To the Editor: Rift Valley fever (RVF) is an undifferentiated febrile illness caused by Rift Valley fever virus (RVFV). Several human outbreaks occurred in Africa, resulting in tens of thousands of infections (1,2). During fall 2000, an outbreak of RVF in the Arabian Peninsula (the first recorded outside of Africa) resulted in many human and animal fatalities (3,4). Severe and frequently fatal encephalitis thought to be directly related to viral invasion of the central nervous system develops in <1% of patients (5). Encephalitis complicating RVF is poorly described in the literature, which offers no detailed description of the clinical findings, results of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) studies, or imaging. We describe a case of RVF encephalitis associated with retinitis, including CSF findings, viral culture results, and neuroradiology findings

An 18-year-old woman from Jazan (southwest of Saudi Arabia) had a 3-day history of confusion, fever, and blurred vision at the time an RVF outbreak was peaking in Jazan. Philadelphia-chromosome–positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) had been diagnosed in her several months before (leukocyte count 108 x 109/L). She responded well to hydroxyurea, and she had been in stable-phase CML for a few months. At the time of her visit, her temperature was 39.2°C, blood pressure 110/70 mm Hg, pulse 120 beats/min, respiratory rate 22/min. She had no lymphadenopathy, pallor, or jaundice. Results of her head, neck, and throat examinations were normal. Her chest was clear, and her abdomen was soft and nontender. Her spleen was 3 cm below the left costal margin. She was conscious and oriented. No meningeal signs could be elicited. Pupils were equally reactive to light with normal extraocular movements. Extremities had normal tone, power, sensation, and reflexes. Plantar reflex was flexor bilaterally. She had ataxic gait and bilateral retinal hemorrhages. She was unable to count fingers. Hemoglobin was 100 g/L, leukocyte count 5.1 x 109/L, and platelets 373 x 109/L. Renal and liver function tests were normal. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CT) scan of the brain was normal. Urine analysis and malaria smear were negative. CSF was clear. CSF glucose was 3.9 mmol/L (serum 5.8), protein 455 mg/L. CSF leukocyte count was 323 x 106/L, 58% lymphocytes, and 38% polynuclearleukocytes. Tests for hepatitis B surface antigen, antibodies to hepatitis C virus, HIV, cytomegalovirus antigenemia, rheumatoid factor, and antinuclear antibodies were negative. Cultures from blood, CSF, and urine were negative for bacteria. CSF viral culture was negative. Polymerase chain reaction for herpes simplex virus and enterovirus from CSF was negative. Tests for serum anti-RVF virus immunoglobulin M were positive. No other tests for RVFV were performed. Bone marrow on admission day was consistent with CML in remission. Prednisone was started on admission for 7 days.

On hospital day 5, the patient was noted to be agitated, confused, and unresponsive to commands. She was transferred to the intensive care unit after her level of consciousness decreased; she was moving all four limbs but did not respond to verbal commands or painful stimuli. Pupils were 5 mm equal bilaterally with a sluggish reaction to light. Corneal reflexes were reactive bilaterally. Gag reflex was present, and tone was increased in all four limbs with brisk reflexes and extensor planter responses. The next day, her condition deteriorated, and she became unresponsive to painful stimuli. Repeated CT scan of the brain showed no pathologic changes. Electroencephalogram showed generalized continuous rhythmic sharp and spike wave activity consistent with nonconvulsive status epilepticus. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain showed bilateral frontoparietal high signal intensity on T2-weighted images and evidence of subtle right posterior thalamic hyperintensity with no corresponding abnormalities in T1-weighted images. The axial diffusion MRI images were more elaborative, showing multiple bilateral asymmetrical cortical hyperintense areas consistent with an ischemic or inflammatory process. Phenytoin was started. The next day, the patient was able to open her eyes and responded to painful stimuli, corneal reflexes were present bilaterally, oculocephalic reflex was present, and planters were flexors bilaterally. Repeat CSF studies on day 30 showed glucose of 3.8 mmol/L, protein 431 mg/L, leukocyte count of 12 x 106/L, and 68% polynuclearleukocytes. Repeat CT scan of the brain showed new bilateral temporo-occipital hypodensity more on the left side and a probable right middle cerebellar and left thalamic internal capsule infarct. There was no intracranial hemorrhage or hydrocephalus. She was discharged home awake, blind, quadreparetic, and incontinent, on anticonvulsants. After 1 year, her neurologic condition had not changed.

