Abstract Background Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are non-hematopoietic multipotent stromal cells that can differentiate into lineages such as adipocytes, osteocytes and chondrocytes. MSC are immune privileged and also possess immunosuppressive properties, which in combination with their differentiative properties makes them excellent candidates for tissue engineering, an alternative treatment solution for of congenital malformations. This study will investigate mesenchymal stem cells from amniotic fluid and umbilical cords to evaluate which tissue that is superior for tissue engineering. Methods and Results Mesenchymal stem cells were isolated from amniotic fluid (afMSC) obtained at routinely performed amniocenteses and from umbilical cords (ucMSC) collected at births from elective caesarean sections. afMSC were cultured in Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium-low glucose (DMEM) and ucMSC isolated with 3 different protocols were cultured in two different media; modified Eagle medium Alpha (MEMα) and DMEM. After expansion, the cell populations were characterized in regards to their phenotype, immunological properties, proliferative capacity and in vitro differentiation abilities. Mixed lymphocytes culture (MLC) showed that the af and ucMSC were immune privileged and also possessed immunosuppressant properties. Furthermore, the cells cultured in MEMα suppressed the immune response to a greater extent than cells cultured in DMEM. MSC from both sources showed varied differentiation potential towards the osteogenic and adipogenic lineages, but overall with low efficiency. All cells were positive for CD105, CD44, CD73 and HLA I and negative for CD45, CD31, CD14, CD80, HLA-DR and HLA II. MSC from uc were negative for CD34 and positive for CD90, whereas afMSC were intermediately positive for CD34 and CD90. The cells were cultured for 10 passages to investigate their proliferative capacity and their population doubling times were calculated. The average doubling time for afMSC was 49.3 ± 12,7 hours at passages 1 to 5, 42.3 ± 7.5 hours for ucMSC. Conclusions Based on this data we will in the forthcoming studies isolate cells from amitotic fluid using positive selection for various markers and culture the cells in MEMα. With these changes we hope to obtain a potent homogenous cell population that can be used in the treatment of congenital malformations.


The implementation of a controlled complex motion system requires integration of technologically heterogeneous subsystems and collaboration of experts, skilled in different technologies. To attain the desired requirements it is suitable to apply a design procedure organized according to a systematic approach, divided in different steps and representing standalone activities. The fundamental steps are the elicitation, decomposition and formalization of requirements. The systematic procedure proposed in this paper can be developed and supported by the UML (Unified Modelling Language) software tool. Different diagrams characterize both the most significant aspects of the hardware and software structure and the functional facilities. The procedure has been applied to a very simple controlled motion system, just to outlight the advantages and to encourage its reproduction for tutorial purpose.


We investigated the effect of an applied electric field on the Bragg condition of degenerate four-wave mixing a polymeric photorefractive material with a low glass-transition temperatue. For a polymeric photorefractive material the application of an external electric field is necessary for photorefractivity leads to birefringence of the material by poling of the nonlinear optical chromophore. Because the propagation vectors of the pumping and reading beams inside the material are influenced by the refractive index of the material, the Bragg condition depends on the magnitude of the external field. Using an oriented gas model and the-coupled-mode theory, we numerically analyzed the Bragg-mismatch effect that causes a reduction in diffraction efficiency as a function of an external field. We present the boundary conditions for sample thickness and grating spacing for which the Bragg-mismatch effect must be taken into account.


We explore the operation of spontaneous mode locking in a diode-pumped Nd:SrGdGa3O7 disordered crystal laser. The first- and second-order autocorrelations are simultaneously performed to evaluate the temporal characteristics. An 80 GHz pulse train with a pulse duration as short as 616 fs is observed. The maximum output power is 415 mW at a pump power of 6.1 W.


Introduction: Degenerative disease of the spine is a generic term encompassing a wide range of different disease processes, which leads to spinal instability; traumatic/neoplastic events can accelerate this aging process. Therefore, the dynamic nature of the spine and its mobility across multiple segments is difficult to depict with any single imaging modality. Methods: A review of PubMed databases for articles published about kMRI in patients with cervical and lumbar spinal desease was performed. We focused on the physiopathological changes in the transition from supine to upright position in spine instability. Discussion: Until a few years ago, X-ray was the only imaging modality for the spine in the upright position. Of the imaging techniques currently available, MRI provides the greatest range of information and the most accurate delineation of soft-tissue and osseous structures. Conventional MRI examinations of the spine usually are performed in supine position, in functional rest, but the lumbar spine instability is often shown only by upright standing. This can result in negative findings, even in the presence of symptoms. Regardless, the final result is distorted. To overcome this limitation, Kinetic MRI (kMRI) can image patients in a weight-bearing position and in flexed and extended positions, thus revealing abnormalities that are missed by traditional MRI studies. Conclusion: Despite some limitations, the upright MRI can be a complementary investigation to the traditional methods when there are negative results in conventional MRI in symptomatic patients or when surgical therapy is scheduled. (www.actabiomedica.it)


Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite that causes toxoplasmosis in humans, domestic animals and wild animals. Although there is serological evidence of T. gondii infection in wild animals, little is known about the role of wildlife in the epidemiological chain of this parasite. The South American coati (Nasua nasua) is an omnivorous species capable of adaptation to different environments. It can be found throughout Brazil, and in anthropized environments it can come into close contact with domestic animals. The present study found occurrences of T. gondii antibodies in South American coatis living in the Tiete Ecological Park, in the municipality of Sao Paulo, Brazil, through the modified agglutination test (MAT). In total, 99 samples were obtained and 70.70% (n = 70) were positive for anti-T. gondii antibodies, with titers that ranged from 50 to 3200. The data from this study indicate that South American coatis are exposed to this parasite.


The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dietary zinc deficiency and diet restriction on bone development in growing rats, and to determine whether any adverse effects could be reversed by dietary repletion. Weanling rats were fed either a zinc-deficient diet ad libitum (ZD; <1 mg zinc/kg) or nutritionally complete diet (30 mg zinc/kg) either ad libitum (CTL) or pair-fed to the intake of the ZD group (DR; diet-restricted) for 3 weeks (deficiency phase) and then all groups were fed the zincadequate diet ad libitum for 3, 7, or 23 days (repletion phase). Excised femurs were analyzed for bone mineral density (BMD) using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, and plasma was analyzed for markers of bone formation (osteocalcin) and resorption (Ratlaps). After the deficiency phase, ZD had lower body weight and reduced femur BMD, zinc, and phosphorus concentrations compared with DR; and these parameters were lower in DR compared with CTL. Femur calcium concentrations were unchanged among the groups. Reduced plasma osteocalcin in ZD and elevated plasma Ratlaps in DR suggested that zinc deficiency limits bone formation while diet restriction accelerates bone resorption activity. After 23 days of repletion, femur size, BMD, and zinc concentrations remained lower in ZD compared with DR and CTL. Body weight and femur phosphorus concentrations remained lower in both ZD and DR compared with CTL after repletion. There were no differences in plasma osteocalcin concentrations after the repletion phase, but the plasma Ratlaps concentrations remained elevated in DR compared with CTL. In summary, both ZD and DR lead to osteopenia during rapid growth, but the mechanisms appear to be due to reduced modeling in ZD and higher turnover in DR. Zinc deficiency was associated with a greater impairment in bone development than diet restriction, and both deficiencies limited bone recovery during repletion in growing rats.


Science has influenced the modern day life and has never been more important to every aspect of social system than it is today. In today's world more and more tough decisions have to depend on advances in modern science as all these advances are integral part of human existence. But on the other hand, it is becoming increasingly difficult for non-specialists to grasp those scientific advances which have been carried out at specialized centres. In modern specialist era even the best scientists are non-specialist outside their own area of inquiry. The political decision-making involves broad public participation through representations in every democratic system and therefore it is essential that the general public gain knowledge about the progress being made in science. Public should also know about the individuals, i.e., men and women, who are responsible and have contributed significantly to this progress.


The rich and the privileged have fled the city, barricaded it behind roadblocks, and left it to crumble. The inner city has had to rediscover old ways -- farming, barter, herb lore. But now the monied need a harvest of bodies, and so they prey upon the helpless of the streets. With nowhere to turn, a young woman must open herself to ancient truths, eternal powers, the tragic mystery surrounding her mother and grandmother. She must bargain with gods, and give birth to new legends.


The authors present a maximum likelihood sequence estimation (MLSE) receiver structure for both linear and hard-limited 16-quadrature pulse overlapping modulation (QPOM) schemes. Using this structure, the performance of these schemes over shadowed Rician fading channels is studied. The structure of linear 16-QPOM schemes allowed the use of independent decoding for in-phase and quadrature components of the transmitted signal, thus reducing considerably the complexity of the MLSE receiver. The hard-limited 16-QPOM scheme used two hard-limited QPOM schemes in parallel. It is shown that an optimum MLSE receiver for this type of signal needs to consider both in-phase and quadrature components at the same time. Using the MLSE receiver, both schemes outperform conventional coherent 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM).<<ETX>>


The demands and solutions for ultra-precision metrology in the manufacturing of lithography masks for the display industry are indeed challenging. Specification demands to be overcome are a measurement repeatability of 10 nm (3 σ) and an absolute accuracy of better than 100 nm (3 σ) on a scale of more than 1.5 m in the X and Y directions. The design of a measurement system that meets these requirements calls for careful selections of materials such as metal, ceramic composites, quartz or glass as they at this precision level are highly affected by the surrounding temperature. Also the fact that the refractive index of air in the interferometers measuring absolute distances is affected by temperature, pressure, humidity and CO2 content make the reference measurements really challenging [1].As in many other areas in the industry high quality metrology is the key for success in developing high accuracy production tools. This paper will therefore start by introducing the metrology requirements of mask making for display screens and end with the state-of-the-art results we have achieved.


