Barring new CO2 sources could curb climate change, but won't solve energy problems. One concrete goal adopted by some policy-makers is to reduce the risks associated with climate change by preventing the mean global temperature from rising by more than 2°C above preindustrial levels (1). Climate models indicate that achieving this goal will require limiting atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations to less than 450 parts per million (ppm), a level that implies substantial reductions in emissions from burning fossil fuels (2, 3). So far, however, efforts to curb emissions through regulation and international agreement haven't worked (4); emissions are rising faster than ever, and programs to scale up "carbon neutral" energy sources are moving slowly at best (5). On page 1330 of this issue, Davis et al. (6) offer new insights into just how difficult it will be to say farewell to fossil fuels.


The 3D reconstruction algorithm is applied to the prototype feed array of the BIOMASS synthetic aperture radar, recently measured at the DTU-ESA Spherical Near-Field Antenna Test Facility in Denmark. Careful analysis of the measured feed array data has shown that the test support structure of the array has a dominant influence on the measured feed pattern. The 3D reconstruction is then applied to the feed array measured data, allowing the identification of the undesired currents induced on the feed support structure. The results of the diagnostics and the corresponding improvements of the feed pattern obtained by removal of the undesired currents are presented and discussed.


We have performed a set of experiments made to investigate the utility of morphological analysis to improve retrieval of documents written in languages with relatively large morphological variation in a practical commercial setting, using the SiteSeeker search system developed and marketed by Euroling AB. The objective of the experiments was to evaluate different lemmatisers and stemmers to determine which would be the most practical for the task at hand: highly interactive, relatively high precision web searches in commercial customer-oriented document collections. This paper gives an overview of some of the results for Finnish and German, and describes specifically one experiment designed to investigate the case distribution of nouns in a highly inflectional language (Finnish) and the topicality of the nouns in target texts. We find that topical nouns taken from queries are distributed differently over relevant and non-relevant documents depending on their grammatical case.


The authors analyze the interaction between a country's world market integration and its attitude towards gender roles. They discuss both theoretically and empirically how female empowerment is a source of comparative advantage that shapes a country's response to trade opening. Reciprocally, the authors show that as countries integrate into the world economy, the costs and benefits of gender discrimination shift. Their theory goes beyond a potential aggregate wealth effect associated with trade opening, and emphasizes the heterogeneity of impacts. On the one hand, countries in which women are empowered -- measured by fertility rates, female labor force participation or female schooling -- experience an expansion of industries that use female labor relatively more intensively. On the other hand, the gender gap is smaller in countries that export more in relatively female-labor intensive sectors. In an increasingly globalized economy, the road to gender equality is paradoxically very specific to each country?s productive structure and exposure to world markets.


Scanning electron and light microscopy observations of wet-preserved flowers of Bromeliaceae subfamily Pitcaimioideae yield new information on the stigma, petal scales, and septal nectaries. Variations of the stigma types are evident among several genera. The gross structural features of the stigma do not indicate definite pollination trends, but the shape of the lobes and papillae indicate a few specific modes. In pitcairnioid genera, petal scales, when functional, may aid in pollination by accumulating the nectar secreted from the ovary, thus facilitating its availability to the pollinator. Nectaries associated with the gynoecia usually display tripartite channels in the ovary septa. Some developmental changes of the channel structure and position of the ovary indicate three probable modes of nectar release from the gynoecia of the pitcairnioids: (1) through lateral grooves or openings, (2) partly through the apical orifices and partly through the dissolved areas of the spetal channels, and (3) exclusively through the apical orifices. Analysis of a wide range of floral features indicates that ornithophily, chiropterophily, and entomophily exist in different Pitcairnioideae lineages.


Match-on-action refers to an editing technique where a subject begins an action in one shot and carries it through to completion in the next (Anderson, 1996; Bordwell & Thompson, 2001). The action bridge between shots distracts the viewer from noticing the cut (ie. edit blindness; Smith & Henderson, 2008; Smith & Martin-Portugues Santacreu, 2016) and provides a foundation for the perception of continuity. It is also known that it enables even first-time adult viewers to perceive spatiotemporal continuity between shots who are not able to do so in the absence of continuing action through the cuts (Schwan & Ildirar, 2010; Ildirar& Schwan, 2015). This technique is believed to function by both cuing attentional shifts pre-cut and using motion blur post-cut (Pepperman, 2001) to limit the availability of attention and perceptual discrimination ability of viewers towards the cut (Smith, 2012; Smith & Martin-Portugues Santacreu, 2016). Adults (Flanagan & Johnson, 2003), as well as 12-month-old babies (but not 6-month-olds; Falck-Ytter, Gredebaek & Hofsten, 2006) perform goal-directed, anticipatory eye movements when observing actions performed by others. This anticipatory gaze ability is mediated by a mirror neuron system (MNS; Buccino, 2001; Kohler, 2002) and MNS is only activated when someone is seeing an agent perform actions, not when objects move alone both in adults (Flanagan & Johnson, 2003) and infants (Falck-Ytter et. al.,2008). For anticipating future actions segmenting event into units is critical for both adults and infants. One hypothesis for how event perception progresses is that infants begin with basic, domain-general learning mechanisms that allow them to group actions based on the sequential predictability of the actions they observe (Baldwin & Baird, 2001; Baldwin, Baird, Saylor, & Clark, 2001; Roseberry, Richie, Hirsh-Pasek, Golinkoff, & Shipley, 2011). Infants could use these initial groupings to discover more abstract cues to event structure, such as the actor's intentions, which are known to play a role in adults' global event segmentation (e.g., Wilder, 1978; Zacks, 2004; Zacks & Tversky, 2001).Visual sequence learning is a primary mechanism for event segmentation and research show that eight-month-old infants are sensitive to the sequential statistics of actions performed by a human agent (Roseberry et al., 2011). More interestingly, adults (Baldwin, Andersson, Saffran, & Meyer, 2008) as well as infants in their 1st year of life (Stahl, Romberg, Roseberry, Golinkoff & Hirsh‐Pasek, 2014) can segment a continuous action sequence based on sequential predictability alone, which suggest that before infants have top-down knowledge of intentions, they may begin to segment events based on sequential predictability. The study we will present at the conference aims to find out what happens when the observed action is distributed across film cuts. To this purpose we produced two sets of film clips depicting four conditions. In the Single Shot Agent (SSA), an adult sitting in front of a table moved the three objects placed to the one side of the table to the other side shown in one long single shot. In the Multiple Shot Agent (MSA) Condition the action is segmented into taking and putting subactions through multiple film close-ups. In both the Single Shot No Agent (SSNA) and Multiple Shot No Agent (MSNA) conditions the objects move by themselves, one at the time. All film clips end with a long single shot paused when the last object (in agent's hand or alone) in the middle of its trajectory in order to measure anticipatory saccades by the viewer towards the end point of the object's trajectory .We defined three areas of interest (AOI): one covering the starting position of the objects (Object AOI), one covering the finishing position of objects (Goal AOI), and one covering the trajectory of the objects (Trajectory AOI). The eye movements of adults (N=20) and 12 month-old infants (N=20) subjects will be measured during each video. The timing of subjects' saccades from the Object AOI to the Goal AOI will be compared to the arrival of the object. If gaze arrives at the Goal AOI before the object, the trial will be considered predictive. If gaze arrives at the Goal AOI after the object, the trial will be considered reactive. We predict that, based on prior evidence (Falck-Ytter, Gredebaek & Hofsten, 2006), 12 month-old infants and adults will be able to anticipate the end point of a moving object shown in a single long-shot and moved by a human agent but not when the object moves on its own. By comparison, we predict that only adults will anticipate the end point of a an object moved by an agent when it is initially shown via an edited sequence of close-ups. Of critical interest is whether the anticipatory behaviour of infants for the edited sequence is associated with each infant's daily exposure to moving images (e.g. TV, Film or touchscreen devices) and if such anticipatory behaviour might serve as a future index of visual literacy in pre-verbal children.The results of this study will be discussed with regards to mirror neuron theory of action (Rizzolatti, Fogassiv& Gallese, 2001) and event segmenting theory (Zacks et. al., 2007). This work represents the first steps on understanding how visual literacy emerges in infancy and its parallels with typical cognitive development.


Although people have been altering earth's landscapes to some extent for tens of thousands of years, humankind today is causing massive changes to the planet. Such widespread environmental change is accompanied by accelerating rates of species extinction. In this book, noted ecologist H. H. Shugart presents important ecological concepts through entertaining animal parables. He tells the stories of particular birds and mammals--the packrat, ivory-billed woodpecker, penguin, dingo, European rabbit, and others--and what their fates reveal about the interactions between environmental change and the extinctions or explosions of species populations. Change is the root of many planetary problems, but it is also an intrinsic feature of our living planet. Shugart explores past environmental change, discusses the non-existence of a "balance of Nature," and documents how human alterations have affected plants, soils, and animals. He looks with hope toward a future in which thoughtful people learn--and use--ecological science to protect the landscapes upon which terrestrial creatures depend.


ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) represents a heterogeneous group of rare malignant tumors. Many diagnostic problems and difficulties are often encountered in the differential diagnosis of these tumors. The variety of appearance gives a wide range of tumor types and subtypes with a high discrepancy rate in tumor typing among pathologists. METHODS: This study was conducted at the Military Medical Academy (EGYPT) during the period from (19891990). The study aimed to reexamine a routinely processed H and E stained slides of cases previously diagnosed as STS by a group of pathologist and match the old and new diagnoses, with the application of some special stains; histochemical and immunohistochemical, then evaluate the results. Forty cases previously diagnosed as STS were reexamined and classified according to the criteria of Enzinger and Weiss. A descriptive or morphological classification was also used; as spindle, round, myxoid and pleomorphic STS. The results were compared to, and matched with the previous diagnoses. Histochemical stains used are, Picro Sirius red (PSR), Masson trichrome (MT), and Periodic-acid schiff stain (PAS). Myoglobin was used as immunohistochemical marker for the detection of crossstriated muscle cell differentiation by peroxidase antiperoxidase method (PAP). RESULTS: Agreement in diagnosis between the previous and the recent diagnosed STS was found to be 47.5%. For spindle cell malignant tumors the agreement was 58.8%, while for round cell malignant tumors was 33.3%. Agreement in diagnosis in mixed malignant soft tissue tumors was 62.5%. PSR and MT demonstrate the amount and distribution of collagen. MT also demonstrates muscle fibers. Using Myoglobin immunohistochemical marker in the previously diagnosed STS: one out of four cases diagnosed as Rhabdomyosarcomas gave a positive result, while two cases from the unsuspected group gave positive results. In the recently diagnosed tumors: all cases diagnosed as Rhabdomyosarcoma gave positive results, while from the unsuspected group one gave positive result. CONCLUSION: While the ordinary H and E stain will suffice to permit recognition of many of STS, it will not do so for all. Limitation of diagnosis of these tumors, especially the rare ones, to specialized centers or highly qualified pathologists is recommended. Histochemical stains are supportive rather than exclusive for the diagnosis of STS. Myoglobin immunohistochemical marker could be used to aid in the diagnosis of rhabdomyosarcomas. Definite diagnosis of many STS needs further special stains and/or electron microscopy and other sophisticated procedures.


This paper examines whether a mediator's job is different and more difficult when a worker and an employer negotiate over disabilities accommodation issues as compared with negotiations over other employment discrimination issues. The mediator's job includes helping and encouraging the parties to exchange information and to accept new information as relevant to their expectations about the negotiation's results. If the information needed in disabilities accommodations negotiations is more complex, more extensive, and more closely held by the parties, transaction costs will be higher and the mediator's job in those negotiations will be more difficult. There is reason to speculate that the mediator's role in disabilities accommodations negotiations is different and more difficult. Workers' rights and employers' responsibilities under the ADA's accommodation mandate are more ambiguous and contingent than under most other anti-discrimination statutes. Employers may enter negotiations with a bias against accommodations claims. Although common to many negotiations, bilateral asymmetric information may be a particular problem in disabilities accommodations negotiations. Finally, finding an effective and efficient accommodation may be more complex and costly than redressing other forms of employment discrimination. Using an original analysis of survey data from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's mediation program, this paper offers preliminary evidence that informational transaction costs in disabilities accommodations negotiations and negotiations over other employment discrimination issues are different. Mediators use three techniques to overcome informational transaction costs: (1) improve information exchange; (2) de-bias negotiations; (3) serve as bridges to information about solutions to accommodations problems and, in selected cases, propose solutions that the participants would not or could not propose themselves. Participants in the EEOC mediation program were asked to react to five favorable statements about their mediators that were reasonable proxies for these three mediator techniques. I found statistically significant, if small, differences between the responses of participants in disabilities accommodations negotiations and participants in negotiations over other kinds of employment discrimination issues. This evidence suggests that mediators have a more difficult time using these three techniques to overcome transaction costs in disabilities accommodations negotiations. Because they are harder to overcome, we can deduce that there is something different about informational transaction costs in disabilities accommodations negotiations. The evidence also suggests more specific conclusions about the differences in informational transaction costs. First, information exchange is more difficult in disabilities accommodations negotiations. Second, the mediators' role in proposing solutions and providing information about possible solutions is more critical to disabilities accommodations negotiations than negotiations over other kinds of employment discrimination disputes. Finally, disabilities accommodations negotiations are more likely to be stalled and frustrated by employers' biases against disabilities accommodations. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these findings and how the mediation and disabilities communities might respond.


Managing water consumption of the crops is one of the strategies which have been adopted locally and worldwide in current trends of sustainable agriculture. In addition to the low level of water resources in UAE because of the rare precipitation, no fresh, free-flowing water, rivers, lakes or streams. The present study was aimed to evaluate the effects of exogenous Glycine Betaine (GB) on Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa ) and Cowpea ( Vigna unguiculata ) within different levels of drought stress. A pot experiment was designed on a completely randomized block design (CRBD) with three replicates. Exogenous GB was applied as a foliar spray in three levels (0,100 and 200 ppm) five times with five days intervals. Drought stress starts within the second GB treatment in three levels (24h: 100% well-watered), (48h: 60% water deficit) and (72h: 40% water deficit) depending on the required quantity. Growth characteristics, pigment concentrations, biochemical content and Mineral nutrients levels were measured in response to the treatment variables. Results showed that the GB has a significant increment in Growth parameters, biochemical contents, and Mineral nutrients concentrations. The results of the present investigation suggested that the exogenous application of GB was improved the drought tolerance in Cowpea and has enhanced the Alfalfa performance under drought stress in both concentrations 100 and 200 ppm under drought stress of 60% of irrigations water. In due of comparison of Cowpea and Alfalfa, it's found from this study that GB has a better effect on the Cowpea under drought stress than Alfalfa.


Corporate sustainability is one of the vital corporate agenda.Its pragmatic and profound impact on business strategy and operations could lead to achieving competitive advantage in the long run. This paper investigates the sustainability priority, elements and business areas among Malaysian public listed companies.Three sectors
of industry namely; consumer, trading and industrial companies were selected and surveyed using mail survey method.Our findings show that majority of the companies put a high priority on sustainability initiatives.However, only a few companies claimed that they have a management council or special committee to manage sustainability efforts.This study also identifies energy usage, water usage, recycling, employee well-being and community involvement as the top five elements of sustainability. As for the business area's priority in sustainability initiatives, the findings show that operations (processes) and customer use of products were
ranked as the highest business areas' priority, followed by facilities (building), supply chain (supplier product selection), distribution and logistics, product design and end of life product disposal/recovery.These results suggest that corporate leaders are well informed of the sustainability initiatives and opportunities across their entire value chain


The temperature dependent reaction kinetics of methyl cyclohexane (MCH) and methyl cyclopentane (MCP) with Cl atoms were experimentally explored via relative rate technique. Gas chromatography coupled with Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) was employed to follow the reactant as well as the reference compounds concentrations during the course of reaction. Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) as well as Gas Chromatography coupled with Infrared spectroscopy (GC-IR) were used as the diagnostic tools for the detection and identification of the products in the title reaction. The rate coefficients for the reaction of Cl atoms with methyl cyclohexane and methyl cyclopentane were measured in the temperature range of 283-363 K at 760 Torr using isoprene and propylene as reference compounds. To counterpart the experimental results, computational calculations were performed over the temperature range of 200-400 K using Canonical Variational Transition State Theory incorporated with Small Curvature Tunneling (CVT/SCT), Conventional Transition State Theory (CTST) coupled with Wigner tunneling corrections and CVT coupled with Wigner using MP2 level of theory with 6-31G(d,p) as basis set. The temperature dependent rate coefficient measured for the reaction of methyl cyclohexane and methyl cyclopentane with Cl atoms to be k (MCH) = [(4.48±0.75) × 10-11] exp [(604±25)/T] cm3 molecule-1 s-1 and k (MCP) = [(5.71±0.66) × 10-12] exp [(1819±669)/T] cm3 molecule-1 s-1 respectively. The measured rate coefficients at 298 K for the reactions of Cl atoms with methyl cyclohexane and methyl cyclopentane are k_298K^MCH= (3.36±0.34) ×10-10 cm3 molecule-1 s-1 and k_298K^MCP= (2.25±0.24) ×10-10 cm3 molecule-1 s-1 respectively. The conceivable atmospheric degradation mechanism for the reaction of methyl cyclohexane as well as methyl cyclopentane with Cl atoms was projected based on the products obtained during the reaction. Atmospheric implications, cumulative atmospheric lifetimes, thermochemistry, ozone formation potentials and branching ratios of these molecules were also calculated and reported in this manuscript.


Research results have shown that spoof attacks pose severe security threats to biometric verification systems. Nevertheless the literature lacks a comprehensive, flexible and dynamic framework for security analysis of biometric and especially voice based verification systems when spoof attacks are taken into picture. This paper aims at highlighting the vulnerabilities, classifying the threats and clarifying requirements for such a dynamic framework which transfers the vulnerability evaluation results into legacy knowledge in the security domain. The proposed design and architecture facilitates comparison of two systems as well as definition of the threats in an independent and isolated way.


Background There is evidence that offenders consume diets lacking in essential nutrients and this could adversely affect their behaviour. Aims To test empirically if physiologically adequate intakes of vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids cause a reduction in antisocial behaviour. Method Experimental, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised trial of nutritional supplements on 231 young adult prisoners, comparing disciplinary offences before and during supplementation. Results Compared with placebos, those receiving the active capsules committed an average of 26.3% (95% CI 8.3-44.33%) fewer offences (P=0.03, two-tailed). Compared to baseline, the effect on those taking active supplements for a minimum of 2 weeks (n=172) was an average 35.1% (95% CI 16.3-53.9%) reduction of offences (P < 0.001, two-tailed), whereas placebos remained within standard error. Conclusions Antisocial behaviour in prisons, including violence, are reduced by vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids with similar implications for those eating poor diets in the community.


