Introduction Traditionally, the fields of ageing and disability have been addressed separately both in terms of research and service structures and systems of care. However, in recent years, public awareness into topics involving ageing and disability—twin-track approach—has been growing and research linking both fields enjoys rising attention. A twin-track model Ageing as viewed from the perspective of people with disabilities—those with life-long disabilities as well as those with age-related disabilities—is the main focus of the Graz Declaration of June 2006. Considering international declarations developed separately for the fields of ageing and disability, the Graz Declaration aims at analysing and bridging the rights and responsibilities of these two groups while including the conception of the person with a disability, as expressed in principles such as inclusion, participation, equal opportunities, non-discrimination, and self-determination. The declaration aims at clarifying common variance, and emphasizes the unique requirements and needs of specific groups of older people with disabilities. Besides conceptual and strategic reasons the declaration follows straightforward reasons affecting the life of older people with disabilities directly or indirectly such as bridging the practice models of care of the ageing field with that of the area of intellectual disability, or defining tools to detect commonalities as well as differences between the needs of older people with a life-long disability and those with age-related disabilities. Conclusion The Graz Declaration's effect on developing a more coherent support systems aiming at equal opportunities and full citizenship for older people with disabilities in diverse, yet integrated fields such as politics, care, training, research, culture, ethics and economics will be addressed.


We aimed to evaluate the response rate of migraines by using anti-calcitonin gene-related peptide (anti-CGRP) for patients with migraines. We searched three main medical databases up to 29 March 2019. No restriction on language and publication time were applied. Eligible trials included randomized clinical trials investigating a 50%, 75%, and 100% response rate of migraine patients after anti-CGRP intervention. The collected data were dichotomous, and risk ratios (RRs) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to present the quantitative synthesis results. The systematic review identified 16 eligible randomized clinical trials (RCTs) with 9439 patients. Eight of the 16 trials with 2516 patients reported a 50% response rate, and the pooled results showed a significant benefit from anti-CGRP. However, the effects seem to gradually reduce from the first month (RR 1.99, 95% CI 1.59 to 2.49) to the third month (RR 1.48, 95% CI 1.26 to 1.75) of treatment. The magnitude of effect was influenced by the type of anti-CGRP, according to the test for differences between subgroups (I-square = 53%). The funnel plots and Egger's tests did not show serious small study effects in the results. In conclusion, the current evidences confirmed that anti-CGRP treatment can reduce migraine pain in the short term (within three months), but the long-term effect should be investigated in the future. Moreover, its effects may be influenced by the type and dose of anti-CGRP. Therefore, future studies should make direct comparisons among anti-CGRP medications.


Mapping molecular structure to odor perception is a key challenge in olfaction. Here, we use graph neural networks (GNN) to generate a Principal Odor Map (POM) that preserves perceptual relationships and enables odor quality prediction for novel odorants. The model is as reliable as a human in describing odor quality: on a prospective validation set of 400 novel odorants, the model-generated odor profile more closely matched the trained panel mean (n=15) than did the median panelist. Applying simple, interpretable, theoretically-rooted transformations, the POM outperformed chemoinformatic models on several other odor prediction tasks, indicating that the POM successfully encoded a generalized map of structure-odor relationships. This approach broadly enables odor prediction and paves the way toward digitizing odors. One-Sentence Summary An odor map achieves human-level odor description performance and generalizes to diverse odor-prediction tasks.


A novel single-source surface-volume-surface integral equation is proposed for accurate broadband resistance and inductance extraction in 3-D interconnects. The new equation originates in the volume integral equation (VIE) traditionally used for magneto-quasi-static modeling of current flow in 3-D wires. The latter is reduced to a surface integral equation by representing the electric field inside each conductor segment as a superposition of cylindrical waves emanating from the conductor's boundary. As no approximation is utilized and all underlying boundary conditions and pertinent equations are satisfied in the reduction, the new integral equation is rigorously equivalent to the solution of the traditional volume electric field integral equation. The rigorous nature of the proposed single-source surface integral equation is corroborated numerically. In this paper, a detailed description of the method of moments discretization for the proposed surface integral equation is also presented. Numerical solution of the proposed surface integral equation for a 12-conductor bond-wire package is used to demonstrate the accuracy of the method and its computational benefits compared to the traditional solution based on the VIE.


The ablated particle count and size distribution of four solid matrix materials commonly used for matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) were measured with a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) combined with a light scattering aerodynamic particle sizer (APS). The two particle sizing instruments allowed size measurements in the range from 10 nm to 20 μm. The four solid matrixes investigated were 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHB), 4-nitroaniline (NA), α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA), and sinapic acid (SA). A thin film of the matrix was deposited on a stainless steel target using the dried droplet method and was irradiated with a 337 nm nitrogen laser at atmospheric pressure. The target was rotated during the measurement. A large number of nanoparticles were produced, and average particle diameters ranged from 40 to 170 nm depending on the matrix and the laser fluence. These particles are attributed to agglomeration of smaller particles and clusters and/or hydrodynamic sputtering of melted matrix. A coarse particle component of the distribution was observed with diameters between 500 nm and 2 μm. The coarse particles were significantly lower in number but had a total mass that was comparable to that of the nanoparticles. The coarse particles are attributed to matrix melting and spallation. Two of the compounds, CHCA and SA, had a third particle size distribution component in the range of 10 to 30 nm, which is attributed to the direct ejection of clusters.


SYNOPSIS Objective. The objective of this study is to determine caregivers' knowledge about when children begin to demonstrate basic cognitive, social-emotional, and motor milestones in three ethnic groups in Trinidad and Tobago. Design. Using the developmental niche model, a cross-sectional design was used to assess caregivers' knowledge about when preschool-aged children begin to demonstrate basic developmental milestones in 1,117 African, Indo, and mixed-Caribbean ethnic groups from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Results. Caregivers had the greatest success in identifying linguistic and cognitive milestones. There were few differences in caregivers' ability to accurately identify developmental milestones that were attributed to socioeconomic, maternal age, or number of children in the household. African Caribbean caregivers were more successful at identifying academic developmental milestones than Indo and mixed-ethnic caregivers. Indo and mixed-ethnic caregivers were similar in their ability to correctly identify, and in earlier expectations of developmental milestones, compared with African Caribbean caregivers. Conclusions. There were marked ethnic but few socioeconomic differences in caregivers' knowledge about when children begin to demonstrate basic developmental milestones. Data have implications for childhood development and developmental surveillance in developing nations of the Caribbean.


It was almost 10 years ago that Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon described climate change as the 'defining challenge of our age'. His comments came at a time when international attention centred around the Kyoto Protocol and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

While important, the failure of Kyoto and the UNFCCC to engage key emitters such as China and the U.S has significantly hindered their perceived credibility. The target sets by these negotiations have also attracted criticism, a result of attempts to balance voluntary participation with unenforceable targets. Such criticisms of international efforts have begged the question as to the role of nation states in efforts to address climate change.

Since the time Ban Ki Moon made his comments, Australia has become the first country in the world to implement and repeal an emissions trading scheme. This is indicative of the on-going tensions between an economy dependent on fossil fuels and the growing public concerns with its government's inaction: a similar situation to many emissions intensive economies.

In the face of international and domestic shortcomings a new decentralized approach has been advocated. Unlike its predecessors, this approach does not present a single solution, but instead calls upon those concerned to effect change locally.

The result of such an approach can be seen in many forms, from litigation in the courts to adaptive approaches in local government. Key to these approaches is an underlying ethos, a movement which focuses not on a destination but direction. This direction is change.

As the world accepts the realities of our changing climate, so to must we adapt the manner in which we approach it. Western Australia is no exception. This paper will present the limited right to review government decisions as an existing issue which requires change in order to meet the challenges of climate change. Central to this argument is the need to engage local stakeholders, increase scrutiny of government decisions, develop climate jurisprudence and begin a response to climate change from the bottom up. It is in this way that climate change is the catalyst for reviewing appeal rights in Western Australia.


The most comprehensive and authoritative single volume text on the subject, the fourth edition of the acclaimed Oxford Handbook of Criminology combines state-of-the-art reviews of all the key topics with extensive references to aid further research. In addition to the analysis of the main theoretical perspectives, the book provides up-to-date coverage of research and policy developments concerning criminal justice, crime, criminalization, crime statistics, and their relationship to race, gender, youth cultures, and the political economy. The fourth edition has been substantially revised and updated, with new chapters on important areas such as cultural criminology, the governance of security, and diversity, crime and criminal justice. Developed to meet course requirements, the Oxford Handbook of Criminology is essential reading for all students and teachers of criminology and an indispensable sourcebook for professionals.


Marc Richir (1943–2015) is one of the most authoritative phenomenologists of his generation with disciples all over the world. His importance, which has become increasingly evident in recent years, derives from his emphasizing of the imagination and fantasy in their symbolic function. In this way he opens up phenomenology to adopt perspectives that are no less interesting for artists than for poets or musicians. But his spectrum is even more extensive. As a trained physicist, Richir turned to problems of natural philosophy; at the same time, he was an excellent expert in structuralism, anthropology and psychoanalysis. But he was also very familiar with Classical German Philosophy, no less than with the thinking of the founding fathers of phenomenology, as well as with the influential approaches of Merleau-Ponty and Derrida. This book is the first monograph in the German language to present Richir's extensive work in all its scope. The question of a "phenomenological metaphysics" provides the guideline to testify to the openness of recent phenomenology to these wide-ranging topics.