There are arguably few topics in current global economic policy as intensely debated as the impact of different facets of globalization on human development. Given that the concept of globalization reflects a multitude of economic and societal transformations, the scope of these discussions needs to be equally nuanced. This dissertation sheds light on some of the channels through which less researched facets of globalization affect human lives.
Specifically, the first essay scrutinizes the role of informational globalization, characterized by the exchange of information. It focuses on the spread of modern information and telecommunication technologies, such as the internet, and how this development has the potential to shape concerns about relative status and people's perception of happiness.
The second essay deals with the implications of environmental globalization - more precisely, with climate change as its most perceptible phenomenon and the consequential increased prevalence of extreme weather events in many parts of the world. Focusing on the impact of drought conditions on health outcomes in the agrarian economy of Vietnam, the results reveal one component of the costs of environmental globalization for a population vulnerable to poverty.
Emanating from the long-debated question whether development aid is effective in increasing economic growth, the third essay is concerned with the role of the World Bank as one key player of political globalization in alleviating poverty and fostering development and the role of cross-border official capital flows in the form of development aid. It also has a methodological focus through bringing the aid-effectiveness literature to the subnational level.
Being grounded on economic theory, a unifying feature of all essays in this dissertation is an evidence-based approach to economic problems. Their research method is the use of empirical data in order to draw quantitative conclusions on the effects of different aspects of globalization on human development.


This course continues the linguistic and cultural experiences of 2010/2020. Grammar and phonetics are studied in relation to the language skills the students have acquired. Cultural inquiry and current foreign events are emphasized. Original compositions are linked to course goals as well as student interests. Majors and minors are required to pass a target language competency exam during the term in which they take 3010.


Mixed convection
ow of heat source modules mounted on a horizontal plate has been
studied numerically. Present analysis is valid when the buoyancy force effects are small
compared to forced convection effects. The mixed convection
ow problem is formulated
by two- dimensional incompressible
ow with the buoyancy term represented by Boussi-
nesq approximation. The governing equations are transformed in to an orthogonal trans-
formed plane and solved in stream function and vorticity formulation using high accuracy
finite difference schemes. Results are reported for single and double heat sources mounted
on horizontal plate with and without thickness of the heat source module. Detailed re-
sults are reported on the thermal field of heat source modules or electronic components
mounted on a horizontal plate and its dependence on physical parameters such as the ex-
ternal velocity, energy input, thickness and location of heat source modules etc. Results
show that the surface temperature is decreases with the increase of free stream velocity.
The surface temperature is decreases with the increase of energy input to the heat source
due to buoyancy. The location of the heat source shows significant effect on the surface
temperature and thermal field near the heat source. The surface temperature increases
with the increase of heat source location from the leading edge of the plate due to increase
of thermal boundary layer thickness. The distance between the two heat sources shows a
significant effect on thermal field near the heat source modules. The surface temperature
is decreases with the increase of thickness of the heat source module due to increase of
surface area. The maximum surface temperature and average Nusselt number values are
reported for various combinations of Reynolds and Richardson numbers. The reported
average Nusselt numbers are matching very well with the experimental results available
from the literature.


White s pot disease (WSD) is an important viral disease of cultured penaeid shrimp. Despite the amount of research that has been carried out on this disease, much still remains to be done. This study was undertaken to examine the effect of different environmental parameters on the occurrence and severity of outbreaks of WSD. The study also undertook to investigate the occurrence of apoptosis and presence or activation of related genes that might result from virus infection. Black tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon and pond water samples were collected from four shrimp farms located along the coast of Peninsular Malaysia, to investigate the relationship between environmental changes and the occurrence of WSD. In the study, it was found that occurrence of WSD was more widespread during the wet season, in association with sudden drops in water temperature and salinity. Laboratory experiments were also conducted to investigate the relationship between salinity, temperature and the occurrence of WSD. All the shrimp exposed to sudden increases in temperature and then returned to normal temperature in association with changed salinity were dead within four days of exposure. However, shrimp maintained at low salinity were less susceptible to disease. To study the development of white spot lesions during infection, shrimp were exposed to white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) via the water borne route. At one-hour post exposure, electron microscopy revealed the appearance of white spots, which were oval or ovate in shape. White spots were visible by the naked eye three days post infection. The study also showed that there were two types of white spots, one related to viral infection, and the other related to bacterial infection. An epicommensal Zoolhamnium sp. was able to penetrate the shrimp cuticle at these bacterial white spots. High numbers of apoptotic cell s were identified in moribund P. monodon infected with WSSV. Apoptotic cells showed DNA fragmentation by TUNEL
fluorescence assay and gel electrophoresis of DNA extracts, while H&E stained sections revealed nuclear enlargement and chromatin condensation and margination in degenerated cells. The numbers of such cells present in tissues of WSSV infected shrimp increased with increasing severity of infection as determined by gross signs of white spots on the cuticle, number of inclusion bodies in histopathological sections and by single and double-step (nested) peR assay. The results suggested that apoptosis might be implicated in shrimp death caused by this virus.


We learn constraint networks by asking the user partial queries. That is, we ask the user to classify assignments to subsets of the variables as positive or negative. We provide an algorithm that, given a negative example, focuses onto a constraint of the target network in a number of queries logarithmic in the size of the example. We give information theoretic lower bounds for learning some simple classes of constraint networks and show that our generic algorithm is optimal in some cases. Finally we evaluate our algorithm on some benchmarks.


Abstract Despite the recent policy proclamations urging state and local educators to implement integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula, relatively little is known about the role and impact of pre-college engineering courses within these initiatives. When combined with appropriate mathematics and science courses, high school engineering and engineering technology (E&ET) courses may have the potential to provide students with pre-college learning experiences that encourage them to pursue STEM college majors. Our central research question was: What is the nature and extent of any relationship between high school E&ET course completion and subsequent selection of a STEM major in a two-year or four-year college? Using the first and second follow-up datasets of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, we examined the direction and magnitude of the association between E&ET course-taking in high school and postsecondary STEM program enrollment. We controlled for a wide array of factors identified in the literature as being associated with college major selection, allowing us to better isolate the association between high school E&ET course-taking and college major selection. Overall, students who earned three credits in E&ET courses were 1.60 times more likely to enroll in STEM majors in four-year institutions than students who did not earn high school E&ET credits. This positive, significant association persisted even after controlling for students' social backgrounds, academic preparation and attitudes during high school, college choice considerations, and early postsecondary education experiences. In combination with a high school college readiness curriculum, E&ET courses potentially contribute in multiple ways to informing students' selection of engineering and STEM college majors. Abstract Despite the recent policy proclamations urging state and local educators to implement integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curricula, relatively little is known about the role and impact of pre-college engineering courses within these initiatives. When combined with appropriate mathematics and science courses, high school engineering and engineering technology (E&ET) courses may have the potential to provide students with pre-college learning experiences that encourage them to pursue STEM college majors. Our central research question was: What is the nature and extent of any relationship between high school E&ET course completion and subsequent selection of a STEM major in a two-year or four-year college? Using the first and second follow-up datasets of the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002, we examined the direction and magnitude of the association between E&ET course-taking in high school and postsecondary STEM program enrollment. We controlled for a wide array of factors identified in the literature as being associated with college major selection, allowing us to better isolate the association between high school E&ET course-taking and college major selection. Overall, students who earned three credits in E&ET courses were 1.60 times more likely to enroll in STEM majors in four-year institutions than students who did not earn high school E&ET credits. This positive, significant association persisted even after controlling for students' social backgrounds, academic preparation and attitudes during high school, college choice considerations, and early postsecondary education experiences. In combination with a high school college readiness curriculum, E&ET courses potentially contribute in multiple ways to informing students' selection of engineering and STEM college majors.


Background: The antioxidant potential of medicinal plants has been illustrated through many reports clearly depicting that plants are a rich source of antioxidants, making them a great resource of novel drugs and health-care products. Objectives: The current study is, therefore, focused toward the assessment of antioxidant properties along with the presence of phytochemicals in leaves of 18 varieties/accessions of Aegle marmelos. Materials and Methods: The antioxidant activities were initially measured using superoxide radical scavenging method, 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and ferric-reducing ability of plasma assays. Further, thin-layer chromatography (TLC), high-performance TLC, and column chromatography were performed to isolate the potentially active fraction and anti-inflammatory activity of crude, and the isolated fraction was tested on J774 macrophage cell line. Results: The maximum inhibition of superoxide anions was shown by Pant Aparna. Additionally, Pant Aparna extract was most efficient, exhibiting 92.0% inhibition in scavenging the DPPH radicals. The content of total carotenoids was found to be higher in Pant Aparna among all the varieties/accessions. Furthermore, the crude extract and the fraction A. marmelos methanolic fraction 21 (AMMF21) were found to be nontoxic and significant reactive oxygen species, and NO inhibition was observed in a concentration-dependent manner. Moreover, the methanolic extract of variety Pant Aparna showed promising in vitro antioxidant activity, indicating its potency for therapeutic applications. Conclusion: In brief, this is the first ever report on Pant Aparna as the best variety in terms of phytocompounds and identification of potential antioxidant activity. In addition, the AMMF21 fraction of methanolic extract possessing best antioxidant activity on macrophage cells indicates its use as a novel phytotherapeutic agent. Abbreviations used: AMMF21: Aegle marmelos methanolic fraction 21, DPPH: (2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl), FRAP: Ferric-reducing ability of plasma, HP-TLC: High-performance-thin-layer chromatography, TLC: Thin-layer chromatography, TCA: Trichloroacetic acid, TPTZ: 2,4,6-Tripyridyl-s-triazine, DNPH: 2,4-dinitrophenyl hydrazine, NBT: Nitroblue tetrazolium, NADH: Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, PMS: Phenazine metho-sulfate, DMEM: Dulbecco's modified Eagle medium; MTT: (3-(4,5-dimethythiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide, DCFDA: 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein diacetate, LPS: Lipopolysaccharide, NED: N-(1-Naphthyl) ethylenediamine.