The Enlightenment has turned different faces to those who have sought to demonstrate its significance for contemporary politics and philosophy. Some would call it the seedbed of all that is best in modern Western civilization: human rights, toleration, popular sovereignty, and the idea of progress. Others have glimpsed a darker side, stressing its celebration of "instrumental" reason, mechanistic determinism, hostility to religion, and political "atomism." Lewis Hinchman discerns in Hegel the first major philosopher to have appreciated the ambiguous nature of the Enlightenment and to have undertaken a systematic inquiry into its origins and sociopolitical implications. Hinchman is sympathetic toward Hegel's philosophical approach, seeing in it anticipations of (even improvements on) influential nineteenth- and twentieth-century critiques on empiricism and liberalism. On the other hand, he does take Hegel to task in cases where Hegel appears to stray from his own program and principles (most notably in the philosophy of right). Hinchman's approach to Hegel will appeal to a wide range of readers, including political scientists, intellectual historians, and students of comparative and nineteenth-century German literature, as well as philosophers interested in the history of their own discipline. He brings together for comparison texts and passages that are frequently studied in isolation from each other by scholars in diverse fields. The burden of Hinchman's argument falls upon his reconstruction of Hegel's concept of the self. He shows how Hegel partly adopts ideas of the self that were longstanding among Enlightenment philosophers such as Descartes, Kant, and Fichte, and partly develops a novel conception in response to inadequacies in his predecessors' theories. Hinchman contends that Hegel is the first philosopher to work out a truly nonsubstantialist idea of the self, one that does not "reify" this most elusive of human activities. He then demonstrates that implications of this conception of the self when one applies it as Hegel did to a critique of the Enlightenment's epistemology and sociopolitical practice.


This thesis investigates the domain of educators' concerns on maritime education and
training innovation from various higher-education levels in maritime institutes. The
study focuses on Taiwan, the revolution in international standards of competency for
seafarers' Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) and its
relationship to seafaring learning standards, trai!).ing outcomes and educators'
professional standards. The main purpose of this study is a "Stages of Concern"
analysis of maritime educators to determine their attitudes and concerns when a new
innovation initiative has to be confronted. In addition, the study seeks to determine
whether the factors of professionalism and expectancy values can influence maritime
educators' stages of concern about the STCW innovation. The established theoretical
model takes their seven stages of concern as dependent variables while their
professionalism, expectancy and demographics are treated as independent variables.
It is tested with the aid of survey data from a Stages of Concern Questionnaire
administered to the population of maritime educators from three different levels of
Taiwanese academic institutes. The SPSS software package for determination of
educators' concerns, including descriptive, correlational and inferential statistics and
multivariate analysis of variance procedures, is used to perform the data analysis.
The results verify that an educator's concerns are an important component in the
STCW reform implementation process. More specially, the maritime educators in
Taiwan express high concerns at the self and impact stages and lower concerns at the
awareness and management stages. This indicates that their attentions are shifted to
organize and implement the reform efficiently and, in addition, use the relevance of
the reform to increase students' performances. However, their concerns appear to
reflect the strategies of the reform process rather than the outcomes and
achievements of the students. Further, the factors of professionalism and expectancy
values are undoubtedly related to educators' stages of concern in the reform. The
high expectancy value rating scales are at the impact stage, which reflect that these
educators are confident with their competencies to implement the reform and will
devote their reform-related attitudes and efforts to help the students achieve the
required criteria. The professionalism rating scales are also high at the impact stage,
which prove that the positively professional ethics, perceptions and performances of
the educators will yield a positive reform outcome. However, expectancy values and
professionalism are not statistically significant predictors of Stages of Concern. It
reveals that the impetus to the reform mostly derives from the external sources. The
satisfaction of the expectations received from the reform consequences is still not
mature.


Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a systemic inflammatory disorder that affects large vessels. Here we present the case of a 59 year old male who presented to us with complaints of fever and generalised tiredness of 6 weeks duration. He had received 2 courses of antibiotics with no respite. Investigations from outside showed elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and prostate specific antigen (PSA). He was evaluated in detail as FUO. His fever persisted despite maximal dose of antipyretics, leading to high suspicion of malignancy. However, investigations were not suggestive of any malignancy. On day 3 of admission, he complained of pain on mastication. Examination revealed prominent temporal arteries, with normal pulsations without any tenderness. Fundus examination was normal. With high index of suspicion, temporal artery was biopsied and was diagnostic of giant cell arteritis. Though GCA classically presents with headache, visual changes, masticatory claudication, and symptoms of polymyalgia rheumatica, on rare occasion, GCA may present with fever as the only dominant symptom. GCA without headache is an uncommon presentation, which occurs in nearly 20% of patients.


Background: The community based management of severe acute malnutrition (CMAM) was introduced in Ghana in 2008 to manage cases of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) recorded at the community level. This study estimated the economic cost of the CMAM programme for children under-five in the Agona west municipality of Ghana. Methods: A retrospective cross sectional study that used a cost analysis design was employed to estimate the economic cost of the programme from the societal perspective. Household cost data from caregivers were obtained using a semi-structured questionnaire. That of programme cost data was obtained from document reviews as well as the use of semi-structured questionnaires and subsequent discussions with key personnel of the Ghana Health Service, Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance and UNICEF. One and multi-way sensitivity analyses were conducted to test how sensitive the cost estimates are to certain variations in the cost profiles. Results: The economic household cost of CMAM was estimated as $1905.32 ($47.63 per household) of which 79% was attributed to direct cost while the remaining 21% made up indirect cost. Programme economic cost of CMAM was estimated as $27633.5 (96% recurrent and 4% capital), with refresher training constituting majority of the cost (34%). The constituents of the total economic cost of the programme, estimated as $32214.56 are programme cost (86%), household costs (6%) and community volunteer cost (8%). Therefore, the economic cost of treating one SAM case using the CMAM protocol was estimated as $805.36. Conclusion: Although CMAM has proven to be an effective tool for the management of SAM, its associated costs are quite enormous when coverage levels (geographic) are high yet small number of cases are detected and treated. Therefore, it is prudent to implement several cost saving strategies such as a reduction in the number of days spent on trainings in order to reduce these costs.


Over 90% of the paved highways in India were constructed with many design mixes, such as Semi Dense Bituminous Concrete (SDBC), Dense Bituminous Macadam (DBM) and Bituminous Concrete. Among these mixes a common method is used for flexible pavement design is Marshall Method. With the rapid growth of traffic, the present pavement structure should be designed to withstand the traffic load under various climatic conditions. Under this circumstance, a new method is introduced to fulfill the needs is Superpave (Superior Performing Asphalt Pavements). The Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) is developed this method to counteract the effect of traffic load in different climatic condition in the field. Among five types of Superpave design, the 12.5mm sieve is chosen for the design mix; hence it is used for surface course. This paper investigates the effect of shape of aggregate by using Superpave gradation in bituminous mixes. All the specimens were prepared under three type of mix namely Bituminous Concrete (BC), Superpave and Superpave with Modified compactor. For the prepared compacted samples results were evaluated with volumetric analysis,  such as Stability, Air voids, Unit weight, Voids in filled aggregates (VFA), and Voids in Filled Bitumen (VFB) and OBC for design mix. Among the results it shows Superpave graded with modified compaction (Hugo Hammer) gives high Stability value compared to other mixes, and also it satisfy all the requirements under MoRTH Specification.


Background and objectives Human synovial tissue derived from joint surgery of osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients is valuable material for studying fundamental research questions. It would be ideal to store and collect all this valuable tissue for later use. In this study cryopreservation solutions are validated for their capability to preserve the tissue as freshly obtained material. Materials and methods Human synovial OA tissue was derived (n = 4), with informed consent, from joint surgery and frozen as 3 mm biopsies. Cryosections were made to prove synovial origin. Biopsies were cryopreserved by slow freezing using several cryoprotectant (CPA) solutions (Cryostor CS2, Cryostor CS10, CryoSFM, Biofreeze and standard freezing medium containing 10% DMSO and 10% FCS). For slow freezing an isopropanol container was used assuring a temperature decrease of 1°C/min. Frozen tissues were stored for 7 days in liquid nitrogen. Thawing was performed at 37°C, followed by quick removal of the CPA solution. Results To asses general viability after thawing the tissue was cultured overnight. Both the ATP and XTT assays showed viability rates up to 90% of non frozen tissue. However, decreased viability (60%) was observed with higher concentrations of DMSO (CS10 and standard media, XTT) and the complete absence of DMSO (Biofreeze, ATP). Next, the RNA integrity number (RIN) was determined 24 h after thawing to ensure the RNA is suitable for gene array experiments. A high RIN (˜8) was found in all conditions. Stress genes (CASP3, HSPA1A, HSP27, MCL1, BAX, CD95, p53) described to be up/downregulated after cryopreservation did not show deviations from the non frozen tissue in the four donors tested. However, studying OA characteristic gene expression (TIMP3, CCL18, MMP9) showed that the Biofreeze medium had most changes (up/down) compared to non frozen tissue. Furthermore, we showed that the tissue was able to respond to inflammatory stimuli (Pam3Cys/LPS) as cytokine secretion (IL1b, TNFa, IL6, IL8) was highly upregulated. Conclusion Evaluation by two viability assays, stress – and disease characteristic gene expression, and cytokine secretion showed that during a short-time culture of human synovial tissue the disease characteristic phenotype was unchanged after cryopreservation.


BACKGROUND
Infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) is causally linked to the development of anal and cervical cancer. In the United States, the incidence of anal cancer among men who have sex with men (MSM) is higher than the incidence of cervical cancer among women. Anal squamous intraepithelial lesions (ASILs) are anal cancer precursors comprising low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSILs) and high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSILs). The prevalence of cervical cancer precursor lesions peaks at around 30 years of age. The age-related prevalence of ASILs in HIV-negative MSM is unknown.

METHODS
We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the prevalence and determinants of ASILs in 1262 HIV-negative MSM aged 18-89 years recruited from four U.S. cities. Anal cytology and behavioral data were obtained. Anal HPV infection status was assessed by polymerase chain reaction. Independent predictors of ASILs were identified using logistic regression. All statistical tests were two-sided.