The United States disposes roughly 60% of the municipal solid waste it generates each year in solid waste disposal facilities, commonly known as landfills. Hedonic pricing studies have estimated the external costs of landfills on neighboring housing markets, but the literature is silent on what happens to property values after the landfill closes. Original housing price data collected both before and after a landfill closure are used to estimate how a landfill closure affects neighboring property values. Results of both a hedonic pricing model and repeat-sales estimator are used in the analysis.


In our recent paper (Muter, Hulme, Snowling, & Taylor, 1997) we argued that measures of segmentation were better predictors of early progress in learning to read than were measures of rhyme. Bryant (1998, this issue), in his comment on our paper, has argued that this conclusion is flawed because the instructions used in our rhyme detection measure included the phrase "rhymes with or sounds like." We present new data showing that the instructions used do not have the effect Bryant claims: asking children which word "rhymes with" or which word "rhymes with or sounds like" a target word produces identical patterns of responses. We argue that Bryant's new measure derived from our data simply reflects children's global sensitivity to the similarity in sound between different words and that this measure provides no convincing support for his conclusion that sensitivity to onset and rime is a predictor of children's success in learning to read. We conclude that the data in our paper, as well as other recent evidence, support the view that measures of phonemic segmentation are better predictors of early reading skills than are measures of onset-rime sensitivity. Copyright 1998 Academic Press.


The Pfeffer Zelle (Pfeffer Cell Apparatus), invented by Wilhelm Pfeffer [6] in 1877, measured the minimum pressure needed to prevent a pure solvent from passing into a solution across a semi-permeable membrane, called osmotic pressure. The apparatus provided Pfeffer with a way to quantitatively measure osmotic pressure. Pfeffer devised the apparatus in the 1870s at the University of Basel [7] in Basel, Switzerland, and he described the Pfeffer Cell Apparatus in his 1877 book Osmotische Untersuchungen: Studien Zur Zellmechanik (Osmotic Investigations: Studies on Cell Mechanics). Pfeffer relied on nineteenth century experiments of Moritz Traube in Germany, who constructed artificial copper ferrocyanide membranes to study osmosis. The apparatus enabled Pfeffer to study osmosis and osmotic pressure as plants grow, and later researchers used it to explain how plants develop.


When Dinesh Thakur asked me to write an introduction to this volume, I carelessly agreed. Later I started thinking that a short description of my journey to non-archimedean analytic geometry and of some of the circumstances accompanying it might be an entertaining complement to the notes of Matthew Baker and Brian Conrad. Since I had no other ideas, I've written what is presented below. I start by briefly telling about myself. I was very lucky to be accepted to Moscow State University for undergraduate and, especially, for graduate studies in spite of the well-known Soviet policy of that time towards Jewish citizens. I finished studying in 1976, and got a Ph.D. the next year. (My supervisor was Professor Yuri Manin.) Getting an academic position would be too much luck, and the best thing I could hope for was the job of a computer programmer at a factory of agricultural machines and, later, at the institute of information in agriculture. As a result, I practically stopped doing mathematics, did not produce papers, and was considered by my colleagues as an outsider. It took me several years to become an expert in computers and nearby fields, and to learn to control my time. Gradually I started doing mathematics again, and my love for it blazed up with new force and became independent of surrounding circumstances. By the time my story begins, I was hungry for mathematics as never before. Thus, my story begins one July evening of 1985 in a train in which I was returning to Moscow after having visited my numerous relatives in Gomel, Belarus. Instead of talking to people near me — my usual occupation during long train trips — I opened a book on classical functional analysis by Yuri Lyubich which my eldest brother Yakov had given me a couple of days before. The basic material of the book was familiar to me. Nevertheless, I was thrilled to read about it again and, suddenly, asked myself: what is the analog of all this over a non-archimedean field k? In particular, what is the spectrum of a bounded linear operator acting on a Banach space over k? It did not take much time to find that, if one defines the spectrum in the same way as in the classical situation, it may be empty even if k is algebraically closed. Indeed, if K is a non-archimedean field larger than k, then the multiplication by any element of K which does not lie in k is an operator with empty spectrum. That such a larger field always exists is easily seen: one can take the completion of the field of rational functions in one variable over k with respect to the Gauss norm. I was very intrigued, and decided to understand what all this meant. I knew that my fellow Manin student Misha Vishik had written a paper on nonarchimedean spectral theory. The next day, I found the paper and started reading it. It turned out Vishik was studying bounded linear operators on a Banach space


From the Publisher:
This book takes the reader from the architecture of .NET to real-world techniques they can use in their own Internet applications. The reader is introduced to .NET and Web Services and explores (in detail) issues surrounding the fielding of successful Web Services. Practical guidelines as well as solutions are provided that the rader may use in their own projects. Some of the issues involve lack of specific guidance in the SOAP specification, while others transcend SOAP and involve issues Internet developers have grappled with since the inception of the World Wide Web. At this time, this book has no competition.


The process of transitioning to university can be very stressful for students. This is evident in recent studies that suggest students now, are more stressed and anxious about their academic performance and achievement which can result in them experiencing low levels of happiness. Previous literature has suggested that exploring factors like resilience is important to enhance the students' psychological well-being. Consequently, the present study aims to explore the role of resilience and mindfulness along with perceived academic control on psychological well-being in particular; anxiety, stress, and happiness, amongst university students. Using an opportunity sampling, a total of 129 students aged 18-32 (Female = 105, Male = 24), took part in completing an 86-item online questionnaire that consisted of a series of self-report measures. Pearson's correlation coefficients indicated a relationship between all variables, however, there was a non-significant relationship between perceived academic control and stress. Furthermore, a series of regression analyses revealed that resilience was the strongest predictor of happiness scores. It also revealed that mindfulness significantly predicted both stress and anxiety. These findings indicate the importance of building students' resilience and promoting mindfulness practice in order to enhance their psychological well-being.


The size and age structures for four assemblages of North American tyrannosaurs—Albertosaurus, Tyrannosaurus, Gorgosaurus, and Daspletosaurus—reveal a pronounced, bootstrap-supported pattern of age-specific mortality characterized by relatively high juvenile survivorship and increased mortality at midlife and near the maximum life span. Such patterns are common today in wild populations of long-lived birds and mammals. Factors such as predation and entrance into the breeding population may have influenced tyrannosaur survivorship. This survivorship pattern can explain the rarity of juvenile specimens in museum collections.


SUMMARY To determine if glucagon can inhibit its own secretion, exogenous glucagon was perfused in the isolated canine pancreas at concentrations ranging from 90 to 1050 pg/ml during either stimulation or suppression of endogenous glucagon secretion. When endogenous glucagon secretion was completely suppressed by the addition of 200 mg/dl of glucose to the perfusate, the concentration of glucagon in the venous effluent ranged from 80.8 to 89.9% of the level perfused; these deficits of 10–20% were attributed to uptake and/or degradation of exogenous glucagon by the pancreas. By contrast, when endogenous glucagon secretion was stimulated by perfusing with 10 mM arginine or by glucopenia of 25 mg/dl, there was a significant increase in the glucagon deficit (the efflux glucagon level during glucagon perfusion minus the sum of the pre-perfusion efflux level of endogenous glucagon and the concentration of glucagon perfused); only 60–76% of the expected glucagon concentration was present in the venous efflux. This increase in deficit is assumed to reflect suppression of endogenous glucagon. The glucagon deficit rose progressively with the perfused concentration of glucagon until the deficit reached the approximate level of endogenous glucagon, at which no further increase occurred, suggesting that suppression at that point was complete. To determine if the glucagon-suppressing action of glucagon was mediated by an increase in glucagonstimulated insulin or somatostatin secretion, these hormones were measured in the various experiments. Insulin and somatostatin increased significantly when glucagon was perfused with the glucose arginine-containing solution but did not rise significantly when the glucopenic buffer was used, although suppression of endogenous glucagon was similar in each instance. It is concluded that glucagon suppresses glucagon secretion. Evidence that insulin and/or somatostatin mediate this action could not be obtained.


The aim of this chapter is to challenge Bakhtin's claim that poetry, as opposed to prose, is a monophonic discourse. I lean on the Romanian postmodern poets of the eighties, who intuitively noticed the universality of the relations between theory (semiotics, pragmatics) and literary practice. In the light of this isomorphism (Parpală 1994) it comes out that enunciation was preferred to utterance, the intertext to the text, and a description of the text's production to its symbolic meaning. In order to illustrate this ontological "turn" I focus on the dialogization of the poetic enunciation by discussing ethos and reported discourse. It is interesting to see the interplay between enunciative heterogeneity, the text's boundaries and the reader's position.


