Data on pulmonary gas exchange were collected in breathhold dives to 90 feet in a tank and in open-sea breathhold dives to depths of 217.5 and 225 feet. Thoracic blood volume displacements were measured at depths of 25, 50, 90, and 130 feet, by use of the impedance plethysmograph. The open-sea dives were carried out with an average speed of descent of 3.95 feet per second and an average rate of ascent of 3.50 feet per second. End-dive alveolar oxygen tensions did not fall below 36 millimeters of mercury, while alveolar carbon dioxide tension did not rise above 40 millimeters of mercury except in one case. These findings indicate that for diver Croft, who has unusual lung capacity, neither hypoxia nor hypercapnia determined the depth limits under those conditions. At depths of 90 and 130 feet blood was forced into the thorax, amounting to 1047 and 850 milliliters respectively.


Our current world is afflicted by complex and wicked problems such as the climate change, the high rate of poverty and hunger, the unsustainability of the market. From energy production to soil analysis, we have to change the dogmas we are working with, we have to change the business models and the hypothesis we are believing. What can we do better? How can we design a better way forward?

We must re-design the framework conditions.

First, starting by using what is locally available. We have to turn the local resources into a strategy that also generates jobs and the opportunity to keep the value inside the local economy. The model of inspiration is the nature and this is at the basis of the blue economy. It is necessary to shift from our linear business model to another one that thinks in terms of "cascades" of nutrients and energy.

Secondly, the logic of the Blue economy includes the logic of putting the nature back onto its evolution path. This means that the companies must secure the conditions to let the environment to restore its self-organizing conditions. This will ensure the resilience of the system, that is a condition we urgently need in order to face with the environmental uncertainties.

Systemic Designers can have a key role in redesigning the framework conditions since they are able to think in a systemic way. They can help to understand, among other things, the flows, the energy, the feedback loops, in order to interconnect elements and design a self-organizing system. At this scope, it is necessary to create the conditions of more cooperation among different fields (science, university, entrepreneurs, economy) and put them in a framework more linked with society and communities. Education has a central role on this matter, because it is responsible to inspire the young people and expose them to different opportunities.

We need to re-think, re-build, re-born the way we think and the way we are inspiring children so that we can have a common future. We need to shift our business models and start designing the real world that nature and humanity deserves.


Many technology-intensive (TI) firms find it challenging to leverage customisation and achieve sustainable innovation. Although some firms use modularity to tackle this challenge, mixed effects on sustainable innovation have been reported. This study uses organisational learning and ambidexterity theory to provide insights into how TI firms can achieve 'win-win' situations where sustainable innovation is increased through customisation. First, we argue that customisation should be viewed two-dimensionally and identify both modularity and solution space freedom as important dimensions. We argue that modularity reflects knowledge specialisation and solution space freedom reflects knowledge variety. Both of these dimensions affect organisational learning and, in turn, sustainable innovation. Second, we argue that the relationship between customisation and organisational learning is affected by supplier characteristics, specifically supplier sophistication. Survey data from 166 managers were used to empirically test the conceptual model and hypotheses. Polynomial response surface analysis confirms that customising by balancing high degrees of both modularity and solution space freedom results in superior organisational learning. High levels of supplier sophistication do not strengthen these effects. Rather, our results show that combining high degrees of modularity with constrained solution spaces increases learning for TI firms working with less sophisticated suppliers. In addition, organisational learning fully mediates the effect of customisation on sustainable product and process innovation.


In early 2010 it was reported that the some of the nations of the European Union were considering passing legislation aimed a protecting an individual's "right to be forgotten." The right to be forgotten is such that a person's past deeds, though chronicled and now available on the Internet, were considered private. Therefore, any person could demand that the possessor of this information erase it or face a lawsuit. Although EU members hail the creation of this right to be forgotten as improving individual privacy rights, such a right creates a problem for American online news organizations. Not only does such law come into direct conflict with protections found in the First Amendment, but it also conflicts with traditional privacy jurisprudence, which states that information made public cannot become private again. At the same time, Americans seem to be attempting to assert a right to be forgotten. For instance, a man threatened to sue a college newspaper that had articles reporting on the misdeeds of his son in its online archives. This paper analyzes the emerging conflict that recognizing a right to be forgotten online would have with American jurisprudence regarding the role of the press, both traditional and online, as a watchdog for the public as well as with traditional U.S. privacy policy. Section two attempts to examine the boundaries of the right to be forgotten from both theoretical and EU perspectives. Section three considers traditional U.S privacy law and some of the contours of that law including the protection for newsworthy information. Section four analyzes the right to be forgotten with respect to the protections for free expression detailed in Section three. This paper concludes with a consideration of how the right to be forgotten would not fit with traditional U.S. privacy jurisprudence.


Under the auspices of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP), Kochi Core Center (KCC) was designated as one of the 3 IODP core repositories in the world. The KCC is in-charge of curating core materials collected/to be collected from most of the Indian Ocean, west Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea. Curation of the IODP core material in the KCC began in 2007 as it started receiving core material from other two IODP core repositories. This core material was collected under the DSDP (Deep Sea Drilling Program) and ODP (Ocean Drilling Program) that preceded the IODP. With the development of various new analytical techniques and geochemical tracers, and ever-going refinement of environmental record based on traditional indices, the core material collected under the DSDP and ODP (also known as 'Legacy core') continuously attract science community. The KCC has not only maintained high curatorial standards of the IODP for providing core samples free of cost, but also added many unique services like curation of cuttings and deep frozen aliquots of cores, open access to logging equipment for core measurements, virtual core library to provide quick online access to 3-D XCT images of the cores collected by the D/V Chikyu, online summary of the cores being curated in the KCC, and up-to-date online images of working half of recently sampled cores to show status of samples available for research. A huge new reefer building was added to the KCC in August 2014 that raised the capacity of the KCC to store 250 km of core. With its current stock of 121 km of the IODP cores, that has built up over last decade, and the cores to be collected under new IODP (International Ocean Discovery Program), the KCC continues to play a significant role in promoting earth and biogeosciences throughout the world.


Three decades of rapid industrialization until the lifting of martial law in 1987, with little or no concern for the environment, have made Taiwan's environmental degradation a serious problem. In the past twenty years, Taiwan has seen a surge of environmental organizations, which to a certain degree have enjoyed a remarkable success in fighting polluting industries or affecting policies on behalf of the environment.
This book aims to analyse environmental governance mechanisms and actors in Taiwan through a multi-disciplinary research approach. Based on extensive and original research, it includes four different case studies, which have all taken place since 2011. It focuses on four major elements of governance - specifically norms, actors, processes, and outcomes - to examine Taiwan's national and local environmental governance in the post-2008 period. The book shows how the painful lessons Taiwan has learned throughout its transition should be of interest to other developing countries, illustrating how these positive transformations have managed to bring about a more ecologically friendly mode of economic development.
Demonstrating that the battle to further ecological sustainability is also a battle to further democratisation, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Taiwan Studies, Developmental Studies and Environmental Studies.


From the nineteenth century onwards, a nationalist turn can be discerned in the history of Dutch linguistics. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, however, Dutch linguists did not address the people or nation but only a cultivated elite. In order to trace the rise of nationalist thinking in the course of the history of Dutch eighteenth-century linguistics, a vast amount of sources has been studied. It is shown that a sudden considerable increase of nationalist jargon cannot be determined. The educational approach from c. 1750 onwards, however, clearly suggests a nationalist framework. The typical eighteenthcentury fusion of notions such as language, people or nation, and history into one conceptual framework is contemporaneous with the publications of German authors such as Herder, Adelung and Michaelis. A few cases of direct influence are described but independent Dutch developments can also be discerned. Especially from c. 1800 onwards, the German predecessors are often referred to.


The investigation into the historical seismicity of Romania evidences the occurrence of two strong earthquakes in Transylvania (central part of Romania) near the localities of Medias (1523) and Tarnaveni (1880). Historical information on the 1523 earthquake, though poor, shows that it was felt on Saint Elizabeth's Day, which is celebrated on November 19, not on June 19 as proposed by previous studies and catalogues. Historical information on the 1880 earthquake allows a detailed study. The investigation concentrated on time, epicentral location and intensity distribution. The new macroseismic map shows a large area of I = VII (r7 = 20.7 km), the centre of which is proposed as the epicentral location, different from the previous ones.


This study investigated the spatial and temporal variations in total inorganic nitrogen (TIN) and total phosphorus (TP) and examined the relationship between water quality and urbanisation in the Passaic River watershed. The results indicate that: 1) the mean TIN and TP concentrations and fluxes showed a relatively steadily decreasing trend in last two decades; 2) TIN and TP concentrations in summer and autumn were higher than those in spring and winter, but the fluxes were lower than those in spring and winter. At the same time, TIN and TP concentrations in normal flow condition were also higher than those in storm flow condition, but the fluxes were lower than those in storm flow condition; 3) spatially, water quality in upper reaches of the rivers was better than that of middle and lower reaches, and the nutrient concentrations in water management area (WMA) 4 were the highest, followed by WMA 6 and WMA 3. Land use change, population growth, urbanisation and environmental protection investment were the main factors that influence the change of environment in the Passaic River Basin.


