryophyte desiccation and subsequent reductions in canopy water-vapor conductance, especially under conditions of high evaporative demand.

The moist-tussock tundra ecosystem was a net sink for atmospheric CO2 of −3.3 and −4.6 mol/m2 during the 1994 and 1995 growing seasons, respectively (negative flux depicts net CO2 accumulation). Over diel (24-h) periods, 60–90% of the variation in net CO2 exchange was explained as a hyperbolic function of photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), while over seasonal time scales, model estimates of the estimated quantum yield and maximum gross assimilation indicate that daily variations in net CO2 uptake were driven more by the seasonal trend in ecosystem phenology than by meteorology. Approximately 70% of the variation in nighttime net CO2 exchange, an estimate of the whole-ecosystem respiration rate, was explained by variations in water-table depth and temperature. Although other environmental factors may be important, interannual differences in observed net CO2 exchange were almost completely explained by the interannual differences in estimated whole-ecosystem respiration.


Regeneration, revitalizing and reversal (RRR) are the primordial functions of the stem cells in the field of regenerative medicine. Though there are several cases of successful stem cell transplantation the reversal of metabolic diseases and the acquired secondary complications like chronic renal failure, neuropathy, stroke or vascular diseases are not well studied. The transplanted cells in many cases failed to home or graft in the host with no reason to attribute for such failures. Therefore, it becomes necessary to address these secondary complications with cellular therapy. The oxidative stress of the cells and tis - sues are attributed to the hostile microenvironment, not suitable for the survival of newly recruited cells. From our few animal studies and published literatures sources elsewhere, we foresee a huge potential for using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to initially com-bat the secondary cardiovascular and neuronal complications in the management of the metabolic diseases. However, not all the stem cells have been tested in these lines, and further we do not know, whether all the progenitor cells from various sources and origin will behave like MSCs, which needs to be studied extensively. regenerative medicine. Human embryonic stem (ES) cells, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) induced pluripotent


Originally developed to run within the dBASE III (tm) operating environment, Kansas Local Accidents Database (KSLAD) has since been upgraded to operate under dBASE III Plus (tm). Work has been done to create a compiled version of KSLAD that is independently executable, which involves significant revision of the original package to accommodate syntax rules particular to the WordTech dBIII Compiler. The compiled program can be used without incurring the significant cost of the dBase software. KSLAD accepts up to 60 data items from each accident report, nine of which can be defined by the user to meet any particular need. Although the database format and the coding of data are based on the State of Kansas standard accident report form, KSLAD may be used with other forms. Outputs include brief reports and summary (including key location, time, and characteristics data) of accidents for location or accident characteristic criteria selected by the user. A high accident location (HAL) analysis procedure is also included.


Aqueous extract of the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) pits was prepared and its antigenotoxic activity was evaluated against N-Nitroso-N-methylurea (NMU) induced mutagenic effect in mice, using chromosome aberration (CA), micronuclei (MN) and DNA fragmentation assays as experimental end points in male mice. Date pits extract (DPE) was given orally to mice at the dose 25 mg/25 g mouse for successive five days in a week up to four consecutive weeks. NMU was used as mutagen and was given intraperitoneal (i.p) injection at single dose 80 mg/kg b.w., 24 hr after last dose of DPE in pre-treatment regimen and 24 hr before the first dose of DPE in the post-treatment regimen. Mice were scarified after one, two and seven days after the end of treatment. The results have shown that pre-and post-treatment regimens of DPE were significantly restored the DNA damage induced by NMU, as revealed by lowering of the occurrence of CAs and MN in bone marrow cells and inhibition of hepatic DNA fragmentation. These findings suggested that DPE produced their inhibitory activity either by desmutagenic or bioantimutagenic manner in pre-and post-treatment regimens respectively.


This paper discusses the use of Ejector as an expansion device as an energy efficient alternative to expansion valve in air conditioning system to improve the system performance. Expansion Process in Vapour Compression refrigeration system represents one of the important sources of irreversibility. Ejector was used instead of conventional expansion device which not only recover the expansion process loss by generating isentropic expansion process but also by increasing the cooling capacity and decreasing the power consumption. Initially experimental test was conducted on window air conditioner with standard expansion valve and then with ejector .Test were also conducted to re-circulate the liquid at the outlet of evaporator if any by using separator through valve to ejector. These act as secondary flow which was controlled by using hand valve. The coefficient of performance (COP) values for both conventional and modified ejector systems were experimentally investigated under same external conditions. Modified ejector refrigeration system shows 20% improvement in COP as compared with conventional system.


The production of safety information is deemed a vital resource to protect human lives at the work site. The injury rate, lost days, incapacity rate, and fatality rate, are key indicators to prop up labour risk awareness and identify job hazards. However, safety information gets highly distorted because it does not only measure risk but serves as a means of exchange. It determines the amount of money to be swapped between Workers' Compensation Boards and their client corporations. Moreover, as a depository of exchange value, safety information tends to exert pressure over social reality rather than just being a passive reflection of it. This paper discloses the commodity form of safety information. Based on a political economy of information framework, it identifies, describes, and analyses the safety information commodity in its active role of organizing safety and labour health.


While women maintain an increased visibility in the games culture, the issues involving gender in computing gaming is still relevant; and it is evident that the industry could benefit from the involvement of women in all aspects from consumer to developer.

