Escherichia coli (E. coli) infections are the major health concern, as it causes infections in human mainly in urinary tract, ear, and wound infections. The present study evaluates the impact of biofield energy treatment on E. coli regarding antimicrobial sensitivity assay, biochemical study and biotype number. Four multidrug resistant (MDR) clinical lab isolates (LSs) of E. coli (LS 12, LS 13, LS 42, and LS 51) were taken in two groups i.e. control and treated. After treatment, above mentioned parameter were evaluated on day 10 in control and treated samples using MicroScan Walk-Away® system. The antimicrobial sensitivity assay was reported with 46.67% alteration (14 out of 30 tested antimicrobials) in treated group of MDR E. coli isolates. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) study showed the alteration in MIC values of about 34.37% (11 out of 32) tested antimicrobials, after biofield treatment in clinical isolates of E. coli. Piperacillin/tazobactam was reported with improved sensitivity and four-fold decrease in the MIC value (64 to ≤16 μg/mL) in LS 42, as compared with the control. Amoxicillin/kclavulanate reported with improved sensitivity pattern from resistance to susceptible, with two-fold decrease in MIC value (>16/8 to ≤8/4 μg/mL) in biofield treated LS 51. Further, biochemical study showed 24.24% alteration (8 out of 33) in tested biochemical reactions after treatment among four isolates of E. coli as compared to the control. A change in biotype number (7774 4272) was reported as compared to the control, (7311 4012), with new organism identified as Klebsiella pneumoniae in biofield treated LS 13 with respect to the control organism, E. coli. Overall, data suggested that Mr. Trivedi's biofield energy treatment can be applied to alter the antimicrobial sensitivity, biochemical reactions and biotype number of E. coli.


The results of a successful demonstration of the selection module of an optoelectronic parallel-processing database filter is presented. The module utilizes 4 x 4 arrays of AND and XOR logic gates that respectively perform the functions of reducing the data fields and determining a match between the input data and a selection argument. The logic arrays were fabricated with InGaP/GaAs heterojunction phototransistors that drive vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSEL's). The VCSEL's provide the free-space optical interconnection between stages. The design of the system and the optical power budget are discussed.


Over the past decade a wide spectrum of machine learning models have been developed to model the neurodegenerative diseases, associating biomarkers, especially non-intrusive neuroimaging markers, with key clinical scores measuring the cognitive status of patients. Multi-task learning (MTL) has been commonly utilized by these studies to address high dimensionality and small cohort size challenges. However, most existing MTL approaches are based on linear models and suffer from two major limitations: 1) they cannot explicitly consider upper/lower bounds in these clinical scores; 2) they lack the capability to capture complicated non-linear interactions among the variables. In this paper, we propose Subspace Network, an efficient deep modeling approach for non-linear multi-task censored regression. Each layer of the subspace network performs a multi-task censored regression to improve upon the predictions from the last layer via sketching a low-dimensional subspace to perform knowledge transfer among learning tasks. Under mild assumptions, for each layer the parametric subspace can be recovered using only one pass of training data. Empirical results demonstrate that the proposed subspace network quickly picks up the correct parameter subspaces, and outperforms state-of-the-arts in predicting neurodegenerative clinical scores using information in brain imaging.


Salt marsh ecosystems are recognized as highly productive, diverse systems which provide key services to society, but are facing an increasing number of multiple human pressures resulting in global losses of these ecosystems. I aimed to assess the effects of human pressures on salt marsh status and functioning, focusing on the perennial Spartina spp. grasses across the Northern Adriatic Sea, using a combination of field observational studies, manipulation of pressures on salt marshes, and wave mesocosm experiments to measure erosion resistance. Major findings include: 1. Macrobenthos diversity and abundance in Spartina spp. patches were influenced by sediment and nutrient variables, and indirectly influenced by Spartina spp. which modified the sdiments via organic enrichment; 2. Spartina spp. below-ground biomass decreased resistance to erosion, with a more pronounced effect in sandy compared to silty sediments; 3. A heat wave that occurred in 2015 synergistically interacted with high nutrient loads to change the vegetation composition in experimentally fertilized plots, with a rapid shift from Spartina spp. grasses to Salicornia spp. succulents, and the heat wave triggered changes in sediment properties that reduced the erosion resistance of salt marsh sediments; 4. After exposure to different inundation levels through a salt marsh transplantation experiment, plant survival (indicated by % live shoot biomass) and % silt were the most significant predictors of erosion resistance. Overall, biomass and sediment properties were the main factors influencing lateral resistance to erosion in our experiments. The research in this thesis fills important knowledge gaps regarding the status of salt marshes and their functioning across lagoons of the Northern Adriatic Sea. These results help to consolidate the evidence of the important role of salt marsh vegetation in coastal protection, and demonstrate the conditions under which erosion resistance in salt marshes is most effective.


The use of irony and sarcasm in social media allows us to study them at scale for the first time. However, their diversity has made it difficult to construct a high-quality corpus of sarcasm in dialogue. Here, we describe the process of creating a large- scale, highly-diverse corpus of online debate forums dialogue, and our novel methods for operationalizing classes of sarcasm in the form of rhetorical questions and hyperbole. We show that we can use lexico-syntactic cues to reliably retrieve sarcastic utterances with high accuracy. To demonstrate the properties and quality of our corpus, we conduct supervised learning experiments with simple features, and show that we achieve both higher precision and F than previous work on sarcasm in debate forums dialogue. We apply a weakly-supervised linguistic pattern learner and qualitatively analyze the linguistic differences in each class.


Indigenous goats are widely spread in most countries of southern Africa and they are nutritionally, economically and socially important to rural households. However, their productivity is constrained by shortage of good quality feed, especially during the long dry season. Acacia karroo is an important leguminous tree in communal rangelands of southern Africa and is able to thrive in severe and dry conditions. The leaves, fruits and pods are highly palatable and excellent fodder for goats. It is regarded as a multipurpose tree with great potential for increasing goat productivity and can be considered as a cheap source of protein in communal goat production. Despite its importance in goat nutrition, the species contains phenolic compounds, especially condensed tannins. Recent studies have shown that though tannins have some harmful effects, they have also been shown to be beneficial, for sustainable goat production when given in small amounts. However, very little attempt has been devised to enhance the feeding strategies that reduce the negative effects caused by tanniniferous feeds. The objective of this paper was to review information on the significance of A. karroo in communal goat production in Southern Africa. Possible future areas of research are also highlighted.


Human communication is a process involving interactive and collaborative effort and its success is dependent on the joint responsibility of all participants involved (Grice, 1975; Clark, 1996). Furthermore, it is often assumed that while part of this effort concerns the management of transactional wants, it is another, entirely separate part which is concerned with the management of face wants (Goffman, 1967b). In short, there is apparently one fundamental organisational principle for talk which is transactional (task-related), and another for that which is interactional (social). What such a view fails to realise, however, is that in certain circumstances part of the collaborative effort required in transactional dialogue can be seen to involve the management of face.

This paper investigates the role of face in task-oriented dialogue. In doing so it suggests a maxim of interactional organisation which recognises the interplay of face wants with transactional wants. Various 'sensitive' behaviours are seen to mitigate threats – either threats to the success of the transaction or threats to face. Consequently, and analogous to Brown & Levinson's (1987) notion of face-threatening act (FTA), this paper introduces the term transaction-threatening act (TTA).

More specifically this paper investigates the role of face in task-oriented dialogues between aphasic and non-aphasic individuals. Results indicate that when engaged in talk with aphasic dialogue partners, non-impaired speakers sensitively manage potential FTAs and TTAs:

(a) by simplifying the interaction by avoiding the generation of unnecessary talk; and

(b) by avoiding highlighting any non-competence on the part of their impaired interlocutor.

Such management is found to be achieved both by active and inactive strategies of restoration. More importantly, much of this restoration involves face-work which obtains despite the very clear transactional aspect to the task-oriented dialogue in which the participants are engaged.

In short, we find that even when engaged in task-oriented dialogue, speakers can be seen to invest a great deal of effort into doing politeness.

Key Words: face, politeness, transactional discourse, sensitivity, aphasia, (perceived) non-competence, Merrison's maxim


At first sight, the new "better regulation package" probably appears as one of the most ambitious and comprehensive set of measures on the quality of EU regulation developed in recent years. It introduces relevant innovations as far as both better regulation tools(impact assessment-IA, ex post evaluation, consultation) and governance (the Regulatory Scrutiny Board-RSB, the REFIT Platform and the proposal on the new Inter-institutional agreement on Better Lawmaking-IIA)are concerned. Moreover, the package is a clear demonstration of the Commission's political commitment towards the relaunch of the smart regulation agenda, already proved by its inclusion within the scope of the mandate of the First Vice President, Mr. Timmermans. Nonetheless, ambition and wideness are not the only relevant criteria to judge the package. It could indeed be assessed also from a different perspective, i.e. by analysing the possible effects it could produce and the incentives it could provide for some key players: EU institutions, Member States (MS) and stakeholders.