Objective: To summarize fatal motor vehicle crash deaths in the United States by time of day, day of week, month, and season, and to determine why some days of the year tend to experience a relatively high number of deaths. Method: Crash deaths were identified and categorized using the Fatality Analysis Reporting System. Days of the year with relatively high crash deaths were compared to the two days that occurred exactly one week before and one week after. Results: On average, motor vehicle crashes in the United States result in more than 100 deaths per day, but there is much day-to-day variability. During 1986–2002 the single day fatality count ranged from a low of 45 to a high of 252. Summer and fall months experience more crash deaths than winter and spring, largely due to increased vehicle travel. July 4 (Independence Day) has more crash deaths on average than any other day of the year, with a relatively high number of deaths involving alcohol. January 1 (New Year's Day) has more pedestrian crash deaths on average, plus it has the fifth largest number of deaths per day overall, also due to alcohol impairment. On other days the high numbers of deaths are likely due to increases in holiday or recreational travel. Conclusion: Every day of the year results in many crash deaths, but certain days stand out as particularly risky. The temporal and geographic spread of crash deaths, as well as the view of driving as a routine task, inures the public to this continuing problem. Innovative strategies are needed both to raise awareness and to work toward a solution.


In this paper, we describe a method for performing structural narrative analysis that draws on narratology and literary studies, moving structural narrative analysis from a focus on examining linguistic parts of narratives to understanding thematic structures that make up the whole narrative. We explore the possibility of constructing participant narratives using Campbell's monomyth as a coding and structuralizing scheme. The method we describe is the response to the question, "How might we find a reliable way to construct 'smooth' stories (with attention to the structures of stories) so that we might compare trajectories of student experiences?" To answer this question, we use narrative interviews from a larger study to show how this method can make sense of interviews and construct accessible and useful participant narratives. We close by providing an example narrative constructed using the monomyth coding scheme and discussing benefits and difficulties associated with this method.


Title of Document: Firm Decision Making under Financial Distress: A Study of U.S. Air Fares and an Analysis of Inventories in U.S. Manufacturing Industries Christian Hofer, Ph.D. 2007 Directed By: Professor Martin E. Dresner, Ph.D., Robert H. Smith School of Business Professor Robert J. Windle, Ph.D., Robert H. Smith School of Business This dissertation investigates the effects of firm financial distress on two key firm decision variables: sales prices and inventories. These analyses contribute to the Structure-Conduct-Performance paradigm literature. Specifically, the feedback loop between financial distress, a result of poor past performance, and two firm conduct parameters, prices and inventories, is explored in great detail. The first essay is motivated by the ambiguity of prior research on the relationship between firm financial distress and prices. The extant economics, corporate finance and strategic management literatures differentially approach this relationship, and empirical research has found only limited, at times ambiguous support for any single theoretical contention. These theoretical perspectives are reviewed and an attempt is made to reconcile the apparent conflict by adopting a strategic contingency perspective that identifies in which way and in what instances firm financial distress may impact prices. The model is empirically tested using data from the U.S. airline industry. The results indicate that firm financial distress and prices are generally negatively related. Moreover, this effect is substantially stronger for firms operating under Chapter 11 protection than for firms approaching bankruptcy. It is further shown that the magnitude of the effect of financial distress on prices depends on firm factors such as operating costs, market power, and firm size, as well as on competitive characteristics such as market concentration and the financial condition of competitors. The second essay analyzes the impact of firm distress on firm inventories and investigates if this relationship is impacted by a firm's power relative to its upstream and downstream supply chain partners. Building on prior work in the economics field, this research is not only based on microeconomics theory, but also draws on inventory theory as well as on prior work on supply chain relationships. A comprehensive inventory estimation model is specified, and novel measures of inventory determinants and power are developed. The hypotheses are tested using panel data from the U.S. manufacturing industry. It is shown that distressed firms hold less inventory and that a firm's power within the supply chain will determine to what extent inventory ownership is reduced during times of financial distress. Implications for supplier selection and supply chain cooperation are discussed. In summary, this research significantly enhances researchers' understanding of why, how, and when firm financial distress affects prices and inventories. Firm Decision Making Under Financial Distress: A Study of U.S. Air Fares and an Analysis of Inventories in U.S. Manufacturing Industries


In this seminal work, Greg McElligott traces neoconservative labour market policy from its international origins to the local offices of the Canadian state. In doing so he challenges the elite focus of most policy studies and shows how resistance and informal policy-making among frontline state workers can lay the foundations for a new, more democratic, state. This study concerns one department of Canadian government - Employment and Immigration Canada (EIC) - and one policy field - labour market policy from 1976-1991. Professor McElligott unearths resistance in workplaces where .cutting edge. neoconservative managers were trying to reshape government services, and inserts frontline workers into state theories, policy debates and progressive political strategies. He argues that the neglect of these workers makes key state theories incomplete and separates policy-making theory - and practice - from actual state outputs. One consequence is that progressives have foregone many promising strategic opportunities. McElligott concludes that indirect democracy and bureaucratic hierarchy are not inevitable and lays out a proposal for .Public Service Councils. and self-managed state workplaces. Rich in critical analysis and provocative in intent, Beyond Service challenges current trends in administrative theory and policy-making, and will be of great interest to academics, policy research bodies, union researchers, educators, and, most importantly, those very frontline government workers whose input is not recognized and whose potential this text will help to realize.


Perishable horticultural crops as fruits and vegetables rich vitamins, protein, minerals and fiber contents contribute a lot to human diet. Though Nigeria produces enormous quantity of these produce, shortages in consumption and nutrition exists due to losses in the production value chain system. This is mainly attributed to lack of the development of an efficient management technique in the handling, transporting and storage systems; with attendant consequences on urban food and nutrition security in a rapidly urbanizing Nigeria. It is against this backdrop that this study was undertaken to identify the problems of handling technologies that would result in enhanced shelf-life of these commodities and healthier urban nutrition in metropolitan Kaduna, Nigeria; in 2010. Structured questionnaires and schedule interviews were used to randomly collect primary and secondary data. This was analyzed and presented using descriptive statistical analytical tools. Results indicated that the major factors affecting the storage quality of fruits and vegetables are bad roads (40%); improper production, handling and transportation (33. 33%) system; harsh weather (20%); while insect pest infestation (6.67%) was least. Baskets and sacks are still used as the predominant means of storage of produce (35% and 32% respectively). Indeed, a lot of losses are recorded due to bad roads at harvest. Incidentally, the refrigerating system, the most efficient means of preservation is not predominantly used because of its exorbitant cost; and high tariffs on electricity. Where cost is affordable, power supply is epileptic due to an underdeveloped power sector. It is concluded that the intractable challenge of lack of infrastructure poses a major developmental setback in Nigeria. Indeed, this is a key challenge against the evolvement of a sustainable post-harvest management system; as well as a drawback on the fight against hunger, malnutrition and poverty – foremost objective of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's). Consequently, there is an imperative need for massive investment in infrastructural and human capital development. Without doubt, in Nigeria today, post-harvest and infrastructural management of the food production chain remains a major challenge.


This paper describes a videoconferencing system that meets performance constraints and functional requirements for use in consumer homes. Our system improves existing home technologies (such as video chat) by providing high-quality audiovisual communication, efficient encoding mechanisms, and low end-to-end delay. Moreover, the system includes a control interface that is capable of dynamically manipulating and compositing audiovisual content streams. This innovative architectural component is required for a domestic setting, where the television acts as the main screen and multiple people gather around it. Apart from the requirements and architecture, this paper analyses the performance of our system. The results validate our architectural decisions and provide a valuable input for further research in domestic videoconferencing.


Cambrian to middle Ordovician schists and phyllites in southwestern Baltica, now exposed in the (par-)autochthon to Lower Allochthon nappes of the Scandinavian Caledonides in southern Norway, contain previously unrecognized far-travelled detrital zircons with ages in the intervals 0.47–0.8 and 1.85–3.2 Ga and εHf in the range −27 to +18. These ages are assigned to Timanian and Fennoscandian Shield sources respectively and contrast with the locally derived detritus with zircon ages of c. 0.9–1.8 Ga and εHf values c. −13 to +10. The far-travelled zircons provide evidence that a steady, long-haul, source-to-sink drainage system existed from the northeastern fringe of Baltica to the SW passive margin across the whole palaeocontinent (c. 2000 km) since c. 521 Ma, and that the Timanian orogen shed detritus across large distances towards both its foreland (Baltica) and hinterland (Arctica). There are several arguments against an Avalonian source for these zircons. Recycling of the detrital zircon from the Cambrian to middle Ordovician sediments is probably responsible for the presence of Cryogenian to Middle Ordovician zircon ages in younger sedimentary sequences of southwestern Baltica. The development of an ophiolitic mélange associated with Ordovician phyllites underlying the Jotun Nappe Complex seems to mark the change to an active continental margin in the middle Ordovician, heralding the Caledonian orogeny. The study demonstrates that detrital zircon-poor fine-grained (siltstone to mudstone) sediments are an extremely valuable indicator for distal sources and favourably complement zircon-rich coarser sandstone in provenance analysis. Supplementary material: Results of LA-ICP-MS and SIMS U–Pb–Hf analyses of zircons with details of analytical methods and the collection of CL images of the youngest (<500 Ma) detrital zircon grains are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18827.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the surgical outcome of patients with Hirschsprung's disease (HD) who were treated in Barbados, establish referral patterns and identify factors which can lead to better management.

DESIGN AND METHODS
All patients with HD who had definitive surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Barbados, over a 16-year period (between July 1991 and June 2007) were identified from the hospital records system. Data from patients' notes were collected to establish demographics, including age at referral and definitive surgery, gender presenting symptoms, surgical intervention(s) and definitive procedure. Long term outcome was assessed by the use of a simple questionnaire which was completed by the authors after personal or telephone contact with patients, their parents or guardians or the referring physician.

