Over the past decade there has been an increasing number of disputes concerning the enforcement and licensing of patents covering technical standards. These disputes have taken on a global character and often involve litigation in North America, Europe and Asia. And while many of the parties are the same in actions around the world, courts and governmental agencies in different jurisdictions have begun to develop distinctive approaches to some of these issues. Thus, while areas of convergence exist, national laws differ on important issues including the availability of injunctive relief for FRAND-encumbered SEPs, the appropriate method for calculating FRAND royalties, the competition implications of violating a FRAND commitment, and the contours of the FRAND non-discrimination obligation. Thus, at least until greater international harmonization is achieved, firms doing business globally must remain particularly attuned to the evolving legal landscape in this area. This paper presents a brief overview of recent disputes that have arisen around the world with respect to the acquisition, enforcement and licensing of patents that are essential to technical interoperability standards.


This outline is an attempt to answer the questions concerning the scientific foundation and, above all, the inspiration of modern didactic and pedagogical concepts of John Amos Comenius by works of authors whose pedagogical and philosophical solutions appeared in the first half of the 17th century, especially the legacy of Sebastian Petrycy of Pilsen, in the context of foreign languages specifications and plans for teaching them. Educational, cultural and social contexts, as well as the media revolution of the 17th and 21st centuries, are the starting point for these considerations. Analysis of some excerpts from Sebastian Petrycy's Przydatki, comeniologists', contemporary educators', scientists' and a Nobel Prize winner's works are essential in an attempt to formulate answers to these questions. Establishing the extent of inspiration which appeared to be important to Comenius may prove to be significant in the context of studying the significance of this great pedagogue's ideas for the development of science and education.


Exploring the cultural lives of African slaves in the early colonial Portuguese world, with an emphasis on the more than one million Central Africans who survived the journey to Brazil, James Sweet lifts a curtain on their lives as Africans rather than incipient Brazilians. Focusing first on the cultures of Central Africa from which the slaves came - Ndembu, Imbangala, Kongo and others - Sweet identifies specific cultural rites and beliefs that survived their transplantation to the African-Portuguese diaspora, arguing that they did not give way to immediate creolization in the New World but remained distinctly African for some time. Slaves transferred many cultural practices from their homelands to Brazil, including kinship structures, divination rituals, judicial ordeals, ritual burials, dietary restrictions, and secret societies. Sweet demonstrates that the structures of many of these practices remained constant during this early period, although the meanings of the rituals were often transferred as slaves coped with their new environment and status. Religious rituals in particular became potent forms of protest against the institution of slavery and its hardships. In addition, Sweet examines how certain African beliefs and customs challenged and ultimately influenced Brazilian Catholicism. Sweet's analysis seeks to shed new light on African culture in Brazil's slave society while also enriching our understanding of the complex process of creolization and cultural survival.


During the Civil War, elite, southern families faced financial difficulties, which prompted women to enter the workforce and instigated a social transformation of traditional gender roles. The most practical way a woman could enter the workforce was as a teacher. To become a teacher, a woman needed to be educated. For wealthy, southern women the nineteenth century was a turning point in their education. No longer attending school just to take courses in needlework, women were sent to boarding schools to learn diverse subjects such as English, Mathematics, and Geography. The transition from eighteenth to nineteenth century educational standards is demonstrated in school samplers. Young girls completed samplers to learn basic sewing techniques; however, patterns stitched onto the samplers often related to other courses. Practicing the alphabet or the geography of the United States, samplers were a way for young girls to reinforce lessons learned in other classes. A form of material culture, samplers are the physical evidence for how antebellum women were educated. Through this material culture evidence of education this thesis will connect schoolgirl samplers to women acquiring teaching positions during the Civil War, and will argue that this contributed to the overall shift in southern gender roles.


The model checking problem for multi-agent systems against specifications in the alternating-time temporal logic AT L, hence AT L∗ , under perfect recall and imperfect information is known to be undecidable. To tackle this problem, in this paper we investigate a notion of bounded recall under incomplete information. We present a novel three-valued semantics for AT L∗ in this setting and analyse the corresponding model checking problem. We show that the three-valued semantics here introduced is an approximation of the classic two-valued semantics, then give a sound, albeit partial, algorithm for model checking two-valued perfect recall via its approximation as three-valued bounded recall. Finally, we extend MCMAS, an open-source model checker for AT L and other agent specifications, to incorporate bounded recall; we illustrate its use and present experimental results.


The (n, gamma) cross sections of the stable europium isotopes Eu-151 and Eu-153 have been measured by irradiating oxide samples in a quasistellar neutron spectrum. From the induced activities, the stellar cross sections of Eu-151 and Eu-153 at a thermal energy of kT=30 keV were found to be [sigmav]/v(T)=3821+/-152 mb and 2733 +/- 110 mb, respectively. These results allowed us to resolve severe discrepancies among previous data. Similar activation measurements were also performed on Sm-152,Sm-154 and Er-164,Er-170. Among these results, the stellar cross section of the s-only isotope Er-164 [sigmav]/v(T)=1084+/-51 mb at kT=30 keV is particularly important. Statistical model calculations were performed with emphasis on the effect of excited states as well as on the unstable isotopes Sm-151, Eu-152, and Eu-154. The combined set of cross sections was used for an updated analysis of the branchings at A=151, 152, 154, and 163. The temperature and density estimates derived via the classical approach are discussed and compared to stellar models for helium shell burning in low mass stars.


Consideration of the quality, relevance and utility of research in educational leadership and management has been a growing concern of researchers, policy makers and practitioners, but there is little agreement about its current state or priorities for development. The article reflects on the key criticisms that have been made of research in educational leadership and management, in this issue and elsewhere. It considers how we might begin to devise better ways of understanding its audiences, judging its quality and identifying priorities for the future. It argues that the research reflects its capture by those with particular interests or values, and impacts in ways which are complex and indirect. If educational leadership and management research is to be secure in its perceived value and contribution in the future, several developments are needed, including a greater emphasis on interdisciplinarity, an expansion of the range of methodologies, particularly quantative studies, and that these shifts must be evident in training researchers as well as in the conduct of research.


The extinction risk of sharks, rays and chimaeras is higher than that for most other vertebrates due to low intrinsic population growth rates of many species and the fishing intensity they face. The Arabian Sea and adjacent waters border some of the most important chondrichthyan fishing and trading nations globally, yet there has been no previous attempt to assess the conservation status of species occurring here. Using IUCN Red List of Threatened Species Categories and Criteria and their guidelines for application at the regional level, we present the first assessment of extinction risk for 153 species of sharks, rays and chimaeras. Results indicate that this region, home to 15% of described chondrichthyans including 30 endemic species, has some of the most threatened chondrichthyan populations in the world. Seventy‐eight species (50.9%) were assessed as threatened (Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable), and 27 species (17.6%) as Near Threatened. Twenty‐nine species (19%) were Data Deficient with insufficient information to assess their status. Chondrichthyan populations have significantly declined due to largely uncontrolled and unregulated fisheries combined with habitat degradation. Further, there is limited political will and national and regional capacities to assess, manage, conserve or rebuild stocks. Outside the few deepsea locations that are lightly exploited, the prognosis for the recovery of most species is poor in the near‐absence of management. Concerted national and regional management measures are urgently needed to ensure extinctions are avoided, the sustainability of more productive species is secured, and to avoid the continued thinning of the regional food security portfolio.


Polyethylene (PE) presents a large class of polymers with an exponentially growing consumption worldwide. Although possessing a relatively simple chemical formula of the repeating CHx units, the chain length, the type and length of the branching, and density, offer a wide scope of possible PE grades, each suitable for different types of commercial application. Since the 1950s, several types of ethylene polymerisation catalysts and polymerisation processes have been developed. Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) is one of the most versatile types of PE, being used for the production of thin films, bags, toys, containers, pipes, covers and flexible tubing. The production of LLDPE involves the co-polymerisation of ethylene with α-olefins using Phillips, Ziegler-Natta or metallocene-type catalysts in gas, slurry or solution phase processes. In this PhD dissertation, the triethylaluminium-induced in-situ ethylene oligomerisation properties of Cr/Ti/SiO2 Phillips-type catalysts have been studied in order to offer an alternative route for the incorporation of short-chain branching inside the PE, without the need of an additional α-olefin feed, multiple reactors or catalysts. The production of PE with "reverse" co-monomer incorporation without any externally added co-monomer via the in-situ oligomerisation of ethylene opens the possibility for the industrial production of this specific type of LLDPE using a single catalyst. The practical advantages are numerous. First of all, the elimination of a separate co-monomer feed decreases the price of raw materials. The costs of the purification, transport and chances of reactor poisoning are thus also decreased. The catalyst can be utilised within the existing Phillips polymerisation lines, while the whole process in order to produce PE with reverse SCBD can be performed within a single-reactor system in contrast to dual-reactor systems. Furthermore, the compatibility issues of the catalysts used in tandem catalysis could be also avoided. This was achieved through the integration of multiple analytical techniques, i.e. STXM, UV-Vis-NIR DRS, DRIFTS, GC, GC-MS, NMR, SEM-EDX and XRD; and the development and use of new operando setups. Ultimately, the characterisation methods and setups developed for the research of this catalytic system can be applicable for other studies involving solid catalysts, especially in the case of very sensitive materials when a highly controlled reaction atmosphere or when the minimal sample manipulation is required. The presented findings open a new era of Phillips-type polymerisation catalysis, while the developed characterisation methods offer a unique approach to study other catalytic systems in great detail.


