PHOSPHORYLATION OF SKELETAL MUSCLE ACETYL-COA CARBOXYLASE BY AMPK ENHANCES PALMITOYL-COA INHIBITION Dustin S. Rubink Department of Physiology and Developmental Biology Master of Science Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) catalyzes the formation of malnoyl-CoA, which in turn controls the rate of fatty acid metabolism. ACC beta or 2 has been shown to be localized on the mitochondria in close proximity to carnintine palmitoyl transferase 1 (CPT-1), the enzyme responsible for the influx of acyl-CoA into the matrix where beta oxidation takes place. CPT-1 is inhibited by malonyl-CoA produced by ACC. It has been well documented that AMP activated kinase (AMPK) when activated phosphorylates and inactivates ACC. ACC is controlled allosterically by citrate, which activates, and by palmitoyl-COA, which inhibits. In this study, we asked the question, "Does phosphorylation by AMPK effect the inhibition of ACC by palmitoyl-CoA?" ACC was isolated and then subjected to phosphorylation and activity was measured in varying concentrations of acetyl-CoA and citrate. Phosphoryation reduced the substrate (acetylCoA) saturation activity curves for ACC at all levels of palmitoyl-CoA. The Ki for palmitoyl-CoA inhibition of ACC was reduced from 1.7 ± 0.25 μM to 0.85 ± 0.13 uM (p<0.05) as a consequence of phosphorylation. In addition the citrate activation curves for ACC were greatly reduced in the presence of palmitoyl-CoA. The data show that skeletal muscle ACC or ACC-beta is more potently inhibited by palmitoyl-CoA after phosphorylation by AMPK. During long-term exercise when AMPK is activated and muscle palmitoyl-CoA is elevated this may contribute to the low malonyl-CoA and increased fatty acid oxidation.


By the sixth century of the common era the Roman Empire already had many hundreds of years of accumulated ceremonial embedded in its government, and practical science embodied in its army. The transition from Republic to Imperium and the more hierarchical structure that entailed, and the absorption of Christianity into state processes, had pushed the development of court ceremonial apace, and particularly driven its embodiment and display in ever more opulent regalia. The regalia embraced not only garments of distinctive form and decoration, but also both dress and non-dress accessories. It was crucial in displaying rank and function on an everyday basis, yet was also varied considerably for special occasions. Military dress largely reflected forms current amongst ordinary men, but with an emphasis on functionality, eschewing the excesses of fashion. Detailed literary and artistic sources, archaeology and insights derived from reconstruction and practical experience has gone into creating an incredibly lavish picture of the clothing of the longest-enduring political entity in history.


[1] Tropospheric ozone columns (TCOs) have been calculated from the differences between the Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) Total Ozone Mapping System (TOMS) total ozone (level 2 version 3) and the Aura Microwave Limb Sounding (MLS) measurements of stratospheric ozone (version 2.2). These OMI-MLS TCOs were compared against ozonesonde measurements from the Intercontinental Chemical Transport Experiment (INTEX) Ozonesonde Network Study (IONS) campaign over North America in spring and summer, 2006. The OMI-MLS potential vorticity mapped TCOs are smaller than IONS TCOs by 5.9 DU (9.9 ppb when expressed as volume mixing ratio) with a standard deviation of the differences of 8.4 DU (14.4 ppb) and a standard error of the mean differences of approximately 0.5 DU (0.7 ppb). Compared to previously published versions, these OMI-MLS TCOs are an additional 2 DU smaller relative to ozonesonde measurements. The extra 2 DU arises from changes in OMI (∼−3 to −6 DU) and MLS (−1 to 3 DU), giving a net change of −2 DU. OMI-MLS TCOs derived using OMI Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) show similar differences in summer, but these TCOs are smaller than the sondes by only 2 DU (5 ppb) in spring. OMI-MLS TCOs derived from TOMS total ozone retrievals lead to better results when validated against IONS data, with less noise and a better seasonal consistency. Tropospheric ozone columns were also compared to those from GEOS-Chem model simulations in main distribution features. In the spring and summer of 2005 and 2006, the most dominant enhancement features are a tongue of enhancement stretching from around Yellow Sea northeastward into the Pacific and an enhancement band over the North America centered over the eastern United States and the adjacent ocean. The OMI-MLS TCO enhancements over the western Pacific and over the eastern United States increased from March to June and then decreased. In the GEOS-Chem model simulations, the monthly variation tendency is similar to that of satellite data over the west Pacific but the decrease tendency from June into August over eastern United States is less dramatic. A springtime TCO enhancement event of a few days duration over coastal California was investigated to demonstrate the ability of OMI-MLS mapped TCO columns in capturing ozone enhancements associated with stratospheric intrusions and trans-Pacific transport. Tagged ozone model simulations support the stratospheric contributions to the high TCOs over coastal California and over the Baja peninsula, and meteorological fields indicate that the stratospheric intrusions are associated with Rossby wave breaking events. Furthermore, back trajectory studies and comparisons of GEOS-Chem standard simulations and sensitivity runs with Asia anthropogenic emissions turned off provide evidence that the high tropospheric ozone columns over coastal California near Santa Barbara, California, has been influenced by cross-Pacific transport. Two-day-average maps of tropospheric ozone columns from Aura OMI-MLS TCOs also indicate cross-Pacific propagating features.


The functions of many open reading frames (ORFs) identified in genome-sequencing projects are unknown. New, whole-genome approaches are required to systematically determine their function. A total of 6925 Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains were constructed, by a high-throughput strategy, each with a precise deletion of one of 2026 ORFs (more than one-third of the ORFs in the genome). Of the deleted ORFs, 17 percent were essential for viability in rich medium. The phenotypes of more than 500 deletion strains were assayed in parallel. Of the deletion strains, 40 percent showed quantitative growth defects in either rich or minimal medium.


While paediatric healthcare professionals view play as the treatment tool of choice for children under school age, the theory and practice underpinning play-based therapeutic approaches often remain less clear to individual practitioners. Paediatric intervention approaches are increasingly being questioned, and individual practitioners constantly asked to provide evidence-based practice. In response, a more coherent understanding and fresh discussion on children's play and utilisation of play for therapeutic purposes is needed, especially as societal expectations and lifestyles change. Play as Therapy provides background theory and practical applications of original research on play assessment and interventions used in therapy. The book offers a solid foundation for identifying and assessing play dysfunction, understanding play in different cultural contexts and considerations when intervening with play. The practical approach is underpinned by theory, research and case vignettes to explain how to utilise play as therapy with challenging children.


We investigate the mechanics of elastic fibres carrying liquid droplets. In such systems, buckling may localize inside the drop cavity if the fibre is thin enough. This so-called drop-on-coilable-fibre system exhibits a surprising liquid-like response under compression and a solid-like response under tension. Here we analyze this unconventional behavior in further detail and find theoretical, numerical and experimental evidence of negative stiffness events. We find that the first and main negative stiffness regime owes its existence to the transfer of capillary-stored energy into mechanical curvature energy. The following negative stiffness events are associated with changes in the coiling morphology of the fibre. Eventually coiling becomes tightly locked into an ordered phase where liquid and solid deformations coexist.


This paper presents a portable and compact optical device which can conveniently be used to perform a functional analysis of human liver function. The proposed system employed red/green LEDs, as a light source, and CMOS image sensor, which is commonly used in cellular phones. With this system, several blood serum samples have been evaluated for liver functional analysis by measuring light absorption level through the blood serum samples depending on aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and total bilirubin concentration. The light absorption through the blood serum samples containing AST, ALT, or total bilirubin can provide their concentrations. The green light absorption is more sensitive to the concentration of AST or ALT, and the red light absorption is more sensitive to the total bilirubuin concentration. Additional calibration steps were performed by using a MATLAB program in order to eliminate the light scattering effects from the extraneous particles existing in each blood serum sample. From the blind test, three standard light intensity curves through each enzyme have been obtained and the enzyme concentration values have been compared to those obtained from a commercially available biochemistry analyzer (Toshiba 200 FR). The average percent difference in the obtained concentrations from two systems for AST, ALT, and total bilirubin concentration came out to be 7.79%, 7.98%. and 7.56%, respectively, with the adjusted coefficient of determination (R2) higher than 0.98. This system can possibly lead to a low-cost and simple system that can be used as a point-of-care (POC) system in a condition without advanced equipments.


Experimental techniques developed during the past 15 years have demonstrated that it is possible to prepare stable metal dication complexes, such as [Cu(NH3) N ]2+ and [Ni(H2O) N ]2+, in the gas phase. The significance of these complexes lies in the fact that they contain metal ions that are in their more common charge state, and therefore, a link between their properties and those found for the same ions in the condensed phase is readily accessible. In this review, we focus on one aspect of the study of these ion complexes, and that is their visible and ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy. Current experimental techniques for recording spectra in the gas phase are discussed together with the theoretical methods required to interpret the spectra of metal dication complexes. An attempt is made to identify any barriers that might exist to measuring the optical spectra of metal dication complexes using current ion beam technology, where a typical experiment will involve measuring either photofragment yield or ion beam depletion as a function of laser wavelength. One very obvious area of spectroscopy to be explored, and one that is unique to transition metal complexes, is ligand field spectroscopy. Estimates of photofragment yields based on typical absorption cross sections and the kinetics of fragmentation highlight the difficulties involved in measuring such spectra. Of the theoretical techniques currently available for calculating spectral transitions, the method most commonly used for metal complexes is time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). Using selected examples, it is shown that although TDDFT is, for the most part satisfactory, extreme caution should be exercised when investigating the electronic states of open-shell complexes. An obvious conclusion to emerge is that a theoretical method that predicts the correct ground state geometry of an open-shell complex (and is free from spin contamination) does not necessarily yield the correct electronically excited states due to multi-electron character and/or spin contamination in the excited state manifold. It is anticipated that the development of experimental techniques that can record accurate electronic spectra will provide new and more demanding benchmarks for the refinement of theoretical methods.