RESULTS
Between July 1991 and June 2007, 27 children were identified with HD. There were 20 males and seven females. Fifteen of the 27 children (55%) were local Barbadians, who were referred earlier when compared to those from the surrounding Caribbean islands. The most common mode of presentation was chronic constipation (13/27; 48%). The majority (69%) of the children were fully continent in the long-term (mean follow-up of 64 months) and passed a bowel motion on an average of 2-3 times per day without the use of laxatives or enemas.

CONCLUSION
Children who had definitive surgery for HD in Barbados (using Martin's modified Duhamel procedure) had an overall good long-term outcome comparable to international results. Children referred from the surrounding Caribbean islands were referred at an older age, but their overall outcome was not worse than local Barbadian patients.


Objective: Delay onset of the vastus medialis obliquus (VMO) has often been reported to happen in people with patellofemoral pain (PFP). Previous studies revealed that a motion control shoe could check rearfoot pronation in overpronators. Literature suggested that movements of the lower leg could affect patellar tracking; thus motion control shoe may help prevent PFP by controlling excessive foot movements. This study aimed to compare the vasti muscle activities in people with excessive foot pronation when running with different footwear. Methods: Twenty female subjects with rearfoot pronation >6° were tested by running for 10 km on a treadmill on two separate days. During each test, subjects either wore a motion-control running shoe or a neutral running shoe. EMG activities of their right VMO and vastus lateralis (VL) were recorded. Their EMG onset timing and median frequency (MF) were compared between the two shoe conditions. Results: A more significant delay in VMO onset of the running duty cycle was observed in the neutral shoe condition than in the motion control shoe (p<0.001). In the neutral shoe condition, the delay in VMO increased with running mileage (Pearson correlation = 0.948), whereas no such pattern was observed in the motion control shoe. A significant drop in MF of the quadriceps after the 10 km run in both shoe conditions was observed (p ranged from <0.001 to 0.008), and there was a larger drop in VMO MF when running with the neutral shoe. Conclusions: The findings suggest that the motion control shoe may facilitate a stable temporal activation of VMO during running.


Western democracy is being questioned around the world. At the same time, Western aid groups are quick to say that they are not trying to impose a particular style of democracy on others and that they are open to supporting local, alternative forms of democracy. This book examines what it is about Western democracy that non-Westerners are reacting negatively to and whether the critics often are equating a dislike for certain Western social or economic features with an aversion to of Western political systems. It also explores the current state of debate about alternative forms of democratic practice in different regions - Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America - and then puts forward ideas about how Western actors engaged in democracy support can do a better job of incorporating new thinking about alternative democratic forms into their efforts.


The Defense Standardization Program Office (DSPO) of the U.S. Department of Defense's (DoD) has initiated a multiphase effort to update MIL-HDBK-217 (217), the military's often imitated and frequently criticized reliability prediction bible for electronics equipment. This document, based on field data fitted empirical models, has not been updated since 1995. The lack of updates led to expectations that its statistically-based empirical approach would be phased out. Especially after science-based Physics of Failure (PoF) [a.k.a. Reliability Physics] research led Gilbert F. Decker, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research, Development and Acquisition to declare that MIL-HDBK-217 was not to appear in Army RFP acquisition requirements as it had been "shown to be unreliable and its use can lead to erroneous and misleading reliability predictions"[1].


We revise the taxonomy of the agamid genus Sitana Cuvier, 1829, a widely distributed terrestrial lizard from the Indian subcontinent based on detailed comparative analyses of external morphology, osteology and molecular data. We sampled 81 locations spread over 160,000 km(2) in Peninsular India including type localities, which represented two known and five previously undescribed species. Based on general similarity in body shape and dewlap all species were hitherto identified as members of the genus Sitana. However, Sitana deccanensis and two other morphotypes, which are endemic to north Karnataka and Maharashtra in Peninsular India, are very distinct from the rest of the known members of the genus Sitana based on their external morphology and osteology. Moreover, members of this distinct morphological group were monophyletic in the molecular tree, and this Glade (Glade 1) was sister to two well-supported clades (2 and 3) constituting the rest of the Sitana. The interclade genetic divergence in mtDNA between Glade 1 and clades 2 and 3 was 21-23%, whereas Glade 2 and Glade 3 exhibited 14-16% genetic divergence. Thus, we designate a new genus name ``Sarada'' gen. nov. for species represented in Clade 1, which also includes the recently resurrected Sitana deccanensis. We describe two new species in Sarada gen. nov. and three new species in Sitana. Similarity in the dewlap of Sitana and Sarada gen. nov. is attributed to similar function (sexual signaling) and similarity in body shape is attributed to a similar terrestrial life style and/or common ancestry.


This chapter has a triple function, as an introduction to the phenomenon of insubordination with particular exemplification from the Australian language Kayardild, a review article drawing together the last decade of research on the topic, and a reasoned synthesis of the chapters comprising this volume, organised around a number of interwoven thematic strands.Insubordination, we argue, is a key site for understanding the dynamic and constant interplay of parole and langue, i.e. of actual spoken data in discourse on the one hand, and grammatical models used by speakers (or grammarians) on the other. It is also a prime example of the benefits that can be reaped by seeing the sentences that underlie utterances as collaboratively constructed during dyadic interaction.Since the typological survey and initial model of insubordination put forward by Evans (2007), many studies have extended our empirical coverage of the phenomenon in the languages of the world, found new functions for structures originating through insubordination, or challenged aspects of the original model. Particularly important have been the development of improved mechanisms for representing constructional meaning, increasing attention to the grammar of interaction and actual conversational data, better incorporation of prosody into our models of syntax and conversation, and the use of corpora of actual rather than elicited speech. All these trends have enriched our understanding of the variety of functions that insubordination can discharge, and the embedding of its evolution in actual conversational practice. Once such functions are taken into account, insubordination ceases to be seen as an odd and marginal aberration, and instead appears as a typologically widespread consequence of speakers' search for formal means of embedding their utterances in the wider discourse, whether dyadic or narrative.


Apicomplexan parasites of the genus Plasmodium are the causative agent of malaria, one of the most prevalent infectious diseases worldwide. Five different Plasmodium species can cause malaria in humans, leading to a total of approximately 500 million cases each year and of these, P. falciparum causes the most deadly form of the disease and is responsible for more than 1 million deaths annually. A major problem in the global fight against malaria is the widespread resistance of the parasites against the currently available drugs. It is of great importance to identify new drug target as well as to understand the mechanisms that lead to drug resistance in the first instance in order to potentially reverse the resistant phenotypes and to avoid the development of resistance in the future.
The tripeptide glutathione (GSH) or γ-glutamylcysteinyl-glycine is the most abundant low molecular weight thiol in most eukaryotic organisms and serves a number of important functions as sulfhydryl-buffer, cofactor for enzymes and for the detoxification of xenobiotics and drugs. GSH is an important component of the antioxidant machinery and because malaria parasites live in an environment rich in iron and oxygen and thus increased oxidative stress, they depend on functional antioxidant systems. The biosynthesis pathway for GSH, consisting of γ-glutamylcysteine synthetase (γGCS) and glutathione synthetase (GS) is present in malaria parasites as well as in their host cells. Previous studies have shown that depletion of GSH has an antimalarial effect, but it remained unclear whether parasites were killed directly or died because their host cell could not survive the depletion of GSH. To address this question, the knockout of both genes encoding the enzymes of the GSH biosynthesis pathway in P. falciparum was attempted. While both gene loci were targeted by control constructs, the knockout of either pfγgcs or pfgs was impossible, indicating both genes are essential for parasite survival in the erythrocytic stages. To analyse the localization of γGCS and GS, GFP-tagged recombinant fusion proteins were expressed in the parasites and showed that GSH biosynthesis is cytosolic.
Apart form its other functions GSH has previously been suggested to be involved in resistance to the antimalarial drug chloroquine (CQ). CQ was for a long time the first line antimalarial drug due to its high efficiency, low cost and low toxicity, but is now widely inefficient in the treatment of the disease. CQ resistance is associated with mutations in the CQ resistance transporter (PfCRT), a membrane protein of the digestive vacuole that allows the efflux of the drug form its site of action. However, PfCRT mutations alone cannot explain the full array of phenotypes found in resistant parasites. GSH is able to degrade heme, the target of CQ, in vitro and it has been suggested that elevated GSH levels contribute to CQ resistance. However, analyses of isogenic parasite lines bearing different forms of PfCRT in this study revealed lower GSH levels and higher susceptibility to inhibition of GSH biosynthesis in the CQ resistant lines. These changes did not correlate with changes in the expression of enzymes involved in the de novo biosynthesis or consumption of GSH. However, the cellular accumulation ratio for CQ indicated a decrease of free heme in the resistant parasites. Mutant forms of PfCRT expressed in oocytes of Xenopus laevis were able to transport GSH, while the sensitive wild-type form did not transport the tripeptide. The findings of this study suggest that in parasites bearing mutant PfCRT, GSH is transported into the digestive vacuole where it is able to contribute to resistance by degrading heme, before the tripeptide itself is degraded by peptidases inside the vacuole, consistent with the overall reduction of GSH levels in CQ resistant parasites.