Introduction: This cross sectional study was conducted to assess methodological errors in proposals of 95 approved research projects introduced to different unites of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in 2007. Methods: We used a questionnaire able to determine the kind of studies, correct designing of aims, hypothesis, methods and considering ethical codes. SPSS version 16 was used to descriptive statistics analysis of the data. Results: %62.1 of the projects were epidemiological studies, %12.6 basic sciences, %9.5 clinical trials, %4.2 health research systems, %1.1 productive and %10.5 others. Statistical tests, statistical analysis and ethical codes in %63.2, %60 and %30.5 of the projects, respectively were not considered. The methods of the research were not written completely in %27.4 of the projects. The designing of the minor aims in %24.2 of the projects were also incorrect. Conclusion: Considering the most important part of a research is research design, thus, it is essential that a committee comprised of experts in statistics and research methods firstly verify the presented proposals to the Research Council of the university to reduce as much as possible the mentioned defects destroying research results. Moreover, Vice-Chancellor in research affairs of the university should be active more in holding workshops and setting up educational brochures than it used to be.


Background Many U.S.-bound refugees travel from countries where intestinal parasites (hookworm, Trichuris trichuria, Ascaris lumbricoides, and Strongyloides stercoralis) are endemic. These infections are rare in the United States and may be underdiagnosed or misdiagnosed, leading to potentially serious consequences. This evaluation examined the costs and benefits of combinations of overseas presumptive treatment of parasitic diseases vs. domestic screening/treating vs. no program. Methods An economic decision tree model terminating in Markov processes was developed to estimate the cost and health impacts of four interventions on an annual cohort of 27,700 U.S.-bound Asian refugees: 1) "No Program," 2) U.S. "Domestic Screening and Treatment," 3) "Overseas Albendazole and Ivermectin" presumptive treatment, and 4) "Overseas Albendazole and Domestic Screening for Strongyloides". Markov transition state models were used to estimate long-term effects of parasitic infections. Health outcome measures (four parasites) included outpatient cases, hospitalizations, deaths, life years, and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). Results The "No Program" option is the least expensive ($165,923 per cohort) and least effective option (145 outpatient cases, 4.0 hospitalizations, and 0.67 deaths discounted over a 60-year period for a one-year cohort). The "Overseas Albendazole and Ivermectin" option ($418,824) is less expensive than "Domestic Screening and Treatment" ($3,832,572) or "Overseas Albendazole and Domestic Screening for Strongyloides" ($2,182,483). According to the model outcomes, the most effective treatment option is "Overseas Albendazole and Ivermectin," which reduces outpatient cases, deaths and hospitalization by around 80% at an estimated net cost of $458,718 per death averted, or $2,219/$24,036 per QALY/life year gained relative to "No Program". Discussion Overseas presumptive treatment for U.S.-bound refugees is a cost-effective intervention that is less expensive and at least as effective as domestic screening and treatment programs. The addition of ivermectin to albendazole reduces the prevalence of chronic strongyloidiasis and the probability of rare, but potentially fatal, disseminated strongyloidiasis.


The permanent headquarters of the World Health Organizatio, in Geneva, is recognised as one of the major works of Jean Tschumi, who won the international competition in 1960. Shaped by the imposing linear block housing the Secretariat and the Conference Hall at lower level, the ensemble displays a highly individual plastic expression that profits remarkably from the technical solutions used. From the spectacular pre-stressed concrete frame structure, to the conception of the aluminium and glass envelopes animated by a subtle, slanted brise-soleil, the incorporation of some very smart – and decidedly novel – technology assists in the architectural definition of the international body's remarkable European home. As the specialist press at the time was keen to emphasise, the latest technical gadgetry featured prominently in Tschumi's design. The technology assumes a particular interest not only because of its complexity, but also because of the close relations established with constructional elements. This interaction deserves to be explored; this paper will propose a reading of the material aspects of this group of buildings centred on the notion of integrated building engineering systems, a notion of major importance that is all too often overlooked.


Dinoflagellates are an important component of Antarctic coastal and sea ice communities but comprise only a relatively minor component of Southern Ocean oceanic phytoplankton assemblages. However, living species capable of producing geologically-preservable cysts have been reported only rarely from Antarctic waters and no Quaternary cysts have ever been recovered from Southern Ocean surface sediments. The youngest fossil dinoflagellate cysts to occur anywhere in the Antarctic-Southern Ocean region are Oligocene and these predate the period of rapid sea-floor spreading and major continental glaciation. This geographic and thermal isolation has prevented the poleward migration of cyst-producing dinoflagellates, which require a continental shelf or slope pathway to migrate. The loss of shallow water shelves from the Antarctic continent, due to the isostatic effects of ice accumulation, must have contributed to the local extinction of the Paleogene cyst-forming groups.


From its beginnings in 1970's New York, hip-hop has offered a cultural outlet for dis- enfranchised communities across the United States and today commands global influence. However, over the course of its evolution, hip-hop has wrestled with notions of masculinity. As its popularity has increased, so has the violent policing of sexuality and gender roles within the culture. Rereading the commercialization of hip hop as the site of a colonial encounter, with capitalism as the force undergirding its entrance into mainstream American consciousness, im- plications of the institution of violent masculinity and homophobia become readily apparent. With the rapid popularization of gangsta rap music, homosexuality became a marker of inferi- ority within the culture that coincided with the emergence of a complicated relationship be- tween hip-hop artists and the sexuality they were sworn to disavow. The effective death of ho- mosexuality as an acceptable erotic encounter within hip-hop culture has resulted in the sub- conscious development of mourning for its loss: a pathological turmoil enunciated within the most homophobic of hip-hop discourse. Analyzing artists' attempts to fully immerse themselves within this schema of violent masculinity and homophobia allows for the discovery of how this oppressive paradigm can be destroyed from within the genre by those who fully embody these destructive ideologies.


The corpus of art from the Pleistocene has grown substantially in recent decades, and with it, the earliest evidence of visual art has become much older than previously anticipated, going back over 100,000 years. This new information has rendered some traditional ideas about the recent origins of visual art obsolete. Existing archaeological and evolutionary models that aim to explain the emergence of visual art should now be reassessed in light of current data. That is the aim of this book. First, it reviews the earliest examples of different forms of visual art in two important archaeological periods of human artistic innovation, the height of the African Middle Stone Age, and the European Early Upper Palaeolithic. It then takes a critical view at three influential origins-of-art models, namely, the sexual selection model, the social cohesion model, and the cognitive evolution model. Finally, it offers an alternative proposal that redefines visual art as a communication signal and, using the archaeological evidence, relates its emergence and development to the evolution of human cooperation strategies. This book will appeal to anyone interested in the debate of the origins of art and the evolution of modern human cognition, behaviour, and culture.


Agricultural water management (AWM) has been shown to improve and secure yields in the tropics and has been suggested as an important way to combat poverty in the region. In this paper, we describe potential impacts on upstream and downstream flows of extensive AWM interventions, using the watershed development programme of the Osman Sagar catchment of Musi sub‐basin, Andhra Pradesh semi‐arid India, as an example. Various AWM interventions are compared with a non‐intervention state and the current state of the study area, using 31 years of data by application of the calibrated and validated ARCSWAT 2005 (Version 2.1.4a) modelling tool. Different AWM interventions contribute to improved livelihoods of upstream smallholder farmers by increasing soil moisture availability and groundwater recharge, which can subsequently be used for irrigation. The result is higher crop production and hence larger incomes. Moreover, lower flow intensities and sediment losses reduced by 30–50%, reducing the risk of flooding and sediment accumulation in the Osman Sagar drinking water reservoir. On the other hand, AWM interventions are predicted to result in reduced total water inflows to the Osman Sagar reservoir from 11% of the total annual rainfall (754 mm) recorded at present, to 8% if AWM interventions were implemented at large scale throughout the catchment. A cost–benefit analysis of AWM interventions showed that the highest net economic returns were achieved at intermediate intervention levels (only in‐situ AWM). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


This research entitles "the evaluation of applying ISO 9001: 2000 Quality Management System (Study at Land Office of Malang)". The objective of this research is to value and evaluate the applying of ISO 9001: 2000 at Land Office of Malang belonging to employee involvement. The data analyzer, which is used for that purpose, uses descriptive and evaluative analysis through assessment to principal variable toward employee involvement. Evaluating employee involvement is done with internal assessment toward employees. The assessment is done by through spreading questioner. The result of that assessment is done by scale rate analysis. The sampling technique is used through census methods. That result is analyzed by descriptive analysis to know how far employee involvement applies ISO 9001: 2000 at Land Office of Malang. According that research result, the assessment of applying ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management System at Land Office of Malang is concluded very effective belonging
to principles of employee involvement. Assessing the principles of employee involvement is 225.711. According the assessment, that applying at Land Office of Malang is very well. The result can be depicted that employees involvement apply ISO 9001: 2000 Quality Management System which is done by Land Office of Malang such as: employees comprehend the important of their authority and responsibility in land office to commit and cooperate for improving service quality; employees can develop experience and knowledge; employees can do communication effectively to service better; and employees able to identify problems that happened and evaluate their performance.


Twitter has increasingly become a resource used by academics to share scholarship and opinions within professional networks. This paper presents a descriptive analysis of Twitter use by urban planning faculty, reporting characteristics of users, the topics posted, and indicators of Twitter influence among urban planning faculty as well as those interested in planning from outside academic circles. Approximately one-third of urban planning academics are active Twitter users, and as of yet, there have been no empirical analyses of how and why they use the social media platform. This analysis uses Twitter data from active accounts for urban planning faculty in the U.S. and Canada identified as being used for professional purposes for the period from March 2007 to April 2019. Considering how planning academics use Twitter lends insights on its usefulness for academic discussion and scholarly communications. The conclusion discusses the prospects for planning academics to better utilize Twitter to broaden and deepen their professional activities while noting particular concerns.