After two decades of hostile confrontation, China and the United States initiated negotiations in the early 1970s to normalize relations. Senior officials of the Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Reagan administrations had little experience dealing with the Chinese, but they soon learned that their counterparts from the People s Republic were skilled negotiators.This study of Chinese negotiating behavior explores the ways senior officials of the PRC Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and others managed these high-level political negotiations with their new American old friends. It follows the negotiating process step by step, and concludes with guidelines for dealing with Chinese officials.Originally written for the RAND Corporation, this study was classified because it drew on the official negotiating record. It was subsequently declassified, and RAND published the study in 1995. For this edition, Solomon has added a new introduction, and Chas Freeman has written an interpretive essay describing the ways in which Chinese negotiating behavior has, and has not, changed since the original study. The bibiliography has been updated as well."


We recently characterized DahlS.Z-Leprfa/Leprfa (DS/obese) rats, derived from a cross between Dahl salt-sensitive rats and Zucker rats, as a new animal model of metabolic syndrome (MetS). Although the phenotype of DS/obese rats is similar to that of humans with MetS, the pathophysiological and metabolic characteristics in each cell type remain to be clarified. Hence, the establishment of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) derived from MetS rats is essential for investigations of MetS in vitro. Reports of rat iPSCs (riPSCs), however, are few because of the difficulty of comparing to other rodents such as mouse. Recently, the advantage of using mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) as a cell source for generating iPSCs was described. We aimed to establish riPSCs from MSCs in adipose tissues of both DS/obese rats and their lean littermates, DahlS.Z-Lepr+/Lepr+ (DS/lean) rats using lentivirus vectors with only three factors Oct4, Klf4, and Sox2 without c-Myc. The morphology, gene expression profiles, and protein expression of established colonies showed embryonic stem cell (ESCs)-like properties, and the differentiation potential into cells from all three germ layers both in vitro and in vivo (teratomas). Both riPSCs became adipocytes after induction of adipogenesis by insulin, T3, and dexamethasone. Real-time PCR analysis also revealed that both riPSCs and the adipose tissue from DS/obese and DS/lean rats possess similar expression patterns of adipocyte differentiation-related genes. We succeeded in generating riPSCs effectively from MSCs of both DS/obese and DS/lean rats. These riPSCs may well serve as highly effective tools for the investigation of MetS pathophysiology in vitro.


Background Information for this article was collected during my experience in Cuba [Figure 1] when I was selected by the People to People Ambassador Programs to lead an educational group to Cuba. The purpose of this program is to establish and maintain interpersonal communication among members of the world community. The program promotes friendly relations among all countries through scientific, professional, cultural, and technical exchanges. These exchanges focus on specialized disciplines. Ours were counseling and career development. Delegation members are invited primarily because of their professional background. A Brief History Education in the Republic of Cuba can be dated as before Fidel Castro, after Fidel Castro, and since 1990 (Coy, 2001). Before Fidel Castro, President Gerado Machado y Morales was overthrown in a coup, and Army Sergeant Fulgencio Batista seized power in August 1933. One of the prime motivations for the Revolution that overthrew General Machado in 1933 was better education, but in the post-war decades education made little progress. The constitution of 1940 expressed lofty ideals e.g., the Ministry of Education's budget should not be smaller than any other ministry's budget. Educational funds became a huge source of graft (Baker, 2000). The corrupt Batista won, lost and stole power over the next 20 years while Cuba's assets were increasingly placed into foreign hands and Cuba crumbled. Before the revolutionaries attained power, education reflected the depressing and backward outlook of authorities who did not seem much interested in developing the human resources of the country (Valdes, 1972). The pre-revolutionary years of Cuban education present a concrete example of a country having the potential for educational growth, but hindered by a lack of leadership and structural obstacles (Baker, 2000). The years of political corruption and social injustice finally came to a close in 1959, after a three-year guerrilla campaign led by young Fidel Castro along with Che' Guevara, Celia Sanchez and other now famous revolutionaries (Bonachea & Valdes, 1972; Deutschmann & Shnookal, 1989). According to government statistics, on the eve of the Revolution, 43 per cent of the population and half a million Cuban children went without school (Baker, 2000). Castro's government poured its heart and soul into improving the lot of the Cuban poor (Krich, 1981). First came health and education, where instant gains could be seen (Franqui, 1985). The educational situation of Cuba has undergone profound transformation (Coy, 2001). The Soviet Union sent trade and technical delegations and bought up Cuba's sugar surplus. Cuba appeared to be improving (Valdes, 1972). The country's plight worsened when Eastern Europe collapsed in 1989, and Russia soon withdrew its 11,000 military personnel and technicians. Trade links with the Soviet bloc dissolved in the early 1990s, declining living standards and a large wave of attempted emigration led the government to liberalize some economic policies. It opened free markets for crafts and produce; granted 2.6 hectares of state land to farming cooperatives; increased soybean production to boost protein consumption; promoted certain types of self-employment; reorganized some state enterprises; and established joint ventures with foreign firms in tourism, mining, communications, and construction. The economy experienced modest growth after 1994 but slowed to 1 percent in 1998. The economy grew 2.5 percent in 1999. Mexico and Canada are Cuba's most important trading partners. Life turned grim under what the Cubans call the "Special Period," which began when the Berlin Wall crashed and Cuba's Soviet lifeline was severed. Cuba went from down to destitute. What began as inconveniences turned to real hardships. Monthly allotments were greatly reduced (Blight, Allyn, & Welch, 1993). Cuba, the only country in Latin America to have eliminated hunger, began to suffer malnutrition. …


Since the late 1990s, adult adopted Koreans have been officially welcomed back to their country of birth as "overseas Koreans," a legal designation instituted by Korea's state-sponsored "globalization" (segyehwa) project. Designed to build economic and social networks between Korea and its seven million compatriots abroad, this policy projects an ethnonationalist and deterritorialized vision of Korea that depends upon a conflation of "blood" with "kinship" and "nation." Adoptees present a particularly problematic subset of overseas Koreans: they have biological links to Korea, but their adoptions have complicated the sentimental and symbolic ties of "blood" upon which this familialist and nationalist state policy depend. Because international adoption replaces biological with social parenthood and involves the transfer of citizenship, to incorporate adoptees as "overseas Koreans," the state must honor the authority and role of adoptive parents who raised them, even as they invite adoptees to (re)claim their Koreanness. Government representations optimistically construe adoptees as cultural "ambassadors" and economic "bridges," yet for adoptees themselves––whose lives have been split across two nations, two families and two histories––the cultural capital necessary to realize their transnational potential seems to have already been forfeited. Based on fieldwork with an expatriate community of adoptees living and working in Seoul, this article examines how adoptees are specters of both family and foreignness in Korea. I argue that, rather than demonstrating the possibilities of a borderless world, Korean adoptees illuminate how state practices and political economy structure "kinship" and "nation" for transnational subjects caught up in contemporary dialectics of nationalism and globalization


Currently the application of geographic information systems in the subjects of biology and ecology has facilitated the study patterns of distribution, richness y diversity of species. However, in freshwater ecosystems the application of geostatistical analysis are scarcely used in the worldwide, including Chile. Therefore, in our study we developed predictive maps using simple Kriging (resolution 12.5 x 12.5 m), based on richness and Shannon-Weaver diversity, and we analyzed spatial autocorrelation of fish assemblages (Moran and Getis-Ord index) present in the Andalién River basin. Our results established a fish assemblage composition of 24 species, most of them native (79%) and with endanger conservation status. Predictive maps showed highest values of richness and diversity of fish species in the potamon zone of the Andalién and Nonguén streams, while the low values were described in the Chaimavida sub-basin and the transition zone of Andalién River. The Moran and Getis-Ord index determined a cluster pattern of the data and define hotspot and coldspot zones, concordant with the predictive maps of richness and Shannon-Weaver diversity. The geostatistical and spatial techniques showed to be relevant tools for the determination of distribution patterns of freshwater species and conservation issues.


Habeas corpus--"you have the body" in Latin--is an ancient privilege of English law that predates the Magna Carta and was an early power of English courts. The writ, or written order of the court, gave judges the power to command the presence of a person before the court. This power worked two ways: (1) the writ was an order for the government and the accused to appear before the court; and (2) it required the government to explain why a person was being detained. If the court was not satisfied by the government's explanations for holding a person, the judges had the power to free the prisoner. People in England believed that habeas corpus was an important protection against the government holding people as prisoners simply for political or personal reasons. (See the Elementary Lesson for an example of why the right became so important to the English.) Although the writ of habeas corpus was not officially extended to the American colonies, the colonists themselves took it as their birthright, and following independence they included it in several state constitutions and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. (1) It also became one of the few rights incorporated directly into the Constitution itself: "The Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public safety may require it." (2) In addition to the Constitution, the right of habeas corpus is established in federal statute by Congress. The United States Code, the federal law, states that "writs of habeas corpus may be granted by the Supreme Court, any justice thereof, the district courts and any circuit judge within their respective jurisdictions." (3) Habeas Corpus during Wartime The writ has been suspended at different times in American history. In early 1861, for example, at the start of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln suspended it himself, without permission from Congress. Congress later passed legislation to support his actions. However, in the case Ex Parte Milligan (1866), the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the conviction of Lambdin Milligan by a military tribunal convened in Indiana because the civilian courts were still open there and Indiana was not a war zone. Writing for the Court, Justice Chase noted that "The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times, and under all circumstances." (4) Milligan went free. (See the Middle School Lesson on Milligan for details of the case.) During World War II, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Ex Parte Quirin (1942) that a military tribunal was appropriate for unlawful combatants. (5) Eight Germans, some of whom were U.S. citizens, received training in sabotage in Germany and arrived in the U.S. by submarine in June of 1942. Some of them turned themselves in to the FBI, although the FBI at first did not believe them. Eventually all were taken into custody, tried by a military tribunal, and sentenced to death. The majority of the Court argued that while Milligan was a civilian, the Germans were in the military. Six of the spies were executed. Two were returned to Germany after the war. In 1946, the Court again held in Duncan v. Kahanamoku that a 1941 suspension of the writ by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Hawaii, which was not supported by an Act of Congress, was unconstitutional. (6) Significantly, both Milligan and Duncan were decided after hostilities had ended. To insure that a situation such as the internment of persons of Japanese descent during World War II not happen again and to repeal the Emergency Detention Act of 1950, Congress in 1971 passed a federal law making explicit the protections of habeas corpus. The United States Code now says, "[n]o citizen shall be imprisoned or otherwise detained by the United States except pursuant to an Act of Congress. …