Pakistan like other developing countries in the region has witnessed accelerated process of urbanization. The country experienced massive urban population explosion the due to immigrants coming from India, right at its inception. A majority of them settled in the urban areas particularly, Karachi and Lahore. It was estimated that a significant number of people arrived in Lahore and other centers of Punjab. This phenomenon alone shot up the population of these cities two to three folds in a short span of time. This resulted in server pressure on the urban land and infrastructure of these cities. The total population of Lahore district was 6.32 million, while the migrants among them were 1.03 million, which constituted about 16.4 percent of the whole population. Thus the area is faced with growing educational, water, sanitation and other social problems because of squatter settlements that are rapidly emerging to house these migrants. Consequently, urban social sector has been over-taxed. The percentage of population may well be over 50 percent in the slums of Lad's. Thus rural-urban migration is fuelling the problems like pollution, congestion and crime. This study was conducted to see the status of migrants and factors contributing to rural migration in Lahore district. In the process of economic development, economic factors play a more dominant role than the non-economic noes. Generally, the immigrants from the nearby rural area jonined the ranks of those who were already settled there.

Rural urban migration is seen as two stage process. During the first stage, the unskilled workers spend some time in informal urban sector from which they move on to the second stage, where they find a more permanent modern sector job in the formal sector, thus further intensifying double-dualism. Although E.G. raven stein conducted the first on the rural urban migration in 1885. it was sjaastad's seminal work in migration that has evoked thinking among economists regarding this growing problem. The studies conducted on migration concluded one of the major factor factors for migration is a rural-urban income differential that fuelled the problem of urbanization. The principal objective of the present study is to asses the extent of migration from rural to urban localities of Lahore city which is the hub of economic activity and also, the metropolitan city of Punjab, moreover, the study also considers the distance range of migration in Lahore city, profile of rural migrants, employment pattern of migrants and the causes of migration from rural to urban areas i.e,. PUSH and PULL factors.

Considering the scope and objectives of the study, both the primary data approach and the secondary data approach are adopted. Primary data was colleted from sample size selected from the universe of the study. This universe was classified as the Lahore city in addition to three small towns, i.e., Kahna, Chung and Raiwind in the district of Lahore and also all the villages in the Lahore district. The secondary data was obtained from published sources. The study reveals that 64.8 percent of the population contributing to urbanization of Lahore district migrated from various parts of the Punjab province. The rest of the migrants have not reported their previous place of residence. The migrants from NWFP 5.7 percent while from sindh and Aj and k they were 2.7 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.

The study results reflect positive correlation between education and migration. The migrants who were literate were higher in proportion (70.3%) in contrast to the illiterate (29.3%). The portion of migrants engaged in private jobs was the highest (39.5%) followed by self employed (27.3%), government services (24.7%), daily wage earners (7%) and others (1.5%). The study results also reveal that the highest proportion (42.1%) of migrants was in the income bracket of Rs.30000 to Rs. 50000. The households that migrated within the district were from the distance up to 50 km. this indicated that people come from every corner of the district. The proportion of migrants and the distance range of migrants up to 40km was positively correlated. The overall scenario of migrants indicates that the highest proportion of migrants (94.7%) who were daily wage earners belonged to the places that are at a distance of 11 to 20 km from Lahore. No migrant workers from daily wage earners group are seen below 10km and 31. Again as far as farm households are concerned, about 81.3 percent of farmers with operational holdings up to 6.25 acres were performing off-farm jobs because of insufficient farm income it is also observed that both the pull push factors in migration were due to economic environment i.e. better wage rate, better wage rate, better standard of living, bright, future for children, non-availability of basic needs. Population growth and uneconomic holdings. All these factors are instrumental in migration so the government should adopt measures to provide economic as well as social environment, self-employment oriented skill training development of social infrastructure at village level and micro credit for self employment from acquired skills, to impose check on migration from rural to urban locatlities.

The study also focuses on the characteristics to migrant workers and causes of their migration. Migrant workers were classified as settlers and commuters. The setter migrants were households who shifted from rural and settled in urban areas whereas the the commuters traveled daily to earn living. Better job opportunities are the greatest magnetic power for migrants (94%), followed by bright future far children, (66%), alternative job opportunities, (32%) and road transportation and social environment, (12%). The family size the strongest push factor forwards urban areas as was reported by 68 percent migrants i.e. 76.5 percent of commuters and 50 percent of settlers. The second and third in order are differences in availability of social infrastructure and uneconomic holdings reported by 26 percent of respectively. The migrant workers who migrated for economic opportunities were 18.8 percent of settlers. The process of migration, thus, can be slowed down if the government provides job opportunities at village level. Two methodological approaches i.e. linear regression and log linear approach are adopted to isolate contribution of various factors resulting in migration from rural to urban areas.

The estimated production functions are judged on prior statistical and economic criteria. Keeping in view the results of the study, it is recommended for future for future policy making to impose check on rural-urban migration and to provide: >Job opportunities at village level. >Incentive oriented monetary policy >Enhancement of skills and establishment of training institutions. >Social and economic infrastructure


Pursuant to the Convention on International Civil Aviation, in the interest of safety, an aircraft must be designed, constructed and operated in compliance with the appropriate airworthiness requirements of the State of Registry of the aircraft. Consequently, the aircraft is issued with a Certificate of Airworthiness declaring that13; the aircraft is fit to fly. The airworthiness requirements under which such a certificate is issued or rendered valid are equal to or above the minimum standards stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), contained in Annex 8 for application by the National Airworthiness Authorities, the first edition of which was13; adopted by the Council on 1 March 1949. Each State is free to develop its own comprehensive and detailed code of airworthiness or to select, adopt or accept a c comprehensive and detailed code established by another Contracting State. The Convention on International Civil Aviation provides that every aircraft of a Contracting State, engaged in international navigation, shall carry a Certificate of Registration and a Certificate of rworthiness. It also provides that the Certificate of Airworthiness shall be issued or rendered valid by the State in which the aircraft is registered. Further, the State of Registry has the responsibility of ensuring that13; every aircraft on its register is maintained in an airworthy


Background The updated Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines recommend a 1-hour window for completion of a sepsis care bundle; however, the effectiveness of the hour-1 bundle has not been fully evaluated. The present study aimed to evaluate the impact of hour-1 bundle completion on clinical outcomes in sepsis patients. Methods This was a multicenter, prospective, observational study conducted in 17 intensive care units in tertiary hospitals in Japan. We included all adult patients who were diagnosed as having sepsis by Sepsis-3 and admitted to intensive care units from July 2019 to August 2020. Impacts of hour-1 bundle adherence and delay of adherence on risk-adjusted in-hospital mortality were estimated by multivariable logistic regression analyses. Results The final study cohort included 178 patients with sepsis. Among them, 89 received bundle-adherent care. Completion rates of each component (measure lactate level, obtain blood cultures, administer broad-spectrum antibiotics, administer crystalloid, apply vasopressors) within 1 hour were 98.9%, 86.2%, 51.1%, 94.9%, and 69.1%, respectively. Completion rate of all components within 1 hour was 50%. In-hospital mortality was 18.0% in the patients with and 30.3% in the patients without bundle-adherent care (p = 0.054). The adjusted odds ratio of non-bundle-adherent versus bundle-adherent care for in-hospital mortality was 2.32 (95% CI 1.09–4.95) using propensity scoring. Non-adherence to obtaining blood cultures and administering broad-spectrum antibiotics within 1 hour was related to in-hospital mortality (2.65 [95% CI 1.25–5.62] and 4.81 [95% CI 1.38–16.72], respectively). The adjusted odds ratio for 1-hour delay in achieving hour-1 bundle components for in-hospital mortality was 1.28 (95% CI 1.04–1.57) by logistic regression analysis. Conclusion Completion of the hour-1 bundle was associated with lower in-hospital mortality. Obtaining blood cultures and administering antibiotics within 1 hour may have been the components most contributing to decreased in-hospital mortality.


Ukraine's deposits of unconventional gas (shale gas, tight gas trapped in non-porous sandstone
formations, and coal bed methane) may form a significant part of Europe's gas reserves.
Initial exploration and test drilling will be carried out in two major deposits: Yuzivska (Kharkiv
and Donetsk Oblasts) and Oleska (Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk Oblasts), to confirm the volume of
the reserves. Shell and Chevron, respectively, won the tenders for the development of these
fields in mid 2012. Gas extraction on an industrial scale is expected to commence in late 2018/
early 2019 at the earliest. According to estimates presented in the draft Energy Strategy of
Ukraine 2030, annual gas production levels may range between 30 billion m3 and 47 billion m3
towards the end of the next decade. According to optimistic forecasts from IHS CERA, total
gas production (from both conventional and unconventional reserves) could reach as much as
73 billion m3. However, this will require multi-billion dollar investments, a significant improvement
in the investment climate, and political stability. It is clear at the present initial stage
of the unconventional gas extraction project that the private interests of the Ukrainian government
elite have played a positive role in initiating unconventional gas extraction projects.
Ukraine has had to wait nearly four decades for this opportunity to regain its status of a major
gas producer. Gas from unconventional sources may lead not only to Ukraine becoming
self-sufficient in terms of energy supplies, but may also result in it beginning to export gas.
Furthermore, shale gas deposits in Poland and Ukraine, including on the Black Sea shelf (both
traditional natural gas and gas hydrates) form a specific 'European methane belt', which could
bring about a cardinal change in the geopolitics and geo-economics of Eastern and Central
Europe over the next thirty years.