Understanding fluid expulsion is key to estimating gas exchange volumes between the seafloor, ocean, and atmosphere; for locating key ecosystems; and geohazard modelling. Locating active seafloor fluid expulsion typically requires acoustic backscatter data. Areas of very-high seafloor backscatter, or "hardgrounds," are often used as first-pass indicators of potential fluid expulsion. However, varying and inconsistent spatial relationships between active fluid expulsion and hardgrounds means a direct link remains unclear. Here, we investigate the links between water-column acoustic flares to seafloor backscatter and bathymetric metrics generated from two calibrated multibeam echosounders. Our site, the Calypso hydrothermal vent field (HVF) in the Bay of Plenty, Aotearoa/New Zealand, has an extensive catalogue of vents and seeps in <250 m water depth. We demonstrate a method to quantitatively link active fluid expulsion (flares) with seafloor characteristics. This allows us to develop predictive spatial models of active fluid expulsion. We explore whether data from a low (30 kHz), high (200 kHz), or combined frequency model increases predictive accuracy of expulsion locations. This research investigates the role of hardgrounds or surrounding sediment cover on the accuracy of predictive models. Our models link active fluid expulsion to specific seafloor characteristics. A combined model using both the 30 and 200 kHz mosaics produced the best results (predictive accuracy: 0.75; Kappa: 0.65). This model performed better than the same model using individual frequency mosaics as input. Model results reveal active fluid expulsion is not typically associated with the extensive, embedded hardgrounds of the Calypso HVF, with minimal fluid expulsion. Unconsolidated sediment around the perimeter of and between hardgrounds were more active fluid expulsion sites. Fluids exploit permeable pathways up to the seafloor, modifying and refashioning the seafloor. Once a conduit self-seals, fluid will migrate to a more permeable pathway, thus reducing a one-to-one link between activity and hardgrounds. Being able to remotely predict active and inactive regions of fluid expulsion will prove a useful tool in rapidly identifying seeps in legacy datasets, as well as textural metrics that will aid in locating nascent, senescent, or extinct seeps when a survey is underway.


A large ensemble of regional climate model projections was investigated regarding if and when they show an emergence of significant climate change signals in seasonal temperature and precipitation within Europe. The influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), as simulated in the projections, was investigated. In most parts of Europe, the projections indicate robust emergence of temperature change in the first 2 decades of the 21st century, typically earlier for summer than for winter. For precipitation changes, signals generally emerge much later than for temperature. For Europe as a whole, the precipitation signals tend to emerge some 40 to 60 yr later than the temperature signals. In some sub-regions, robust signals for precipitation are not found within the studied period, i.e. until 2100. Some sub-regions, notably the Mediterranean area and Scandinavia, show different behaviour in some aspects compared to the ensemble-based results as a whole. NAO has some influence on the temperature change signals, which emerge earlier in winter for some models and regions if NAO is accounted for. For summer temperatures, the influence of NAO is less evident. Similarly, for precipitation, accounting for NAO leads to an earlier emergence in some regions and models. Here, we find an impact for both summer and winter.


In order to resolve the conflict between Load Balancing (LB) and Mobility Robustness Optimization (MRO) in Long Term Evolution (LTE) networks, a conflict avoid method has been proposed. However, the speed of users is neglected in the existing scheme, which has an obvious effect on system performance. To this end, we propose a new method, called the optimal conflict avoidance (OCA), which can set the handover range of LB dynamically considering the movement of users. The numerical results validate the effectiveness of our proposed OCA in terms of network throughput, Call Blocking Ratio (CBR) and Radio Link Failure (RLF).


Physical construction---the ability to compose objects, subject to physical dynamics, to serve some function---is fundamental to human intelligence. We introduce a suite of challenging physical construction tasks inspired by how children play with blocks, such as matching a target configuration, stacking blocks to connect objects together, and creating shelter-like structures over target objects. We examine how a range of deep reinforcement learning agents fare on these challenges, and introduce several new approaches which provide superior performance. Our results show that agents which use structured representations (e.g., objects and scene graphs) and structured policies (e.g., object-centric actions) outperform those which use less structured representations, and generalize better beyond their training when asked to reason about larger scenes. Model-based agents which use Monte-Carlo Tree Search also outperform strictly model-free agents in our most challenging construction problems. We conclude that approaches which combine structured representations and reasoning with powerful learning are a key path toward agents that possess rich intuitive physics, scene understanding, and planning.


This survey aimed to estimate the subjective prevalence of peri-implantitis and its management in the private with and without board certified specialization. For this purpose, a cross-sectional postal and internet survey of 521 dentists, representing all members of the Swiss Society of Oral Implantology (SGI) was conducted (year 2010). The questionnaire consisted of four sections assessing 1) general information regarding the practice setting and education, 2) general questions regarding implantation profile and 3) specific questions regarding the prevalence and experience with the management of peri-implantitis. In the fourth section, therapy options of three exemplary cases were assessed. The data were separately evaluated and compared for specialists (S) and n₋specialists (N-S). A total of 253 questionnaires could be included in the present study. The results revealed that specialists placed significantly more implants than non-specialists. The subjective prevalence of cases with peri₋implantitis was 5-6 and 7-9% after 5 and 10 years, respectively. The polled dentists perceived periodontitis (N-S: 72%; S: 80%), smoking (N-S: 71; S: 77%) and bad compliance (S: 53; N-S: 61%) as the most important risk factors for peri-implantitis. Chlorhexidine was the most frequently used antiseptic agent for disinfection. A surgical approach to treat peri-implantitis was reported by more than 80% of all dentists. Specialists used significantly more resective or regenerative approaches than non-specialists.


David Smith argues that the distinctive welfare orientation of the Juvenile Justice System in Scotland allows for progressive and developmental practice in a context of voluntarism, and an inter-agency commitment to welfare principles. He sees this as a refreshing alternative to the punitive orientation of youth justice policy in England and Wales, and concludes that while the Scottish system can be criticised for naivety and for missing an opportunity to develop still more effective practice, it has the potential for progressive development, and is likely to remain intact despite its radical difference from what is taken for granted south of the border.


The carbon diffusion in steel, where the carbon diffusivity varies with the carbon content, was solved with the integral methods under the third boundary condition. The variation of carbon diffusivity in steel with the carbon content was described with two different functions, linear dependence and exponential dependence. The integral approximation for both cases was improved with the numerical computation to more accurately predict the carbon profiles. The integral solution is more accurate than the formulation based on the assumption of a constant diffusivity or those based on the assumption of a constant diffusivity and/or constant carbon content at part surface. It is also more easily used in practice than the numerical method to describe the carburising process and predict the carbon content at steel surface and carbon profiles in treated layer.


ABSTRACT Aim: Alterations of genetic and epigenetic feature can provide important insghts into the natural history of breast cancer. Although DNA methylation analysis is a rapidly developing field, a reproducible epigenetic blood-based assay for diagnosis and follow up of breast cancer has yet to be successfully developed into a routine clinical test. The aim of ths study was to review DNA methylation of promoter methylation of 14.3.3 sigma and ESR1 in circulating DNA of breast cancer patients and to highlight the value of those novel biomarkers in prediction of therapeutic outcom Methods: Plasma was sampled prospectively from 110 patients diagnosed of breast cancer. A PCR quantitative technique was used to analyzed the utility of circulating DNA with CpG island hypermethylation of ESR1, 14.3.3 sigma, APC and Rar Beta genes promoter regions as breast cancer biomarkers Results: The cutt-off points for the genes methylated promoters were established from the ROC curves, selecting values that gave the maximal likelihood ratio. Mean serum values of methylated genes before treatment was for ESR1:0.009 microg/ml, 14.3.3 sigma: 0.047 microg/ml, RarBeta: 0.0001 microg/ml and APC: 0.012 microg/ml. Mean values of methylated genes after treatment was for ESR: 0.003 microg/ml, 14.3.3 sigma: 0.038 microg/ml, RarBeta: 0 microg/ml and APC:0.001microg/ml. In the light of the discriminatory power of the ESR1 and 14.3.3 sigma and the finding that serum levels of methylated gene promoter changed after breast cancer treatment, post treatment modifications in these two promoters were analyzed. We observed lower methylated ESR1, 14.3.3 sigma and APC values after surgery respect pretreatment levels, but without an overall statistically significant difference. With a median follow up of 8 years we found that patients with a significant decrease of sera methylated levels of these genes after surgery had better interval free progression and overall survival respect patients without this observation. Conclusions: These findings cast some doubts on the utility for early cancer diagnosis of highly sensitive techniques to identify hypermethylation os specific gene promoters in DNA extracted from serum. Althought numerous issues remain to be resolved the quantitative measurement of circulating methylated DNA is a promising tool for cancer prognostic assessment. Disclosure: All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.


The specific goal of this thesis was the development of a five-variable dryland wheat yield prediction model for the optimal localized variable-rate management of fertilizer and herbicide considering varying levels of available water and weed infestation. The motivation for this work was to increase on-farm net return and reduce off-target chemical effects. The five most influential predictor variables of wheat yield were investigated: wheat density, wild oat density, nitrogen fertilizer rate, herbicide rate, and water level Previously collected field data sets that included dryland wheat yield as the dependent variable and at least one of the predictors were investigated for linear and nonlinear trends. The best-fit nonlinear yield model to the combined field data set included crop and wild oat density, and growing season precipitation; nitrogen and herbicide rates were not significant factors in this model. These results illustrated the large amount of unexplored variation in wheat yield, and the lack of ecological first principles upon which farmers base input management decisions, especially when weed infestation causes competition for limited nitrogen and water. To take an initial step towards elucidating the biological mechanisms of wheatwild oat competition with varying combinatorial levels of resources, a five-variable greenhouse experiment was conducted. The best-fitting yield model to the greenhouse data set was a nonlinear equation including all five variables. This predictive model was used to demonstrate how such an equation would help farmers make localized variable rate input decisions within a decision support framework. Monte Carlo simulation was used to produce net return prediction probabilities for site-specific variable-rate management, low level input management, and high level input management of nitrogen and herbicide based on the two sources of parameter estimates—field data and greenhouse data. The variable rate scenario resulted in larger net returns over the broadcast management scenarios in at least 48%, and at most 66%, of the simulations. This initial exploration provided considerable support for future on-farm experiments and yield prediction modeling. In addition, it established a first principle model to be parameterized for use in different dryland spring wheat growing regions.