Regression testing automation provides an important measure of product quality and can keep the quality moving forward during the SDLC 1 . Unfortunately, automation can take a long time to run, and automation failures generally must be debugged and triaged by the test automation team before any action item can be considered or communicated to the broader team. The resulting time lag and uncertainty greatly reduces the value of the automation, and increases time cost and quality risk. MetaAutomation is a language of five patterns that provides guidance to new and existing automation efforts, supplies fast and reliable regression testing of expected business behavior for a software solution, speeds quality communication around the team, and reduces latency and resource cost. The five patterns, Atomic Check, User Pool, Parallel Run, Smart Retry and Automated Triage, form a sequence, representing an order in which the patterns would apply, and a network of dependencies from the more dependent to the less dependent patterns. For an existing automation project, the least dependent pattern, Atomic Check, can be applied in whole or in part to run the automation faster and create results which are more actionable. If enough of Atomic Check is followed, the dependent patterns can then be applied to further speed, direct and enhance the value of communications resulting from the automation. The patterns are language-independent. The talk that presents this paper provides and demonstrates a platform-independent sample implementation of the Atomic Check pattern.


This article carefully examines some of the prominent critiques concerning territorial state referrals, in order to test and refine the arguments and thereby advance debate. Despite wide acceptance of the drafting history claim that such referrals were not contemplated by drafters, the drafting history expressly shows the opposite. Concerns about the potential for political manipulation are significant, but this concern relates to an intractable tensions inherent to all international justice efforts, regardless of trigger mechanism. The concern about 'selective externalization' of prosecutions is compelling; it is argued however that both the legal implications and normative implications are more subtle and multi-faceted than is commonly assumed. A space must be created for thoughtful examination of plausible models of the Court's operation. The article also ventures some preliminary observations about international criminal law (ICL) discourse in general, with the aim of inviting reflections that may strengthen debate. One observation is that although discourse focuses on points of disagreement, it is also a vehicle through which the interpretive community implicitly absorbs assumptions that limit and shape legal debate. For example, the widely shared but incorrect belief that territorial state referrals were 'not contemplated' by the Statute drafters has eclipsed the actual history and has framed and influenced the present legal debate concerning the supposed 'innovation'. A related observation concerns the prospect of assuming a single vision or model of the Court and allowing that model to dictate interpretation. Such arguments are easily supported by invocations of 'drafters intent': the proposition 'I did not expect this' is articulated as 'the drafters did not want this'. However, this article recommends skepticism about portrayals of the drafters as having a monolithic vision. Multiple plausible models are compatible with the Statute, and open-minded assessment of the merits and implications of each is needed. Such models may include, for example, an 'antagonistic' model, a 'catalyst' model, a 'reverse cooperation' model and a 'facility' model.


Abstract Two hundred and eighty specimens of paradoxidids from two localities in the Holy Cross Mountains (Poland) have been reanalysed using morphometric techniques. Revision of the dataset provided evidence for the presence of two endemic taxa: Acadoparadoxides kozlowskii (Orłowski, 1959) and Acadoparadoxides samsonowiczi (Orłowski, 1959), both belonging to the earliest group of Acadoparadoxides, initially considered to be present only in Gondwanan successions. Thus, this is the first description of the members of this group outside West Gondwana. The taxonomic revision, and the presence of representatives of the earliest acadoparadoxidines coupled with the absence of taxa typical of Scandinavia that were previously described from this locality have resulted in the modification of the biostratigraphic scheme hitherto used in the Holy Cross Mountains. The newly established A. samsonowiczi – A. kozlowskii Assemblage Zone is correlated with the Morocconus notabilis Zone of Morocco, and thus represents the Cambrian Series 2 and 3 boundary interval. Links with West Gondwana challenge the existing palaeogeographic interpretations for the southern part of the Holy Cross Mountains and point to an urgent need to revise the position of the Małopolska Block during the middle Cambrian.


Background:Healthcare systems are investing in end-of-life homecare to reduce acute care use. However, little evidence exists on the timing and amount of homecare services necessary to reduce acute care utilization. Objectives:To investigate whether admission time to homecare and the amount of services, as measured by average nursing and personal support and homemaking (PSH) hours/week (h/wk), are associated with using acute care services at end-of-life. Research Design:Retrospective observational cohort study. Subjects:Decedents admitted to end-of-life homecare in Ontario, Canada. Measures:The odds ratios (OR) of having a hospitalization or emergency room visit in the 2 weeks before death and dying in a hospital. Results:The cohort (n = 9018) used an average of 3.11 (SD = 4.87) nursing h/wk, 3.18 (SD = 6.89) PSH h/wk, and 18% were admitted to homecare for <1 month. As admission time to death and homecare services increased, the adjusted OR of an outcome decreased in a dose response manner. Patients admitted earlier than 6 months before death had a 35% (95% CI: 25%–44%) lower OR of hospitalization than those admitted 3 to 4 weeks before death; patients using more than 7 nursing h/wk and more than 7 PSH h/wk had a 50% (95% CI: 37%–60%) and 35% (95% CI: 21%–47%) lower OR of a hospitalization, respectively, than patients using 1 h/wk, controlling for other covariates. Other outcomes had similar results. Conclusion:These results suggest that early homecare admission and increased homecare services will help alleviate the demand for hospital resources at end-of-life.


ABSTRACT This paper discusses pitfalls and opportunities in teaching (and writing about) comparative advantage at the introductory or "principles" level of instruction. We propose that instructors might improve their treatment of this topic by using fractions to represent relative opportunity costs, the true basis of comparative advantage. Using that simple instructional device can be a very effective way to convey the essence of comparative advantage and develop less-than-obvious implications for international trade, such as the fact that domestic firms compete against other domestic firms - not just their foreign counterpoints - in the determination of comparative advantage, patterns of trade, and shares of global markets. INTRODUCTION A young schoolboy is struggling with his first-ever lesson on fractions. He cannot understand why 10/50 is less that ½. "I just don't get it," he says. "Obviously 10 is bigger than 1 ." "Of course," explains his teacher, "but you must also consider the denominator." "Yes, I know," the student responds, "but 50 is really bigger than 2." We might find such an exchange amusing, but economics principles students routinely make essentially the same mistake when they first encounter the theory of comparative advantage. Fortunately, grasping the essence of comparative advantage is as easy as understanding why Vi is greater than 10/50. The fundamental axiom of comparative advantage is well known in the context of international trade: A country has a comparative advantage in the production of a good or service if its marginal opportunity costs of production are lower than the marginal opportunity costs of another country producing the same good or service. Consider the following table depicting production possibilities for two countries. The table indicates that Country A must forego production of 10 widgets to produce 3 extra gadgets, while Country B could produce 2 extra gadgets at an opportunity cost of 8 widgets. Thus Country B has the comparative advantage in producing widgets (and Country A in producing gadgets). Comparing the marginal opportunity costs of these two countries is analogous to comparing the values of two fractions, in this case 1 0/3 relative to 8/2. In order to see which has the larger value, one must compare entire fractions, not just numerator to numerator or denominator to denominator. When economics students first contemplate comparative advantage and international trade, they are apt to make the mistake of comparing like products across national boundaries, ignoring production of different products among domestic producers - widgets in Country A to widgets in Country B. But such comparisons say nothing about opportunity costs within a country, the true basis of comparative advantage. The mistake is exactly the same as that of the young schoolboy who compares numerators to numerators of fractions, or denominators to denominators. This paper discusses pitfalls and opportunities in teaching (and writing about) comparative advantage at the introductory or "principles" level of instruction. The issues raised here have importance beyond academics and questions of pedagogy. Many policy debates revolve around the appropriate extent and form of government intervention in international trade. Various interested parties and constituencies argue that protectionism, in one form or another, is needed to save domestic jobs, nurture "infant industries," uphold environmental standards, or promote any number of other alleged benefits. To make informed judgments about the costs and benefits of protectionist policies, economics students must understand the rationale for free trade, and the consequences - obvious and subtle, intended and unintended - of policies that would alter the nature of trade across national boundaries. IN THE BEGINNING: THE RICARDIAN DISTINCTION BETWEEN ABSOLUTE AND COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE Scholars generally credit David Ricardo with first articulating the principle of comparative advantage and its implications for international trade. …


This paper investigates the past effectiveness of the Maastricht Treaty (MT) and Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) in disciplining fiscal policy in the Euro zone. We estimate fiscal reaction functions for a panel of 11 members of the Euro zone including the more recent period of the reformed SGP, and compare them with fiscal responses from other "industrialized" OECD countries. Our main finding is that in contrast with the MT, the SGP has been ineffective in tackling excessive deficits in the Euro zone. Moreover, it has also not induced a countercyclical behavior of the fiscal authorities in the region. These results evince the need for reforms in Europe's fiscal restrictions in order to restore their credibility.