Keywords cytoskeleton Comments © 2015 Kubo et al. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). Two months after publication it is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License ABSTRACT Ciliary length control is an incompletely understood process essential for normal ciliary function. The flagella of Chlamydomonas mutants lacking multiple axonemal dyneins are shorter than normal; previously it was shown that this shortness can be suppressed by the mutation suppressor of shortness 1 (ssh1) via an unknown mechanism. To elucidate this mechanism , we carried out genetic analysis of ssh1 and found that it is a new allele of TPG2 (hereafter tpg2-3), which encodes FAP234 functioning in tubulin polyglutamylation in the axo-neme. Similar to the polyglutamylation-deficient mutants tpg1 and tpg2-1, tpg2-3 axonemal tubulin has a greatly reduced level of long polyglutamate side chains. We found that tpg1 and tpg2-1 mutations also promote flagellar elongation in short-flagella mutants, consistent with a polyglutamylation-dependent mechanism of suppression. Double mutants of tpg1 or tpg2-1 and fla10-1, a temperature-sensitive mutant of intraflagellar transport, underwent slower flagellar shortening than fla10-1 at restrictive temperatures, indicating that the rate of tubulin disassembly is decreased in the polyglutamylation-deficient flagella. Moreover, α-tubulin incorporation into the flagellar tips in temporary dikaryons was retarded in polyglu-tamylation-deficient flagella. These results show that polyglutamylation deficiency stabilizes axonemal microtubules, decelerating axonemal disassembly at the flagellar tip and shifting the axonemal assembly/disassembly balance toward assembly.


Mercury is one of the most toxic heavy metals, and many serious incidents have resulted from mercury poisoning. The methylation of mercury and its amplification by marine life have aggravated this pollution problem. Studies over the last three decades have shown that the toxicity of mercury is related to chemical form. A basic aim of the research has been to devise new methodology for the measurement and speciation of mercury. Key points of the investigation reported were the literature review of methodologies and techniques for mercury speciation and the development of a novel manifold which incorporates microcolumns of sulphydryl cotton which have a relatively high affinity and selectivity for inorganic and / or organomercury, and to utilise a continuous flow procedure for mercury speciation based on flow injection-atomic fluorescence spectrometry. This new and novel system has been used for the determination and speciation of mercury in a variety of water samples. The other column packing materials, eg. xanthate cotton, activated alumina and 8-hydroxy-quiniline were also investigated. A further aspect of element speciation concerns the development of a field sampling technique using sulphydryl cotton columns. Sample collection and preconcentration using microcolumns at the site of sampling was successfully performed. Preliminary experiments indicated that the field sampling technique in combination with FIA-AFS was a robust and potentially useful speciation tool. Field surveys on mercury distribution and speciation in the Manchester Ship Canal and the River Rother have been intensively carried out in collaboration with the National Rivers Authority (North West Region). The analytical data on different mercury species in waters of the Manchester Ship Canal are reported for the first time. A high correlation between organomercury and organolead in the Manchester Ship Canal is found and the related data have been assessed in order to clarify the possible origins for organomercury. Related work concerning participation in interlaboratory studies is reported in the Appendices.


In order to understand the genetic diversity and population dynamics of cyanophages in estuarine waters, the viral capsid assembly (g20) gene was used as a gene marker to monitor genetic variations of natural cyanomyovirus communities in the Chesapeake Bay, USA. Unique and diverse g20 sequences were found. Only 1 of 15 g20 genotypes was closely related to the known cyanomyo- virus isolates. Most of the g20 genotypes in the bay were not related to the g20 clonal sequences recovered from open-ocean waters. Terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) based on the g20 gene was developed to investigate spatial and temporal distribution of cyanomy- ovirus communities in the bay. The T-RFLP profiles of the g20 gene demonstrated that the cyanomy- ovirus population structures in the bay were more dynamic seasonally than spatially. Seasonal varia- tion in the cyanophage community appeared to correspond to changes in host-cell density, which in turn was mainly affected by water temperature. This study represents the first effort to monitor both cyanophage titer and genetic diversity over time and space. The results of our study suggest that cyanophages could play a significant role in regulating Synechococcus biomass and population struc- ture in the Chesapeake Bay.


This paper is interested in the role of knowledge as resource, medium and product of governance as well as in ways of studying knowledge and processes of knowledge construction in EU governance. Its particular focus in this context is on the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) and the Lisbon Strategy. Based on a discussion of accounts of policy learning, governmentality and Science and Technology Studies (STS), the paper claims that studying Lisbon could be about much more than the effectiveness and the legitimacy of the OMC. Accordingly, it calls for a two-fold extension of the scope of analysis: First, investigations should feed back into reflections about the broader picture. Here, the political space of Lisbon can be analysed in terms of indirect government under the conditions of a knowledge society. Second, in order to achieve a larger picture the analysis should be extended downwards to the everyday practices within (and beyond) the different OMCs where knowledge is produced and through which the epistemic culture of Lisbon is governed and constituted. While this move away from the meso-level of institutions is mainly motivated by a review of governmentality, STS can provide the necessary theoretical and methodological guidance to put such a comprehensive perspective into empirical practice.


This paper explores the role of decentralised community-based care systems in achieving sustainable healthcare in resource-poor areas. Based on case studies from Sierra Leone, Madagascar, Uganda and Ethiopia, the paper argues that a community-based system of healthcare is more effective in the prevention, early diagnosis, and primary care in response to the zoonotic and infectious diseases associated with extreme weather events as well as their direct health impacts. Community-based systems of care have a more holistic view of the determinants of health and can integrate responses to health challenges, social wellbeing, ecological and economic viability. The case studies profiled in this paper reveal the importance of expanding notions of health to encompass the whole environment (physical and social, across time and space) in which people live, including the explicit recognition of ecological interests and their interconnections with health. While much work still needs to be done in defining and measuring successful community responses to health and other crises, we identify two potentially core criteria: the inclusion and integration of local knowledge in response planning and actions, and the involvement of researchers and practitioners, e.g., community-embedded health workers and NGO staff, as trusted key interlocuters in brokering knowledge and devising sustainable community systems of care.


Acceptance: 03-10-2018 ABSTRACT Background and Objectives: Patients undergoing cardiac catheterization and coronary angiography often experience high levels of anxiety and physiological disturbances. Music therapy and music interventions have been found to be effective in bringing down the anxiety and reducing the physiological disturbances for these patients. However, the efficacy of combination of music and yoga therapies for preprocedural anxiety and physiological disturbances needs to be studied. We aimed in this study to compare the effect of music therapy with the combination of music and yoga therapies to impact the psycho-physiological responses like anxiety, blood pressure, pulse rate and respiratory rate of patients who were posted for coronary angiography Material and Methods: A total of 45 patients who were posted for coronary angiography were included in the study and randomly divided into three groups. Music therapy group(n=16) received music listening intervention in the form listening to pre-recorded, patient-preferred, relaxing raga improvisational music for 15 minutes 1) on the previous day of angiography and 2) 15 minutes before being taken to the catheterization lab on the day of the angiography. The combination of music and the yoga group received both music therapy and yoga therapy in the form of pranava pranayama together for 15 minutes. The control group received only the standard medical treatment. The state of anxiety was measured by a five point single item Likert scale and the physiological measures such as systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), pulse rate (PR) and respiratory rate (RR) were also recorded for the study Results: Both music therapy alone and the combination of music and yoga therapies resulted in within the group significant reduction in anxiety and respiratory rate and music therapy group recorded additionally significant reduction in SBP, DBP and PR scores during the period of intervention. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that music therapy alone can bring down the anxiety levels and reduce the physiological disturbances of patients posted for angiography. Also, combination of music and yoga therapies can bring down the anxiety levels and improve the deep breathing pattern for these patients posted for angiography. More studies are needed to confirm these findings.


We studied the temporal change in Zenith Total Delay (ZTD) from the GPS signals received at sites around the epicentral region of the 26 December 2004 Great Sumatra earthquake (Mw 9.0). The estimated ZTD values at the nearest GPS locations available around the earthquake region showed a significant rise after the earthquake at locations to its east (~63mm at NTUS) and south (~110mm at COCO), but no changes were seen towards the west. The increase in ZTD (and thus precipitable water vapor, PWV) associated to the earthquake process is attributed to the thermal energy released through the earthquake process and the probable heat induced on to the ocean surface through the magma upwelling processes in the earthquake region, which all might have caused increase in ocean water temperature and catalyzed the evaporation process yielding high precipitation over the region. However, this high precipitation did not produce rainfall in its vicinity and appears to have moved to the California coast by the subtropical jet stream present over the region during this period. The southern California experienced a historical heavy rain from 28 th of December, 2004 to 12 th of January, 2005 and the El Nino conditions in the Pacific Ocean alone could not explain such an unusual high precipitation in the winter period. We conclude that the severe weather conditions over the Californian coast and resulting flash flood might have been caused by transport of high water vapor formed over the Sumatra earthquake epicentral region to the California coast by the subtropical jet stream movement from west to east.


We propose Cut-and-LEaRn (CutLER), a simple approach for training unsupervised object detection and seg-mentation models. We leverage the property of self-supervised models to 'discover' objects without supervision and amplify it to train a state-of-the-art localization model without any human labels. CutLER first uses our proposed MaskCut approach to generate coarse masks for multiple objects in an image, and then learns a detector on these masks using our robust loss function. We further improve performance by self-training the model on its predictions. Compared to prior work, CutLER is simpler, compatible with different detection architectures, and detects multiple objects. CutLER is also a zero-shot unsupervised detector and improves detection performance AP50 by over 2.7× on 11 benchmarks across domains like video frames, paintings, sketches, etc. With finetuning, CutLER serves as a low-shot detector surpassing MoCo-v2 by 7.3% Apbox and 6.6% Apmask on COCO when training with 5% labels.