Gender Divide and the Computer Game Industry takes a look at the games industry from a gendered perspective and highlights the variety of ways in which women remain underrepresented in this industry. This reference source provides a comprehensive overview on the issue of gender, computer games, and the ICT sector. It supplies students and academics in numerous disciplines with the concerns of the computer games industry, male dominated occupations, and the complexity of gender in the workforce.


The chapter presents a positive effect of reduced flammability of thermoset resins, thanks to the use of halogen-free flame retardants (FRs) and multi-ingredient modifiers that combine conventional phosphorous/nitrogen additives interacting with nanofillers. The impact of these inhibitors on the level of flammability of polyester polymer compositions was defined by determining the value of limiting oxygen index (LOI), thermogravimetric analysis and cone calorimeter (CC) analysis of thermal destruction processes. Morphology of composites was assessed by scanning electron microscope and analysis of actual SEM micro- graphic images. The analysis of thermal decomposition of the materials under examination confirmed flammability-reducing properties of the hybrid flame retardants used, and a synergy effect was observed between conventional modifiers and nanofillers, specifically expandable graphite and synthetic precipitated silica. The multi-ingredient composition of flame retardants turned out to make significant progress in achieving the desired level of flammability in polyester resins. Nanocomposites are a new class of polymer systems. of relative a Frequency of data compilation was 5 s for each.


Abstract. In recent years, there has been increased interest in carbon cycling in natural systems due to its role in a changing climate. Northern latitude systems are especially important as they may serve as a potentially large source or sink of terrestrial carbon. There are, however, a limited number of investigations reporting on actual flux rates of carbon moving from the subsurface landscape to surface water systems in northern latitudes. In this study, we determined dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) fluxes from the subsurface landscape for a sub-arctic catchment located in northern Sweden. These are based on observed annual flux-averaged concentrations of DOC and DIC for the 566 km2 Abiskojokken catchment. We demonstrate the importance to correctly represent the spatial distribution of the advective solute travel times along the various flow and transport pathways. The fluxes of DOC and DIC from the subsurface landscape to the surface water system were comparable in magnitude. This balance could shift under future climatic changes that influence the hydrological and biogeochemical system.


Polylactic acid (PLA) has become one of the most commonly used polymers in medical devices given its biocompatible, biodegradable and bioabsorbable properties. In addition, due to PLA's thermoplastic behaviour, these medical devices are now obtained using 3D printing technologies. Once obtained, the 3D-printed PLA devices undergo different sterilisation procedures, which are essential to prevent infections. This work was an in-depth study of the physicochemical changes caused by novel and conventional sterilisation techniques on 3D-printed PLA and their impact on the biological response in terms of toxicity. The 3D-printed PLA physicochemical (XPS, FTIR, DSC, XRD) and mechanical properties as well as the hydrophilic degree were evaluated after sterilisation using saturated steam (SS), low temperature steam with formaldehyde (LTSF), gamma irradiation (GR), hydrogen peroxide gas plasma (HPGP) and CO2 under critical conditions (SCCO). The biological response was tested in vitro (fibroblasts NCTC-929) and in vivo (embryos and larvae wild-type zebrafish Danio rerio). The results indicated that after GR sterilisation, PLA preserved the O:C ratio and the semi-crystalline structure. Significant changes in the polymer surface were found after HPGP, LTSF and SS sterilisations, with a decrease in the O:C ratio. Moreover, the FTIR, DSC and XRD analysis revealed PLA crystallisation after SS sterilisation, with a 52.9% increase in the crystallinity index. This structural change was also reflected in the mechanical properties and wettability. An increase in crystallinity was also observed after SCCO and LTSF sterilisations, although to a lesser extent. Despite these changes, the biological evaluation revealed that none of the techniques were shown to promote the release of toxic compounds or PLA modifications with toxicity effects. GR sterilisation was concluded as the least reactive technique with good perspectives in the biological response, not only at the level of toxicity but at all levels, since the 3D-printed PLA remained almost unaltered.


In the Digital Music Lab project we work on the automatic analysis of large audio databases that results in rich annotations for large corpora of music. The musicological interpretation of this data from thousands of pieces is a challenging task that can benefit greatly from specifically designed interactive visualisation. Most existing big music data visualisation focuses on cultural attributes, mood, or listener behaviour.

In this ongoing work we explore chord sequence patterns extracted by sequential pattern mining of more than one million tracks from the I Like Music commercial music collection. We present here several new visual representations that summarise chord patterns according to chord types, chroma, pattern structure and support, enabling musicologists to develop and answer questions about chord patterns in music collections.

Our visualisations represent root movement and chord qualities mostly in a geometrical way and use colour to represent pattern support. We use two individually configurable views in parallel to encourage comparisons, either between different representations of one corpus, highlighting complimentary musical aspects, or between different datasets,here representing different genres. We adapt several visualisation techniques to chord pattern sets using some novel layouts to support musicologists with their exploration and interpretation of the corpora. We found that differences between chord patterns of different genres, e.g. Rock & Roll vs. Jazz, are visible and can be used to generate hypotheses for the study of individual pieces, further statistical investigations or new data processing and visualisation. Our designs will be adapted as user needs are established through ongoing work. Means of aggregating, focusing and filtering by selected characteristics (such as key,melodic patterns etc.) will be added as we develop our design for the visualisation of chord patterns in close collaboration with musicologists.