OBJECTIVE
To test whether chronic psychological stress is positively associated 1) with the prevalence of type 2 diabetes; 2) with visceral adiposity; and to test whether 3) the relationship between stress and diabetes is mainly mediated by visceral adiposity

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
In a general Caucasian population aged 50-74 years without a history of diabetes (n = 2,262), the number of major stressful life events experienced during the past 5 years was assessed by self-report before the administration of an oral glucose tolerance test.

RESULTS
Diabetes was newly diagnosed among 5% of the subjects. The number of stressful events was positively associated with the prevalence of hitherto undetected diabetes. The highest quintile had a 1.6-fold (95% CI 1.0-2.6) increased probability of undetected diabetes compared with the remaining four quintiles (P<0.05 by logistical regression analysis adjusted for age and sex). This increased probability remained significant after additional adjustment for family history of diabetes, heavy alcohol consumption, physical activity, and low level of education. The number of stressful events was weakly positively associated with waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) (men, P<0.01; women, P = 0.05 by multiple regression analysis adjusted for age). The age- and sex-adjusted association between stress and diabetes was only marginally reduced by adding the WHR into the logistical regression model (odds ratio 1.5 [0.9-2.4]; P = 0.08).

CONCLUSIONS
These cross-sectional findings are partially consistent with Björntorp's theory that stressful life events, which indicate chronic psychological stress, are indeed associated with undetected type 2 diabetes and with visceral adiposity. However, in this white middle-aged population, visceral adiposity does not seem to be the main link between stress and diabetes.


EVOLUTION OF 3-D MAGNETIC TOPOLOGY IN FLARE-PRODUCTIVE ACTIVE REGIONS by Yixuan Li Solar eruptive phenomena, such as flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), derive their energy from complex magnetic fields and are the principal source of disturbances that affect space weather. Although physical mechanism and dynamic morphology of flares have been a subject of intense research, many aspects of the flaring process still remain unclear. The objective of this dissertation is to advance the understanding of the physics behind solar flares based on observations, simulations and nonlinear force-free (NLFF) field modeling of magnetic fields. The data used in this study are obtained from several ground-based or space-borne instruments, including BBSO/DVMG, Hinode/SOT/SP, SDO/HMI and GOES. In addition, the advanced coronal modeling method was utilized to extrapolate NLFF magnetic fields. This dissertation focuses on the magnetic properties (magnetic inclination angle, transverse magnetic field, Lorentz force, etc.) and their evolution associated with flares. The observation is also compared with numerical MHD simulations and theoretical models. The main findings in this dissertation are briefly summarized as follows: (1) the white-light observation of δ sunspots reveal the rapid penumbral decay and central umbral/penumbral darkening associated with flares; (2) the magnetic inclination angle shows an increase in the decayed peripheral penumbra and a decrease in the central area close to the flaring polarity inversion line (PIL) after major flares; (3) magnetic field observations indicate a rapid and permanent enhancement of the transverse magnetic field in the umbral core or inner penumbral region, while that in the outer decayed penumbral region decreases; (4) the downward Lorentz force exerted on the flaring area displays a sudden enhancement after flares; (5) the footpoint of flare ribbons shows slow shearing followed by fast diverging and deshearing motion. The remote Hα brightenings appear in the first stage of the eruption while the associated hard X-ray emission occurs in the later phase. These results provide strong evidence favoring superimposed effects of both the tether-cutting model, in which a short and flat loop forms near the photosphere after the eruption, and the back reaction of the coronal magnetic field following the energy release. The major contribution of this dissertation is: (1) First study of 3-D magnetic field change associated with flares in the perspective of magnetic inclination angle and transverse magnetic field; (2) First successful comparison of the numerical simulation, observation and theory of solar flare associated magnetic field changes; (3) First clear evidence of the two stage magnetic reconnection (implosion and explosion); (4) First evidence in support of the conservation of momentum in solar flare. To understand the radio emission produced by electrons at the very acceleration site of a solar flare, two competing acceleration models– stochastic acceleration by cascading MHD turbulence and regular acceleration in collapsing magnetic traps were studied. It is found that the radio emission from the acceleration sites (1) has sufficiently strong intensity to be observed by currently available radio instruments and (2) has spectra and light curves which are distinctly different in these two competing models, which makes them observationally distinguishable. EVOLUTION OF 3-D MAGNETIC TOPOLOGY IN FLARE-PRODUCTIVE ACTIVE REGIONS


A diagenetic reaction‐transport model was used to simulate how the sediment redox boundary migrates in response to persistent or episodic changes in the deposition flux of degradable organic matter and the concentration of oxygen in the overlying bottom water. The position of the redox boundary is represented by the depth of oxygen penetration. The simulations reveal that the position of the redox boundary in organic‐poor sediments, such as those in the deep basins of the Arctic Ocean, is highly sensitive to the flux of organic matter: relatively small and/or brief increases in that flux can cause the redox boundary to migrate rapidly from deep within the sediment to within a few centimeters of the sediment‐water interface. Reoxidation of the sediment column after such an event can take years. Redox fluctuations can redistribute solid‐phase manganese within the sediment column and produce multiple concentration peaks in its depth profile on a decadal time scale. Manganese peaks observed in sediment cores from the deep basins of the Arctic Ocean do not necessarily correspond to the position of the redox boundary during previous climatic periods or reflect historical changes in manganese deposition rates. The model supports the hypothesis that the recent decrease in the Arctic ice cover has increased the flux of organic matter to the seafloor and moved the redox boundary close to the sediment‐water interface. The presence of iron sulfides at depths significantly below the bioturbated layer suggests that either the Arctic sediments have been anoxic for millennia, or iron and sulfate are reduced at these depths by dissolved organic matter diffusing downward from the bioturbation zone.


Championing Child Care. Sally S. Cohen. New York: Columbia University Press. 2001. 397 pp. ISBN 0-231-11237-8. $49.50 (cloth), $22.50 (paper). In Championing Child Care, Sally S. Cohen provides a comprehensive history and analysis of the politics that have shaped U.S. federal child care policy throughout the past 30 years. The book chronicles the long, convoluted process of trying to enact comprehensive federal child care policy, describing key players and points of conflict and compromise along the way. Cohen focuses on the politics, rather than the structure, of the policies; readers will need to turn elsewhere to learn about the content and structure of federal child care policy and programs or for an analysis of their effectiveness, both of which are beyond the scope of this volume. The book recounts three critical points in federal child care policy-1971, 1990, and 1996-- reviewing each as a case study. Cohen's book is based on interviews with 114 people inside and outside government who were involved in child care policy making during this time span. She uses three theoretical frameworks for her analysis: the role of institutional structures, issue definition, and organized interest groups. The bulk of the book provides an historical account of the politics underlying the policy making for federal child care policy. Cohen nicely interweaves her analysis into these historical chapters, using specific examples to illustrate a larger theme. She provides a nice balance of some insider detail on the key issues and political considerations influencing debate of a particular point without being esoteric for readers new to child care policy. She also gives a flavor of the political disagreements that influenced the outcome of debates at various stages. This illustrates her specific points and also drives home to the reader the major role that politics plays in such policy making, for better or for worse. The book is organized chronologically. Chapter 2 reviews the politics that led up to the 1971 comprehensive child development bill that was vetoed by President Nixon and includes a brief review of child care policy developments across the 20th century, which set the context for the 1971 policy defeat. Chapter 3 reviews 1972-1988, which covers a period of unsuccessful attempts at political action on child care policy and culminated in the passage of child care entitlement programs as part of the 1988 Family Support Act. Chapter 4 covers the political action and advocacy leading up to the 1990 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, the most (but not fully) comprehensive child care policy to date. …


Cooking as a domestic processing method has a great impact on food nutrients. Most Brassica (Brassicaceae, Cruciferae) vegetables are mainly consumed after being cooked, and cooking considerably affects their health-promoting compounds (specifically, glucosinolates, phenolic compunds, minerals, and vitamin C studied here). The microwave cooking process presents controversial results in the literature due to the different conditions that are employed (time, power, and added water). Therefore, the aim of this work was to study the influence of these conditions during microwave cooking on the human bioactive compounds of broccoli. The results show a general decrease in the levels of all the studied compounds except for mineral nutrients which were stable under all cooking conditions. Vitamin C showed the greatest losses mainly because of degradation and leaching, whereas losses for phenolic compounds and glucosinolates were mainly due to leaching into water. In general, the longest microwave cooking time and the higher volume of cooking water should be avoided to minimize losses of nutrients.


Abstract. Holographic data from the prototype airborne digital holographic instrument HOLODEC (Holographic Detector for Clouds), taken during test flights are digitally reconstructed to obtain the size (equivalent diameters in the range 23 to 1000 μm), three-dimensional position, and two-dimensional image of ice particles and then ice particle size distributions and number densities are calculated using an automated algorithm with minimal user intervention. The holographic method offers the advantages of a well-defined sample volume size that is not dependent on particle size or airspeed, and offers a unique method of detecting shattered particles. The holographic method also allows the volume sample rate to be increased beyond that of the prototype HOLODEC instrument, limited solely by camera technology. HOLODEC size distributions taken in mixed-phase regions of cloud compare well to size distributions from a PMS FSSP probe also onboard the aircraft during the test flights. A conservative algorithm for detecting shattered particles utilizing their depth-position along the optical axis eliminates the obvious ice particle shattering events from the data set. In this particular case, the size distributions of non-shattered particles are reduced by approximately a factor of two for particles 15 to 70 μm in equivalent diameter, compared to size distributions of all particles.