Parasitic absorption in transparent electrodes is one of the main roadblocks to enabling power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) for perovskite‐based tandem solar cells beyond 30%. To reduce such losses and maximize light coupling, the broadband transparency of such electrodes should be improved, especially at the front of the device. Here, the excellent properties of Zr‐doped indium oxide (IZRO) transparent electrodes for such applications, with improved near‐infrared (NIR) response, compared to conventional tin‐doped indium oxide (ITO) electrodes, are shown. Optimized IZRO films feature a very high electron mobility (up to ≈77 cm2 V−1 s−1), enabling highly infrared transparent films with a very low sheet resistance (≈18 Ω □−1 for annealed 100 nm films). For devices, this translates in a parasitic absorption of only ≈5% for IZRO within the solar spectrum (250–2500 nm range), to be compared with ≈10% for commercial ITO. Fundamentally, it is found that the high conductivity of annealed IZRO films is directly linked to promoted crystallinity of the indium oxide (In2O3) films due to Zr‐doping. Overall, on a four‐terminal perovskite/silicon tandem device level, an absolute 3.5 mA cm−2 short‐circuit current improvement in silicon bottom cells is obtained by replacing commercial ITO electrodes with IZRO, resulting in improving the PCE from 23.3% to 26.2%.


Abstract. This study presents a phylogeny of Zieria Sm. (Rutaceae) based on sequences of internal transcribed spacer and external transcribed spacer regions of nrDNA, and using Neobyrnesia suberosa J.A.Armstr. as the outgroup. The phylogeny includes 109 samples, representing 58 of the 60 currently recognised species of Zieria, with multiple accessions of most. Ten species were resolved as monophyletic on the basis of two, or in one case four, samples. Monophyly of four species was neither supported nor rejected, and all other species with more than one accession were resolved as polyphyletic or paraphyletic. Results showed that divergent paralogues of nrDNA are present in some individuals, although the underlying evolutionary process that gave rise to those paralogues is uncertain. Divergent paralogues within genomes could predate speciation and be variably retained or variably detected within the species sampled here; alternatively, they could represent novel nrDNA combinations formed through hybridisation after speciation. There was no strong evidence for recombination between paralogues or that paralogues represent pseudogenes. Variation of nrDNA sequences was clearly incongruent with previously published cpDNA variation, with the nrDNA potentially providing a better indication of species relationships in Zieria. Evidence for this comes from the greater level of congruence, in some species at least, between nrDNA and existing species-level taxonomy than between cpDNA and taxonomy. Incomplete lineage sorting is proposed as a plausible cause for much of the conflict between nrDNA and cpDNA in Zieria, although, in most cases, there was insufficient information to identify the underlying causes with confidence. Implications for species-level taxonomy are discussed.


Biodiversity analysis and conservation decision relies on adequate and meaningful data that are available on a long-term and global basis. Such environmental information need adequate spatial and temporal resolution and remote sensing data does provide a wide range of potentially suitable data sets. Various groups use remote sensing data but a biodiversity and conservation focus to improve the availability, acquisition, coordination and delivery of
relevant information can still be improved. This is especially important since the use of remote sensing has increased widely over the past decades, and therefore a better interdisciplinary collaboration will foster the utilization of remote sensing in conservation. One approach to improve the understanding of needed parameters for biodiversity monitoring is through Essential Biodiversity variables (EBVs), which provide guidance to observation systems as to what and how to measure key aspects of biodiversity. The EBV concept was further developed to suit remote sensing specific needs and a first set of remote sensing EBVs (RS- EBVs) have been developed. Here we present multi-scale, multi-sensor and multi-temporal remote sensing data analysis which do provide needed and crucial information for ecological analysis. Especially within conservation applications, species distribution analysis or animal movement analysis, the spatial and temporal context of the environment is highly important and can be derived through dedicated measures.
We outline the activities aiming to improve remote sensing usage in conservation, as well as its application.


TMR5 (ZedupexTM) is a product of a Kenyan medicinal plant, prepared as a lyophilized extract and a cream. The products have been evaluated for preclinical safety and efficacy in suitable in vitro and in vivo systems of herpes infections. Herpes is a viral infection affecting over 60% of the sub-Saharan Africa young adult population. It is caused by two similar viruses, HSV-1 and HSV-2 which share 50% gene sequence homology. The infection in a major cause of genital ulcer disease, associated with increased risks of HIV acquisition and transmission. The aim is to develop TMR5 as an alternative anti-herpes agent, this being necessitated by increased resistance to available drugs and the cost of the drug of choice, acyclovir, in the region. Using the trypan blue exclusion test, plaque inhibition and viral yield reduction assays for assessment of cytotoxicity (CC50) and efficacy (EC50), and Mice and guinea pig cutaneous and genital HSV infection models respectively following oral and topical treatments, TMR5 exhibited no cytotoxicity in mammalian cell lines with a wide therapeutic index (CC50 ≥ 58.5 ± 4.6µg/ml). An EC50 of ≤ 14.7 ± 3.7µg/ml for both wild type and resistant strains of HSV was realised in plaque and viral yield assays. Oral (250 mg/kg) and topical (10% cream) administrations exhibited significant delay in onset of infections, hindered progression of infection to lethal forms with increased mean survival times and low mortality in both mice and guinea pig models. No acute toxicity has been realised at the therapeutic concentrations. TMR5 has demonstrated a high potential as an anti-herpes agent and arrangements are presently underway to evaluate its efficacy and safety in human clinical trials. A pilot production scheme supported by the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NCSTI) of Kenya has been undertaken as means of developing TMR5 as an alternative management therapy for herpes infections.


This book is a hands-on, real-world guide to building and implementing a robust Oracle E-Business Suite System using the new Release, EBS 12.2. It explains the rationale for using an Oracle E-business suite environment in a business enterprise and covers the major technology stack changes from EBS version 11i through R12.2. The book clarifies how to build up an EBS environment from a simple single-node installation to a complex multi-node high available setup. Practical Oracle E-Business Suite focuses on release R12.2, but key areas in R12.1 are also covered wherever necessary. Oracle E-Business suite R12.2 includes major changes in Technology Stack components and introduced many new features. And these changes and new features must be added to the skill set of those individuals responsible for implementing and managing Oracle EBS. Practical Oracle E-Business Suite provides detailed instructions for the Installation of EBS R12.2 in single and multi-node configurations, the logic and methodology used in EBS patching, and cloning of EBS single-node and complex multi-node environments configured with RAC. This book also provides filtered valuable information about such areas as FMW used in EBS 12.2, as well as performance tuning and EBS 12.2 on engineered system implementations. The following are the key areas of coverage: Introduction to Oracle E-Business Suite, general definition of the EBS product families and the overview of the new system architecture implemented in EBS 12.2EBS 12.2 single node/multi-node installations along with the EBS 12.2 upgrades EBS 12.2 Application and database tier components along with details about the newly introduced EBS 12.2 FMW components, the new application filesystem (dual fs) and the new patching concept called online patching. Administration utilities including adconfig and rapid clone, along with their usages for managing and maintaining the EBS 12.2 systems. Security features and key areas for performance tuning in EBS 12.2Implementing EBS 12.2 on Engineered Systems(Exadata, ODA and Exalogic)What youll learn Understanding Oracle EBS Software and underlying technology stack components Installation/configuration of Oracle E-Business Suite R12.2 in simple and HA complex setups Management of Oracle EBS 12.2 Using online patching (adop) for Installation of Oracle EBS patchesCloning of EBS Suite Environment in simple and complex configurationPerformance and tuning of Oracle EBS in all layers (Application/DB/OS/NW)Securing E-Business Suite R12.2