RESULTS
The prevalences of LSILs and HSILs were 15% and 5%, respectively, and did not change with age. In a multivariable analysis, the risk of LSILs was associated with having more than five male receptive anal sex partners (P = .03), any use of poppers (alkyl nitrites) in the previous 6 months [odds ratio (OR) = 1.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.1 to 2.5; P = .03] or use of injection drugs two or more times per month during the previous 6 months [OR = 19, 95% CI = 1.3 to 277; P = .03], older age at first receptive anal intercourse (P = .004), and infection with a greater number of HPV types (P < .001 for linear trend). The risk of HSILs was associated with any anal HPV infection (OR = 3.2, 95% CI = 1.1 to 9.4; P = .039) and infection with an increasing number of HPV types (P < .001 for linear trend).

CONCLUSIONS
Sexually active HIV-negative MSM in all age groups have a high prevalence of ASILs, possibly reflecting their ongoing sexual exposure to HPV.


GJ 758 B is a brown dwarf companion to a nearby (15.76%) solar-type, metal-rich (M/H = +0.2 dex) main-sequence star (G9V) that was discovered with Subaru/HiCIAO in 2009. From previous studies, it has drawn attention as being the coldest (similar to 600 K) companion ever directly imaged around a neighboring star. We present new high-contrast data obtained during the commissioning of the SPHERE instrument at the Very Large Telescope (VLT). The data was obtained in Y-, J-, H-, and K-s-bands with the dual-band imaging (DBI) mode of IRDIS, thus providing a broad coverage of the full near-infrared (near-IR) range at higher contrast and better spectral sampling than previously reported. In this new set of high-quality data, we report the re-detection of the companion, as well as the first detection of a new candidate closer-in to the star. We use the new eight photometric points for an extended comparison of GJ 758 B with empirical objects and four families of atmospheric models. From comparison to empirical object, we estimate a T8 spectral type, but none of the comparison objects can accurately represent the observed near-IR fluxes of GJ 758 B. From comparison to atmospheric models, we attribute a T-eff = 600 +/- 100 K, but we find that no atmospheric model can adequately fit all the fluxes of GJ 758 B. The lack of exploration of metal enrichment in model grids appears as a major limitation that prevents an accurate estimation of the companion physical parameters. The photometry of the new candidate companion is broadly consistent with L-type objects, but a second epoch with improved photometry is necessary to clarify its status. The new astrometry of GJ 758 B shows a significant proper motion since the last epoch. We use this result to improve the determination of the orbital characteristics using two fitting approaches: Least-Squares Monte Carlo and Markov chain Monte Carlo. We confirm the high-eccentricity of the orbit (peak at 0.5), and find a most likely semi-major axis of 46.05 AU. We also use our imaging data, as well as archival radial velocity data, to reject the possibility that this is a false positive effect created by an unseen, closer-in, companion. Finally, we analyze the sensitivity of our data to additional closer-in companions and reject the possibility of other massive brown dwarf companions down to 4-5 AU.


This chapter discusses archival research, starting with a description of archives. The various types of archives constitute a precious resource for researchers, and in many disciplines, such as sociology, political sciences, law, or history, archival research occupies a central place. Depending on the field of research, analysis may be limited to a single archive or require a comprehensive comparative analysis of various archives, taking into account their diverse nature and purposes. Archival research can be defined as finding, using, and correlating information within primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are sources created by persons directly involved in the event, reflecting their point of view, such as personal diaries or letters. In contrast, secondary sources are sources not based on a direct observation of an event, or on evidence directly associated with the subject, and they rely on pre-existing primary sources. The chapter then details the main steps of archival research and looks at the development of online archives and databases.


An advanced cell culture system has been developed that can be used to examine interactions between neurons and glia and explore their responses to damage, overcoming some of the limitations associated with conventional culture systems and animal models. Here we report the methodology for generating tissue engineered nerves in vitro and demonstrate the potential of the technology for use in PNS research. Schwann cells can be seeded within a collagen solution that sets to form a gel within a rectangular mould. By tethering the gel at opposing ends, the contraction mediated by the Schwann cell interaction with the collagen is restrained in the longitudinal direction, causing the cells to align parallel to the axis of tension. Neurons seeded within this environment extend neurites from one end of the gel to the other, guided and supported by the anisotropic glial environment. The resulting construct therefore comprises aligned neurites growing in contact with aligned Schwann cells within a collagen environment. The Schwann cells can myelinate the neurites and the subsequent model system mimics many of the key components of the endoneurium of a peripheral nerve. The cell culture environment is highly controllable and can be adjusted to simulate various damage and disease states. It is also amenable to a wide range of analyses including fluorescence, confocal, time lapse and electron microscopy, protein and RNA measurement and electrophysiological recording. Outputs that can be quantified include neurite length and alignment, Schwann cell viability and alignment, myelination, deposition of extracellular matrix molecules and release of cytokines. Our group has used cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons from wild type and transgenic rats in this system to develop devices for the repair of peripheral nerve trauma, for screening the ability of potentially therapeutic glial cells to support and myelinate regenerating axons, and to examine the effect of targeted cancer therapies on peripheral nerves. Having developed robust protocols for generating reproducible model nerves we are currently exploring how to use this medium-throughput approach more widely to simulate peripheral neuropathy and facilitate the development of therapeutic interventions.


In his latest book, Gunther Kress explores how children learn to spell in the context of current concerns about early literacy. Using numerous examples of children's writing and drawing, Kress looks at children as 'makers of meaning' and explores their earliest ventures into writing. Kress covers problems such as dyslexia within today's educational system. Technological aids on spelling and writing such as spell-checkers and the effects of the increasing visualization of communication (computer, TV, film) are also discussed.


A design method is presented that enables the realization of a novel type of incoupling waveguide hologram (IWGH) that simultaneously focuses the incoupled light to any desired positions in the waveguide. IWGH's, or grating couplers, are gratinglike structures etched into the waveguide surface. They couple the light incident from free space into the waveguide. The grating lines can be dislocated with respect to each other to provide phase modulation of the incoupled light. By use of this phase modulation, novel beam splitting and focusing functions can be built into the IWGH's. The new design algorithm is based on a model that assumes a simple relation between the incident light wave and the locally excited guided wave. This model is used to obtain an efficient formulation of the optimization problem. Four different IWGH's were designed and fabricated in InP for light at 1550-nm wavelength. Experiments confirm that these IWGH's are capable of incoupling the incident wave and simultaneously splitting and focusing the guided wave into multiple positions in the waveguide at different distances from the IWGH.


We studied pathological bioapatite from patients undergoing valvular replacement due to severe aortic and mitral stenosis. Three different types of mineralized human cardiac valves were analyzed. We used infrared and Raman spectroscopy to infer the presence of the carbonate group and evaluate the carbonate substitution in bioapatite structure. The Raman spectra showed that the pathological bioapatite is a B-type "carbonateapatite" (CO32- for PO43-) similar to the major mineralized products derived from normal biomineralization processes occurring in the human body. Fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR) confirmed the B-type carbonate substitution (CO32- for PO43-) and showed evidence for the partial replacement of [OH] by [CO3] (A-type substitution). The carbonate content of the samples inferred by the spectroscopic measurements is in good agreement with the range of values estimated for biological apatite. On the contrary, the crystal size of the pathological apatite estimated using the percentage area of the component at 1059 cm−1 of the infrared spectrum is in the nanometer range and it is significantly smaller than the crystal size of normal mineralized tissues.


Introduction: In the event of health crisis, optimum performance crisis team personnel, are necessary and expected, and the key to success in managing the large number of victims with limited resources is triage; therefore triage training of crisis team nurses is very important. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of triage education by pre-advance organizer model on knowledge of crisis team nurses at AJA selected hospitals. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, during year 2015, two hospitals affiliated to the army, based on the centrality of the crisis, were considered as the study population and assigned to intervention and control groups, 50 nurses from the two hospitals were selected, based on available sampling. Educational content triage in crisis by the pre-advance organizer model in two sessions for an hour and a half was held for the experimental group while the control group did not receive any intervention. For both groups, pretest and post test tools, demographic questionnaire, and knowledge questionnaire were used. Finally data were analyzed by using descriptive analytic statistics using the SPSS version 22 software. Results: The results showed that the mean knowledge of nurses before the intervention in the experimental group was 8.66±1.65 and in the control group was 7.57±1.19, respectively (p=0/264) , and after the intervention, in the experimental group it increased to 15.66 ±1.02 and in the control group to 8.3±0.92; the independent T-test showed a difference between the two groups, which was statistically meaningful (P<0/001). Discussion and Conclusion: Considering the positive results, the use of pre-advance organizing model to promote awareness of crisis team nurses, and subject triage crisis training for faculty of nursing and retraining workshops are recommended.


Ultrafast data communication and processing systems that use ultrashort pulses allow data transfer rates faster than 1 Tbit/s without conversion to electronic signals. Spatiotemporal converters based on spectral holography are a key to the successful implementation of such systems. To send large amounts of data at ultrafast transfer rates, high-capacity data-storage systems that can operate at equally high rates of speed are also required. Holographic memo-ries can serve as an interface in ultrafast data communication, while optical encryption techniques can be used to ensure the security of the transmitted data.


This paper argues that national identity and state stability have a close contingent relationship, analogous to the mind/body relationship, such that a strong sense of national identity will be congruent with a highly stable state, and vice versa. If an index of the strength of national identity can be devised, then it will have some predictive capability in relation to the stability and durability of states. A methodology is proposed and evaluated. Input to the project from scholars in other fields is invited.


This article heeds previous calls for revitalized feminist accounts of gender and religion. Having identified post-secular female pilgrimages as practices that actuate a 'third space', we claim that it is a space that cannot be adequately theorized from within secular feminist perspectives and attendant conceptions of subjectivity, agency and autonomy. Nor do perspectives from religious studies and its conceptions of piety as expressions of subjectivity, agency and autonomy do justice to the spatialities and subjectivities of post-secular female pilgrims. The article aligns itself with the budding field of critical feminist studies of post-secularism. We argue that, in general, both the protagonists and the detractors of post-secularism fail to recognize feminist theorizations of religion, the post-secular debate in feminist studies, and the place and role of women in the emergence of the post-secular. Whence, our neologism post-sexularism.


