Indonesia produces more palm oil and consumes more palm oil per capita than any country in the world. This article examines the processes through which Indonesia has promoted palm-oil consumption and some of the consequences of that promotion. Partial equilibrium modelling shows that Indonesia's remarkable increase in palm-oil consumption since 1985 is not largely attributable to population and income growth. Instead, much of this consumption growth has resulted from substitution away from coconut oil, facilitated by government policies on technology, pricing, distribution, and trade. The switch from coconut oil to palm oil in Indonesia was associated with increased land conversions to agriculture and diminished smallholder competitiveness. Despite lower rates of cooking-oil substitution in the future, simulations suggest that Indonesia's total palm-oil consumption in 2035 will be at least double that of 2010.


The Lazarev Sea is the deep water gateway to the Weddell Sea, with the topographic constraints of Maud Rise
and Astrid Ridge having a noticeable impact upon the distribution of the hydrographic properties of the Warm
Deep Water. The Lazarev Sea Krill Experiment (LAKRIS) cruises conducted by the RV Polarstern between 2004
and 2008 provide a suitable density of CTD sections to detect the variable hydrographic properties of the region.
These patterns highlight key circulation features including a jet on the northern flank of Maud Rise, the Taylor
column above the rise, and the apparent pooling of Warm Deep Water to the south-west of the rise.
We are developing an inverse box-model in order to infer the circulation of a given region using CTD data
from cruises with multiple parallel sections: providing a grid of data. The model is based upon the multiple linear
regression of mass conservation and Dunhem–Margules equations for all of the boxes in the grid, where each box
is composed of four neighbouring CTD stations. The model also includes observed current referencing (such as
from ADCP data) to calibrate the geostrophic flow. The regression provides an estimate of the volume transport
across each neighbouring station pair face and for a specifiable number of layers. The model is currently set-up to
use the density data from the LAKRIS cruises, but could be adapted for other parameters, regions and programmes.
We aim to evaluate the robustness of our approach in determining the general and localised transport of
regional scale ocean areas such as the Lazarev Sea and present our inverse model results for the 4 LAKRIS cruises.


I describe implementations of the Two-Mu image-restoration algorithm that model the center portion of the convolution of the point-spread function and the original image (this has been done heretofore), as well as those that model the full range of that convolution. The full convolution methods produce processed images of simple, simulated scenes that are comparable in quality with, and often involve computations that are considerably shorter than, those of the center convolution methods. The full convolution methods incur some loss of information near the edge of the scene. However, that loss may not be significant for large images, especially for those in which the important information is far from the edge of the scene.


Chi et al. proposed a fast kurtosis (a fourth-order statistic) maximization algorithm (FKMA) and a turbo source separation algorithm (TSSA) for the estimation of the multiple nonGaussian inputs and identification of an instantaneous multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system with a given set of noisy output measurements. In this paper, a nonlinear relation between the instantaneous MIMO system and the source extraction filter for TSSA and that for FKMA are proved which hold true for finite signal-to-noise ratio. Based on these relations, two iterative blind system identification (BSI) algorithms for instantaneous MIMO systems are proposed, which are robust against additive Gaussian noise and perform better than FKMA and TSSA, respectively. Some simulation results are provided to support the efficacy of the proposed two BSI algorithms and their performance comparison with FKMA, TSSA and some existing second-order statistics based algorithms.


We present a novel circuit for the automated and quick characterization of an array of experimental memristive nanowires that are functionalized as biosensors. Successfully functionalized nanowires will express the concentration of target molecules by hysteretic gaps of the zero crossing of their memristive I/V characteristics as the voltage across them is swept up and down. The width of the voltage gap is directly proportional to the target molecule concentration. The characterization circuit sorts out faulty, i.e. non-conducting nanowires in the array, and performs an analog to digital conversion of the voltage gap to assess successful functionalization of the others, and thus significantly reduces the time for functional testing. Many of the test parameters are configurable: the speed and range of the voltage sweep and the resolution of the measurements. An initial prototype 2×2 array of the circuit has been layed out in 0.35μm CMOS technology within an area of 0.429 mm2 and has been thoroughly characterized in simulation, has been layed out, and is ready for fabrication.


In both cells and animals, cannibalism can transfer harmful substances from the consumed to the consumer. Macrophages are immune cells that consume their own dead via a process called cannibalistic efferocytosis. Macrophages that contain harmful substances are found at sites of chronic inflammation, yet the role of cannibalism in this context remains unexplored. Here we take mathematical and experimental approaches to study the relationship between cannibalistic efferocytosis and substance accumulation in macrophages. Through mathematical modelling, we deduce that substances which transfer between individuals through cannibalism will concentrate inside the population via a coalescence process. This prediction was confirmed for macrophage populations inside a closed system. We used image analysis of whole slide photomicrographs to measure both latex microbead and neutral lipid accumulation inside murine bone marrow-derived macrophages (104 – 105 cells) following their stimulation into an inflammatory state ex vivo. While the total number of phagocytosed beads remained constant, cell death reduced cell numbers and efferocytosis concentrated the beads among the surviving macrophages. Since lipids are also conserved during efferocytosis, these cells accumulated lipid derived from the membranes of dead and consumed macrophages (becoming macrophage foam cells). Consequently, enhanced macrophage cell death increased the rate and extent foam cell formation. Our results demonstrate that cannibalistic efferocytosis perpetuates exogenous (e.g. beads) and endogenous (e.g. lipids) substance accumulation inside macrophage populations. As such, cannibalism has similar detrimental consequences in both cells and animals.


Debates in and over the European Union (EU) are increasingly characterised as being based in arguments that are either 'populist' or 'technocratic'. As systems of communication, this article argues, populism and technocracy possess dramatically different logics of argumentation, modes of communication and meaning-making, distinct narratives, with appeals to distinct sources of legitimacy. As such, actors adopting either political style construct their identity in a way that seeks to legitimise its own political action, while in turn delegitimising that of its opponents. This results in an atmosphere of distrust between actors using these different communication styles, making any form of negotiation or cooperation between them exceedingly difficult. In the context of the Brexit negotiations, which this article uses as a case study, the UK Government has adopted a populist style characterised by narratives of taking back control, legitimised by the will of the people, communicating often in a 'low' political style and using a narrative of crisis and threat. In comparison, the EU has adopted a technocratic style characterised by narratives of technical policy making and the need for rationality, legitimised through the laws, rules and processes by which it is governed, communicating in a 'high' political style while using a narrative of stability and continuity. These radically different views of the world have resulted in an increasing of tensions and distrust by the parties to Brexit negotiations that were already heightened by a sense of 'betrayal' over Brexit.


The aim of this study was to define the waste plume dynamics around a salmon farm in Norway. Systematic water sampling and numerical modeling were implemented to define nutrient concentrations in the upper water column at long-term (seasonal) and short-term (between and within days) time scales. Nutrient enhancement was observed for ammonium only, while the concentrations of orthophosphate and organic wastes were never higher than the background values. The spatial magnitude of cage effluent dispersion was limited. Empirical results detected enhanced concentrations up to 100 m down-current of the farm when fish biomass was high. Model results showed that the zone of influence could occasionally reach to >1000 m. In the first year of production, when fish biomass was low, no enhancement was detected, and in April and September of the following year, average ammonium concentrations were respectively 0.2 and 0.8 µM above the background concentrations. Taking the ambient seasonal variability into account, this resulted in 1.6 times higher concentrations for both sampling months. The measured short-term temporal variability in nutrient concentrations near the cages varied up to 2 times from day to day and were 3.5 times higher in the evening compared to the morning. As seasonal investigations were performed in the morning, maximum enhancement was likely underestimated. The rapid decrease in nutrient concentrations with increasing distance from the cages suggests that the farm studied here is currently not causing significant degradation of surface water quality. Results of this study contribute to evaluating the potential for ecological mitigation of waste nutrients and provide directions for design of optimized integrated multi-trophic aquaculture facilities


Seizures cause a persistent enhancement in dentate synaptic inhibition concurrent with, and possibly compensatory for, seizure-induced hippocampal hyperexcitability. To study this phenomenon, we evoked status epilepticus in rats with systemic kainic acid (KA), and 2 weeks later assessed granule cell inhibition with paired-pulse stimulation of the perforant path (PP) in vitro. Controls demonstrated three components of paired-pulse inhibition: early inhibition (10–30 msec), intermediate facilitation (30–120 msec), and late inhibition (120 msec to 120 sec). After seizures, inhibition in all components was enhanced significantly. The GABAA antagonist bicuculline blocked only early enhanced inhibition, demonstrating that both GABAA and GABABpostsynaptic receptors contribute to seizure-induced enhanced inhibition. In controls, the GABAB antagonist CGP 35348 increased both GABAA and GABAB responses in granule cells, suggesting that CGP 35348 acts presynaptically, blocking receptors that suppress GABA release. In contrast, slices from KA-treated rats were markedly less sensitive to CGP 35348. To test the hypothesis that GABAB receptors regulating GABA release are downregulated after seizures, we measured paired-pulse suppression of recurrent IPSPs, or disinhibition, using mossy fiber stimuli. Early disinhibition (< 200 msec) was reduced after seizures, whereas late disinhibition remained intact. CGP 35348 blocked the early component of disinhibition in controls and, to a lesser extent, reduced disinhibition in KA slices. However, paired monosynaptic IPSPs recorded intracellularly showed no difference in disinhibition between groups. Our findings indicate that seizure-induced enhancement in dentate inhibition is caused, at least in part, by reduced GABAB function in the polysynaptic recurrent inhibitory circuit, resulting in reduced disinhibition and heightened GABA release.