Erysiphe necator causes powdery mildew in species of Vitaceae, including the widely cultivated grapevine Vitis vinifera. This obligate biotroph colonises green, juvenile tissues, which if not protected by fungicides can lead to loss of grape yield and wine quality in many viticultural regions worldwide. The extent of pathogen colonisation varies according to leaf maturity and the term ontogenic resistance has been used to describe leaves that become less susceptible to infection by E. necator as they age.
The effect of environment during shoot growth on the expression of ontogenic resistance was examined by exposing developing shoots of Cabernet sauvignon in the glasshouse to temperatures set at 18°C or 25°C prior to inoculation with E. necator conidia. Powdery mildew severity on leaves, after incubation for 14 days at 25 ± 5°C, initially increased and then decreased as leaves matured beyond a lamina length of 30 mm (leaf position 1) for shoots with an average rate of leaf emergence of 0.54 leaves per day (25oC glasshouse) or 0.23 leaves per day (18oC glasshouse) prior to inoculation. The higher rate of leaf emergence resulted in a greater proportion of diseased leaves per shoot and a higher disease severity for the modal leaf position expressing maximum severity, which was position 4.4 for plants previously exposed to 25oC and position 3.7 for shoots developing at 18oC. Position 4.4 was similar to the mean modal leaf position of 4.2 for the maximum percentage of conidia that formed secondary hyphae for shoots developing at 25oC. There was a decline in penetration efficiency of E. necator as leaves aged beyond this leaf position. These results confirmed the expression of leaf ontogenic resistance.
A mechanistic model was constructed, by Bayesian analysis, to quantify the non-linear change in powdery mildew severity as a function of increasing leaf position with different rates of leaf emergence. Two component models separated the effects of leaf resistance and pathogen growth, with the latter component model indicating that the rate and magnitude of pathogen colonisation were significantly different for plants grown in the two different environments. In contrast, there was no significant difference between environments for the parameters of the leaf resistance model, suggesting that the pre-inoculation environment affected the nutritional or some other quality of the plant tissue colonised by E. necator rather than having a differential effect on mechanisms of host resistance.
Additional Cabernet sauvignon plants were grown in each pre-conditioning environment and two mature 'source' leaves for photosynthates treated with 14C02 for identifying, by autoradiography, the sink or source status of leaves younger than those treated. There was a clear association between the leaf position for maximum severity of powdery mildew and the position of the leaf completing the sink to source transition for shoots exposed to either pre-inoculation environment.
Given that the environment in which primary grapevine shoots develop affects powdery mildew severity, primary shoot development of the most common cultivars grown in Tasmania, Chardonnay and Pinot noir, was quantified over two growing seasons at four commercial vineyard blocks in southern Tasmania. Development of leaves on primary shoots varied widely between and within seasons. Rate of leaf emergence, shoot growth and leaf area development were examined at different positions on the cane, and were highly dependent on ambient temperature, with the plastochron index, shoot length and leaf area increasing linearly with cumulative thermal time. There was a higher rate of shoot growth and leaf area development in the wetter season of 2005-06 than 2006-07 at all sites. For instance at one Chardonnay site, there was an average of 5.62 cm2 of leaf area emerged per degree day in 2005-06, whereas it was 3.81 cm2 per degree day the following season. Rate of leaf emergence, calculated from the plastochron index as a function of cumulative thermal time, was the only variable measured which was similar between seasons for each nodal position on the cane, indicating the predictive potential of the linear model. Rate of leaf emergence from shoots arising from different nodal positions on the cane were different, with shoots arising from medial nodes having significantly slower leaf emergence rates than both basal and distal shoots. This effect was consistent, occurring at all but one of the experimental sites.
Results are discussed in terms of practical management of the disease in commercial vineyards in the grape-growing region studied


The wave action due to a sudden impulse in a body of water was studied in a wave basin with beach in the laboratory. Waves were impulsively generated in the 90 ft. tank of water, 3 ft. deep, by the impact or sudden withdrawal of a paraboloidal plunger 14 ft. in diameter. The waves had a dominant height of 2 inches and period of 3 seconds, respectively, at a distance of 50 ft. from the plunger. Such waves are scale representations of those generated by sudden impulses in the ocean, such as an underwater nuclear explosion, a sudden change in the ocean bed due to earthquakes, or the impact of a land slide. The waves produced by a downward impulse, or by an underwater explosion, form a dispersive system: whose properties are not constant as in a uniform progressive wave train. Wave periodicities, celerities and wave lengths increase with time of travel and wave heights decrease with travel distance. Theory has already been developed to predict the wave properties at a given travel time and distance for given source energy, displacement and travel path depth profile (Jordaan 1965). Measurements agree fairly well with predictions.


Iterative rules appear everywhere in music cognition, creating strong expectations. Consequently, denial of rule projection becomes an important compositional strategy, generating numerous possibilities for musical affect. Other rules enter the musical aesthetic through reflexive game playing. Still other kinds are completely constructivist in nature and may be uncongenial to cognition, requiring much training to be recognized, if at all. Cognitive rules are frequently found in contexts of varied repetition (AA), but they are not necessarily bounded by stylistic similarity. Indeed, rules may be especially relevant in the processing of unfamiliar contexts (AB), where only abstract coding is available. There are many kinds of deduction in music cognition. Typical examples include melodic sequence, partial melodic sequence, and alternating melodic sequence (which produces streaming). These types may coexist in the musical fabric, involving the invocation of both simultaneous and nested rules. Intervallic expansion and reduction in melody also involve higherorder abstractions. Various mirrored forms in music entail rule-mapping as well, although these may be more difficult to perceive than their analogous visual symmetries. Listeners can likewise deduce additivity and subtractivity at work in harmony, tempo, texture, pace, and dynamics. Rhythmic augmentation and diminution, by contrast, rely on multiplication and division. The examples suggest numerous hypotheses for experimental research.


Metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) provides the means to fabricate complex metallic parts with reduced time to market and material waste and improved design freedom. Industries with strict materials qualifications such as aerospace, biomedical, and automotive are increasingly looking to AM to meet their production needs. However, significant materials-related challenges impede the widespread adoption of these technologies for critical components. In particular, fatigue resistance in as-built parts has proven to be inferior and unpredictable due to the large and variable presence of porosity. This presents a challenge for the qualification of any load bearing part without extensive post-processing, such as Hot Isostatic Pressing, and thorough inspection. Improved understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind defect formation will assist in designing process improvements to minimize or eliminate defects without relying entirely on postprocessing. In this work, the effects of powder, processing parameters, and post-processing on porosity formation in powder-bed metal AM processes are investigated using X-ray microtomography and a newly developed in-situ high speed radiography technique, Dynamic Xray Radiography. High resolution X-ray computed tomography is used to characterize defect morphology, size, and spatial distribution as a function of process and material inputs. Dynamic X-ray Radiography, which enables the in-situ observation of the laser-metal interactions at frame rates on the order of 100 kHz (and faster), is utilized to understand the dynamic behavior and transitions that occur in the vapor depression across process space. Experimental validation of previously held assumptions regarding defect formation as well as new insights into the influence of the vapor cavity on defect formation are presented.


Organometallic ruthenium compds. that are effective anticancer and antimetastasis agents are currently under intensive investigation (see also the article by Peter Sadler in this issue). This article provides a personal account of the way in which we have exploited the different properties of the organoruthenium (and osmium and rhodium) compds. to rival traditional DNA-binding platinum drugs, culminating in the discovery of a non-classical mol. that is in an advanced stage of pre-clin. evaluation.


Label switching is a phenomenon arising in mixture model posterior inference that prevents one from meaningfully assessing posterior statistics using standard Monte Carlo procedures. This issue arises due to invariance of the posterior under actions of a group; for example, permuting the ordering of mixture components has no effect on the likelihood. We propose a resolution to label switching that leverages machinery from optimal transport. Our algorithm efficiently computes posterior statistics in the quotient space of the symmetry group. We give conditions under which there is a meaningful solution to label switching and demonstrate advantages over alternative approaches on simulated and real data.


Timber: the old raw material and building material returns. Based on 24 international projects, this book provides an overview of the range of possibilities in wood construction today. Texts, images, and plans document the architectural and constructive qualities of contemporary timber structures from the conceptual design to the structure in detail.


In this book, Victor Ferreres Comella contrasts the European "centralized" constitutional court model, in which one court system is used to adjudicate constitutional questions, with a decentralized model, such as that of the United States, in which courts deal with both constitutional and nonconstitutional questions. Comella's systematic exploration of the reasons for and against the creation of constitutional courts is rich in detail and offers an ambitious theory to justify the European preference for them. Based on extensive research on eighteen European countries, Comella finds that centralized review fits well with the civil law tradition and structures of ordinary adjudication in those countries. Comella concludes that--while the decentralized model works for the United States--there is more than one way to preserve democratic values and that these values are best preserved in the parliamentary democracies of Europe through constitutional courts.


In lung cancer, as well as in other malignancies, the so-called "liquid biopsy" is quickly moving from research into clinical practice. Although it has not yet reached its full potential, the "liquid biopsy" is no longer a promise but a reality that is allowing a better monitoring and treatment selection of cancer patients in many hospitals and oncology departments. We can already envision a day when "liquid biopsy" tests will be as common and useful as imaging techniques and "standard" biopsies, offering invaluable prognostic and predictive information. The objective of this special issue of Translational Lung Cancer Research ( TLCR ) is to offer an overview of this exciting area, with a particular emphasis on the clinical utility of the so-called "liquid biopsy" and the diversity of applications, methodologies and information that can be derived from it.


Dyslipidaemia is a disorder of lipoprotein metabolism that alters the concentration or composition of lipoproteins. Atherosclerosis and pancreatitis are the two major complications of dyslipidaemia. The most common dyslipidaemia is hypercholesterolaemia, which is one of the major risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebrovascular morbidity and mortality. Severe hypertriglyceridaemia can cause acute pancreatitis. Initial therapy for any lipoprotein disorder is lifestyle changes which include smoking cessation, a diet low in saturated fats, weight loss if indicated and regular aerobic exercise. Correction of any precipitating factors such as uncontrolled diabetes, alcohol abuse or medications should be undertaken. If lifestyle changes are not effective, then drug therapy should be considered. The choice of drug therapy is dependent on the type of lipoprotein disorder. The most effective cholesterol lowering drugs are the statins (HMG CoA reductase inhibitors). They work by inhibiting the rate-limiting step in cholesterol synthesis. They are the most potent form of monotherapy as well as being the most cost effective. Patients not responding to statin monotherapy can be treated with combination therapy, which may include bile acid resins, fibrates, nicotinic acid or ezetimibe. Dietary supplements such as plant sterols and fish oils can also assist in lowering cholesterol levels. Lipid lowering is beneficial in patients with dyslipidaemias for both primary and secondary prevention of CHD.


Summary Refining the cultural safety concept to include an acknowledgement of both the discomfort inherent in training and care and the time needed to overcome multiple layers of oppression may partially buffer the feelings of failure or fraud that often arise from unrealistic expectations regarding equity, diversity and inclusion policies.


