Marginal ulcer is a significant complication of laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB). Most marginal ulcers resolve with medical management, but nonhealing ulcers may require revision of the gastrojejunostomy, a procedure with significant morbidity and mortality. Traditionally, surgical therapy for refractory peptic ulcers includes a vagotomy. The current study evaluates the effectiveness of thoracoscopic truncal vagotomy (TTV) in the management of refractory marginal ulcers. All patients at two institutions with an intractable marginal ulcer after LRYGB treated with TTV between 2003 and 2010 were reviewed. Data were collected from chart review and telephone interview. Seventeen patients (mean age, 39 ± 13 years; 16 females) were diagnosed with marginal ulceration a median of 18 months after LRYGB and proceeded to TTV at a mean of 39 ± 43 weeks (range, 1 to 114 weeks) after the diagnosis. The median operative time was 89 ± 65 minutes (range, 45 to 318 minutes). Four patients had a complication (sympathetic contralateral pleural effusion, pneumothorax, operative bleeding, and readmission for emesis). Eleven patients had follow-up of 3 months to 6 years (median, 7 months). Nine patients (82%) had symptomatic improvement and/or endoscopic resolution, whereas two (18%) did not. No patient had endoscopic evidence of persistent or recurrent marginal ulcer. TTV achieves symptomatic improvement and/or endoscopic resolution of intractable marginal ulcers in over 80 per cent of patients status post gastric bypass and therefore offers a less morbid alternative to revision of the gastrojejunostomy.


OF THESIS HYBRID, ROW WIDTH, AND PLANT POPULATION EFFECT ON CORN YIELD IN KENTUCKY Studies were conducted in 2011 and 2012 to determine if narrow row corn (Zea mays L.) and/or greater plant populations could affect yield, time to silking, and other physiological characteristics. Main plots of six hybrids were arranged as a randomized complete bock design with three replications. Split plots were row widths of 76-cm (wide rows) and 20-cm rows on 76-cm spacing (twin rows). Split-split plots were target plant populations of 75 000 and 111 000 plants ha. Corn was no-till seeded into soybean stubble near Lexington, KY in 2011 and 2012. Year interacted with most factors analyzed in the study. This was expected, given the extreme differences in weather. 2011 ASI (days) approached zero as plant population increased in wide rows in two out of four hybrids. ASI response to plant population in twin rows was not significant for any hybrid. In 2011, yield was greater in twin rows than wide rows. For significant equations, in 2011 grain yield increased as plant population increased, but in 2012 grain yield decreased as plant population increased, across both row widths. Kernel number per ear decreased as plant population increased in 2011 and 2012, but at different rates for wide and twin rows.


This paper presents the experimental characterization of two-terminal microfabricated capacitors for microarrays with an electrical sensing of label-free deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). So far, such a concept has been demonstrated only in experimental setups featuring dimensions much larger than those typical of microfabrication. Therefore, this paper investigates: 1) the compatibility of the silicon microelectronic processes with biological functionalization procedures; 2) the effects of parasitics when electrodes have realistic dimensions; 3) measurement stability and reproducibility; and 4) the possibility of a fully integrated stand-alone device. The obtained results clearly indicate that two-terminal capacitive sensing with fully integrated electronics represents a viable technology for a DNA label-free detection/recognition


The combination of isotopic measurements and micrometeorological flux measurements is a powerful new approach that will likely lead to new insight into the dynamics of CO2 exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. Since the biological processes of photosynthesis and respiration modify the stable isotopic signature of atmospheric CO2 in different ways, measurements of the net fluxes of CO2, 13CO2, and C18OO can be used to investigate the relative contribution of each process to net ecosystem CO2 exchange. We used two independent approaches to measure isotopic fluxes of CO2 over a Tennessee oak‐maple‐hickory forest in summer 1998. These approaches involved (1) a combination of standard eddy covariance with intensive flask sampling, and (2) a modification to the relaxed eddy accumulation technique. Strong isotopic signals associated with photosynthesis and respiration were observed and persisted in forest air despite the potential for mixing due to atmospheric turbulence. Calm nights allowed a buildup of respiratory CO2 below the canopy and were associated with isotopically depleted forest air in the morning. Windy nights were followed by a relatively more enriched early‐morning isotopic signal. Entrainment of air from above the decaying nocturnal boundary layer during daytime mixed layer growth exerted strong control on isotopic composition of forest air, resulting in similar isotope ratios in the late afternoon despite different isotopic starting points following calm or windy nights. The influences of the convective boundary layer and turbulent mixing within the forest cannot be ignored when using isotopes of CO2 investigate biological processes.


The Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) is the only available semi-structured observational assessment of autism and has not been used extensively in preterm toddlers. We used a screening and diagnostic method to determine the diagnostic prevalence of autism and the characteristics of screen positive cases. Methods A 12-month birth-cohort of toddlers (2-and-4-years-old) born with a gestational age <29-weeks were administered the Modified Checklist of Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT)-and follow-up interview (FI™) screen, the ADOS and neurodevelopmental assessments (Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development III-2-year-olds, Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence-III and Adaptive Behaviour Assessment System-Second Edition-4-year-olds). The ADOS was conducted on toddlers with M-CHAT-FI™ positive screens. Results Complete data were available on 88% (169/192) of children. Thirteen-percent screened M-CHAT-FI™ positive. ADOS (DSM-IV-criteria) classified 1.8% with autistic disorder and none with ASD. Multivariate analysis showed that social emotional delay (p = <0.001) was the only neurodevelopmental factor independently associated with M-CHAT-FI™ positive screens even after adjusting for psychosocial risk and child gender. All but one of the M-CHAT-FI™ positive screens scored some level of abnormality at the domain and item level on the ADOS testing, one third of these reached the Communication Total category cut off for ASD for the combined Communication and Social Interaction Total Score. Four children displayed comorbid atypical development (DQ/IQ <-2SD). Conclusion The ADOS reports a lower incidence of autistic disorder in children born very preterm compared to studies using diagnostic interview based tools. The distinguishing features of the M-CHAT-FI™ positive cases suggest a sub-threshold communication dysfunction profile.


We have measured the ac Stark effect in a two-zone stimulated Raman interaction in a sodium atomic beam. In addition, we have derived simple theoretical expressions for the ac Stark shift, based on a closed three-level system, in the A configuration, and have achieved qualitative agreement with the data. In particular, the magnitude and sense of the ac Stark shifts are found to depend on laser intensities as well as on the initial populations of the two low-lying levels of the A configuration. Specifically, the observed ac Stark shifts are smaller for larger laser intensities and also for smaller initial population differences between the two low-lying levels. The ac Stark effect must be considered for many potential applications of the Raman effect, such as a Raman clock. In this connection, we have identified conditions for the reduction of the ac Stark shift in our sodium Raman clock.


The design of rigid-frame skewed slab bridges is complicated by higher shears and moments near the obtuse corner (see Fig.1). While the finite element method can be used to compute these values, it is time consuming for everyday design. There is therefore a need for simplified methods of determining design moments and shears. A linear elastic finite element analysis was used to investigate the effects of various loads on twenty different bridges with spans ranging from 4.6m to 18.3m and skew angles varying from 0 to 60 degrees. The results of the study were used to produce design charts which account for the effects of skew. In the second stage of the research, the results of the linear analysis were verified and refined through nonlinear analysis and laboratory testing of concrete models. The nonlinear analysis was conducted with NARCOS, a Program developed at The University of Maine.


The end of the Cold War has brought both uncertainty and opportunity for states interested in designing their own security policies. Alternative methods, other than military solutions, should be exploited to prevent insecurity and instability.

This study is concerned with South Korea's security approach towards North Korea in the post-Cold War era and in particular how South Korea can use non-military tools to prevent military conflict in the Korean Peninsula and to build mutual confidence between the two Koreas in the long-run. This thesis also presents an analysis of both the need and the opportunity for South Korea to adopt a comprehensive economic engagement strategy towards North Korea in the post-Cold War era in order to achieve these goals.

It argues that South Korea's implementation of economic engagement with North Korea requires its policy-makers' strong policy-making will for an active and consistent engagement posture. Then, this study demonstrates the important role of President Kim Dae-jung's strong causal beliefs about the necessity of engagement measures to address the post-Cold War North Korean security problems on the Kim Dae-jung government's policy-making in favour of comprehensive engagement with North Korea.

This study presents the model of 'business-track diplomacy' to test a state's utilisation of economic engagement strategy as security policy. This model provides ways to think around security issues and alternative security options which go beyond the traditional military containment approach to security in international relations (IR). Moreover, this study presents a new belief perspective that illuminates the South Korea's North Korea policy-making process, which had previously been dominated by military issues and essentially required an international structure perspective, centred on US influence. Thus, the belief approach contributes to the field of foreign policy analysis (FPA) for South Korea by proving the importance of its decision-makers' policy beliefs and by going beyond the conventional international structure approach.