In irrigated pastures of the semiarid, high-elevation western USA, perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) persistence is poor, and over time white clover (Trifolium repens L.) often dominates mixtures. Irrigation is often not available during autumn, when these perennial plants store carbohydrate reserves for spring regrowth. Our objective was to compare the effect of water stress on growth, carbohydrates, and soil water use of perennial ryegrass, white clover, and tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) in a greenhouse study. These three species were grown separately in a Kidman fine sandy loam, in 15-cm-diam, 1-m-deep pots and irrigated for 81 d (4 plants/pot). Paired pots were then either irrigated or subjected to water deficit (drought) for 30 d, followed by 10 d of recovery with irrigation. At 10-d intervals, four paired pots of each species were destructively sampled to determine leaf and storage organ dry matter and carbohydrate and simple sugar concentrations in storage organs. Root length density and soil water content were also sampled at 20-, 60-, and 90-cm soil depths. Leaf dry matter was lower in water-stressed plants than in irrigated plants by the end of the drought, but did not differ among species. After 10 d of recovery, storage carbohydrate concentration in droughted perennial ryegrass was lower than in white clover, and the ratio of simple sugars (droughted:irrigated) in perennial ryegrass was higher than in white clover. Tall fescue performed similarly to both species. Before the drought, grasses had similar, extensive root systems that withdrew more soil water from the 90-cm soil depth than did white clover. By the end of the 30-d drought, white clover had reduced soil water at all depths as much as the grasses. White clover survived drought and conserved carbohydrate reserves after 10 d of recovery better than did perennial ryegrass and similarly to tall fescue.


a descriptive quantitative research was used as the design of the study, the research design in the form of numerial data that used in financial report such as balance, profit and loss report of the company. The study focused on the title ?The Comparison Analysis of Financial work between BCA and BNI. The objectives of this research are, as follows: First, to analyses the financial work development of BCA and BNI using CAMEL ratio (without using Management ratio). Second, and to analyses the comparison of financial work between BCA and BNI from the healthy level of the bank it self. Secunder data was used in this study, that are time series data from 2003-2005 that publicated by BEJ in the form of balance and, profit and loss report. While the data of technique analyses that used in Indonesian Bank Financial report was suitable so that it can be checked by using CAMEL method which is consist of Capital, Asset Quality, Management aspect was not used in this research, because that were any limited data that publicated by the bank it self. The result and discussion of this study were expected can be a measurement to know financial work of both bank, BCA and BNI, and also to know the comparison of them by using CAMEL method as requirement standardize measurement which is determined by Indonesian bank. From this research can be concluded that the financial work of BCA from 2003-2005 was in save level. With very high score such as 96,14 , 99,7 and 96,14. While the financial work of BNI was still in the stable level. And the comparison between BCA and BNI were observed from The standardize of Indonesian bank healthy level, the writer conclude that the condition of BCA was good, and the score of it was out of the limitation of Indonesian bank that is 81-100. While the condition of BNI work if it observed from the healthy level of the bank, can be conclude that BNI had a good condition. From the comparison above, the writer conclude that the whole financial work of BCA from 2003-2005 still in good condition than BNI in the other hand, if it was observed from the healthy level of the bank, BCA was more stable and healthy better than BNI. But, the result can be changed into bad condition if the bank was not doing the improvement as soon as possible. Because of the condition bank is depend on the condition of the financial work of the bank it self. Keyword : Analisa, kinerja keuangan link terkait : http://skripsi.umm.ac.id/files/disk1/263/jiptummpp-gdl-s1-2008-rikaoktavi-13115-1.+PENDA-N.pdf


Turbine buckets in a 37.5-MW gas turbine made of Udimet 500 superalloy failed in service. The power plant was located 1 km (0.6 miles) from the Pacific Ocean and operated on No. 2 diesel fuel, which was supplied by tanker ship. Turbine bucket failures occurred on three units after 2500 to 6400 h of operation. Investigation (visual inspection, metallographic examination, and stress analysis) supported the conclusion that the differing microstructure of the airfoil resulted in changes in mechanical properties. Because normal operation includes cycling of loads and temperatures, the shroud tip fractured due to thermomechanical fatigue in its degraded state. Recommendations included special chromium or silicon-rich coating to minimize corrosion in gas turbines operating in a marine environment with operating temperatures in the range of type 2 corrosion (650 to 750 deg C, or 1200 to 1380 deg F). Additionally, it was suggested that fuel delivery, handling, and treatment be high quality, to maintain fuel contamination within design limits, and inlet air filtration must be designed for the coastal site. Also, changing the bucket tip by increasing its thickness and changing the casting technique would reduce the stress and make the design more tolerant of corrosion.


TRANSITIONING FROM AN INFORMAL TO AN INTENTIONAL DISCIPLESHIP PROCESS AT MEADOW VALLEY COMMUNITY CHURCH, QUINCY, CALIFORNIA Curtis Geoffry Beeson, D.Ed.Min. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2014 Faculty Supervisor: Dr. John David Trentham The purpose of this project was to transition from an informal process of discipleship to an intentional process of discipleship among adults at Meadow Valley Community Church in Quincy, California. The overall goal was to establish an intentional discipleship process to guide every believer at Meadow Valley Community Church from unbelief to spiritual maturity in Christ. Chapter 1 presents the purpose, goals, context, rationale, and research methodology for the project. Chapter 2 examines five biblical principles that show that discipleship is an intentional process in the Bible. Chapter 3 examines research provided by biblical scholars affirming the thesis that the Bible presents an intentional discipleship process. Chapter 4 is a description of the implementation of this project and how it works in the local church. Chapter 5 is an evaluation of the project as to the success of the project and the author's reflections on what he learned.


Many of the recent trajectory optimization algorithms alternate between linear approximation
of the system dynamics around the mean trajectory and conservative policy update.
One way of constraining the policy change is by bounding the Kullback-Leibler (KL)
divergence between successive policies. These approaches already demonstrated great experimental
success in challenging problems such as end-to-end control of physical systems.
However, these approaches lack any improvement guarantee as the linear approximation of
the system dynamics can introduce a bias in the policy update and prevent convergence
to the optimal policy. In this article, we propose a new model-free trajectory-based policy
optimization algorithm with guaranteed monotonic improvement. The algorithm backpropagates
a local, quadratic and time-dependent Q-Function learned from trajectory data
instead of a model of the system dynamics. Our policy update ensures exact KL-constraint
satisfaction without simplifying assumptions on the system dynamics. We experimentally
demonstrate on highly non-linear control tasks the improvement in performance of our algorithm
in comparison to approaches linearizing the system dynamics. In order to show the
monotonic improvement of our algorithm, we additionally conduct a theoretical analysis of
our policy update scheme to derive a lower bound of the change in policy return between
successive iterations.


This paper is based, in part, upon the involvement of students and their faculty advisors in the biennial Solar Decathlon Project, a student competition that culminated in the construction of energy efficient residential units at Potomac Park in Washington D.C. in September, 2011. These residential structures designed and built by students, represented differing visions of future housing by universities from the United States, China, New Zealand and the Netherlands. All represented engineering and design excellence and reflected each team"s vision of a more complete, more holistic approach to the question of what we as a civilization will live in over the next half century. All showcased emerging technologies that could, if utilized, substantially change what we relate to as home. Of central importance to this discussion is whether and to what extent these technologies will be assimilated by a building industry and the buying public. It is this acceptance, or lack thereof, that will determine what we live in, not the technical wizardry that may be available. Any significant change in what we live in will be driven by market realities. This is a fundamental issue that is frequently overlooked in discussions of this nature. Cutting edge technology is of esoteric interest only unless it has commercial appeal and application. It is axiomatic that what we live in lags behind what can be produced. Much of the present housing stock represents mid twentieth century or older technology The demographics of the United States indicate that what exists as well as what is being built will soon be considered unacceptable for a number of reasons. The question is how can better technology be introduced to an industry and a public resistant to change in this area?


Moral panic theory continues to be applied to a range of phenomena, allowing sociologists to refine our understanding of negative societal reaction aimed at people who are easy to identify and easy to dislike. Whereas the prevailing notion of moral panic rests on its noisy features, there are constructions that occur under the public radar. In such instances, government officials quietly institute policies and practices that adversely affect a targeted group. Moral panic over so-called bogus asylum seekers in the UK represents a noisy construction whereby claims making is loud and public. In the USA, however, that construction is remarkably quiet and does not resonate openly; still, much like their British counterparts, American officials have resorted to the use of confinement. This work explores the differences between the UK and the USA in the realm of moral panic over asylum seekers while remaining attentive to their shared consequences, the unjust detention of those fleeing persecution. Implications to social control and human rights in a post-11 September world are discussed throughout.


A problem of modern society is the spread of diseases worldwide. Infection control and maintaining a high level of hygiene by applying antimicrobial coatings (including medical products, packaging materials, membrane filter/water treatment or filters in air conditioning) are of the greatest importance. Hospitals, pharmaceutical production, food factories must be thoroughly disinfected in order to destroy pathogenic microbes. Microbial contamination of water is a major threat to public health. With the emergence of organisms resistant to many antimicrobial agents there is an increased demand for improved disinfection methods. Recently, the confluence of nanotechnology and biology has led to metals and metal oxides under the form of nanoparticles as potential antimicrobial agents. Nanoparticles have unique and well defined physical and chemical properties which can be manipulated suitably for desired applications. The applications of nanoparticles as antimicrobials is gaining relevance in prophylaxis and therapeutics, in medical devices, food industry and textile fabrics. This work focuses on the properties of ZnO nanoparticles doped with different concentrations of silver. The mechanism of action of nanoparticles as bactericidal will be highlighted in this study. Specific applications of the investigated nanoparticles are presented.