Encephalitis and retinitis are severe complications of RVF, developing 1 or 2 weeks into the course of diseases. By that time, RVFV antigen assay is negative. Our patient met the definition of an RVF case during the outbreak (3). In one outbreak in Mauritania, 4.9% of observed infections had encephalitis (6), although the true frequency of encephalitis in RVF may be overestimated because infection can go unrecognized. The literature contains limited clinical description of this syndrome (6–8). Detailed neuroimaging findings, including MRI and flow studies, have not been previously reported. These findings, along with the patient's clinical signs and symptoms, suggest cerebral vasculitis; however, no angiogram was performed, and markers of vasculitis were negative. A more likely cause would be direct viral parenchymal invasion.

The pathogenesis of RVF encephalitis in humans is not clear. Animal studies indicate that active viral replication and necrotizing encephalitis with diffuse perivascular infiltrates of lymphocytes and macrophages occur in cerebral parenchyma (9,10). Postmortem histopathologic examination of brains of fatally infected rhesus monkeys have shown a mild, nonsuppurative, multifocal, perivascular encephalitis in the cerebral cortex, primarily of lymphoplasmacytic cells and nodular aggregates of neutrophils in association with mild necrotic changes of neurons (11). In one patient who died of meningoencephalitis in South Africa, brain pathologic findings showed perivascular cuffing and round-cell infiltration (2). In humans, we are not aware of positive RVFV cultures from CSF, blood, or brain during encephalitis. We have no reason to suspect CML to influence disease manifestations in this patient. CML was in stable phase for several months and should not have affected immune response of the patient towards RVFV.


The article deals with the specific features of the graduation thesis within the framework of the degree program in linguistics (translation skills profile) alongside the implementation of the competency based approach at the institutions of higher education. An attempt is undertaken to analyze the basic requirements for Master's and Bachelor's theses at Volgograd State University and some German and Austrian translation institutions of higher education.


Background: Platelet-rich fibrin (PRF), an intimate assembly of cytokines, glycan chains, and structural glycoproteins enmeshed within a slowly polymerized fibrin network, has the potential to accelerate soft and hard tissue healing. The purpose of the study was to clinically evaluate and compare the efficacy of autologous PRF combined with demineralized freeze-dried bone allograft (DFDBA) to DFDBA alone in the treatment of periodontal intrabony defects. Materials and Methods: In a split mouth study design, 10 patients having two almost identical intrabony defects with clinical probing depth of at least 6 mm were selected for the study. Selected sites were randomly divided into two groups. In Group I, mucoperiosteal flap elevation followed by the placement of DFDBA was done. In Group II, mucoperiosteal flap elevation followed by the placement of homogeneous mixture of PRF with DFDBA was done. Clinical and radiographic parameters were recorded at baseline and at 6 months post-operatively. Results: Both treatment groups showed a significant probing pocket depth reduction, clinical attachment gain, defect fill, and defect resolution 6 months after surgery compared to baseline. However, there was a significantly greater probing pocket depth reduction and clinical attachment gain when PRF was added to DFDBA. Conclusion: Within limits of the study it may be concluded that a combination of PRF with DFDBA demonstrated better results in probing pocket depth reduction and clinical attachment level gain as compared to DFDBA alone in the treatment of periodontal intrabony defects.


This publication explores national and international policy priorities for building students' innovation capabilities through information and communication technologies (ICT) in Australian schools. Section one sets out the Australian policy context for digital education and highlights some of the emerging challenges. It provides an overview of two Australian school education policy priorities: that of how to meaningfully include technologies into teaching and learning; and how to build innovation capabilities in students. Section two critically examines the education and economic policy contexts for digital education in Australia, their intersections with international economic priorities, and the role of commercial technologies markets in schools. Section three discusses those Australian education policy priorities that focus on how students build both their discipline-based knowledge and general capabilities, such as creativity and innovation, using technologies. Section four provides some insights into how students currently use technologies for learning and communicating with each other inside and outside of school, and reflects upon what the implications of these practices are for students and policy implementation in schools. In section five the discussion focuses on the physical and human characteristics required by all stakeholders to enable learning with technologies in 21st century schools. Section six challenges existing policy approaches to technology-use in schools, and argues for more open approaches to the deployment and use of technologies and digital resources in schools.