The community mediation movement in the United States arose in the late 1970s as an alternative to a formalized justice system that was perceived to be costly, time consuming, and unresponsive to individual and community needs. Community mediation advocates also valued community training, social justice, volunteerism, empowerment, and local control over conflict resolution mechanisms. But over the past quarter century, community mediation has become increasingly institutionalized and has undergone various degrees of co-optation in its evolving relationship with the court system. Drawing on the literatures of dispute resolution, co-optation, and social movements, we analyze the evolution of community mediation and identify the degrees and dimensions of its co-optation. Thus, we develop a four-stage model of co-optation as it has occurred within the community mediation movement, identifying multiple steps in each stage. This analysis facilitates greater understanding of specific events, particular processes, and individual decisions and dilemmas that mediation activists face in their working relationships with their communities and the formal legal system. Further, scholars studying similar processes in other social movements may find that this stage model of co-optation, in whole or in part, is useful to their analyses of other movements.


This paper addresses a prominent empirical failure of the expectations theory of the term structure of interest rates under the assumption of rational expectations. This failure concerns the magnitude of slope coefficients in regressions of short rate (or long- rate) changes on long-short spreads. It is shown that the anomalous empirical findings can be rationalized with the expectations theory by recognition of an exogenous random (but possibly autoregressive) term premium plus the assumption that monetary policy involves smoothing of an interest rate instrument -- the short rate -- together with the responses to the prevailing level of the spread.


Various partnerships and international research networks linking Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in the global North and South have emerged in the past decades, as an expression of higher education"s contribution to international development, and of the need to bridge the North/South knowledge divide. Such partnerships have contributed to enhanced human and infrastructural capacity, as well as to a better integration of the southern partners in international exchanges. Nevertheless, they have also been criticised for focusing too much on the one-directional "transfer" of capacity from North to South, at the expense of genuine partnership working, mutual learning and responsiveness to need. Furthermore, the challenge of nurturing long term mutual partnerships has frequently proved to be at odds with the shorter-term timelines of most donor-funded programmes. A recent Irish based partnership attempts to address some of these problems. The Irish-African Partnership for Research Capacity Building, a programme supported by Irish Aid and Universities Ireland, brings together all nine universities on the island of Ireland in partnership with four universities in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda, to develop a coordinated approach to building research capacity both within Africa ("South") and Ireland ("North"). Drawing on the preliminary results of a stakeholder consultation that was undertaken in the thirteen partner universities, we illustrate the potential mutual benefits from partnerships in Higher Education that stress capacity building in both North and South. The challenges associated with the model and the strategies instituted to achieve a mutual and sustainable partnership are also highlighted.


Wormhole is a publish-subscribe (pub-sub) system developed for use within Facebook's geographically replicated datacenters. It is used to reliably replicate changes among several Facebook services including TAO, Graph Search and Memcache. This paper describes the design and implementation of Wormhole as well as the operational challenges of scaling the system to support the multiple data storage systems deployed at Facebook. Our production deployment of Wormhole transfers over 35 GBytes/sec in steady state (50 millions messages/sec or 5 trillion messages/day) across all deployments with bursts up to 200 GBytes/sec during failure recovery. We demonstrate that Wormhole publishes updates with low latency to subscribers that can fail or consume updates at varying rates, without compromising efficiency.


When developing data transformations - a task omnipresent in applications like data integration, data migration, data cleaning, or scientific data processing -developers quickly face the need to verify the semantic correctness of the transformation. Declarative specifications of data transformations, e.g., SQL or ETL tools, increase developer productivity but usually provide limited or no means for inspection or debugging. In this situation, developers today have no choice but to manually analyze the transformation and, in case of an error, to (repeatedly) fix and test the transformation. The goal of the Nautilus project is to semi-automatically support this analysis-fix-test cycle. This demonstration focuses on one main component of Nautilus, namely the Nautilus Analyzer that helps developers in understanding and debugging their data transformations. The demonstration will show the capabilities of this component for data transformations specified in SQL on scenarios from different domains that are based on real-world data. We provide an overview the Nautilus Analyzer, discuss components and implementation techniques, and outline our demonstration plan. The Nautilus website (http://nautilus-system.org) features a video, screenshots, and further details.


Abstact This study examined relationships between teacher implementation of a comprehensive bullying prevention program and student outcomes. Implementation in third- through sixth-grade classrooms (N = 36) was measured by observation and teacher report. Student outcomes were measured by student surveys and teacher ratings of peer social skills (N = 549) and observations of playground behaviors (n = 298). Multilevel modeling showed that teacher coaching of students involved in bullying was associated with less observed victimization and destructive bystander behavior among students engaged in these problems at pretest, and less observed aggression among fifth- and sixth-grade students. Support for skill generalization related to reductions in observed aggression and victimization among older students. Adherence to lessons was associated with higher ratings of peer social skills. Quality of lesson instruction corresponded to greater self-reported victimization, as well as more perceived difficulty responding assertively to bullying. Implications for school-based practice and future research directions are discussed.


of a thesis at the University of Miami. Thesis supervised by Professor Neil Schneiderman. No. of pages in text. (52) Both type 2 diabetes (T2D) and the the metabolic syndrome (MetS) have been shown to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Inflammation and insulin resistance have each been associated with the development of MetS and the onset of T2D as well as the risk of CVD. Inflammation and insulin resistance are therefore suitable targets for public health initiatives and interventions in persons at risk for or living with CVD. Physical inactivity is a major risk factor for CVD as well as MetS and T2D. Conversely, increased physical activity is associated with improved health outcomes for individuals with a high risk for developing CVD. Two possible mechanisms for the deleterious effects of inactivity on health are inflammation and insulin resistance. Researchers have hypothesized that increased adiposity and reduced fitness are partially responsible for the associations between inactivity, inflammation, and insulin resistance. However, these relationships have not been studied extensively in overweight/obese individuals, who are often unfit and sedentary. The purpose of this study was to further examine the relationship between baseline measures of walking activity and sedentary behavior, and inflammation and insulin resistance in a sample of adults with type 2 diabetes and/or metabolic syndrome. This thesis examined baseline data from participants enrolled in either of two studies of patients with T2D (n = 116) or MetS without T2D (n = 126). Participants included low income men and women (not pregnant or nursing) between the ages of 18 and 70 who either show depressed affect (BDI > 11), and were overweight (BMI ≥ 27 kg/m) and had type 2 diabetes or had at least 3 components of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) classification of the metabolic syndrome (MetS). Structural equation modeling was used to determine if physical inactivity is associated with inflammation or insulin resistance in these conditions. Possible mediational roles of adiposity and low cardiorespiratory fitness were also examined. Additional analyses were conducted to determine if these relationships can be estimated equally in MetS and T2D conditions. Activity was indirectly related to abdominal adiposity via an indirect, positive association with cardiorespiratory fitness. Abdominal adiposity was positively related to both inflammation and insulin resistance. There were no direct associations between activity and inflammation or insulin resistance in this population. Therefore, walking may be negatively related to cardiovascular risk, insofar as it reduces abdominal adiposity.


The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) has been used with increasing frequency for detecting and identifying plant pathogens. Although PCR is sensitive, research has shown that amplification of target microbial DNA from within another organism, such as an arthropod or plant, can be inhibited by the presence of host DNA. In this study, the sensitivity of standard and high-fidelity PCR, which incorporates a second DNA polymerase with proofreading ability, to detect and amplify DNA from the fungal pathogen Pseudocercospora odontoglossi while in the presence of Cattleya orchid DNA, was compared. Different dilutions of plasmids containing internal transcribed spacer (ITS)1, 5.8S, and ITS2 rDNA from P. odontoglossi were spiked with Cattleya orchid plant DNA. The high-fidelity PCR could detect and amplify as few as 207 plasmids containing the fungal DNA, whereas the standard PCR required over 200 million copies. The high-fidelity PCR was more efficient than conventional PCR in detecting Sclerotium rolfsii and a Dickeya sp. from freshly inoculated orchid plants, demonstrating its increased sensitivity in early detection of fungal and bacterial pathogens that are difficult to discriminate early in disease development.


UNLABELLED
This review focuses on clinical trials and the approval process in order to understand the discrepancy between vibrant science and the continuing failure of mechanism-based anticancer drugs.

CLINICAL TRIALS
Mechanistic trials in cancer require at least three elements: the assurance of tumor definition, knowledge of the natural history, and earlier intervention. Histologic identity is not a reliable surrogate of the functional nature or a predictor of the natural history. cDNA arrays and computational models have promise in improving diagnosis and prediction, and thereby making tailored therapy possible. The latter requires: the incorporation of initial and earlier rational combination therapy, dynamic models of disease progression, and methods to discourage the emergence of resistance. For cytostatics, and in early cancer, a delay in progression may represent a better index of survival than tumor shrinkage.