A lot of contemporary cloud computing platforms offer Infrastructure-as-a-Service provisioning model, which offers to deliver basic virtualized computing resources like storage, hardware, and networking as on-demand and dynamic services. However, a single cloud service provider does not have limitless resources to offer to its users, and increasingly users are demanding the features of extensibility and inter-operability with other cloud service providers. This has increased the complexity of the cloud ecosystem and resulted in the emergence of the concept of an Inter-Cloud environment where a cloud computing platform can use the infrastructure resources of other cloud computing platforms to offer a greater value and flexibility to its users. However, there are no common models or standards in existence that allows the users of the cloud service providers to provision even some basic services across multiple cloud service providers seamlessly, although admittedly it is not due to any inherent incompatibility or proprietary nature of the foundation technologies on which these cloud computing platforms are built. Therefore, there is a justified need of investigating models and frameworks which allow the users of the cloud computing technologies to benefit from the added values of the emerging Inter-Cloud environment. In this dissertation, we present a novel security model and protocols that aims to cover one of the most important gaps in a subsection of this field, that is, the problem domain of provisioning secure communication within the context of a multi-provider Inter-Cloud environment. Our model offers a secure communication framework that enables a user of multiple cloud service providers to provision a dynamic application-level secure virtual private network on top of the participating cloud service providers. We accomplish this by taking leverage of the scalability, robustness, and flexibility of peer-to-peer overlays and distributed hash tables, in addition to novel usage of applied cryptography techniques to design secure and efficient admission control and resource discovery protocols. The peer-to-peer approach helps us in eliminating the problems of manual configurations, key management, and peer churn that are encountered when
setting up the secure communication channels dynamically, whereas the secure admission control and secure resource discovery protocols plug the security gaps that are commonly found in the peer-to-peer overlays. In addition to the design and architecture of our research contributions, we also present the details of a prototype implementation containing all of the elements of our research, as well as showcase our experimental results detailing the performance, scalability, and overheads of our approach, that have been carried out on actual (as
opposed to simulated) multiple commercial and non-commercial cloud computing platforms. These results demonstrate that our architecture incurs minimal latency and throughput overheads for the Inter-Cloud VPN connections among the virtual machines of a service deployed on multiple cloud platforms, which are 5% and 10% respectively. Our results also show that our admission control scheme is approximately 82% more efficient and our secure resource discovery scheme is about 72% more efficient than a standard PKI-based (Public Key Infrastructure) scheme.


This paper addresses the problem of acquiring a hierarchically structured robotic skill in a nonstationary environment. This is achieved through a combination of learning primitive strategies from observation of an expert, and autonomously synthesising composite strategies from that basis. Both aspects of this problem are approached from a game theoretic viewpoint, building on prior work in the area of multiplicative weights learning algorithms. The utility of this procedure is demonstrated through simulation experiments motivated by the problem of autonomous driving. We show that this procedure allows the agent to come to terms with two forms of uncertainty in the world - continually varying goals (due to oncoming traffic) and nonstationarity of optimisation criteria (e.g., driven by changing navigability of the road). We argue that this type of factored task specification and learning is a necessary ingredient for robust autonomous behaviour in a "large-world" setting.


The calcifying odontogenic cyst (COC) was first categorized as a distinct entity by Gorlin et al. in 1962. It appears as a cyst lined by an ameloblastic epithelium, containing variable amounts of ghost cells and calcifications. Being a rare developmental odontogenic cyst, it accounts for about 1% of all odontogenic cysts (Shear, 1994) and represents about <6% of all odontogenic lesions. COC mimics other odontogenic cysts clinically as well as radiologically, and a definitive diagnosis can be made only by histological means. This article describes a case of COC, which presented as an anterior mandibular swelling in a 40-year-old female patient. Histologically, the presence of innumerable ghost cells with extensive areas of the partly calcifying eosinophilic matrix (suggestive of dentinoid) abutting the masses of ghost cells and the odontogenic epithelial component, set it apart from the usual histopathological findings.


This RFC describes an existing print server protocol widely used on
the Internet for communicating between line printer daemons (both
clients and servers). This memo is for informational purposes only,
and does not specify an Internet standard. Please refer to the current
edition of the "IAB Official Protocol Standards" for the
standardization state and status of this protocol.


'Work is Worship' seems to be gone now a day because of the reason of stress. Stress is an unpleasant state of emotional arousal that people experience in situations that dangering or threatening. Occupational stress is stress involved in work. It is the response people may have when presented with work demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their abi stress among SBI employees in Nilambur Taluk and various factors leading to cause stress and types of stress. It also discusses the various strategies adopted to overcome the occupational stress.


The article investigates forms of address and request behaviour in Serbian as compared to German. It is based on an empirical study with authentic speech data and a survey among na-tive speakers of the two languages. While the corpora of authentic speech data document mainly service encounters and other minimal everyday interactions, the survey aims at reveal-ing the judgements and attitudes of native speakers towards different request strategies. The results point towards the well-known distinction between "solidarity cultures" in the East and "distance cultures" in the West. However, such findings must be treated with caution as other factors seem to influence the range of strategies available in the two languages as well.


Real-world machine learning systems are achieving remarkable performance in terms of coarse-grained metrics like overall accuracy and F-1 score. However, model improvement and development often require fine-grained modeling on individual data subsets or slices, for instance, the data slices where the models have unsatisfactory results. In practice, it gives tangible values for developing such models that can pay extra attention to critical or interested slices while retaining the original overall performance. This work extends the recent slice-based learning (SBL)~\cite{chen2019slice} with a mixture of attentions (MoA) to learn slice-aware dual attentive representations. We empirically show that the MoA approach outperforms the baseline method as well as the original SBL approach on monitored slices with two natural language understanding (NLU) tasks.


What is reality? Is it what appears to me, or what appears to most, or even what appears to some minds? Or should it rather be characterised as that which resists, as that which does not depend on me, or as that which exists anyway? And is the sense of "what is real" actually grasped by such idealist and realist conceptions? German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646–1716) addressed the different aspects of this difficult issue through sustained and constant attention. By examining these aspects, the contributions gathered in this volume follow a dual purpose. First, they intend to reflect the diversity of the objects that triggered Leibniz's thoughts. In particular, they provide new insights into Leibniz's understanding of not only the reality of dreams, the properties and relations of things, the soul, and mathematical objects, but also the reality of space and time or the theological problem of the Eucharist. Second, they intend to overcome the overly unilateral debate between the idealist and realist readings of Leibniz's last metaphysics that have pervaded interpretations over the past 30 years.


In this paper, a control design synthesis is presented for processes modeled by a first-order time-varying lag with a time-varying delay. The basis of the proposed control method is a feedforward-feedback control system in which its stability, both in continuous and discrete time domains, is first proved in the absence of the time delay. A predictive model with an adaptive horizon is then introduced to address the effect of the time-varying delay. The system's closed-loop response is demonstrated for fueling control in lean-burn gasoline spark ignition engines with varying transport and combustion delays. The developed methodology is validated on a Ford F-150 SI lean-burn engine model with large time-varying delay in the control loop.Copyright © 2015 by ASME


For the past two decades, while the efficacy of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has been successfully demonstrated in Cambodia, its dissemination and sustained adoption among farmers have not met similar success. This study moves away from simplistic analyses about constraints in extension methods for IPM. Instead, we take a broader look into technological systems and the trajectory for pest management, which affected the spread and uptake of IPM in the country. Through a review of the wider context in policies and programs, and a survey of farmers from five provinces in Cambodia (N = 400), we examined the connections between options for pest management at the farmer level and conditions in the technological system. Using the Cambodian case study, we show that the technological system predisposes to pesticide use and as such hinders a trajectory of IPM. Systemic conditions, including interrelated agronomic practices, ecological conditions in farming communities, governance mechanisms, structures around the spread of knowledge and the industry around the technological options, have created mutual socio-technical dependencies. Although programs targeted change through knowledge of IPM, much of the systemic conditions sustain the trajectory of pesticide reliance. Hence, promoting an innovation environment that is supportive of IPM requires extension beyond knowledge dissemination, addressing these varied elements of the technological system.


Giving a sound technical introduction to 3GPP LTE and SAE, this book explains the decisions taken during standardization while also examining the likely competition for LTE such as HSPA+ and WiMAX. As well as looking at next generation network technologies, Beyond 3G - Bringing Networks, Terminals and the Web Together describes the latest mobile device developments, voice and multimedia services and the mobile web 2.0. It considers not only how the systems, devices and software work but also the reasons behind why they are designed in this particular way. How these elements strongly influence each other is discussed as well as how network capabilities, available bandwidth, mobile device capabilities and new application concepts will shape the way we communicate in the future. This book gives an end to end introduction to wireless, from mobile software architecture to core networks, making it a valuable resource for anyone working in the industry. Examines current and next-generation network technologies such as UMTS, HSPA+, WiMAX, LTE and Wifi Analyses and explains performance and capacity in practice as well as future capacity requirements and how they can be fulfilled Introduces the reader to the current cellular telephony architecture and to voice over IP architectures such as SIP, IMS and TISPAN Looks at mobile device hardware and mobile operating system evolution Encompasses all major global wireless standards for application development and the latest state of the mobile web 2.0


We investigate how a humanoid robot with a randomly initialized binocular vision system can learn to improve judgments about egocentric distances using limited action and interaction that might be available to human infants. First, we show how distance estimation can be improved autonomously. We consider our approach to be autonomous because the robot learns to accurately estimate distance without a human teacher providing the distances to training targets. We find that actions that, in principle, do not alter the robot's distance to the target are a powerful tool for exposing estimation errors. These errors can be used to train a distance estimator. Furthermore, the simple action used (i.e., neck rotation) does not require high level cognitive processing or fine motor skill. Next, we investigate how interaction with humans can further improve visual distance estimates. We find that human interaction can improve distance estimates for far targets outside of the robot's peripersonal space. This is accomplished by extending our autonomous approach above to integrate additional information provided by a human. Together these experiments suggest that both action and interaction are important tools for improving perceptual estimates.