Replication is a useful technique for distributed database systems where a data
object will be accessed (Le., read and written) from multiple locations such as
from a local area network environment or geographically distributed world wide.
This technique is used to provide high availability, fault tolerance, and enhanced
performance.
This research addresses the performance of data replication protocol in terms of
data availability and communication costs. Specifically, this thesis present a new
protocol called Three Dimensional Grid Structure (TDGS) protocol, to manage
data replication in distributed database systems (DDS). The TDGS protocol is
based on the logical structure of sites/serquorum in the DDS. The protocol provide high availability for read and write
operations with limited fault-tolerance at low communication cost. With TDGS
protocol, a read operation is limited to two data copies, while a write operation is
required with minimal number of copies. In comparison to other protocols, TDGS
requires lower communication cost for an operation, while providing higher data
availability .
A system for building reliable computing over TDGS Remote Procedure (TDGSRP)
system has also been described in this research. The system combines the
replication and transaction techniques and embeds these techniques into the
TDGS-RP system. The model describes the models for replicas, TDGS-RP,
transactions, and the algorithms for managing transactions, and replicas.


Vehicular networking is a technology that enables vehicles communication system. A joint effort from the automobile industry, transportation industry, and government offices is driving the adoption of this technology to build intelligent transportation systems that consist of smart vehicles. This study attempts to improve the reliability and efficiency of vehicular networking. The study assumes the context of platooning applications, but the contributions of this study can be applied to other vehicular applications as well. There are two contributions in this study. First, a wireless emulator is designed and implemented to emulate IEEE 802.11 networks in real-time using the Ethernet infrastructure. The emulator replaces the MAC layer and physical layer of IEEE 802.11 networking stack with a real-time CSMA/CA model, thus reduces the cost of experiments. It provides upper layers the same interfaces as on a real device. As a result, the testing targets in the emulation are real-world software components as opposed to simulation scripts in a discrete event simulator. These software components can be routing protocols, transport protocols, or applications, and are the same code that can be deployed in the real world. Second, an Interframe Compression Transmission Layer is designed and implemented, to provide efficient transmission of periodical messages in vehicular environments. The transmission layer compresses the difference between frames instead of frames themselves, and reduces bandwidth consumption significantly. To improve the behaviors of the transmission layer under different scenarios and configurations studied, an adaptive version of the algorithm is designed, which achieves more than 50% in reduction of bandwidth consumption using real-world platooning data trace. With lower bandwidth consumption, delivery ratio is vastly improved in congested networking environments.


The retinae of the posterior eyes of pisaurid spiders in the genus Dolomedes are described.They resemble those of Lycosidae, but the receptors are much larger, and proximal to the strips of tapetum upon which they rest the receptor axons are grossly dilated. Each receptive segment contains two rhabdomeres, and pairs of rhabdomeres belonging to adjacent receptors are contiguous. Prolonged (6 h) illumination at physiological levels causes the rhabdomeres to diminish in volume by loss of membrane which is restored on return to darkness. W hen spiders are kept in darkness for 4-5 d, the rhabdomeres grow by the orderly addition of membrane to the microvilli until they completely fill the receptive segments, and such novel membrane is subsequently disassembled when the retina is illuminated. It is proposed that under normal conditions there is a balance maintained between the growth and destruction of rhabdomere membrane. The paired rhabdomeres are flanked by the processes of supportive cells which exhibit much membrane amplification, and the supportive cell system extends below the tapetum completely to ensheath the swollen receptor axons, which are some 70-80 pm long. In dark-adapted retinae the supportive processes are shrunken; illumination causes them to swell, and the extracellular space between the interdigitations fills with electron-dense material derived from the breakdown of rhabdom ere membrane. The material is passed basally and reintroduced into the receptor axons via an extensive system of endocytotic pleats. The tips of pleats often enclose pigment granules from the supporting system, and identical granules in various states of lysis are found within the axoplasm after exposure to light, thus implying that the pleats burst rather than merely transport material across their membranes. There is evidence that pleats may become detached. Exposure of retinae to infrared radiation also evokes breakdown of rhabdomere membrane, but the extracellular route is not employed. The swollen axons are filled with whorls of rough endoplasmic reticulum, abundant Golgi bodies, and mitochondria. After long periods of darkness, all these systems are depleted, and the space they occupied becomes highly vacuolated. Light adaptation from dim light on a normal diurnal cycle evokes dilation of the cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum, which pinch off smooth vesicles, and the Golgi bodies become highly active and produce coated vesicles in abundance. The relations between smooth vesicles and microvilli are ambiguous; precedents exist for supposing that smooth vesicles in the inter-rhabdom eral cytoplasm are pinocytotic and have been pinched off from the bases of the microvilli, but in Dolomedes there is some evidence to suggest that they may be identical with those manufactured by the endoplasmic reticulum and are also fusing with rhabdomere membrane. Multivesicular and multilamellar bodies are the product of membrane fragments which have broken off from the rhabdomeres during light adaptation, and of coated vesicles produced by pinocytosis; they are transported within the receptors to the swollen axons where they undergo lysis. It is proposed that in Dolomedes the role of the endoplasmic reticulum is to synthesize materials for the repair of rhabdomere membrane, and that the bulk of precursors to sustain this process is obtained by recycling the products of rhabdom ere breakdown via the supportive cell system. The hypothesis is discussed in terms of current information about invertebrate retinae, and analogous processes which are well established for those of vertebrates. Dolomedes do not move retinal pigment granules to modulate the shielding of their receptors, and it is likely that manipulation of the properties of photoreceptor membrane is the only strategy of adaptation available to them.