APPROVAL PROCESS
Since mechanistic similarities may outweigh therapeutic predictions based on organ-and histology-defined cancer, there is a need for a revised process that would allow for tailored treatment and initial combination therapy to improve safety, efficacy, and circumvent resistance.

CONCLUSION
In order to translate the major and immediate potential of cytostatic drugs, clinical trials and the approval process may need to shift to a mechanism-based framework.


Background The Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2001 left around 20,000 dead or missing. Previous studies showed that rescue workers, as well as survivors, of disasters are at high risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This study examined the predictive usefulness of the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI) among rescue workers of Disaster Medical Assistance Teams (DMATs) deployed during the acute disaster phase of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Methodology/Principal Findings In this prospective observational study, the DMAT members recruited were assessed 1 month after the earthquake on the PDI and 4 months after the earthquake on the Impact of Event Scale-Revised to determine PTSD symptoms. The predictive value of the PDI at initial assessment for PTSD symptoms at the follow-up assessment was examined by univariate and multiple linear regression analysis. Of the 254 rescue workers who participated in the initial assessment, 173 completed the follow-up assessment. Univariate regression analysis revealed that PDI total score and most individual item scores predicted PTSD symptoms. In particular, high predictive values were seen for peritraumatic emotional distress such as losing control of emotions and being ashamed of emotional reactions. In multiple linear regression analysis, PDI total score was an independent predictor for PTSD symptoms after adjusting for covariates. As for covariates specifically, watching earthquake television news reports for more than 4 hours per day predicted PTSD symptoms. Conclusions/Significance The PDI predicted PTSD symptoms in rescue workers after the Great East Japan Earthquake. Peritraumatic emotional distress appears to be an important factor to screen for individuals at risk for developing PTSD among medical rescue workers. In addition, watching television for extended period of time might require attention at a time of crisis.


Agriculture in Kenya has great untapped potential for providing employment opportunities for youth that would enable them exploit their creativity, economic innovation and access to agricultural product markets in order to spur faster national economic growth. Reducing cereal importation in Kenya through local investment and expanding of markets for agricultural products can effectively create youth employment. A number of youth took part in agriculture in Kajiado North SubCounty with maize being the most preferred crop while poultry keeping the most preferred livestock activity by youth The influence of youth access to markets for agricultural products on their participation in agriculture in Kajiado North SubCounty was poorly understood and hence the need for this study, which used a cross-sectional design to collect data from 397 randomly, selected youth and 22 youth and agricultural officers. Content validity of the youth and agricultural officers' questionnaires was ascertained by extension experts while reliability was determined through a pilot test involving 30 respondents. The reliability coefficient were 0.86α and 0.80α respectively, which were above the 0.70 threshold for acceptable reliability. The results showed a statistically significant positive relationship (r=.330, p=.01) between youth access to markets and their participation in agriculture. It also showed that youth access to markets influenced their participation in agriculture with 57.4% of the respondents indicating that poor infrastructures and limited knowledge on market prices reduced their access to markets for agricultural commodities. Youth with easy access to markets for their products had higher participation rates in agricultural activities than those with minimal access to markets. The government and other actors should support formation of organizations that can give youth the necessary bargaining power to interact on equal terms with other market actors in order to reduce transaction costs through economies of scale when buying inputs and selling produce.


1. A method for measuring interstitial 'fluid' pressure by using a wick consisting of long-stranded cotton wool at the interface of the tissue is described. 2. A correct measurement of hydrostatic fluid pressure was obtained when the wick, connected to a suitable transducer, was applied to filter paper in which the channels contained fluid at a known subatmospheric pressure. 3. A mean subatmospheric pressure of −1.6 cmH 2 O was recorded in the subcutaneous tissue of the normally hydrated frog; pressure fell with dehydration and rose with overhydration. 4. A mean subatmospheric pressure of −2.8 cmH 2 O was recorded in the subcutaneous tissues of the abdominal wall and scalp of the normally hydrated rat. Simultaneous measurements made at symmetrical sites showed a high degree of correlation. 5. A comparison of interstitial 'fluid' pressure in the subcutaneous tissues of the scalp (measured by a wick) and the abdominal wall (measured by a Guyton capsule), in both anaesthetized and conscious rats showed some degree of correlation. There was, however, a wide scatter of values. 6. The interstitial 'fluid' pressure in the rat, measured by both wick and capsule, became more negative when the animals underwent frusemide diuresis; the capsule pressures fell more rapidly for a given degree of fluid loss. 7. The wick method was applied to the subcutaneous tissues of the arm in normal man; a mean atmospheric pressure of −3.4 cmH 2 O was recorded in five subjects. There were no untoward sequelae. 8. The forces responsible for the measured pressure have been analysed. The recorded subatmospheric interstitial 'fluid' pressure in the rat rose towards atmospheric pressure and sometimes became positive when the wick was removed, soaked in increasing concentrations of hyaluronic acid, and reinserted in the tissues. This did not happen in similar experiments in which the wick was soaked in bovine albumin, rat plasma or saline. The large macromolecules of hyaluronic acid therefore exert a force which opposes the forces responsible for the subatmospheric interstitial pressure. 9. It is suggested that the apparent subatmospheric hydrostatic pressure is due to the osmotic forces developed by the hyaluronic acid molecules in the interstitial tissues trapped by their mutual entanglement in a sieve of collagen fibrils acting as a semipermeable membrane.


Leaf shape diversity relies on transient morphogenetic activity in leaf margins. This study identifies cytokinin as an important regulator of the extended morphogenetic activity that characterizes the leaf margin of compound tomato leaves. Leaf shape diversity relies on transient morphogenetic activity in leaf margins. However, how this morphogenetic capacity is maintained is still poorly understood. Here, we uncover a role for the hormone cytokinin (CK) in the regulation of morphogenetic activity of compound leaves in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). Manipulation of CK levels led to alterations in leaf complexity and revealed a unique potential for prolonged growth and morphogenesis in tomato leaves. We further demonstrate that the effect of CK on leaf complexity depends on proper localization of auxin signaling. Genetic analysis showed that reduction of CK levels suppresses the effect of Knotted1 like homeobox (KNOXI) proteins on leaf shape and that CK can substitute for KNOXI activity at the leaf margin, suggesting that CK mediates the activity of KNOXI proteins in the regulation of leaf shape. These results imply that CK regulates flexible leaf patterning by dynamic interaction with additional hormones and transcription factors.


The nonlinear optical properties, optical limitation, and second- and third-order
 nonlinearity in a new class of noncovalently bonded fullerene-porphyrin complexes
 are investigated. Quantum-chemical calculations of the optimal geometry, binding
 energy, electronic structure, and nonlinear optical properties of donor-acceptor
 fullerene-prophyrin complexes are performed. As a result of the formation of a
 complex, the second-order molecular polarizability is higher than in porphyrins by
 two to three orders of magnitude, depending on the orientation of the molecule, and
 the third-order molecular susceptibility two orders of magnitude higher. The
 nonlinear absorption in thin films and solutions of the complexes is measured. In
 picosecond regimes, absorption saturation at 560nm wavelength is observed for pulse energy density above 0.01J∕cm2. A model is proposed for the increase of the optical nonlinearity in
 complexes as compared with the molecular components.


In recent years there has been a growing interest in setting up the modeling and solving mathematical problems in order to explain numerous experimental findings which are relevant to industrial applications. Distributions also known as generalized functions which generalize classical
functions and allow us to extend the concept of derivative to all continuous functions. The theory of distributions have applications in various fields especially in science and engineering where many non-continuous phenomena
that naturally lead to differential equations whose solutions are distributions, such as the delta distribution therefore distributions can help us to develop an operational calculus in order to investigate linear ordinary differential equations as well as partial differential equations with constant coefficients through their fundamental solutions. Further, some regular operations which are valid for ordinary functions
such as addition, multiplication by scalars are extended into distributions. Other operations can be defined only for certain restricted subclasses; these are called irregular operations. They allow us to extend the concept of derivative to all continuous functions and beyond and are used to formulate generalized solutions of partial
differential equations.They are important in physics and engineering where many non-continuous problems naturally lead to differential equations whose solutions are distri-
butions, such as the Dirac delta distribution.
In this work we aim to show how differential equations arise in the mathematical modeling of certain problems in industry. The focus of the presentations will be on the use of mathematics to advance the understanding of specific problems that arise in industry. For this purpose we let
D be the space of infinitely differentiable functions with compact support and let D′ be the space of distributions defined on D then we provide some particular examples how to use the generalized functions in Statistics and
Economics. At the end of the study we relate the Tomography and The Radon Transform on using the generalized functions.
In mathematical analysis, distributions also known as generalized functions are objects which generalize functions and probability distributions. We apply the distributions to the some mathematical problems. For this
purpose we let ρ be a fixed infinitely differentiable function having the
following properties:
(i) ρ(x) = 0 for|x|≥1,
(ii) ρ(x)≥0,
(iii) ρ(x) =ρ(−x),
(iv) ∫1−1ρ(x)dx= 1 .