The mining industry is among the top ten industries nationwide with high occupational injury and fatality rates, and mine rescue response may be considered one of the most hazardous activities in mining operations. In the aftermath of an underground mine fire, explosion or water inundation, specially equipped and trained teams have been sent underground to fight fires, rescue entrapped miners, test atmospheric conditions, investigate the causes of the disaster, or recover the dead. Special personal protective ensembles are used by the team members to improve the protection of rescuers against the hazards of mine rescue and recovery. Personal protective ensembles used by mine rescue teams consist of helmet, cap lamp, hood, gloves, protective clothing, boots, kneepads, facemask, breathing apparatus, belt, and suspenders. While improved technology such as wireless warning and communication systems, lifeline pulleys, and lighted vests have been developed for mine rescuers over the last 100 years, recent research in this area of personal protective ensembles has been minimal due to the trending of reduced exposure of rescue workers. In recent years, the exposure of mine rescue teams to hazardous situations has been changing. However, it is vital that members of the teams have the capability and proper protection to immediately respond to a wide range of hazardous situations. Currently, there are no minimum requirements, best practice documents, or nationally recognized consensus standards for protective clothing used by mine rescue teams in the United States (U.S.). The following review provides a summary of potential issues that can be addressed by rescue teams and industry to improve potential exposures to rescue team members should a disaster situation occur. However, the continued trending in the mining industry toward non-exposure to potential hazards for rescue workers should continue to be the primary goal. To assist in continuing this trend, the mining industry and regulatory agencies have been more restrictive by requiring additional post disaster information regarding atmospheric conditions and other hazards before exposing rescue workers and others in the aftermath of a mine disaster. In light of some of the more recent mine rescuer fatalities such as the Crandall Canyon Mine and Jim Walters Resources in the past years, the direction of reducing exposure is preferred. This review provides a historical perspective on ensembles used during mine rescue operations and summarizes environmental hazards, critical elements of mine rescue ensembles, and key problems with these elements. This study also identifies domains for improved mine rescue ensembles. Furthermore, field observations from several coal mine rescue teams were added to provide the information on the currently used mine rescue ensembles in the U.S.


Despite the importance of an observer's goals in determining how a visual object is categorized, surprisingly little is known about how humans process the task context in which objects occur and how it may interact with the processing of objects. Using magnetoencephalography (MEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and multivariate techniques, we studied the spatial and temporal dynamics of task and object processing. Our results reveal a sequence of separate but overlapping task-related processes spread across frontoparietal and occipitotemporal cortex. Task exhibited late effects on object processing by selectively enhancing task-relevant object features, with limited impact on the overall pattern of object representations. Combining MEG and fMRI data, we reveal a parallel rise in task-related signals throughout the cerebral cortex, with an increasing dominance of task over object representations from early to higher visual areas. Collectively, our results reveal the complex dynamics underlying task and object representations throughout human cortex.


Vitamin D level is known to play an important role in the regulation of different human functions, including the functions of the cardio-vascular and musculoskeletal systems. The aim of the study was to find relations between vitamin D level, skeletal muscles tone and body composition in conditions of prolonged physical load. Sixty-five well-trained male soldiers from the Estonian ESTCOY-8 infantry company were examined before and after a six-month military mission to assess the soldiers' vitamin D level, skeletal muscles tone and body composition. The results of the study showed that, during the long-term military mission, muscle tone of lower extremities decreased in conditions where vitamin D status was significantly increased (from average 40 to 104 nmol/L; p<0.001). We also found that the upper and middle part m. trapezius tone increased significantly during long-term strenuous military mission. Our study showed that the long-time military mission influenced the skeletal muscles functional state. Decrease in muscle tone of lower extremities was related to increase in serum vitamin 25(OH)D level (in average by 64nmol/L). At the same time muscle tone of m. trapezius increased in our group of subjects, and this increase was linked to WHR.


Georgia is a country with high agricultural potential, which is not fully utilized due to the deterioration of conditions for agriculture after the breakdown of the Soviet Union. Because of insufficient access to input supply, credits and markets, the productivity of the Georgian agriculture is very low. The small agricultural land surfaces lead, moreover, to high transaction costs with regard to the marketing of agricultural products that each farmer sells individually on local markets. Service cooperatives have been identified as a suitable institution for sustainable agricultural development. Despite their advantages they are not widespread in Georgia. This article analyses on the basis of an empirical study (n=406) attitudes of Georgian farmers towards cooperatives and identifies prospects for their implementation.


Methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP), a key enzyme in the catabolism of 5′-deoxy-5′-methylthioadenosine (MTA), catalyzes the formation of adenine and 5-methylthioribose-1-phosphate. MTAP is expressed in all cells throughout the body, but a significant percentage of human tumors have lost MTAP expression, thereby making MTAP-loss a potential therapeutic target. Here, we have tested an MTAP-targeting strategy based on the idea that MTAP-expressing cells can be protected from toxic purine and uracil analogs by addition of MTA, but MTAP-deleted tumor cells cannot. Addition of as little as 10 μM MTA could entirely protect isogenic MTAP+, but not MTAP-, HT1080 cells from toxicity caused by the chemotherapy agents 6-thioguanine (6TG) or 5-fluorouracil (5FU). Inhibitor studies showed that MTA protection requires functional MTAP activity. Addition of adenine protected both MTAP+ and MTAP- cells from 6TG and 5FU, consistent with the idea that adenine produced from the MTAP reaction competes with 6TG and 5FU for a rate limiting pool of phosphoribosyl-1-pyrophosphate (PRPP), which is required for the conversion of purine and uracil bases into nucleotides. Extracellular MTA can also protect mouse mesothelioma cells from killing by 6-TG or the drug L-alanosine in an MTAP-dependent manner. In addition, MTA can protect non-transformed MTAP+ mouse embryo fibroblasts from 6TG toxicity. Taken together, our data suggest that the addition of MTA to anti-purine-based chemotherapy may greatly increase the therapeutic index of this class of drugs if used specifically to treat MTAP- tumors.


The influence of compensation on recovery from lowback pain was assessed in a retrospective controlled cohort study. One hundred fifty compensable and 150 noncompensable back injury patients were invited for review between 1 and 5 years from presentation. A 91.3% follow-up was achieved, and there was no difference in the median age, follow-up, and initial injury score between the two groups. The incidence of reported pain, disability, psychological disturbance, unemployment, and length of time off work was greater in the compensation group ( P< 0.001). Settlement of the claim did not result in any reduction in morbidity, even up to 5 years later. These results demonstrate that the payment of compensation delays recovery from low-back injury.


Using a socio-psychological approach, the essay explores Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment. The exploration highlights Dostoyevsky's heavy reliance on the use of psychological realism, showing in the process the intricate interplay between psychology, sociology and literature. In the novel, the reader comes across the merging of the philosophies of Hegel, Nietzsche, Sartre, Kierkegaard, Heidegger and Marx. The essay concludes that Crime and Punishment is a mixture of four novels: the psychological novel, the novel of detection, the novel of character, and the philosophical Four voices, namely: voices of the existentialists, Marxian, Freudian, and Christianity are intertwined in the novel. Fyodor appears to be saying that the world is meaningless but it is through the Christian faith meaning could come to life.


What predicts academic success during graduate school? What are the experiences of graduate students in terms of happiness, stress level, relationships in the program, and feelings of autonomy/competence? Responses from 3,311 graduate students from all psychological disciplines in the US and Canada were collected to answer questions involving (1) the relationship between student-level variables and department/school rankings (US News & World Report, Carnegie Foundation, National Research Council), (2) the determinants of important student-level variables such as number of publications, posters, and life satisfaction, and (3) examining the variables year-by-year in the program to explain changes over time at different points in the graduate career. Results reveal the degree to which certain aspects of higher ranked departments/schools impact student achievements such as number of publications and teaching experience. The results also reveal a unique year-by-year progression including a consistent decrease of happiness for every year in graduate school. While the findings were collected in psychology, the answers to these questions may resonate with graduate students across disciplines that are experiencing similar forces that characterize the graduate school experience. The results can also inform current conversations about the direction of higher education and the value of the graduate school experience.