The foundation of the accelerated software reliability testing (ASRT) based on importance sampling is to construct strengthened operational profile (SOP). The key of SOP's construction is to identify critical operations properly which have dominant effects on software's reliability. In this paper, a method based on Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is proposed to identify the critical operations. The hierarchies of goals, criteria and alternative programs have been defined seperately. Finally a preliminary application is practised to show the method's application process and demonstrate the feasibility of this method, which can be taken as a reference for critical operations's identification when using ASRT in engineering application.


This study investigates the dose–response effects of making music on youth development. Identification is based on the conditional independence assumption and estimation is implemented using a recent double machine learning estimator. The study proposes solutions to two highly practically relevant questions that arise for these new methods: (i) How to investigate sensitivity of estimates to tuning parameter choices in the machine learning part? (ii) How to assess covariate balancing in high‐dimensional settings? The results show that improvements in objectively measured cognitive skills require at least medium intensity, while improvements in school grades are already observed for low intensity of practice.


Analyzing Statistical Dependencies in Neural Populations by Ilan N. Goodman Neurobiologists recently developed tools to record from large populations of neurons, and early results suggest that neurons interact to encode information jointly. However, traditional statistical analysis techniques are inadequate to elucidate these interactions. This thesis develops two multivariate statistical dependence measures that, unlike traditional measures, encompass all high-order and non-linear interactions. These measures decompose the contributions of distinct subpopulations to the total dependence. Applying the dependence analysis to recordings from the crayfish visual system, I show that neural populations exhibit complex dependencies that vary with the stimulus. Using Fisher information to analyze the effectiveness of population codes, I show that optimal rate coding requires negatively dependent responses. Since positive dependence through overlapping stimulus attributes is an inherent characteristic of many neural systems, such neurons can only achieve the optimal code by cooperating.


Dear Editor ,

Human T lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the aetiological agent of HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP), a neurological disease characterised by a slowly progressive paraparesis and bladder dysfunction. Most HTLV-1-infected individuals remain asymptomatic throughout their lives, and the factors that play a role to conversion from asymptomatic to symptomatic status are still a matter of discussion. It is believed that <1% of HTLV-1-infected individuals will develop HAM/TSP. Host genetic factors and the immunological response against HTLV-1 are pivotal to HTLV-1 proviral load (PVL), and there are evidences that a high PVL is associated with HAM/TSP and with other HTLV-1-associated diseases such as peripheral neuropathy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.1 In addition, some aspects …


Abstract. The Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) has been interfaced with the Maximum Likelihood Ensemble Filter (MLEF) with the goal of improving initial conditions for aerosol weather forecasting via atmosphere-aerosol coupled data assimilation (RAMS-MLEF). In order to assimilate satellite retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD), an AOD observation operator customized for the RAMS aerosol module is implemented. Two MLEF-RAMS experiments are carried out for a dust storm event over the Arabian Peninsula that occurred on 4 August 2016. In the first experiment, conventional atmospheric observations from the National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Prepared Binary Universal Form for the Representation of meteorological data (PrepBUFR) dataset are assimilated (ATMONLY), while both the atmospheric observations and AOD retrievals from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) are assimilated in the second experiment (ATMAOD). In the two experiments, a list of control variables is used and it includes the three-dimensional wind components, perturbation Exner function, ice-liquid water potential temperature, total water mass mixing ratio, and the two dust modes from the aerosol module. Results indicate that the assimilation of MODIS AOD retrievals improves the representation of the dust plume over Persian Gulf, however, has no obvious impact on the dust plume interior of Saudi Arabia. Such finding is further supported by the examination of analysis increments of some control variables and the information measure in terms of degrees of freedom for signal. This is likely due to the lack of AOD retrievals interior of the Arabian Peninsula. Finally, a 12-h forecast initialized from both experiments is conducted. In general, ATMAOD forecast better represents the Persian Plume but performs poorly for the Saudi Plume, when verified against the aerosol reanalysis product from the Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications version 2 (MERRA-2) dataset.


Abstract. We measured the size distribution of atmospheric neutral and charged clusters and particles down to mobility diameter around 1.5 nm by applying pulse-height CPC technique at SMEAR II station in Hyytiala, southern Finland during spring 2007 and May 2008. The concentration of molecular clusters smaller than 3 nm seems to be highly variable in boreal forest environment, the concentration varied typically between 500–50 000 cm−3. By comparing to concentrations measured with ion spectrometers, we conclude that ion clusters and neutral clusters produced by ion-ion recombination are usually not sufficient to explain all of the observed clusters; the median fraction of recombination products from all neutral clusters was 4.9%. Before and during most new particle formation events the cluster formation rate rose only slightly, or remained close to stable. Nocturnal formation of clusters was also frequently observed.


Hybridization of organometallic complexes with carbon-based materials has been shown to enhance the catalytic performance in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). As chemical interactions between the metal centers and ligands are critical factors determining their tunable catalytic nature, it is important to understand the correlation between the chemical structure and catalytic nature and the correlation between the chemical structure and catalytic performance of the hybrids. In this work, the hybrids are synthesized by the reaction of an organometallic complex, Co(II)(acac)2 (acac = acetylacetonate), with refluxed graphene oxide (Re-G-O) materials containing controlled amounts of oxygen atoms at room temperature. Experimental characterization of the hybrids reveals that Co(II)(acac)2 is coordinated to oxygen containing groups in Re-G-O, generating organometallic species, Co–O4–O. These hybrids showed better electrocatalytic activity for the ORR in alkaline media than Co-free Re-G-O materials. The results show that the Co–O4 species is catalytically active for the ORR. We find that the best Co–O4 catalyst for the ORR is produced by the use of reduced graphene oxide with a medium level of reduction.


This paper examines the political economy of Rwanda.s Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme, concluding that strong government commitment to the programme has been shaped by the specific characteristics of the political settlement that was established around 2000. For the Rwandan government, the programme has never been just about social transfer, but a key part of the development strategy that aims to promote social stability and the legitimacy of the ruling coalition through rapid socioeconomic development. In particular, the programme originated in an emerging distributional crisis in the mid-2000s in which rapid economic growth alongside low rates of poverty reduction threatened the government narrative of inclusive development. While donor social protection ideas have also been influential, these are purposefully adapted by government with a view to meeting its developmental and political goals.


Breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide with significant global burden. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) is an important regulator of cellular growth, differentiation, and apoptosis and mitogenic and antiapoptotic activities. Some studies suggested an association between cytosine adenine (CA) repeats gene polymorphisms of IGF1 and the risk of developing breast cancer while other studies did not find such an association. This study aims investigate the role of IGF1 (CA) repeats gene polymorphisms in the risk of developing breast cancer among Omani women. Methods We analyzed (CA) repeats gene polymorphisms of IGF1 by extraction of genomic DNA from the peripheral blood of 147 patients with breast cancer and 134 control participants and performed genotyping using DNA sequencing. Results Approximately 46% of patients carried the IGF (CA)19 repeat allele, with 31.3% carrying two copies of this allele and 50% of controls carried the IGF (CA)19 repeat allele with 30.1% carrying two copies of this allele. The difference of the IGF CA repeat groups was significant between cases and controls with (P = 0.02). In contrast, there was no difference in the distribution of (CA)19 repeat allele, (CA)18 repeat allele and (CA)19 repeat allele between cases and controls. The difference of the CA groups was significant between cases and controls among postmenopausal women with (P = 0.026), whereas no difference was observed among postmenopausal subjects (P = 0.429). In both pre- and postmenopausal groups there was no difference in the distribution of (CA)19 repeat allele, (CA)18 repeat allele and (CA)20 repeat allele between patients and control subjects. On further IGF1 genotypes classification, we found an association between progesterone receptor status and the genotypes group where the non carrier of (CA)19 repeat group was compared to (CA)19 repeat carrier group (OR = 2.482; 95% CI = 1.119–5.503; P value = 0.023). Conclusion Overall there was no association between the IGF (CA)19 repeat and breast cancer in Omani females.