The author presents the results of his analysis of the hymn, concluding that it is based on the composition of a mime. The following supports his belief: 1. The scene is composed through drama. The dialogue and action dictate its structure. The omniscient narrator plays an important role here through his introduction to the scene, his statements and descriptions, and, most importantly, with his comments which suggest the perception of the scene by participants, who like Apollo and Zeus react with laughter to the infant (Hermes') behaviour. We can then name the whole composition a diegetic mime. 2. The intention of the scene is that of all mime authors, to provoke listeners to laughter, and to create the atmosphere of a play (gelotopoiein). 3. The comics of the scene have the exact moral function – to create understanding between the arguing gods (Hermes and Apollo). This function is characteristic of the author of Iliad and especially Odyssey (agreement between Euryalos and Odysseus). 4. The main theme, adopted later by mime and comedy, is a quarrel (presented here with a teasing perspective – what is underlined in the description of reaction and the contrasting stylization of Hermes' and Apollo's speeches). An unexpected form (para prosdokian) comes in the over-colouristic characteristics of the players (an infant bearing adult characteristics, beginning with smart talk, mischievous persuasive arguments and ending with thieving behaviour); there is also the topos of releasing winds, and insults and proverbial statements are very important for epic compositionin provoking laughter.


Combining triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) and textile materials, wearable electronic devices show great application prospects in biomotion energy harvesting and multifunctional self-power sensors in this coming intelligent era. However, fabrication method by rigidly stitching two or more individual fabrics together and working mode that must cooperate with external materials, make textile-based TENG bulky, stiff, uncomfortable and hinder their range of application. Here, by using a double needle bed flat knitting machine technology, a 3D double faced interlock fabric TENG (3DFIF-TENG) is designed as self-powered, stretchable and substrate-free wearable TENG sensors (such as a bending sensor to detect arm bending degree, pressure sensors) and energy harvesting devices. Besides, due to the unique 3D structure and after improving the structure by knitting a woven fabric-TENG in the middle layer, the 3DFIF-TENG can be further used as a multifunctional sensors, such as a 3D tactile sensor. Besides, by knitting a woven fabric-TENG in the middle layer of the 3DFIF-TENG, it can be further used as a multifunctional sensor, such as a 3D tactile sensor. The substrate-free and 3D structure design in this paper may provide a promising direction for self-powered, stretchable wearable devices in energy harvesting, human motion or robot movement detection, and smart prosthetics.


The influence of herbivory, grass competition and grazing system on emergence, growth and survival ofAcacia seedlings in burnt and unburnt areas was investigated in their first growing season, from September 1997 to May 1998. The study was aimed at determining possible reasons for the increase in woody plant density in semi-arid savannas, specifically the effect of excluding small-mouthed herbivores from domestic and livestock systems, and switching from continuous grazing to rotational grazing systems. The effect of fire intensity and maximum fire temperature on seed viability, germination and mortality, specifically with regard to back versus head fires and seed size , were investigated. Variability among species in the number of seedlings emerging generally resembled differences in viability. Emergence ofAcacia karroo and Acacia tortilis was poorer than that ofAcacia nilotica under grass competition. Emergence was lower in burnt and open areas, the latter depending on Acacia species. Herbivory did not affect seedling emergence, in both domestic and wildlife systems. Seedling survival and growth was adversely affected by small-mouthed herbivores in both domestic and livestock systems , whilst large-mouthed herbivores exerted no direct effects on woody seedlings, except to a small degree by trampling. Seedlings showed better growth and survival under low grass competition, which also resulted in greater leaf-to-height ratios , indicating that grass interference with irradiance affects woody seedlings. This effect appeared to be greater for cattle and rotational grazing, and for burning, in domestic and wildlife systems respectively. Woody seedling establishment was also better in burnt areas. Whilst seedling growth was better under rotational than continuous grazing, survival was not significantly different. Grass competition influenced seedling establishment to a greater extent than herbivory, whilst burning made a greater impact than grass competition. Seed mortality in response to maximum fire temperature was inversely related to seed size, and trends in seed germination and mortality, although very variable, appeared to be influenced by threshold fire intensities and maximum temperatures. Back fires had hotter maximum temperatures and fire intensities at ground level than head fires, which result in greater seed mortality following fire. Based on the current study it is likely that the removal of grass competition, burning, and a change from continuous to rotational grazing systems, and small-mouthed to largemouthed herbivores, will result in an increase in woody seedling establishment. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CHAPTER


This article contributes to the ongoing conversation, in the South African Journal of Higher Education (SAJHE) and other journals, about academic literacy development in higher education. It reports on a small-scale quantitative study on the effect of writing centre support on students' academic performance, in the disciplinary context of management studies. The study generated questions and areas for reflection about how to assess the ways in which writing centres can become more valuable programmatically, institutionally, theoretically and methodologically. Its uniqueness arises from the attempt to look at the development of academic literacy writing competences not during the transition from school to university, but at the exit point of an academic bachelor's degree programme. It raises questions, such as: Is there a value for academic discourse induction even at this exit stage, and what impact does it have on the development of writing competences? How does this impact become known?