The role of palladium in carbon-oxygen and carbon-selenium bond forming
processes has been investigated with particular emphasis on the postulated
intermediacy of organopalladium(IV) species.
Reactions of the diorganopalladium(II) complexes PdMeR(L 2) [R = Me, 4-toly1
(Tol); L2 = 2,2'-bipyridirle (bPY), N,N,NcN'-tetramethylethylenediamine (tmeda)]
with diaroyl peroxides (ArCO2)2 [Ar = Ph, 4-CF3C6114 (ArF)] were investigated using
variable temperature 1 1-1 NMR spectroscopy, revealing a complex series of reactions.
The complexes Pd1IMeR(L2) are predicted to undergo initial oxidative addition of
(ArCO2)2 to give an unobserved Pd(IV) intermediate, P d1v(02CAr)2MeR(L2) ' ,
which immediately takes part in an exchange reaction with the reagents Pd IIMeR(1,2)
to form the observed intermediates Pd 11(02CAr)R(L2) and Pdiv(02CAr)Me2R(L2)
(except in the case of R = Tol and L2 = tmeda, where no Pd(W) intermediate was
observed). Decomposition of Pdiv(02CAr)Me2R(L2) then occurred via reductive
elimination of carbon-carbon bonds with absence of carbon-oxygen coupling.
Carbon-oxygen coupling to form R-02CAr occurred from the reaction of
monoorganopalladium(II) species Pd 11(02CAr)R(L2) with (ArCO2)2, with concurrent
formation of Pd11(02CAr)2(L2). The exception was the reaction of
Pd11 (02CAr)Tol(tmeda) with (ArCO2)2, which proceeded in a 2:1 ratio of reactants to
form 4,4'-bitoly1 and Pd11 (02CAr)2(tmeda). Observed HQ° and Pd(IV)
intermediates and products of the reactions were also prepared by independent
syntheses. Attempts to prepare Pdiv(02CAr)2MeR(bpy) were unsuccessful.
The use of palladium and platinum complexes incorporating an intramolecularly
coordinating `NCN-pincer' ligand, [C6H3(CH2NMe2)2-2,6] -, as a potential means of
preparing stable models for Pd(IV) intermediates has been investigated. No reaction
was observed between Pdil(02CPh)(NCN) and (PhCO2)2, while the reaction with the
platinum analogue resulted in formation and isolation of the stable complex
mer-Ptiv(02CPh)3(NCN). The reactions of MI1 (02CPh)(NCN) (M = Pd, Pt) with
iodomethane resulted in formation of M 11 I(NCN) and Me-02CPh in a 1:1 ratio. Low.
temperature 1H NMR spectroscopic studies revealed the intermediacy of a Pt(IV)
species, cis-PtIv(02CPh)2Me(NCN), but Pd(IV) intermediates were not observed.
The complex cis-Ptiv(02CPh)2Me(NCN) has been isolated from the reaction of
Pt11 (02CPh)(NCN) with excess Ag[02CPh] and iodomethane, and was found to
decompose via first-order kinetics to form Pt11 (02CPh)(NCN) and Me-02CPh.
The reaction of PtllTol(NCN) with (PhCO2)2 led to the formation of
cis-Ptiv(02CPh)2Tol(NCN). This species has been isolated from the reaction of
PtI2Tol(NCN) with Ag[02CPh] and found to be resistant to decomposition. Studies
of the analogous palladium chemistry were not feasible due to the instability of
PdliTol(NCN).
Carbon-selenium bond-forming reactions at palladium were studied as potential
models for carbon-oxygen coupling. The complexes PdilMeAr(bpy) [Ar = Tol,
4-anisyl (Anis)] were found to react with bis(4-chlorophenyl) diselenide
[(C1C6H4Se)2] to form trans-Pdw(SeC6H4C1)2MeAr(bPY), in a rare example of
reversible oxidative addition. The Pd(IV) intermediate decomposed by both carboncarbon
and methyl-selenium coupling, with the absence of aryl-selenium coupling.
Reactions of Pd11MeR(tmeda) (R = Me, Tol) with (C1C6H4Se)2 led to the formation
of products arising from both carbon-carbon and carbon-selenium coupling.
Palladium(IV) species are postulated as intermediates but have not been
observed. Reactions of PdIlMeR(dmpe) [R = Me, Tol; dmpe =
1,2-bis(dimethylphosphino)ethane] with (C1C6H4Se)2 resulted in carbon=selenium
coupling only. The reaction of PdIlMeTol(dmpe) with one equivalent of (C1C6H4Se)2
gave Me-SeC6H4C1 and Pd i1(SeC6H4C1)Tol(dmpe) as the major products. However,
addition of a second equivalent of (C1C6H4Se)2 resulted in aryl-selenium coupling,
from the reaction of Pd il(SeC6H4C1)Tol(dmpe) with (C1C6H4Se)2.
X-ray structural studies are reported for Pd(02CP1)2(1)PY), Pd(02CAr)2(tmeda)
(Ar = Ph, ArF), Pd(02CPh)Tol(bpy), M(02CPh)(NCN) (M = Pd, Pt),
Pt(02CPh)3(NCN), Pt(02CPh)2R(NCN) (R = Tol, Me) and Pd(SeC6H4C1)Me(dmpe).
Observations of the reactivity of M(II) and M(IV) (M = Pd; Pt) complexes have
led to a better understanding of the possible role of Pd(IV) in carbon-oxygen bond
forming processes in reactions catalysed by palladium complexes.