Insect repellents are widely used to fend off nuisance mosquitoes and, more importantly, to reduce or eliminate mosquito bites in areas where viruses and other vector-borne diseases are circulating. Synthesized more than six decades ago, DEET is the most widely used insect repellent. Plant-derived compounds are used in a plethora of commercial formulations and natural recipes to repel mosquitoes. They are also used as fragrances. We analysed Bombshell® to identify the constituent(s) eliciting a previously reported "off-label" repellence activity. The two major fragrance ingredients in Bombshell, i.e., methyl dihydrojasmonate and lilial, demonstrated strong repellence against the southern house mosquito, Culex quinquefasciatus, in laboratory assays. Both compounds activated a previously identified DEET-sensitive odorant receptor, CquiOR136. These compounds were also major constituents of Ivanka Trump eau de parfum. The methyl dihydrojasmonate content was higher in the Ivanka Trump perfume than in Bombshell, the reverse being true for lilial. Both Bombshell and Ivanka Trump eaux de parfums retained activity for as long as 6 hours in laboratory assays. Although wearing these perfumes may repel nuisance mosquitoes, their use as "off-label" repellents against infected mosquitoes is not recommended. A panel of 104 students (18-23 years old) conducted a blind test to compare the two eaux de parfums and showed a preference for Bombshell over Ivanka Trump's brand, particularly among women.


Image potential states (IPSs) are electronic states localized in front of a surface in a potential well, formed by the surface projected bulk band gap on one side and the image potential barrier on the other. In the limit of a two-dimensional solid, a double Rydberg series of IPSs has been predicted, which is in contrast to a single series present in three-dimensional solids. Here, we confirm this prediction experimentally for mono- and bilayer graphene. The IPSs of epitaxial graphene on SiC are measured by scanning tunneling spectroscopy and the results are compared with ab-initio band structure calculations. Despite the presence of the substrate, both calculations and experimental measurements show that the first pair of the double series of IPSs survives and eventually evolves into a single series for graphite. Thus, IPSs provide an elegant quantum probe of the interfacial coupling in graphene systems.


In any process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) a key role is played by the action of monitoring. Indeed, the acquisition of real field data provides the evidence of the environmental status and identifies hazards and sources of pollution. When environmental pollution is revealed, it is important to identify the source following the source-path-target model. However, when monitoring operations are planned, often the three-dimensional (3D) nature of monitored hotspots is neglected. Instead, information can be gathered through a multi-parametric, multi-level framework, which combines multiple disciplines and generates correlations between several data sets acquired in the analysed scenario. This novel new framework is named MuM3, meaning that the proposed Monitoring (M) is MultiDisciplinary, Multi-level and Multi-parametric (i.e. Mu) and it is developed in all the three dimensions of physical space (the superscript '3'). This paper outlines the implementation of this framework. In particular, monitoring polluted coastal waters refers to one of the critical areas identified by EIA regulations. The framework incorporates different spatial scales of observation (Levels) and the potential sensors that can be used at each Level. A three-step work-flow model describes the raw data acquisition and the transformation and integration of different indicators into useful information for EIA. A schematic flow chart describes the approach to developing multi-level, multi-parameter connections. Extension of this framework can be applied to any EIA, especially in the case of critical areas that are identified by the regulations as: (i) Wetlands, riparian areas, river mouths; (ii) Mountain and forest areas; (iii) Nature reserves and parks; (iv) Densely populated areas; (v) Landscapes and sites of historical, cultural or archaeological significance.


Abstract The economic model of the former SFR Yugoslavia was subject to frequent institutional changes which were oriented towards the real economy as well as the banking sector. The country experimented with a wide range of institutions in the financial sector which had different implications for the autonomy of banks. The industrialization period from the end of the second world war until the end of the 1970s was marked by a sharp expansion of bank credits to enterprises. However, the Yugoslav banks relied strongly on foreign capital inflows for funding their credit activities which contributed to the massive increase in foreign debt of Yugoslavia during the 1970s. The dependence of the Yugoslav economy on foreign funds is a feature which is still very much present in the Yugoslav successor countries.


Objective: To test the ability of two levels of modest financial incentives to encourage weight loss among overweight employees. Methods: This study used a randomized design with measurements at baseline, 3, and 6 months and two levels of financial incentives ($7 and $14 per percentage point of weight lost). Payments were structured so that all participants had equal ability to obtain the incentives during the study period. Results: At 3 months, participants with no financial incentive lost 2 pounds, those in the $7 group lost approximately 3 pounds, and those in the $14 group lost 4.7 pounds. Between baseline and 6 months, when the financial gains were equalized, weight losses were similar across groups. Conclusion: This study revealed that modest financial incentives can be effective in motivating overweight employees to lose weight.


This study examined the role of sentence and visual context in the access to verb-complement information, using an eye-tracker paradigm. Two sets of sentences were contrasted, a highly constraining causative construction in which there was a close conceptual relation between the verb and its direct object (e.g. " The woman burned the candle "), and a neutral construction with a transitive perception verb (e.g. " The woman admired the candle "). Moreover, we conducted an object search task to monitor the time subjects took to look at the target object (e.g. " candle ") when presented in isolation, using the same three probe points (onset of the noun, offset of the noun, and offset+200 ms). From these latter measurements, the saccade onsets to the target noun in the sentence experiment were subtracted in order to obtain a pure measurement of verb effects in the sentences. Subjects were asked to perform two different tasks; a memory matching task where they had prior viewing of the set of objects before the advent of the sentence, and a visual search task where the set of objects appeared only during the presentation of the sentence. Memory effects were then examined by contrasting the data collected from these two tasks. Results failed to support a statistically significant difference between these two types of sentence constructions, regardless of task, suggesting that verb-specific representations do not cause faster eye movements to objects related to typical complements of verbs. In conclusion, the language comprehension system appears to rely primarily on structural analyses of linguistic representations, which are independent from conceptual interpretation.


Technology solves missing trader intra-community (MTIC) fraud. This should come as no surprise. MTIC is technology-intensive fraud – its solution should also be technology-intensive. MTIC is getting to be an out-dated term. Now that missing trader fraud has move into services it is no longer confined to intra-community trade, and the older acronym should be adjusted to MTIC/MTEC fraud (with MTEC standing for missing trader extra-community). MTIC/MTEC fraud is fully digitized (the supply, the movement of the supply, and the funding). The consequences should be clear. MTIC/MTEC must be prevented (before the fact), not pursued (after the fact). In the digital world everything evaporates when pursued. Technology is both the causative agent and the most effective counter-measure for this fraud. We have known the details of the three major technology-intensive proposals for solving MTIC/MTEC since 2007: the VAT locator number (VLN); real time VAT (RTvat), and certified tax software (D-VAT). This paper endeavors to contribute to the debate that the Commission has opened on this topic with its recent Green Paper by comparing and contrasting these three proposals. Both the VLN and RTvat are mandatory systems. The VLN focuses on securing every supply, whereas the RTvat focuses on securing every payment. D-VAT certification differs in both respects. It can be adopted on a voluntary basis (per taxpayer) and achieves a secure remission of VAT through trusted third parties. These third parties are providers that stand between the taxpayer and the tax administration, complete all filings, and remit payments – guaranteeing the accuracy of the return and the satisfaction of the tax due. There is a considerable amount of central control under both VLN and RTvat proposals. Central (government) computer systems will track each transaction (VLN) or payment (RTvat). Under D-VAT certification there is no central tracking, just assurance that each transaction is completely and accurately reported because the systems performing these operations are certified and guaranteed. Finally, both the VLN and D-VAT certification go to great lengths to avoid making fundamental changes in the way the EU VAT currently operates (the VLN perhaps even more than D-VAT certification). In addition, both VLN and D-VAT certification can be adopted one Member State at a time. The RTvat proposal differs on both accounts. It fundamentally changes the EU VAT into an origin system, and requires adoption by all Member States to be fully effective.


Insect use in feed and food in European countries is now an increasingly debated topic, although these animals have traditionally been nutritional components in Asian, African, Central American and South American cultures. This review addresses the issue of eating insects and using them as feed components, especially considering the nutritionally important factors. Safety risks are also discussed, as well as allergies, toxicity, consumer acceptance, legislative, welfare and environmental concerns and possibilities for laboratory control. Insects play and will play important roles in the future in various fields of research and utilisation, but especially and increasingly as feed and food ingredients.


Frank Schechter's 1927 article "The Rational Basis of Trademark Protection", which remains the most cited law review article ever written on trademark law, is generally recognized as the origin of the concept of trademark dilution. Yet as is less well recognized, Schechter's discussion of trademark dilution in "Rational Basis" relied heavily, though cagily, on the true origin of the concept: the 1924 Odol opinion of the German Landgericht Elberfeld. "Rational Basis" quotes extensively from the Odol opinion and borrows much of the opinion's argument and terminology. Yet Schechter suppressed and apparently deliberately deleted from his quotation of the opinion its central holding, that "[i]t is opposed to good morals to appropriate thus the fruits of another's labor in the consciousness that that other will or may thereby be damaged." This brief essay, a chapter in the forthcoming "Intellectual Property at the Edge: The Contested Contours of IP" (Rochelle Cooper Dreyfuss and Jane C. Ginsburg eds. 2013), argues that Schechter deliberately sought in Rational Basis to obscure the true nature of the Odol case and of antidilution protection, and that even a century later, his effort at obfuscation remains more or less a success, at least in the United States. What Schechter sought to obscure in "Rational Basis" is that the Odol case was not, strictly speaking, a trademark case. Rather, it was a misappropriation case that happened to involve a trademark. Schechter sought to suppress this basic truth — that the concept of trademark dilution is essentially a misappropriation concept — in order to sell his proposed doctrinal reforms to an American audience altogether suspicious of misappropriation doctrine and increasingly under the sway of American Legal Realism. To do so required a great deal of finesse, or to but it more bluntly, of dissembling, and "Rational Basis" is full of it. Due both to its frequent misdirection and ambiguity and to its emphatic suppression of any suggestion that trademark dilution is a form of misappropriation, "Rational Basis" has remained an altogether open text. Concepts like "blurring" and "tarnishment" have rushed in to fill the void left in the absence of misappropriation. Even now, in the face of ever more scholarly and judicial commentary recognizing that dilution is essentially a form of "free-riding," and likely one that typically inflicts no substantial harm on the misappropriated mark, the obfuscatory nature of Schechter's text enables the concept of dilution to survive — and thrive — behind a fog of indeterminacy.