Goal recommendations and prescriptions addressed to the population are often constructed based exclusively on technical-scientific definitions, ignoring social constructive processes of the risk that involves values, perceptions and experiences. Thus, important barriers may impair the advancement of policies that aim to implement these recommendations. This article presents multidisciplinary contributions to the construction of prescribed recommendations and goals, especially concerning the consumption of fruits and vegetables. It discusses some psychosocial and macro-structural barriers for the consumption of these foods and their implications for population-based interventions. With the objective of inducing reflection, the article conducts a critical review analyzing the problem under the light of structuralist theories on the social construction of risk. Recommendations and prescriptions of goals were analyzed considering the risk, its social determinants, components and concepts aggregated as multidimensional factors. Important lessons drawn from the review include: 1) the need to incorporate popular contributions to the definition, content, strategies of communication and implementation of the food policy agenda; 2) the vital need to recover the non-nutritional aspects of the foods, such as taste, as indispensable components to value and promote the consumption of fruits and vegetables; and 3) the need to adopt a concept of healthy eating that follows the broadness of the concept of health. The analysis indicates that the messages need to approach and value culture and tradition, avoiding references to healthy eating that are essentially or exclusively based on nutrients, diseases, longevity and sophistication.


In 1988 the release of the Higher Education: A Policy Statement White Paper focused Australia's national higher education equity policy on "changing the balance of the student population to reflect more closely the composition of society as a whole" (Dawkins 1990, 2-3). While improvement in access and participation has been noted for women, people from non-English speaking backgrounds, and people with disabilities, the interventions has remained less effective for people from Lower Socio-Economic Status (LSES backgrounds), Indigenous peoples; rural, regional and remote residents; (Gale & Tranter, 2011; Koshy & Seymour 2014). In 2009, in response to the Bradley Review (2008), the Australian government set a new agenda again focused on equitable participation in higher education, along with associated equity targets (which have since been abandoned), and funding to enable this reform as well as increased participation. Funding was delivered through the Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program (HEPPP), renamed the Higher Education Participation Program (HEPP) in 2015 (Australian Government Department of Education and Training, 2015). A range of national partnerships, policy initiatives and programs has been used to facilitate improved achievement in schools as well as enable access, participation and achievement in higher education. These actions have included targeted programs through the use of intervention strategies aimed at widening participation in, and improving access to higher education.


The accelerated employment of cloud computing among law firms is due to multiple benefits, including wide accessibility and inter-organizational information sharing. Nevertheless, the project's preliminary case study revealed lawyers' mass neglect of standard precautionary measures and, consequently, a high proportion of security breaches, putting confidential and important documents at risk. The goal of the multi-provider cloud secret sharing architecture was to ensure confidentiality, availability, and integrity of attorney documents while maintaining greater efficiency than traditional encryption algorithms. After an exhaustive development phase involving considerable testing and optimizations, software assessments of the architecture indicate the low computational overhead of adding the secret-sharing approach to a multi-provider law firm sharing environment. The efficient combination of constructions satisfies the engineering criteria as ChaCha20-Poly1305 warrants authenticity and privacy, and secret sharing ensures availability and perfect privacy. Compared with AES in CFB mode, widely used for encrypting data in the Cloud today, the secret sharing implementation boasts almost a 40% improvement over all file sizes. The only possible way of compromising this system is if multiple cloud providers collude, which is still unlikely given that the documents are additionally encrypted.


Leaf:stem ratio of grass stands is an important factor affecting diet selection, quality, and forage intake. Estimates of leaf:stem ratios commonly are based on a labor intensive process of hand separating leaf and stem fractions. Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) has been used successfully to predict forage quality and botanical composition of vegetation samples. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of NIRS to predict leaf:stem ratios in big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman), switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.), and smooth bromegrass (Bromus inermis Leyss.). A total of 72 hand-clipped samples of each species was taken from seeded monocultures in eastern Nebraska throughout the 1992, 1993, and 1994 growing seasons. Leaf:stem ratio was determined first for each sample and then the entire sample was ground. Samples were scanned by a Perstorp model 6500 near infrared scanning monochromator. Three calibration equations were developed based on using 18, 36, and 54 (1/4, 1/2, and 3/4 of total samples, respectively) samples. These 3 calibration equations were used to determine the number of samples necessary to achieve an r2 of 0.70 or higher for each data set. Big bluestem and switchgrass had coefficients of determination (r2) of less than or greater than 0.69 for all calibration equations except for the equation using only 18 samples of big bluestem r2 = 0.60). Smooth bromegrass had a r2 ranging from only 0.06 to 0.14 for the calibration equations regardless of the number of samples used. Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy was a rapid means of estimating leaf:stem ratios in monocultures of big bluestem and switchgrass but it was not suitable for smooth bromegrass.


This paper discusses how numerically imprecise information can be modelled and how a risk evaluation process can be elaborated by integrating procedures for numerically imprecise probabilities and utilities. More recently, representations and methods for stating and analysing probabilities and values (utilities) with belief distributions over them (second order representations) have been suggested. In this paper, we are discussing some shortcomings in the use of the principle of maximising the expected utility and of utility theory in general, and offer remedies by the introduction of supplementary decision rules based on a concept of risk constraints taking advantage of second-order distributions.


Grape glycosides are, in part, important aroma and flavor precursors. Their quantification may offer a means of determining the impact of viticultural practices, such as leaf removal, on potential wine quality. Fruit zone leaf removal of Riesling and Chardonnay grapevines grown at two sites for two seasons was evaluated for its influence on total and phenol-free grape glycosides at harvest. Vines were trained to a low bilateral cordon system at one vineyard and a high bilateral cordon at the other. The concentrations of total and phenol-free glycosides were higher in Riesling and Chardonnay fruit from leaf-pulled vs control vines at three of four harvest dates. Phenol-free glycosides averaged 80% of the total in Riesling juice and 66% of the total in Chardonnay. Grapevine canopy microclimate plays an important role in determining fruit composition, although knowledge about the relationship between microclimate and aroma/flavor development is limited. This study illustrates the affect of microclimate manipulation on grape glycosides, important components of fruit quality.


The Vulci archeological site was object of interest by the Soprintendenza ai beni culturali dell'Etruria meridionale (Italian government department responsible for southern Etruria's cultural heritage) since the beginning of the 20th century. In 2001, the Ministero dei Beni Culturali (Italian ministry of cultural heritage) along with the local authorities, opened a natural-archeological park. In this area, it lies most of the ancient Etruscan city of Velch (today known by its Latin name, Vulci) including the Osteria Necropolis that is the object of this study. Recently, new archaeological excavations were made and the local authorities needed major geological information about the volcanic lithotypes where the Etruscans used to build their necropolis. The aim of this study is to define the geological and geophysical characteristics of the rock lithotypes present in the Vulci park. For this purpose, a geological map of the area (1:10000) has been realized. Moreover, two different geophysical methods were applied: measurements of magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity tomography. Magnetic susceptibility analyses clearly identify magnetic contrasts between different lithotypes; the characteristics of the pyroclastic flow that originated the Sorano unit 2 and its vertical facies variations are well recorded by this parameter that along with lithostratigraphic observations provides information about the depositional conditions. Two electrical resistivity tomographies were performed, which show the Sorano unit 2 thickness to be of c. 7 m with resistivity values ranging from 200 to 400 Ω·m. This kind of multidisciplinary approach resulted to be suitable to study this type of archaeological sites, revealing that areas characterized by a relevant thickness and wide areal extension of volcanic lithotypes can be a potential site where Etruscans might have excavated their necropolis.


To achieve a fast adsorption rate and a high adsorption capacity in the selective adsorption of Cr(VI) from wastewater, a novel Cr(VI) ion imprinted polymer (Cr(VI)-IIP) was synthesized by bulk polymerization with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate as a crosslinking agent, azodiisobutyronitrile as an initiator, and acetone as a solvent. Eight functional monomers, including acidic, basic and neutral agents, were investigated in the synthesis of Cr(VI)-IIPs. The Cr(VI)-IIP prepared with 4-vinyl pyridine (4-VP) as a functional monomer provided the highest adsorption capacity, which was characterized by Fourier infrared spectroscopy, zeta potential, Brunauer, Emmett and Teller and scanning electron microscopy. The influences of functional monomer amount, crosslinking agent, initiator, solvent, pH in aqueous solution, initial Cr(VI) concentration, and so on, on adsorption performance were studied. The adsorption process of Cr(VI)-IIP followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model and Langmuir adsorption isotherm model. The electrostatic interactions between Cr(VI) anion and the protonated N atoms of the functional pyridine groups on prepared IIPs could enhance the adsorption capacity and adsorption rate. Under the optimal operating conditions, the maximum adsorption capacity of Cr(VI)-IIP prepared with 4-VP was up to 338.73 mg g−1, and the adsorption equilibrium was reached within 3 min. The Cr(VI)-IIPs also showed good selectivity, reusability and stability. The selectivity coefficient was up to 189.05 and 96.56 for Cr(VI)/Cu(II) and Cr(VI)/Cr(III), respectively.