A heterogeneous sales force may not be as desirable as a homogeneous sales force for two reasons: premiums are required for all except from one agent type, and only the highest type would work as hard as though they were from a homogeneous sales force. This study revisits the heterogeneous sales force compensation and price delegation problem with type-dependent reservation. We find that an equilibrium separating or pooling compensation contract always exists. Different types of agents may receive premiums, and there are scenarios when no premiums are paid. Retaining centralized pricing provides a tool for regulating agent behavior. More than one or even all agent types may work as hard as though they were members of a homogeneous sales force. These findings differ from existing results and their driving force is the dynamics between the differences in reservations and agents' effort costs arising from concealing their true types.


Treatment of young, active patients with primary glenohumeral osteoarthritis (GHOA) is challenging because shoulder arthroplasty may not be ideal in this population. In the past two decades, joint-preserving arthroscopic management options for GHOA, including débridement, have been used to treat different pathologies related to GHOA to reduce pain, to improve function, and to delay or even avoid arthroplasty. Key aspects of comprehensively addressing GHOA arthroscopically include chondroplasty, synovectomy, loose body removal, humeral osteoplasty with excision of the goat's beard osteophyte, capsular release, subacromial and subcoracoid decompression, axillary nerve decompression, and biceps tenodesis. Although data are still emerging, clinical studies report that an arthroscopic approach to glenohumeral arthritis using these various procedures reduces pain, improves function, and improves clinical outcome scores in the short- to mid-term follow-up period. Additional high-level studies are warranted to evaluate long-term outcomes and durability following this procedure.


This paper presents a model of partial internal exit that captures the competitive dynamic between incumbent and potential governments in a non-territorial political system. This model particularly applies to the case of 'cryptosecession' that appears the most likely avenue for non-territorial decentralisation to ever eventuate. It demonstrates how fiscal exploitation is reduced and eventually eliminated as the capability of citizens to move to non-territorial jurisdictions increases. When interpreted as a model of cryptosecession, it shows how the balance of citizen opacity and government legibility determines the balance of fiscal exploitation versus equivalence.


To estimate the economic effects of weather variability in the United States, the authors define and measure weather sensitivity as the variability in economic output that is attributable to weather variability, accounting for changes in technology and changes in levels of economic inputs (i.e., capital, labor, and energy). Using 24 yr of economic data and weather observations, quantitative models of the relationship between state-level sectoral economic output and weather variability are developed for the 11 nongovernmental sectors of the U.S. economy; temperature and precipitation measures were used as proxies for all weather impacts. All 11 sectors are found to have statistically significant sensitivity to weather variability. Economic inputs were then constant and economic output was estimated in the 11 estimated sector models, varying the weather inputs only using 70 yr of historic weather observations. It was found that U.S. economic output varies by up to $485 billion year − 1 of 2008 gross domestic product, about 3.4%, owing to weather variability. U.S. states that are more sensitive to weather variability are identified and sectors are ranked by their degree of weather sensitivity. This work illustrates a valid approach to measuring the economic impact of weather variability, gives baseline information and methods for more detailed studies of the sensitivity of each sector to weather variability, and lays the groundwork for assessing the value of current or improved weather forecast information given the economic impacts of weather variability.


With reference to funds established for the benefits of the public at large, a university endowment, or other similar sovereign wealth fund, we demonstrate that the optimal extraction rate from the fund is significantly smaller than the expected real rate of return on the underlying fund. We consider the situation where the influx to the fund has stopped, it is in a steady state, and is invested broadly in the international financial markets. The optimal spending rate secures that the fund is a perpetuity, i.e., it will last 'forever', where the real value of the fund after payments is stationary, while spending according to the expected rate of return will deplete the fund with probability 1. Optimal portfolio choice and spending are then inconsistent. Our conclusions are contrary to the recommendations of an expert panel to the Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, as well as at odds with part of the extant literature on the management of endowments of universities.