Define, the function δn by putting δn(x) =nρ(nx) forn= 1,2,...,it follows that{δn(x)} is a regular sequence of infinitely differentiable functions converging to the Dirac delta-function δ(x). Now let D be the space of infinitely differentiable functions with compact support and let D′ be the space of distributions defined on D. Then if
f is an arbitrary distribution in D′, we define fn(x) = (f∗δn)(x) =⟨f(t),δn(x−t)⟩for n= 1,2,.... It follows that{fn(x)} is a regular sequence of infinitely differentiable functions converging to the distribution f(x)


During the decade from 1982/83 through 1992/93, Bangladesh was able to increase production of rice, its staple food, at a rate modestly higher than the growth in population. However, the growth in per capita supply remained stagnant, because of the substitution of imports with domestic production. On the other hand, per capita income grew about 2 percent per annum. Nevertheless, the real price of rice declined about 2.7 percent annually. This decline in the rice price, on the face of a stagnant supply and increasing incomes, aroused suspicion whether income distribution has twisted against the poor who have a higher marginal propensity to consume rice compared to the rich. Three factors are identified that contributed to the decline in the rice price while per capita income increased: a) urbanization, b) diversification of diet, and c) income distribution. The analysis shows that, of a total demand depressing effect of 15.6 percent, urbanization accounts for 4 percentage points, cross-price effects for 7 percentage points, and worsening income distribution accounts, residually, for 4.6 percentage points. These findings are based on plausible values of demand and supply parameters which warrant fresh evaluation in the context of rapid structural change in the economy of Bangladesh.


The magnetosheath is the region where the shocked solar wind interacts directly with the magnetosphere. Here we examine the magnetic field throughout the equatorial magnetosheath as a function of the solar wind IMF direction using observational data sets (Geotail and Wind) spanning 9.5 years. In general, the synoptic maps of the magnetosheath magnetic field are in agreement with the predictions of Rankine-Hugoniot conditions at the bow shock and with global numerical models. Qualitative comparisons with recent analytic magnetosheath magnetic field models are also performed and show that the compression of the magnetosheath magnetic field between the two boundaries (bow shock and magnetopause) used in such models is greater than that which is observed.


Abstract A concern with ensuring minimum standards of dignity for all and a doctrine based on the need to secure for everyone basic levels of rights have traditionally shaped the way in which international human rights law addresses poverty. Whether this minimalist, non-relational approach befits international law objectives in the area of world poverty begs consideration. This article offers three justifications as to why global material inequality – and not just poverty – should matter to international human rights law. The article then situates requirements regarding the improvement of living conditions, a system of equitable distribution in the case of hunger, and in particular obligations of international cooperation, within the post-1945 international effort at people-centred development. The contextual consideration of relevant tenets serves to demonstrate that positive international human rights law can be applied beyond efforts at poverty alleviation to accommodate a doctrine of fair global distribution.


Abstract. Peatlands and peaty riparian zones are major sources of dissolved organic matter (DOM), but are poorly understood in terms of export dynamics and controls thereof. Thereby quality of DOM affects function and behavior of DOM in aquatic ecosystems, but DOM quality can also help to track DOM sources and their export dynamics under specific hydrologic preconditions. The objective of this study was to elucidate controls on temporal variability in DOM concentration and quality in stream water draining a bog and a forested peaty riparian zone, particularly considering drought and storm flow events. DOM quality was monitored using spectrofluorometric indices for aromaticity (SUVA254), apparent molecular size (SR) and precursor organic material (FI), as well as PARAFAC modeling of excitation emission matrices (EEMs). Indices for DOM quality exhibited major changes due to different hydrologic conditions, but patterns were also dependent on season. Stream water at the forested site with mineral, peaty soils generally exhibited higher variability in DOM concentrations and quality compared to the outflow of an ombrotrophic bog, where DOM was less susceptible to changes in hydrologic conditions. During snowmelt and spring events, near-surface protein-like DOM pools were exported. A microbial DOM fraction originating from groundwater and deep peat layers was increasing during drought, while a strongly microbially altered DOM fraction was also exported by discharge events with dry preconditions at the forested site. This might be due to accelerated microbial activity in the peaty riparian zone of the forested site under these preconditions. Our study demonstrated that DOM export dynamics are not only a passive mixing of different hydrological sources, but monitoring studies have to consider that DOM quality depends on hydrologic preconditions and season. Moreover, the forested peaty riparian zone generated the most variability in headwater DOM quantity and quality, as could be tracked by the used spectrofluorometric indices.


Holistic 3D indoor scene understanding refers to jointly recovering the i) object bounding boxes, ii) room layout, and iii) camera pose, all in 3D. The existing methods either are ineffective or only tackle the problem partially. In this paper, we propose an end-to-end model that simultaneously solves all three tasks in real-time given only a single RGB image. The essence of the proposed method is to improve the prediction by i) parametrizing the targets (e.g., 3D boxes) instead of directly estimating the targets, and ii) cooperative training across different modules in contrast to training these modules individually. Specifically, we parametrize the 3D object bounding boxes by the predictions from several modules, i.e., 3D camera pose and object attributes. The proposed method provides two major advantages: i) The parametrization helps maintain the consistency between the 2D image and the 3D world, thus largely reducing the prediction variances in 3D coordinates. ii) Constraints can be imposed on the parametrization to train different modules simultaneously. We call these constraints "cooperative losses" as they enable the joint training and inference. We employ three cooperative losses for 3D bounding boxes, 2D projections, and physical constraints to estimate a geometrically consistent and physically plausible 3D scene. Experiments on the SUN RGB-D dataset shows that the proposed method significantly outperforms prior approaches on 3D object detection, 3D layout estimation, 3D camera pose estimation, and holistic scene understanding.


This paper explores a folk veterinary medical system in the southern Appalachian region of North Carolina and Tennessee. In addition to a review of literature on ethnoveterinary medicine, the study utilizes ethnographic methods to examine folk veterinarians [small-holder stock-keepers] and phenomena surrounding how and why vernacular veterinary medicine functions in Southern Appalachia. A five county study area was chosen in the Blue Ridge, and qualitative data was obtained from 16 informants. Semantic domains of illness were established to aid in ethnographic analysis. Human folk medicine has been extensively researched in Appalachia; however little is known about folk veterinary medicine in the region. This paper demonstrates that ethnoveterinary practices have both detrimental and beneficial effects on human, animal, and environmental domains of health. Folk practitioners are not only the first responders in animal emergencies; they commonly address a wide variety of farm animal illnesses. Many ethnoveterinary techniques and beliefs differ significantly from those of formally trained practitioners; however, there are also considerable similarities. Instead of relying on DVMs, stock-keepers along the Blue Ridge often depend on the knowledge of local experts who prescribe readily available medicines and/or offer advice and skill in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of farm animal illnesses.


Background: Nowadays, the plant of Daphne family (Thymelaeacea is used against microorganisms and cancerous cells. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two Daphne species and purified betulin and betulinic acid on K562 genome and the cell cycle. Materials and methods: This Study was conducted in a complementary randomized design with three replications. 106 K562 cells were treated with Daphne mucronata, Daphne oleides, betulin and betulinic acid for 24 hours. Then, cells were fixed in 70% ethanol and were stained with pripidium iodide 30 min before analysis by flow cytometery. To extract the DNA of cancer cells Miller saline method with little change was used. Data were analyzed with SPSS. version 16 by ANOVA and Dunnett . Results: Percentage of cancer cells that were treated with Daphne mucronata (59.11±1.16%), Daphne oleides (58.25±1.03%), betulin (51.68±0.43%), and betulinic acid (52.05±0.31%) increased in the G0/G1 phase compared to the control (42.94±0.23%). While most percentage the control cells (51.06±0.16%) were present in S phaseElectrophoresis of genomic DNA of K562 cell lines revealed band boarding and smearing under the effect of plant material. However, a clear sharp band of DNA was seen in control samples. The lowest and highest smeared band was observed in treated cells with Betulin and Daphne mucronata, respectively. Conclusion: Data showed that materials and compounds of Daphne, block cells in G1 phase and will cause damage to DNA. In fact, these results indicate that there are several effective factors in two species Daphne extract which damage DNA integrity and inhibit cell transfer from control point and can facilitate cell death at higher concentrations.


This research paper is about one aspect of the current internationalization, or Europeanization, of higher education of today. It addresses in particular linguistic issues in relation to or as an aspect of internationalization/Europeanization and how they are discursively constructed. Recent developments in Swedish higher education language policy texts are used as an example. Even though the ongoing mapping shows small signs of linguistic plurality, the dominant position of English is not challenged.


A dynamic model is presented for omni-directional wheeled mobile robots, including wheel/motion surface slip. We derive the dynamics model, experimentally measure friction coefficients, and measure the force to cause slip (to validate our friction model). Dynamic simulation examples are then presented to demonstrate omni-directional motion with slip. After developing an improved friction model, compared to our initial model, the simulation results agree well with experimentally-measured trajectory data with slip. Initially we thought that only high robot velocity and acceleration governed the resulting slipping motion. However, we learned that the solid material existing in the discontinuities between omni-directional wheel rollers plays an equally important role in determining omni-directional mobile robot dynamic slip motion, even at low rates and accelerations.Copyright © 2002 by ASME


The design practice based on embodied interaction concept focuses on developing new user interfaces for computer devices that merge the digital content with the physical world. In this work we have proposed a novel embodied interaction based design in which the 'action' information of the digital content is presented in the physical world. More specifically, we have mapped the 'action' information of the video content from the digital world into the physical world. The motivating example presented in this paper is our novel dancing-tablet, in which a tablet-PC dances on the rhythm of the song, hence the 'action' information is not just confined into a 2D flat display but also expressed by it. This paper presents i) hardware design of our mechatronic dancing-tablet platform, ii) software algorithm for musical feature extraction and iii) embodied computational model for mapping 'action' information of the musical expression to the mechatronic platform. Our user study shows that the overall perception of audio-video music is enhanced by our dancing-tablet setup.