Lembaga Penelitian dan Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat (LPPM) IPB organizes a Lecturers Community Service Program, as an innovation of lecturers community service by facilitating lecturers to several villages in Bogor and outside of Bogor to directly interact and provide solutions for the community. The purpose of these activities is to enhance the implementation of science and technology from the university for society welfare. One of the villages partners in this program is Cihideung Udik Village with prominent agricultural potential. More than 60% of the land is used for agriculture. Yet, until now the community still face agriculture problems such as decreasing agricultural land area due to changes into residential house. This condition triggers a decrease in the availability of ground water, and cultivation type or pattern change. Previously the community cultivate paddy, but now the community shifts to plant secondary crops especially corn. Not only that, various complex problems in Cihideung Udik require innovative solution available at universities such as IPB University. Lecturer community service at Cihideung Udik was carried out through the socialization of necessary materials viz., future skills motivation, family financial planning, water saving irrigation, water saving cultivation, agrosilvofarmaka, mapping of village potential and marketing. This activity preceived to be useful and any material delivered by the lecturer in general, were needed by the community. Although there was a material that need to be evaluated in order to increase public knowledge. Therefore, the Lecturer Community Service Program have to evaluate and improve their system in responding to community problems and also continuously improve community welfare.


This paper presents a method for estimating a class of panel data duration models, under which an unknown transformation of the duration variable is linearly related to the observed explanatory variables and the unobserved heterogeneity (or frailty) with completely known error distributions. This class of duration models includes a panel data proportional hazards model with fixed effects. The proposed estimator is shown to be n1/2-consistent and asymptotically normal with dependent right censoring. The paper provides some discussions on extending the estimator to the cases of longer panels and multiple states. Some Monte Carlo studies are carried out to illustrate the finite-sample performance of the new estimator.


Bacterial biofilms are considered one of the salient contributing factors to the deterioration of metals and their alloys, occurring in virtually all environments and across various industrial systems. Considering the sheer magnitude of detrimental effects, it is of pertinent interest to elucidate the interaction mechanisms of sessile bacteria with metal and metal oxide surfaces to facilitate the development of efficient antifouling strategies. A common constituent of microbial communities within aquatic and sedimentary settings, the Shewanella genus consists of facultatively aerobic, Gram-negative bacterium which exhibit exceptional plasticity in respiratory capacities. During aerobic conditions, Shewanella utilizes oxygen as a terminal electron acceptor; conversely, under anaerobic conditions, it is able to undertake respiration by reducing alternative terminal electron acceptors such as oxidized metals via extracellular electron transfer mechanisms not yet thoroughly discerned.
The aim of this work is to explicate the mechanisms governing the initial bacterial adhesion and subsequent biofilm formation on metallic surfaces. To investigate this dynamic interplay, a combined approach has been followed which couples surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) with electrochemical techniques using Shewanella sp. model biofilms. Gold nano-islands deposited on thin glass slides have been chosen as inert model substrates with good uniformity and high surface enhancement factor. Furthermore, the utilization of gold as substrate material not only allowed the differentiation of the sole effect of substrate polarization on bacterial attachment but also enabled a precise adjustment of the surface chemistry and surface energy by means of surface functionalization with organothiol self-assembled monolayers.
The results present the correlation of the primary settlement rate of bacteria on metallic substrates with the environmental parameters such as electrolyte composition and pH as well as surface-related properties like hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity and polarization. With the overall strategic goal of transferring this methodology to technical systems the results provide the fundamental basis for the bottom-up design of anti-fouling surfaces.


Abstract
 The effects of enhanced UV-B radiation on UV-absorbing compounds (UVAC), the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (Fv/Fm), DNA integrity, and the sclerophylly index, were analyzed in the mosses Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Fontinalis antipyretica. The study was performed for 31 days under laboratory conditions. Enhanced UV-B increased the bulk level of the vacuolar soluble UVAC (SUVAC) in both mosses and the concentration of two different soluble kaempferols in B. pseudotriquetrum. However, enhanced UV-B had no effect on the bulk level of cell wall-bound insoluble UVAC (WUVAC) in both mosses and the concentration of insoluble p-coumaric acid in F. antipyretica. Thus, the insoluble fraction would be less UV-B-responsive than the soluble one. This probably happened because (1) the constitutively high bulk level of WUVAC (and noticeably higher than that of SUVAC) would already provide a sufficiently effective protection; and (2) WUVAC would be relatively immobilized in the cell wall, which would limit the reaction capacity of these compounds to UV-B. The protective mechanisms developed by both mosses could not totally prevent UV-B damage, which was indicated by the modest decrease of Fv/Fm and the increase in DNA damage. We discuss the ecological and phylogenetic implications of the differences in UVAC compartmentation between liverworts and mosses.


This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of BGP-Mux, a system for providing multiple clients access to a common set of BGP update streams from multiple BGP peers. By providing multiple clients access to the same set of BGP feeds, BGP-Mux facilitates many applications, including: (1) scalable, real-time monitoring of BGP update feeds; (3) new routing architectures that require access to all BGP routing updates from neighboring ASes (as opposed to just the best BGP route for each destination); and (2) virtual networks running on shared infrastructure that share common underlying network connectivity. We have implemented BGP-Mux through by configuring existing features in the Quagga software router; we have deployed BGPMux on VINI and evaluated its scalability and performance in a controlled environment on the Emulab testbed.


Parkinson disease (PD) is a relatively common disorder of the nervous system that afflicts patients later in life with tremor, slowness of movement, gait instability, and rigidity. Treatment of these cardinal features of the disease is a success story of modern science and medicine, as a great deal of disability can be alleviated through the pharmacological correction of brain dopamine deficiency. Unfortunately these therapies only provide temporary, though significant, relief from early symptoms and do not halt disease progression. In addition, pathological changes outside of the motor system leading to cognitive, autonomic, and psychiatric symptoms are not sufficiently treated by current therapies. Much as the discovery of dopamine deficiency led to powerful treatments for motor symptoms, recent discoveries concerning the role of specific genes in PD pathology will lead to the next revolution in disease therapy. Understanding why and how susceptible cells in motor and nonmotor regions of the brain die in PD is the first step toward preventing this cell death and curing or slowing the disease. In this review we discuss recent discoveries in the fields of diagnosis and treatment of PD and focus on how a better understanding of disease mechanisms gained through the study of monogenetic forms of PD has provided novel therapeutic targets.


The broadcast media, radio and television, have a unique and particular role to play both in enhancing governance and accountability and in giving voice to poor and marginalized communities. Broadcast media, are especially relevant and accessible to remote communities, cultural and linguistic minorities, the very poor and illiterate people. Policies, laws, regulations, and other public actions that govern the broadcast media are central to play that role, and they form the main focus of this guide. The guide maps out a public interest approach to fostering free, independent, and pluralistic broadcast media. Its objective is to provide guidance on how to design a policy, legal, and regulatory framework that can contribute to the achievement of public interest goals such as transparency of government and accountability to the people, enhanced quality of and participation in public debate, and increased opportunities for marginalized groups to develop and articulate their views. The guide draws from the experiences of a wide range of countries in all regions of the world and is illustrated extensively by country-level examples of policies, laws, and regulations. The guide is intended as a tool for media reform particularly in developing and transitional democracies. This guide is structured as follows: part one offers an overview of the rationale for a public interest approach and its role in enhancing governance, development, and voice. Part two examines the general enabling environment for media and communications, including standards of freedom of expression and access to information, the use and misuse of defamation law, and general content rules that apply to all media, including print media and journalists. Part three is dedicated specifically to broadcasting, including the role of regulatory bodies, broadcast content rules, the distinctive sectors commonly referred to as public service, community nonprofit, and commercial private sector broadcasting, as well as the regulation of broadcast spectrum and channels. The final section of the guide presents a research agenda that is intended to address the lack of relevant and systematic data and information on broadcasting encountered during the process of researching and compiling this guide. It concludes by presenting some options and practical opportunities for development assistance to support a more coherent approach to reforming broadcasting in the public interest.