The objective of this study was to evaluate the biomass production and the potential use of the elephant grass hybrid Carajas for animal feeding and bioenergy production under different cutting frequencies. A randomized block design with a 3×3 factorial arrangement was used to evaluate the potential of the grass as animal feed ( in natura , silage and hay form; cutting at 60, 75 and 90 days). A randomized block design with three treatments (three cutting intervals, 60, 75 and 90 days) was also used to evaluate the grass for biomass production and its potential use as an energy source in briquette form. The total forage biomass, leaf blade and stem biomass, dry matter, neutral and acid detergent fiber contents, mass and higher heating value increased with cutting interval, whereas the crude protein, ash and moisture contents decreased with cutting interval. Regardless of the cutting interval, the in natura material presented higher values of all content parameters than silage and hay. The Carajas hybrid can be used as animal feed in in natura , silage and hay form, and the recommended cutting interval for use as animal feed is 60 days. The Carajas hybrid also shows potential for use in bioenergy production in briquette form, with a suggested cutting interval of 90 days.


Abstract. Emission inventories of elemental carbon (EC) and organic carbon (OC) contain large uncertainties both in their spatial and temporal distributions for different source types. An inverse model was used to evaluate EC and OC emissions based on 1 year of hourly measurements from the St. Louis–Midwest supersite. The input to the model consisted of continuous measurements of EC and OC obtained for 2002 using two semicontinuous analyzers. High resolution meteorological simulations were performed for the entire time period using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). These were used to simulate hourly back trajectories at the measurement site using a Lagrangian model (FLEXPART-WRF). In combination, an Eulerian model (CAMx: The Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions ) was used to simulate the impacts at the measurement site using known emissions inventories for point and area sources from the Lake Michigan Directors Consortium (LADCO) as well as for open burning from the Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN). By considering only passive transport of pollutants, the Bayesian inversion simplifies to a single least squares inversion. The inverse model combines forward Eulerian simulations with backward Lagrangian simulations to yield estimates of emissions from sources in current inventories as well as from emissions that might be missing in the inventories. The CAMx impacts were disaggregated into separate time chunks in order to determine improved diurnal, weekday and monthly temporal patterns of emissions. Because EC is a primary species, the inverse model estimates can be interpreted directly as emissions. In contrast, OC is both a primary and a secondary species. As the inverse model does not differentiate between direct emissions and formation in the plume of those direct emissions, the estimates need to be interpreted as contributions to measured concentrations. Emissions of EC and OC in the St. Louis region from on-road, non-road, marine/aircraft/railroad (MAR), "other" and point sources were revised slightly downwards on average. In particular, both MAR and point sources had a more pronounced diurnal variation than in the inventory. The winter peak in "other" emissions was not corroborated by the inverse model. On-road emissions have a larger difference between weekday and weekends in the inverse estimates than in the inventory, and appear to be poorly simulated or characterized in the winter months. The model suggests that open burning emissions are significantly underestimated in the inventory. Finally, contributions of unknown sources seems to be from areas to the south of St. Louis and from afternoon and nighttime emissions.


ORIGINAL ARTICLE Introduction: Dyes are visible materials and are considered as one of the hazardous components that make up industrial waste. Therefore it is removed from bodies of water, using various methods. In this regard, the Fenton oxidation process is one of the most effective ways to remove colored contaminants in aquatic environments, which has many applications today. Materials and Methods: In this empirical study, the effect of the Fenton oxidation process in the removal of the soluble synthetic dye, Reactive Red 2 (RR2), has been studied. The color removal efficiency of the Fenton process in the presence of ferrous sulfate and hydrogen peroxide at different reaction variables were studied in the Jar Test when initial concentration of the dye was 10 mg/L at constant pH = 3 and lab temperature. Results: The results showed that concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and iron ions influence the maximum removal efficiency. Conclusion: According to the survey results, Fenton oxidation is an effective method for the removal of RR2 dye from aqueous solutions. Article History: Received: 1 February 2017 Accepted: 3 May 2017


For the least developed countries (LDCs) facing supply‐side constraints, the SDGs target of doubling the share of their global exports by 2020 is a chimera. Various mechanisms have been put in place to help LDCs to enhance their trade capacity, of which WTO Aid for Trade (AfT) is a notable one. Although the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) pre‐dates the AFT initiative, the EIF's focus on evidence based needs assessment, institutional and policy support and productive capacity building support have helped a number of LDCs overcome their binding constraints to trade expansion. Besides, country ownership principle, partnership approach and targeted nature of AfT support means that the chances of achieving success is much higher than other development interventions.


BACKGROUND
Little information is available regarding vitamin D-associated factors in patients with non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) lung disease.

OBJECTIVE
To determine the association between vitamin D-related factors and susceptibility to NTM lung disease.