Objective:Hypothermic machine perfusion may improve outcome after transplantation of kidneys donated after cardiac death (DCD), but no sufficiently powered prospective studies have been reported. Because organ shortage has led to an increased use of DCD kidneys, we aimed to compare hypothermic machine perfusion with the current standard of static cold storage preservation. Methods:Eighty-two kidney pairs from consecutive, controlled DCD donors 16 years or older were included in this randomized controlled trial in Eurotransplant. One kidney was randomly assigned to machine perfusion and the contralateral kidney to static cold storage according to computer-generated lists created by the permuted block method. Kidneys were allocated according to standard rules, with concealment of the preservation method. Primary endpoint was delayed graft function (DGF), defined as dialysis requirement in the first week after transplantation. All 164 recipients were followed until 1 year after transplantation. Results:Machine perfusion reduced the incidence of DGF from 69.5% to 53.7% (adjusted odds ratio: 0.43; 95% confidence interval 0.20–0.89; P = 0.025). DGF was 4 days shorter in recipients of machine-perfused kidneys (P = 0.082). Machine-perfused kidneys had a higher creatinine clearance up to 1 month after transplantation (P = 0.027). One-year graft and patient survival was similar in both groups (93.9% vs 95.1%). Conclusions:Hypothermic machine perfusion was associated with a reduced risk of DGF and better early graft function up to 1 month after transplantation. Routine preservation of DCD kidneys by hypothermic machine perfusion is therefore advisable.


Battling bad guys. High-tech hideouts. The gratitude of the masses. Who at some point in their life hasn't dreamed of being a superhero? Impossible, right? Or is it? Possessing no supernatural powers, Batman is the most realistic of all the superheroes. His feats are achieved through rigorous training and mental discipline, and with the aid of fantastic gadgets. Drawing on his training as a neuroscientist, kinesiologist, and martial artist, E. Paul Zehr explores the question: Could a mortal ever become Batman? Zehr discusses the physical training necessary to maintain bad-guy-fighting readiness while relating the science underlying this process, from strength conditioning to the cognitive changes a person would endure in undertaking such a regimen. In probing what a real-life Batman could achieve, Zehr considers the level of punishment a consummately fit and trained person could handle, how hard and fast such a person could punch and kick, and the number of adversaries that individual could dispatch. He also tells us what it would be like to fight while wearing a batsuit and the amount of food we'd need to consume each day to maintain vigilance as Gotham City's guardian. A fun foray of escapism grounded in sound science, Becoming Batman provides the background for attaining the realizable-though extreme-level of human performance that would allow you to be a superhero.


Water in the Middle East: A Geography of Peace, by Hussein A. Amery and Aaron Wolf. Austin, TX. The University of Texas Press, 2000. xviii + 293 pages. Figures to p. 238. Tables to p. 256. Appends. to p. 272. Gloss. to p. 278. Index to p. 293. $45 cloth; $29.95 paper. This volume is, largely, a useful collection of various geopolitical treatments of the critical role water plays in the Arab-Israeli peace-seeking process. While the compilation has defects, none of them is fatal; the book still commands attention. The editors declare their intention to provide a geographical point of view on the Jordan basin and the peace negotiations using "forward-looking analyses" as a technique that offers conditional glimpses of the future-that is, interpretations from diverse geographical perspectives of the hydrological, historical, managerial, and political issues of water in the Jordan system. The idea is a worthy one as there has been a need for such a treatment of the subject. Unfortunately, this endeavor does not fulfill the want either in its regional or topical scope-in these respects the title is misleading given the exclusive focus on the Jordan basin-or conceptually; serious theoretical considerations are eschewed. In only a few chapters are the concerns of geographers as posed in the introduction (e.g., the relationship between people and their natural resources, the difficulties of generalizing about watershed management in the face of the unique human and physical characteristics of each river) clearly applied and analyzed. Forward analysis is used inconsistently and with little incisiveness. In part because of its extreme importance in human affairs, and in part because in international settings water is always an issue of terrain security and national sovereignty, water is inherently political. Unsurprisingly, when studies of water and geography are combined, the concept "geopolitical" very often comes into play, wherein the "geo" component almost always particularizes the meaning of "political," as in this work. In light of its actual treatment of the Jordan basin's water problems, a more apt title for the book might have been something like "A Political Geography of Water and Peace in the Jordan Basin"-more prosaic, but more reflective of what has actually been produced. The warp and woof of the book's ten chapters are the issues of water security and conflict, linked to scarcity and territorial claims, with underlying political and geographical motifs. One may delineate the political theme by the general proposition that unless Israel and the Arab states (including the envisioned State of Palestine) which inhabit the Jordan watershed conclude a fair, equitable, and cooperative agreement for sharing the increasingly scarce water supplies, one that requires rational uses of the resource, any peace agreement is likely to be undermined by constant water-driven tensions that could destabilize an accord over the long term. …