[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] THE ARAB SPRING is a complex, rapidly unfolding phenomenon of uprisings, revolutions, mass demonstrations, and civil war, a diverse set of movements with diverse instigators and aspirations, including freedom, economic opportunity, regime change, and ending corruption. It started in Tunisia in December 2010 and spread to the rest of the Middle East throughout 2011. Although it is the most significant event to happen in the Middle East in recent history, we do not yet understand its trajectory and cannot predict its outcome. Despite the fact that the process is apparently advancing the values of freedom, justice, and democracy, it can still produce less desirable outcomes, requiring alternate approaches to standard diplomatic and economic approaches with a long-term view. Does the Arab Spring have a Turkish model? Countries in the Middle East are looking to Turkey whose conservative social and cultural outlook, but liberal political and economic program, stand out as a model of Islamic liberalism. For the U.S. Army, this presents a long-term opportunity. Turkish security forces, trained by the U.S. Army, have begun to train other armies (such as Syria and Jordan in the Middle East and many in Central Asia and Eastern Europe). Thus U.S. lessons on civil-military relations or the laws of war will, in turn, be taught to the these countries. Given its current popularity, America could use Turkish help as it maps out the future of the Arab Spring. All this might mean a change in the nature of the U.S. Army's engagement with Turkey. The U.S. Army's former engagement with Turkey mostly entailed military relations through NATO, but did not address the profound transformation of Turkish society, Turkey's new foreign policy, and the end of the Cold War. In addition, Turkey's democratization process has led to civilian control of the military and reduced the military's previously unique authoritative role. (1) Thus, if we assess them accurately, the changing dynamics in the region may present a long-term opportunity for the U.S. Army. This requires a comprehensive analysis of the so-called Turkish model. What aspects of it can Arab Spring countries aspire to, and what features of it are not applicable? The Destination Turkey's current state of affairs is the result of an evolutionary process, not rapid development, but it has the ability, through its example today, to serve as a model for what some of the Arab spring countries might want to emulate. Turkey as a destination point features a democratically elected, moderate Islamic party in charge of an economic boom. Turkey can make a real and visible, if not decisive, difference in the Arab Spring's changing societies. (2) The Turkish experience shows that Middle Easterners do not have to choose between authoritarian government and an Islamist regime. Turkey shows that there is a third option: Islamic liberalism. With its conservative social and cultural outlook, but liberal political and economic program, Turkey's Justice and Development Party (JDP) is a model of this. It seems to demonstrate that Islamic identity does not contradict democracy, and that there is no inevitable clash between the two. Some also argue that under JDP leadership, Turkey, in developing political, economic and cultural relations with all the countries in its region, has played a role in the emergence of the Arab Spring. By lifting visa restrictions, developing trade and cultural relations, and exporting its television programs, Turkey exposed Arabs to new ways of thinking about Islam, modernism, and elections. Not the Journey Turkey's non-Arab identity and the process it followed to get to its current end state are features that do not quite apply to the Arab Spring countries. The Turkish military's historically unique role, its membership in NATO and relations with the European Union (EU), its capitalist economy, and its evolutionary process are impossible to duplicate exactly. …


We propose a new by-example noise algorithm that takes as input a small example of a stochastic texture and synthesizes an infinite output with the same appearance. It works on any kind of random-phase inputs as well as on many non-random-phase inputs that are stochastic and non-periodic, typically natural textures such as moss, granite, sand, bark, etc. Our algorithm achieves high-quality results comparable to state-of-the-art procedural-noise techniques but is more than 20 times faster.
 Our approach is conceptually simple: we partition the output texture space on a triangle grid and associate each vertex with a random patch from the input such that the evaluation inside a triangle is done by blending 3 patches. The key to this approach is the blending operation that usually produces visual artifacts such as ghosting, softened discontinuities and reduced contrast, or introduces new colors not present in the input. We analyze these problems by showing how linear blending impacts the histogram and show that a blending operator that preserves the histogram prevents these problems.
 The main requirement for a rendering application is to implement such an operator in a fragment shader without further post-processing, i.e. we need a histogram-preserving blending operator that operates only at the pixel level. Our insight for the design of this operator is that, with Gaussian inputs, histogram-preserving blending boils down to mean and variance preservation, which is simple to obtain analytically. We extend this idea to non-Gaussian inputs by "Gaussianizing" them with a histogram transformation and "de-Gaussianizing" them with the inverse transformation after the blending operation. We show how to precompute and store these histogram transformations such that our algorithm can be implemented in a fragment shader.


Ab s t r Ac t Introduction: Endometrial pathologies contribute to a large proportion of abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB). The aim of this study was to prospectively validate a novel scoring tool [diseases of endometrium–evaluation and risk scoring (DEERS)] as compared with the gold standard histology. Diseases of endometrium–evaluation and risk scoring is a scoring system based on patient characters and endometrial features that are visualized in gray scale transvaginal sonography (TVS). We hypothesized that this tool will help screen women who present with AUB for premalignant and malignant diseases of endometrium, in a noninvasive way. When performed routinely in women prior to subjecting them to endometrial sampling, it would reduce anxiety for the patient till the final histology report is awaited. It may also be used to help reduce the burden of unnecessary samplings to the clinicians as well as decrease the burden of histological slide review for the pathologist. Materials and methods: A total of 454 women were included. Patients with AUB in whom cervical, myometrial, ovarian, and endocrinal causes were ruled out and were planned for endometrial sampling were recruited for the study, as cases (n = 284). Women who were planned for hysterectomy for reason other than endometrial pathologies were taken as controls (n = 170). Preoperatively patient characteristics were noted, and TVS was performed to calculate DEERS for all. Results: In the study cohort, DEERS showed specificity of 100% for cancers, 88.12% for complex hyperplasia, 67.12% for benign lesions, and 76.35% for normal endometrium. However, the sensitivity of prediction was not encouraging. The 95% accuracy of the test for various lesions ranged from 60 to 97%. We noted a high efficacy (sensitivity of 72.2%, specificity of 92.1%) of DEERS in predicting malignant/premalignant diseases of endometrium, when coupled in one group. Conclusion: This scoring system looks promising for screening endometrial malignancy in women who present with AUB.


In Dutch, onset /v/ is becoming voiceless. Regional differences have beenobserved in the degree of devoicing and in the acoustic implementation of the/v/–/f/ contrast. We test whether these regional differences – reflecting differentstages of the change in progress – are reflected in perception. We presentthe results of a speeded categorization task of stimuli that were systematicallyvaried for periodicity and duration. Listeners were selected in three regions:West-Flanders (incipient phase), Randstad (intermediate phase) and Groningen(advanced phase). Twenty participants per region categorized 405 stimuli as vor f. Periodicity is a strong cue in all regions, duration only plays a minor role.Regional differences show up in the degree of categoricity and in uncertainty.


Purpose: To research the change management processes used to implement 'world class' improvements in a major aerospace company, BAE SYSTEMS, and to propose a model for process improvement in the wider aerospace sector. Design/methodology/approach: The research was undertaken as a longitudinal study over a period of five years. A variety of research methodologies were used at various stages of the research including action research and observation. Semi-structured and unstructured interviews were used to gather qualitative data along with documentary evidence of the processes being used. Findings: There are three key findings. Firstly, an understanding of the production stages in the aerospace sector: future project; new product; sustain and return to work. Secondly details of a matrix-based approach and the issues regarding its implementation in a large organisation are discussed. Thirdly, a generic set of principles to aid process improvement in the aerospace sector is proposed. Research limitations/implications: Given that the study is based in one company, there are issues regarding the generalisation of the results. A potential further research project would entail the implementation of the proposed generic principles in another aerospace organisation. Practical implications: For BAE SYSTEMS, this research project aided their understanding of the issues involved in rolling out a process improvement program in a large organisation.Originality/value: Until recently, most of the research into process improvement had either been universalistic or aimed at another type of industry, such as the automotive industry. This research helps to address the specific needs of the aerospace industry.


A preliminary study was undertaken to determine both the efficacy and cost effectiveness of the Feldenkrais Method for treatment of Medicaid recipients with chronic pain at the Santa Barbara Regional Health Authority (SBRHA), SBRHA staff wished to offer treatment for chronic pain patients beyond what is provided for in the Medicaid scope of benefits. Conventional intensive chronic pain treatment programs costs range from $7,000 to $30,000 and are not covered by regu- lar Medicaid benefits. Patients with chronic headaches and/or musculoskeletal problems were enrolled in the study. Seven patients began the program: all completed it. Patient satisfaction, function, and perception of pain were evaluated by using the national Pain Data Bank (NPDB) protocol of the American Academy of Pain Management. Participants reported more mobility and decreased perception of the pain, both immediately after the program and in a one-year follow up questionnaire. Results compared quite favorably with NPDB comparison groups. Cost effectiveness calculations were based on medicaid costs for one-year periods pre-and post-intervention. Patient costs dropped from an average of $141 per month to $82 per month. This represents a 40% savings. Descriptors: alternative medicine, chronic pain, complementary medicine, cost effectiveness, Feldenkrais. AJPM 1999: 9:22-27. Received: 10-16-98: Accepted: 12-10-98


The daughter of a Welsh gypsy and a crazy bee-keeper, Hazel Woodus is happiest living in her forest cottage in the remote Shropshire hills, at one with the winds and seasons, protector and friend of the wild animals she loves. But Hazel's beauty and innocence prove irresistible to the men in her orbit. Both Jack Reddin, the local squire and Edward Marston, the gentle minister, offer her human -- and carnal -- love. Hazel's fate unfolds as simply and relentlessly as a Greek tragedy as a child of nature is drawn into a world of mortal passion in which she must eternally be a stranger.


Recognizing the social meaning of food and meals in Greco-Roman culture and, in particular, the social meaning of idol-food, is an integral part of understanding the impact of Paul's instructions to the Christian community at Corinth regarding the consumption of idol-food. Shared meals were a central feature of social intercourse in Greco-Roman culture. Meals and food were markers of social status, and participation at meals was the main means of establishing and maintaining social relations. Participation in public rites (and sharing the meals which ensued) was a requirement of holding public office. The social consequences of refusing to eat idol-food would be extreme. Christians might not attend weddings, funerals, celebrations in honour of birthdays, or even formal banquets without encountering idol-food. In this extended reading of 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1, Paul's response to the Corinthian Christians' query concerning food offered to idols, Gooch uses a social-historical approach, combining historical methods of source, literary and redaction criticism, and newer applications of anthropological and sociological methods to determine what idol-food was, and what it meant in that place at that time to eat or avoid it. In opposition to a well-entrenched scholarly consensus, Gooch claims that although Paul had abandoned purity rules concerning food, he would not abandon Judaism's cultural and religious understanding concerning idol-food. On the basis of his reconstruction of Paul's letter in which he urged the Corinthian Christians to avoid any food infected by non-Christian rites, Gooch argues that the Corinthians rejected Paul's instructions to avoid facing significant social liabilities.