NH-Hydrochloride (NH) is a selective 5-HT1 agonist developed for the acute treatment of migraine which acts by stimulating constriction of dilated cranial arteries and by inhibiting the release of neurogenic inflammatory mediators. A simple, sensitive, precise, accurate and economical UV-Spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of NH in bulk and pharmaceutical dosage form. Absorption for NH was measured at maximum wavelength 281nm. The percentage recovery of NH in pharmaceutical dosage form was found to be 99.43 to 98.53 %. The developed method was validated with respect to linearity, accuracy (recovery), precision and specificity. Beers law was obeyed in the concentration range of 2-10μg/ml having line equation y = 0.019x with correlation coefficient of 0.99. Results of the analysis were validated according to the ICH guidelines. The results obtained were statistically evaluated and were found to be accurate and reproducible. The proposed method can be successfully applied for the estimation of Naratriptan Hydrochloride in bulk and pharmaceutical dosage form.


Epidemics, such as HIV in the early 1980s and Ebola in 2014, inspire decisive government investment and action, and individual and societal concern, sometimes bordering on panic. By contrast, endemic diseases, such as HIV in 2017 and tuberculosis, struggle to maintain the same attention. For many, the paradox is that endemic disease, in its totality, continues to impose a far higher public health burden than epidemic disease. Overall, the swift political response to epidemics has resulted in success. It has proven possible to eradicate epidemic diseases, often without the availability of vaccines and other biomedical technologies. In recent times, only HIV has made the transition from epidemic to endemic, but diseases that have existed for centuries continue to cause most of the infectious disease burden.


This report describes and analyses the prevalence of food insecurity in Australia and the consequent adverse implications for the health and productivity of individuals and communities. It proposes options aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of Australians who experience food insecurity. It notes the role of the agricultural sector in addressing Australian food security. It also highlights the prevalence of food insecurity in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. From canvassing some of the actions already underway to address food insecurity by Commonwealth, state and territory governments and by the community sector, the report proposes ways in which the situation could be better  managed. A national strategy for food security, a targeted research agenda and data collection, and the development of new and coordinated or additional policy and program approaches are suggested. Among other things, this report makes the case for food security considerations to be incorporated into an integrated national discussion about health, agriculture, water resource management, supply chains, taxation and trade. It also underscores the need for a comprehensive cost benefit analysis of the impact of food insecurity for remote and rural Australian communities.


Diminished adult neurogenesis is considered a potential mechanism in the pathogenesis of HIV-1-associated dementia (HAD). In HAD, HIV-1-infected and immune-activated brain mononuclear phagocytes (MP; perivascular macrophages and microglia) drive central nervous system (CNS) inflammation and may alter normal neurogenesis. We previously demonstrated HIV-1-infected and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activated monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) inhibit human neural progenitor cell (NPC) neurogenesis, while enhancing astrogliogenesis through the secretion of the inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), in vitro and in vivo. Here we further test the hypothesis that HIV-1-infected/activated MDM promote NPC astrogliogenesis via activation of the transcription factor signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), a critical factor for astrogliogenesis. Our results show that LPS-activated MDM-conditioned medium (LPS-MCM) and HIV-infected/LPS-activated MDM-conditioned medium (LPS+HIV-MCM) induced Janus kinase 1 (Jak1) and STAT3 activation. Induction of the Jak-STAT3 activation correlated with increased glia fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression, demonstrating an induction of astrogliogenesis. Moreover, STAT3-targeting siRNA (siSTAT3) decreased MCM-induced STAT3 activation and NPC astrogliogenesis. Furthermore, inflammatory cytokines (including IL-6, IL-1β and TNF-α) produced by LPS-activated and/or HIV-1-infected MDM may contribute to MCM-induced STAT3 activation and astrocytic differentiation. These observations were confirmed in severe combined immunodeficient (SCID) mice with HIV-1 encephalitis (HIVE). In HIVE mice, siRNA control (without target sequence, sicon) pre-transfected NPCs injected with HIV-1-infected MDM showed more astrocytic differentiation and less neuronal differentiation of NPCs as compared to NPC injection alone. siSTAT3 abrogated HIV-1-infected MDM-induced astrogliogenesis of injected NPCs. Collectively, these observations demonstrate that HIV-1-infected/activated MDM induces NPC astrogliogenesis through the STAT3 pathway. This study generates important data elucidating the role of brain inflammation in neurogenesis and may provide insight into new therapeutic strategies for HAD.


The onset of global capitalism's crisis has exposed the fragile theoretical underpinnings of Asian American Studies as an academic discipline. Spellbound by deconstructive, rhetorical assumptions, all symptomatic of commodityfetishism and alienation, mainstream Asian American critics continue to validate neoliberal pluralism while claiming to value difference and singularity. While rejecting American Exceptionalism, they ignore historical specificities and endorse individualist norms, affects, genealogical plurality, and performative discourses uncritical of free-market reification. What is needed is a return to a mode of critical inventory that takes account of historical capitalism, imperialist geopolitics, and the notion of collective agency necessary to destroy racialised ideological practices and institutions that maintain the exploitative capitalist * E. San Juan, Jr. is emeritus professor of English, Comparative Literature, and Ethnic Studies at various universities in the U.S. He was recently a fellow of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute, Harvard University, and Fulbright professor of American Studies at Leuven University, Belgium. Currently he directs the Philippines Cultural Studies Center at Storrs, Connecticut, USA. His recent books are US Imperialism and Revolution in the Philippines (Palgrave), Toward Filipino Self-Determination (SUNY Press), From Globalization to National Liberation (University of the Philippines Press), and Critique and Social Transformation (The Edwin Mellen Press). He is completing a book on the Abu Sayyaf Phenomenon and the Global War of Terror. IJAPS, Vol. 6, No. 1 (January 2010) E. San Juan Jr. division of labor, social injustice, and inequality of peoples based on private appropriation of social wealth.


It is well-known that quadratic extension fields (QEFs) based on optimal extension fields (OEFs) are typically used for supersingular isogeny Diffie-Hellman (SIDH) key exchange protocol. On the other hand, there is a possibility of the performance improvement of SIDH by employing other attractive choices of QEFs with efficient performing arithmetics which are based on all-one polynomial extension fields (AOPFs) and extension fields with normal basis representation (EFNs). Thus, the authors confirm that the applicability of the new candidates of QEFs for SIDH and evaluate SIDH applied the possible choices of QEFs. As a result of the experiment, the authors found that the performances of SIDH applied the QEFs based on AOPF and EFN are comparable to that of the previous QEF. Moreover, one of the QEFs based on EFN result in a new efficient implementation of the SIDH with SIDH-friendly prime given as p= 2^{e_A}3^{e_B}f+1 where e_A, e_B and $f$ are positive integers.


This work is a constraint-based analysis of Kikamba nativized loanwords. The mechanism used by the recipient language in the phonological modification of loanwords has been explained within the framework of Optimality Theory, a linguistic model which proposes that observed forms of languages arise from the interaction between conflicting constraints. It is through the interaction of markedness and faithfulness constraints that the output forms – the nativized words – are realized.The study has investigated the strategies used by the recipient system, Kikamba, to handle phonologically different words from English. Notably, the recipient language has open syllables and does not allow consonant clusters in the onset. In sharp contrast, English has closed syllables and allows consonant clusters in both onset and coda positions. The phonemic inventories of the two languages also differ considerably. The borrowed words are, therefore, significantly modified in order to conform to the phonotactics of Kikamba. This cannot be achieved without violating faithfulness. The high-ranked markedness constraints in Kikamba trigger the repair strategies in order to increase the well-formedness of the surface forms. The study sought to establish how the grammar of Kikamba resolves the conflict between markedness and faithfulness constraints in the selection of optimal output forms, namely the nativized words. The study utilized primary data which were collected in Machakos District where the subjects are predominantly speakers of Kikamba. Out of a corpus of 200 words collected, 75 were purposefully sampled for analysis. Both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used to analyze the data. The analyses have revealed that in dealing with disallowed codas and consonant clusters, three main strategies: insertion, deletion and feature change are used in order to satisfy high-ranked markedness constraints in Kikamba. In a few instances, however, faithfulness prevails over markedness, leading to change in the phonology of Kikamba. The study has shown that the loanword phenomenon in Kikamba can be adequately accounted for using the Optimality Theory. The findings of the research have implications on the growth and development of Kikamba as the study has addressed phonological modification of loanwords which is one of the means by which languages develop their vocabulary.


In this paper, a statistical approach is presented for three-dimensional (3D) visualization and recognition of objects having very small number of photons based on a parametric estimator. A truncated Poisson probability density function is assumed for modeling the distribution of small number of photons count observation. For 3D visualization and recognition of photon-limited objects, an integral imaging system is employed. We utilize virtual geometrical ray propagation for 3D reconstruction of objects. A maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) and statistical inference algorithms are applied to small number of photons counted elemental images captured with integral imaging. We have demonstrated that the MLE using a truncated Poisson model for estimating the average number of photon for each voxel of a photon starved 3D object has a small estimation error compared with the MLE using a Poisson model. Also, we present experiments to investigate the effect of 3D sensing parallax on the recognition performance under a fixed mean number of photons.