One of the so-called "pillars of sand" in the American business tax structure is the differential treatment of debt and equity. Corporations may deduct interest payments on their debt, but may not deduct dividend payments on their equity. This "ancient and pernicious" feature is criticized because it distorts corporate financing choices and inevitably leads to line drawing problems as the government engages in a futile chase to catch up with the latest financial innovation. Both the Obama administration and new Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden have proposed capping the deductibility of corporate interest to mitigate these concerns. This has led commentators to come to the defense of the full corporate interest deduction, relying in part on a historical justification based on the origins of the corporate income tax as a proxy for reaching shareholder income. According to this argument, an entity-level tax was necessary to reach income that might be distributed as a dividend, since it could otherwise be avoided by deferring the dividend, but an entity-level tax was not necessary to reach income that might be paid out as interest, since interest payments were fixed and regular and non-deferrable. Therefore, interest payments were made deductible, but dividend payments were not.This Essay, prepared in connection with a Chapman Law Review symposium on Business Tax Reform, contends that although there may be appropriate arguments in favor of maintaining a full corporate interest deduction, the historical premise for the origins of the corporate income tax system is not one of them. Corporate interest was deductible and dividend payments were not both in 1894, when deferral was not a concern because corporations routinely distributed all of their profits each year, and in 1909, when there was no individual income tax and therefore no tax incentive to retain earnings. In fact, the early history of the deduction has more in common with modern proposals to cap the interest deduction than it does with the current system of full deductibility. In 1909, because of the fear that shareholders could easily shift their investment to bonds in order to disguise dividends as deductible interest payments, the corporate interest deduction was capped. Interest on corporate indebtedness in excess of the aggregate value of the corporation's paid-up capital stock was made non-deductible. Business lobbying began to chip away at this limitation in the post-Sixteenth Amendment revenue acts. In 1913 and 1916, the cap on corporate interest deductions was raised to the value of the capital stock plus one-half the amount of outstanding debt. The cap was not lifted entirely until 1918, when it was done so to offset the exclusion of debt from the definition of invested capital in the war excess profits tax. Much like today, these early capped interest deduction provisions were an attempt to strike a balance between concerns about the inefficiencies of the debt/equity distinction and concerns about overburdening businesses in industries in which debt financing was a necessity.


I. INTRODUCTION Corporate social responsibility is often viewed as an industry or corporation-based concept with some base in law, but it is largely concerned with preserving the public face of the corporation. (1) However, in recent years, the focus of corporate social responsibility has shifted to new areas ranging from environmental protection to sustainable development and labor concerns. (2) At the same time, the world has witnessed the rise of globalization and the multinational corporation, (3) an entity that has been represented as everything from a source of economic growth in underdeveloped areas (4) to the perpetual nemesis in print and movie stories. (5) Those concerned by the typical mantra of globalization and the rise of the multinational corporation worry that taken together they represent the potential downfall of labor rights, especially given the constant threat of labor outsourcing to countries that are more amenable to business interests and, by insinuation, less amenable to fair labor practices. (6) In this view, corporate social responsibility is something that the multinational corporation must embrace in order to avoid public wrath and questions as to its business practices but is not something that provides a meaningful vehicle for development in any affected policy area. This is not, however, the only way to view the relationship corporate social responsibility and globalization as embodied by the multinational corporation. With that in mind, this article discusses the intersection between globalization, the more legally robust corporate social responsibility regimes that are being developed in relation to multinational corporate actions and actors, and the future of labor regulation. (7) While it is easy to gloss over this intersection through pessimism based on prior corporate bad acts, there is a need to look beyond this understanding of the intersection. Accordingly, this article argues that through robust corporate social responsibility practices and international organization regulations, globalization and the rise of the multinational corporation can serve as a source of improved labor rights within both developed and developing countries. (8) Part II of this article examines the link between globalization, the multinational corporation and labor issues, both in terms of exacerbating the problem of exploitative labor practices and in terms of bringing domestic and international attention to these practices. Part III examines corporate social responsibility both as a soft law construct and within the realm of international legal agreements and regimes. This Part demonstrates that corporate social responsibility is a flexible concept in law and that this flexibility can indeed create a positive link with the quickly evolving pace of globalization and the practices of multinational corporations. Part IV brings the lessons of the previous Parts together to discuss the meaning of the relationship between corporate social responsibility, globalization, multinational corporations, and labor rights. Cynically, of course, the meaning of this relationship could be seen as quite thin, since corporations increasingly need to present a "clean" image to their consumers and labor rights represent an easy way to do this. (9) This Part argues that moving beyond this inherent cynicism reveals far more important lessons. Essentially, multinational corporations need to make a profit and also need to be responsible actors in the communities in which they operate, including the communities in which their subsidiaries and affiliates operate. This often requires that the corporation use labor standards that are more generous or protective than those required by the domestic laws of the host state in which they operate. Although this requirement does not change the content of the domestic laws, it does provide for labor interests, ranging from unions and individual workers, with additional benefits and also with a more robust ability to petition for changes to the domestic laws based on the feasibility of implementing these higher standards. …


B-cell stimulatory factor 2 (BSF-2) is a lymphokine which induces the final maturation of B cells. BSF-2 acts on a variety of cells other than B cells, and moreover, expression of BSF-2 mRNA is detected in interleukin-1 beta-stimulated glioblastoma and astrocytoma cell lines. Here, we studied the function of BSF-2 on pheochromocytoma PC12 cells, a model system for induction of neuronal differentiation. PC12 cells possess specific receptors for BSF-2. The BSF-2-stimulated PC12 cells expressed the c-fos proto-oncogene transiently, and they began to change morphologically to neurite-extending cells after several days. The number of voltage-dependent Na+ channels was also increased.


Beekeeping in Iraq has been known since 6000 years B.C. in the Sumerian Era, where they found writings about bees on clay tablets older than 4000 years B. C., some writings were also found about the honey bee dating back to 2000 years. Kurdistan region is considered home to the original strain of bees deployed in Iraq and its neighboring countries. The bee-keeping in Iraq flourished and evolved in the seventies of the nineteenth century and has arrived at 450,000 four hundred and fifty thousand local and modern beehives, but begin to deteriorate before the beginning of the Iranian-Iraqi war because of the wrong policies of the government at the time( forced displacement – Al-Anfal- Chemical attack)  and deteriorated completely until the end of 1988 but flourished again in the beginning of the nineties from the last century due to the import of bees from neighboring countries, especially Iran and has now reached more than 250,000 two hundred and fifty thousand beehives, but the problems and obstacles need to be resolved through scientific means.


The binding theme of this thesis is the examination of both phakic and pseudophakic accommodation by means of theoretical modelling and the application of a new biometric measuring technique. Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography (AS-OCT) was used to assess phakic accommodative changes in 30 young subjects (19.4 2.0 years; range, 18 to 25 years). A new method of assessing curvature change with this technique was employed with limited success. Changes in axial accommodative spacing, however, proved to be very similar to those of the Scheimpflug-based data. A unique biphasic trend in the position of the posterior crystalline lens surface during accommodation was discovered, which has not been alluded to in the literature. All axial changes with accommodation were statistically significant (p < 0.01) with the exception of corneal thickness (p = 0.81). A two-year follow-up study was undertaken for a cohort of subjects previously implanted with a new accommodating intraocular lens (AIOL) (Lenstec Tetraflex KH3500). All measures of best corrected distance visual acuity (BCDVA; +0.04 0.24 logMAR), distance corrected near visual acuity (DCNVA; +0.61 0.17 logMAR) and contrast sensitivity (+1.35 0.21 log units) were good. The subjective accommodation response quantified with the push-up technique (1.53 0.64 D) and defocus curves (0.77 0.29 D) was greater than the objective stimulus response (0.21 0.19 D). AS-OCT measures with accommodation stimulus revealed a small mean posterior movement of the AIOLs (0.02 0.03 mm for a 4.0 D stimulus); this is contrary to proposed mechanism of the anterior focus-shift principle.


In the United States, when we talk about addiction and incarceration, what are the stories that are usually told and from whose perspective? This project assembled a multi-method approach incorporating photovoice and a semi-participatory action research (PAR) methodology to establish community connections and facilitate healing through personal storytelling and listening. Working with Phoenix Rise House in Bellows Falls, VT, a transitional house for (12) men who are formerly incarcerated and/or recovering addicts, this research addresses the question: How can internalized stigma, of felons and addicts, be reduced with photo storytelling? Underpinning the semi-PAR methodological approach is a theoretical framework incorporating aspects from critical theory, radical humanism, and Freire's praxis of critical consciousness, aiming to do the following: amplify the voices that tend to be ignored, encourage greater participation in the healing process, and address power-relations and active citizenship. This project primarily involved a grounded theory analysis to unearth key themes of that emerged through the research process using a focus group, group circle sessions, one-on-one interviews, a survey, and my personal reflective journals. The findings and conclusions of this study demonstrate the complexity of and around stigma and how it affects everyone from individuals to the larger community. Themes that emerged from the findings include systemic challenges, identity, healing, relationships, and humanizing. While the study focused on the reduction of internalized stigma, the data also offered insights into the connections between identity, relationships, and self-worth. I suggest that future research incorporate different demographics and include a final community exhibit to showcase participants' work. All too often, addicts and felons are seen through a single lens, but in reality, they too are much more complicated. To truly understand their situations, one must look at them holistically.