DESIGN
The relative gene expression levels of cathelicidin (CAMP), defensin (DEFB4), vitamin D receptor (VDR) and 1-hydroxylase (CYP27B1), as well as the serum levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D), cathelicidin (LL-37), defensin (hBD-2) and vitamin D-binding protein (DBP) from 82 patients with NTM lung disease and 28 control subjects were analysed.

RESULTS
Gene expression of CAMP and DEFB4 was significantly higher, and gene expression of VDR and CYP27B1 was significantly lower, in NTM patients than controls. Serum LL-37 and hBD-2 levels were not significantly different between NTM patients and controls; however, the serum DBP level was higher in NTM patients than controls. The serum vitamin D status of patients did not correlate with serum LL-37, hBD-2, or DBP concentration or gene expression of CAMP, DEFB4, VDR or CYP27B1.

CONCLUSION
A higher level of gene expression for antimicrobial peptide is more likely to be associated with NTM lung disease than serum vitamin D status.


Introduction: Meningiomas occurring outside the cerebrospinal axis can be primary at an extracranial site (accounting for 1-2% of all meningiomas), includes head and neck region, mediastinum, skin and soft tissues or secondary extending from an intracranial lesion. Material and methods: A 59 year old female presented with history of headache, left nasal epistaxis on and off and bilateral nasal obstruction. On examination a polypoidal growth was identified in the left nasal cavity, which was resected. Sections were prepared and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Results: On Histomorphological and Immunohistochemical examination the tumor was identified as meningioma. Discussion: Meningioma are predominantly benign tumors of adults, usually attached to the dura, that arise from the meningothelial cells of the archnoid. These constituting about 13-26% of all primary intracranial tumors. However, primary extracranial meningiomas are very rare, accounting for 1-2% of all meningiomas. Extracranial as well as intracranial meningiomas are more commonly seen in females than males. Conclusion: Nasal and paranasal sinuses are a rare site for the occurrence of meningioma and are therefore a difficult rare entity to be diagnosed. Prognosis of ectopic meningioma is good if excision is complete.


The 12 November 1999 earthquake ( M 7.1) occurred on the Duzce fault, a splay of the North Anatolian fault in the Bolu basin approximately three months after the 17 August 1999 ( M 7.4) earthquake. The surface rupture was 40 km long, and the maximum right-lateral offset was 500 ± 5 cm, averaging 300 cm. The 9 km of the westernmost part of the rupture along the southern margin of the Eften Lake had a 350-cm maximum vertical displacement (normal faulting), some of which was already ruptured during the 17 August 1999 event with few tens of centimeters. The surface rupture has a generally simple narrow deformation zone of 0.5-5 m, however, in some places, it widens to 50 m. Transtensional and transpressional structures were observed within releasing and restraining step-over areas respectively. The larger dextral offsets on some streams indicate previous events. The dextral slip measurements along the rupture reflect a symmetric distribution. The eastern connection of this rupture zone with the main trace of North Anatolian fault remains unclear because the Bakacak and Elmalik fault, which are connecting faults, had no surface rupture.

Manuscript received 14 November 2000.


The Grove Mountains are an inland continuation of the Prydz Belt in East Antarctica. Detailed metamorphic petrological and zircon U-Pb geochronological studies are performed on the high-pressure (HP) pelitic granulites from glacial moraines in the Grove Mountains. The metamorphic peak mineral assemblage of the HP pelitic granulites is characterized by garnet + kyanite + K-feldspar + biotite + plagioclase + quartz, and the subsequent medium-pressure (MP) granulite facies retrogression is characterized by sillimanite replacing kyanite, the formation of the biolite + sillimanite symplectite in the matrix. These mineral assemblages and their P-T estimates based on the P-T pseudosection constructed in MnNCKFMASHT system define a clockwise P-T path involving metamorphic peak of 11.6–13.6 kbar at 817–834°C followed by a near-isothermal decompression of 6.7–7.5 kbar at 806–828°C, comparable with those of associated HP mafic granulites from glacial moraines in the Grove Mountains. Zircon U-Pb dating, coupled with available metamorphic age data obtained for HP mafic granulites, reveals HP metamorphism occurred at 540–545 Ma. Combining the previous research results, the HP pelitic granulites and contemporary HP mafic granulites were widely distributed in glacial moraines from the Grove Mountains, suggesting at least part of the Grove Subglacial Highlands underwent Pan-Afrian HP granulite facies metamorphism, which provides new evidence for a collisional tectonic setting of the Pan-Afrian Prydz Belt. Citation : Chen L Y, Wang W, Liu X C, et al. Metamorphism and zircon U-Pb dating of high-pressure pelitic granulites from glacial moraines in the Grove Mountains, East Antarctica. Adv Polar Sci, 2018, 29(2): 118-134, doi:10.13679/j.advps.2018.2.000118


The work embodied in this dissertation is mainly concerned with the isolation and characterization of chemical constituents from a terrestrial plant. The isolated compounds whether new or previously reported in the literature, were characterized by using various sophisticated spectroscopic techniques available at this institute.

The dissertation is divided in two parts dealing with the chemistry of Stocksia brauhica. In Part A the chemical analysis of fruits of Stocksia brauhica is described. Part B deals with the chemical analysis of petals of Stocksia brauhica (Sapindaceae).