Background: Fixed drug eruption (FDE) is common cutaneous drug eruption characterized by the development of one or more annular, oval, erythematous, and hyperpigmented patches as a result of systemic exposure to a drug. Drugs causing FDE vary with prevailing diseases and prescription pattern in different parts of the world. This study is aimed at reviewing cases of FDE seen at the dermatology outpatient clinic of Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) over a 9-year period, highlighting the spectrum of drugs implicated and the clinical characteristics. Materials and Methods: Data were obtained from the clinic records and patients' case notes. These included the demographic details, duration of presentation, drugs implicated, and clinical characteristics. Results: FDE was diagnosed in 1.8% (295/16,160) of patients seen. There was a slight female preponderance. Antimalarials were the commonest group of medications implicated (51.0%) followed by antibiotics (27.9%); analgesics (10.2%), herbal toothpaste (6.1%), and oral hypoglycemic agents (4.1%). Sulfonamides were the commonest group of drugs found in 78 patients (53.1%) predominantly as sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine antimalarials and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole antibiotics (co-trimoxazole). Conclusion: Concerted efforts are needed to discourage over-the-counter sales and purchase of nonprescription sulfonamide-based medications. A change in prescription pattern from sulfonamides to other classes of antimalarials and antibiotics is desirable and/or recommended. Patients should inform their caregivers at any point of care about their reaction to drugs. It is advised that they have a list of common implicating drugs and they wear a medic alert or carry an ID card bearing this information.


Regardless of all efforts to curb criminality, the latter phenomenon remains quite threatening and vital, showing no signs of vanishing. However, the desire to control the spread of criminality requires assessment of not only the extent and trends of the latter, but also the sources feeding this phenomenon. The determining factors of criminality are an aggregate of various social and socially significant events, processes or facts having caused and conditioned criminality.1 Despite the major part of crimes are determined by the same common factors—unemployment, low education, dipsomania, drug-addiction, etc.—there is also a complex of contributing factors, characteristic to each type of crimes and/or field 1 Abramavičius, A., et. al. Baudžiamoji teisė. Bendroji dalis [Criminal Law. General part]. Vilnius: Eugrimas, 1996, p. 137. Tomas Rudzkis, Artūras Panomariovas. Problematic Aspects of Causality of Insurance Criminality 1200 of human activity. By being undiscovered, these contributors prevent the development of efficient preventative measures. This article is dedicated to the discussion of the main factors influencing insurance criminality2.


Recent miniaturization of computer hardware, MEMs sensors, and high energy density batteries have enabled highly capable mobile robots to become available at low cost. This has driven the rapid expansion of interest in multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles. Another area which has expanded simultaneously is small powerful computers, in the form of smartphones, which nearly always have a camera attached, many of which now contain a OpenCL compatible graphics processing units. By combining the results of those two developments a low-cost multi-rotor UAV can be produced with a low-power onboard computer capable of real-time computer vision. The system should also use general purpose computer vision software to facilitate a variety of experiments. To demonstrate this I have built a quadrotor UAV based on control hardware from the Pixhawk project, and paired it with an ARM based single board computer, similar those in high-end smartphones. The quadrotor weights 980 g and has a flight time of 10minutes. The onboard computer capable of running a pose estimation algorithm above the 10Hz requirement for stable visual control of a quadrotor. A feature tracking algorithm was developed for efficient pose estimation, which relaxed the requirement for outlier rejection during matching. Compared with a RANSAConly algorithm the pose estimates were less variable with a Z-axis standard deviation 0.2 cm compared with 2.4 cm for RANSAC. Processing time per frame was also faster with tracking, with 95% confidence that tracking would process the frame within 50ms, while for RANSAC the 95% confidence time was 73ms. The onboard computer ran the algorithm with a total system load of less than 25%. All computer vision software uses the OpenCV library for common computer vision algorithms, fulfilling the requirement for running general purpose software. The tracking algorithm was used to demonstrate the capability of the system by performing visual servoing of the quadrotor (after manual takeoff). Response to external perturbations was poor however, requiring manual intervention to avoid crashing. This was due to poor visual controller tuning, and to variations in image acquisition and attitude estimate timing due to using free running image acquisition. The system, and the tracking algorithm, serve as proof of concept that visual control of a quadrotor is possible using small low-power computers and general purpose computer vision software.


This paper describes a system which recognizes events on news stories. Our system classifies stories and populates a hand-crafted ontology with new instances of classes defined in it. Currently, our system recognizes events which can be classified as belonging to a single category and it also recognizes overlapping events within one article (more than one event is recognized). In each case, the system provides a confidence value associated to the suggested classification. Our system uses Information Extraction and Machine Learning technologies. The system was tested using a corpus of 200 news articles from an archive of electronic news stories describing the academic life of the Knowledge Media (KMi). In particular, these news stories describe events such as a project award, publications, visits, etc.)


This is the second in a pair of papers that aim to provide a comprehensive analysis of the semantic phenomenon of distributivity in natural language. This paper describes and explains observable cross-linguistic differences in overt distributive items in the framework of Neo-Davidsonian algebraic event semantics. The previous paper, Champollion 2016a, postulated two covert distributivity operators, D and Part, in the grammar, even though the semantic effects of D can be subsumed under the workings of Part. This paper motivates the split by arguing that distance-distributive items across languages are in essence overt versions of these operators. For example, English each lexicalizes D while German jeweils lexicalizes Part. For this reason, jeweils occurs in a wider range of distributive environments, including distribution over salient occasions. The proposed analysis explains why distributive items that can also be used as determiners, such as each and every, never allow distribution over occasions. It also accounts for the ability of these determiners to take part in cumulative readings and to interact with nondistributive event modifiers. The paper and its companion include an explicit proposal for the compositional process in event semantics.


This paper examines the role of new communication technologies in the regime change of Malaysia's 2018 elections. I argue that growing Internet penetration in semi-rural areas of Malaysia's Peninsula "heartlands" allow for new forms of campaign message to be spread in unique and compelling ways. Facebook and instant-messenger platform WhatsApp are playing a prominent role in shaping political discourse in contemporary Malaysia, and this was evident in the election campaign that brought an end to Malaysia's ruling coalition, the Barisan Nasional's, 60-year hold on power. In this article I use James Scott's (1987) Weapons of the Weak as the theoretical foundation for assessing the role of WhatsApp and other social media sites as tools of resistance, specifically in spreading information about the corruption and nepotism of Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife, Rosmah Mansour. Given the prominence of the smartphone for news and information in Southeast Asia, this article explains how the digital era is changing the avenues via which the region receives and shares political information – as well as outlines the consequences that it brings for elections campaigns and democracy.


This paper studies bidding dynamics where values and bidding opportunities follow an unrestricted joint Markov process, independent across agents. Bids cannot be retracted, as is frequently the case in auctions. Our main methodological contribution is that we construct a mapping from this general stochastic process into a distribution of values that is independent of the type of auction considered. The equilibria of a static auction with this distribution of values is used to characterize the equilibria of the dynamic auction, making this general class very tractable. As a result of the option of future rebidding, early bids are shaded and under mild conditions increase toward the end of the auction. Our results are consistent with repeated bidding and skewness of the time distribution of winning bids, two puzzling observations in dynamic auctions. As an application, we estimate the model by matching moments from eBay auctions.


This research compared a traditional drug development approach with an enhanced "Quality by Design" (QbD) approach to foster greater process and formulation understanding. Propranolol HCl extended release capsules and Metoprolol Succinate extended release tablets served as targets for development. The formulation and process parameters utilized well-established techniques, such as wet granulation, extrusion, spheronization, and fluid bed processing with commercially available aqueous or organic polymeric systems. Propranolol HCl extended release capsules were a benchmark for current generic pharmaceutical process development to identify basic parameters for a suitable product. Metoprolol Succinate extended release tablets utilized the ICH Q8 annex guidelines approach to identify target profiles, and then; define, test, and link Critical Quality Attributes (CQAs). Preliminary data supported factor and level selections for the 2 full factorial and Box-Behnken experimental designs for elements of a conceptual design space. Physical and chemical characterization of commercially available competitors established product target profiles. Particle size distribution, sphericity, moisture content, and dissolution profiles were studied as CQA's. Preliminary studies for the immediate release beads identified the water quantity during granulation, kneading time during granulation, and the duration of spheronization as significant factors for particle size generation, and sphericity. The traditional approach determined an organic system was necessary for Propranolol HCl to yield a stable extended release product. The aqueous sustained release coating studies for Metoprolol Succinate found the polymer coating level, humidified curing condition, and curing duration were important factors . Altering the excipient blend formulation during initial tabletting trials minimized segregation and bead damage. The full factorial design for the development of immediate release beads identified spheronization time as a statistically significant factor in determining the standard deviation and relative standard deviation for sphericity. The Box-Behnken design for sustained release beads found the polymer coating levels to be a statistically significant main effect for the dissolution profile. Significant surface damage was apparent throughout the full factorial tabletting design, with a "best case" approach yielding an improved dissolution profile. Traditional approaches incorporated into the QbD approach facilitate variable and level selection throughout the development process. Data generated via these statistical methods supports process understanding and future decision-making. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to the following people for their unwavering support throughout this process: Dr. Needham, Dr. Palinaswamy, the Staff at Cherokee Pharma Inc., my friends and family.