As an approach to explore the significance of biotic interactions on the biology and evolution of microorganisms, this chapter considers three topics in detail: the production of compounds with bacteriocidal properties; interactions between bacteria and bacteriophage; and metabolic cooperation, both among microorganisms and with "higher organisms" (i.e., animals and plants). Numerous structurally diverse compounds with biological activity are synthesized by microorganisms, and many of these compounds appear to function as mediators of antagonistic interactions. Antibiotic-producing bacteria are also exploited by higher organisms as a means of chemical defense. Bacteriocins play a role in protecting resources from closely related competitors, and, for Escherichia coli and many other bacteria, the resource is a living host. The relationship between bacteria and virulent bacteriophage is unambiguously antagonistic and, in the absence of disturbance, subject to persistent antagonistic coevolution, i.e., reciprocal selection for increased bacterial resistance and phage infectivity. However, it is to the advantage of lysogenic phage (which are passively replicated with the bacterial host genes) to minimize the costs to the host, an illustration of the generality that vertical transmission tends to reduce antagonism and promote cooperation. Many microorganisms cooperate with higher organisms (hosts), by the net microbeto-host transfer of the products of metabolic capabilities possessed by the microorganisms but not their hosts (e.g., nitrogen fixation and photosynthesis). Further research is required to establish the genetic and metabolic bases of nutrient transfer in these associations.


An investigation was conducted on uniform, healthy, eight year old trees of Nagpur mandarin (citrus reticulata Blanco) at Fruit Research Farm, Department of Fruit Science at College of Horticulture and Forestry, Jhalawar during 16 September, 2014 to 1 March, 2015. Various doses of calcium nitrate (1.0%, 2.0% and 3.0 %), boric acid (0.2 %, 0.4 % and 0.6 %) and zinc sulphate (0.2 %, 0.4 % and 0.6 %) were sprayed before harvesting and compared with untreated ones. The results obtained indicated that the trees sprayed with T27 i.e. (calcium nitrate 3.0 % + boric acid 0.6 % + zinc sulphate 0.6 %) showed maximum increase diameter of fruit, fruit weight, fruit volume, number of fruits per plant, fruit yield per plant, estimated yield per hectare, reducing sugar, non reducing sugar, total sugar, juice per cent, sensory score and reduced peel thickness over control. Further, T24 treatment combination (calcium nitrate 3.0 % + boric acid 0.4 % + zinc sulphate 0.6 %) has also significantly increased number of segments per fruit, TSS, TSS: Acid ratio, ascorbic acid content, and reduced number of seeds per fruit and acidity percent of fruits.


Mike Seidman's book, On Constitutional Disobedience, offers an impressive challenge to constitutional fidelity. With much of it, my book Against Obligation is on all fours – we both share the view that our Constitution's meaning should not be bound by past sources. Seidman seems to go further, though, and reject the bindingness of the Constitution as a text. What does it mean to ask whether the Constitution itself obligates? Most of the Constitution doesn't set rules for citizens; rather, it establishes powers, and what we might consider conditional obligations, for officials. All government officials in the United States swear an oath of fealty to the Constitution, and thus, despite one's views on political obligation generally (in Against Obligation, I argue that there is no general, content-independent, moral duty to obey the law), one might think that in taking their jobs, officials in the U.S. accept the Constitution and are bound by it. In this essay, I also respond to some of Seidman's critiques of my book.


ABSTRACTThis article is about the exploration of the interrelationship of therapy and spirituality in a private practice. The study draws on qualitative research for a PhD and asks what clients want in their counseling and spiritual healing. Clients were invited to participate in the research after experiencing a social work mental health service in interrelationship with managed spiritual interventions. Mental health professions have discussed the inclusion of spirituality, however the inclusion of the client's voice on this topic is yet to be fully explored. It is hoped this research will inform professionals on psychosocial spiritual issues. The PhD proposed the resurrection theory based on the results of the research study. In this way a deeper and enhanced understanding of the meaning-making surrounding the interrelationship of spirituality and mental health can emerge.


Extensive herbicide usage has led to the evolution of resistant weed populations that cause substantial crop yield losses and increase production costs. The multiple herbicide resistant (MHR) Avena fatua L. populations utilized in this study are resistant to members of all selective herbicide families, across five modes of action, available for A. fatua control in U.S. small grain production, and thus pose significant agronomic and economic threats. Resistance to ALS and ACCase inhibitors is not conferred by target site mutations, indicating that non-target site resistance mechanisms are involved. To investigate the potential involvement of glutathione-related enzymes in the MHR phenotype, we used a combination of proteomic, biochemical, and immunological approaches to compare their constitutive activities in herbicide susceptible (HS1 and HS2) and MHR (MHR3 and MHR4) A. fatua plants. Proteomic analysis identified three tau and one phi glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) present at higher levels in MHR compared to HS plants, while Western analyses revealed elevated levels of lambda, phi, and tau GSTs. GST specific activity towards 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene was 1.2-fold higher in MHR4 than in HS1 plants and 1.3and 1.2-fold higher in MHR3 than in HS1 and HS2 plants, respectively. However, GST specific activities towards fenoxaprop-Pethyl and imazamethabenz-methyl were not different between untreated MHR and HS plants. Dehydroascorbate reductase specific activity was 1.4-fold higher in MHR than HS plants. Pretreatment with the GST inhibitor NBD-Cl did not affect MHR sensitivity to fenoxaprop-P-ethyl application, while the herbicide safener and GST inducer mefenpyr reduced the efficacy of low doses of fenoxaprop-P-ethyl on MHR4 but not MHR3 plants. 44 Mefenpyr treatment also partially reduced the efficacy of thiencarbazone-methyl or mesosulfuron-methyl on MHR3 or MHR4 plants, respectively. Overall, the GSTs described here are not directly involved in enhanced rates of fenoxaprop-P-ethyl or imazamethabenz-methyl metabolism in MHR A. fatua. Instead, we propose that the constitutively elevated GST proteins and related enzymes in MHR plants are representative of a larger, more global suite of abiotic stress-related changes.


Can digital technologies serve to highlight and strengthen the work of social organizations that promote human development? This is the question the authors want to answer in this article, in which they analyse an eight-month participatory video PV process, promoted by a group of university researchers and conducted in collaboration with two grassroots innovations GI in the city of Valencia Spain: the Fuel Poverty Group and Solar Domada. The innovative component of PV is situated in two areas: firstly, as an action research methodology, the PV process enables people's participation, with the aim of generating learning, agency and contextual knowledge from the participants; secondly, the innovation is found in the product, the video itself. The video narratives can be used to disseminate the practices of the GIs and offer a space for critical reflection on the structural constraints that may hamper the diffusion of innovations. Furthermore, the audiovisual work itself has its own agency and has the potential to create opportunities for advocacy and contribute towards removing barriers that limit human development.


By-catch species from tropical tuna purse seine fishery have been affected by fishery pressures since the last century; however, the habitat distribution and the climate change impacts on these species are poorly known. With the objective of predicting the potential suitable habitat for a shark (Carcharhinus falciformis) and a teleost (Canthidermis maculata) in the Indian, Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans, a MaxEnt species distribution model (SDM) was developed using data collected by observers in tuna purse seiners. The relative percentage of contribution of some environmental variables (depth, sea surface temperature, salinity and primary production) and the potential impact of climate change on species habitat by the end of the century under the A2 scenario (scenario with average concentrations of carbon dioxide of 856 ppm by 2100) were also evaluated. Results showed that by-catch species can be correctly modelled using observed occurrence records and few environmental variables with SDM. Results from projected maps showed that the equatorial band and some coastal upwelling regions were the most suitable areas for both by-catch species in the three oceans in concordance with the main fishing grounds. Sea surface temperature was the most important environmental variable which contributed to explain the habitat distribution of the two species in the three oceans in general. Under climate change scenarios, the largest change in present habitat suitability is observed in the Atlantic Ocean (around 16% of the present habitat suitability area of Carcharhinus falciformis and Canthidermis maculata, respectively) whereas the change is less in the Pacific (around 10% and 8%) and Indian Oceans (around 3% and 2 %). In some regions such as Somalia, the Atlantic equatorial band or Peru's coastal upwelling areas, these species could lose potential habitat whereas in the south of the equator in the Indian Ocean, the Benguela System and in the Pacific coast of Central America, they could gain suitable habitat as consequence of global warming. This work presents new information about the present and future habitat distribution under climate change of both by-catch species which can contributes to the development of ecosystem-based fishery management and spatially driven management measures.


Given the increase in HIV/AIDS infection rates among racial and ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans, this study was undertaken as part of a larger research effort to examine the distribution of HIV prevention services focusing on African American populations within the United States. Data were gathered via a national survey of community-based organizations (CBOs) funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A geocoded national database was constructed to identify, locate, and map these HIV prevention programs. A total of 1,020 CBOs responded to the survey, yielding a response rate of 70.3%. These CBOs administered a total of 3,028 HIV prevention programs. Data describing intervention types and persons served, combined with the address and service area of responding CBOs, were integrated with census data (2000) and analyzed by using a geographic information system (GIS). The results of our national level analysis show that HIV prevention services for African Americans have fair coverage where African Americans comprise a substantial proportion of the population in urban areas in northeastern states, but that HIV prevention services for African Americans are inadequately distributed in the southeastern states. A local-level analysis was conducted for Alabama, where 68% of HIV/AIDS cases are among African Americans. Specific interventions such as street and community outreach, health communications, and public information are fairly well provided to African Americans in more urban cities in Alabama, however, individualand group-level interventions have poor coverage in rural areas where a large percentage of African-Americans live. Overall, our study illustrates that the use of GIS adds value when used with other data sources to provide prevention services that are accessible to the populations most in need.