Despite observational evidence of lateral preferential flow paths in northeastern U.S. watersheds, their effects on the sources of runoff remain unclear. An intense field survey was undertaken during the 2007 growing season to determine the sources of stream runoff from a 2.51 km2 watershed in the Catskill Mountains, New York State. Lateral preferential flow paths are caused by groundwater springs and soil piping in this region. A two‐component hydrograph separation using δ18O showed that event water (rain water) was a significant source of runoff during nine rainfall events (from July to October). With these rainfall events, 14 to 37% of the volume and 18 to 49% of the peak streamflow was attributable to event water. Further, end‐member mixing analysis (EMMA), using δ18O, Si, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC), showed that saturated areas accounted for 2 to 24% of the total volume and 4 to 59% of peak streamflow but that groundwater was the dominant source of runoff volume during all events. Field surveys of saturated areas also suggested that near‐stream areas were insufficient to generate the observed stream chemistry during rainfall events larger than 8 mm. A connection with the hillside saturated areas was therefore required to explain the results of the hydrograph separations, which were corroborated by the timing of the transient (perched) groundwater and overland flow. The hydrometric measurements confirmed that hillside lateral preferential flow paths rapidly transported water to near‐stream saturation areas during runoff events under relatively dry antecedent conditions. A qualitative comparison with conventional techniques for distributing variable saturation areas (VSA) using surface topography and soil transmissivity (i.e., topographic index and soil topographic index), which do not consider the effects of lateral preferential flow paths, demonstrated that typical parameterizations (on the order of <10−1 m) would not have the spatial resolution to represent the measured lateral preferential flow paths (on the order of <10−3 m). Overall, the results suggest that the lateral redistribution of water from hillside areas reduces the influence of surface topography and channel topology on the sources of stream runoff, a finding that is consistent with recent ones from other landscapes where glacial soils have coevolved with the terrestrial hydrology.


BACKGROUND
As a result mainly of information to workers and the public on prevention of effects of asbestos exposure, the use of asbestos for insulation was reduced to a minimum in the Nordic countries during the second half of the 1970's and the early 1980's. Stringent regulations when handling asbestos were introduced, and prohibition of use began in the early 1980's. Depending on the duration of the latency period between first exposure and the period of most intense exposure, a decline might be expected in the incidence of Malignant Mesothelioma (MM) 20-45 years after interruption of exposure.

OBJECTIVES
to describe the incidence of MM after cessation of asbestos exposure in Nordic countries.

METHODS
Nordic countries have cancer registers with information on all new cases of all cancers, over the past 4-6 decades. Cancer incidence data in these registers could describe long-term effects of interruption of asbestos exposure.

RESULTS
Current male and female incidence in Norway is about 1.5 x 10(-5)/year and 0.2 x 10(-5)/year respectively, and appears to be increasing. Based on personal observations among 32 MM cases, a number of which resulting from low total asbestos exposure with mean latency of about 45 years, examples are presented of the MM incidence in Nordic countries, illustrating when a significant decline in MM incidence may be expected.

CONCLUSIONS
25 years after interruption of asbestos exposure, the expected rapid decline in MM incidence is still lacking, which appears to agree with population-based selection phenomena, with survival of a large pool of asbestos-exposed subjects with minimal exposure.


Excerpt: Appalachian State University engaged in a vibrant and exciting Darwin Bicentennial Celebration throughout the 2008 – 2009 academic year. Prominent speakers and writers joined with a film series, theatre productions, art exhibits to focus on Darwin and his scientific discoveries. Most of the university departments contributed and or participated in a variety of ways to this year long event. The Darwin Bicentennial provided the members of our university community with the unique opportunity to come together to discuss, argue, debate and challenge issues concerning theories of human origin, contemporary scientific knowledge based on theories of evolution and natural selection and, of course, issues of faith and reason. For a year, the university itself becomes a wide open classroom with a "commons" defined by Darwin and his legacy.


Hypothesis: The effectiveness of extrapleural pneumonectomy (EPP) to extend quality-adjusted survival in malignant pleural mesothelioma within multimodality treatment should be proven in a randomized controlled trial if this radical surgery is to be regarded as the standard of care. The question was whether randomization to surgery versus no surgery would be possible. Methods: The Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery trial was planned to randomize 50 patients to test feasibility. There was a two-stage consent process. At first consent, the patients who were possible candidates for radical surgery were registered into the trial for completion of assessment and staging. All received platinum-based chemotherapy. If still eligible, they completed a second consent to be randomized to have either EPP followed by radical hemithorax radiotherapy or to have continued best care. Results: Patients were recruited through 11 collaborating centers in the United Kingdom. One hundred twelve potentially eligible patients gave informed consent to enter the registration phase and undergo chemotherapy. One died, 27 progressed, five were inoperable, four were treated off trial, and 18 withdrew either during or after chemotherapy but before final review. Additionally six were deemed inoperable at review after completing chemotherapy and one more patient withdrew. The remaining 50 were randomized; 24 to EPP and 26 to continued best care. Conclusions: In this study, 50/112 (45%) of patients entering the evaluation and induction phase of the trial went on to be randomized. We have shown that this randomization between surgery and no surgery is feasible. This was the primary aim of the Mesothelioma and Radical Surgery trial.


This paper examines various observations of sensemaking within joint-cognitive systems, particularly symbiotic systems that incorporate human and associate systems. It also highlights the effects of synchronized sensemaking processes in enabling associate systems to recognize the state of human activity. Specifically, studying the sensemaking phenomenon has direct applications for the development of more tightly-coupled a human reasoned/associate system interface pairs. We examine military doctrine as a family of relevant case studies to demonstrate the role and potential applications of these joint-cognitive systems.


Abstract Experimental cinema aside, our culturally typical films are all visual stories. To discover a film's religious meaning, we must do more than interpret dialogue; the cultural context of the film and its overall structure as visual story must be analyzed. American culture has characteristically explored the religious question by exposing the demons in our lives. Thus, our cinema at its recent best has—in the mode of visual parable—been subverting the facile optimism of the American dream by revealing the evil within us and our institutions. It has done this most effectively and artistically, not in its blatant presentations of the demon as persona, but rather through the portrayal of human analogues of the demonic: the satanic heart in man and the pervasive presence of the con man in society.


We present the first large-scale analysis of failures in a data center network. Through our analysis, we seek to answer several fundamental questions: which devices/links are most unreliable, what causes failures, how do failures impact network traffic and how effective is network redundancy? We answer these questions using multiple data sources commonly collected by network operators. The key findings of our study are that (1) data center networks show high reliability, (2) commodity switches such as ToRs and AggS are highly reliable, (3) load balancers dominate in terms of failure occurrences with many short-lived software related faults,(4) failures have potential to cause loss of many small packets such as keep alive messages and ACKs, and (5) network redundancy is only 40% effective in reducing the median impact of failure.


Soils at former munitions production facilities are often contaminated with hexahydro-1,3,5-trinitro-1,3,5-triazine (RDX). Contamination can be excessive and soils often contain precipitated or solid-phase RDX, resulting in soil solution concentrations at or near saturation. Sorption and long-term fate must be understood to predict RDX availability and develop remediation strategies. We characterized RDX sorption and availability in Sharpsburg (a fine, montmorillontic, mesic Typic Argiudoll) surface soil by equilibrating the soil with 32 mg RDX L -1 (spiked with 14 C-labeled RDX) for 168 d; similar experiments were performed with contaminated and uncontaminated subsurface soils. Surface soils exhibited rapid RDX sorption with 34% of the 14 C sorbed within 30 min. This sorbed fraction increased to only 37% at 168 d. During the 168-d equilibration, readily available RDX (sorbed RDX extractable with 3 mM CaCl 2 ) decreased from 75 to 52%, while potentially available RDX (acetonitrile-extractable) increased from 24 to 32%. Carbon-14 in the 0.5 M NaOH-extractable organic matter fraction increased from 0.8 (T = 30 min) to 3.8% (T = 168 d). Little 14C was removed after eight extractions with 10% KOH in ethanol. Eight percent of the 14 C-label was unextractable (bound) residue at 168 d; no 14 C-bound residue formed in surface soil when solid-phase RDX was present in the equilibrating solution. Our experiments indicated limited RDX sorption and transformation in the Sharpsburg surface and subsurface soils. Most of the sorbed 14 C was potentially available for transport, indicating the importance of remediating RDX-contaminated soil to protect groundwater quality.