Rhus verniciflua bark has been used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of several diseases in Korea. In this study, the antioxidant properties and anticancer activity of a fermented R. verniciflua (F-RV) methanol extract and its fractions were determined. The methanol extract and the ethyl acetate fraction had high radical-scavenging and reducing-power activities, higher than that of butylated hydroxytoluene. Moreover, the antioxidant activity was correlated with the contents of the phenolic compounds. The cell viability assay showed that F-RV contains anticancer activity in a colon cancer cell line (HCT-116), and upregulates TGF-β. Thus F-RV has an inhibitory effect on cell proliferation and can induce apoptosis and senescence. F-RV could be useful for the development of bioactive food and anticancer drugs.


Scientific knowledge is characterized by abstract descriptions and structures which are not identical to the lived reality. Scientific knowledge cannot directly be applied on the lived existence, without being transformed and adjusted to the individual's very complex lifeworld. Learning in caring contexts is an encounter between the scientific knowledge of caring and the learner's lifeworld. This encounter needs a support that has the potential to bring caring science to life and to start an intertwining process with the lifeworld that creates embodied knowledge. Lifeworld didactics are built on an approach about learning as an individual process and that learning takes its point of departure in the learner's previous experiences, which accompanies the learning process. The challenges within lifeworld didactics is to be open and sensitive to the learner's lifeworld and with tact support the development of a reflective attitude in the learning process. Lifeworld didactics strategies are of crucial importance in different caring contexts. This paper presents three lifeworld led phenomenological research projects that have focused on acquiring caring science knowledge in caring contexts, more precisely it is the encounter between caring science and the lifeworld. The research is within the framework of lifeworld didactics, but the three projects each have a special focus. The first illustrates how the learning and caring processes merge and become an intertwined phenomenon in nursing students' learning. The research is carried out in Dedicated Educational Units (DEU), within psychiatric and orthopedic care. Three perspectives are illustrated in the project; that of the students, the supervisors and the patients. The overall aim is to develop a supervision model that has the potential to support the students' learning processes as well as the patients' caring processes. The second illustrates how the concepts 'patient perspective' and 'patient participation' can be implemented in a clinical setting for elderly patients in order to improve the quality of care. This project is inspired by Participatory Action Research and is built on collaboration between the university and the health care services. The aim is to develop reflective educational material in terms of filmed drama episodes, based on the result of two studies about elderly patients' participation in team meetings. The third illustrates the perspective of lifeworld didactics in two phenomenological studies that focus on Students` learning in an encounter with patients and Students` learning on the way to becoming professional - supported by supervision in pairs of students. The findings show patterns of essential meanings that have specific significance in the art of supporting students` learning in clinical education. These are; the significance of responsibility, its extent and shape in relation to the supervisor's ability to adopt a reflective supervising attitude and to be supportive enough but at the same time to not assume the responsibility. The learning process shows to be a challenge for students, where safety in pairs of students has a great significance when coping with the challenge to learn and develop.


Abstract. Torrential floods are the most frequent natural catastrophic events in Serbia, causing the loss of human lives and huge material damage, both in urban and rural areas. The analysis of the intra-annual distribution of maximal discharges aided in noticing that torrential floods have a seasonal character. The erosion and torrent control works (ETCWs) in Serbia began at the end of the 19th century. Effective protection from torrential floods encompasses biotechnical works on the slopes in the watershed and technical works on the torrent beds, within a precisely defined administrative and spatial framework in order to achieve maximal safety for people and their property. Cooperation to overcome the conflicts between the sectors of the water resources management, forestry, agriculture, energetics, environmental protection and local economic development groups is indispensable at the following levels: policy, spatial planning, practice, investments and education. The lowest and most effective level is through the Plans for Announcement of Erosive Regions (PAERs) and the Plans for Protection from Torrential Floods (PPTFs), with Hazard Zones (HZs) and Threatened Areas (TAs) mapping on the basis of the hydrologic, hydraulic and spatial analysis of the factors that are important for the formation of torrential floods. Solutions defined through PAERs and PPTFs have to be integrated into Spatial Plans at local and regional levels.


EXPLORATORY STUDY OF COUNTRIES LACKING DATA ON FEMALE GENITAL MUTILATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA Nazia Rose Naeem Old Dominion University, 2011 Director: Dr. Karen A. Polonko Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the cutting off of female genitals for nonmedical purposes (WHO 2008). FGM is a gender specific practice, which has no health benefits and severe consequences. In addition, the victims of this form of physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional violence are predominantly children between birth and age 15 (WHO 2008). Female genital mutilation is an egregious act, which must be eradicated. This study sought to begin the process of securing preliminary estimates for FGM in countries that lacked data on FGM in the Middle East and Africa, thereby shedding light on this extremely detrimental and oppressive practice. The data collection process was to develop a list of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) dealing with FGM, women's and/or children's rights in general for the 29 countries lacking data in the Middle East and Africa. A survey on the prevalence, predictors, and reasons for the continuation of this practice was developed and distributed to NGOs via email. This process ultimately yielded a respondent from one NGO in 16 of the 29 countries. However, a number of the respondents work for general human rights NGOs. Of the 16 countries, respondents in only four of these countries admitted that they knew of even one case of FGM that occurred in their country. Responses on what groups the NGOs thought are more likely to practice FGM were consistent with prior research in pointing to Muslim religion, women with lower education, rural region, and lower household wealth. Reasons these 16 respondents gave for the continuation of this practice were also similar to reasons given in prior literature including community/tradition, religion, increasing female marriage prospects, controlling female sexuality, and to keep female genitals clean. A hypothesis was generated to explain possible differences on prevalence in FGM that may exist in regions in the Middle East, North Africa, and Sub Saharan Africa. Furthermore, the key to the eradication of FGM based on the survey responses is to have community leaders and religious leaders speak out against the practice. In addition, we must promote equality amongst men, women, and children.


91 Abstract— With the introduction of many-core GPUs, there is widespread interest in using GPUs to accelerate non-graphics applications such as bioinformatics, energy, finance and several research areas. Even though the GPUs provide highly parallel processing capability, the communication interface between CPU and GPU could be a performance bottleneck due to heavy data transfer. If data transfer time is overwhelming the computation time on GPU, it would be better keep the computation on CPU instead of using GPUs. In this paper, we characterize the HMMER 3.0 and investigate performance hotspot functions. The HMMER is a bioinformatics application which is used in searching sequence databases for protein sequences. For our experiment, we use Nvidia CUDA that abstracts the GPU hardware. Based on the hotspot analysis of HMMER 3.0, we consider two factors for partial CUDA acceleration: one is the performance impact of major hotspot functions and the other one is data transfer overhead. Also, we verified that hotspot analysis based partial CUDA acceleration could provide better performance than full CUDA implementation.


Spermatogenesis during post-metamorphic life in the anadromous parasitic lamprey Geotria australis was examined in histological sections of testes of animals collected in the field or maintained in the laboratory. The fully metamorphosed downstream migrants of G. australis possessed a very small testis in which the germ cells consisted of irregularly arranged prospermatogonia. By the end of the subsequent protracted marine trophic phase, the testis had increased in cross-sectional area by about 20 times and become organised into well-defined cysts. Since approximately 40% of these cysts possessed spermatocytes and 12% contained spermatids or early sperm, meiosis is initiated prior to the non-feeding upstream migration, which in G. australis lasts for the unusually long period of 15-16 months. The incidence of cysts with meiotic and post-meiotic stages decreased during the first 3 months of the spawning run before starting to rise during subsequent months. Spermiogenesis was never completed in any animals caught in the field during the first 9 months of the upstream migration or in those subsequently held in the laboratory up to and beyond November, the month when spawning naturally takes place. The phasing and asynchrony of spermatogenesis during post-metamorphic life in G. australis differs markedly from the situation in Northern Hemisphere lampreys.


Serotonin is an important gastrointestinal signaling molecule. It is a paracrine messenger utilized by enterochromaffin (EC) cells, which function as sensory transducers. Serotonin activates intrinsic and extrinsic primary afferent neurons to, respectively, initiate peristaltic and secretory reflexes and to transmit information to the central nervous system. Serotonin is also a neurotransmitter utilized by a system of long descending myenteric interneurons. Serotonin is synthesized through the actions of 2 different tryptophan hydroxylases, TpH1 and TpH2, which are found, respectively, in EC cells and neurons. Serotonin is inactivated by the serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT)-mediated uptake into enterocytes or neurons. The presence of many serotonin receptor subtypes enables selective drugs to be designed to therapeutically modulate gastrointestinal motility, secretion, and sensation. Current examples include tegaserod, a 5-HT4 partial agonist, which has been approved for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with constipation in women and for chronic constipation in men and women. The 5-HT3 antagonists, granisetron and ondansetron, are useful in combating the nausea associated with cancer chemotherapy, and alosetron is employed in the treatment of IBS with diarrhea. Serotonergic signaling abnormalities have also been putatively implicated in the pathogenesis of functional bowel diseases. Other compounds, for which efficacy has not been rigorously established, but which may have value, include tricyclic antidepressants and serotonin selective reuptake inhibitors to combat IBS, and 5-HT1 agonists, which enhance gastric accommodation, to treat functional dyspepsia. The initial success encountered with serotonergic agents holds promise for newer and more potent insights and therapies of brain-gut disorders.