Background and Objectives: Forensic physicians provide both medical care and forensic consultations for medico-legal evidence. This study aimed to determine the numbers of various parameters in medical jurisprudence such as gender, age, types of trauma and medical reports as well as to provide descriptive data on medico-legal findings for justice processes. Methods: Retrospective case study and descriptive analysis of the patients who were registered at medico-legal clinic, department of forensic medicine, Srinagarind Hospital from May 2005 until May 2009. Results: Of the 5,337 patients examined, 63.69% were men and the ratio of men to women was approximately 2 to 1. The  ratio of OPD : IPD cases was 3 : 2. The common age ranges of the patients were 10-20 years (32.94 %) and 21-30 years (25.73%). The age of the patients  less  than 10  years and  more  than  51 years  were the least  common.  The occurrence of traffic accident showed more frequent than the others (71.26%). The  body   assault  was  22.99%  and rape cases  was  1.93%.  Medical examination reported as injured patients by body assault,   traffic accident  and  rape cases were 44.79%, 43.62% and 9.47, respectively.  The chance to report  showed more frequent  in  78.6%   rape cases,  22.99%  body   assault  and  9.81%  traffic accident  only. Conclusions: Medico-legal reports by forensic physicians were very important for justice processes. Our study revealed that medical jurisprudence in Srinagarind hospital had different characteristics according to the type of trauma, the numbers of medico-legal reports and the chances to report  by forensic physicians. Keywords : medical  jurisprudence medico-legal report forensic physician


It is known that children gain most of extra weight and lose physical fitness during summer months due to physical inactivity and an increase in food intake. Summer intervention may reduce the prevalence of obesity in children; however reduction in body fat may be regained after finishing summer intervention. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of 8 week summer lifestyle intervention and 10 month follow-up telephone intervention on changes in body composition and level of physical fitness in Hispanic Children. METHODS: 21 overweight or obese students (over 85 percentile in BMI score) aged 9-16 yrs completed 8 week summer intervention including 15 hour physical activity and 2 hour nutritional education per week and bi-weekly diet program. Students were later randomly assigned to follow-up telephone intervention for 10 months (TI) and control (CON). Physical characteristics, sit and reach (flexibility), grip strength (muscular strength), and 1mile walking (estimated VO2max) were obtained before, a week after (POST) and 10 months following 8 week summer intervention (YEAR). RESULTS: We previously reported (Med Sci Sports Exerc 43(5): S624, 2011) that eight week summer lifestyle intervention significantly reduced % body fat and improved flexibility, muscular strength, and estimated VO2max in 21 students. TI statistically maintained % body fat (POST:23.7±2.1%→ YEAR:25.9±2.3, Mean±SE, P=.134), flexibility (31.9±1.4cm→30.4±1.8, P=0.43), and estimated VO2max (44.1±1.66ml·kg-1·min-1→42.7±1.4, P=.215) during 10 month telephone intervention period. CON lost all improvement during 10 month follow-up period: %body fat (22.2±2.0%→ 26.9±1.8, P=.001), flexibility (32.7±1.7→27.3±1.2, P=.03), and estimated VO2max (45.9±1.8→39.8±2.0, P=.005). Muscular strength was slightly increased in both TI and CON, but it was not significant. CONCLUSIONS: 8 week summer lifestyle intervention improved body composition and level of physical fitness in Hispanic children. Results indicate that telephone intervention is an effective tool to maintain the improvement in body composition and levels of fitness obtained from an intensive summer lifestyle intervention program.


Reaching hard-to-reach individuals is a common problem in survey research. The low- and moderate-income (LMI) population, for example, is generally hard to reach. The Kansas City Fed's Low- and Moderate-Income Survey addresses this problem by sampling a database of organizations to serve as proxies for the LMI population. In this paper, I describe why the LMI population can be hard to reach. I then explore potential problems with using a nonrandom survey sample and address the empirical validity of the Kansas City Fed's LMI Survey. I compare results from the survey using the standard sample to results from the survey using a random sample. I find that the results of the surveys using the standard and random samples are not significantly different and conclude that the use of a nonrandom sample is not a significant problem for the LMI Survey. I find that the series of responses from the LMI Survey are correlated with the things they should be correlated with, suggesting that the survey is empirically valid and does a good job of measuring economic conditions in LMI communities.


Cultural protectionism has been an element of national and foreign policies, as an extension of state sovereignty expressed both in a defensive and offensive manner. While the generic protectionist formula in the sense of restraining trade between states through measures such as import tariffs or quotas and through privileging domestic production has somewhat disintegrated over time under the rationale for free trade and the strong practical evidence of its benefits, the particular case of cultural protectionism has persevered. As we reveal in this paper, however, it has been modified, or at least its rhetoric has changed. The enquiry into the notion of cultural protectionism or cultural diversity, as the current political jargon would have it, is but one of the paper's objectives. Its second and certainly more ambitious goal is the search for the normative dimensions of cultural diversity policies in the global digital space, asking what adjustments are needed and how feasible the entire project of diversity regulation in this environment may be. Taking into account the specificities of cyberspace and in a forward-looking manner, we propose some adjustments to current media policy practices that could better serve the goal of a sustainably diverse cultural environment.


This study reports comprehensive baseline data for hematology, serum chemistry, and cytology variables in 63 apparently healthy Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) inhabiting the estuarine waters of Charleston (CHS), South Carolina (SC). Blood and cytology samples were collected from bottlenose dolphins in August 2003 and August 2004 during capture-release health assessment studies. Means, medians, standard deviations, 95% CI, and ranges were calculated for the population's hematology, serum biochemistry, and serum protein electrophoresis parameters. All of the parameters for which a published range was available were close to or within the ranges previously reported. Comparisons by age, gender, and pregnancy status revealed statistically significant differences (p ences (p ences ( < 0.05) for several hematology and serum chemistry parameters. Blowhole, rectal, and gastric swabs were examined for cytologic abnormalities, utilizing light microscopy. There were no pathologic findings in the samples; however, 4% (2/51) of the dolphins sampled had mild or moderate blowhole inflammation. The prevalence of gastric inflammation was 26% (13/50), and severe gastric inflammation was present in three of the dolphins sampled (6%). The majority of animals with gastric inflammation were male (10/13, 77%). In fact, all cases of severe inflammation occurred in males, and none were present in 2004. These data provide a baseline from which to compare hematological, serum chemistry, and cytological parameters in wild dolphin populations.


We have performed a search over 3440 deg2 of Epoch 1 (2017–2019) of the Very Large Array Sky Survey to identify unobscured quasars in the optical (0.2 < z < 3.2) and obscured active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in the infrared that have brightened dramatically in the radio over the past one to two decades. These sources would have been previously classified as "radio-quiet" quasars based on upper limits from the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty cm survey (1993–2011), but they are now consistent with "radio-loud" quasars ( ). A quasi-simultaneous, multiband (∼1–18 GHz) follow-up study of 14 sources with the VLA has revealed compact sources (<0.″1 or <1 kpc) with peaked radio spectral shapes. The high-amplitude variability over decadal timescales at 1.5 GHz (100% to >2500%) but roughly steady fluxes over a few months at 3 GHz are inconsistent with extrinsic variability due to propagation effects, thus favoring an intrinsic origin. We conclude that our sources are powerful quasars hosting compact/young jets. This challenges the generally accepted idea that "radio-loudness" is a property of the quasar/AGN population that remains fixed on human timescales. Our study suggests that frequent episodes of short-lived AGN jets that do not necessarily grow to large scales may be common at high redshift. We speculate that intermittent but powerful jets on subgalactic scales could interact with the interstellar medium, possibly driving feedback capable of influencing galaxy evolution.


The Qinghai-Gansu area in Northwestern China is home to a Sprachbund that encompasses languages of four groups: (Northwestern Mandarin) Chinese, (Amdo) Tibetan, Mongolic, and Turkic. Four of the Shirongol Mongolic languages (Mongghul, Mangghuer, Baoan, and Kangjia) and the Turkic language Salar have developed a postposed indefinite article, apparently under the influence of neighboring Tibetan. This paper provides a general survey of the development and usage of the indefinite article in this region, illustrated by examples from the Turkic and Mongolic Sprachbund members involved. It concludes (in appendix) with a Salar text sample that shows the usage of the article in context.


The Multi-Layered Displays (MLD) comprise two LCD screens mounted one in front of the other, allowing the presentation of information on both screens. This physical separation produces depth without requiring glasses. This research evaluated the utility of the MLD for change detection tasks, particularly in operational environments. Change Blindness refers to the failure to detect changes when the change happens during a visual disruption. The literature equates these visual disruptions with the types of interruptions that occur regularly in work situations. Change blindness is more likely to occur when operators monitor dynamic situations spread over several screens, when there are popup messages, and when there are frequent interruptions which are likely to block the visual transients that signal a change. Four laboratory experiments were conducted to evaluate the utility of the MLD for change detection tasks. The results from the experiments revealed that, when depth is used as a visual cue, the depth of the MLD has a different effect on the detection of expected changes and unexpected events. When the depth of the MLD is used as a comparison tool, the detection of differences is limited to translation differences in simple stimuli with a white background. These results call into question previous claims made for the MLD regarding operational change detection. In addition, observations and interviews were used to explore whether change blindness occurred in an operational command room. The results suggested that operators develop strategies to recover from interruptions and multitasking. These results call into doubt the wisdom of applying change detection theories to real world operational settings. More importantly, the research serves as a reminder that cognitive limitations found in the laboratory are not always found in real world environments.


Abstract:Spike Jonze's Her (2013) is a film about a romantic relationship between a man and an operating system. Using a Lacanian and Žižekian psychoanalytic framework, we interpret this film in the context of what the late cultural theorist Mark Fisher has called "capitalist realism." Referring to the Lacanian thesis that "there is no sexual relationship," we discuss the film's unique treatment of our enjoyment of digital technology and how it deals with the parallel deadlocks of the sexual relationship and the work relationship. We address these topics by looking at how Her deals with the sexual relationship, love, work, and fantasy. The premise of the film is original—suited to the zeitgeist of the digital present—and we claim that it reveals important insights about processes of subjectivization.