Large capacity rechargeable batteries are now strongly required for generating electric power from renewable energy, like solar cells or wind power generators. For this purpose, solid oxide Fe–air rechargeable batteries have been studied. In this study, for increasing the stability of the redox cycling properties of Fe powder at 623 K, mixing effects of Cr2O3 and PrBaMn2O5 catalysts were investigated and it was found that Fe powder mixed with 3 wt% Cr2O3–3 wt% PrBaMn2O5 showed excellent stability against redox cycling at 623 K. When Fe powder mixed with Cr2O3–PrBaMn2O5 was used, stable charge and discharge capacity could be achieved over 50 cycles by using the cell consisting of Ni–Fe/La0.9Sr0.1Ga0.8Mg0.2O3/Ba0.6La0.4CoO3. The discharge capacity of the cell achieved was larger than 770 mA h gFe−1 at 623 K. Increased capacity and cycle performance could be assigned to the deep redox degree of Fe powder.


Cloud computingaccessing computing resources over the Internetis rapidly changing the landscape of information technology. Its primary benefits compared to on-premise computing models are reduced costs and increased agility and scalability. Hence, cloud computing is receiving considerable interest among several stakeholdersbusinesses, the IT industry, application developers, researchers, and students. To successfully embrace this new computing model, these stakeholders need to acquire new cloud computing skills and knowledge. This book is designed to provide readers with a clear and thorough understanding of the key aspects of cloud computing. Presented in an easy-to-understand style, Essentials of Cloud Computing begins with an introduction to basic cloud computing concepts. It then covers cloud computing architecture, deployment models, programming models, and cloud service types, such as Software as a Service (SaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). It also discusses the clouds networking aspects, major service providers, open source support, and security issues. The book concludes with a discussion of several advanced topics, such as mobile clouds, media clouds, and green clouds. This book is intended for beginners as well as experienced practitioners who want to learn more about cloud computing. It includes many case studies, programming examples, and industry-based applications. Each chapter concludes with review questions that help readers check their understanding of the presented topics. Essentials of Cloud Computing will help readers understand the issues and challenges of cloud computing and will give them the tools needed to develop and deploy applications in clouds.


AIM
This paper seeks to describe best practices for conducting cross-language research with individuals who have a language barrier.

DESIGN
Discussion paper.

DATA SOURCES
Research methods papers addressing cross-language research issues published between 2000-2017.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Rigorous cross-language research involves the appropriate use of interpreters during the research process, systematic planning for how to address the language barrier between participant and researcher and the use of reliably and validly translated survey instruments (when applicable). Biases rooted in those who enter data into "big data" systems may influence data quality and analytic approaches in large observational studies focused on linking patient language preference to health outcomes.

CONCLUSION
Cross-language research methods can help ensure that those individuals with language barriers have their voices contributing to the evidence informing healthcare practice and policies that shape health services implementation and financing. Understanding the inherent conscious and unconscious biases of those conducting research with this population and how this may emerge in research studies is also an important part of producing rigorous, reliable, and valid cross-language research.

IMPACT
This study synthesized methodological recommendations for cross-language research studies with the goal to improve the quality of future research and expand the evidence-base for clinical practice. Clear methodological recommendations were generated that can improve research rigor and quality of cross-language qualitative and quantitative studies. The recommendations generated here have the potential to have an impact on the health and well-being of migrants around the world.


Carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) have been synthesized by laser ablation of polycrystalline graphite in water using a pulsed Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) with a width of 8 ns. Structural and mesoscopic characterization of the CNPs in the supernatant by Raman spectroscopy provide
evidence for the presence of mainly two ranges of particle sizes: 1-5 nm and 10-50 nm corresponding to amorphous carbon and graphite NPs, respectively. These results are corroborated by complementary characterization using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In addition, large (10-100 µm) graphite particles removed from the surface are essentially unmodified (in structure and topology) by the laser as confirmed by Raman analysis.


Elizabeth Wilson (2004:378) discusses the magical properties of textile media in relation to items of clothing, affect and perception. In this article, I take this enchanted sensibility further in a discussion of the strong confluence of stitched and woven (pointured) forms with horned animal mysticism, discussing the historical and contemporary beliefs surrounding horned animals in both western and African contexts in relation to, and as an influence on, the mysticism relating to pointured mediums.
I invoke Jacques Derrida's (2009 [1978]:301-315) critical term "pointure", which stems from the stitched practice of cobbling. Two sub-metaphors employed by Derrida (2009:302-307) in his extrapolation of this term bear weight in this context: his constitution of the word "lace" (derived from the shoe lace), and his perception of a haunting implicit in the relation of the original shoes, to the painted shoes, to the viewer. Following this looped notion of lacing and haunting, I argue that the vacuum made by the stitch is a haunted site invested with themes and experiences of human frailty and desire; filled precipitously by the yarn, a wished for end is sympathetically effected.


Personal Learning Environment (PLE) solutions can empower learners to design ICT environments for their activities in different learning contexts. Recommender systems have been used for supporting learners in PLEbased activities. Since, in the current recommendation approaches, multidimensional attributes of resource and dynamic interests and multi-preference of learners are not fully considered simultaneously, this paper proposes a novel resource recommendation framework in order to personalize learning environments. Learner Tree (LT) is introduced to take into account the multidimensional attributes of resources and learners' rating matrix simultaneously. In addition, a forgetting function also is used to reflect dynamic preference of a learner and a Bayesian classifier is used to predict rate of unrated resources. The main contribution of this paper is proposing a multidimensional data model to consider multi-preference of learner and using naive Bayes classifier to improve the quality of recommendation in the terms of precision, recall and also intra-list similarity. In addition, the proposed approach tries to satisfy the learner's real learning preference accurately according to the real-time up dated contextual information.


The most important factor that enables women to become individuals in society is education. It is also a very crucial part of rectifying the circumstances they are in. Besides formal, mass and distance education institutions, there are some other mechanisms to support women's individuality, their personal development and improve gender equality. Basically, these social mechanisms can be governmental, academicals and union based or they can be non-governmental organizations. All these organizations offer women significant contributions in many aspects including awareness, use and protection of women rights. They also have important roles in informing women of decisions that are made against or in favor of them, letting them have a say in these decisions, fighting against violence, becoming strong individuals that have equal rights with men and having no difficulty in using these rights and lastly in education of women on these subjects. However, women need to know these mechanisms well and be aware of the laws and regulations in order to benefit from these mechanisms and use the opportunities that are legally granted for them. The aim of this study is first to detect whether women are aware of women's governmental and non-governmental organizations and laws, and if not, to determine the mode of delivery and educational media that they prefer and the amount of time they would allocate. To fulfill this aim, 600 women who are 18 or above and living in Eskisehir were randomly picked as the sample. They were given a 34-item questionnaire in face-to-face interviews. It was found that majority of the sample were not aware of the mechanisms and laws about women and they wish to receive education on these subjects. And they think that distance education is the best form to receive this education. At the end of the study, it was concluded that women should be informed about the future studies that will be carried out by related institutions and organizations, and furthermore, projects should be prepared and distance education programs should be designed.


The Anderson Ridge quadrangle was mapped on a reconnaissance scale while 10 sq mi in the western part of the quadrangle were mapped in detail. In the detailed area, Palmer Draw, a peraluminous granite stock and related pegmatites have been emplaced in pelitic and quartzo-feldspathic metasediments. The metasediments are mainly quartz-biotite-plagioclase and quartz-biotite-plagioclase-paragonite porphyroblastic "peanut" schists with a contact zone surrounding the granite stock. The metasediments of the Palmer Draw area have been complexly folded and faulted and their field relations and geometry indicated 3 episodes of deformation. The area was divided into 2 fields of approximate structural homogeneity for analysis. The fabric of field 1 indicates flexural folding of S, a well-defined foliation parallel to the original bedding around a nearly horizontal fold axis B s 1 . This is thought to represent the first episode of deformation. In field 2 the fabric of S and L 2 lineations, minor fold axes, indicate flexural folding of S around a nearly vertical fold axis B s 2 . This episode of folding affected primarily the steep limbs of the previous B s 1 folds. Field relations and the projection pattern of the L 3 lineations, biotite traces, suggest a penetrative surface S9. S9 is planar through the B s 2 minor folds which they transect at various angles. This and other evidence indicates that S9 is later than the B s 2 folds and is superimposed on the B s 2 folds. The last episode of deformation then involve faulting and passive folding by movements on S9. It is thought that the granitic emplacements preceded the B s 2 folding. This is consistent with evidence of a thermal metamorphism preceding a regional metamorphism. The B s 1 and B s 2 folds are thought to be Precambrian in age. S9 may be Laramide in age and related to the overthrusting of the western slope of the Wind River Range.


Subsurface contamination by light nonaqueous‐phase liquids (LNAPLs) is a pressing environmental issue with many industrial sites having some degree of near‐surface pollution. Noninvasive, geophysical investigation methods, such as ground penetrating radar (GPR), have become increasingly popular, but their use has tended to be restricted to plume "mapping" and recent contamination events only. Mature LNAPL contamination, where the hydrocarbons undergo significant alteration and biodegradation, complicates the electrophysical properties of the subsurface, making GPR data interpretation more difficult. This is particularly true in shallow, coastal environments where LNAPLs form a disaggregated, smeared zone associated with the seasonally changing groundwaters. Therefore, any method that can improve data interpretation has a significant practical benefit in these complex environments. By using dielectric material property analysis, empirical mixing model evaluation, and three‐dimensional, finite‐difference time‐domain (FDTD) modeling, it has been possible to investigate the nature and spectral content of GPR signal attenuation and scattering within the vadose or smeared zone of a mature LNAPL‐contaminated site. Using FDTD models to simulate real subsurface conditions, a comparison between the GPR response of "clean" and contaminated environments has been made where the subsurface materials contain different LNAPL–porewater saturations and contaminant geometries. The results show that uniform mixtures, disaggregated scattering mixtures, and stratified pools of contaminated material all exhibit different, yet characterizable, temporal and spectral GPR responses and that the recorded data can provide new insights into the mode of contaminant distribution and saturation as long as the incident field of the GPR system can be determined accurately.