Background: Although there is substantial evidence indicating the importance of physical performance in older adults, not many studies have examined the association between physical performance and health-related factors for the elderly Korean population. Research question: To investigate the relationship between physical performance and health-related factors among elderly Korean people. Type of study: Cross-sectional study. Methods: A total of 360 Korean older adults (men=154 and women=206) age: 72.1± 5.7 years, were recruited from six different Old Adult Health Centres in Seoul, Korea. Six tests including chair standing (CST), get up and go (3 metres), standing reach (SRT), 6-minute walking, hand-grip, and the 1.6km walking test were performed. Serum levels of fasting glucose, insulin, triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), LDL-cholesterol (LDL-C), HDL-cholesterol (HDL-C), and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were measured. Body composition was also measured. Results: The get up and go test was correlated with TG, lean mass, SBP and hip C (r = .15, r = -.264, r = .136, and r = .148). SRT was correlated with TG (r = -.15) and lean mass (r = .336). Significant correlations were also found for lean mass and WHR with hand-grip strength (r = .818 and r = .255). The 6-minute walking test was correlated with lean mass, fat mass, waist, and hip C (r = .421, r = -.159, r = -.144 and r = -.23). CST had a significant correlation with HDL-C, lean mass, fat mass, BMI, waist and WHR (r = .187, r = .183, r = -.18, r = -.134, r = -.157, and r = -.159). The 1-mile walking test was correlated with TG, insulin, HOMA-IR, lean mass, and fat mass (r = .176, r = .261, r = .254, r = -.23 and r = .213). VO2max was correlated with lean mass, TC, TG, TC/HDL, insulin, HOMA-IR, fat mass, BMI, resting HR, and hip C (r =.353, -.194, r = -.245, r = -.197, r = -.258, r = -.21, r = -.346, r = -.237, r = -.257 and r = -.191).
Conclusions: Lean body mass was well correlated with all physical performance tests, and cardiorespiratory endurance was associated with body composition and metabolic parameters in older Korean adults.


Abstract. We examine the distribution and propagation of energy in the plasma sheet and lobes using observations and simulations for three substorms. The substorms occurred on 9 March 1995, 10 December 1996, and 27 August 2001 and have been simulated using the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry magneto-hydrodynamic code. All three events occur over North America and show a clear substorm current wedge over the ground magnetometer chains of Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. The three simulations show the thinning of the plasma sheet during the growth phase of the event and an increase in the relative amount of thermal energy due to the compression of the plasma sheet. Generally, the total lobe energy, polar cap flux, and lobe magnetic field strength simultaneously increase during the growth phase, and polar cap flux and total lobe energy only start dropping at substorm onset, as measured by the CANOPUS magnetometer chain. Starting at time of onset and continuing throughout the expansion phase a transfer of magnetic energy from the lobes into the plasma sheet occurs, with the increase in the plasma sheet energy ranging from 30–40% of the energy that is released from the lobes.


Room temperature sodium‐sulfur (RT‐Na/S) batteries have recently regained a great deal of attention due to their high theoretical energy density and low cost, which make them promising candidates for application in large‐scale energy storage, especially in stationary energy storage, such as with electrical grids. Research on this system is currently in its infancy, and it is encountering severe challenges in terms of low electroactivity, limited cycle life, and serious self‐charging. Moreover, the reaction mechanism of S with Na ions varies with the electrolyte that is applied, and is very complicated and hard to detect due to the multi‐step reactions and the formation of various polysulfides. Therefore, understanding the chemistry and optimizing the nanostructure of electrodes for RT‐Na/S batteries are critical for their advancement and practical application in the future. In the present review, the electrochemical reactions between Na and S are reviewed, as well as recent progress on the crucial cathode materials. Furthermore, attention also is paid to electrolytes, separators, and cell configuration. Additionally, current challenges and future perspectives for the RT‐Na/S batteries are discussed, and potential research directions toward improving RT‐Na/S cells are proposed at the end.


Abstract
 The wheat stem sawfly, Cephus cinctus Norton (Hymenoptera: Cephidae), is historically one of the most important economic insect pests in the northern Great Plains of North America. Within this geographical region, the areas subjected to greatest attack are southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, southwestern Manitoba, eastern and northern Montana, North Dakota, northern South Dakota, and western Minnesota. Cumulative grain-yield losses and annual economic losses associated with this pest can exceed 30% and $350 million, respectively. Solid-stemmed cultivars of common wheat, Triticum aestivum L. (Poaceae), tolerant of infestation, are critical for C. cinctus management, but outbreaks of this pest continue to occur even after six decades of cultivar development. Furthermore, chemical control (a primary control option for other cereal (Poaceae) insect pests) has proven ineffective; this underscores the need to integrate resistant cultivars into a comprehensive integrated pest management program. We provide overviews of wheat stem sawfly biology, recent advances in applied research, the efficacy and integration of cultural and biological management strategies, and future directions for global research activities to manage wheat stem sawfly.


Author(s): Farber, DA | Abstract: © 2018 by Daniel A. Farber. Every era has its unique challenges, but history may still offer lessons on how law empowers and restrains presidents. This Essay examines how President Lincoln negotiated the tension between crisis authority and the rule of law. This analysis requires an appreciation of the wartime imperatives, institutions, and political forces confronting Lincoln, as well as the legal framework in which he acted. Similar issues unexpectedly arose in our times in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, providing a new point of comparison with Lincoln's era. We need to better understand how political actors and institutions, the media, and public opinion can provide support for legal norms, lest we place all of our trust in presidential self-restraint and good judgment.


Aquaculture activities in developing countries have raised deep concern about nutrient pollution, especially excess phosphorus in wastewater, which leads to eutrophication. NF, NF90, NF450 and XLE membranes were studied to forecast the potential of nanofiltration and low pressure reverse osmosis in the removal of phosphorus from aquaculture wastewater. Cross-sectional morphology, water contact angle, water permeability and zeta potential of these membranes were first examined. Membrane with higher porosity and greater hydrophilicity showed better permeability. Membrane samples also commonly exhibited high zeta potential value in the polyphosphate-rich solution. All the selected membranes removed more than 90% of polyphosphate from the concentrated feed (75 mg/L) at 12 bar. The separation performance of XLE membrane was well maintained at 94.6% even at low pressure. At low feed concentration, more than 70.0% of phosphorus rejection was achieved using XLE membrane. The formation of intermolecular bonds between polyphosphate and the acquired membranes probably had improved the removal of polyphosphate at high feed concentration. XLE membrane was further tested and its rejection of polyphosphate reduced with the decline of pH and the addition of ammonium nitrate.


: Student engagement is considered to be a malleable, multi-dimensional construct which combines the three dimensions of behavioural, emotional and cognitive engagement. Importantly, the literature reveals a solid understanding of how teachers influence student engagement, highlighting the teacher's role as paramount to ensuring students are able to experience meaningful engagement. This review includes Australian state educational frameworks, and considers the impact these may have on teaching as a profession. All states and territories include some, or all, of these dimensions in frameworks that address students' engagement and wellbeing. However, variations in terminology, structure and definition make it challenging for the teaching profession to clearly understand what is required to support student engagement at a nationally consistent level. Research has found that teachers tend to hold quite disparate conceptualisations of student engagement, as well as employ engagement strategies that are often contrary to these conceptualisations. With this in mind, a key purpose of the current review is to provide clear guidelines of student engagement as a tri-dimensional construct, accompanied by research-based definitions and strategies to support engagement more consistently, to inform a framework for teaching professionals to implement effective engagement pedagogies in the classroom.


The study looked at the issues of IFRS's adoption in Nigeria, and its challenges. It also examined the attendant benefits of IFRS in term of high quality, transparent, reliable and comparable financial statement and how it will be of help to Nigeria financial reporting practice. The sample size which comprises of preparers and users of financial statements from reputable quoted public companies and big four accounting firms in Nigeria (i.e KPMG, Akintola William Deloitte, Pricewaterhousecoopers, and Enrst and Young) was drawn from the entire population which comprises of public companies, financial institutions, players in the capital market, government, e.t.c. . Lagos State, the south-west Nigeria, was also picked as the sampling area because this state has the highest concentration of the study's sample size. Descriptive Statistics were used to analyse data collected from both primary and secondary sources. 100 questionnaires containing 28 relevant questions relating to IFRS adoption in Nigeria, its benefits and challenges, were used to collect data from respondents from both users and preparers of financial statement perspectives. However, after the analysis of the data that was empirically gathered, the findings of this study revealed that full disclosure requirements of IFRS and its emphasis on fair value accounting for the measurement of some items of financial statements (e.g item of property, plant and equipments) will lead to high quality, transparent, and reliable financial statements. The findings also concluded that elimination of reporting language barriers will encourage cross border investment and thus more inflows of foreign direct investments.


Next generation antibodies such as bispecific antibodies (bsAbs) and antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) have reached market maturity demonstrating strong therapeutic benefit for patients. (Diamantis & Banerji, 2016; Garber, 2014) However, targeting broadly expressed, tumor-associated rather than tumor-specific antigens by highly potent ADCs warrants early safety assessment due to the risk of severe on-target side effects in normal tissues. (Diamantis & Banerji, 2016) Recently, it was elegantly shown that tumor selectivity can be increased by bispecific engagement of two antigens and the application of affinity attenuated binding moieties within a bispecific format. (Mazor et al., 2015a; Mazor et al., 2015b; Robinson et al., 2008)
In the presented study, simultaneous targeting of two clinically validated cancer antigens, c-MET and EGFR, was evaluated, as receptor cross-talk and signaling redundancies give rise to c-MET mediated resistance mechanism during anti-EGFR monotherapy. (Engelman et al., 2007; Guo et al., 2008; Jo et al., 2000) Furthermore, EGFR inhibition in normal tissue such as skin is associated with severe toxicities (Lacouture, 2006) which require careful balancing of efficacy and selectivity for EGFR targeting and combinatorial approaches. Herein, we combined to our knowledge for the first time bispecific antibodies carrying affinity-optimized binding moieties with the potency of ADC methodologies. Increased selectivity of c-MET x EGFR bispecific antibodies towards tumor models with high expression in both antigens by avidity over normal tissue models was confirmed by mixed cell flow cytometry. Improved tumor selectivity thereby was proportional to decreased affinity of the EGFR binding moiety, but concurrently reduced EGFR inhibition. High selectivity and internalization demonstrated ADC suitability for delivery of potent cytotoxic agents. As a result, bispecific ADCs retained increased selectivity and mediated high tumor efficacy in EGFR and c-MET overexpressing cells whereas toxicity in primary keratinocytes as normal tissue equivalent was conjointly reduced.
Hence, the presented study is an illustrative example demonstrating the promising combination of affinity optimization of bispecific antibodies for improved tumor selectivity by avidity with the powerful ADC technology for potentially broadening the therapeutic window. Balancing selectivity and efficacy in bispecific ADCs by affinity and epitope optimization could be a viable route to expand the target space of ADCs to ubiquitously expressed antigens.