Because of the important role wind is alleged to have in dispersal of fruits and seeds in desert plants, diaspores were collected for experimental study of 14 species from two Sonoran Desert localities of Imperial Co., California. Field observations on natural dispersal of these species also were made. Although all 14 species were not judged to be primarily adapted to anemochory, tests on air transport capability were made using a calibrated and modified seed-blowing machine. Diaspores were tested individually and results for 20 trials averaged for each experimental condition. In one series of tests, lofting ability was determined. In other tests, a Plexiglas wind tunnel was used; the bottom of the tunnel was lined with Plexiglas, wood, and sand for three types of trials respectively. Mean surface area and mean mass were determined for the seeds and fruits ofthe 14 species. These figures and the ratio between surface area and mass were compared to results from the lofting and horizontal movement tests. A high presentation surface area/mass ratio was positively correlated with ease of horizontal movement (tumbling chiefly) and ease of lofting. Excellence at transport in air appears variously countered in the anemochorous species by diaspore characteristics which seem to insure lodging in crevices or depressions. More than one kind of transport in air (e.g., tumbling, floating, skidding) can be identified and particular species may exhibit these in varying proportions. Seeds with high mass have nil wind-dispersal ability and thereby may be adapted to reaching (and staying in) depressions, washes, etc. High static friction is another mechanism which maximizes lodging ability. As Asteraceae show, anemochorous ability does not always run counter to lodging ability: capability of a diaspore to attach to hairs or skin of animals runs parallel to ability to lodge in soil crevices. In the study areas and in other desert localities, ants may play some role in movement of many kinds of seeds and fruits over short distances, but destruction by ants often is excessive.


We propose to consider the concepts of time and space together. Both of these involve the same degrees of freedom of worldly elements and always work in tandem. In discussing their fundamental points, we need to use relation-based thinking, where each is defined in contrast to the other, instead of substance-based thinking, where each is defined by its own set of characteristics. We contrast spatial relations with temporal relations, or relative mobility with relative immobility. The boundary between the two is decided arbitrarily (there is a great deal of flexibility in definitions of associated time and space parameters), but such a decision runs into logical and conceptual obstacles similar to those encountered in quantum mechanics. Given this prospect, we need to revise the concepts of both time and space. Time does not flow, it is change in relation, it is movement; space is abstracted from constant relations or constant slices of movement. The relative movements that express these relations (changing or unchanging) always take both a spatial and a temporal aspect, like two sides of the same reality. More generally, we suggest seeing a spatial aspect (the distance separating the two terms of the relation) and a temporal aspect (travel along the path linking them) in every relation. On this basis, we propose a research program to examine a number of fundamental problems of contemporary physics and avenues for rethinking how we express time and space in the behavioral and social sciences, in culture, and even in everyday life.


The business corporation is the central economic institution in a modern economy. A company's senior executives, with the advice and support of the board of directors, are responsible for the allocation of corporate resources to investments in productive capabilities. Senior executives also advise the board on the extent to which, given the need to invest in productive capabilities, the company can afford to make cash distributions to shareholders. Motivating corporate resource-allocation decisions are the modes of remuneration that incentivize and reward the top executives of these companies. A sound analysis of the operation and performance of a modern economy requires an understanding of not only how much these executives are paid but also the ways in which the prevailing system of executive pay influences their decisions to allocate corporate resources. In the United States since the last half of the 1980s the overriding goal of U.S. corporations has been to `maximize shareholder value,' with corporate performance measured by a company's `total shareholder return': percentage stock-price appreciation plus dividend yield. Also since the 1980s, the most important components of the total compensation of senior executives have been modes of stock-based pay in the forms of stock options and stock awards. This stock-based pay is structured to incentivize executives to make corporate allocation decisions that will boost the stock prices of the companies that employ them and reward them for achieving that objective. There are three drivers of stock prices: innovation, speculation, and manipulation. The first critical question that this paper addresses is which of these drivers, individually or in combination, contribute to a company's stock-price performance. Then we can ask the second critical question: Does executive compensation reflect the success of the company in value creation, or the power of senior executives to engage in value extraction? The `value-extracting CEO' hypothesis posits that, in the United States, a significant portion of senior executive compensation rewards them for making decisions that foment speculation and manipulate stock prices, and thereby extract value for their own personal gain. In section four of the paper, I invoke the theory of innovative enterprise to support this hypothesis and debunk the dominant ideology that companies should be run to `maximize shareholder value.' Finally, I elaborate the policy implications for controlling the power of the value-extracting CEO, including a) banning stock buybacks, b) requiring executive compensation that rewards innovation rather than speculation and manipulation, and c) placing stakeholders representing households as taxpayers, workers, and consumers on boards of directors of publicly listed companies, along with shareholders who represent households as savers. An intellectual precondition for these reforms is the rejection of the ideology that companies should be run to maximize shareholder value, which means replacing agency theory with innovation theory as a mode of analyzing how the operation of an economy, supported by the strategies and structures of the business enterprises within it, can attain the objectives of stable and equitable economic growth.


Catalyst's longitudinal project, 'The Promise of Future Leadership: A Research Program on Highly Talented Employees in the Pipeline', develops timely reports on the retention and advancement of high potential women and men. The project surveys graduates of leading business schools in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia, with the intent of assessing their career values, goals, and expectations, the developmental opportunities afforded them, and their strategies for managing work and family life. The reports highlight the differences in women's and men's career experiences and satisfaction; some feature perspectives from global leaders and other experts.


What are the antecedents of the "Antichrist" figure and its associated themes in Jewish literature prior to the New Testament? Here, Lorein offers the texts and translations of all the relevant passages, together with a discussion of their meaning and significance. He concludes that the "Antichrist" theme arises in different currents within this literature, but has its sources in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible. In its scope and detail, as well as in many of its conclusions and its general synthesis, this book surpasses previous scholarship on a very important aspect of New Testament and early Christian thought.


Currently enrolling approximately 900,000 poor children each year, Head Start has served 25 million children and their families since it was established 43 years ago. Presidents and policymakers have embraced and scorned it. At times scientists have misguided it and the media has misunderstood it. Despite its longevity and renown, much of Head Start's story has never been disclosed to the general public. The Hidden History of Head Start is a detailed account of this remarkable program. Surveying projects that were forerunners of Head Start, its birth during the Johnson administration, its fate during the presidency of George W. Bush, and the many years between-as well as what the future may hold in store for Head Start-Edward Zigler and Sally Styfco offer an inside view of the program's decades of service, detailing the ever-changing waves of politics, ideology, science, media interest, and public mood that oftentimes threatened the program's very existence. Providing a balanced assessment of Head Start's effectiveness, which has been a matter of debate since its inception, the authors also strive to answer questions that continue to pervade discussions about the program and its future. For example, why is Head Start, a leader of early childhood services, still struggling to prove itself? Why does it serve such a narrow segment of the population? And how can Head Start continue its mission as universal preschool becomes a reality? The Hidden History of Head Start will be of great importance to those who shape Head Start's future, and to those who wish to develop, research, and implement new early childhood programs. Students, historians, and scholars in the fields of early intervention and developmental science, as well as policymakers, will find here an invaluable resource as well as a fascinating chronicle of one of the foremost social programs in US history.


Primary PM2.5 emissions contributed significantly to poor air quality in China. We present an interdisciplinary study to measure the magnitudes of socioeconomic factors in driving primary PM2.5 emission changes in China between 1997–2010, by using a regional emission inventory as input into an environmentally extended input–output framework and applying structural decomposition analysis. Our results show that China's significant efficiency gains fully offset emissions growth triggered by economic growth and other drivers. Capital formation is the largest final demand category in contributing annual PM2.5 emissions, but the associated emission level is steadily declining. Exports is the only final demand category that drives emission growth between 1997–2010. The production of exports led to emissions of 638 thousand tonnes of PM2.5, half of the EU27 annual total, and six times that of Germany. Embodied emissions in Chinese exports are largely driven by consumption in OECD countries.


Regex golf has recently emerged as a specific kind of code golf, i.e., unstructured and informal programming competitions aimed at writing the shortest code solving a particular problem. A problem in regex golf consists in writing the shortest regular expression which matches all the strings in a given list and does not match any of the strings in another given list. The regular expression is expected to follow the syntax of a specified programming language, e.g., Javascript or PHP. In this paper, we propose a regex golf player internally based on Genetic Programming. We generate a population of candidate regular expressions represented as trees and evolve such population based on a multi-objective fitness which minimizes the errors and the length of the regular expression. We assess experimentally our player on a popular regex golf challenge consisting of 16 problems and compare our results against those of a recently proposed algorithm---the only one we are aware of.Our player obtains scores which improve over the baseline and are highly competitive also with respect to human players. The time for generating a solution is usually in the order of tens minutes, which is arguably comparable to the time required by human players.