How does import protection affect export performance? In trade models with scale economies, import liberalization can reduce industry-level exports by cutting domestic production. We show that this export destruction mechanism reduced US export growth following the permanent normalization of trade relations with China (PNTR). But there was also an offsetting boost to exports from lower input costs. We use our empirical results to calibrate the strength of scale economies in a quantitative trade model. Counterfactual analysis implies that while PNTR increased aggregate US exports relative to GDP, exports declined in the most exposed industries because of the export destruction effect. On aggregate, the US and China both gain from PNTR, but the gains are larger for China.


The problem of force distribution in systems involving multiple frictional contacts between actively coordinated mechanisms and passive objects is examined. The special case in which the contact interaction can be modeled by three components of forces (zero moments) is particularly interesting. The Moore-Penrose generalized inverse solution for such a model (point contact) is shown to yield a solution vector such that the difference between the forces at any two contact points projected along the line joining the two points vanishes. Such a system of forces is described by a helicoidal vector field which is geometrically similar to the velocity field in a rigid body twisting about an instantaneous screw axis. A method to determine this force system is presented. The possibility of superposing another force field which constitutes the null system is investigated.<<ETX>>


Ten years after her death, Princess Diana remains a mystery. Was she "the people's princess," who electrified the world with her beauty and humanitarian missions? Or was she a manipulative, media-savvy neurotic who nearly brought down the monarchy? Tina Brown knew Diana personally, knows her world, understands its players, and has far-reaching insight into the royals and the Queen herself. In "The Diana Chronicles", you will meet a formidable female cast and get to know the society they inhabit...as you never have before.Diana's sexually charged mother, her subtly scheming grandmother, the stepmother she hated but eventually came to understand, and a terrifying trio of in-laws and relations: Fergie, the force of nature whose life was full of its own unacknowledged pathos; Princess Margaret, the fading glamour girl; the implacable Queen Mother and more formidable than all of them, her mother-in-law, the Queen, whose admiration Diana sought till the day she died. Add Camilla Parker-Bowles, the ultimate "other woman" into this combustible mix, and it's no wonder that Diana felt the need to break out of her royal cage into celebrity culture, where she found her own power and used it to devastating effect.


Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text. Background: Transient pulmonary congestion during exercise is emerging as an important determinant of reduced exercise capacity in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF). We sought to determine whether an abnormal cardiac energetic state underpins this process. Methods: We recruited patients across the spectrum of diastolic dysfunction and HFpEF (controls, n=11; type 2 diabetes, n=9; HFpEF, n=14; and severe diastolic dysfunction attributable to cardiac amyloidosis, n=9). Cardiac energetics were measured using phosphorus spectroscopy to define the myocardial phosphocreatine to ATP ratio. Cardiac function was assessed by cardiovascular magnetic resonance cine imaging and echocardiography and lung water using magnetic resonance proton density mapping. Studies were performed at rest and during submaximal exercise using a magnetic resonance imaging ergometer. Results: Paralleling the stepwise decline in diastolic function across the groups (E/e′ ratio; P<0.001) was an increase in NT-proBNP (N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide; P<0.001) and a reduction in phosphocreatine/ATP ratio (control, 2.15 [2.09, 2.29]; type 2 diabetes, 1.71 [1.61, 1.91]; HFpEF, 1.66 [1.44, 1.89]; cardiac amyloidosis, 1.30 [1.16, 1.53]; P<0.001). During 20-W exercise, lower left ventricular diastolic filling rates (r=0.58; P<0.001), lower left ventricular diastolic reserve (r=0.55; P<0.001), left atrial dilatation (r=–0.52; P<0.001), lower right ventricular contractile reserve (right ventricular ejection fraction change, r=0.57; P<0.001), and right atrial dilation (r=–0.71; P<0.001) were all linked to lower phosphocreatine/ATP ratio. Along with these changes, pulmonary proton density mapping revealed transient pulmonary congestion in patients with HFpEF (+4.4% [0.5, 6.4]; P=0.002) and cardiac amyloidosis (+6.4% [3.3, 10.0]; P=0.004), which was not seen in healthy controls (–0.1% [–1.9, 2.1]; P=0.89) or type 2 diabetes without HFpEF (+0.8% [–1.7, 1.9]; P=0.82). The development of exercise-induced pulmonary congestion was associated with lower phosphocreatine/ATP ratio (r=–0.43; P=0.004). Conclusions: A gradient of myocardial energetic deficit exists across the spectrum of HFpEF. Even at low workload, this energetic deficit is related to markedly abnormal exercise responses in all 4 cardiac chambers, which is associated with detectable pulmonary congestion. The findings support an energetic basis for transient pulmonary congestion in HFpEF.


Well-preserved, middle Eocene floras from the Pacific Northwest, particularly the graben-fill deposit at Republic, Washington, offer an unique window for examination of some of the earliest documented, modern-aspect, plant-insect associations in the fossil record. Of special interest is fossil plant damage attributable to leaf mining and galling taxa that is very similar or identical to modern damage on the same host genera, indicating the geologically long-term persistence of some associations. Other types of middle Eocene, insect-mediated damage appear generalized and are not assignable to known types of modern associations, owing in part to imperfect taxonomic resolution of plant host, insect herbivore, or more likely, extinction. This preliminary report records the taxonomically diverse and morphologically detailed wealth of preserved foliar material in a Lagerstatte, which is important for addressing the macroevolutionary tempo of plant-insect associations. This relevance includes the prevalence of long-term associations, extinction of plant host and interacting insect herbivores, and the occurrence of host-switching at Cenozoic time scales for taxa presently confined to eastern Asia and North America.


The Tudor period was a time of extremes, when King Henry VIII beheaded wives and Queen Mary executed her subjects by burning. As an early supporter of Henry's Protestant Reformation, the borough of Colchester took the full brunt of Catholic Mary's wrath, and at least thirteen Colchester Protestants were burned for their faith. When the Protestant Elizabeth came to the throne, Colchester leaders, influenced by returning refugees, determined to try to produce a godly society on the Genevan model. They hired their own preacher, but their efforts to reform sinful behavior through civil government met with strong resistance.In "Godliness and Governance in Tudor Colchester" Laquita M. Higgs traces the governance and the religion of that town. Though traditional piety held sway early in the Tudor era, there was a strong undercurrent of hereticism, even among town leaders. Such sympathy helps explain Colchester's embrace of Henry VIII's religious reforms. Town governors also found it advantageous to cooperate with the local nobleman, the earl of Oxford, and with their own Thomas Audley, who helped the King shape the reformation. Queen Mary's attempts to root out Protestantism strengthened Colchester's commitment to reform. Under Elizabeth, reformers gradually took over governance of the borough.Colchester provides one of the earliest illustrations of the workings and tensions of Puritan town governance. Higgs examines the connections between governance and religion with special emphasis on the Elizabethan period. The town's development toward religious radicalism is shown by a comparison of the aldermen of 1530, 1560, and 1590. Higgs explores the camaraderie of the reformers, the attempt of town leaders to correct immoral behavior, and the resultant tensions that produced deep divisions between moderate reformers and radical Puritans. An analysis of extant wills shows the extent to which Puritan governors achieved some degree of success."Godliness and Governance in Tudor Colchester" will be of interest to historians of the Tudor period, Catholicism, Lollardy, and the English Protestant Reformation.Laquita M. Higgs is Adjunct Lecturer in History, University of Michigan, Dearborn.


Theorists as diametrically opposed as Carl Schmitt and Immanuel Kant conceive of the pardon as an exception to the normal operation of law and associate that exception with the figure of the sovereign. This should not be surprising to those familiar with early modern political theory, which generally construed the pardon as one of the sovereign's most significant powers. Those setting up the foundations for liberal constitutionalism, like Kant, failed to generate a new account of pardoning that would render it an important component of either the rule of law or democracy rather than a relic of monarchical sovereignty. Hence the pardon seems to fit more naturally into the anti-liberal Schmittian account of politics than into the contemporary U.S. constitutional order. As this essay contends, such a result was not inevitable; an alternative, non-sovereign conception of pardoning that appeared in early modern drama presented another possible basis for the act, one that was never implemented within politics. Kant associates pardoning with a particular kind of staging of the splendor of the king's majesty, one trumped only by the horror of the spectacle of revolutionary and counter-revolutionary violence. This theatrical version of the pardon scene as affirming the height of the sovereign above the people — a version that manifests itself in the spectacular finales of early modern plays such as Shakespeare's Measure for Measure — is countered by another kind of drama, in which forgiveness comes from a stranger or a friend, and is passed among citizens to reconstitute the state. The article concludes by analyzing an example of one such play, The Laws of Candy, and the path offered by its non-sovereign staging of pardoning.


Although extensive literature exists on NMR of water in MCM-41, the origin of a number of NMR spectral features in this material had not been understood. Specifically, the OH proton resonance observed in the dry material disappears completely as it is hydrated to 0.2 mono-layer hydration level. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the physical basics for these spectral features and in the process broaden our understanding of behaviour/interactions of water molecules in porous material. First, measurements of MAS spectra as a function of temperature and hydration, at very low hydrations, made possible a definitive spectral peak assignment. Second, using 1D and 2D selective inversion recovery and magnetization exchange experiments, as well as MAS and non-MAS techniques, magnetization exchange between the water protons and surface OH group protons was quantified. The present results lead to the conclusion that chemical exchange is not responsible for producing the observed changes in proton spectra in MCM-41 as this material is hydrated up to the 0.2 mono-layer hydration level. This represents an important result as it is at odds with what is assumed in the literature in this connection and means that previous conclusions about hydration dynamics in this material need to be revisited. A dynamics model of water interaction with the surface OH hydration sites was introduced to explain the observed proton spectra. The model can successfully predict the observed chemical shifts and temperature dependent changes of proton spectra in the very low hydration MCM-41.