Background: Contemporary British educational guidelines, such as the National Curriculum (NC) have adopted inclusivity in the way children with special educational needs (SEN) are taught. Therefore, inclusion has risen up the political agenda, resulting in more children with SEN being taught in mainstream environments. Empirical research has attempted to examine PE teacher's perceptions of inclusion. However, it is evident that PE teachers perceive the training they receive during initial teacher training (ITT) as a constraint on their practice with specific regard to teaching children with SEN. Purpose: This study aimed to determine if student secondary PE teachers are sufficiently prepared to teach children with SEN inclusively, by examining their training at ITT as well as their perceived preparedness and confidence to teach inclusively. Participants and setting: 107 students from a four-year BA (Hons) and a PGCE secondary PE ITT course attending a North West England ITT institution participated in the study. Research design: Survey research was implemented to examine if student secondary PE teachers attending two different ITT courses were sufficiently prepared to teach in inclusive environments. Data collection: A 31-item semi-structured questionnaire comprising predominantly of closed questioning, was used for this study. Open-ended questions were included to collect qualitative data, intended to add richness to the data and explore students' perceptions. Questions focused upon respondents' inclusion training at ITT, the perceived effectiveness of this training, students' preferences in teaching, experience of teaching children with SEN, as well as their perceived preparedness and confidence to teach inclusively. Data analysis: Quantitative data was analysed statistically using SPSS. Qualitative responses were analysed using NVivo. Comparisons were made between the two different participant groups, in order to determine whether curriculum differences impacted on perceived preparedness and confidence to teach inclusively. Findings: Findings showed that BA (Hons) student teachers received more formal inclusion training compared with the PGCE students. Yet, student teachers from both courses were being expected to teach children with a range of different SEN within their in-school placements. As such, students from both courses demonstrated a desire to receive more formal hands-on experience of teaching inclusive PE, with particular reference to activity specific SEN training. Finally, it was discovered that while the participants generally felt prepared and confident to teach children with SEN, displaying positive attitudes for inclusion; few attributed this to their training at ITT, deeming their inclusion training at ITT as ineffective. Conclusion: PE ITT providers need to embed aspects of inclusion training throughout their curricula so that inclusion is not perceived as a bolt-on option. This will ensure student and newly qualified teachers (NQTs) have the experience and knowledge to teach inclusively. This training should include activity-specific SEN training, and student teachers should be provided with opportunities during their in-school placements to plan for and teach children with a range of different SEN. In doing this, it is expected that NQTs will enter teaching prepared, with the necessary skills to deliver inclusive PE lessons, thereby, confidently meeting the needs of their pupils.


Theelectronic structure in the new transition-metal carbide Ti4SiC3 has beeninvestigated by bulk-sensitive soft x-ray emission spectroscopy and compared tothe well-studied Ti3SiC2 and TiC systems. The measured high-resolution TiL, C K, and Si L x-ray emission spectra arediscussed with ab initio calculations based on density-functional theory includingcore-to-valence dipole matrix elements. The detailed investigations of the Ti-Cand Ti-Si chemical bonds provide increased understanding of the physicalproperties of these nanolaminates. A strongly modified spectral shape isdetected for the intercalated Si monolayers due to Si 3phybridization with the Ti 3d orbitals. As a result ofrelaxation of the crystal structure and the charge-transfer from Ti(and Si) to C, the strength of the Ti-C covalentbond is increased. The differences between the electronic and crystalstructures of Ti4SiC3 and Ti3SiC2 are discussed in relation tothe number of Si layers per Ti layer in thetwo systems and the corresponding change of materials properties.


A soft-switched dual-boost coupled-inductor-based converter is proposed which possesses an intrinsic advantage, in terms of transferring the energy directly to output to provide the essential voltage and power for load. The fabulous characteristic of the proposed structure, the combination of forward and flyback converter, makes it possible to utilise one magnetic core for two coupled inductors, advancing the power density. Another implication of proposed converter is the fact that leakage inductances pave the way for the zero-current-switching implementation by confining the diodes current slope during turn-off period. As regards the voltage conversion ratio, the secondary windings of the coupled inductors operate in series with the capacitors of both voltage-doubler stage and capacitor-diode stages; consequently, designer is under no obligation to use coupled inductors with extreme turn ratio. Concerning the mentioned features of converter besides its high-efficiency power conversion over a broad range of input voltage, the proposed structure is well suited for the purpose of high step-up dc–dc converter. Lastly, the results of laboratory prototype, working with switching frequency of 50 kHz and output voltage 380 V, are convincingly in line with the mathematical analysis.


A differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) system was designed and operated in Christchurch, New Zealand, during the winter of 1997. We report the detection of an unidentified absorber in the 279 to 289 nm spectral region, which is used by many commercial DOAS systems for the measurement of atmospheric ozone on short absorption paths. Tests were performed to ensure that this absorber is not an artifact of the analysis procedure. The presence of the unidentified absorber can have serious consequences on ozone concentrations obtained with the DOAS technique when primary pollutant concentrations are high, while it is hardly noticeable under clean conditions. It is argued that either the absorber may be specific to New Zealand emissions, possibly due to the widespread use of wood fires for domestic heating, or that its influence is generally overlooked because interest in ambient ozone usually concentrates on summer smog conditions, where primary pollutant concentrations are generally lower than during winter.


In the literature on the organisation of the bilingual lexicon, two closely related issues have played a major role. In the so-called independence-interdependence issue, the central question is: Do bilinguals have two separate storage and retrieval systems, one for each language, or is there just one common memory store? A second group of studies centers around the 'compound-coordinate' distinction: 'compound' bilinguals are supposed to have only one semantic system that serves for both languages, whereas on the other hand 'coordinate' bilinguals have a separate semantic system for each language.In order to resolve the above controversies researchers have employed different experimental techniques. Many of these studies have resulted in distinct and apparently contradictory conclusions. The main reason for these unclear results seems to be the defining of the level of language processing involved in these studies: the variety of experimental techniques used has caused an obvious incompatibility of the various results obtained.One other complication that has repeatedly been neglected within the exper-iments reported in the literature concerns the existence of individual differences in bilingual subjects. By studying the distinction between 'compound' and 'coordinate' bilingualism many investigators have demonstra-ted the relevence of its consequences for the selection of bilingual subjects to be used.Two experiments in which an attempt has been made to minimise the effect of some of the fundamental problems mentioned above, are globally discussed in the context of two models for the organisation of the monolingual lexicon (Forster, 1976; Morton, 1979). Within these experiments we investigated the effects of word-frequency and word-repetition within and between languages in respectively Dutch-English staff-members of the English-American Institute at the KUN and Dutch-English students, in order to explore the sharedness of lexical 'access-files' and for 'input-logogens'. In these experiments, that support an input-mechanism common to both English and Dutch, we have used cognates, words similar in form in both languages and differing in meaning (boot) or similar in meaning (hand).


Background:  South African learners have performed consistently poorly in reading assessments. This paper addresses two key components in improving reading literacy: vocabulary development and teacher knowledge and skills required for quality vocabulary instruction. Aim:  This small-scale exploratory study reports on the English vocabulary teaching strategies of eight Grade 3 teachers in South African township schools serving poor communities and their implementation of these strategies in practice. Setting:  The Western Cape teachers taught English Home Language (HL) learners. The Eastern Cape teachers taught Xhosa HL and English First Additional Language (FAL) learners. Methods:  Teacher interviews and classroom observations. Results:  The teachers used a range of basic vocabulary teaching strategies that complied with evidence-based vocabulary teaching strategies identified in the literature. However, most of the strategies employed did not reach an advanced level of active learning in which students were challenged and took ownership of their own vocabulary learning. Results showed that especially the English FAL teachers relied heavily on their L1 for vocabulary instruction. Conclusion:  Grade 3 teachers in South African schools that serve poor communities are capable of providing rich print exposure in their classrooms showing that schools can, to a certain extent, play a compensatory role for the limited literacy opportunities in homes of children from low socio-economic backgrounds. However, in order for the learners to develop a more durable, rich vocabulary their teachers would need to engage in more interactive and in-depth instruction. Implications for policy are discussed.


Agricultural development is determined by various factors, such as environmental, economic, demographic, or social circumstances. In order to present the level of this development as com-prehensively as possible, a multidimensional analysis should be carried out with an appropriate methodology. In this article, a taxonomic approach known as the Hellwig's method was used to determine the level of agricultural development. The area of research was the territory of Poland, divided into voivodships, which are the main units of the administrative division of the country. The development of agriculture thus determined was correlated with activities pursued by the National Agricultural Support Centre (NASC), an institution responsible for the management of agricultural real estate owned by the State Treasury in Poland. The results showed that the NASC's activities are related to the level of agricultural development in every voivodship. The investigated model of rural space management was shown to be a rational one, performing well in today's market conditions. The proposed methodology could adapt to similar situations and can be used in similar research on rural areas.