Cyclic memories are memories in which data rotate cyclically past a read/write port. The most common cyclic memories in use today are mechanical drums and fixed-head disks. In the past, small electronic cyclic memories have been made from MOS technology; more recently they have been made from charge-coupled devices and magnetic bubbles. Because of advances in integrated technology, large electronic cyclic memories that might be replacements for drum and disk memories are likely to become available. Whereas it is difficult to predict what technology will eventually emerge for electronic auxiliary memories, present projections suggest that cyclically organized memories based upon magnetic bubbles or charge-coupled devices are potential candidates. The disadvantage of cyclic organization is that access time due to memory latency may be excessive. The problem we investigate in this paper is how to modify electronic cyclic memories in relatively minor and inexpensive ways so as to decrease rotational latency in a system environment.


A meta-analysis of 63 studies showed a significant negative association between intelligence and religiosity. The association was stronger for college students and the general population than for participants younger than college age; it was also stronger for religious beliefs than religious behavior. For college students and the general population, means of weighted and unweighted correlations between intelligence and the strength of religious beliefs ranged from −.20 to −.25 (mean r = −.24). Three possible interpretations were discussed. First, intelligent people are less likely to conform and, thus, are more likely to resist religious dogma. Second, intelligent people tend to adopt an analytic (as opposed to intuitive) thinking style, which has been shown to undermine religious beliefs. Third, several functions of religiosity, including compensatory control, self-regulation, self-enhancement, and secure attachment, are also conferred by intelligence. Intelligent people may therefore have less need for religious beliefs and practices.


Background WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 (WHODAS 2.0) is a feasible tool for assessing functional disability and analysing the risk of institutionalisation among elderly patients with dementia. However, the data for the effect of education on disability status in patients with dementia is lacking. The aim of this large-scale, population-based study was to analyse the effect of education on the disability status of elderly Taiwanese patients with dementia by using WHODAS 2.0. Methods From the Taiwan Data Bank of Persons with Disability, we enrolled 7698 disabled elderly (older than 65 years) patients diagnosed with dementia between July 2012 and January 2014. According to their education status, we categorised these patients with and without formal education (3849 patients each). We controlled for the demographic variables through propensity score matching. The standardised scores of these patients in the six domains of WHODAS 2.0 were evaluated by certified interviewers. Student's t-test was used for comparing the WHODAS 2.0 scores of patients with dementia in the two aforementioned groups. Poisson regression was applied for analysing the association among all the investigated variables. Results Patients with formal education had low disability status in the domains of getting along and social participation than did patients without formal education. Poisson regression revealed that standardised scores in all domains of WHODAS 2.0—except self-care—were associated with education status. Conclusions This study revealed lower disability status in the WHODAS 2.0 domains of getting along and social participation for patients with dementia with formal education compared with those without formal education. For patients with disability and dementia without formal education, community intervention of social participation should be implemented to maintain better social interaction ability.


Mobile clients have been on the rise and will only continue to grow. This means that if you are serving clients over the Internet, you cannot ignore the customer experience on a mobile device. There are many informative articles on mobile performance, and just as many on general API design, but you'll find few discussing the design considerations needed to optimize the back-end systems for mobile clients. Whether you have an app, mobile Web site, or both, it is likely that these clients are consuming APIs from your back-end systems. Certainly, optimizing the on-mobile performance of the application is critical, but software engineers can do a lot to ensure that mobile clients are remotely served both data and application resources reliably and efficiently.


Synopsis Detailed lithostratigraphical and biostratigraphical studies from an isolation basin at Inver Aulavaig on the Sleat Peninsula, Isle of Skye, Scotland, disclose changing environmental conditions during the Late Devensian and Holocene. In particular, they reveal three marine transgressions at the site since the Late Devensian, when the sea crossed the rock threshold at +5.10 mod. The radiocarbon dates obtained may incorporate hard water errors, but are considered broadly indicative of the ages of these events. The earliest event recorded at Inver Aulavaig, took place prior to c. 12600 14C bp and probably occurred soon after deglaciation as relative sea levels rose while the area was isostatically depressed. The second, which occurred between 8850±170 and 5440+50 14C bp, is correlated with the Main Postglacial Transgression. The third, which briefly took place between the statistically indistinguishable dates of 3160±40 and 3070±60 14C bp is believed to correlate with a widespread transgression recorded at several sites around the periphery of the Scottish glacio-isostatic uplift centre. The results would also appear to indicate that relative sea level in this area during the Younger Dryas did not exceed +5.10 mod.


The purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly it presents a preliminary and ethnomethodologically-informed analysis of the way in which the growing structure of a particular program's code was ongoingly derived from its earliest stages. This was motivated by an interest in how the detailed structure of completed program `emerged from nothing' as a product of the concrete practices of the programmer within the framework afforded by the language. The analysis is broken down into three sections that discuss: the beginnings of the program's structure; the incremental development of structure; and finally the code productions that constitute the structure and the importance of the programmer's stock of knowledge. The discussion attempts to understand and describe the emerging structure of code rather than focus on generating `requirements' for supporting the production of that structure. Due to time and space constraints, however, only a relatively cursory examination of these features was possible. Secondly the paper presents some thoughts on the difficulties associated with the analytic---in particular ethnographic---study of code, drawing on general problems as well as issues arising from the difficulties and failings encountered as part of the analysis presented in the first section.


Conjugation of ciliated protozoa involves precisely defined stages. In Paramecium there occur: (1) the formation of ciliary contacts; (2) local loss of cilia and formation of narrow contacts between anterioventral somatic cell membranes; followed by (3) formation of small cytoplasmic bridges (which allow for the exchange of molecular components only); before (4) their enlargement enables the cells to exchange micronuclei. This work concentrates on stages (2) and (3) in P. tetraurelia cells. We analysed lectin binding during conjugation, using mainly secretory mutants nd6 and tl (occasionally nd9-28°C and 7 S (wild-type) cells); ( tl is a trichocyst-free mutant, nd strains are non-discharge mutations). Our most essential findings are: already early contact sites (stage (2)) can be labelled with wheat germ agglutinin-fluorescein isothiocyanate; only early stages (2) can be reversed with an excess of WGA; no selective labelling was found with concanavalin A-fluorescein isothiocyanate (commonly observed with other ciliate species); WGA binding sites most probably involve GlcNAc residues. As known before, trichocysts disappear from contact sites in stages (2)/(3). We then analysed this process in more detail. Trichocysts are locally detached from the cell membrane (without transfer to the other conjugant) and re-inserted after conjugation. From our data obtained with nd6 / tl conjugants one can conclude that trichocysts (in particular secretory lectins or glycoproteins contained in them) cannot play a regulatory role in the conjugation process, since conjugation precedes secretory function repair. We also present evidence for a secretory function repair in nd mutations by tl cells (though tl cells are devoid of any recognizable 'exocytotic apparatus'). nd6 cells are more difficult to 'cure' than nd9-28°C . The 'curing effect' seems to emanate from the conjugation zone. This might indicate the occurrence of diffusible 'curing factors' exchanged mainly in stage (3). Finally, we show that secretory function repair in nd cells induces the assembly of 'fusion rosettes', i.e. the formation of the wild-type ultrastructure of the trichocyst release sites, to about the same extent as nd cells are functionally repaired (visualized by the release of trichocysts in response to two different trigger agents). Note: *This paper is dedicated to Professor Hellmuth Sitte on the occasion of his 60th birthday


The probable use of Jordanian natural zeolitic tuff in wastewater treatment as natural adsorbent for the removal of Cr (VI) ions from aqueous solution in continuous fixed bed columns was tested experimentally and theoretically. The tested zeolitic tuff was obtained from Al Hala volcano (HZ) located in southern part of Jordan and subjected to crushing and sieving only without any further treatment. Experimentally the HZ grains were packed in a fixed bed column. The used grain sizes are HZ1 (1.0-0.60 mm) and HZ2 (0.60-0.30 mm). The adsorption capacity was evaluated using breakthrough curves and by applying the Thomas and Yoon and Nelson models. The Thomas model analysis of the measured breakthrough curves revealed that the adsorbent HZ2 has a higher adsorption capacity to Cr (VI) ions (56.3 mg/g) than HZ1 (35.5 mg/g). The time elapsed to reach 50% breakthrough was determined by the Yoon and Nelson model. The time to reach 50% breakthrough is 318.78 min and 368.18 min for HZ1 and HZ2, respectively. The research results indicate that the small size fraction (HZ2) is more suitable and effective as adsorbent material than the size fraction (HZ1) due to its high surface area.


The publicly funded screen development agency, Northern Ireland Screen, has been the key institutional actor in the exponential growth of the screen industries in Northern Ireland. The most prominent production to be based in Northern Ireland has been Home Box Office's Game of Thrones, which had much of its eight seasons filmed in the region. Significant amounts of public finance have been offered to the screen industries, with direct funding provided to augment United Kingdom-wide tax breaks. However, there has been a lack of critical analysis of the recipients of this finance, on the precarious nature of many of the jobs that have been created, or on the stated benefits to the economy. This article subjects the role of Northern Ireland Screen to policy analysis to attempt to fill this scholarly gap. Setting the subject into the context of public support for film and television across the United Kingdom, it is argued that the economic argument for providing direct financial support to the screen industries needs to be viewed in the context of the overall impact on society.