Three-dimensional (3-D) vocal tract acoustic modeling has the potential to generate high quality and natural voice sounds, but at the price of a large computational cost. Alternatively, 2-D models based on tuned vocal tracts have shown to provide similar results to the 3-D ones but with less computational demands. However, they are currently limited to the synthesis of static vowel sounds. In this paper, the tuned 2-D approach is extended by considering moving vocal tracts to generate dynamic vowel sounds, like diphthongs. Four tuning steps are followed to build a dynamic 2-D vocal tract model that can recover, to a large extent, the formant locations, bandwidths, and energies of a 3-D vocal tract with circular cross section, set in a spherical baffle representing the human head. Acoustic waves propagating through the time evolving vocal tract and radiating to free-field are simulated using the finite element method in the time-domain. As examples, the diphthongs [<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha$</tex-math> </inline-formula>i] and [<inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\alpha$</tex-math></inline-formula>u] have been generated using the tuning approach and compared, by means of objective and subjective evaluations, to those resulting from 3-D and conventional 2-D simulations.


We propose a neural machine-reading model that constructs dynamic knowledge graphs from procedural text. It builds these graphs recurrently for each step of the described procedure, and uses them to track the evolving states of participant entities. We harness and extend a recently proposed machine reading comprehension (MRC) model to query for entity states, since these states are generally communicated in spans of text and MRC models perform well in extracting entity-centric spans. The explicit, structured, and evolving knowledge graph representations that our model constructs can be used in downstream question answering tasks to improve machine comprehension of text, as we demonstrate empirically. On two comprehension tasks from the recently proposed PROPARA dataset (Dalvi et al., 2018), our model achieves state-of-the-art results. We further show that our model is competitive on the RECIPES dataset (Kiddon et al., 2015), suggesting it may be generally applicable. We present some evidence that the model's knowledge graphs help it to impose commonsense constraints on its predictions.


This paper considers meta-learning problems, where there is a distribution of tasks, and we would like to obtain an agent that performs well (i.e., learns quickly) when presented with a previously unseen task sampled from this distribution. We analyze a family of algorithms for learning a parameter initialization that can be fine-tuned quickly on a new task, using only first-order derivatives for the meta-learning updates. This family includes and generalizes first-order MAML, an approximation to MAML obtained by ignoring second-order derivatives. It also includes Reptile, a new algorithm that we introduce here, which works by repeatedly sampling a task, training on it, and moving the initialization towards the trained weights on that task. We expand on the results from Finn et al. showing that first-order meta-learning algorithms perform well on some well-established benchmarks for few-shot classification, and we provide theoretical analysis aimed at understanding why these algorithms work.


EFFECTS OF OXIDIZED LOW DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN ON NITRIC OXIDE PRODUCTION IN MACROPHAGES By Annong Huang The effects of oxidatively modified low density lipoprotein (oxLDL) on atherogenesis may be partly mediated by alterations in nitric oxide (NO) production by macrophages. A major goal of this study was to identify the lipid components in oxLDL modulating NO production. The effect of a water soluble antioxidants (N-acetylcysteine) and lipid soluble antioxidant (alpha-tocopherol) on NO production in macrophages was also determined. A second goal was to determine if the effects of oxLDL occurred at the transcriptional level. Human LDL was oxidized using an azo-initiator 2,2-azobis (2-amidinopropane) HCI (ABAP). OxLDL markedly decreased the production of NO in LPS stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. This inhibition depended on the levels of LOOH formed in oxLDL and was not due to oxLDL cytotoxicity. In contrast, acetylated LDL (AcLDL) and native LDL showed only minor inhibition. Lipid hydroperoxides (LOOH) and lysophosphatidylcholine (lysoPC) are the primary products formed during LDL oxidation. 13-Hydroperoxyl octadecadienoic acid (13-HPODE) markedly inhibited NO production, whereas lysoPC showed only slight inhibition. Furthermore, the effects of 13-HPODE and lysoPC did not require their uptake in an AcLDL carrier. Pre-treatment of macrophages with alpha-tocopherol attenuated the inhibition due to oxLDL. Similarly, pre-treatment with N-acetylcysteine attenuated the inhibition caused by oxLDL or 13-HPODE. OxLDL was found to decrease iNOS protein and mRNA levels in RAW264.7 macrophages induced by LPS. The activation of NF-kB was slightly suppressed after 45 minutes of treatment. 13-HPODE showed much stronger reduction of iNOS protein levels than lysoPC. These results suggest that oxLDL may inhibit NO production in macrophages at transcriptional level. 13-HPODE is likely to be the most important lipid component in oxLDL for the inhibitory effect. Antioxidants were found to preserve NO production in macrophages treated with either oxLDL or 13-HPODE. The physiological consequences of decreased NO production in macrophages caused by oxLDL are discussed with respect to atherosclerosis.


After the recent "dotcom meltdown", many organisations now appear to be re-evaluating their e-Commerce ventures. Similarly, some firms are exhibiting healthy business operations. E-Commerce evaluation remains an important but difficult issue. The application of these evaluation methods may assist in correcting system behaviour and improving future performance. These methods receive considerable attention in the literature, and debate surrounding their efficacy continues. This paper argues that, despite the apparent differences between conventional information systems and newer e-Commerce systems, e-Commerce evaluation should fall within the context of more traditional IS evaluation. However, this evaluation may be best conducted before and after system adoption. The paper discusses perspectives for undertaking such evaluation, and proposes valuable avenues for further research in the area.


Objective: The aim of the study is to determine the association of body mass index (BMI) with sub-fertility among young women in Karachi Pakistan. Methods: It is a case control study in which 284 participants were selected through simple random sampling technique and 142 divided into cases and control group. Cases were nulliparous women who were not able to conceive after 24 months of unprotected intercourse and controls were primigravida women. Validated questionnaire was given to patients, height and weight was measured and BMI was calculated. Odds ratio (OR) was calculated with logistic regression. Results: Mean age of the study participants were (25.3 years standard deviation ± 2.5). After adjustment of the covariates, women with high BMI (BMI 30 and above) were more than four times {OR 4.20 (95% confidence interval, CI, 1.59–10.14)} and women with BMI 25 to 29.9 were more than one times sub-fertile {OR 1.19 (CI 0.45–3.13)} compared to normal (BMI 20.0–22.4). The women with less frequency of intercourse (1–2 times/week) were more than three times {OR 3.73 (CI 1.75–7.94)} were sub-fertile. Conclusion: There is need for inventions to control BMI which increase fertility level among women. Nutritional modification requires to counter infertility because obese women require higher doses of medication and produce fewer follicles.


The aim of the thesis is to show that Richard Cobden
(1804-1865) deserves to be given a significant place in
the history of political, economic and social thought and
also full credit for a range of statesmanship which went
far beyond his well known part in the repeal of the Corn
Laws and the Anglo-French Commercial Treaty of 1860.
Historians have not sufficiently recognised that Cobden
sought to make fundamental changes in British society and
that he tried to initiate them by piecemeal constitutional
methods. He also believed that the British example would
have a powerful influence on other countries and thus
contribute to a new world order.
Cobden had a coherent, although unsystematised,
philosophy, based on certain major assumptions. They were,
firstly, that social progress depends on the interaction
of economic, moral and religious and educational factors;
secondly that progress towards a real political democracy
depends on progress in the former areas. A special problem
in explaining Cobden's philosophy is the fact that the
ideas of two important thinkers with whom he was associated,
George Combe (1788-1858), phrenologist (psychologist) and
Frederic Bastiat (1801-1850), economist, have been belittled
and neglected since Cobden's death. Therefore, the analysis of Cobden's thought necessitated an effort to "rehabilitate't these two thinkers.
Cobden's efforts to transform British politics and society were only partially successful in Britain's
adoption of free trade, a policy not properly understood
by most statesmen and commercial men. His work for
common schools, international schools, lyceums and
educative popular newspapers was a failure and soon
forgotten; his efforts to reform British foreign policy
and implement arms control also failed. After his death,
his followers failed to develop satisfactorily his ideas
for application to social and international problems. These
ideas still have considerable potential.


Molybdenum deficiency symptoms in six important crop plants were developed, described, and photographed. Deficiency symptoms were developed in the first generation of broccoli, cauliflower, and tobacco; in the second generation of corn, cotton and soybeans. With large seeded crops it was necessary to develop seed low in molybdenum before severe deficiency symptoms could be produced. In the case of corn and cotton, germination of the molybdenum-deficient seed was at a slower and lower rate than for seed adequately supplied with the element. First generation cotton plants which received nutrient solution purified of molybdenum developed abnormal bolls. Molybdenum deficiency symptoms were developed in plants grown in a pyrex glass cullet-wool mixture, pyrex glass sand, quartz sand, and aerated nutrient solution. The macronutrient stock solutions were purified of molybdenum by copper sulfide coprecipitation technique.