If the most typical red, yellow, green, and blue were particularly colorful (i.e., saturated), they would "jump out to the eye." This would explain why even fundamentally different languages have distinct color terms for these focal colors, and why unique hues play a prominent role in subjective color appearance. In this study, the subjective saturation of 10 colors around each of these focal colors was measured through a pairwise matching task. Results show that subjective saturation changes systematically across hues in a way that is strongly correlated to the visual gamut, and exponentially related to sensitivity but not to focal colors.


Network-based intruders seldom attack their victims directly from their own computer. Often, they stage their attacks through intermediate "stepping stones" in order to conceal their identity and origin. To identify the source of the attack behind the stepping stone(s), it is necessary to correlate the incoming and outgoing flows or connections of a stepping stone. To resist attempts at correlation, the attacker may encrypt or otherwise manipulate the connection traffic. Timing-based correlation approaches have been shown to be quite effective in correlating encrypted connections. However, timing-based correlation approaches are subject to timing perturbations that may be deliberately introduced by the attacker at stepping stones. In this paper, we propose a novel watermark-based-correlation scheme that is designed specifically to be robust against timing perturbations. Unlike most previous timing-based correlation approaches, our watermark-based approach is "active" in that it embeds a unique watermark into the encrypted flows by slightly adjusting the timing of selected packets. The unique watermark that is embedded in the encrypted flow gives us a number of advantages over passive timing-based correlation in resisting timing perturbations by the attacker. In contrast to the existing passive correlation approaches, our active watermark-based correlation does not make any limiting assumptions about the distribution or random process of the original interpacket timing of the packet flow. In theory, our watermark-based correlation can achieve arbitrarily close to 100 percent correlation true positive rate (TPR), and arbitrarily close to 0 percent false positive rate (FPR) at the same time for sufficiently long flows, despite arbitrarily large (but bounded) timing perturbations of any distribution by the attacker. Our paper is the first that identifies 1) accurate quantitative tradeoffs between the achievable correlation effectiveness and the defining characteristics of the timing perturbation; and 2) a provable upper bound on the number of packets needed to achieve a desired correlation effectiveness, given the amount of timing perturbation. Experimental results show that our active watermark-based correlation performs better and requires fewer packets than existing, passive timing-based correlation methods in the presence of random timing perturbations.


Purpose – This editorial seeks to compare the German Bibliothekartag, the American Library Association Annual Meeting, and the International Federation of Library Associations meeting. Design/methodology/approach – The method relies mainly on anthropological observation. Findings – Conferences in cities with public transit, good restaurants, and decent technology, including wireless internet and projection in the meeting rooms, offer better opportunities for the social bonding that encourages repeat attendance. Practical implications – Conferences at locations without these features risk losing regulars as technology increasingly enables communication without travel. Originality/value – Interaction with the conference environment is not the only factor in making a conference experience successful but, without positive interactions, the option of doing business electronically becomes far more attractive.


Indonesia is a country that has an abundance of different cultures. With the abundance of culture possessed, Indonesia should be able to preserve it. However, in reality some Indonesian culture has been claimed by neighboring countries such as Reog Ponorogo is claimed by Malaysia, and others. So must to do an action that can minimize the threat. One solution is by the Rumah Indonesia. Rumah Indonesia is a public facility that concept "Indonesia is a Country of 1000 Culture". The goal is to make the establishment of information centers as well as introducing Indonesian culture to the people at the border. Which in turn can be everlasting to Indonesian culture and not claimed by neighboring countries.


We present systematic measurements of the temperature dependence of detection efficiencies in TaN and NbN superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors. We have observed a clear increase of the cut-off wavelength with decreasing temperature that we can qualitatively describe with a temperature-dependent diffusion coefficient of the quasi-particles created after photon absorption. Furthermore, the detection efficiency at wavelengths shorter than the cut-off wavelength as well as at longer wavelengths exhibit distinct temperature dependencies. The underlying causes and possible consequences for microscopic detection models are discussed.


Abstract This paper draws on the KINSA project (The Communicative Situation of Immigrants at Swedish Workplaces), which aimed to identify communicative factors that have a positive impact on the integration of second language speakers in the workplace and in their immediate work team. The focus here is on humour and swearing as strategies for doing collegiality and for building and maintaining good relations between co-workers. The article presents data from five second language speakers, permanently employed industrial or office workers in a major Swedish company. Theoretically and methodologically, the paper has its basis in discourse analysis, interactional sociolinguistics and the ethnography of communication. By means of fieldwork, a large body of empirical data was collected, comprising detailed field notes, audio and video recordings of naturally occurring talk, and texts processed and produced by participants. The analysis of the data shows that metalinguistic and metacultural awareness and performance of relational communicative acts among the participants appear to have helped to facilitate and consolidate integration in the workplace and the immediate work team. To foster good relations at work, the five participants make strategic use of jokes, compliments, narratives, swearing and greetings. In this article the use of jokes and swearing is highlighted. It closes by making a case for future research in the area of integration in the workplace through relational communication, especially among second language speakers.


Abstract : Formally establishing safety properties of software presents a grand challenge to the computer science community. Producing proof-carrying code, i.e., machine code with machine-checkable specifications and proofs, is particularly difficult for system softwares written in low-level languages. One central problem is the lack of verification theories that can handle the expressive power of low-level code in a modular fashion. In particular, traditional type- and logic-based verification approaches have restrictions on either expressive power or modularity. This dissertation presents XCAP, a logic-based proof-carrying code framework for modular machine code verification. In XCAP, program specifications are written as general logic predicates, in which syntactic constructs are used to modularly specify some crucial higher-order programming concepts for system code, including embedded code pointers, impredicative polymorphisms, recursive invariants, and general references, all in a logical setting. Thus, XCAP achieves the expressive power of logic-based approaches and the modularity of type-based approaches. Its meta theory has been completely mechanized and proved. XCAP can be used to directly certify system kernel code. This dissertation contains a mini certified thread library written in x86 assembly. Every single instruction in the library, including those for context switching and thread scheduling, has a formal XCAP specification and a proof. XCAP is also connected to existing certifying compiler; a typepreserving translation from a typed assembly language to XCAP is included.


Theorizing listening's multifarious functions has meaningful potential for critical communication studies. I argue that our understanding of listening can be enriched by examining the discourses of the U.S. radical lesbian feminist Andrea Dworkin. Employing and extending McRae's method of performative listening, I argue that Dworkin's rhetoric can be read as a theory and practice of radical, caring listening that promotes social change and moves us toward collective action.


Computer systems are an essential asset of large companies such as banks, financial institutions, utility companies and telecommunication providers.
Given their important roles for the functioning of society, these companies are under a constant threat of cyberattacks.
Enterprises rely on the availability of these complex ICT systems for their day-to-day operations, and disruptions in the availability of these systems can have disastrous consequences.
Given the growing complexity of the attacks and the growing size of network infrastructures, security experts require the use of automated tools to determine the security of their systems.
To this end, we propose an automated method for the analysis of vulnerabilities within network architectures, based on the Cyber Security Modelling Language (CySeMoL).
We aim to improve the time required for inferring the likelihood of a successful cyberattack in a given network infrastructure, based on the threat model defined by CySeMoL.
We define an alternative implementation of the vulnerability analysis using Probabilistic Logic (ProbLog).
By using a model-based approach to the analysis of CySeMoL, we provide an extensible method for the development of such an alternative analysis.
We have succeeded in achieving this by using intermediate models which capture the threat model of CySeMoL and the definition of concrete network infrastructures.
However, our measurements show that the proposed analysis method using ProbLog does not perform better than CySeMoL for larger models.


BOSTON-- At the spring meeting of the American Geophysical Union here earlier this month, paleoceanographers reported that they had found tiny bits of ice-borne rock in North Atlantic sediments laid down during the Little Ice Age, from about 1400 to 1900, and in older sediments every millennium or two, beginning at least 130,000 years ago. The finding implies that Earth has experienced a long string of Little Ice Ages, perhaps driven by variations in the sun or by changes in ocean currents. It also suggests that the world will be warming naturally, as part of this roughly 1500-year climate cycle, on top of any human-induced greenhouse effect.


Visceral pain remains one of the most commonly observed clinical symptoms, and yet, it continues to represent a large unmet therapeutic demand. Work from our lab and others have aimed to describe potential mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of visceral pain and have identified protein kinase C gamma (PKC γ) as an important molecular target, as it undergoes prominent membrane translocation in visceral pain and directly affects many pain signaling pathways. In this study, we continued our investigation of PKC γ modulation in visceral pain and measured PKC γ expression in the spinal cord at 30, 60, and 120 min following visceral pain that was induced by intracolonic injection of formalin. PKC γ mRNA was significantly increased at 60 min following formalin injection, but not at 30 or 120 min following injection, as detected by reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Western blot analysis and immunocytochemistry confirmed the up-regulation of PKC γ protein expression at 60 min following formalin injection. Furthermore, immunocytochemistry also confirmed the localization of PKC γ positive neurons to the superficial layers of the spinal cord dorsal horn, where primary afferent terminals transmitting pain information are received. Taken together, our results implicate an important role for PKC γ in the development of visceral pain.


Gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world. It is the second most common carcinoma in the world and around 10 percent of all cancers. Objective: To study the gross and histologic type of the various gastric lesions. Method: The present study for a period of 7 years from June 1999 to June 2006 was done in the Department of Pathology, Kurnool Medical College, Kurnool. During the above period resected gastric specimen were analyzed. Results & Conclusion: In the present study, malignant tumors were more common. The incidence of malignant tumors were more common in males than in females. The peak incidence is observed during fifty to sixty years. The youngest age incidence was observed in 25 years male. The oldest age incidence observed in 80 years male. The common blood group observed in male was A-Group. The most common site involved was pyloric end.