Today's international petroleum industry is radically different from what it was in the 1970s. Yet it remains as highly politicized as it was in the heyday of resource nationalism two decades ago, when oil occupied the attention of Western governments and the press. Those concerned about oil have dwindled in number, save for the oil exporters who recently had to bear an extraordinary burden of adjustment when petroleum prices collapsed after January 1997. Even so, petroleum issues remain significant in a wider political setting. Less than a decade ago, the United Nations, under U.S. leadership, fought a modern war over petroleum after Iraq seized Kuwait and its oil resources. More recently, the United States has been brandishing the oil weapon through its sanctions policy, conducting the very policy that it fought against a quarter of a century ago. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, a new political economy of oil has been evolving. It is characterized by open access to resources not only in the Persian Gulf, where most of the world's oil is located, but elsewhere in the world as well--especially the Caspian Sea basin. This new era is also marked by dramatically improved technology and a shift from government control to government and industry cooperation. Despite the differences between oil politics today and those of yesteryear, however, there remain important continuities between the two eras. This essay will examine the foundations of this new political economy of oil and the forces that will shape a new paradigm for the next century. THE STRUCTURE OF THE OIL INDUSTRY Petroleum has proven to be the most versatile fuel source ever discovered, situated at the core of the modern industrial economy.(1) It is the most widely used source of energy, constituting 45 percent of all energy use in the last five years.(2) Despite competition from gas and nuclear energy, it has maintained its prominence largely because it is the only energy source that can be used across the board--in space heating, as an industrial fuel supply and as a means to generate electricity--and because it continues to be unrivaled in the transportation sector. Petroleum remains abundant, inexpensive and more readily and cheaply transported across long distances than any of its competitors. The industry is divided into two sectors: the upstream and the downstream.(3) The upstream sector involves the marshaling of capital and technology in the search for and development of new supplies. When crude oil is perceived to be in short supply, a great deal of capital is dedicated to exploration and production, almost inevitably resulting in the development of large new oil fields. These fields have very low operating costs in comparison to the price of finding and developing them. For example, a field that costs $10 per barrel to find and develop can be operated and depleted for only $2 to $5 a barrel once the original capital requirements for platforms and other infrastructure have been met. Yet unless a mechanism is found to control this new supply, the market becomes glutted with oil and prices fall, threatening the profitability of the upstream activities that made the discovery possible. This drives out capital and eventually supply, until tightened market conditions restore prices and renew the process. The other main sector, the downstream, refers to the refining of crude oil into a variety of different products, which are then marketed and distributed to consumers. Like the upstream, the downstream sector is highly capital-intensive. It is costly to build a refinery, but, once it exists, the refining costs are fairly low, with the main cost being the price of crude oil. In other words, once a refinery is operating, the cost of refining an additional barrel amounts to little more than the cost of the crude oil itself. Thus there is a temptation to maximize operational cash flows by driving down incremental costs. …


Purpose/Objectives/Research/Focus of Study This qualitative study investigated online instructors' perceptions of cultural diversity in the online classroom and the challenges that instructors of online courses encounter in their efforts to incorporate cultural diversity and multicultural learning contents in the online learning environment. An associated goal of the study was to explore the instructional strategies that online instructors use to create conducive online learning environments that value cultural differences as well as the educational experiences of students in online classrooms. Population/Participants/Subjects Fifty full-time instructors of online courses from three universities in the northeastern part of the United States participated in the study. The participants included Clinical Professors of Practice (n = 4), Assistant Professors (n = 18), Associate Professors (n = 16), and Full Professors (n = 12). There were 23 females and 27 males from different academic disciplines and cultural backgrounds. Research Questions Unlike many previous studies, this study sought to uncover online instructors' perceptions of cultural diversity in the online classroom, the pedagogical strategies they employ to address issues related to cultural diversity in online learning, and the challenges they encounter in their efforts to promote cultural diversity and incorporate multicultural learning content into their online instruction. Specifically, this study explored the following research questions: (a) How do instructors of online courses perceive cultural diversity and the impact of cultural diversity in online learning? (b) What instructional strategies do instructors of online courses use to address issues related to cultural diversity in online learning environments? (c) What challenges do instructors of online courses encounter in their efforts to promote cultural diversity and multicultural learning content in online environments? Research Design This study employed qualitative research design using semi-structured interviews and content analysis to explore instructors' perceptions of cultural diversity in online learning as well as the challenges encountered by instructors of online courses in their efforts to promote cultural diversity and incorporate multicultural learning content into their online instruction. The qualitative research design was chosen because it allowed the researchers to collect and analyze data about the instructors' perceptions of cultural diversity based on their own voices, with the aim of producing conceptual explanations of the types of instructional strategies that instructors use to promote cultural diversity in online education and the challenges they encountered in the online classroom. Findings/Results The findings of the study pointed to four themes, namely that: (a) differential perceptions of cultural diversity exist among instructors of online courses; (b) perceptions of cultural diversity depend on the academic disciplines taught by instructors; (c) a variety of instructional strategies—collaborative online learning activities, incorporating multicultural learning activities and global learning content, using cultural awareness activities, addressing the impact of multicultural education— support cultural diversity in the online environment; and (d) there are significant challenges associated with promoting cultural diversity in online teaching and learning. Conclusions and Recommendations Findings revealed that the majority of the instructors view cultural diversity as the recognition of students' cultural differences within the online learning environment, the ability of instructors to infuse multicultural content into their curriculum, and the capacity of instructors to use a variety of strategies to facilitate instructional delivery to meet the needs of students from diverse cultural backgrounds who study in the online environment. Findings also suggested that instructors' perceptions of cultural diversity in the online setting vary depending on their teaching discipline and academic preparation. Specifically, instructors in education, social sciences, and engineering demonstrated a good understanding and awareness of cultural diversity. They also felt the need to provide support that enhanced the learning experiences of diverse student populations in the online environment. On the contrary, instructors in the physical sciences did not demonstrate such a good understanding of cultural diversity and showed little knowledge of ways to incorporate multicultural learning content to help diverse student populations achieve academic success in online education. In light of the findings from this study, the researchers recommend that online instructors and instructional designers work toward enhancing their knowledge of cultural diversity and toward incorporating multicultural resources in their curricula to support diverse student populations (including those with learning disabilities) in online education.


There is a great deal of interest in the development of nanoplatforms gathering versatility and multifunctionality. The strategy reported herein meets these requirements and further integrates a cell-friendly shell in a bio-inspired approach. By taking advantage of a cell mechanism of biomolecule transport using vesicles, we engineered a hybrid biogenic nanoplatform able to encapsulate a set of nanoparticles regardless of their chemistry or shape. As a proof of versatility, different types of hybrid nanovesicles were produced: magnetic, magnetic-metallic and magnetic-fluorescent vesicles, either a single component or multiple components, combining the advantageous properties of each integrant nanoparticle. These nanoparticle-loaded vesicles can be manipulated, monitored by MRI and/or fluorescence imaging methods, while acting as efficient nano-heaters. The resulting assets for targeting, imaging and therapy converge for the outline of a new generation of nanosystems merging versatility and multifunctionality into a bio-camouflaged and bio-inspired approach.


ABSTRACT: The resurgence of interest in the interrelationship and interdependence between the physiological and psychological aspects of being human (i.e. in wholistic health) and concern regarding attachment issues and dynamics also questions and bespeaks both of the quality of care given to newborns and the impact this care has on their ability to develop healthy attachments and personalities. This article addresses these issues in relation to how newborns are physically handled at birth and the impact that this has on their physical and psychological well being-most specifically, how the obstetrical and postpartal procedures affect the connective tissues which have been found through research to be not only physiological in substance but also psychological in nature. The upsurge of interest in a wholistic approach to life and health reflects an increasing concern about the interrelationship and interdependence between the physiological and psychological aspects of being human. This concern calls into question the quality of care given to the newborn. Expectant parents are demanding changes in both the labor and delivery environment and procedures, which not only take into account their needs but also the needs of the newborn. The work of Frederick Leboyer has challenged the traditional obstetrical procedures used in delivery and immediate postnatal management of the newborn. Klaus and Kennell's research has documented the sensory capacities of the newborn and their role in the attachment process between the newborn and primary caretaker.8 The dynamics of the sensory capacities and "cognitive" structure of the newborn have been further elucidated in "Factors in Neonatal Attachment, Part I: Newborns are People, Too!!13 The findings of Harlow, Montagu, and Prescott have clarified both the relationship and significance of touch in attachment formation and later personality development. Also, the research of Caffey, Salter, and Guarneschelli has brought to light significant data in the area of child abuse which has ramifications in regards to some of the traditional modes of neonatal management. Research into the effects of Rolfingb and the role and dynamics of connective tissue (also referred to as fascia) in the body has delineated important factors regarding the relationship between the physiological and psychological responses to experience. Hunt's recent research has given further information on the dynamics of the physiological and psychological interrelationship within a person. In view of this information, attention needs to be given to exploring the relationship of neonatal management to the newborn's ability to attach to the primary caretaker in an effective and healthy way. How is experience registered in the newborn? What is the link that unites the physiological and psychological factors of being a person? What is connective tissue, and how does it respond to touch and other stimuli? What is the significance of touch in attachment formation and personality development? How does this data relate to neonatal management? In exploring these issues it is important to note that newborns are totally sensory aware; they have all five sensory capacities fully developed and functioning at the time of birth.13-24 Therefore, they take in the stimuli present in the birth environment. This data is processed on an emotional-physiological level since the newborn does not possess a rational cognitive structure for processing and communicating information. The way in which a newborn is responded to and handled during this time will determine the degree to which an infant is traumatically affected by the experience.13 NEONATAL MEMORY Memory is the ability to intellectually retain, recall, and reaccount past experiences, and to provide verbal data and description of specific past events. Because newborns do not have a developed complex vocabulary, they neither remember nor reaccount events in the way just described. …