Objective. To examine the grade of agreement between very low disease activity (VLDA) and Disease Activity Index for Psoriatic Arthritis (DAPSA) remission, as well as their association with the effect of the disease as assessed by the Psoriatic Arthritis Impact of Disease (PsAID) questionnaire in patients with psoriatic arthritis in routine clinical practice. Methods. Posthoc analysis of data from a cross-sectional multicenter study. Patients were included who fulfilled the Classification for Psoriatic Arthritis (CASPAR) criteria with at least 1 year of disease duration and were treated with biological and/or conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs according to routine clinical practice in Spain. Patients were considered in VLDA if they met 7/7 of the minimal disease activity criteria. DAPSA and clinical (c)DAPSA score ≤ 4 identified remissions. Results. Of the 227 patients included in the original study, 26 (11.5%), 52 (22.9%), and 65 (28.6%) were in VLDA, DAPSA remission, and cDAPSA remission, respectively. There was a moderate agreement between VLDA and DAPSA remission (κ = 0.52) or cDAPSA remission (κ = 0.42). Patients with VLDA had less effect of the disease as measured by PsAID [mean total score (SD): VLDA 1.1 (1.2); DAPSA remission 1.3 (1.5); cDAPSA remission 1.7 (1.6)]. There was a moderate agreement between DAPSA remission or cDAPSA remission and PsAID < 4 (κ = 0.46 and κ = 0.58 respectively), while poor agreement (κ = 0.18) was found between VLDA and PsAID < 4. Conclusion. VLDA criteria seem to be more stringent for assessing a status of remission; however, DAPSA remission shows better correlation with a patient-acceptable symptoms state than VLDA does.


The definitive text in its field, "McGlamry's Comprehensive Textbook of Foot and Ankle Surgery", is the ideal reference for the podiatric or orthopedic surgeon, resident, or student preparing for certification exams. From perioperative management to postoperative complications and considerations, this must-have resource prepares you for a full range of podiatric surgeries and procedures ranging from routine trauma of the foot and leg to compound deformities, enabling you to face any challenge with confidence. Comprehensive content addresses every aspect of foot and ankle surgery. Step-by-step guidance from leading authorities shows you how best to perform the surgeries they have refined and perfected, while offering valuable tips for optimizing outcomes. Detailed coverage of common and unusual surgeries broadens your treatment options and helps you prepare for any scenario. 3000 illustrations help you visualize each step of the most commonly performed procedures. New to the Fourth Edition...: full color format highlights key anatomic structures and surgical approaches; enhanced detail helps you perform complex surgical procedures with confidence; and, chapter on ankle implants covers recent advances and helps you improve patient outcomes. Whether you're a resident or a seasoned practitioner seeking specific guidance on new or emerging techniques...McGlamry's has the facts you need.


The aim of this paper is to cope with the disequilibrium affecting World Heritage Sites as to the conditions of their conservation and the resources available for their valorisation. We propose a tax-based mechanism divided into three phases. The first one aims at providing an objective approach to measure the needs and diversity of World Heritage Sites. The second phase presents valorisation strategies to generate new economic resources from cultural tourism. The third one illustrates the tax mechanism based on collecting resources trough an earmarked tax on tourist activities and redistributing these resources at a regional scale. Our proposal is a contribution to the growing literature on Unesco World Heritage sites and it may be useful to ground the decision making of the recently formed Unesco Centres aimed at raising funds for the World Heritage conservation.


Ovary-specific acidic protein (OSAP) is a novel molecule discovered from a genomic project designed to identify ovary-selective genes in mice. Whereas public databases suggest extraovarian expression of OSAP, its tissue distribution has not yet been well documented. Thus, the expression profile of mouse and human OSAP was determined by quantitative real-time RT-PCR using RNAs isolated from various tissues. The results demonstrate that the human and mouse OSAP expression profiles are similar; OSAP is prominently expressed in steroidogenic tissues with the highest level of expression observed in the adrenal gland. Placenta served as an exception and possessed minimal level of OSAP mRNA. Immunohistochemical studies show that mouse OSAP localizes almost exclusively to the steroid-producing cells of the ovary, adrenal gland, and testis. Consistent with predictions made by several subcellular localization algorithms, dual labeling studies in Y-1 mouse adrenocortical cells indicate OSAP resides in the mitochondria. Because of its abundant expression in steroidogenic cells and mitochondrial localization, a role for OSAP in steroidogenesis was determined. OSAP silencing by specific small interfering RNAs significantly inhibits 8-bromoadenosine-cAMP-induced progesterone production in Y-1 cells. Reduction in OSAP levels results in mitochondrial fragmentation and a decrease in the cellular content of mitochondrial DNA, indicative of decreased mitochondrial abundance. Lastly, 8-bromoadenosine-cAMP does not regulate OSAP protein expression in Y-1 cells as is the case for other steroidogenic components known to be induced by cAMP. Collectively these results suggest that OSAP is involved in steroidogenesis, potentially through its ability to maintain mitochondrial abundance and morphology.


Abstract Conclusion. Our herpes simplex virus (HSV) labyrinthitis mouse model suggests that HSV infection induces vestibular neuritis and sudden deafness. Objective: Viral labyrinthitis has been postulated to play a role in vestibular neuritis and sudden deafness. We established a mouse model to investigate the pathogenesis of HSV-induced labyrinthitis. The relationship between HSV infection and apoptosis in the labyrinth was assessed. Methods: HSV types 1 and 2 were inoculated into the middle ear of mice, and the function of the cochlear and vestibular nerves was assessed. Histopathological changes were examined with hematoxylin and eosin staining. Anti-HSV immunohistochemistry staining and TUNEL staining were done to investigate the relationship between HSV-infected cells and apoptotic cells. Results: Hearing loss and vestibular dysfunction were observed in all mice after inoculation of HSV type 1 or 2. In the cochlear duct, columnar epithelial cells in the stria vascularis were infected with HSV, but only a portion of the infected cells underwent apoptosis. In contrast, many uninfected cells in the spiral organ of Corti were apoptotic. Vestibular dysfunction was observed when vestibular ganglion cells were largely infected, but not apoptotic. These findings recapitulate sudden deafness and vestibular neuritis described in patients.


The purpose of this dissertation was twofold: (a) to investigate consumer's attitudes toward home furnishings case goods; and (b) to determine how their attitudes influence their home furnishings case good consumption choices. Based on preliminary research findings and an analysis of the attitude-behavior relationship literature, the main research constructs were determined and operationalized. The Theory of Reasoned Action was deemed to be most suited for the study. A conceptual model, Home Furnishings Case Goods Consumption Model, was then created. The model's foundation was the Theory of Reasoned Action with the addition of three constructs: home furnishings case goods attributes/evaluative criteria, hedonic and utilitarian motivations, and consumer perceived consumption values. The sample for the study was drawn from a home furnishings retailer's database, which included participants from Georgia and Florida. Participants completed a 14 page booklet survey questionnaire that contained scales to measure research constructs, as well as demographic, socioeconomic, and dwelling-specific information (n =190). Confirmatory factor analysis was used to measure the adequacy of the Home Furnishings Case Goods Consumption Model and the eight formulated hypotheses were individually analyzed through the use of multiple regression analysis. Although the findings of this research are market specific, they have important implications for the home furnishings case goods industry. This research demonstrated usefulness of the individual scales used. Overall, this study provides product developers, manufacturers, and marketers with a greater understanding of the home furnishings case goods consumer and it could allow sellers to create lead times, which could ultimately provide a source for competitive advantage. Furthermore, by delving into the mind of the home furnishings case goods consumer, manufacturers and retailers could provide consumers with more tailored offerings/selections that would better suit their needs and desires.


Foucault, in Discipline and Punish, attempts what he calls a 'history of the present' (31): a history that would speak not just to, but of, his own time.  Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian similarly offers the reader not only an account of past-events but also an interpretative account of the 'power configurations persisting in the present' (Hoy 138) that perpetuate the commodification and destruction of the environment. The unforgiving landscape of the Southwest described throughout the novel proves analogous to the insensibility of the power structures that are also depicted, but these parallels do not serve to justify the cruelty and injustice demonstrated by the characters in the novel.  Instead, the constant underscoring in Blood Meridian of a greater and ungovernable power – that of nature – points to the short-sightedness of assumed proprietorship of the land, and indicates that such an assumption must necessarily pass out of favour, just as the assumed proprietorship over human life has done.  'In wildness is the salvation of the world,' wrote the American ecologist Aldo Leopold, in 1948. 'Perhaps this is the hidden meaning in the howl of the wolf, long known among mountains, but seldom perceived among men' (141). Blood Meridian , I argue, perceives and enacts this hidden meaning.  It 'thinks like a mountain' (Leopald 140), creating a Foucauldian 'history of the present' in  which we may examine the spectacle of both the tortured and the torturer, reflect on our notions of property and power, and explore the manner in which our understanding of these notions have influenced, and continue to influence,  the world in which we live.  'It makes no difference what men think of war,' says the judge in Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, 'War endures.  As well ask men what they think of stone' (248).  It is by thinking of stone, however, that we may come, in Blood Meridian, to know something of War, and of ourselves, and so come closest to an understanding of the wildness both without and within.   It is becoming increasingly clear that such an understanding will be necessary if there is indeed to be a 'salvation of the world' (Leopald 140).