We investigated the patterns of cadmium (Cd) bioaccumulation in three freshwater cladocerans with contrasting calcium (Ca) contents and Ca uptake and loss kinetics. Ca content and dissolved Cd uptake rate were significantly correlated. The large interspecies differences in sensitivity to aqueous Cd exposure were explained by the differences in the Cd uptake rate. The high‐Ca species, Daphnia galeata and Ceriodaphnia dubia, had higher dissolved Cd uptake rates and were more sensitive to aqueous Cd exposure than the low‐Ca species, Moina macrocopa. Food was the dominant Cd source for all of the cladocerans. Feeding on the same Cd‐containing food, M. macrocopa attained the highest Cd body concentration due to its higher assimilation efficiency and ingestion rate, which led to its susceptibility to dietary Cd despite its relatively high intrinsic tolerance. C. dubia suffered most from the dietary Cd exposure, probably due to its higher intrinsic sensitivity. The efflux of Cd from the cladocerans was well described by a two‐compartment model. Although the efflux rate constants from both compartments were comparable among the species, D. galeata had a much higher proportion of the internalized Cd distributed into the fast compartment, and thus eliminated Cd at a much faster rate. The diversity of Cd bioaccumulation patterns in cladocerans indicates that no simple generalization can be made from data on only a few species. Because cladocerans are often the major zooplankton in lakes, their contrasting Cd accumulation and loss suggest that the biogeochemistry of Cd would be different in waters dominated by different cladocerans.


In this piece I argue that so-called "libertarian paternalism" is as self-contradictory as it sounds. The theory of libertarian paternalism originally advanced by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, and given further defense by Sunstein alone, is itself just a sexy ad campaign designed to nudge gullible readers into thinking that there is no conflict between libertarianism and welfare utilitarianism. But no one should lose sight of the fact that welfare utilitarianism just is welfare utilitarianism only if it sacrifices individual liberty whenever it is at odds with maximizing societal welfare. And thus no one who believes that people have rights to craft their own lives through the exercise of their own choices ought to be duped into thinking that just because paternalistic nudges are cleverly manipulative and often invisible, rather than overtly coercive, standard welfare utilitarianism can lay claim to being libertarian. After outlining four distinct strains of libertarian theory and sketching their mutual incompatibility with so-called "libertarian paternalism," I go on to demonstrate at some length how the two most prevalent strains — namely, opportunity set libertarianism and motivational libertarianism — make paternalistically-motivated nudges abuses of state power. As I argue, opportunity set libertarians should recognize nudges for what they are — namely, state incursions into the sphere of liberty in which individual choice is a matter of moral right, the boundaries of which are rightly defined, in part, by permissions to do actions that do not maximize welfare. And motivational libertarians should similarly recognize nudges for what they are — namely, illicitly motivated forms of legislative intervention that insult autonomy no less than do flat bans that leave citizens with no choice but to substitute the state's agenda for their own. As I conclude, whatever its name, a political theory that recommends to state officials the use of "nudges" as means of ensuring that citizens' advance the state's understanding of their own best interests is no more compatible with libertarianism than is a theory that recommends more coercive means of paternalism.