This systematic survey of the mainstream organic chemistry literature, published six-monthly, provides a key research tool. Highlights include: examples abstracted to illustrate important new, generally applicable, synthetic methods; abstracts summarizing the experimental procedure as well as indicating the scope and limitations of the method and important mechanistic features; abstracts collated and organised into logical sections, affording a useful browsing tool; comprehensive indexing and cross-referencing providing an invaluable research tool; more than 1000 graphical abstracts per year complemented by thousands of additional references, which comprise supplementary information, citations to previous abstracts, a review of reviews and informed commentary on latest trends. It is also available as "ActiveBooks" - fully text-searchable online versions. Each volume provides the organic chemist with an indispensable educational tool both for researching and browsing recent literature highlights in a way that is entirely complementary with searching electronic reaction databases. Extensive indexing and cross-referencing allows the series to grow, volume by volume, into an important reference work that deserves to be an integral part of any scientific library. Specifically, volume 79 comprises: 546 graphical abstracts covering the mainstream organic chemistry literature to May 2011; a summary of reviews covering the six-month period to September 2011, collated into easily-accessible sections; and, an informed commentary on research trends during the six-month period to November 2011.


OBJECTIVE
Radiographic imaging is an important diagnostic tool in diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO). It is unknown whether DFO cases diagnosed with conventional X-ray versus positive Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) differ regarding epidemiology and treatment outcome. Theoretically, signs of inflammation on MRI without bone lesions might be easier to treat and predominate among selected clinical variables.

METHODS
Our clinical pathway for diabetic foot infections discourages the use of MRI for the diagnosis of DFO. We compared the epidemiology and therapy of non-amputated DFO with positive features on conventional X-ray, MRI, or both. Radiology specialists interpreted the images. The intraoperative aspect of bone during amputation and the results of bone cultures were considered gold standard for DFO diagnosis.

RESULTS
We prospectively followed 390 DFO episodes in 186 adult patients for a median of 2.9 years and performed 318 conventional X-rays (median costs 100 Swiss Francs; 100 US$) and 47 (47/390; 12%) MRI scans (median 800 Swiss Francs; 800US$). Among them, 18 episodes were associated with positive MRI findings but lacked bone lesions on X-ray. After debridement, the median duration of systemic antibiotics was 28 days for MRI-only episodes and 30 days for X-ray-positive cases (Wilcoxon-ranksum-test; p=0.26). The corresponding median numbers of surgical debridements were 1 and 1; and remission was achieved in 25% and 27%, respectively. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, MRI-only episodes did not alter remission rate (odds ratio 0.5, 95%CI 0.1-5.2).

CONCLUSIONS
According to our clinical pathway, DFO episodes with positive MRI findings only did not differ epidemiologically and did not influence the choice of therapy nor remission rate.


Political reform across the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the years following the Asian economic crisis, has seen the emergence of a distinctive regional model of electoral democracy. This move has been facilitated by deliberate strategies of "political engineering" across a diverse array of Northeast Asian, Southeast Asian, and the Pacific Island electoral democracies. Political engineering focuses on the deliberate design of political institutions to achieve specified outcomes. This essay examines how regimes across the Asia-Pacific region have increasingly attempted to engineer their political systems to encourage more predictable elections, aggregative parties, and stable governments.


Rapid Chemical and Biological Techniques for Water Monitoring presents in one volume the broad spectrum of monitoring tools, both available and under development, and provides an assessment of their potential for underpinning environmental management and legislation. The book explores screening methods in the context of water policies; chemical methods; biological methods; potential use of screening methods; quality assurance and validation methods; integration of screening methods in water monitoring strategies. The text provides a timely source of information for post-graduates, researchers, and professionals involved in water management at all levels.


ABSTRACT Adjusting macroeconomic indicators to account for the depletion and degradation of natural capital has long been viewed as a way to show the linkages between nature and the economy and foster more sustainable paths of development. Here, we show how the System of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA) Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (EEA) can be used to develop environmentally adjusted macroeconomic indicators. More specifically, we show how an enlargement of the production boundary to include the consideration of ecosystems as institutional units allows the development of a net value added metric that reflects depreciation and degradation of the natural capital assets. This measurement could be useful for policymaking: the linkage of ecosystem services to economic activities allows us to account for loss, repair and substitution of natural capital, and thus helps us to formulate and monitor environmental policies.


Based on Bourdieu's conceptualization of social capital (the social stratification perspective), this study examines the impact of social capital on the educational outcomes of young people in Sweden, with a focus on the extra-familial aspect of social capital – that is, social capital generated by parental networks and active membership in various social organizations and friendship networks. The results indicate that the class background of respondents is the main predictor of access to all three forms of extra-familial social capital. However, after controlling for class background, the children of racialized immigrant groups are more likely to have access to more types of social capital than others. All three aspects of extra-familial social capital positively influence the educational performance of pupils.


Objective. To determine whether postoperative symptoms differ between women who undergo abdominal benign hysterectomy in a fast‐track model under general anesthesia or spinal anesthesia with intrathecal morphine. Design. Secondary analysis from a randomized, open, multicenter study. Setting. Five hospitals in south‐east Sweden. Population. One‐hundred and eighty women scheduled for benign hysterectomy were randomized; 162 completed the study; 82 were allocated to spinal and 80 to general anesthesia. Methods. The Swedish Postoperative Symptoms Questionnaire, completed daily for 1 week and thereafter once a week until 5 weeks postoperatively. Main Outcome Measures. Occurrence, intensity and duration of postoperative symptoms. Results. Women who had hysterectomy under spinal anesthesia with intrathecal morphine experienced significantly less discomfort postoperatively compared with those who had the operation under general anesthesia. Spinal anesthesia reduced the need for opioids postoperatively. The most common symptoms were pain, nausea and vomiting, itching, drowsiness and fatigue. Abdominal pain, drowsiness and fatigue occurred significantly less often and with lower intensity among the spinal anesthesia group. Although postoperative nausea and vomiting was reported equally in the two groups, vomiting episodes were reported significantly more often during the first day after surgery in the spinal anesthesia group. Spinal anesthesia was associated with a higher prevalence of postoperative itching. Conclusions. Spinal anesthesia with intrathecal morphine carries advantages regarding postoperative symptoms and recovery following fast‐track abdominal hysterectomy.


Informal scholarly communication is an important aspect of discourse both within research communities and in dissemination and reuse of data and findings. Various tools exist that are designed to facilitate informal communication between researchers, such as social networking software, including those dedicated specifically for academics. Others make use of existing information sources, in particular structured information such as social network data (e.g. FOAF) or bibliographic data, in order to identify links between individuals; co-authorship, membership of the same organisation, attendance at the same conferences, and so forth. Writeslike.us is a prototype designed to support the aim of establishing informal links between researchers. It makes use of data harvested from OAI repositories as an initial resource. This raises problems less evident in the use of more consistently structured data. The information extracted is filtered using a variety of processes to identify and benefit from systematic features in the data. Following this, the record is analysed for subject, author name, and full text link or source; this is spidered to extract full text, where available, to which is applied a formal metadata extraction package, extracting several relevant features ranging from document format to author email address/citations. The process is supported using data from Wikipedia. Once available, this information may be explored using both graph and matrix-based approaches; we present a method based on spreading activation energy, and a similar mechanism based on cosine similarity metrics. A number of prototype interfaces/data access methods are described, along with relevant use cases, in this paper.


This book provides a comprehensive introduction to some of the central features of language in a wide variety of postcolonial texts. The Language of Postcolonial Literatures draws on a range of writers, from Jean Rhys and Derek Walcott to Chinua Achebe, Ngugi wa Thiong'o, Nuruddin Farah and Salman Rushdie, to show how English has been shaped by and had to contend with other languages in former British colonies. Exploring literatures from a range of countries including India, Nigeria, Canada, Australia, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the Caribbean, Talib shows how individuals retain cultural and national identity in the face of such changes. The book further demonstrates that language is one of the central concerns of postcolonial literatures. The Language of Postcolonial Literatures is invaluable for anyone with an interest in the evolution and development of English and its use in contemporary world literatures.


Basic research into the histology, endocrine control, and local regulation of prepuberal ruminant mammogenesis was conducted to provide a better understanding of this important developmental period. Histologic features of prepuberal ruminant mammary parenchymal morphogenesis were examined in tissue samples taken from ewe lambs at 2 (n = 5), 3 (n = 15), 6 (n = 26), 9 (n = 7), 12 (n = 5), and 13 wk (n = 20), and from Holstein heifers at 4 (n = 1) and 6 mo (n = 2). Examination of approximately 8000 histologic sections revealed that mammary parenchymal morphogenesis in sheep and cattle occurs through the proliferation of highly arborescent ductal structures embedded in a dense stroma. These observations contrast strongly with models of mammogenesis based on murine mammary development. The formation of luminal spaces and the expansion of ducts also differed from murine mammogenesis models. Luminal spaces were shown to develop through a progressive separation of opposing sides in initially solid ductal structures. Likewise, our investigation of prepubertal ovine mammogenesis revealed that parenchymal weight, H-thymidine labeling, stromal weight, and parenchymal DNA were all unaffected by ovariectomy (P > 0.05), in marked contrast to the dramatic reduction in mammary development following ovariectomy in rats, mice, and heifers. Responsiveness to exogenous estrogen (0.1 mg/kg) was demonstrated by increased H-thymidine labeling (P < 0.05) in both intact and ovariectomized lambs. Three dimensional collagen gel cultures of bovine mammary organoids from the peripheral (OUTER) and medial (INNER) parenchymal zones were used to characterize the proliferative and morphogenetic responses to local-acting growth factors. The proliferation of OUTER cells was 2 to 3 times greater than INNER cells (P < 0.0001) in response to IGF-I stimulation. Dramatic differences in the morphology of INNER and OUTER organoids were also observed. INNER cells grew into smooth-edged colonies when treated with heifer serum but stellate colonies when treated with other mitogens. OUTER cells grew into stellate colonies regardless of mitogen treatment. These investigations highlight the fact that a great deal more research into the basic physiology of prepuberal ruminant mammogenesis is required and that dogma developed in murine model systems may not be applicable to ruminant mammary physiology.