In Bodies in Dissent Daphne A. Brooks argues that from the mid-nineteenth century to the early twentieth, black transatlantic activists, actors, singers, and other entertainers frequently transformed the alienating conditions of social and political marginalization into modes of self-actualization through performance. Brooks considers the work of African American, Anglo, and racially ambiguous performers in a range of popular entertainment, including racial melodrama, spectacular theatre, moving panorama exhibitions, Pan-Africanist musicals, Victorian magic shows, religious and secular song, spiritualism, and dance. She describes how these entertainers experimented with different ways of presenting their bodies in public—through dress, movement, and theatrical technologies—to defamiliarize the spectacle of "blackness" in the transatlantic imaginary.

Brooks pieces together reviews, letters, playbills, fiction, and biography in order to reconstruct not only the contexts of African American performance but also the reception of the stagings of "bodily insurgency" which she examines. Throughout the book, she juxtaposes unlikely texts and entertainers in order to illuminate the complicated transatlantic cultural landscape in which black performers intervened. She places Adah Isaacs Menken, a star of spectacular theatre, next to Sojourner Truth, showing how both used similar strategies of physical gesture to complicate one-dimensional notions of race and gender. She also considers Henry Box Brown's public re-enactments of his escape from slavery, the Pan-Africanist discourse of Bert Williams's and George Walker's musical In Dahomey (1902–04), and the relationship between gender politics, performance, and New Negro activism in the fiction of the novelist and playwright Pauline Hopkins and the postbellum stage work of the cakewalk dancer and choreographer Aida Overton Walker. Highlighting the integral connections between performance and the construction of racial identities, Brooks provides a nuanced understanding of the vitality, complexity, and influence of black performance in the United States and throughout the black Atlantic.


Extracting DNA from ancient specimens and using cloning technology to resurrect extinct species has become a staple plot device of wildly popular science fiction novels and films since Jurassic Park. But the prospect that extinct animals may live again no longer belongs solely to the realm of science fiction. "De-extinction" is coming closer to reality, as scientists now are experimenting with a number of methods for resurrecting extinct species. No method will bring back the dinosaurs; it has been too long since the Jurassic era for their DNA to survive. It may well be possible to "resurrect" more recently extinct species, however, such as the Pyrenean ibex, the passenger pigeon, or possibly even the awe-inspiring woolly mammoth, in the not too distant future. While some discussion of these exciting developments has appeared in the scientific and popular press, most articles focus on technical and ethical issues: can we do this, and should we? For purposes of this Article, we treat de-extinction, in some form, as a scientifically reasonable future prospect whose legal implications should be considered in a practical manner. For the most part, we assume that if de-extinction can feasibly be accomplished, someone will undertake the effort if for no other reason than because it would be irresistibly thrilling to do so. Jurassic Park itself may be unattainable, but a somewhat more plausible Pleistocene Park, populated with mammoths and aurochs, would generate nearly as much popular excitement. Other motivations for pursuing de-extinction might include the reintroduction of "keystone" species for purposes of reviving whole ecosystems, with substantial environmental benefits. Therefore, this Article explores the implications of de-extinction under existing law. Part I introduces the current science of de-extinction and the different methods its proponents are pursuing. The methods are worth reviewing in some detail, since the implications of those methods are significant for legal outcomes. Part II discusses the ESA, whether it would apply to de-extinct species, and how it should be applied. Part III addresses permitting and evaluation of environmental impacts under NEPA for projects to reintroduce de-extinct species into the wild, by analogy to EISs for reintroductions of living but locally extirpated species into regions that they formerly inhabited and EISs for releases into the environment of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Part IV explores the regulation of resurrected species as GMOs, given that two of the three de-extinction methods being pursued would result in GMOs. Part V considers the patentability of such GMOs. Part VI summarizes our conclusions.


Twelve of the twenty-five deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history have all occurred since 2012, with five of the top ten having occurred since 2015. Given the increased frequency and intensity of mass gun violence in recent years, this paper analyzes many of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history, dating from 1966 to 2018, in order to examine the motivations of the perpetrators and assess the role of mental illness in these attacks. An evaluation of the current epidemic of mass shootings is conducted under the sociological application of riot theory, and the author reveals a distinct pattern among mass shooters, with a significant portion having a history of either domestic violence or stalking. This paper offers several policy solutions to better target these demographics, and makes a case for restricting their access to firearms. The evidence supports the notion that, by targeting these specific demographics, the next mass attack may be preventable through prudent policy. This paper argues that policymakers should prioritize better enforcement of existing federal domestic violence laws, restrict firearm access to felon and misdemeanant-level stalkers, and ensure stronger state participation in updating the Federal Bureau of Investigation's NICS Index.


A landmark study of key century in medieval history, this book comprises the history of the century and a quarter which elapsed between the compilation of Domesday Book and the issue of the Magna Carta, the two greatest documents of English medieval history. The volume opens with chapters in which the position of the monarchy and social and economic background of the period in its feudal, rural, and urban aspects are discussed. In the political sphere it describes the building up of the great continental dominions, which in the time of Henry II are known as the Angevin Empire, and the collapse of the battle of Bouvines in 1214; it embraces also the attempts of the English kings to establish their supremacy over Scotland and Wales, and the conquest of Ireland. The work of the ecclesiastical reformers and the conflicts between church and state associated with the archbishops Anselm and Becket and Pope Innocent III are discussed. The progress of education, the contribution of Englishmen to the twelth-century renaissance, the literature, and the art of the age are brought under review. Finally, the great development of the common law brought about by the legal reforms of Henry II is traced, and the book ends with a description of the events leading up Magna Carta and its sequel, civil war, in which the reign of King John was brought to a close.


BACKGROUND
The antioxidant activity and essential oil content of plants may vary considerably with respect to environmental conditions, especially nutrient availability. Among micronutrients, zinc (Zn) is needed by plants in only small amounts but is crucial to plant development. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Zn fertilization on the antioxidant activity, polyphenolic contents and essential oil composition of Pimpinella anisum fruit.

RESULTS
Foliar application of Zn fertilizer considerably increased the number of detected essential oil components from 27 to 45. Zinc application at a rate of 0.2% (w/v) significantly enhanced the levels of β-bisabolene, germacrene D, n-decane and α-zingiberene, whereas the opposite trend was observed for (E)-anethole and geijerene. Application of 0.2% Zn considerably increased the levels of phenolic compounds, with chlorogenic acid showing the highest content among eight phenolic compounds detected in treated plants. The maximum antioxidant activity was achieved through application of 0.2% Zn fertilizer.

CONCLUSION
These findings indicated that the quality and quantity of anise fruit essential oil components were significantly altered by application of low levels of Zn. After foliar application of Zn, polyphenolic contents as well as antioxidant activity of anise fruit increased. Using Zn fertilizer is an efficient method to improve the pharmaceutical and food properties of anise fruit. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.


Visualization and animation tools may become extremely important aids in the understanding, verification, and performance tuning of parallel computations. Presently, however, the use of visualization has had only a limited use for enhancing parallel computation. We hypothesize that one of the primary reasons for the limited use of visualization tools in parallel program development is the difficulty of acquiring the information necessary to drive the visual display. Our approach to this impediment focuses on integrating visualization support directly into a distributed computing system. Central to this integration is the addition of a logical clock that prevents the timestamps of events from violating causality. The implementation requires the "piggybacking" of a negligible amount of extra header information on system messages and the impact on performance is minimal. This results in a system that produces useful visualizations with no extra effort required by the applications programmer. Also integrated into the distributed system is support which simplifies the creation of programmer-defined, application-specific visualizations, unique to each new parallel program developed.


Why do people forward e-mail chain letters mindlessly? By investigating the socio-psychological underpinnings of the behavior, this paper elucidates the strategy of those who yearn to manipulate people's minds. The human brain cannot store an unlimited amount of information but such capacity for production and accumulation do not necessarily entail the conscious processing of messages it receives. This characteristic of the human mind serves as the gateway for the notoriety of chain e-mails. Chain e-mails come in various designs but exhibit similar form. They usually contain the following elements: 'copy quota' or the deadline for the task of replication; 'testimonials' regarding success and unfortunate stories; 'waiting time' for the promised benefits and threats; and the 'circumnavigation note' or the length of the letters' circulation. The phenomenon can be understood through the principles of systematic and heuristic modes of processing information. People may heed information either at a superficial level (heuristic) or a more cognitive, analytical manner (systematic). Recipients can often react to chain e-mails heuristically. Authors of chain letters and mobile texts induce specific emotions such as fear, anger, and disgust to compel their targets to tag along with the "forward message" bandwagon. This reinforces the "you've got nothing to lose anyway" attitude among email readers which can wreak serious havoc on persons and properties. Ultimately, preserving a state of mindfulness is still the best defense against these scheming Web messages.