Landscape' is a contemporary term in the field of urban and environmental studies. A concept which came from Europe to Iran and now is frequently used in various fields in the country. The concept of landscape, as a new kind of reality in the world, emerged in the Renaissance era in Europe, and according to the changes in the western worldviews in these centuries, has gained various aspects and meanings. The multifaceted concept of landscape which is even hard to describe in the philosophic view, had been coined in the field of art, passed through the world of philosophy, and affected by the recent achievements in the field of the relation between human and environment, is wildly considered in the planning and designing the human environs. Still, its multifaceted meaning frequently ignored by the specialist around the world as well as Iran. By considering the evolution of the concept of 'landscape' in Europe in a historic recall, this paper attempts to reveal the fundamental aspects of this concept, its current meaning, and anticipate its future shifts and its field of influence. By adopting a descriptive method and comparative analysis, the concept of landscape from the Renaissance until now is examining and classified through the historical and existing definitions. At the end, based on this historical review, with the futurological approach, the paper looks into the possible future for this ambiguous. The results of the classification of the definitions of 'landscape' from the Renaissance until now shows that although the emergence of 'landscape' coined based on the classic dualism between subject and object and the distinction between the world of physics and the world of phenomena as an individualistic regard to the nature, but with by the failure of this dualism and accepting the uncertainty in the world, it evaluated as a subjective-objective phenomenon. In the 21st century, this concept as a new field of science has gained the considerable attention and considered as a savior discipline for our crisis period of mono-dimensionality in the human and its environs relation.


BACKGROUND
American women aged 25-44 y gain 0.5-1 kg yearly, most of which is fat. Because few midlife women participate in strength training, this mode of activity may be a novel intervention for preventing age-associated fat increases in this population.

OBJECTIVES
The primary aim was to assess the efficacy of twice-weekly strength training to avoid increases in percentage body fat and intraabdominal fat.

DESIGN
A randomized controlled trial was conducted in an ethnically diverse sample of 164 overweight and obese [body mass index (in kg/m2): 25-35] women aged 25-44 y. The treatment group did twice-weekly strength training for 2 y. The standard care comparison group was given brochures recommending aerobic exercise. Assessments at baseline, 1, and 2 y included intraabdominal fat by computed tomography scan and body fat and fat-free mass by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.

RESULTS
During 2 y, percentage body fat changes were -3.68 +/- 0.99% for the treatment group and -0.14 +/- 1.04% for the control group, P = 0.01. Two-year intraabdominal fat changes were 7.05 +/- 5.07% for the treatment group and 21.36 +/- 5.34% for the control group, P = 0.05.

CONCLUSION
This study suggests that strength training is an efficacious intervention for preventing percentage body fat increases and attenuating intraabdominal fat increases in overweight and obese premenopausal women. This is relevant to public health efforts for obesity prevention because most weight gain can be assumed to be fat, including abdominal fat.


After cyclone Aila, which caused devastation in Bangladesh in 2009 , humanitarian agencies extensively supported the housing recovery with in-situ housing provisions. This research aimed to characterize the housing recovery measures adopted by the NGOs and local people in Koyra Upazila of Bangladesh after cyclone Aila and also assessed the outcome of the housing recovery. The methodology was developed to conduct the research from a perspective of peoples ' perception and expert opinion. It included focus group discussions, an expert opinion survey, and an institutional survey. The result shows that NGOs and local people adopted protective measures only for windstorm and regular tidal floods ignoring measures to ensure safety against storm surges. The result also reveals that the recovery measures for housing were short-term and low to moderately contributing to pre-disaster vulnerability reduction. The housing recovery curve constructed from peoples ' perception indicates a development inheriting pre-existing vulnerabilities. This research is critical of the present approach of in-situ housing recovery and advocates a land-use-based approach.