Rhizobium sp. NGR234 belongs to the α-proteobacteria and is a unique representative of rhizobia forming nitrogen-fixing nodules with more legumes than any other microsymbiont.
Many of the processes and genes necessary for an effective symbiosis were identified, but still there are significant gaps with respect to the bacterial interaction to fill and communication mechanisms to understand.
Within this research, the full genome sequence of Rhizobium sp. NGR234 was established, uncovering many striking features. The 6.9-Mbp genome is composed of the 3.93-Mbp chromosome (cNGR234), the 2.43-Mbp megaplasmid (pNGR234b) and the 0.54-Mbp symbiotic plasmid (pNGR234a). A total of 6,394 ORFs were assigned on the NGR234
genome, whereas 27% of the ORFs were related to genes with unknown function. Among many other remarkable features, a surprisingly high number of 132 proteins spread over the three replicons are linked to secretory processes, giving evidence that NGR234 encodes for
more different secretion systems than any other known Rhizobium. Additionally, systems linked to QS AI synthesis and quenching of such QSautoinducers could be discovered.Beside the AHL synthase TraI and the response regulator TraR present on the pNGR234b, a second possible QS system composed of NgrI/NgrR located on the chromosome was identified. Detailed sequence analyses uncovered not only a novel AHL synthase but also several putative AHL degrading enzymes spread in the genome of NGR234. Altogether 23 ORFs were found by similarity search against public databases being possibly involved in QQ processes. To confirm the surprisingly high number of genes linked to degradation of autoinducer 1 molecules, a function-based approach was implemented. A previously
published screening protocol using A. tumefaciens NTL4 was employed to verify candidate clones from a NGR234 genomic cosmid clone library. The genome wide functional analysis revealed the presence of five loci that consistently gave a positive result. Two of these loci were located on pNGR234b and three were encoded by cNGR234. The corresponding ORFs
of all cosmid clones could be localized by the combination of subcloning, transposon mutagenesis and NCBI BLAST analyses. The identified genes were designated dlhR, qsdR1, qsdR2, aldR and hitR-hydR. One main goal of the research was to verify the functional QQ activity of all genes and to characterize in detail the most promising genes present on
pNGR234b. Consequently, heterologous expression and purification were realized for DlhR and QsdR1. DlhR resembles a bacterial dienelactone hydrolase while QsdR1 shows high similarities to a metallo-β-lactamase, comprising two conserved motifs attributed to AHLases. The QQ impact of both purified proteins was investigated using biosensor strains A. tumefaciens NTL4, P. aeruginosa PAO1 and C. violaceum CV026. In all strains, QS-dependent processes like swarming and violacein production as well as biofilm formation were reproducibly inhibited by both enzymes. Recombinant DlhR and QsdR1 investigated with the ONPG assay confirmed the ability to hydrolytically degrade 3-oxo-C8-HSL. In general, less than 73% of the employed AHL were detected for DlhR and a more pronounced degradation of AHLs (down to 40%) was measured for QsdR1. Furthermore, experimental data from competitive colonization of roots in the rhizosphere of cowpeas showed that extra copies of dlhR and the qsdR1 gene strongly contributed to plant root colonization fitness of NGR234, emphasizing the ecological importance of QQ during root colonization of seedlings (i.e. biofilm formation). Finally, to uncover the underlying cleaving mechanism of AHL degradation by both proteins, HPLC-MS analysis was employed. The HPLC-UV as well as mass spectra for DlhR and QsdR1 confirmed lactonolytic activity, giving evidence that both proteins act as true lactonases that had not being described for NGR234 or in earlier QQ
studies.


The phenomenon of the use of Information Technology in the election process is rapidly gaining momentum. This advancement referred to as e-voting offers advantages than the paper-based voting system. The field of e-voting and especially m-voting is mostly an undiscovered sphere and its true extensity is still mostly uncharted. Very few countries have successfully implemented m-voting and diminutive research has been conducted to investigate the factors and components that influence the successful implementation of m-voting in the African context. Successful m-voting implementation depends on a collection of factors, which may be unique given the local context where it is implemented. This study found it vital to interrogate the literature to investigate common factors that may influence the successful implementation of m-voting. This paper documents a systematic review of various research studies seeking to find factors for m-voting implementation and collates results from 11 studies, where 14 common factors were found. The factors discovered for m-voting implementation include: ICT infrastructure, legal and institutional factors, security and trust, acceptance and adoption of ICT, political factors, voter education, finances and many other factors. This study contributes to the body of knowledge by identifying key factors that affect the successful implementation of m-voting.


It is commonly believed that the central visual field is important for recognizing objects and faces, and the peripheral region is useful for scene recognition. However, the relative importance of central versus peripheral information for object, scene, and face recognition is unclear. In a behavioral study, Larson and Loschky (2009) investigated this question by measuring the scene recognition accuracy as a function of visual angle, and demonstrated that peripheral vision was indeed more useful in recognizing scenes than central vision. In this work, we modeled and replicated the result of Larson and Loschky (2009), using deep convolutional neural networks. Having fit the data for scenes, we used the model to predict future data for large-scale scene recognition as well as for objects and faces. Our results suggest that the relative order of importance of using central visual field information is face recognition>object recognition>scene recognition, and vice-versa for peripheral information.


Introduction: Lipocalin-2 as an adipokine expressed in adipose tissue has a direct relationship between systemic inflammation and insulin resistance in mice and humans. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of progressive resistance training on serum lipocalin-2, non-HDL-c, and lipid and glycemic homeostasis in men. Materials and Methods: In this semi-experimental study, 20 healthy overweight and obese males (22.75±1.29 yr, 90.18±7.28 kg, 28.7±2.58 kg/m²) volunteered and were randomly assigned into the training (n=10) and the control (n=10) groups. Exercise protocol was progressive resistance training (8wk, 4d/wk, 60 min/d). Blood samples were taken before and after exercise to evaluate serum variables. Elisa method was used to measure plasma lipocalin-2 concentration. The T-test and Pearson correlation was employed for data analysis. Results: After 8 weeks' progressive resistance training, no significant changes occured in serum levels of lipocalin-2 (p=0.59) and blood glycaemia (p=0.53), although levels of non-HDL-c (p=0.024), triglycerides (p=0.017), total cholesterol (p=0.032) and systolic blood pressure (p=0.002) were significantly decreased. There were no significant changes in other variables. A significant positive correlation was observed between changes of lipocalin-2 with insulin resistance index and a significant negative correlation with WHR in the post exercise compared to before. Conclusion: The results of this study, confirm the relationship between the lipocalin-2 insulin resistance and central obesity (WHR), with no significant impact on lipocalin-2, although it led to a significant reduction in some serum lipid profiles.


This paper considers a version of the vehicle routing problem in which all vehicles are identical and where the distance travelled by any vehicle may not exceed A prespecified upper bound. The problem is first formulated as an integer program which is solved by means of a constraint relaxation procedure. Two exact algorithms are developed: one based on Gomory cutting planes and one on branch and bound. Numerical results are reported. (Author/TRRL)


Motivated by an application to unsupervised part-of-speech tagging, we present an algorithm for the Euclidean embedding of large sets of categorical data based on co-occurrence statistics. We use the CODE model of Globerson et al. but constrain the embedding to lie on a high-dimensional unit sphere. This constraint allows for efficient optimization, even in the case of large datasets and high embedding dimensionality. Using k-means clustering of the embedded data, our approach efficiently produces state-of-the-art results. We analyze the reasons why the sphere constraint is beneficial in this application, and conjecture that these reasons might apply quite generally to other large-scale tasks.


Background and the purpose of the study: Following the phase I clinical trial of the herbal drug IMOD TM in HIV/AIDS patients, further studies were required to assess the drug efficacy and side effects. Therefore its safety and efficacy in HIV infected patients in a phase II were examined, and clinical trial phase III were designed. Methods: This study was conducted in three stages. In the first stage six patients who were resistant to highly active anti retroviral therapy (HAART) regimen were chosen and offered therapy with Setarud. Subsequently another group of 27 patients with CD4 count less than 350 but without AIDS defining criteria were enrolled to the study and randomly assigned to intervention. In the third stage a double-center randomized clinical trial was conducted at two independent research centers and universities of Iran. Seventy patients were recruited and randomly allocated into groups, called "control" and Setarud groups, using a balanced block randomization method. The main outcome measure was CD4 count. Patients were observed and thoroughly examined (Clinical and laboratory) for six months. Results: In stages I and II, the mean CD4 count gradually increased within 3 and 6 months intervals. In the stage III the baseline of CD4 counts and other characteristics between two groups were quite similar. The mean increase in CD4 count in Setarud group was about 2-3 fold higher than controls. This effect was much more pronounced in a subgroup of patients with a baseline CD4 count of 200-400 (168 vs. 65, 203 vs. 58, 299 vs. 143 and 285 vs. 109, for time intervals of follow-up, respectively) (p<0.001). Conclusion: There was a significant improvement in the immune system of HIV patients receiving Setarud therapy by increase in the CD4 count to the higher and more protective level in most subjects. Considering results of the safety tests and reports of the durability of the Setarud effects the use this drug in HIV patients, especially at the pre-AIDS period, as a therapeutic vaccine to slow down the progression of the disease, is recommended.


We demonstrate a plasma discharge which is generated between two diverging electrodes and extended into a gliding arc in non-equilibrium condition by an air flow at atmospheric pressure. Effects of the air flow rates on the dynamics, ground-state OH distributions and spectral characterization of UV emission of the gliding arc were investigated by optical methods. High-speed photography was utilized to reveal flow-rate dependent dynamics such as ignitions, propagation, short-cutting events, extinctions and conversions of the discharge from glowtype to spark-type. Short-cutting events and ignitions occur more frequently at higher flow rates. The anchor points of the gliding arc are mostly steady at the top of the electrodes at lower flow rates whereas at higher flow rates they glide up along the electrodes most of the time. The afterglow of fully developed gliding arcs is observed to decay over hundreds of microseconds after being electronically short-cut by a newly ignited arc. The extinction time decreases with the increase of the flow rate. The frequency of the conversion of a discharge from glow-type to spark-type increases with the flow rate. Additionally, spatial distributions of ground-state OH were investigated using planar laser-induced fluorescence. The results show that the shape, height, intensity and thickness of ground-state OH distribution vary significantly with air flow rates. Finally, UV emission of the gliding arc is measured using optical emission spectroscopy and it is found that the emission intensity of NO γ (A-X), OH (A-X) and N2 (C-B) increase with the flow rates showing more characteristics of spark-type arcs. The observed phenomena indicate the significance of the interaction between local turbulence and the gliding arc.