Climate change and the transition to a low-carbon economy to mitigate it engender significant economic costs. These costs are ultimately borne by households and firms, affecting their cash flows and wealth, which are key determinants of their credit worthiness. Climate-related costs are thus a source of credit risk.

An accurate assessment of all credit risks, including climate credit risk, is central for creditors including central banks. If they underestimate it, they are exposed to financial losses and to the risk of holding assets of inadequate credit quality.

Assessing climate risks requires methodologies based on forward-looking scenarios, on complex cause-and-effect linkages and on data that has not been observed in the past. Such models are at their infancy, but already offer meaningful insights. This note provides an overview of key components that such models are built on and illustrates them with examples of the analytics that are already available. It also applies one of the available methodologies to assess transition risk to the corporate bond holdings of the European Central Bank.


In this article the authors look at those who have been largely ignored in previous research, those who experi- ence bullying negative behaviours but who do not label themselves as bullied. The research objective is to examine the reliability of asking people to self-labelling themselves as bullied as a measure of actual bullying and to see if there is a threshold in the bullying experienced that leads to the bullied being willing to self label themselves as bullied and to what extent labelling as a victim of bullying impacts on the degree of emotional reaction to the negative behaviour experienced. Quantitative methods are used to analysis two large data sets to highlight a sub-set of people who do not self-label and test differences between them and the self-labelled bullied. The findings indicate that using a dichotomous system of the bullied and the not-bullied is confounding. Even at very high levels of negative behaviour there persists a tendency for respondents to not self-label. Also found was that regardless of whether self-labelled as a victim of bullying or not those who experi- ence negative behaviour have similar strong emotional reactions to bullying. The research finds that self-labelling is a valid but unreliable measure of workplace bullying and suggests that using a Negative Behaviour index of experiences that takes into account persistence and intensity is a much more reliable measure that captures the totality of bullying.


The determination of phosphorus in a biologically relevant sample matrix such as DNA is described. The analytical methodology used is based on a robust on-line coupling of capillary electrophoresis (CE) or high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, equipped with an octopole reaction system (ORS-ICP-MS). Polyatomic ions formed in the plasma and the interface region of the ICP-MS that interfere with the determination of P at mass 31 were minimised by the addition of helium to the collision cell. Instrumental detection limits of 125 ng L−1 for 31P, and in the range of 18 to 49 ng L−1 for the other trace elements, were achieved under the conditions described. In order to demonstrate the high separation and detection efficiency of the system, the method developed has been applied to the element specific detection of phosphorus in monophosphorylated deoxynucleotides and to enzymatically digested calf thymus DNA after CE and HPLC separation, respectively. Both hyphenated techniques provide baseline separation of the four deoxynucleotide monophosphates (dNMP), which are present in the DNA chain. With CE-ICP-MS, detection limits for phosphorus down to 53 µg L−1
(2′-deoxyguanosin-5′-monophosphate, dAMP)
(corresponding to 0.6 pg P absolute) have been achieved. RSDs of the migration times were about 5%. Using HPLC-ICP-MS, detection limits down to 3 µg L−1
(2′-deoxythymidine-5′-monophosphate, dTMP)
(corresponding to 0.03 ng P absolute) were obtained. The migration/elution order of the deoxynucleotides investigated was obtained by comparison with the migration/retention times of commercially available dNMP's. Furthermore it was checked if HPLC-ESI-MS can be operated under the same chromatographic conditions for the confirmation of the elution order and for the characterisation of unknown peaks. Finally, flow injection analysis (FIA) was used for the quantification of the phosphorus content in the dNMP samples. Using FIA, detection limits for phosphorus of 2.5 µg L−1 corresponding to 25 pg phosphorus absolute were achieved.


Biosurfactants are bioactive agents that can be produced by many different microorganisms. Among those, special attention is given to yeasts, since they can produce many types of biosurfactants in large scale, using several kinds of substrates, justifying its use for industrial production of those products. For this production to be economically viable, the use of residual carbon sources is recommended. The present study isolated yeasts from soil contaminated with petroleum oil hydrocarbons and assessed their capacity for producing biosurfactants in low cost substrates. From a microbial consortium enriched, seven yeasts were isolated, all showing potential for producing biosurfactants in soybean oil. The isolate LBPF 3, characterized as Candida antarctica, obtained the highest levels of production - with a final production of 13.86 g/L. The isolate LBPF 9, using glycerol carbon source, obtained the highest reduction in surface tension in the growth medium: approximately 43% of reduction after 24 hours of incubation. The products obtained by the isolates presented surfactant activity, which reduced water surface tension to values that varied from 34 mN/m, obtained from the product of isolates LBPF 3 and 16 LBPF 7 (respectively characterized as Candida antarctica and Candida albicans) to 43 mN/m from the isolate LPPF 9, using glycerol as substrate. The assessed isolates all showed potential for the production of biosurfactants in conventional sources of carbon as well as in agroindustrial residue, especially in glycerol.


The study examined the factors associated with the level of access of Agricultural Extension officers in Kwara State to Information and Communication Technology (ICT). It also identified the constraints to the usage of ICT for the purpose of sourcing agricultural information. Data for the study were collected from the Subject Matter Specialists (SMSs) and Extension Agents (EAs) of the Kwara State Agricultural Development Project (KWADP) through the use of a structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistical tools were employed for the data analysis. The study revealed that about 70% of the EAs do not earn above N20, 000. Only8.8% of the EAs possessed university degrees and none had access to computer systems at work. All the SMSs had official computers, although none of the computers were connected to the internet. Income of the respondents was found to be significant and positively related to access to ICT. The numbers of years on the job and the age of the respondents had negative but significant relationship with access. Apart from the general constraints to the use of ICT such as, high cost of personal computer, inadequate electricity supply and poor internet access, poor training and technological knowhow were also identified as specific constraints faced by the EAs. The study therefore recommended the need for easier access by all agricultural extension officers to ICT. Besides, training workshops should be organized for Extension officers in the area of ICT and computer appreciation.


Women make up just 6.1 per cent of Pacific parliamentarians. Increasing women's representation is a key area of focus for political leaders and aid donors, both as a human rights issue and as a vehicle for the substantive representation of women. Women's participation in politics in the Pacific Islands is often seen as a form of social contract between women. Female voters are expected to vote for female candidates. In exchange, female parliamentarians are expected to act, not just for the constituency that elected them, but for women as a group. This article examines the expectations that are placed on the political participation of Pacific women, and argues that attempts to increase women's participation in politics in the region should avoid reinforcing these expectations through an emphasis on substantive representation.


Linux multipathing provides io failover and path load sharing for multipathed block devices. In this paper, we provide an overview of the current device mapper based multipathing capability and describe Enterprise level requirements for future multipathing enhancements. We describe the interaction amongst kernel multipathing modules, user mode multipathing tools, hotplug, udev, and kpartx components when considering use cases. Use cases include path and logical unit re-configuration, partition management, and path failover for both active-active and active-passive generic storage systems. We also describe lessons learned during testing the MD scheme on highend storage.


We have investigated the performance of a hidden Markov model QBH retrieval system on a large musical database. The database is synthetic, generated from statistics gleaned from our (smaller) database of musical excerpts from various genres. This paper reports the performance of several variations of our retrieval system against different types of synthetic queries on the large database, where we can control the errors injected into the queries. We note several trends, among the most interesting is that as queries get longer (i.e., more notes) the retrieval performance improves.


Any consideration of global migration in relation to work and citizenship must necessarily be situated in the context of the Great Recession. A whole historical chapter – that of neoliberalism – has now closed and the future can only be deemed uncertain. Migrant workers were key players during this phase of the global system, supplying cheap and flexible labour inputs when required in the rich countries. Now, with the further sustainability of the neoliberal political and economic world order in question, what will be the role of migration in terms of work patterns and what modalities of political citizenship will develop? While informalization of the relations of production and the precarization of work were once assumed to be the exception, that is no longer the case.As for citizenship this book posits a parallel development of precarious citizenship for migrants, made increasingly vulnerable by the global economic crisis. But we are also in an era of profound social transformation, in the context of which social counter-movements emerge, which may halt the disembedding of the market from social control and its corrosive impact.


This chapter examines the decision-making modes of governments and their capacities to govern, with particular emphasis on bureaucracies that support governments in their tasks of ruling and administrating the country. It first presents the relevant definitions before discussing different modes of government that reflect the internal balance of power: presidential government, cabinet government, prime ministerial government, and ministerial government. It then considers the autonomy of government, especially from political parties and the permanent bureaucracy, along with the political capacity of governments, the relevance of unified versus divided government, majority versus minority government, and single-party versus coalition government. The chapter concludes with an assessment of the bureaucratic capacities of government, focusing on issues such as classic bureaucracy, the politicization of bureaucracies, and New Public Management systems.