Abstract Introduction: In 2014–2015, the epidemic of classical swine fever (CSF) occurred in many large-scale pig farms in different provinces of China, and a subgenotype 2.1d of CSF virus (CSFV) was newly identified. Material and Methods: The phylogenetic relationship, genetic diversity, and epidemic status of the 2014–2015 CSFV isolates, 18 new CSFV isolates collected in 2015, and 43 other strains isolated in 2014–2015 were fully analysed, together with 163 CSFV reference isolates. Results: Fifty-two 2014–2015 isolates belonged to subgenotype 2.1d and nine other isolates belonged to subgenotype 2.1b. The two subgenotype isolates showed unique molecular characteristics. Furthermore, the 2.1d isolates were found to possibly diverge from 2.1b isolates. Conclusion: This study suggests that the Chinese CSFVs will remain pandemic.


Five centuries ago a stunningly beautiful young man, heir to a banking fortune, sat for a portrait by Raphael. In the artist's dynamic conception, Bindo Altoviti turns as if to speak to his Florentine bride, Fiammetta. Ardently admired over the years, as it is today, Raphael's portrait was also coolly received by more than one influential critic who cast a shadow on its reputation. This gloriously illustrated book tells the story of the portrait's creation and of its unexpected trajectory through history. Focusing on viewers' responses to Bindo Altoviti, the book describes the transformation of the picture from a family treasure into a supposed self-portrait of the artist; its public display in Munich, where it was first celebrated, then dismissed by sceptics claiming that it was neither of nor by Raphael; and its acquisition by canny English dealers who lured the panel out of Nazi Germany. Purchased as a Raphael by American collector Samuel H. Kress, the painting was donated in 1943 to the newly opened National Gallery of Art, where Bindo's image has beguiled visitors ever since.


1. Parathyroid hormone (PTH) injected intravenously into rats caused a small rapid uptake of simultaneously administered radioactive calcium into the skeleton. 2. This skeletal uptake of calcium occurs in many other species, including the monkey and probably man. It appears to be an initiating event in PTH action on bone. 3. Although calcitonin prevents PTH-induced bone resorption, it did not affect this early calcium shift. 4. This evidence is discussed in connection with the possibility of combining calcitonin with some other agent for the treatment of osteoporosis.


Background:Despite Canada's provision of universal health coverage, socioeconomic barriers to good-quality health care remain. Asthma provides an appropriate case study given its high prevalence, availability of effective controller therapies, and known variations in care. Objectives:The aim of this study is to examine the extent of differences in the economic burden of asthma and indicators of guideline-based care across socioeconomic status (SES) gradients. Research Design:A total of 29,283 adults with moderate to severe asthma were identified from British Columbia's administrative health data for the year 1997–2013 and were matched to adults without asthma on the basis of sex and age. Direct medical costs (in 2013 Canadian dollars, $) included all-cause inpatient, outpatient, and pharmacy costs. SES was measured at individual (receiving social assistance) and aggregate (median neighborhood household income) levels. We assessed the impact of SES on excess direct costs of asthma (the difference in all-cause direct medical costs between an asthma patient and the matched individual), and on use of asthma controller versus reliever medications. Associations were evaluated using generalized linear models. Results:Asthmatics receiving social assistance incurred $706 (95% confidence interval, $302–$1014) higher annual excess costs than the rest of the sample. Annual excess costs were $120 ($18–$168) higher in low-SES versus high-SES neighborhoods. Low SES, at both individual and aggregate levels, was consistently associated with lower expenses on controller medications and higher expenses on reliever medications, indicators of suboptimal asthma care and control. Conclusion:Even under universal health care, individuals in lower SES groups did not receive guideline-based asthma care, potentially explaining their higher costs.


OBJECTIVE
As sub-Saharan Africa is highly endemic for hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections, and their co-infection requires special management, we aimed to assess the serological and molecular characteristics of HBV in patients with AIDS.

DESIGN
This was a cross-sectional, case control study, which enrolled 200 patients with AIDS and 200 HIV-negative controls. HBV serology was done in all participants and HCV serology in participants with a hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) only serological pattern. Nested HBV polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and HBV viral load assays were used for HBV molecular detection.

RESULTS
Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) prevalence was 3-fold higher while the 'anti-HBc only' pattern was 6-fold higher in the AIDS group compared with the controls. Mean HBV viral load was significantly higher in HBsAg-positive patients with CD4+ cell counts <100 cells/μl than in patients with CD4+ cell counts of 100-200 cells/μl (p=0.019). There were markedly reduced hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs) titres in the AIDS group compared with the controls (p=0.002). A significant proportion of AIDS patients with an 'anti-HBc only' pattern had CD4+ cell counts <100 cells/μl (p=0.004). Occult HBV prevalence was 3.5% in the AIDS group compared with 1% in the controls (p=0.092). When occult HBV infection was taken into consideration, the overall HBV prevalence became 10% in the AIDS group and 3% in the control group.

CONCLUSION
We showed an increased HBV prevalence in patients with AIDS and identified a CD4+ cell count <100 cells/μl as a major risk factor for the 'anti-HBc only' pattern and increased HBV replication. These data have significant public health implications for HBV in developing countries, especially in areas where antiretroviral (ARV) guidelines do not cater for HBV/HIV co-infection.


This article presents some notes towards identifying what we have come to call 'DIY institutions': places of popular music preservation, archiving and display that exist outside the bounds of 'official' or 'national' projects of collection and heritage management. These projects emerge instead from within communities of music consumption, where groups of interested people have, to some degree, undertaken to do it themselves, creating places (physical and/or online) to store – and, in some cases, display publicly – the material history of music culture. In these places people, largely volunteers, who are not expert in tasks associated with archiving, records management, preservation or other elements involved in cultural heritage management, learn skills along the way as they work to collect, preserve and make public artefacts related to popular music culture. The article argues that these places are suggestive of broader desires from within communities of popular music consumption to preserve popular music heritage.


Eka Ernawati D 1206599, Organization Communication Climate and
Work Satisfaction of Employees (The Case Study of Organization
Communication Climate Role toward The Work Satisfaction of PT Intan
Pariwara Employees Klaten)
PT Intan Pariwara is the production organization of text books
publishing. In this company, the researcher conducted a research. It is caused
by the facts that the rate of employees absence is high, even though the
company has fulfilled its tasks in giving the right payment, retirement
guarantee, health subsidy, THR, royalty and production incentives. The high
rate of this absence can makes the organization activities of the company
disturbed so the researcher is interested to know whether the high rate of the
absence is influenced by the communication climate in the organization so it
influences the work satisfaction of PT. Intan Pariwara employees.
This research is aimed to know that the relation is existed or not and to
know the relation between the organization communication climate and the
work satisfaction of PT. Intan Pariwara employees is strong or weak. This
study applies the R. Wayne Pace and Don F. Faules' base idea. This research
is a quantitative research that uses survey method by taking samples from a
population and uses questioners as the main data collector tool with
explanatory research.
This research takes place in Klaten with 81 samples. The data analysis is
using Rank Kendall partial correlation method. After getting through the
counting of the respondence answer that is got from the questioners, in the
analysis between the three variables, i.e. X and Y, it gets the T is 0,307.
Whereas in the relation analysis between variable Y and Z it gets the T is
0,009. To know the relation is strong or weak, the value of T is interpreted
based on the Guilford definition. For the relation between variable, the relation
of X and Y is very weak. It means that the hypothesis of there is or not the
relation between variables of organization communication climate with the
work satisfaction of the employees is acceptable but it is weak.


This paper was one of a number given in a panel on executive authority in a Duke Law School conference, "The Constitution Under Clinton: A Critical Assessment." As its title suggests, the principal subject of the panel was the President's authority, if any, to decline to implement statutes he regards as unconstitutional. The lead paper on the panel focused specifically on questions of the scope of the President's authority to engage in constitutional interpretation, relating that analysis to the role of the courts and their institutional responsibilities for deciding constitutional issues. This paper seeks to place this set of issues into a broader context of executive authority to prioritize in law enforcement. That is, executive authorities may decline to enforce particular statutes on the books in many contexts, independent of constitutional considerations -- because of resource constraints, because intervening developments render the statutes obsolete or inconsistent with other elements of the legal order, and so forth. Moreoever, the President's oath of office, an undertaking to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States," subsumes the proposition that the Constitution is among the laws whose faithful execution he is to assure. The suggested analysis draws on Justice Jackson's tripartite construction in Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer: where the President would have to conclude that courts would find congressional authority to make judgments about constitutionality at its maximum, his own capacity for choosing not to enforce is essentially limited to the ordinary executive considerations such as prioritization; where its actions are unmistakably incompatible with the Constitution, as currently understood in judicial doctrine, his oath commands giving the Constitution preference; and in a "zone of twilight," where the Constitution and judicial readings are unclear, he may rely on his reading of the Constitution (as well as on the more normal factors) until that reading has been overtaken by judicial decision.