INTRODUCTION The application of palynomorphs in well-site dating and correlation within the Upper Cretaceous—Danian Chalk Group of the North Sea, is currently being investigated at the Geological Survey of Denmark. Due to the relatively low abundance of palynomorphs in the chalks, a large sample size (100–300g) is often needed to obtain representative microfloras. Palynological preparation of large chalk samples does, however, create processing problems, especially if the samples derive from oil bearing intervals. The aim of this note is to describe a method developed at the Geological Survey of Denmark to overcome these processing problems. PROBLEMS IN THE PREPARATION OF LARGE CHALK SAMPLES. The problems during the preparation process comprise the following factors: The dissolution of carbonates from 100—300g sized chalk samples with hydrochloric acid causes a vigorous reaction that developes vast amounts of foam. The foam development is usually controlled by spraying alcohol or the more hazardous acetone into the reaction vessel; these solvents reduce the vigorous expansion of the foam by reducing the surface tension of the acid. This procedure, however, demands constant surveillance of the acid treatment, because the effect of the solvents is of short duration. Furthermore, the initial vigorous reaction restricts the use of stronger, more effective hydrofluoric acid concentrations to later parts of the acid treatment process, where the reaction is more calm. In the Danish sector of the North Sea, the main producing reservoir is situated in the Chalk Group. Core samples from the Chalk Group are therefore usually usually oil bearing . . .


The Pakistan-Afghanistan border area has become the most dangerous frontier on earth, and the most challenging for the United States' national security interests. Critically, the portion of the border region that is home to extremist groups such the Taliban and al-Qaida coincides almost exactly with the area overwhelmingly dominated by the Pashtun tribes. The implications of this salient factthat most of Pakistan's and Afghanistan's violent religious extremism, and with it much of the United States' counterterrorism challenge, are contained within a single ethnolinguistic grouphave unfortunately not been fully grasped by a governmental policy community that has long downplayed cultural dynamics. The threat to long-term U.S. security interests in this area is neither an economic problem, nor a religious problem, nor a generic tribal problem. It is a unique cultural problem. In both southern Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan, rather than seeking to extend the reach of the central government, which simply foments insurgency among a proto-insurgent people, the United States and the international community should be doing everything in their means to empower the tribal elders and restore balance to a tribal/cultural system that has been disintegrating since the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979.


Rapid blazar flaring events and their rich behavior require time-dependent modeling. One important approach is time-dependent injection causing non-linear cooling effects, since the inevitable SSC cooling depends on the time-dependent electron distribution function γ˙∝∫γ2n(γ,t)dγ. This results in a collective and faster energy loss of the electrons in the jet, which could explain the extremely short variability times. The most obvious result of the non-linear cooling is the appearance of unique breaks in the time-integrated SED, which would normally be attributed to a complicated electron distribution. The knowledge of the observation time is important to interpret the observed spectra, because of the non-trivial evolution of the time-dependent SED. Intrinsic gamma-gamma absorption processes in the emission region are only of minor importance.


The debate about how to regulate has all but ignored the most fundamental question of all - what to regulate. This article analyzes similarities and differences in the lists of regulated toxic and hazardous pollutants under five statutes the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), and the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the consequences of those choices. The article first provides a comparative analysis of the five lists, highlighting the extent of the inconsistencies in their coverage. A total of 1134 pollutants are regulated as toxic or hazardous under at least one of the five statutes, but only 49 are regulated under all five, and nearly 768 are regulated under only one. The article then analyzes the development of all five lists to show that policy grounds fail to explain or justify the inconsistencies in coverage. To some extent, differences in chemical effects do account for discrepancies. Most differences among lists, however, stem from the fact that different experts developed the lists independently over two decades and based the lists on different criteria. Inconsistencies in the lists limit the practical effectiveness of environmental protection and occupational health laws. Regulatory gaps encourage the transfer of pollutants that are regulated in a particular medium into other, unregulated media. In addition, inconsistent listing prevents government officials, the public, and most facility managers from gaining an overall understanding of the types and amounts of pollutants being released from and within individual facilities. The article concludes with a legislative proposal to address the problem. By focusing directly on pollutants and pollutant reductions, and by requiring more complete information about pollutants, Congress could, at a greatly reduced cost, better protect human health and the environment.


This dissertation traces the process by which individual women come to form their consciousness of work/life balance law and policies that are available to them. Engaging primarily with Law and Society literature on legal consciousness formation, I employ a "processbased" approach, in order to conceptually disentangle the various threads that comprise the sources of legal consciousness formation. I analyze three dimensions that matter to the construction of legal consciousness: the institutional, the ideological, and the instrumental. In doing so, I seek to detect the connection between the individual and the social in the formation of legal consciousness. I use interpretive methods applied to the transcripts of interviews I conducted with 48 women in two different types of workplaces – academic institutions and various branches of the U.S. military. This process-based approach reveals that legal consciousness around work/life balance policies is formed through formal and informal institutional structures, the communication of ideology (in particular the ideological construct of the ideal worker) and through individual agency. I find that the strongest influence on women's rights consciousness and rights claiming is ideological, and that the pervasiveness of the ideal worker norm has had negative consequences on work/life balance policies as they currently exist. However, I argue that institutional structures, including self-directed "strategic consciousness networks" offer hope for better policy implementation and, ultimately, for social change.


Many companies depend on weather conditions, so they require reliable weather forecasts for production planning or risk hedging. In this article, we propose a new way of gaining weather forecasts by exploiting the forward-looking information included in the market prices of weather derivatives traded at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). For this purpose, the CME futures prices of two monthly temperature indices relevant for the energy sector are compared with index forecasts derived from meteorological temperature forecasts. It turns out that the market prices generally outperform the meteorological forecasts in predicting the outcome of the monthly index. Hence, companies whose prot strongly depends on these indices, such as energy companies, can prot from this additional information source about future weather.


Abstract—Rural tourism is usually associated with rural development because it has strong linkages to rural resources; but it remains underdeveloped compared to urban tourism. This underdevelopment of rural tourism serves as a motivation for this study whose aim is to examine the factors affecting the perceived satisfaction of rural tourists. The objectives of this study are: to identify and design theories and models on rural tourism satisfaction, and to empirically validate these models and theories through a survey of tourists from the Malealea Lodge which is located in the Mafeteng District, in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. Data generated by the collection of questionnaires used by this survey was analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics and correlations in SPSS after checking the validity and the reliability of the questionnaire. The main hypothesis behind this study is the relationship between the demographics of rural tourists, their motivation, and their satisfaction, as supported by existing literature; except that motivation is measured in this study according to three dimensions: push factors, pull factors, and perceived usefulness of ICTs in the rural tourism experience. Findings from this study indicate that among the demographics factors, continent of origin and marital status influence the satisfaction of rural tourists; and their occupation affects their perceptions on the use of ICTs in rural tourism. Moreover, only pull factors were found to influence the satisfaction of rural tourists.