The macroscopic and microbiological impact of effective plaque control is the cornerstone for the short- and long-term success of our treatments. Getting our patients to perform effective and long-lasting plaque control requires progressive step-by-step training. Dentists themselves can inform and educate patients, but trained assistants can also do this. This needs time, but ten more seconds daily of effective brushing or interdental plaque control at home means one hour of treatment per year (3600 seconds) on the considered tooth surface. Patients need time to assimilate and use all these new concepts and practices. The dentist will define the aim of home treatment and explain it carefully to the patient, and to the assistant if available. This is easier if dentists and their teams are sensitive to people's ability to take ownership of the techniques taught. Time spent is not wasted, but has to be considered like an investment by both dental team and patient.


GRB 130427A was the brightest gamma-ray burst detected in the last 30 yr. With an equivalent isotropic energy output of 8.5 × 1053 erg and redshift z = 0.34, it uniquely combined very high energetics with a relative proximity to Earth. As a consequence, its X-ray afterglow has been detected by sensitive X-ray observatories such as XMM–Newton and Chandra for a record-breaking baseline longer than 80 million seconds. We present the X-ray light curve of this event over such an interval. The light curve shows a simple power-law decay with a slope α = 1.309 ± 0.007 over more than three decades in time (47 ks–83 Ms). We discuss the consequences of this result for a few models proposed so far to interpret GRB 130427A, and more in general the significance of this outcome in the context of the standard forward shock model. We find that this model has difficulty in explaining our data, in both cases of constant density and stellar-wind circumburst media, and requires far-fetched values for the physical parameters involved.


It has been found that beta-endorphin (beta-END) and a synthetic beta-END-like decapeptide Ser-Leu-Thr-Cys-Leu-Val-Lys-Gly-Phe-Tyr (termed immunorphin, IMN) corresponding to the sequence 364-373 of human IgG heavy chain stimulate Con A-induced proliferation of T lymphocytes from the blood of healthy donors. [Met(5)]enkephalin ([Met(5)]ENK) and an antagonist of opioid receptors naloxone (NAL) tested in parallel were not active. The stimulating effect of beta-END and IMN on T lymphocyte proliferation was not inhibited by NAL. Studies on receptor binding of (125)I-labeled IMN to T lymphocytes revealed that it binds with high affinity to NAL-insensitive binding sites (K(d) = 7.0 +/- 0.3 nM). Unlabeled beta-END completely inhibited the specific binding of (125)I-labeled IMN to NAL-insensitive binding sites on T lymphocytes (K(i) = 1.1 +/- 0.2 nM). Thus, beta-END and IMN bind to common NAL-insensitive binding sites on T lymphocytes and enhance Con A-induced proliferation of these cells.


This article contributes to current debates on progressive, knowledge-based approaches to the curriculum by addressing the question of what it is that students are entitled to learn in school mathematics. From the outset it recognizes progressive arguments that teaching should be reconnected
 with the emancipatory ambitions of education. In doing so, it takes the notion of powerful knowledge as a starting point, based on what knowledge school students have the right to have access to. In turn, it considers this as a question of epistemic quality . This is elaborated
 as a concept by drawing on outcomes from a recent study arising from the Developing Mathematical Thinking in the Primary Classroom (DMTPC) project . This concept is founded on the analysis of a distinction between mathematical fallibilism , based on a heuristic view of
 mathematics as a human activity, and mathematical fundamentalism , which reflects an authoritarian view of the subject as being infallible, absolutist and irrefutable. The relation between powerful knowledge and epistemic quality is considered further by framing it within a sociological
 theory of knowledge. This helps to highlight a further distinction between knowing that and knowing how , which is used to illustrate examples of high and low epistemic quality in school mathematics. The first example of high epistemic quality is drawn from the DMTPC project.
 The second example is of low epistemic quality and comes from the highly promoted Core Knowledge Foundation that has recently been imported into English schools from the USA. Finally, the article considers the role of teachers as curriculum makers at the classroom level where curriculum
 and pedagogy effectively merge. In conclusion, the implications for both policy and practice are considered, in particular proposals are made in relation to the role and place of subject didactics in teaching and teacher education.


When CMOS is operated at a supply voltage of 0.5V and below, Random Do pant Fluctuations (RDFs) result in a stochastic component of logic delay that can be comparable to the nominal delay. Moreover, the Probability Density Function (PDF) of this stochastic delay can be highly non-Gaussian. The Non-Linear, Operating Point Analysis of Local Variations (NLOPALV) technique has been shown to be accurate and computationally efficient in simulating any point on the delay PDF of a logic Timing Path (TP). This paper applies the NLOPALV approach to characterizing the stochastic delay of logic cells. NLOPALV theory is presented, and NLOPALV is used to characterize a cell library designed in 28 nm CMOS. NLOPALV is accurate to within 5% compared to SPICE-based Monte Carlo analysis.


In this paper, we focus on transcribing walking bass lines, which provide clues for revealing the actual played chords in jazz recordings. Our transcription method is based on a deep neural network (DNN) that learns a mapping from a mixture spectrogram to a salience representation that emphasizes the bass line. Furthermore, using beat positions, we apply a late-fusion approach to obtain beat-wise pitch estimates of the bass line. First, our results show that this DNN-based transcription approach outperforms state-of-the-art transcription methods for the given task. Second, we found that an augmentation of the training set using pitch shifting improves the model performance. Finally, we present a semi-supervised learning approach where additional training data is generated from predictions on unlabeled datasets.


Following the start of the war on terror in 2001, U.S. policymakers determined that winning the war on drugs in Afghanistan was necessary for winning the war on terror. Yet despite spending $8.4 billion on drug interdiction in Afghanistan since 2002, opium production has grown substantially. We examine the failures of the U.S.-led war on drugs in Afghanistan using the tools of economics. By driving the opium economy into the black market, the war on drugs has fostered regime uncertainty, resulted in the violent cartelization of the drug industry, empowered the Taliban insurgency, and contributed to corruption. The U.S. experience in Afghanistan has broader implications for international drug and terrorism policy.


The Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model was used along with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to study air quality modelling sensitivity to various Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) schemes and Land Surface Models (LSMs). The performance is assessed and quantified by comparing results with surface observations and the outputs provided by the fifth generation Mesoscale Model (MM5) when coupled to the CMAQ model. The evaluated meteorological variables include temperature, wind speed and direction and mixing ratio, while the CMAQ evaluation focuses on ozone concentrations. Differences were observed in circulatory patterns and meteorological variables, which influence spatial ozone distributions and concentrations.


This paper presents the system-level architecture of novel ultra-low power wireless body sensor nodes (WBSNs) for real-time cardiac monitoring and analysis, and discusses the main design challenges of this new generation of medical devices. In particular, it highlights first the unsustainable energy cost incurred by the straightforward wireless streaming of raw data to external analysis servers. Then, it introduces the need for new cross-layered design methods (beyond hardware and software boundaries) to enhance the autonomy of WBSNs for ambulatory monitoring. In fact, by embedding more onboard intelligence and exploiting electrocardiogram (ECG) specific knowledge, it is possible to perform real-time compressive sensing, filtering, delineation and classification of heartbeats, while dramatically extending the battery lifetime of cardiac monitoring systems. The paper concludes by showing the results of this new approach to design ultra-low power wearable WBSNs in a real-life platform commercialized by SmartCardia. This wearable system allows a wide range of applications, including multi-lead ECG arrhythmia detection and autonomous sleep monitoring for critical scenarios, such as monitoring of the sleep state of airline pilots.


Abstract Several of the procedures necessary for cryopreservation of excised zygotic embryonic axes are known to be accompanied by emission of damaging levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These have been shown to be associated with shoot apical meristem necrosis, curtailing subsequent axis development to root production only, particularly for tropical/subtropical recalcitrant-seeded species. Here we report on the application of the principles of electrochemistry in the generation of strongly reducing, high pH cathodic water, by electrolysis of a solution containing calcium and magnesium chloride. The cathodic water in which Strychnos gerrardii axes were immersed for 30 min following dehydration, and importantly, after dehydration followed by cryopreservation, was shown to have strongly antioxidative properties in counteracting the damaging effects of ROS bursts and promoting shoot development. In a parallel experiment, axes of Boophane disticha exhibited enhanced total antioxidant activity when exposed to cathodic water both immediately following excision, and after flash-drying. For both species, the efficacious effects of cathodic treatment were manifest after the axes had been in culture for 4 h, suggesting that ROS were not quenched at source, but probably counteracted by enhancement of activity of endogenous antioxidants. Cathodic water therefore affords a non-toxic means of amelioration of oxidative, stress-related damage, which, coupled with the strongly fungicidal activity of the acidic, anionic water fraction, offers significant, and apparently non-injurious, advances towards successful cryopreservation of germplasm – and probably generally improved success of in-vitro-based procedures for plant tissues.


In recent years, earth-abundant transition metal catalysts have been used to make great achievements on homogenous catalysis, including the field of enantioselective hydrofunctionalization of alkenes. Minimally functionalized alkenes are a class of challenging substrates for the catalytic asymmetric hydrofunctionalization reactions. This review summarizes the advances of the highly enantioselective (≥90% ee) hydrofunctionalization reactions of minimally functionalized alkenes using earth-abundant transition metals (iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, titanium and zirconium) as catalysts.