This issue features articles on subjects critically important to women's health and well-being. To these familiar topics, the authors bring fresh assessments of the multifaceted components of health for women today, a collection as timely as tomorrow's news, and as basic to social work practice as health itself. Each article focuses on some aspect of social behavior that is critically important to women's world. The unifying theme in all the articles is that when women are not healthy, society is ill. Until recently, women's health was barely addressed in health research. In 1990 the National Institutes of Health (NIH) established the Office of Women's Health Research to be a focal point for women's health initiatives. It became a permanent entity in 1993 as part of the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Benderly, 1997). Its aim since then has been to promote the visibility of women in the national health research agenda. In 1993 the NIH funded the Women s Health Initiative (WHI) to examine the major health issues after menopause, including coronary heart disease, breast cancer, and osteoporosis (Thaul & Hotra, 1993). WHI is also addressing social and economically generated ill health endemic to women, such as male battering, HIV, and substance use. Many diseases present differently in women than they do in men, occurring at different ages and developmental periods in their lives. For example, heart disease, the nation's leading cause of death, accounts for 31 percent of mortality annually. Although heart attacks occur at later ages in women, women actually have poorer outcomes than men after a heart attack; 44 percent of women die within a year compared with 27 percent of men (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2001). Twenty-six percent of women over age 20 have hypertension, and cholesterol and overweight are also significant problems. Women are more vulnerable to cardiovascular disease than is commonly thought. Women's realities--biological and environmental--also differ from men's in significant ways that affect their physical and mental health. Women, for example, tend to be less physically active. "They are at greater risk for Alzheimer's disease than men are and twice as likely as men to be affected by major depression" (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS], p. 11). And depression is even more prevalent among women who are low-income, are on welfare, are less educated, are unemployed, are disabled, are older, and have coexisting medical conditions. Misuse of alcohol and drugs is less likely in women, but its social costs can be much greater in women, affecting children and family stability. Finally, women's specific health problems related to reproduction, such as pregnancy, perimenopause, menopause, endocrinology, and hormonal effects are only beginning to be understood. Although overall death rates for women are somewhat lower than for men, women have shown increased death rates over the past decade in areas where men have experienced improvements, such as lung cancer. Women live longer than men do, accounting for 60 percent of people over age 65, but in old age women are much more likely to live alone. Women also have higher rates of arthritis, osteoporosis, and other disabling chronic diseases. All of these biological and behavioral aspects of gender differences need research to clarify their causes and relatedness to all body systems. Just as more research is needed in medical research and treatment to eliminate the gaps in knowledge about men and women's health issues, a more sophisticated inquiry also is needed in health social work to address women's needs and the approaches that help them best. Investigations are needed into prevention and early identification of diseases and conditions, innovative interventions, behavioral and cognitive approaches to coping, new treatment modalities, and more creative long-term care alternatives. …


Regional water yield at a meso-scale can be estimated as the difference between precipitation input and evapotranspiration output. Forest water yield from the southeastern US varies greatly both in space and time. Because of the hot climate and high evapotranspiration, less than half of the annual precipitation that falls on forest lands is available for stream flow in this water-rich region. Water yield is highest in the mountainous regions that receive the highest precipitation and have the lowest air temperature, and the lowest in the coastal regions that are dominated by wetlands receiving moderate rainfall but high evapotranspiration. Water resource management for both floods and droughts demands an accurate estimation of water yield from forests. Projected climate and land use changes further increase the variability of water yield in the region. The objectives of this study were to (1) develop a simple annual water yield modeling procedure by testing and calibrating a generalized global evapotranspiration model, (2) to apply the validated model to estimate regional forest water yield and to predict potential water yield response to forest removal. Hydrologic databases at a watershed-scale and a regional-scale were developed for model development, calibration, and validation. We applied the water yield model to the southern region by integrating land cover and high resolution climate databases by using a Geographic Information System (GIs). The model developed in this paper can be used to examine the spatial and temporal variability for water yield and predict the effects of climate and land cover changes at the regional scale.


Religious and Qur'anic teaching seeks to alter the individuals' beliefs for a particular type of action and behavior based on the rules of religion, Islam and the Qur'an from the darkness of animalism to the light of humanity. The difference between education in Islam and the West is due to the difference of goals. The view of Islam is fundamentally different from the West one towards human beings, so much so that in these two types of views, the happiness definition for human beings is various. Consequently, educational goals will be different. Islam and the West each regulate their view of the family based on their worldview, and values in the family system are regulated based on this comprehensuive viewpoint. The bottom line is that parenting is a two-way street, just as parents are being educated in the process both as an educational model and as a religious task. The research method is analytical-descriptive in which the information is collected in the form of library –based studyand document references related to the research topic. The results of descriptive analysis of research data indicate that education has been one of the topics of interest to different religions and schools during the centuries and eras and religious and Quranic education has indicators, features, principles, methods and special methods to practice teachings. The religion of Islam and the Qur'an removes its obstacles and deterrents.


Purpose Case finding by using screening on frailty and physical activity among elderly and coaching them on lifestyle and to find appropriate activities in order to increase physical activity and well-being of elderly. Theory Several stakeholders in community health services and social services, can detect signs of frailty and poverty of physical activity in their contacts with elderly clients. It is also known that adequate physical activity will positively affect the different area's of frailty like physical and mental abilities as well as social well-being. Therefore valid screening on frailty and physical activity and subsequent interventions are important to (positively) affect the negative spiral of becoming more and more frail and dependent on health and social services. Method In each municipality a local network of health care professionals and social workers came together in order to make agreements on the process of early screening and lifestyle coaching focused on physical activity and on the stakeholders which should be involved. For each municipality 20–40 elderly can be included in the process of lifestyle coaching with the following inclusion criteria: in the age of 55 years or older living independent (non-residential) frailty score of 4 or more or physical ability-score of 2 or more poor physical activity and motivation to improve physical activity. Evaluation plan Questionnaire among stakeholders in community health services and social services (for early screening) and among the lifestyle coaches. Structured interviews among elderly who are participating in this field project. Measurements using the GFI-scale for frailty and a scale for physical activity. Results and conclusions During the period September 2011 until June 2012 the early screening will be performed using the validated Groninger Frailty index and the lifestyle coaches will select and reach them in order to start a coaching process. Experiences until now Starting up early screening by several stakeholders demands a good preparation; involvement in making the local appointments about the process of screening and lifestyle coaching is important. Having a coordinator with an important responsibility for communication is crucial. New connections are realized between social workers and health care professionals. To get other professionals involved for early screening is not easy. Focus on frailty in early screening is altered to physical activity. Success for including elderly differs among the municipalities. Results from structured evaluation are not available yet. In March 2012 some preliminary results will be presented.


Formative evaluation should play a key role in the development of a science communication project or initiative. Such research is vital to understanding the needs and interests of the audience or participants; meeting these needs and interests helps ensure the project's success. However, there can be a temptation to plough ahead without undertaking adequate formative evaluation. Using ScienceComics(www.sciencecomics.uwe.ac.uk) as a case study, this article explores both the challenges and benefits of using formative evaluation to guide project development. It focuses on the actors involved in the formative stages and the impacts these actors had on the final outputs. This evidence is used to develop practical guidance on integrating formative evaluation right from the start.


The European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) is the central pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe. It tackles the post-crisis investment gap in the EU and aims to revive investment in strategic projects in all EU Member States. EFSI was launched jointly by the European Investment Bank (EIB) Group and the European Commission. Every year, policy simulations are carried out using the RHOMOLO-EIB Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model in order to assess the macroeconomic effects of EFSI-supported operations. This Policy Insight contains the result of the latest set of simulations quantifying the estimated macroeconomic impact on EU GDP and employment of all EFSI-supported operations approved as of June 13, 2019. The EFSI is contributing significantly to job creation and growth. The EIB-JRC estimates suggest that, by 2019, it has already, created more than 1 million jobs (1.7 million by 2022), with a positive contribution to GDP of 0.9% (1.8% by 2022) over the baseline. The results of the analysis highlight the importance of investments for jobs and economic growth.


Stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy usually employs a scanning excitation beam that is superimposed by a donut-shaped STED beam for keeping the fluorophores at the periphery of the excitation spot dark. Here, we introduce a simple birefringent device that produces a donut-shaped focal spot with suitable polarization for STED, while leaving the excitation spot virtually intact. The device instantly converts a scanning (confocal) microscope with a co-aligned STED beam into a full-blown STED microscope. The donut can be adapted to reveal, through the resulting fluorescence image, the orientation of fluorophores in the sample, thus directly providing subdiffraction resolution images of molecular orientation.


Interoperability is widely touted for its ability to spur incremental innovation, increase competition and consumer choice, and decrease barriers to accessibility. In light of these attributes, intellectual property law generally permits follow-on innovators to create products that interoperate with existing systems, even without permission. The anticircumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") represent a troubling departure from this policy, resulting in patent-like rights to exclude technologies that interoperate with protected platforms. Although the DMCA contains internal safeguards to preserve interoperability, judicial misinterpretation and narrow statutory text render those safeguards largely ineffective. One approach to counteracting the DMCA's restrictions on interoperability is to rely on antitrust scrutiny and the resulting mandatory disclosure of technical information. But both doctrinal and policy considerations suggest that antitrust offers a less than ideal means of lessening the DMCA's impact on interoperability. Rather than relying on antitrust, this Article proposes a solution that addresses the restriction of interoperability at its source. This approach broadens the DMCA's existing interoperability exemption to create an environment more hospitable to interoperable technologies. To preserve the protections the DMCA offers copyright holders, this expanded exemption would disaggregate control over interoperable software and devices from the control over access and copying that Congress intended the DMCA to enable.