Nitrogen (N2) fixation is the process by which N2 gas is converted to biologically reactive ammonia, and is a cellular capability widely distributed amongst prokaryotes. This process is essential for the input of new, reactive N in a variety of environments. Heterotrophic bacterial N fixers residing in estuarine sediments have only recently been acknowledged as important contributors to the overall N budget of these ecosystems and many specifics about their role in estuarine N cycling remain unknown, partly due to a lack of knowledge about their autecology and a lack of cultivated representatives. Nitrogenase reductase (nifH) gene composition and prevalence in Narragansett Bay sediments has revealed that two distinct phylogenetic groups dominate N-fixation. Analysis of nifH transcripts has revealed one active group to be the Desulfovibrionaceae, belonging to the Deltaproteobacteria. We see nifH expression from this group across sampling sites and times, despite the fact that Narragansett Bay sediments are replete with combined N, which is thought to inhibit N fixation in the environment. Here were present the genomic and physiological data in relation to N2 fixation by two heterotrophic members of the Desulfovibrionaceae, isolated from sediments of the Narragansett Bay estuary in 2010 and 2011, respectively: Desulfovibrio sp. NAR1 and Desulfovibrio sp. NAR2.To elucidate how nitrogenase activity in these organisms responds to the presence of different sources of combined N, and to link observed physiology with genomic potential (i.e. gene content), we performed a two-part study that coupled high-throughput genome sequencing and analysis with physiological investigations of growth on different N sources with N fixation rate measurements. The genomes of the two diazotrophic Narragansett Bay Desulfovibrio isolates (NAR1 and NAR2) were sequenced using a high throughput platform, subsequently assembled, annotated, and investigated for genes related to N fixation and overall N metabolism which were then compared across 34 additional Desulfovibrio genomes which were publicly available. To link findings at the molecular level with observations at the physiological level, N fixation rates were measured using the acetylene reduction assay (ARA) under conditions free of reactive N, and under the following combined N conditions: 12 mM urea, 12 mM NO3, and 12 mM NH3. Both isolates can sustain growth by N2 fixation in the absence of biologically available N and our data indicate that nitrogenase activity is completely inhibited by the presence of ammonia, yet uninhibited by nitrate and urea, which are other forms of combined N found in Narragansett Bay. This agrees with observations made at the genome level, as neither our isolates nor the other Desulfovibrio examined in comparison appeared to have the genetic capability to use NO3 or urea catabolically to meet cellular N demands. This study indicates that the Desulfovibrionaceae are restricted in terms of the N sources they are capable of using, and that this may be a factor contributing to the observed N fixation by this group in sediments that are not limited for sources of combined N. Genome sequencing also reveals both isolates to be metabolically versatile and unique. The NAR1 isolate possesses genes involved in bacterial mercury methylation, and displays near obligate biofilm formation. Genes were also found in the NAR1 isolate which suggest the involvement of c-di-GMP in cell-to-cell communication and biofilm formation. This is particularly interesting since biofilm formation and quorum sensing is not well characterized among the Desulfovibrio, despite biofilm formation being displayed by many members of this genus. While investigating the role of these organisms as important contributors of fixed N in Narragansett Bay, it was critical that we examine these additional aspects of their metabolism in order to gain a better understanding of controls on growth that may also impact biomass and the ability of these organisms to achieve significant rates of N fixation in the environment.


In this paper, we perform a 1‐D particle‐in‐cell (PIC) simulation model consisting of three species, cold electrons, cold ions, and energetic ion ring, to investigate spectral structures of magnetosonic waves excited by ring distribution protons in the Earth's magnetosphere, and dynamics of charged particles during the excitation of magnetosonic waves. As the wave normal angle decreases, the spectral range of excited magnetosonic waves becomes broader with upper frequency limit extending beyond the lower hybrid resonant frequency, and the discrete spectra tends to merge into a continuous one. This dependence on wave normal angle is consistent with the linear theory. The effects of magnetosonic waves on the background cold plasma populations also vary with wave normal angle. For exactly perpendicular magnetosonic waves (parallel wave number k|| = 0), there is no energization in the parallel direction for both background cold protons and electrons due to the negligible fluctuating electric field component in the parallel direction. In contrast, the perpendicular energization of background plasmas is rather significant, where cold protons follow unmagnetized motion while cold electrons follow drift motion due to wave electric fields. For magnetosonic waves with a finite k||, there exists a nonnegligible parallel fluctuating electric field, leading to a significant and rapid energization in the parallel direction for cold electrons. These cold electrons can also be efficiently energized in the perpendicular direction due to the interaction with the magnetosonic wave fields in the perpendicular direction. However, cold protons can be only heated in the perpendicular direction, which is likely caused by the higher‐order resonances with magnetosonic waves. The potential impacts of magnetosonic waves on the energization of the background cold plasmas in the Earth's inner magnetosphere are also discussed in this paper.


Inappropriate disclosure and use of personal health information could have severe adverse consequences for the individual to whom it pertains, but non-disclosure could adversely affect other individuals or the society. In Australia efforts are under way to develop legislation that will address the protection of confidential health information. Development of large-scale health information repositories, intended to facilitate access to health information to many more parties than was previously possible, makes the Issue of consent enforcement and access control more urgent than ever. Literature suggests that the majority of security threats arise out of insider activities. It is proposed to develop a confidentiality protection framework that will ensure personal, identifiable health information is only disclosed by consent or under circumstances prescribed by law, and that all access to that information is audited. The framework, based on encryption of health information at the time of collection, and decryption at the time of authorised use, provides a number of advantages over the traditional, enterprise-centric protection model.


Laser action is demonstrated in Yb:KYW at wavelengths of 990 nm, 997 nm and 1066 nm, when pumped at 980 nm by a Ti:sapphire laser, with a lowest laser quantum defect of 1.0%. The laser output powers at the various wavelengths were 70mW, 160mW and 140mW, respectively. Locking of the laser wavelength and the spectrally close spacing of pump and laser were achieved by the use of a volume Bragg grating as an input coupler. A theoretical model is also presented that accurately describes the laser at various wavelengths, by solving the laser rate equations at spatial points throughout the laser crystal.


SUMMARY 1. Forearm blood flow and cardiac output were measured during 12-14% oxygen breathing in eleven subjects aged 23-72 years. Forearm blood flow alone was measured in eight additional subjects aged 45-70 years. 2. The cardiac output increased and systemic vascular resistance decreased during hypoxaemia in all subjects. Although the initial cardiac output was lower with increasing age, the change during hypoxaemia correlated poorly with age. 3. Forearm blood flow increased with age and the change produced by hypoxaemia was also related to the age of the subjects. In six healthy subjects aged 23-37 years forearm blood flow increased during hypoxaemia. In thirteen older subjects, six of whom had chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, forearm blood flow either increased to a lesser degree, decreased, or remained unchanged during hypoxaemia. The mechanism for the change in forearm vascular response to induced hypoxaemia in older subjects was not apparent from these studies.


The use of context is critical for scene understanding in computer vision, where the recognition of an object is driven by both local appearance and the object's relationship to other elements of the scene (context). Most current approaches rely on modeling the relationships between object categories as a source of context. In this paper we seek to move beyond categories to provide a richer appearance-based model of context. We present an exemplar-based model of objects and their relationships, the Visual Memex, that encodes both local appearance and 2D spatial context between object instances. We evaluate our model on Torralba's proposed Context Challenge against a baseline category-based system. Our experiments suggest that moving beyond categories for context modeling appears to be quite beneficial, and may be the critical missing ingredient in scene understanding systems.


Using multiple languages may confer distinct advantages in cognitive control, yet it is unclear whether bilingualism is associated with better implicit statistical learning, a core cognitive ability underlying language. We tested bilingual adults on a challenging task requiring simultaneous learning of two miniature grammars characterized by different statistics. We found that participants learned each grammar significantly better than chance and both grammars equally well. Crucially, a validated continuous measure of bilingual dominance predicted accuracy scores for both artificial grammars in a generalized linear model. The study thus demonstrates the first graded advantage in learning novel statistical relations in adult bilinguals.


The objective of this study was to calculate the breeding values (BVs) of traits missing in a selection index. Different traits can be evaluated within the breeding programs of given countries. The BV of a trait can be calculated based on genetic correlations with other traits. Similarly, the BV of a missing trait can be calculated for imported bulls. Two methods of calculation were used. Method A was based on a regression of BVs. Method B was based on performing a de-regression of BVs and their retroactive calculation. Both of these methods were tested using a Czech and a Canadian database of BVs for Holstein bulls. The Czech database of Holstein bulls contained 766 bulls and the Canadian database 851. Two calculations were performed for bulls with low reliability of estimated BVs, the first calculation with their genetic correlation matrix and the second with a genetic correlation matrix created from a set of bulls with high reliability of BVs. These newly calculated BVs (CBVs) were then compared with the national BVs (NBVs) using correlation coefficients. The highest correlations were achieved with high reliability bulls when all traits were included into the calculation (34 evaluated traits). The correlations of these bulls averaged 0.82, with an average standard deviation of 0.19. The lowest correlations were found when low reliability bulls were included and the genetic correlation matrix from the high reliability bulls was applied. That average correlation was 0.74 and standard deviation 0.25. When only 15 traits were evaluated in the model, the average correlation for all sets was 0.68 with standard deviation of 0.28. These results show that calculating the BV of a missing trait is possible using both methods. Method B was slightly more accurate in its prediction.


Michael Leifer's passing over a decade ago has done little to diminish the force of his scholarly ideas and their continued relevance to the study of regional order and security of contemporary Southeast Asia. Leifer's intellectual influence is apparent in the way analysts of different theoretical persuasions continue to grapple with and debate over the problem of regional order in Southeast Asia. In so doing, they rely on terms of reference originally defined by Leifer. This article reviews and assesses a number of noteworthy insights from Leifer's oeuvre against the contemporary political-strategic situation of Southeast Asia and its immediate extra-regional context. The insights include the elusiveness of regional order, the primacy of the balance of power, and the emphasis on conservation rather than innovation in the management of regional security in Southeast Asia. While Leifer's ideas are by no means timeless, they continue nonetheless to speak in telling ways to the security challenges facing Southeast Asia today.