People in developing countries of the world are facing a changing environment due to urbanization – changes that include lifestyle changes as well as changes in the dietary habits (and content). These lifestyle changes are now known to contribute to an epidemic of metabolic disease. The underlying mechanisms are unclear. The burden of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) is increasing worldwide, particularly in developing countries, where it is predicted that over 70% of the global burden of T2D will exist by 2030 (Echouffo-Tcheugui and Dagogo-Jack, 2012). Although reasons for the increasing rates of T2D in developing countries are not fully elucidated, important factors include lifestyle changes involving rural-to-urban migration ("urbanization"), intra-uterine undernutrition and foetal programming (epigenetic changes progressively introduced over multiple generations and associated with maternal undernutrition). During the past two decades, increasing evidence arising from multiple clinical studies conducted by the research teams of Yajnik and Barker support an important role of early life undernutrition, and specifically disturbances of one-carbon metabolism, in the heightened susceptibility of Indians to diabetes at a younger age, and in the absence of generalized obesity (Kulkarni et al., 2007; Yajnik et al., 2014; Yajnik and Deshmukh, 2012; Yajnik et al., 2003; Yajnik et al., 1995). The Pune Maternal Nutrition Studies have highlighted the body composition and nutritional-metabolic peculiarities of multigenerationally undernourished Indians: a thin-fat (low lean mass, high fat mass) phenotype compared to Europeans, with predominant visceral deposition of fat. This body composition is strongly associated with insulin resistance and related metabolic-endocrine abnormalities. Importantly, this 'thin-fat' phenotype was present at birth and therefore, programmed during intrauterine life, possibly through epigenetic mechanisms over multiple generations. Maternal intergenerational undernutrition, evident in stunting, low BMI, and a disturbance of dietary methyl donors (low protein and vitamin B12 and high folate status related to vegetarian food habits) appear contributory to the increased risk of diabetes and CVD in Indians (Yajnik, 2004; Yajnik and Deshmukh, 2012; Yajnik et al., 2008; Yajnik et al., 2003). It is now well-appreciated that the intra-uterine environment can induce heritable alterations that may be retained over generations (Aiken and Ozanne, 2014; Good speed et al., 2014; Ng et al., 2010). A primate maternal high-fat diet supplemented with calorically dense treats leading to obesity has been shown to epigenetically alter chromatin structure in their progeny via SIRT1 mediated covalent modifications of histones (Aagaard-Tillery et al., 2008; Cox et al., 2009; Suter et al., 2012). Increased adiposity and insulin resistance have also been reported in high fat diet fed rodent models. Intra-uterine programming may involve epigenetic changes, which are passed over generations, and may promote the development of adiposity and T2D. Recently, we demonstrated (cover story; August 2015 issue of Cell Metabolism) that the metabolic effects introduced over multiple (50) generations of undernutrition cannot be reversed after two generations of unrestricted access to nutrients. Undernourished rats demonstrated low birth-weight, high visceral adiposity (DXA/MRI), and insulin resistance (hyperinsulinemic-euglycemic clamps), compared to age/gender-matched Control rats. Relative to Controls, Undernourished rats had higher circulating insulin, homocysteine, endotoxin and leptin levels, lower adiponectin, vitamin B12 and folate levels, and an eight-fold increased susceptibility to diabetes, after Streptozotocin (STZ) exposure. These metabolic abnormalities were not reversed after two generations of recuperation. Adverse epigenetic (histone modification) profiles in insulin gene promoter region of Undernourished rats are not reversed following two generations of macro-nutrient availability and might explain the persistent detrimental metabolic profiles in similar multigenerational undernourished human populations. One of the major strengths of this study is that the current animal model of diabetes was not generated by genetic manipulations but rather by feeding Control rats with an undernourished died for 50 generations (over 12 years) and then a normal diet for two generations. The Undernourished rats showed visceral adiposity and were less sensitivity to insulin. They also demonstrated several markers of metabolic disease. In order to correct this state, we allowed Undernourished rats to have unrestricted access to Control chow and water (now called as "Recuperation" rats). Recuperation rats, surprisingly, show increased visceral adiposity, continue to be less sensitive to insulin, and have the same level of diabetes susceptibility as Undernourished rats. Analysis of epigenetic signatures at insulin gene promoter region in the pancreatic islet cells confirms that although a slight improvement is seen in histone modifications as well as the recruitment of histone methyl transferases at the insulin gene promoter region, two generations of normal nutrient availability is in itself not sufficient to reverse the epigenetic changes to Control levels. These studies underscore the importance of epigenetic regulation of gene expression and indicate that micronutrient or other appropriate supplementation should be considered in dietary intervention studies on populations that have faced undernutrition over multiple generations. I will present our recent data from animal models as well as our data from two independent clinical cohorts; first, the Fenofibrate Intervention and Event Lowering in Diabetes (FIELD) trial of around 10,000 Type 2 diabetic individuals followed over 12 years and secondly, the Pune Maternal Nutrition Study comprising of around 700 women and their babies over a period of 18 years of follow-up. Our studies (Discovery Analysis of MicroRNAs in Gene-Environment Interactions: DAMAGE-I study) involve analysis of DNA methylation changes (using the Illumina 450 K methylation arrays), GWAS analysis (using the Affymetrix platform), Telomere length assay (using quantitative real-time PCR) and microRNA analysis (using high throughput high sensitivity real-time TaqMan-PCR panels/chips, in addition to several (over 100) clinical biomarkers. Studies are also in progress to understand the role of gut microbiota – our inner environment that significantly influences human physiology. These studies demonstrate that the change in diet and lifestyle (urbanization) leads to significant changes in the short-chain fatty acid-producing gut bacteria and influence our lifestyle through epigenetic programming of gut cells. Overall, the studies discussed above, demonstrate the potential for integrative research technologies that we have used in understanding newer molecular biomarkers of diabetes and cardiovascular health and will allow future application of these molecular biomarkers to understanding the progression of diabetes and its complications in other (non-Australian) cohorts of at-risk of diabetes individuals worldwide. Hopefully, these technologies will help in better understanding the progression of Diabetes in individuals at risk of diabetes, provide newer tools to clinicians for predicting treatment efficacies and patient stratification and enable the development of newer and effective strategies to manage and cure diabetes. Declarations The current research discussed here is funded via three different grants to Professor Hardikar from the Australian Research Council (ARC), the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Professor Hardikar is also on the advisory committee for Abbott Pharmaceuticals in relation to a probiotic formulation that has the potential for improving metabolic health in diabetes.


Although there is a large literature exploring the advantages and drawbacks of the privatization of governmental activities, most of this work fails to confront the issues raised by the newest wave of privatization transactions. These transactions are motivated less by the possibility of achieving efficiency advantages than by politicians' desires to borrow money surreptitiously. Using the example of the City of Chicago's recent "sale" of its parking meter system - which is to say the future revenues and operation of pay-for-on-street parking - the analysis shows why such transactions should be viewed as a particularly noxious form of governmental debt. The discussion then explores possible legal rules designed to curtail such debt, masquerading as privatization, in the future.


Economic development is a continuous, stochastic process considering that development depends on a multitude of historical, political, economic, cultural, ethnic and other factors. In the process of development, each country puts effort into strengthening their manufacturing potential, increasing the competitiveness of their economy by modernizing technology, and raising the level of education, culture etc. Owing to the accentuated actions of these factors, and different social, economic and other circumstances, there has been emerging polarizations in regional development, urbanization and so on. Proof of a country's level of economic development can be found in various indicators such as capital equipment; the share of manufacturing, agriculture, and foreign trade; the share of the private sector in total ownership; the development of financial institutions and capital markets; the development and stability of the legal system; the development of transport, telecommunication and other infrastructure; the realized standard of living; the development of democracy and human rights protection; preserved environment etc. Economies of developing countries, including Montenegro, are usually characterized by a low capital equipment and low labor productivity, expensive manufacturing and insufficient share of world trade, high import dependence, uncompetitiveness, high unemployment, undeveloped entrepreneurship, and an undeveloped financial institutions. Polarized countries in an economic and development sense, are therefore those which are unevenly developed, and are constantly faced with highly pronounced problems of disparity in regional development and demographic problems. Solving these problems is a long-term process and necessitates. The design of a regional policy that is more efficient than the previous ones, as well, as building a different procedure for fulfilling the adopted regional policies.


OF DISSERTATION TILLAGE AND FERTILIZATION INFLUENCES ON AUTOTROPHIC NITRIFIERS IN AGRICULTURAL SOIL Nitrification is a biological oxidation of NH3 to NO2 and then to NO3. Understanding how the nitrifier community responds to agricultural management is essential because the community composition is complex and functional distinction of subgroups occurs. Better managing nitrifiers could benefit the environment by increasing nitrogen (N) fertilizer use efficiency, decreasing NO3 leaching, and reducing NO and N2O emissions. This study examined how long-term N fertilization and tillage influenced nitrifier density, ratios, nitrification rates, and the community structure of ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), and nitrite-oxidizing bacteria (NOB). The study site was a long-term (>40 years) continuous maize (Zea mays L.) experiment with three N fertilization rates (0, 168, and 336 kg ha-1) and either no-tillage (NT) or plow tillage (PT). Most Probable Number method was used to estimate the density of AOB and NOB; the shaken slurry method was used to measure potential nitrification rates; PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) was used to analyze nitrifier communities. Tillage, fertilization, and their interaction all significantly influenced the AOB and NOB densities, the ratio of AOB to NOB, and potential nitrification rate. Nitrifier densities and potential nitrification rates increased with increased N fertilization; NOB density increased faster than AOB density with fertilization. The influence of tillage on nitrification was different for different fertilization rates. The trends for nitrifier density and potential nitrification rate were not consistent. Nitrifier community structure was influenced by sample season, N fertilization rates, tillage, and their interaction. Different nitrifier groups had different responses to the treatments. The AOB became more diverse with increasing N input; tillage rather than N fertilizer played a dominant role affecting the AOA community; two NOB genera had different responses to N fertilization rates: Nitrobacter diversity increased with more N applied; Nitrospira was the opposite. Unique bands/members were discovered in different treatments, manifesting environmental selection. Long-term field trials were useful in better understanding how soil management influenced the relationship between nitrifier densities, nitrification rates, and community structure, which may facilitate new approaches to optimize nitrification and provide new clues to discover which environmental factors most influence the nitrifier community in agroecosystems.