The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of type of glass-ionomer cement (GIC), extrinsic energy offer and light intensity of the curing device, on thermal behavior. Ketac Molar, 3M-ESPE, USA (KM), Diamond Rapid Set Capsules, Kemdent, Wiltshire, UK (D) and Ketac N100, 3M-ESPE, USA (KN), being all different types of GIC. Measurements of coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) were performed at 20-60 o C and thermal behavior was evaluated in lower and higher temperatures. KM exhibits lower CTE values (p<0.001). D exhibits significant differences (p<0.001), showing greater CTE values. KN exhibits great differences (p<0.001) in higher temperatures. Qualitative differences were also noted in CTE diagrams, diversifying between expansion and contraction, as temperature raised. Type of GIC and light intensity of curing device affect thermal behavior. Extrinsic energy offer had no important effect on CTE values.


During the fall of 1998, three research groups announced that they had devised methods for obtaining human embryonic stem cells. Human stem cells are characterized by the ability to form many cell types, and the scientific community anticipates that the cells should be useful for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases. The dilemma is that human stem cell methodology can require, at least to some extent, research with human fetal tissue or research involving human embryos. Those opposed to federal funding of the former are concerned that the studies would support the "legitimacy" of abortion, while the latter is seen as prohibited under current law. The National Bioethics Advisory Committee has suggested that the federal government should fund both activities.


A healthy 40-year-old woman underwent a revision mammoplasty under general anesthesia. The anesthesiologist noted a decline in skin temperature from 37 to 35°C during the last hour of her four-hour general anesthetic and elected to place a Bair Hugger® hose under the patient's cotton blankets at the level of the ankle. The hose of the Bair Hugger® was not connected to the blanket attachment device, however, and hot air at 40 to 43°C was blown directly on to the patient's legs. In the recovery room, the patient complained of severe pain of her bilateral lower extremities. On further examination, the patient had sustained third-degree burns to the region of her calves on both extremities. Despite plastic surgery and skin grafting, severe permanent scarring occurred. The lawsuit against the anesthesiologist was settled for $250,000.


We have developed a method for isolating high quality total RNA from N. crassa mycelia that reliably yields large quantities. It is possible to extract more than 50 minipreps at once. Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 License. This regular paper is available in Fungal Genetics Reports: http://newprairiepress.org/fgr/vol37/iss1/27 Fast and reliable mini-prep RNA extraction from Neurospora crassa Fast and reliable mini-prep RNA extraction from Neurospora crassa V. Sokolovsky+, R. Kaldenhoff, M. Ricci and V.E.A. Russo Max Planck Institut für molekulare Genetik + On leave from A.N. Institute of Biochemistry, 33 Leninsky Prospekt, Moscow 117071, USSR We have developed a method for isolating high quality total RNA from N. crassa mycelia that reliably yields large quantities. It is possible to extract more than 50 minipreps at once. Procedures of RNA extraction published so far follow roughly three different approaches, where phenol/chloroform, guanidinium salts, and/or LiCl is used. However, these protocols have some disadvantages. They are either time consuming, or yield low amounts of RNA, or are not powerful enough for cultures containing high levels of nucleases. Extraction from starved cultures or plate mycelia with the LiCl method (Chambers and Russo, Fungal Genet. Newsl. 1987. 33:22-24) gave completely degraded RNA as judged by gel electrophoresis. In trying to improve the method we modified the protocol used for Chlamydomonas by Gromoff et al. (Mol. Cell. Biol. 1989. 9:3911-3918) who combined the advantages of phenol extraction and LiCl precipitation. The procedure is suitable for rapidly grown mycelia, starved mycelia, mycelia from plates (4 days old) and single colonies of N. crassa grown on a sorbose plate. With this protocol, from 20 to 300 mg (dry weight) of mycelium, grown in liquid media or on plates, yielded between 200 μg and 3 mg of RNA depending on the growth conditions and strains. From a single colony we could isolate up to 5 μg total RNA. Mycelium from a liquid or surface grown culture was harvested, washed, dried thoroughly with filter paper and frozen in liquid nitrogen. Single colonies including agar were stamped out using an inverted Pasteur pipette and frozen. The procedure of extraction given below is described for Eppendorf tubes but it is also possible to scale up the volumes. All manipulations were performed at room temperature if not stated otherwise. Pulverize the mycelium in a mortar with liquid nitrogen Transfer the powder into a mixture of 0.75 ml lysis buffer (0.6 M NaCl, 10 mM EDTA, 100 mM Tris HCl, pH 8.0, 4% SDS) and 0.75 ml phenol (saturated with 0.1 M Tris HCl, pH 8.0) in a 2 ml Eppendorf tube. The tube can be filled with powdered mycelium Shake for 15-20 min (Eppendorf Rotationsmischer 3300) Centrifuge for 10 min, 10,000 rpm Transfer the upper phase into an equal volume of phenol (saturated with 0.1 M Tris HCl, pH 8.0) and vortex Centrifuge for 10 min, 10,000 rpm Add 0.75 volumes of 8 M LiCl to the upper phase Store overnight at 4°C Vortex briefly and centrifuge for 10 min, 10,000 rpm Resuspend the pellet, which is not always visible, in 0.3 ml double distilled water, mix with 0.03 ml 3 M Na-acetate (pH 5.2) and 0.75 ml ethanol Store at -20°C for 2 h or at -70°C for 30 min Centrifuge for 10 min, 10,000 rpm Discard the supernatant and wash the precipitate with 70% ethanol Dry the RNA pellet and redissolve it in DEPC treated (diethyl polycarbonate) water Store the RNA solution at -70°C Purity of the RNA preparations was assayed by spectrophotometric measurements. The A260/A230 and A260/A280 ratios were 2 or more, indicating the absence of any protein or polysaccharide contamination. Usually, traces of DNA present in RNA preparations can be seen in the slots of ethidium bromide stained formaldehyde gels. Based on this criterion, RNA samples prepared by the described method were free from contaminating DNA, while clear nondegraded ribosomal bands were seen in all 200 extractions we made (see Figure 1). Northern blot analysis by hybridization with several 32P-labelled probes (Figure 2) and in vitro translation experiments (Figure 3) have shown clear signals indicating the presence of intact mRNA. Published by New Prairie Press, 2017 Fast and reliable mini-prep RNA extraction from Neurospora crassa Figure 1. Total RNAs (10 μg per lane) from 10 different preparations (lanes 1-10) were electrophoresed on a 1.2% agarose gel containing 2% formaldehyde. Visualization was done by staining with ethidium bromide and irradiation with UV. The major bands correspond to 28S and 18S rRNA, faint bands to 23S, 16S and 5S rRNA. Figure 2. Autoradiogram after Northern blotting and hybridization to 32P-labelled cDNA insert of arbitrarily chosen clone N6 (T. Sommer et al. 1989. Nucl. Acids Research 17:5713-5723). Northern analysis was done according to R.A. Kroczek and E. Siebert 1990. Analyt. Biochem. 184:90-95. http://newprairiepress.org/fgr/vol37/iss1/27 DOI: 10.4148/1941-4765.1492 Fast and reliable mini-prep RNA extraction from Neurospora crassa ] Figure 3. SDS-PAGE (12.5%) of 35S-methionine-labelled in vitro translation products. Lane 1: 14C-labelled marker proteins, molecular wieghts are indicated on the left (Mr x 10(-3). Lanes 2 and 3: RNA prepared from mycelia grown in rich or ammonium depleted medium respectively. RNA probes correspond to lanes 1 and 2 in Fig. 1 and 2. Lane 4: control translation without RNA. Acknowledgements: We thank Beate Otto for in vitro translation experiments and Niketan Pandit for critically reading the manuscript. Published by New Prairie Press, 2017


By following the evolution of several observed exoplanetary systems we show that by lowering the mass loss rate of single solar-like stars during their two giant branches, these stars will swallow their planets at the tip of their asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase. This will most likely lead the stars to form elliptical planetary nebulae (PNe). Under the traditional mass loss rate these stars will hardly form observable PNe. Stars with a lower mass loss rate as we propose, about 15 per cent of the traditional mass loss rate of single stars, leave the AGB with much higher luminosities than what traditional evolution produces. Hence, the assumed lower mass loss rate might also account for the presence of bright PNe in old stellar populations. We present the evolution of four exoplanetary systems that represent stellar masses in the range of 0.9-1.3 Mo. The justification for this low mass loss rate is our assumption that the stellar samples that were used to derive the traditional average single-star mass loss rate were contaminated by stars that suffer binary interaction.


The Farmers of the Future (FoF) initiative implemented a programme of integrating natural resources management in the basic education curriculum. The purpose of the study was to document activities and determine the effects of FoF programme on primary school learners' perceptions towards natural resources management by comparing learners involved in the FoF programme and those not involved. Further, comparison of perceptions by gender among learners involved in the FoF was done. The study employed an ex-post-facto design. The location of the study was the western region of Kenya. The sample was composed of 120 learners and 6 teachers, making a total of 126 respondents. This was in accordance with recommendations by Kathuri and Pals (1993). The data were collected using questionnaires and analysed using t-test at alpha = 0.05. The instruments were validated by two experts in the Department of Agricultural Education and Extension at Egerton University and one expert from ICRAF. Reliability was tested through pilot testing and indicated a reliability coefficient of 0.72 The findings indicated that the FoF programme had a significant influence on learners' positive perceptions towards natural resources management thus the programme forms an integral part in sustainable agriculture.


OBJECTIVE
To conduct a scoping review of literature to describe how the care index (CI) and restorative index (RI) are used in child populations and to determine whether they are fit for purpose.

BASIC RESEARCH DESIGN
Scoping review conducted using the Arksey and O'Malley (2005) framework.