1. Tritium labelled proteins, namely bovine serum albumin ([3H]BSA), rat serum albumin ([3H]RSA), anionic horseradish peroxidase ([3H]aHRP) and immunoglobulin present in urine fractions from rat filtration studies in vivo and isolated perfused rat kidneys (IPKs) have been shown by gel chromatographic analysis to be severely degraded to small peptides. The degradation of RSA and BSA in vivo has been shown to be similar. 2. Degradation of proteins in the urine from IPK experiments was inhibited by including 150 mmol/l lysine in the perfusate. Similarly, [3H]BSA and [3H]aHRP excreted from rats with puromycin aminonucleoside nephrosis was again essentially intact for both IPK and in vivo experiments. 3. It appears that the degradation of proteins observed in urine obtained from control kidneys is due, in part, to proteolytic activity associated with the proximal tubule. Inhibition of proximal tubule function, which occurs for both lysine and puromycin aminonucleoside treatments (as calibrated by lysozyme uptake), results in inhibition of the degradation observed. Glomerular epithelial cells could also contribute to the degradation. 4. There was no generation of low-molecular-weight material in the perfusate or plasma arising from breakdown of circulating proteins or recycling of potential degradation products from the tubules.


Diol dehydratase-reactivase (DD-R) is a molecular chaperone that reactivates inactivated holodiol dehydratase (DD) by cofactor exchange. Its ADP-bound and ATP-bound forms are high-affinity and low-affinity forms for DD, respectively. Among DD-Rs mutated at the nucleotide-binding site, neither the Dα8N nor Dα413N mutant was effective as a reactivase. Although Dα413N showed ATPase activity, it did not mediate cyanocobalamin (CN-Cbl) release from the DD·CN-Cbl complex in the presence of ATP or ADP and formed a tight complex with apoDD even in the presence of ATP, suggesting the involvement of Aspα413 in the nucleotide switch. In contrast, Dα8N showed very low ATPase activity and did not mediate CN-Cbl release from the complex in the presence of ATP, but it did cause about 50% release in the presence of ADP. The complex formation of this mutant with DD was partially reversed by ATP, suggesting that Aspα8 is involved in the ATPase activity but only partially in the nucleotide switch. Among DD-Rs mutated at the Mg(2+)-binding site, only Eβ31Q was about 30% as active as wild-type DD-R and formed a tight complex with apoDD, indicating that the DD-R β subunit is not absolutely required for reactivation. If subunit swapping occurs between the DD-R β and DD β subunits, Gluβ97 of DD would coordinate to Mg(2+). The complex of Eβ97Q DD with CN-Cbl was not activated by wild-type DD-R. No complex was formed between this mutant and wild-type DD-R, indicating that the coordination of Gluβ97 to Mg(2+) is essential for subunit swapping and therefore for (re)activation.


This chapter gives an overview of one possible staged methodology for structuring LCI data by presenting a new scientific object, LEarning and TEaching Corpora (LETEC). Firstly, the chapter clarifies the notion of corpora, used in so many different ways in language studies, and underlines how corpora differ from raw language data. Secondly, using examples taken from actual online learning situations, the chapter illustrates the methodology that is used to collect, transform and organize data from online learning situations in order to make them sharable through open-access repositories. The ethics and rights for releasing a corpus as OpenData are discussed. Thirdly, the authors suggest how the transcription of interactions may become more systematic, and what benefits may be expected from analysis tools, before opening the CALL research perspective applied to LCI towards its applications to teacher-training in Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC), and the common interests the CALL field shares with researchers in the field of Corpus Linguistics working on CMC.


Over the past decade, mobile devices such as smartphones have become increasingly common as a form of handheld computing platform. The use of mobile applications on these mobile devices is experiencing unprecedented rates of growth. However, when using mobile applications, users are often requested to give context information. Such requests have led to growing privacy concerns. This paper proposes the use of context-awareness to improve single sign-on (SSO) solutions so that mobile users can protect their private information. A privacy-based adaptive SSO (ASSO) may be able to increase users' perceived ease of use of the system and give service providers the necessary authentication security for their applications. The study was based on data gathered from 168 participants as part of the Lausanne Data Collection Campaign. This was led by the Nokia research center in Switzerland and used Nokia N95 phones. The analysis of SVM showed our expectations to be correct. Consequently, a new business model for mobile platforms has been proposed to reinforce our claim that privacy-friendly value propositions are possible and can be used to obtain a competitive advantage.


My cardinal objective
is to introduce a comprehensive and up-to-date document covering
the most important aspects of the historiography of Arabic Medicine.
The lack of scholarly material on this subject strengthened my
determination.
This work presents the History of Arabic Medicine during the Golden
Ages of Muslim learning, approximately from the seventh through to
the thirteenth Century, based on the work of the bibliography of
Ibn Abi Unaybelah Ahmad. Although the main objective of this thesis
is to trace the history of Arabic Medicine some-effort is made to
explain the history of medicine during the ancient civilization as
an introduction.
In Chapter two, a full explanation of the development of Arabic
Medicine during the various periods, pre Islam, during Islam, the
Prophet medicine, the medicine during the various caliphates, and.
at the end of Chapter three, some effort is made to explain the
situation of hospitals during the heyday of Arabic Civilization.
As the whole work is based on the work of Ibn Abi Usaybelah Ahmad,
an in-depth discussion is made to give a full picture about his
life, his work and the evolution of the work. To give an example
of his writing, a translation is made of the fifteenth Chapter
.
of his masterpiece "Yun al Anb Fi Tabakat al Attebalt (sources and
information of the classes of physicians).
The fourth Chapter of this thesis is devoted to an extensive study
of the present situation of the Arabic medical historiography and
to present some proposals for future development.


Background Fibromyalgia is a chronic pain disorder characterized by diffuse musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance and cognitive impairment. A significant number of fibromyalgia patients do not respond adequately to the current drugs (pregabalin, milnacipran, duloxetine) approved for fibromyalgia treatment by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Thus, there is still a need for adjunctive therapies. Naltrexone is an opioid receptor antagonist used to treat alcohol and opioid dependence. It is hypothesized that low dose naltrexone causes transient blockade of opioid receptors centrally resulting in a rebound of endorphin function which may attenuate pain in fibromyalgia1. Objectives The aim of this study was to determine the effect of low dose naltrexone on symptoms in fibromyalgia. Methods This was a prospective, open label study carried out at a single center. Twenty-five patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia (according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria) participated. Naltrexone was started at a dose of 3 mg at night time and could be titrated up to a maximum of 4.5 mg at night time. Patients were permitted to continue pregabalin, milnacipran, or duloxetine. The primary outcome measure was the Revised Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire (FIQR) at month 3. Adverse reactions were also recorded. Results Twenty-four females and 1 male were enrolled. Twenty-two patients completed the study. Seven (32%) patients were on naltrexone monotherapy throughout the study. There was a 19.5% overall improvement in FIQR at month 3 with naltrexone therapy. Eleven (50%) had an average of a 41% improvement in the FIQR. The patients reported decreases in anxiety, pain and sleeping habits from baseline. Two patients discontinued the drug because they felt it was ineffective and 1 patient discontinued because of diarrhea. Conclusions Treatment with low dose naltrexone may be an effective, highly tolerable and inexpensive treatment for fibromyalgia. Further controlled trials are needed. References Ramanathan S, Panksepp J, Johnson B. Is fibromyalgia an endocrine/endorphin deficit disorder?Is it low dose naltrexone a new treatment option? Psychosomatics 2012;53:591-4. Disclosure of Interest None Declared


On August 27, 1993, Israel and the Palestinians announced that Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) official Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen) had initialed a landmark agreement on August 19 in Oslo, Norway on a Declaration of Principles on interim self-government for the West Bank and Gaza Strip. On September 9, PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin exchanged letters unprecedented mutual recognition. On September 10, President Clinton welcomed the agreement, thanked Congress for its support, and announced that the United States would resume its dialog with the PLO. The Declaration was signed at the White House on September 13. This report provides summaries of the Declaration and the letters.


Three decades have elapsed since Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure last underwent revision. Taking a cue from proposed amendments prepared by the Civil Rules Advisory Committee, Professor Cooper asks whether now is the appropriate time to revise Rule 23. In this Articl e he identifis three potential "big changes" to the Rule. subsantially curtailing class actions; accommodating the needs of mass-tort actions; and recognizing the class as an entity, distinct from Its representatives. After outlining and critiquing the Advisory Committee's draf4 Professor Cooper raises a host of questions about many aspects of Rule 23 and suggests that perhaps we do not know enough about the operation of the current version of the Rule to undertake effective reform. Although he cautions against revision of Rule 23 before we obtain answers to some of the questions posed, Professor Cooper remains optimistic that the Rule can be improved in some ways without great cost.


Abstract

Background:
Despite the increasing
uptake of family capacity-building theory in past decades, there is a dearth of
practical tools to support its implementation in Early Intervention, alongside
traditional discussion or assessment-based goal setting. We therefore expanded
on earlier co-design with parents raising a child with disability or
developmental delay, and tested a practitioner experiential training.

Method:
Thirty practitioners
trained with a new tool, designed to engage participants to create an inspiring
vision from which they develop authentic goals for their child, their family
and/or themselves, and visualise their active part in achieving their goals.

Results: Practitioners rated this experience
favourably and registered significant training impact and post-training
increases in empowerment.

Conclusions:
Training to facilitate
such novel visioning and planning experiences offers practitioners a unique
opportunity to build family capacity, disrupting a recognised power imbalance
by empowering families with agency and setting the foundations for more
effective family-driven relationships with practitioners.