Widely used across industrial and manufacturing automation, Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) perform a broad range of electromechanical tasks with multiple input and output arrangements, designed specifically to cope in severe environmental conditions such as automotive and chemical plants. Programmable Logic Controllers: A Practical Approach using CoDeSys is a hands-on guide to rapidly gain proficiency in the development and operation of PLCs based on the IEC 61131-3 standard. Using the freely-available* software tool CoDeSys, which is widely used in industrial design automation projects, the author takes a highly practical approach to PLC design using real-world examples. The design tool, CoDeSys, also features a built in simulator/soft PLC enabling the reader to undertake exercises and test the examples. Key features: * Introduces to programming techniques using IEC 61131-3 guidelines in the five PLC-recognised programming languages. * Focuses on a methodical approach to programming, based on Boolean algebra, flowcharts, sequence diagrams and state-diagrams. * Contains a useful methodology to solve problems, develop a structured code and document the programming code. * Covers I/O like typical sensors, signals, signal formats, noise and cabling. * Features Power Point slides covering all topics, example programs and solutions to end-of-chapter exercises via companion website. No prior knowledge of programming PLCs is assumed making this text ideally suited to electronics engineering students pursuing a career in electronic design automation. Experienced PLC users in all fields of manufacturing will discover new possibilities and gain useful tips for more efficient and structured programming. * Register at www.codesys.com www.wiley.com/go/hanssen/logiccontrollers


Antacids have been widely used in the treatment of various gastric and duodenal disorders such as heartburn, reflux esophagitis, gastritis, irritable stomach, gastric and duodenal ulcers. A pH-responsive of bi-polymer of sodium alginate and pectin have been studied as raft-forming polymers using sodium bicarbonate and calcium carbonate as gas-generating and calcium ion sources. The aim of study was to formulate and evaluate mono and bilayer tablets of floating and sustained release antacid delivery systems using sodium carboxy methyl cellulose as a gel forming substance, calcium and magnesium carbonate as sources of acid neutralizing and carbon dioxide gas generators agents upon contact with acidic solution. The effect of the formulation contents on the buoyancy has been investigated. In addition to, the antacid activities of intact and pulverized tablets have been studied. The result obtained showed that the buoyance is remarkably affected by the percentages of sodium carboxy methyl cellulose and carbonates salts. All formulas of mono and bilayer tablets revealed sustained action of acid neutralization and raft formation. Besides, bilayer tablets showed a significant and higher level of acid neutralizing capacity than monolayer tablets. Moreover, the pulverized of bilayer tablets exhibited significant and higher acid neutralizing capacity at raft than that at bulk of artificial gastric juice medium.
Keywords: Raft forming agent, Antacid, floating drug delivery, Acid neutralizing capacity, Sodium carboxy methyl cellulose.


Big data is a term that applies to large objects of data that vary in nature whether they are structure , unstructured or semi-structured, including from internal or external sources of the organization, and are generated with a high degree of speed with a turbulent model, which does not Fully compatible with traditional and structured data warehouses and requiring a robust and complex ecosystem with a high-performance computing platform and analytical capabilities to capture, process, transform, detect, extract and derive value and deep insights within a timed time. Machine learning is a type of Artificial Intelligence, which allows software applications to become more accurate in predicting results without explicitly programming them. The primary focus of machine learning is to build algorithms that can receive input data and use statistical analysis to predict outputs within an acceptable range. In this paper we will introduce the concept of big data and machine learning and the comparison between them and the techniques used for both and finally we will see the relationship between them.


The Broken World is the fourth installment in the epic fantasy series by J D Oswald, The Ballad of Sir Benfro, preceded by Dreamwalker, The Rose Cord and The Golden Cage. The book, sir. The Llyfr Draconius. You'll find what you need in there, if you know how to look. The war across the Twin Kingdoms rages on. Queen Beulah has killed one sister and ordered the assassination of another. The Inquisitor Melyn journeys though the north-lands of Llanwennog in a merciless bid to overthrow King Ballah. Now in possession of Brynceri's ring, his power seems indestructible. Nothing can stop the invasion. Captured by the travelling circus, Sir Benfro cannot shake their control, more powerful than Magog's malign influence. Errol Ramsbottom, left for dead, follows the trail of his friend's captors - only Benfro holds the key to Errol's beloved Martha's whereabouts. But both sides are set on a path of destruction - dragon against dragon, king against queen, man against man. As the ancient spell that split Gwlad begins to unravel, it may be easier for Benfro and Errol to travel to Gog's world now. But what will happen when the barriers between the two worlds fail entirely? As unlikely alliances form and strategies shift, who will emerge victorious? Parts of the previous eBook edition of The Golden Cage have been used in this work, The Broken World.


The stored mRNP particles of Xenopus oocytes contain protein kinase activity and two major phosphoproteins of 60 kDa (pp60) and 56 kDa (pp56). These proteins can be phospholabelled in the particles either in vivo or in vitro and then isolated by SDS-PAGE. On renaturing pp60 in the presence of globin mRNA, a stable RNA-protein complex is formed. The complex has a uniform density in Cs salt gradients, corresponding to the binding of about 10 protein molecules to each mRNA, probably at the poly(A) sequence. Compared with uncomplexed mRNA, the RNP complex is translated poorly both in vitro and in vivo. Translation of the complex can be regained after treatment with protein phosphatase. It is shown that dephosphorylation destabilizes the binding of protein to RNA, making the mRNA accessible for translation. Studies with native mRNP particles show that their translation also can be enhanced by dephosphorylation.


Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and MEK inhibitors (EGFRi/MEKi) are beneficial for the treatment of solid cancers but are frequently associated with severe therapy-limiting acneiform skin toxicities. The underlying molecular mechanisms are poorly understood. Using gene expression profiling we identified IL-36γ and IL-8 as candidate drivers of EGFRi/MEKi skin toxicity. We provide molecular and translational evidence that EGFRi/MEKi in concert with the skin commensal bacterium Cutibacterium acnes act synergistically to induce IL-36γ in keratinocytes and subsequently IL-8, leading to cutaneous neutrophilia. IL-36γ expression was the combined result of C. acnes–induced NF-κB activation and EGFRi/MEKi–mediated expression of the transcription factor Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4), due to the presence of both NF-κB and KLF4 binding sites in the human IL-36γ gene promoter. EGFRi/MEKi increased KLF4 expression by blockade of the EGFR/MEK/ERK pathway. These results provide an insight into understanding the pathological mechanism of the acneiform skin toxicities induced by EGFRi/MEKi and identify IL-36γ and the transcription factor KLF4 as potential therapeutic targets.


This study evaluated the reliability of implant-supported crowns repaired with resin composites. Fifty-four titanium abutments were divided in three groups (n = 18 each) to support resin nanoceramic molar crowns, as follows: (LU) (Lava Ultimate, 3M ESPE); LU repaired with either a direct or an indirect resin composite. Samples were subjected to mouth-motion accelerated-life testing in water (n = 18). Cumulative damage with a use stress of 300 N was used to plot Weibull curves for group comparison. Reliability was calculated for a mission of 100,000 cycles at 400 N load. Beta values were 0.83 for LU, 0.31 and 0.27 for LU repaired with Filtek and Ceramage, respectively. Weibull modulus for LU was 9.5 and η = 1047 N, m = 6.85, and η = 1002 N for LU repaired with Ceramage, and m = 4.65 and η = 766 N for LU repaired with Filtek (p < 0.10 between LU and LU repaired with Filtek). Reliability at 400 N was 100% for both LU and LU repaired with Ceramage which were significantly higher than LU Filtek repair (32%). LU restored crowns failed cohesively. Fractures were confined within the restored material, and detailed fractography is presented. The performance of resin nanoceramic material repaired with an indirect composite was maintained after accelerated-life testing compared to unrepaired controls. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 105B: 1481-1489, 2017.


When people explore new environments they often use landmarks as reference points to help navigate and orientate themselves. This research paper examines how spatial datasets can be used to build a system for use in an urban environment which functions as a city guide, announcing Features of Interest (FoI) as they become visible to the user (not just proximal), as the user moves freely around the city. Visibility calculations for the FoIs were pre‐calculated based on a digital surface model derived from LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) data. The results were stored in a text‐based relational database management system (RDBMS) for rapid retrieval. All interaction between the user and the system was via a speech‐based interface, allowing the user to record and request further information on any of the announced FoI. A prototype system, called Edinburgh Augmented Reality System (EARS), was designed, implemented and field tested in order to assess the effectiveness of these ideas. The application proved to be an innovative, 'non‐invasive' approach to augmenting the user's reality.


The College of Architecture and Environmental Design at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO) is the only college in the nation that includes architecture (ARCH), architectural engineering (ARCE) and construction management (CM) programs in the same college. Given the unique mix of disciplines and the emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration, the ARCH and CM students take a five-course structural engineering sequence from the ARCE department. A challenge of these courses is to maintain some degree of computational rigor while offering a broader perspective that will benefit the ARCH and CM students. This paper reports on one means of accomplishing this using K'nex toys to illustrate the entire design construction sequence and relate how structure fits into this process during the sequence's culminating course.


Scot McKnight here explains the Letter of James both in its own context and as it may be seen in light of ancient Judaism, the Graeco-Roman world, and emerging earliest Christianity.
 From beginning to end, the book is shaped for pastors, teachers, and scholars. McKnight is less interested in shedding new light on James than on providing a commentary for those who want to explain the letter and its significance to congregations and classes.
 This commentary is accessible to a broad readership, at once full of insight and of good sense and wit that makes for good reading. The Letter of James is an especially helpful source for consultation as to what James is about.