A graph labeling is an assignment of integers to the vertices or edges, or both, subject to certain conditions. Graph labelings were first introduced in the mid 1960s. In the intervening 50 years nearly 200 graph labelings techniques have been studied in over 2000 papers. Finding out what has been done for any particular kind of labeling and keeping up with new discoveries is difficult because of the sheer number of papers and because many of the papers have appeared in journals that are not widely available. In this survey I have collected everything I could find on graph labeling. For the convenience of the reader the survey includes a detailed table of contents and index.


Paleoproterozoic suture zones mark the formation of supercontinent Nuna and provide a record of North America's assembly. Conspicuously young ages (ca. 1.715 Ga) associated with deformation in southeast Wyoming craton argue for a more protracted consolidation of Laurentia, long after peak metamorphism in the Trans-Hudson orogen. Using paleomagnetic data from the newly dated 1899 ± 5 Ma Sourdough mafic dike swarm (Wyoming craton), we compare the relative positions of Wyoming, Superior, and Slave cratons before, during, and after peak metamorphism in the Trans-Hudson orogen. With these constraints, we refine a collisional model for Laurentia that incorporates Wyoming craton after Superior and Slave cratons united, redefining the Paleoproterozoic sutures that bind southern Laurentia.


Optical interconnection and signal distribution at the backplane, board, and substrate level can be implemented using thin-film active optoelectronic devices embedded in polymer waveguide structures. These active embedded devices eliminate the need for optical beam turning to and from photodetectors and emitters, respectively, for inputs and outputs to the substrate waveguides. In this paper, optical interconnections using fully embedded thin-film metal-semiconductor-metal (MSM) photodetectors in polymer optical waveguides are demonstrated, and the experimental characterization of these thin-film MSMs embedded in polymer waveguides is reported. To illustrate the potential for high-level signal distribution at the backplane, board, and substrate levels, a 1/spl times/4 balanced multimode interference (MMI) coupler has also been demonstrated in a photoimageable polymer for the first time. Finally, a 1/spl times/4 thin-film MSM photodetector array has been embedded in the output arms of the a photoimageable polymer MMI for the first time, and the MSM array photocurrent outputs from the 4 arms show that highly balanced optical signal distribution has been achieved.


The performance of modern greenhouse-grown roses under intensive nutrient and water management practices questions their traditional classification as a salt- sensitive species, and emphasizes the need to reassess their salinity tolerance. Con- tainer-grown 'Bridal Pink∑ roses (on R. manetti rootstock) in a peat moss-based growing medium were irrigated, using moderate leaching fractions (25% targeted, 37.5% actual), with complete nutrient solutions supplemented with NaCl at 0, 5, and 10 mM. These salt concentrations affected the electrical conductivity (EC) and Cl concentrations measured in the leachates, but had no significant effects on flower yield and quality over four growth and flowering flushes (s 29 weeks). Cumulative yields over this period increased an average of s 13% per leachate EC unit. Thereafter, the applied NaCl concentrations were increased 3-fold to 0, 15, and 30 mM and the plants continued to be evaluated for another four flowering flushes. No significant differences in cut-flower yield and qual- ity were observed among salt treatments despite further increases in leachate EC and Na and Cl concentrations. Symptoms of salt injury were visually observed during the last three flowering cycles, and most heavily on the oldest foliage of plants receiving the highest salt concentration (30 mM), but not on the foliage of harvested shoots. The concentration of most nutrients in leaf tissue was not significantly affected by any of the treatments over the course of the experiment. Leaf Na concentrations were not af- fected by NaCl applications, averaging 42 mg·kg-1 across treatments. Conversely, leaf Cl concentrations increased significantly and cumulatively over time with salt additions, and ranged from 1.0 to 17.5 g·kg-1 (0.1 to 1.75%). Regression analyses revealed that average relative dry weight yields increased with leaf Cl concentrations up to 4.0 g·kg-1 (0.40%), but were depressed at higher concentrations.


The financial privacy law passed by Congress in 1999 has been the target of scathing criticism. Financial institutions have complained about the high costs of the billions of notices sent to consumers, apparently to widespread consumer indifference. On the other side, privacy advocates have condemned the law as woefully weak. This article disagrees with the criticisms. Part I describes the main provisions of Title V of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, showing a better match with basic privacy principles than many have realized. Part II explores the history of how GLB became law, placing the enactment into the context of a historic peak of privacy policy activity in the late 1990s. This history draws on my dual perspective, as an academic who has written extensively about financial and other privacy issues, and as the Clinton Administration's Chief Counselor for Privacy during the period. Part III looks at the most hotly contested issue in the privacy debate, the rules for sharing personal information with affiliated entities and third parties. GLB establishes a basic rule that information can flow freely within a financial institution and to its affiliates. Customer choice - an opt out ability to prevent sharing - applies for transfers to non-affiliated companies. The article argues that an exception to that principle of customer choice, the "joint marketing exception" should be repealed. It then explores the knotty issue of how to handle data sharing in today's vast financial conglomerates, suggesting possible statutory modifications. Part IV looks at the much-maligned notices that financial institutions have sent out in compliance with GLB. The critics have accurately complained about the legalistic and detailed language in the current notices. The critics have largely overlooked, however, important benefits from these notices. Publication of the notices and the new legal obligation to comply with them have forced financial institutions to engage in considerable self-scrutiny of their data handling practices. Many firms have hired a Chief Privacy Officer or made other institutional changes. The current notices, even in their imperfect form, have reduced the risk of egregious privacy practices. And improved notices, with a plain-language short form on top, would enhance accountability while also communicating far more clearly with ordinary customers. In short, there are surprising merits of the GLB privacy provisions. Considerably more was accomplished in the Act than observers would have predicted in the spring of 1999 or than critics have recognized to date. Important flaws do exist, but specific and achievable changes in the statute and implementing regulation can go far toward reducing the magnitude of those flaws.


The EU provides a new context for minority nationalist parties, not only to conceive their long-term political project, but also to organise their mobilisation. New institutional and representational opportunities have emerged from multi-level European politics, through the European Parliament, the Committee of the Regions, the EU Regional Policy, etc. This thesis looks at the impact of European integration on minority nationalist mobilisation in France. The French position on internal diversity-still largely influenced by Jacobinism - is emblematic of the tensions existing between minority nationalism and the concept of nation-state. This makes it a valuable "hard" case to assess the significance of the EU for minority nationalist contestation in member states. Evidence gathered from three parties in Brittany (UDB), Corsica (UPC) and the Northern Basque Country (AB) shows that minority nationalists have found it hard to participate in European politics and to access the European political space. As a result of a lack of institutional recognition and parliamentary representation, minority nationalists in France are constrained to operate exclusively at the local level. Consequently, and unlike many minority nationalists in Europe, none of these parties have conceived the EU as an alternative to their relations with the French state and/or fully reformulated their demands in accordance with the European level. European integration has nevertheless entered the strategic considerations of minority nationalists in France, albeit to different degrees. Unlike what could be expected from their trans-border identity. Northern Basque nationalists have perceived the least opportunity in Europe for their mobilisation. It is argued that this is because AB does not mobilise in an institutionalised region. The regional status of Brittany and Corsica has involved both regions in the European policy-making process and this is why European resources have proved valuable to the UDB and the UPC. In the end, though, the comparison of the Breton and Corsican cases shows that the value of Europe as a strategy is contingent on the level of exclusivity that minority nationalists can claim on the European issue within their local political spheres.


Infrared action spectroscopy is used to identify the OH-HONO2 complex, an intermediate proposed to be important in the reaction of OH with HONO2. Two features are observed in the OH stretching region: a rotationally structured band corresponding to the OH radical stretch and a broadened feature assigned to the OH stretch of HONO2. Assignments are based on vibrational frequencies, analysis of rotational structure, and comparison with ab initio calculations. Nascent OH product state distributions give a binding energy of ≤5.3 kcal mol-1. Infrared action spectroscopy is also used to examine the H2O-HO complex, a primary interaction in the hydration of OH. A rotationally structured band is assigned to the OH radical stretch of H2O-HO. The stability of the complex, ≤5.14 kcal mol-1, is derived from the nascent OH product state distribution. The assignment is supported by ab initio predictions of the spectral shift and dissociation energy. A second feature to lower frequency is attributed to a hot band from an H2O bending state based on theoretical modeling. IR-UV double resonance spectroscopy is used to characterize hindered rotor states in the ground electronic state of CN-Ne and CN-Ar. Infrared spectra exhibit perturbations due to Coriolis coupling: a deperturbation analysis gives rotational constants and coupling strengths. The energetic ordering and spacings of the hindered rotor states provide a probe of the anisotropic intermolecular potential, which is compared with ab initio calculations. The CN monomer is nearly free rotor-like within both complexes. A similar approach yields the infrared spectrum of H2-CN, which exhibits rotational structure consistent with ortho-H2-CN in a linear C≡N-H-H configuration. Lastly, laser-induced fluorescence and IR-UV fluorescence depletion studies are used to characterize the lowest intermolecular levels of CN-Ar correlating with CN B 2Σ+ + Ar. Fluorescence depletion spectra confirm that specific features originate from a common ground state. The observed energy level pattern and intensity profile reflect the change in configuration from a weakly anisotropic potential about linear N≡C-Ar in the ground state to linear C≡N-Ar in the excited electronic state. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Chemistry First Advisor Marsha I. Lester This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/558


Background
The prevalence of anxiety disorders is a recognised worldwide problem. The number of referrals to the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service in the United Kingdom (UK) has increased by 26% over the last five years. The UK government have issued several policies to shape the future of children's mental health services. To ensure this is done effectively, it is crucial to assess young people's perceptions and understanding of mental health. As such, the aim of this research was to explore children's understanding of anxiety.