Chemical analysis of fruits of Stocksia brauhica The studies on fruits resulted in the isolation and characterization of five new constituents, out of these, one compound contain oleanane glycoside skeleton and four have flavonoid glycoside skeleton. In addition to these new constituents, four known compounds have also been isolated and identified from this species. The new constituents isolated from fruits include: brauenesaponin A (54), brauhenefloroside C (55), brauhenefloroside 0 (56), brauhenefloroside E (57) and brauhenefloroside F (58).

The known compounds isolated from the fruits are oleanolic acid (50), lupeol (51), I²-sitosterol (52) and I²-sitosterolglycoside (53).

Compounds 57 and 58 were subjected to radical scavenging assay to evaluate the antioxidant potential using two complimentary assays, DPPH (1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical) scavenging assay and NO (Nitric oxide radical) scavenging assay. Both of these compounds were inactive against DPPH and having moderate activity against NO.

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Chemical analysis of petals of Stocksia brauhica Part-B deals with the chemical studies on S. brauhica. The present work has resulted in the isolation of three known compounds. These compounds include, 3-0-glucose-3',4',S,7-tetrahydroxyflavone (59), 3-0-rutinosyl-4',S,7,trihydroxy flavone (60), 3-0-rutinosyl-3',4',S,7-tetrahydroxy flavone (61). Compound 60 and 61 were subjected to radical scavenging assay to evaluate the antioxidant potential of test samples using two complimentary in vitro bioassays, DPPH (l,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical) scavenging assay and NO (Nitric oxide radical) scavenging assay. Both these compounds are active against DPPH and NO.


Dynamic binary translation serves as a core technology that enables a wide range of important tools such as profiling, bug detection, program analysis, and security. Many of the target applications often include large amounts of dynamically generated code, which poses a special performance challenge in maintaining consistency between the source application and the translated application. This paper introduces two approaches for optimizing binary translation of JITs and other dynamic code generators. First we present a system of efficient source code annotations that allow developers to demarcate dynamic code regions and identify code changes within those regions. The second technique avoids the annotation and source code requirements by automatically inferring the presence of a JIT and instrumenting its write instructions with translation consistency operations. We implemented these techniques in DynamoRIO and demonstrate performance improvements over the state-of-the-art DBT systems on JIT applications as high as 7.3× over base DynamoRIO and Pin.


Relict sites are geographically isolated areas that are undisturbed by direct and indirect human influences. These sites facilitate long-term ecological monitoring by providing a reference for gauging impacts occurring elsewhere. Knowledge gained through comparing vegetation change on matched relict and proximal disturbed areas can help partition the causes of change into natural and human-produced components. Fishtail Mesa in Grand Canyon National Park is a 439-ha relict site that is inaccessible to domestic livestock. Human visitation is infrequent and irregular, and fires have never been suppressed or managed. In 1958, U.S. Forest Service range scientists conducted a survey of Fishtail Mesa to gather reference data on vegetation, wildlife, and soils. Vegetation sampling was conducted using a method called the ";";elb.";"; We returned to Fishtail Mesa in May 1996 to perform a general vegetation and floristic survey, assess the extent of vegetation change after 38 years, and evaluate the suitability of the site as a location for long-term surveillance of ecological change. Fishtail Mesas vegetation consists primarily of a Pinus edulis (pinyon) and Juniperus osteosperma (Utah juniper) woodland with an Artemisia tridentata (sagebrush) understory, or tree-type (310.9 ha), and an Artemisia and Poa fendleriana (mutton grass) steppe, or shrub-type (127.5 ha). Since 1958 vegetation changes in both shrub- and tree-types have been limited to only a few species. In the shrub-type we detected slight increases from 1958 to 1996 in both Pinus and Juniperus , and reexamination of 1958 photo sites confirmed that Pinus and Juniperus are reoccupying the shrub-type. Artemisia cover declined from 1958 to 1996, whereas Poa increased from near trace amounts in 1958 to moderate cover in 1996. In the tree-type, Poa has increased from 1958 to 1996, while Artemisia , Juniperus , and Pinus showed no apparent change. Other species such as Ephedra torreyana (Torrey joint-fir), Opuntia polyacantha (prickly pear), and Gutierrezia sarothrae (snakeweed) have decreased. Vegetation analysis aided by TWINSPAN revealed that the shrub-type is defined more on the basis of absence of Pinus and Juniperus rather than any special association of differential species with a high preference for this type. We interpret the ";";invasion";"; of the shrub-type by Pinus and Juniperus as a ";";reoccupation.";"; Indirect ordination using DECORANA inferred 2 environmental gradients, a moisture gradient and perhaps a substrate texture gradient, that appeared to influence vegetation distribution on Fishtail Mesa. Fishtail Mesa is a valuable relict area for studying the effects of livestock grazing and prescribed fire. It should be designated a Federal Research Natural Area based on its vegetation communities, size, and protection afforded by its location in Grand Canyon National Park.