METHOD
Electronic and manual literature searches (1980-2015) were conducted. Titles and abstracts were screened, full-texts of potential studies were reviewed two reviewers extracted data independently, followed by data charting and summarising.

RESULTS
Out of 104 articles meeting all criteria, most were cross-sectional (92%), and 56% were conducted in UK and Brazil. Most commonly (63%) studies used CI and RI to obtain epidemiological data on dental care levels. Of the studies that defined CI and RI, most used and specified the standard definition. The CI and RI scores varied either due to patient related factors such as age, gender or dental care related factors including, cost of treatment and method of provider remuneration.

CONCLUSION
Overall, it is recommended that future studies should clearly state the definitions and thresholds used to obtain CI and RI, which would enable comparison between communities and allow temporal trends to be studied. Additionally, deriving separate CI and RI scores for groups based on caries extent would help to highlight inequalities in the provision of care. Further research is needed to explore the applicability of CI and RI to changing approaches to caries management with current care recommendations emphasising on minimal treatment and secondary prevention.


Traditional approaches to enforcing memory safety of programs rely heavily on run-time checks of memory accesses and on garbage collection, both of which are unattractive for embedded applications. The goal of our work is to develop advanced compiler techniques for enforcing memory safety with minimal run-time overheads. In this paper, we describe a set of compiler techniques that, together with minor semantic restrictions on C programs and no new syntax, ensure memory safety and provide most of the error-detection capabilities of type-safe languages, without using garbage collection, and with no run-time software checks, (on systems with standard hardware support for memory management). The language permits arbitrary pointer-based data structures, explicit deallocation of dynamically allocated memory, and restricted array operations. One of the key results of this paper is a compiler technique that ensures that dereferencing dangling pointers to freed memory does not violate memory safety, without annotations, run-time checks, or garbage collection, and works for arbitrary type-safe C programs. Furthermore, we present a new interprocedural analysis for static array bounds checking under certain assumptions. For a diverse set of embedded C programs, we show that we are able to ensure memory safety of pointer and dynamic memory usage in all these programs with no run-time software checks (on systems with standard hardware memory protection), requiring only minor restructuring to conform to simple type restrictions. Static array bounds checking fails for roughly half the programs we study due to complex array references, and these are the only cases where explicit run-time software checks would be needed under our language and system assumptions.


In the 1990s the mainstream consensus was that trade causes growth. Subsequent research shed doubt on the consensus view, as evidence suggested that the identification of the effect of trade on growth was problematic in the existing literature. This paper contributes to this debate by focusing on growth in Sub-Saharan Africa. It estimates the effect of openness to international trade on economic growth with panel data. Employing instrumental variables techniques that correct for endogeneity bias, the empirical evidence suggests that within-country variations in trade openness cause economic growth: a 1 percentage point increase in the ratio of trade over gross domestic product is associated with a short-run increase in growth of approximately 0.5 percent per year; the long-run effect is larger, reaching about 0.8 percent after ten years. These results are robust to controlling for country and time fixed effects as well as political institutions.


Negotiation is an important part of commerce. With the use of internet-based technologies to procure goods and services, the sourcing process of multiple goods or services usually involves complex negotiations. Advanced technologies such as e-procurement can facilitate effective solutions for negotiation between trading partners, however, in order to support business negotiations with electronic tools effectively, a deep understanding of real life business negotiation is required. This study is aim to explore the negotiation in the sourcing process in e-procurement network at the Australian Private Sectors. Two different companies which operated in the different market were selected to provide valuable information regarding the approach of negotiation in the sourcing process operated in e-procurement environment. Two cases study were conducted via interviews at the Manufacturing Car Company and the Aviation Company. The respondents included the Purchasing Managers and the suppliers for the companies. Actor Network Theory (ANT) will be used as guidance to explore this study. The significance of this study is to improve the value chain between partners in the sourcing process through the understanding and identifying social issues in electronic procurement negotiation. As such, it is hoped that greater success with e-procurement will be achieved.


A whistleblower who uncovered evidence that major drug companies sought to influence government officials has been removed from his job and placed on administrative leave.

Allen Jones, an investigator at the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General (OIG), was escorted out of his workplace on 28 April and told "not to appear on OIG property" after OIG officials accused him of talking to the press. Reports of Mr Jones's findings were widely reported in the New York Times, BMJ (7 February, p 306), and elsewhere.

His findings showed that the pharmaceutical company Janssen had paid honorariums to key state officials who held influence over the drugs prescribed in …


This article offers a critical analysis of some contemporary attempts to bring up the issue of God and religion again in philosophical discourse, after the disenchantment of the project of Enlightenment. At first the author analyses G. Vattimo's recent book Belief, in which he repudiates the violence and oppression of technically manipulating and politically controlling reason. In order to put an end to this violence, Vattimo argues in favour of a complete historicisation and secularisation of Christianity, which has caritas as its limit. The author criticises Vattimo on the point that his thinking leads to a subjectivation of religion and truth, and therefore is unable to stop the violence of reason. Secondly, Ch. Taylor's interpretation of the malaise of modernity is analysed. He considers Christianity as a safeguard of the intrinsically good and true, which enables contemporary thinking to overcome its subjectivism. As a conclusion, the author stresses the importance of the religious idea of irreducible transcendence as confining the violence of self-willed thinking.


Crowdfunding has recently become available for entrepreneurs. Most academic studies analyse data from rewards-based (pre-selling) campaigns. In contrast, in this paper we analyse 636 campaigns, encompassing 17,188 investors and 64,831 investments between 2012 and 2015, from one of the leading European equity crowdfunding platforms. We provide descriptive statistics and carry out cross-campaign regression analysis. The descriptive statistics address its size, growth and geographic distributions in the UK. The regressions analyse which factors are associated with the probability of a successful campaign. We find some similarities and some interesting dissimilarities when comparing the descriptive statistics and regression results to research on rewards-based crowding. The data show that equity crowdfunding will likely pose great challenges to VC and business angel financiers in the near future. We discuss some research challenges and opportunities with these kind of data.


Electrical distribution network operators require measurements from phasor measurement units (PMUs), micro-PMUs ($\mu\mathbf{PMUs}$), and smart meters (SMs) in order to develop efficient distributed management system (DMS) applications. The high data-rate transmission of those measurements is a burden to the underlying communication system and its feasibility needs to be investigated. In this paper, we propose a method to characterize the traffic generated by a DMS application in a smart city scenario and an analysis of its impact on a realistic LTE infrastructure. Real geographic data on the position of SMs, PMUs, and $\mu\mathbf{PMUs}$ are employed to accurately model this DMS application and its generated traffic. A realistic LTE infrastructure is used to measure the load of DMS traffic at each eNodeB. The impact of synchronous and asynchronous DMS traffic on the LTE access is discussed, and bottlenecks in the LTE communication network are identified.


SUMMARY: Second-growth forests of Nothofagus obliqua (roble), N. alpina (rauli) and N. dombeyi (coihue), known locally as RO-RA-CO forest type, are among the most important natural mixed forest types of Chile. Several studies have identified a wide range of factors that could influence both stand and tree variability found in these forests. To better characterize potential tree- and stand-level factors that are associated with RO-RA-CO variability, and that are available in typical forest inventories, several unsupervised multivariate statistical methods were evaluated: 1) non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS); 2) principal coordinates analysis (PCoA); and 3) principal component analysis (PCA). The data used in this study originated from a sample of 158 plots consisting of two plot networks that covered the full geographic area of the RO-RA-CO forest type in Chile. We found that site productivity and growth zones did not explain the differences within the sampled population. However, stand development stages, tree-to-tree competition, and tree-size attributes were critical variables with a high percentage of variance explained using PCA, ranging from 61 % to 67 %. In addition, for the PCoA analysis, the variable stand density is important, with ~78 % variance explained.


JOINT ATTENTION INTERVENTIONS FOR YOUNG CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS: CAREGIVER AND CHILD ACTIONS AND TRANSACTIONS By Abigail K. Vo, Ph.D. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2011 Director: Maureen A. Conroy, Affiliate Professor, Special Education and Disability Policy Early intervention is a critical component of efforts to optimize outcomes for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families. One promising target for early intervention is joint attention, an early developing social-cognitive competency that is foundational to many other social, communicative, and cognitive skills; and a core deficit in children with ASD. While joint attention interventions are gaining interest among researchers, many are limited by their failure to situate joint attention development within the caregiver-child relationship and to adequately examine child and caregiver outcomes and transactional processes. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in child and caregiver joint attention actions and transactions across the course of a parent-mediated joint attention intervention. The Child-Caregiver Joint Attention coding system was developed and applied to videotaped caregiver-child interaction sessions from all phases of the Joint Attention Mediated Learning intervention. Participants included five mothers and their toddler aged sons. Joint attention actions examined included gaze alternations, pointing, showing, joint attention responding, and joint attention initiating for both children and caregivers. Four of five children demonstrated increases in gaze alternations, joint attention responding, and joint attention initiating by the end of the intervention. Three caregivers demonstrated increases in gaze alternations and joint attention responding, and four displayed increases in joint attention initiating. There was no clear pattern of change across children or caregivers in pointing or showing. All participants, with the exception of one caregiver, responded to a higher percentage of opportunities for joint attention in the final intervention phase than in Baseline, suggesting that most participants became more responsive to their social partners by the end of the intervention. The findings of this study suggest that parent-mediated joint attention interventions have the potential to promote changes in both child and caregiver joint attention actions and transactional relationships. Future research should continue to examine outcomes for both children and primary caregivers and changes in child-caregiver transactions over the course of different types of joint attention interventions in order to inform intervention development and selection, and explore mechanisms for change.