Methods
A literature review was conducted to determine existing knowledge in relation to children's anxiety and the methodologies employed to inform the current study design. A qualitative exploratory approach was utilised using the Leventhal's Common-Sense Model to explore the five dimensions of anxiety (identity (appearance), cause, consequence, duration and treatments). The current research employed innovative creative methods and techniques, namely the 'Draw and Write Technique' in three individual focus groups, creating group drawings and answering cue card questions based on vignettes. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the transcribed verbal and visual data.

Results
The current research demonstrates that children as young as eight years have some understanding about the five dimensions of anxiety. It was observed that children are more likely to seek support from their family as opposed to staff in school and have a limited knowledge about professionals who provide support for those with mental health problems. Furthermore, the children in the research had a limited understanding about the consequences and duration of anxiety.

Conclusions
The research broadens our knowledge of children's understanding of anxiety and highlights some of the gaps in their understanding. The findings are significant in highlighting where developments in policy and practice could most usefully be focused. Future research directions and consequences for clinical practice are discussed.


Abstract Well crystallized chlorite has been detected in a Typic Hapludult developed on quartz porphyry at Ulsan, Korea, after treatment of the <0.2 μm fraction with a high-gradient magnetic separation (HGMS) technique. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) characteristics of the chlorite suggest that it is an Fe-rich variety and this was confirmed by energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) analysis. The chlorite could not be detected with certainty in the <2 μm fraction but is clearly present throughout the soil profile in the <0.2 μm fraction. It is suggested that this chlorite is residual inherited chlorite, the rest of which has dissolved in the acidic environment (pH 4-5).


Everyone knows that the media surround us, but no one quite understands what this means for our lives. In "Media Unlimited," a remarkable and original look at our media-glutted, speed-addicted world, Todd Gitlin makes us stare, as if for the first time, at the biggest picture of all. From video games to elevator music, action movies to reality shows, Gitlin evokes a world of relentless sensation, instant transition, and nonstop stimulus. He shows how all media, all the time fuels celebrity worship, paranoia, and irony; and how attempts to ward off the onrush become occasions for yet more media. Far from signaling a "new information age," the media torrent, as Gitlin argues, encourages disposable emotions and casual commitments, and threatens to make democracy a sideshow. Both a startling analysis and a charged polemic, "Media Unlimited" reveals the unending stream of manufactured images and sounds as a defining feature of our civilization and a perverse culmination of Western hopes for freedom.


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT NOW REQUIRES PUBLICLY traded companies to disclose whether they have adopted a code of ethics for senior financial officers. In addition, the New York Stock Exchange is considering new rules that would require listed companies to have a code of business conduct that applies to all employees. * UNDER THE ACT THE SEC REQUIRES COMPANIES to file an internal control report with their annual report outlining management's responsibilities for establishing and maintaining adequate internal controls as well as its conclusions about the effectiveness of those controls. The company's auditor must attest to management's evaluation. * MANY COMPANIES ALREADY HAVE ETHICS CODES. With the emphasis in Sarbanes-Oxley on financial reporting, CPAs may want to help employers and clients review these codes to make sure they comply with the new regulations. Companies will need to establish a process for rank-and-file employees to report code violations confidentially to someone outside the ordinary corporate chain of command. * THE BEST WAY TO DRAFT A CODE OF ETHICS all employees will follow is to bring together a multidisciplinary team from all parts of the organization. Employees must then be trained in what the code means using real-life dilemmas they might encounter on the job. Regular refresher courses are important because ethics training is perishable--people forget. * COMPANIES WITH AN EXISTING ETHICS CODE UNLIKELY will need a new one. Still, businesses may want to revisit the code to make sure they have a full-blown compliance program in place. Even though the act focuses on the CFO, the SEC expects the entire organization to comply with the law. Stung by the high-profile accounting scandals that drove some the nation's leading companies into bankruptcy court, Congress and other regulatory authorities have taken up their pens in an attempt to legislate business behavior. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which President Bush signed into law in July of 2002, requires publicly traded companies to disclose whether they have adopted a code of ethics for their senior financial officers, and if not, why. They also must report promptly any amendments to or waivers from the code. The New York Stock Exchange, meanwhile, proposed new corporate governance standards which--if the SEC approves them--would require companies traded on that exchange to adopt corporate governance guidelines and a code of business conduct and ethics for all employees. CPAs can help employers or clients navigate these new rules and create a code of ethics that complies with all of the requirements. NUTS AND BOLTS For companies that choose to adopt a set of ethics guidelines in response to Sarbanes-Oxley--and few will run the risk of not doing so given the negative message it would send to investors, regulators and potential litigants--section 406 of the act says the code should seek to ensure that senior financial executives * Conduct themselves honestly and ethically, particularly in handling actual or apparent conflicts of interest. * Provide full, fair, accurate, timely and understandable disclosure in the periodic reports their employers file with the SEC. * Comply with all applicable government laws, rules and regulations. Even for CPAs who don't toil as principal financial officers, comptrollers or principal accounting officers--job titles Sarbanes-Oxley specifically targets--the new law introduces a raft of issues. As interpreted by the SEC in the proposed rule-making notice it issued on October 16, 2002, Sarbanes-Oxley does more than suggest companies have a code of ethics for senior financial executives. Once SEC rules are finalized, section 404 of the act will require publicly traded companies to file in their annual reports an "internal control report" that outlines what steps management has taken to establish and maintain adequate internal controls and financial reporting procedures, as well as management's conclusions about the effectiveness of those controls and procedures--a report CPAs and corporate finance departments likely will have a hand in drafting. …


A creatively designed environment is conducive to creative activities. An occupation performed in a studio or a workshop usually includes both intellectual and practical aspects. The corresponding workspace must therefore have the characteristics of an office, while functioning as a place for production at the same time. Depending on the field of work, either one of these aspects can be more prominent, yet the aim is always to put constructive potentials into practice to achieve the best possible results. The projects presented in this volume include advertising agencies and product design workshops, fashion and photographic studios, and of course architecture and interior design firms. The spaces for creative labor can be opulent, ascetic, bright, fancy, structured, colorful, elegant or even something completely different.


Abstract:This paper is a comparative analysis of the international campaigns around landmines and small arms. The aim is to determine whether aspects of the successful campaign to ban landmines can be replicated by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) campaigning on other issues, such as the regulation of small arms. Drawing on the literature on globalisation, transnational civil society, social movements, global governance and international norms, five main factors influencing the success of the landmines campaign are identified and applied to the small-arms campaign. These include geopolitical conditions, the effects of globalisation, the attitude of other actors in the international system, how campaigners framed the issue and how they linked it to pre-existing norms and legal precedents. The paper concludes that the landmines campaign is best regarded as a one-off success, resulting from a particular coincidence of issue-specific factors and external conditions, which cannot easily be replicated. It also suggests that the success of NGO campaigns may also be limited to relatively 'straightforward' problems amenable to simple solutions.


The purposes of this study are to explore speaking, presentation, participation and socialization challenges in their classrooms. The theoretical orientations framing this study are language and academic socialization, and language adjustment, etc. The study combined quantitative and qualitative strategies involving surveying 250 students followed by interviewing three Emirati and three Saudi students. The interview responses were coded to themes. Content analysis is used to interpret the data. Some major findings of the survey are that Emirati students "rarely" feel that native English speaking students are more competent than they are in classes. Emirati and Saudi students feel "less comfortable" participating in large group discussions and completing presentations assignments, and "comfortable" participating in small group discussion in classes. However, the interview results indicate several factors that influence the cultural adjustment of international students such as language differences and skills (Klineberg & Hull, 1979). As a Saudi student; Khalifah, indicated his experience with silence upon arriving in the US language preparation program due to language differences. He is fluent in his native language "Arabic" and trying to improve his English proficiency. The study implies that Emirati and Saudi students' sponsors should prepare students to learn new skills and adjust to the educational system of the American universities, which is different from that in their native countries. This study is important for retention programs and for educators and policymakers in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and US.


Evolutionary explanations of anger as a commitment device hinge on two key assumptions. The first is that it is observable ex-ante whether someone will get angry when feeling badly treated. The second is that anger is associated with destructive behavior. We test the validity of these assumptions by studying whether observers are able to detect who rejected a low offer in an ultimatum game. We collected photos and videos of responders in an ultimatum game before they were informed about the game that they would be playing. We showed pairs of photos or videos, consisting of one responder who rejected a low offer and one responder who accepted a low offer, to an independent group of observers. We find support for the two assumptions. Observers do better than chance at detecting who rejected the low offer, especially for rejecters who get angry at low offers.


Sao Paulo state in Brazil and Florida account for approximately 80 percent of world orange juice production. In this paper, an overview of the citrus industry of Sao Paulo is presented. Comparative costs of production in the two regions are provided. Recent events in the two regions are discussed and analyzed.