The issue of behavioural intentions has attracted the attention of hotel marketers and academics because favourable behavioural intentions help hotels to retain customers. The marketing literature has identified that service quality, perceived value, image, customer satisfaction and demographic variables are significant determinants of behavioural intentions. This suggests that behavioural intentions are a multi-dimensional concept. Despite the importance of behavioural intentions, there is limited research on this construct in the hotel industry.The aim of this research was to gain an empirical understanding of behavioural intentions in the Taiwan hotel sector. A multi-level model was used as a framework for the analysis. The dimensions of service quality as perceived by hotel customers were identified through the literature review and focus group discussions. Hypotheses were formulated and tested to examine the interrelationships between behavioural intentions, service quality, customer satisfaction, perceived value and image, and to determine if perceived value plays a moderating role between service quality and customer satisfaction. Finally, customer perceptions of these constructs were compared based on demographic factors such as age, gender and income.   The findings of this study were based on the analysis of a sample of 580 customers who had stayed at a five-star hotel in Kaohsiung City of Taiwan. Support was found for the use of a multi-level model and the primary dimensions: Interaction Quality, Physical Environment Quality and Outcome Quality, as broad dimensions of service quality. The 12 sub-dimensions of service quality, as perceived by hotel customers, were identified. These were: Employees? Conduct, Employees? Expertise, Employees? Problem-Solving, Customer-to-Customer Interaction, Decor & Ambience, Room Quality, Availability of Facility, Design, Location, Valence, Waiting Time and Sociability. The results indicated that each of the primary dimensions varied in terms of their importance to overall perceived service quality, as did the sub-dimensions of the primary dimensions. In addition, the statistical results supported a relationship between perceived value and service quality, image and service quality, customer satisfaction, perceived value, image and service quality, and behavioural intentions, image and customer satisfaction. The results also revealed that customer perceptions of the constructs were primarily affected by their purpose of travel and occupation.The results contribute to the services marketing theory by providing an empirically based insight into the service quality, perceived value, image, customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions constructs in the Taiwan hotel industry. This research also provides an analytical framework for understanding the effects of the three primary dimensions on service quality and the effect of service quality on constructs, such as, perceived value, image, customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions.This study will assist the management of the hotel industry to develop and implement a market-oriented service strategy in order to achieve a high quality of service, upgrade customers? levels of satisfaction, and create favourable future behavioural intentions.


Light is the condition of all vision, and the visual media are our most important explorations of this condition. The history of visual technologies reveals a centuries-long project aimed at controlling light. In this book, Sean Cubitt traces a genealogy of the dominant visual media of the twenty-first century—digital video, film, and photography—through a history of materials and practices that begins with the inventions of intaglio printing and oil painting. Attending to the specificities of inks and pigments, cathode ray tubes, color film, lenses, screens, and chips, Cubitt argues that we have moved from a hierarchical visual culture focused on semantic values to a more democratic but value-free numerical commodity.

Cubitt begins with the invisibility of black, then builds from line to surface to volume and space. He describes Rembrandt's attempts to achieve pure black by tricking the viewer and the rise of geometry as a governing principle in visual technology, seen in Durer, Hogarth, and Disney, among others. He finds the origins of central features of digital imaging in nineteenth-century printmaking; examines the clash between the physics and psychology of color; explores the representation of space in shadows, layers, and projection; discusses modes of temporal order in still photography, cinema, television, and digital video; and considers the implications of a political aesthetics of visual technology.


ABSTRACT In this article we examine in real time the political selective exposure process involved when the public confronted the "walrus haul out" of October 2014, a news event attributed by some climate change researchers to the effects of the climate change-driven reduction of Arctic sea ice. Analyzing data assessing the amount of major TV and cable news network coverage of the haul out, and evaluating public opinion data collected from a rolling cross-sectional survey of US adults take at the time, we show that coverage of this event was not equitably distributed across news media news sources, that exposure to news source is related to the respondents' ideological dispositions, and that exposure to coverage of the walrus haul out is related to ideology, the selectivity of political news habits, and climate change knowledge. We conclude with a discussion of the apparent inevitability of selective exposure to media coverage of climate change-related events and the implications for effective climate change communication.


Tourists' perceived image of a destination, including perceptions of safety and risk, play important roles in deciding whether or not to visit a destination. When crises strike a tourist destination, tourism organizations must work towards restoring their images to a favourable state. In the fall of 2017, hurricanes Irma and Maria swept through the Caribbean with devastating consequences. Puerto Rico, whose tourism industry plays a vital role in its economy, was particularly devastated by the hurricanes. In the wake of hurricanes Irma and Maria, Puerto Rico's tourism sector was in a state of crisis whereby its economic health depended on tourism revenue. Since image plays a vital role in the health of Puerto Rico's tourism industry, this Major Research Paper (MRP) seeks to analyze the use of image repair strategies employed by Puerto Rico's official tourism organization, See Puerto Rico, across multiple online platforms and across varying stages of the hurricane crisis. Drawing from image repair theory (Benoit, 1997), texts and images found on See Puerto Rico's website and Facebook page were analyzed by identifying the presence of denial, evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, corrective action, and mortification strategies with the addition of informational and suffering strategies. Findings indicate that See Puerto Rico primarily employed bolstering, informational, corrective action, minimization, and suffering strategies throughout its website and Facebook page. Puerto Rico strived to restore its image by providing tourists select pieces of information regarding the status of Puerto Rico's tourism industry and by showcasing the positive attributes of the islands. Part of See Puerto Rico's image repair efforts involved ignoring the hurricanes and minimizing their seriousness and impacts to reassure tourists that they could still travel to Puerto Rico. The application of image repair theory in this study suggests that it can be used to help understand tourism organizations' crisis responses to natural disaster.