Purpose To provide a consistent implementation of a retinal ganglion cell (RGC) displacement model proposed by Drasdo et al. for macular structure-function analysis, customizable by axial length (AL). Methods The effect of axial length on the shape of the inner retina was measured on 235 optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans from healthy eyes, to provide evidence for geometric scaling of structures with eye size. Following this assumption, we applied the Drasdo model to map perimetric stimuli on the radially displaced RGCs using two different methods: Method 1 only displaced the center of the stimuli; Method 2 applied the displacement to every point on the edge of the stimuli. We compared the accuracy of the two methods by calculating, for each stimulus, the number of expected RGC receptive fields and the number RGCs calculated from the histology map, expected to be equivalent. The same calculation was repeated on RGC density maps derived from 28 OCT scans from 28 young healthy subjects (age < 40 years) to confirm our results on clinically available measurements. Results The size of the retinal structures significantly increased with AL (P < 0.001) and was well predicted by geometric scaling. Method 1 systematically underestimated the RGC counts by as much as 60%. No bias was observed with Method 2. Conclusions The Drasdo model can effectively account for AL assuming geometric scaling. Method 2 should be used for structure-function analyses. Translational Relevance We developed a free web App in Shiny R to make our results available for researchers.


The citrus peel essential oils are themost versatile essential oils. The present paper describes the antifungal activity of steam distillates of peels of different citrus fruits namely Citrus limetta, C.sinensis and C.limon. A simple laboratory apparatus has been employed to get steam distillate and the distillate thus obtained was subjected to antifungal activity against Aspergillus species by poison food technique. The results revealed that the steam distillates of C.sinensis and C.limetta were potent enough to inhibit the growth of test fungi while lemon distillate was ineffective against test fungi. Lack of efficacy of C.limon distillate could be due to low concentration of compound in the distillate.Among distillates tested, C.limetta distillate was found to be superior to other distillates. The results are in justification with the antimicrobial activity of essential oils of citrus peel being considered as a waste in citrus industries.


Teach For All is a global network of state-based organizations that translate Teach For America's market model of school reform into moral projects of nation-building abroad. Referring to this challenge as one of "scaling" the organization, its leaders elaborate a theory of change that hinges on replicability: in order to effect a global education revolution, Teach For All must reproduce inspiring instances of change in classrooms around the world. In service of this goal, the organization marshals an impressive archive of transformational stories. Each supports its "shared problems, shared solutions" philosophy and attains status as evidence, suggesting that Teach For All's brand of transformative teaching can eradicate educational inequity despite the contingencies of place. Teach For All's use of stories to "sell" this brand of reform is itself nothing new. But what is so peculiar about Teach For All's project is that tales of individual conversion – of situated transformation – come to serve as sites for scalability . By exploring stories as technologies of scale, tracing the ways in which they travel the globe and operate on different audiences, and interrogating the work they do within Teach For All's ideological apparatus, this article explores the relationship between storytelling "shared solutions" and scaling global reform, and the generic subject that such a relationship produces.


There is general agreement that the Siluro-Ordovician, Southern Uplands suspect terrane is an imbricate thrust belt formed adjacent to the Laurentian continental margin during closure of the Iapetus Ocean. However, there are conflicting models for its tectonosedimentary evolution, especially for the initial depositional environment. Was it a convergent forearc trench with subsequent incorporation of strata into a suprasubduction accretionary prism, or was it a back-arc or continental margin extensional basin subsequently caught up in a foreland fold and thrust belt? To address this issue the different thermal histories of the contrasting convergent and extensional sedimentary basin models have been investigated. Palaeogeothermal conditions in the Southern Uplands terrane, assessed from regional metamorphic patterns, clay mineral assemblages and K-white mica composition, rule out extension and support deposition in a low heat-flow, plate-convergent setting. There is no evidence for a change from extensional to convergent basin regimes from north to south, as required in some models. Instead, throughout the terrane, there is a close temporal and spatial relationship between deposition, burial metamorphism and tectonism that is elsewhere typical of accretion.


Menopause starts when menstruation permanently cuts off. Perimenopause was defined as irregular bleeding (6 weeks to 4 months) and/or vasomotor symptoms such as sweating and hot flushes (3). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of intermittent exercise on body composition, fat distribution and vasomotor symptoms in perimenopausal sedentary women. In this study participated that total 66 middle-aged with the phenomenon of hot flushes overweight sedentary women as volunteers. Body weight, Body composition (via skinfolds caliper), waist hip ratio, waist circumference and body fat percentage were obtained from sedentary women. Besides subjects were asked menopausal bleeding patterns (including vasomotor symptoms) states with information form. The measurements were taken twice as before and after Pilates mat training program being applied a 6-week series of one hour exercise three days per week. The control group did not participate in any activity exercise program during the six-week period. There were significant differences between pretest and posttest for weight, body mass index, waist circumference, waist hip ratio, fat percentage and body composition parameters in exercise group (p<0,05). Also, there were not significant differences between pretest and posttest for same measurements in control group. According to subjects' answers to was found that pilates mat exercise had significantly effective on hot flushes from vasomotor symptoms at sedentary women. As a result, the findings support of pilates mat exercises effects on weight loss and body composition parameters. Pilates mat exercises can have long-term benefits for women undergoing the menopausal


Noise produced from a variety of human activities can affect the physiology and behaviour of individual animals, but whether noise disrupts the social behaviour of animals is largely unknown. Animal groups such as flocks of birds or shoals of fish use simple interaction rules to coordinate their movements with near neighbours. In turn, this coordination allows individuals to gain the benefits of group living such as reduced predation risk and social information exchange. Noise could change how individuals interact in groups if noise is perceived as a threat, or if it masked, distracted or stressed individuals, and this could have impacts on the benefits of grouping. Here, we recorded trajectories of individual juvenile seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in groups under controlled laboratory conditions. Groups were exposed to playbacks of either ambient background sound recorded in their natural habitat, or playbacks of pile-driving, commonly used in marine construction. The pile-driving playback affected the structure and dynamics of the fish shoals significantly more than the ambient-sound playback. Compared to the ambient-sound playback, groups experiencing the pile-driving playback became less cohesive, less directionally ordered, and were less correlated in speed and directional changes. In effect, the additional-noise treatment disrupted the abilities of individuals to coordinate their movements with one another. Our work highlights the potential for noise pollution from pile-driving to disrupt the collective dynamics of fish shoals, which could have implications for the functional benefits of a group's collective behaviour.


Each spike that is observed in the backscattering from large dielectric spheres arises from just one term in the Mie series. By approximating the Ricatti–Bessel functions involved, one obtains expressions for the location and width of each spike. Every single spike can be allocated to just two patterns, which are described in terms of sequences of two integers and whose repetition period is a function only of the refractive index m. The physical process involved is shown to be a resonance inside the sphere of the electric or magnetic field, in which the appropriate field increases rapidly to a large value at a radial distance r/a ~ 1/m, whereas the other field remains small. As the sphere surface is approached, they combine to form a simple, spherical electromagnetic standing-wave pattern of large amplitude.


The objective of this article is understand and illustrate current dynamics and proposals developed by new global movements involved in agroecological experiences around Europe. We deal with two interrelated paradigms that have played a major role in contesting globalization and proposing alternative agendas. On the one hand, we argue that the new global movements are a new pole of reference for collective action in terms of critiques and promotion of new political practices. We could talk of a meta-frame or a meta-identity that permeates the whole sense of mobilization: radical democracy (Calle 2005, 2009). It would be characterized by a conceptualization of new forms of democracy and participation "from below", involving deliberation, horizontality and problematization of what we understand for commons and rights. On the other hand, new social paradigms have been set up concerning food production. In reaction to global markets, agroecology is a new frame characterized by a search of a sustainable agriculture devoted to endogenous development (Sevilla Guzman 2006, Gliessman 2007, Van der Ploeg 2009). In this article we will argue how radical democracy and agroecology are two paradigms that feed each other. Part of these new global movements are a consequence of this mutual support of two political trends opposing globalization. We will illustrate this in the case of Europe, analyzing three major experiences coming from 1) political ecologism, 2) new patterns and demands of peasant networks and 3) emerging forms of organizing self-production.


We consider the problem of embedding finite metrics with slack: we seek to produce embeddings with small dimension and distortion while allowing a (small) constant fraction of all distances to be arbitrarily distorted. This definition is motivated by recent research in the networking community, which achieved striking empirical success at embedding Internet latencies with low distortion into low-dimensional Euclidean space, provided that some small slack is allowed. Answering an open question of Kleinberg, Slivkins, and Wexler (2004), we show that provable guarantees of this type can in fact be achieved in general: any finite metric can be embedded, with constant slack and constant distortion, into constant-dimensional Euclidean space. We then show that there exist stronger embeddings into /spl lscr//sub 1/ which exhibit gracefully degrading distortion: these is a single embedding into /spl lscr//sub 1/ that achieves distortion at most O(log 1//spl epsi/) on all but at most an /spl epsi/ fraction of distances, simultaneously for all /spl epsi/ > 0. We extend this with distortion O(log 1//spl epsi/)/sup 1/p/ to maps into general /spl lscr//sub p/, p /spl ges/ 1 for several classes of metrics, including those with bounded doubling dimension and those arising from the shortest-path metric of a graph with an excluded minor. Finally, we show that many of our constructions are tight, and give a general technique to obtain lower bounds for /spl epsi/-slack embeddings from lower bounds for low-distortion embeddings.