For the detection of impulse radio (IR) UWB signals, complex RAKE receiver or low-complexity transmitted reference (TR) autocorrelation receivers can be used. However, there is a performance loss associated with the low-complexity TR scheme. This paper proposes recursive structures of the conventional TR and averaged TR schemes to improve the detection performance of IR-UWB signals. The performance of proposed schemes is evaluated over the standard IEEE 802.15.4a multipath channels. The performance is compared with conventional TR receivers in terms of uncoded bit-error-rate (BER), assuming that the channel is quasi-static. For averaged and recursive averaged TR schemes, the TR sequence is also slightly modified. The simulation results validate that the proposed schemes has better performance by about 2 dB than the conventional TR and averaged TR receivers.


Proportionality is the most important principle of constitutional rights law around the world, but our theoretical grasp of both the principle itself and the conception of rights of which it is the crucial part is still emerging. The goal of this chapter is to contribute to the scholarly discussion on proportionality by exposing and exploring an important link between proportionality and rights inflation, that is, the phenomenon that increasingly relatively trivial interests are protected as rights. My claim is that proportionality is not only compatible with rights inflation, but that it necessitates it: under a theory of rights that endorses proportionality, there is no coherent way to avoid the conclusion that all autonomy interests should be protected as rights, and this includes interests in engaging in trivial and even immoral activities. Although this intuitively implausible result may strengthen some in their doubts about or rejection of proportionality, this chapter will proceed by showing that, while my argument, if correct, necessitates the revision of some widely held views about the nature and justification of human and constitutional rights, there is nothing incoherent or unattractive about such a view. On the contrary, rights inflation and proportionality are part and parcel of an attractive conception of constitutional rights.


Imperfections, like surface roughness and defects, introduced by common manufacturing processes are recognized to favor failure of microfabricated components and systems. Up to now only a reduced part of the ideal strength prediction by zero Kelvin quantum mechanical ab initio calculations could be recovered for micrometer‐sized structures manufactured with DRIE. Within the present work the high‐loading fracture behavior of group IV semiconductors is investigated on the basis of specific DRIE‐etched micrometer‐sized single crystal silicon (SCSI) specimens. Aiming an enhancement of the surface quality, the samples are post‐treated using wet etchants, such as KOH and HNA and oxidation processes, such as thermal and hydrogen oxidation. The resistance of the specimens against mechanical loading is assessed by 2‐point bending tests applying a testing procedure which is outstanding due to its simplicity in handling and reproducibility of the measurement results. The experiments are analyzed and evaluated for Young's modulus, fracture and bending strength. Dependent on the particular treatment method, remarkable improvements of fracture strain and stress of up to ϵmax = 5.7% and σmax = 8.8 GPa are realized.


Lameness represents a significant challenge for the dairy cattle industry, resulting in economic losses and reduced animal health and welfare. The existence of underlying genomic variation for lameness associated traits has the potential to improve selection strategies by using genomic markers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify genomic regions and potential candidate genes associated with lameness traits. Lameness related lesions and digital cushion thickness were studied using records collected by our research team, farm records, and a combination of both. Genome-wide analyses were performed to identify significant genomic effects, and a combination of single SNP association analysis and regional heritability mapping was used to identify associated genomic regions. Significant genomic effects were identified for several lameness related traits: Two genomic regions were identified on chromosome 3 associated with digital dermatitis and interdigital hyperplasia, one genomic region on chromosome 23 associated with interdigital hyperplasia, and one genomic region on chromosome 2 associated with sole haemorrhage. Candidate genes in those regions are mainly related to immune response and fibroblast proliferation. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) identified in this study could enlighten the understanding of lameness pathogenesis, providing an opportunity to improve health and welfare in dairy cattle with the addition of these regions into selection programs.


In determining the procedural safeguards to be afforded to property interests under the due process clauses of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has assumed that the principal value at stake is the interest in an accurate decision, and that this interest can be protected only by requiring some form of evidentiary hearing. Focusing on the job security cases, in particular the recent decision in Bishop v. Wood, Professor Rabin contends that these assumptions have resulted in setting too high a threshold for the recognition of property rights and in an unwarranted deference to state law in determining the scope of constitutionally protected property. He argues that in addition to the interest in an accurate decision, courts should attend to the interest in a reasoned explanation for the termination of employment, an interest that can be secured through a modest form of judicial review without requiring a costly evidentiary hearing.


The Web and its Semantic extension (i.e. Linked Open Data) contain open global-scale knowledge and make it available to potentially intelligent machines that want to benefit from it. Nevertheless, most of Linked Open Data lack ontological distinctions and have sparse axiomatisation. For example, distinctions such as whether an entity is inherently a class or an individual, or whether it is a physical object or not, are hardly expressed in the data, although they have been largely studied and formalised by foundational ontologies (e.g. DOLCE, SUMO). These distinctions belong to common sense too, which is relevant for many artificial intelligence tasks such as natural language understanding, scene recognition, and the like. There is a gap between foundational ontologies, that often formalise or are inspired by pre-existing philosophical theories and are developed with a top-down approach, and Linked Open Data that mostly derive from existing databases or crowd-based effort (e.g. DBpedia, Wikidata). We investigate whether machines can learn foundational distinctions over Linked Open Data entities, and if they match common sense. We want to answer questions such as "does the DBpedia entity for dog refer to a class or to an instance?". We report on a set of experiments based on machine learning and crowdsourcing that show promising results.


Background
The TDA-funded NQT Quality Improvement Study is a 4 year, England-wide longitudinal, combined
methods study of both SLT and early career teachers (ECT's) views of key issues in the first few
years of teaching. The first two phases of the study focussed on entry into the NQT year and the NQT
year itself; the third phase looked at the second year of teaching. This paper utilises data from this
third phase - particularly case study interviews with teachers and SLT members - to consider the
issues of ECTs' careers and career development. The topic is of particular interest, since whilst the
picture in terms of teacher supply and retention in the profession overall is much improved in recent
years (for example, proportions of unfilled vacancies have declined according to DCSF data, and
Smithers and Robinson (2003, 2004, 2005) found that the retention issue tailed off and stabilised over
the period of their studies), it is clear that schools vary widely in their ability to recruit and retain staff
in their early careers. This paper aims to explore these variations in different contexts and school
cultures, to illuminate these differences.

Research Questions
This focus of this paper is to examine how SLT members in different contexts and cultures manage,
and view, career development for ECTs in their schools and to compare these views with those of
ECTs in the same schools.


Forms of thought, from what Lévi-Strauss called the "systematization [of] what is immediately presented to the senses," to the causal theories studied by Evans-Pritchard in witchcraft, have generally been interpreted as an expression of a specific language or "culture." In this paper, I discuss this way of defining thought. Three classic objections are examined: (1) societies sharing the same "system of thought" may speak different languages, and vice versa; (2) if a relation between language and thought exists, it is an indirect and controversial one, and we should never take it for granted (or infer qualities of thought from language structures) without further investigation; (3) the languages that we use to qualify different kinds of thought are constantly translated. Through a discussion of the context of translation, I argue that instead of seeing the possibility of translation as a theoretical difficulty for defining thought, we could, on the contrary, consider the ethnography of translation as a chance to observe the dynamics and structure of thought processes, and to study how they operate in different cultural contexts. Using three Amazonian examples, I will try to describe the kind of cognition involved by the form of translation that Jakobson calls transmutation. I will argue that from this ethnographic analysis, we can not only derive a better (both wider and more precise) idea of some, rarely studied, cultural translation processes, but also draw from it a new way to define the concept of "cultural ontology," both for Amazonian cultures and in more general terms.


Iron (Fe) can accumulate in various forms in sedimentary environments that experience alternating moisture conditions, hydration and dehydration processes and redox processes. It has been pointed out that there is a major gap in the understanding of the composition of mixed solid-phase minerals, their size, morphology and arrangement in the matrix and possible interactions with pore solutions and the environment of deposition. Variations in the fabric within concretions in some Mid-Late Miocene beds in NW Borneo suggest that there were more changes in the energy levels and processes involved than what has been perceived from routine fabric analyses of the sedimentary rocks. The sedimentary rocks are essentially carbonaceous claystones containing varying amounts of highly restricted marginal-marine fauna. The fauna probably accumulated in brackish waters, and comprise in-situ buried turritellid snails, fish teeth and bone tissue, fragments of crabs, very few forams and possibly ostracod shells. Evidence exists to support the concept of reworked cobble or pebble-sized fossiliferous mudstone clasts picking up contemporaneous shell fragments in these restricted conditions. Iron oxide content is seen as (i) micrite-size primary components forming part of a muddy matrix and (ii) diagenetic coatings. Coatings occur in a non-rhythmical pattern after the formation of mudstones, and the reworking of the material and subsequent coatings by iron. Iron coated pebbles/cobbles may experience re-cementing into large sheets giving the appearance of red beds. These occur under some very special redox conditions. These iron-concretion rich horizons appear then to represent extreme (climatic, etc) facies developments that were restricted to coastal areas during Mid-Late Miocene. Present-day iron deposition processes might be a key to understanding past processes. This study forms the basis for an enhanced understanding on facies architectural interpretations.


This paper identifies binary oppositions in the discourse of mathematics education and introduces a binary-epistemic model for (re)conceptualising these oppositions and the epistemic-pedagogic problems they represent. The model is attentive to the contextual relationships between pedagogically relevant binaries (e.g., traditional/progressive, student-centred/teacher-centred, discovery/transmission, constructivist/behaviourist) and epistemically relevant binaries (e.g., concrete/abstract, pure/applied, interpretivist/positivist, subjective/objective) that operate in mathematics classrooms. The premise of this paper is that ways of knowing mathematics (i.e., epistemologies) are actualised in ways of teaching mathematics (i.e., pedagogies), and vice-versa. The binary-epistemic model describes oppositional, equipositional and parapositional ways of knowing and teaching in relation to these binaries. We argue for a more a relational-contextual or parapositional approach to binary polarities that have otherwise proven divisive in mathematical discourse. In the context of the new Australian Curriculum, we illustrate epistemically differentiated ways of teaching measurement in a Year 5 mathematics classroom.