Monitoring microseismicity is important for illuminating active faults and for improving our understanding earthquake physics. These tasks are difficult in urban areas where the SNR is poor, and the level of background seismicity is low. One example is the Newport-Inglewood fault (NIFZ), an active fault that transverses the city of Long-Beach (LB). The catalog magnitude of completeness within this area is M=2, about one order of magnitude larger than along other, less instrumented faults in southern California. Since earthquakes obey a power-law distribution according to which for each unit drop in magnitude the number of events increases by a tenfold, reducing the magnitude of completeness along the NIFZ will significantly decrease the time needed for effective monitoring. The LB and Rosecrans experiments provides a unique opportunity for studying seismicity along the NIFZ. These two array contain thousands of vertical geophones deployed for several-months periods along the NIFZ for exploration purposes. The array recordings are dominated by noise sources such as the local airport, highways, and pumping in the nearby oil fields. We utilize array processing techniques to enhance the SNR.We downward continue the recorded wave field to a depth of a few kilometers, which allows us to detect signals whose amplitude is a few percent of the average surface noise. The migrated wave field is back-projected onto a volume beneath the arrays to search for seismic events. The new catalog illuminates the fault structure beneath LB, and allows us to study the depth-dependent transition in earthquake scaling properties. Deep aseismic transients carry valuable information on the physical conditions that prevail at the roots of seismic faults. However, due the limited sensitivity of geodetic networks, details of the spatiotemporal evolution of such transients are not well resolved. To address this problem, we have developed a new technique to jointly infer the distribution of aseismic slip from seismicity and strain data. Our approach relies on Dieterich (1994)'s aftershock model to map observed changes in seismicity rates into stress changes. We apply this technique to study a three month long transient slip event on the Anza segment of the San Jacinto Fault (SJF), triggered by the remote M w 7.2, 2010 El Mayor-Cucapah (EMC) mainshock. The EMC sequence in Anza initiated with ten days of rapid (≈100 times the longterm slip rate), deep (12-17 km) slip, which migrated along the SJF strike. During the following 80 days afterslip remained stationary, thus significantly stressing a segment hosting the impending M w 5.4 Collins Valley mainshock. Remarkably, the cumulative moment due to afterslip induced by the later mainshock is about 10 times larger than the moment corresponding to the mainshock and its aftershocks. Similar to sequences of large earthquakes rupturing fault gaps, afterslip generated by the two mainshocks is spatially complementary. One interpretation is that the stress field due to afterslip early in the sequence determined the spatial extent of the late slip episode. Alternatively, the spatial distribution is the result of strong heterogeneity of frictional properties within the transition zone. Our preferred model suggests that Anza seismicity is primarily induced due to stress transfer from an aseismically slipping principal fault to adjacent subsidiary faults, and that the importance of earthquake interactions for generating seismicity is negligible.


Improvement in analysis and reporting results of osteoarthritis (OA) clinical trials has been recently obtained because of harmonization and standardization of the selection of outcome variables (OMERACT 3 and OARSI). Moreover, OARSI has recently proposed the OARSI responder criteria. This composite index permits presentation of results of symptom modifying clinical trials in OA based on individual patient responses (responder yes/no). The 2 organizations (OMERACT and OARSI) established a task force aimed at evaluating: (1) the variability of observed placebo and active treatment effects using the OARSI responder criteria; and (2) the possibility of proposing a simplified set of criteria. The conclusions of the task force were presented and discussed during the OMERACT 6 conference, where a simplified set of responder criteria (OMERACT-OARSI set of criteria) was proposed.


The modern lifestyle is highly dependent on the electricity consumption, which demand is
expected to continue growing worldwide, especially in those developing areas where the whole
economy is transforming. Until now, most of this electricity demand had been supplied through
the combustion of fossil fuels or nuclear power. But the utilization of these energy sources to
power the human activity is unsustainable because of limitless of the resources and the
hazardous emissions and wastes that they generate. That is why since few decades ago the
wind power became one of the best-positioned renewable energy in terms of costs effectiveness
as a viable alternative to the energetic model based on pollutant fossil fuels. This technology
was firstly developed and implemented on those countries with a traditional environmental
conscientiousness, but as the global warming issue increased new countries were interested to
use wind power as a clean and sustainable energy source. The growing wind power demand of
developing countries has changed in few years the entire industry, because new local
manufacturers have appeared thanks to the government renewable policy, which main objective
is to develop a strong domestic wind power industry capable of lead the world transformation to
a clean energy model.
The thesis defines the most commons renewable energy policies, and focus in the policy used in
China with the aim to analyze if it is promoting or damaging the expansion of wind power use
because of the priority is protect its own domestic wind power industry from international firms.
The conclusions are that those protectionist policies are useful in the early stage of the industry
development but the government must know the exact moment in which these subsidies and
supporting mechanisms become counterproductive. If those are used during a prolonged period,
then companies become dependent on subsidies and don't act like in free markets where the
innovation is the key to gain and maintain sustainable competitive advantage.


The paper explores one rationale behind the existence of financial repression, with the latter being represented through the obligatory "high" reserve requirement for the banks. Using an overlapping generation production-economy-monetary model characterized by the possibility of banking crisis, we try and answer whether at all these high reserve requirements are related to discipline the banks. Results indicate that economies with higher probability of banking crisis should optimally choose higher income taxation. The correlation between optimal reserve requirements and probability of crisis is positive only when the social planner has exhausted his ability of income taxation.


To obtain good quality coatings, spray parameters must be carefully selected. Due to the large variety in process parameters, it is difficult to optimize the process for each specific coating and substrate combination. In this paper, the process of particle in-flight, coating growth and pore formation has been analyzed by numerical simulation. Three sub-models, plasma-particle, splat formation and coating buildup, have been developed. A comprehensive three-dimensional computational code (LAVA3D-P) is used to predict the plasma flame formation, flame-particle interaction, and particle state and trajectory. Assuming each splat is disk-like shape and the flattening ratio, a ratio between the splat diameter and droplet diameter, can be calculated based on the interplay among particle kinetic energy, dissipation energy and solidification. A set of rules of coating buildup are proposed to predict the coating deposition and pore formation, considering the influences of particle size, velocity, temperature and location related to the substrate. Using this model we can obtain the porosity, surface roughness and thickness of the coating considering splat adhesion and quenching stresses. Although the current model has severe restrictions which attributes to many assumptions, it however, forms a foundation for further improvement of an advanced ceramic coating buildup model.Copyright © 2004 by ASME


Intracellular fatty acid (FA) concentrations are in part determined by a regulated import/export system that is controlled by two key proteins, i.e. fatty acid transport protein (FATP) and acyl-CoA synthetase (ACS), which respectively facilitate the transport of FAs across the cell membrane and their esterification to prevent their efflux. The aim of this investigation was to analyze the expression pattern of FATP and ACS and to determine whether their expression was altered by agents that affect FA metabolism through the activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) such as the fibrates and thiazolidinediones. FATP mRNA was ubiquitously expressed, with highest levels being detected in adipose tissue, heart, brain, and testis. Fibrate treatment, which is known to preferentially activate PPARα, induced FATP mRNA levels in rat liver and intestine and induced ACS mRNA levels in liver and kidney. The antidiabetic thiazolidinedione BRL 49653, which is a high-affinity ligand for the adipocyte-specific PPARγ form, caused a small induction of muscle but a robust induction of adipose tissue FATP mRNA levels. BRL 49653 did not affect liver FATP and had a tendency to decrease heart FATP mRNA levels. ACS mRNA levels in general showed a similar pattern after BRL 49653 as FATP except for the muscle where ACS mRNA was induced. This regulation of FATP and ACS expression by PPAR activators was shown to be at the transcriptional level and could also be reproduced in vitro in cell culture systems. In the hepatocyte cell lines AML-12 or Fa 32, fenofibric acid, but not BRL 49653, induced FATP and ACS mRNA levels, whereas in the 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cell line, the PPARγ ligand induced FATP and ACS mRNA levels quicker than fenofibric acid. Inducibility of ACS and FATP mRNA by PPARα or γ activators correlated with the tissue-specific distribution of the respective PPARs and was furthermore associated with a concomitant increase in FA uptake. Most interestingly, thiazolidinedione antidiabetic agents seem to favor adipocyte-specific FA uptake relative to muscle, perhaps underlying in part the beneficial effects of these agents on insulin-mediated glucose disposal.


Can a Christian escape from a lion? How quickly can a rumour spread? Can you fool an airline into accepting oversize baggage? Recreational mathematics is full of frivolous questions where the mathematician's art can be brought to bear. But play often has a purpose. In mathematics, it can sharpen skills, provide amusement, or simply surprise, and books of problems have been the stock-in-trade of mathematicians for centuries. This collection is designed to be sipped from, rather than consumed in one sitting. The questions range in difficulty: the most challenging offer a glimpse of deep results that engage mathematicians today; even the easiest prompt readers to think about mathematics. All come with solutions, many with hints, and most with illustrations. Whether you are an expert, or a beginner or an amateur mathematician, this book will delight for a lifetime.