In local communities across the United States, local government officials – specifically local bureaucrats – are faced with the realities of a changing climate which include severe storms, prolonged droughts, larger and more damaging floods, and more. Simultaneously, the issue of climate change is incredibly polarized in US politics with one side claiming it is not happening (or if it is happening it is not human caused) and the other framing the issue as the direst threat (or close to it) facing the planet. This dissertation examines a empirical puzzle, asking whether and how local bureaucrats respond to the threat of climate change in their communities. I find that many, but not all, local bureaucrats are responding by developing climate adaptation plans and considering policies which might help their communities avoid the consequences of climate change. They are not acting alone, they work with support from the federal or state government, other bureaucrats, or multi-stakeholder organizations which allow them to access resources and gain political support when they would otherwise not have it. Climate change adaptation, like other emergency and disaster management policies, does not garner much attention from local politicians unless there currently is a disaster the community is responding to or recovering from that forces their attention. Throughout this project, I examine how local bureaucrats step out of their conventional role as policy implementors to shape local agendas and formulate policy – policymaking roles often dominated by elected politicians, members of the media, and advocacy organizations. I argue that local bureaucrats occupy the perfect institutional role for shaping the development of climate adaptation in local governments. They have issue-specific knowledge, making them emergency management and climate adaptation experts (or at least the actors with the most expertise of this kind in local government). This often leads to elected officials deferring to bureaucrats when policies and plans need to be written, like emergency management plans, land use plans. When bureaucrats write these plans, they have the opportunity to incorporate climate adaptation provisions. Local bureaucrats also hold institutional knowledge in local governments. They are more likely to know state and federal policies and requirements, which may encourage climate adaptation (e.g. the Obama Administration's efforts through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to encourage local adaptation policy). Local bureaucrats are also more motivated than elected officials to address climate change. I find that the bureaucrats in this study were aware of the political debates around climate change, but they often adopted a position which separated local adaptation efforts from the polarizing debate around what causes climate change (i.e. who or what is responsible for the problem). This enabled them to address their communities' needs to adapt without drawing opposition from conservative members of their communities who do not think climate change is happening or caused by human activities. I also address the intergovernmental environment local bureaucrats respond to: specifically, their relationship with their state governments and the federal government. Even though states and the federal government wield significant influence over local governments – mostly through the control of resources – local bureaucrats do not avoid climate adaptation solely because the state government disapproves. A few cases demonstrate that state governments' and FEMA's encouragement to address climate adaptation impacted local bureaucrats' decisions to create adaptation policies. However, it was not the only or the most important influence in local bureaucrats' decision-making. In sum, this project demonstrates that local bureaucrats are important actors in the development of local climate adaptation policy. Local bureaucrats' efforts alone are not enough to adapt to climate change, but they are an important first step when politicians cannot or will not act. While only climate adaptation policy was studied in this project, these findings speak to the important role bureaucrats play in creating policy when elected officials do not – either because the issues have low saliences, are highly technical, or are politically polarized. LOCAL BUREAUCRATS AND CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION By Bridget K. Kelley B.A. Ohio Wesleyan University, 2011 M.A. Syracuse University, 2012


The Modified Range Time Intensity Technique for studying the height variation of the Lback-scatter power of vhf radar echoes at Jicamarca has been used to show that the growth time of E-region irregularities is less than I min. Further, these irregularities disappear or reappear precisely at the time when AH at an equatorial minus AH at a non-equatorial station is close to zero irrespective of absolute H over the dip equator. This is consistent with the idea that E-region irregularities over the dip equator scattering the hf or vhf radio waves are due to gradient drift instability and supports the double-current hypothesis for the equatorial electrojet.


A significant volume of research has concentrated on operating-system directed power management (OSPM). The primary focus of previous research has been the development of OSPM policies. Under different conditions, one policy may outperform another and vice versa. Hence, it is difficult, or even impossible, to design the "best" policy for all computers. We present a software framework called the Homogeneous Architecture for Power Policy Integration (HAPPI) that selects the best policy for a given workload at run-time without user or administrator intervention. This framework is portable across different platforms running Linux. HAPPI specifies common requirements for policies and provides an interface to simplify the implementation of policies in a commodity OS. HAPPI can select the best policy among a set of distinct policies at run-time. This technical report describes HAPPI's implementation and provides a sample policy.


According to Geeraerts & Grondelaers (1995: 176), "the medieval physiological-psychological theory of the four humors and the four temperaments has left its traces on our emotional vocabulary". In this study, we would like to go a step further by showing how the changing conceptualisation in the era of Descartes also influenced our emotional lexicon. The XVIIth century can be considered as a key moment in the origin of modern emotive consciousness (see Bloem 2008). For instance, from this period on, the term emotion is used more frequently in a rather abstract sense instead of the "mouvements de l'ame", which was commonly used until then in order to refer to emotional changes. In our analysis, we confront the semantic and syntactic profile of the verbs emouvoir and mouvoir in order to study their uses within the XVIIth century. Therefore, the attested occurrences are analysed in a semasiological way, inspired by Geeraerts' (1997) prototype semantics. I especially peruse some encyclopaedic treaties like for instance Le tableau des passions humaines (1620), Les characteres des passions (1640), De l'usage des passions (1642) and Les passions de l'âme (1649). These works provide us with very important testimonies regarding the changing conceptualisation of emotions. In other words, I examine the evolution of emouvoir and mouvoir within reflections about the nature of emotions in order to demonstrate the close connection between culture and lexicon (see also Kovecses 2005; Gevaert 2005). Keywords: Descartes; metaphors; cultural and diachronic perspective; semantic and syntactic profile; verbal analysis of mouvoir and emouvoir


Fluent Bodies examines the modernization of the indigenous healing practice, Ayurveda, in India. Combining contemporary ethnography with a study of key historical moments as glimpsed through early-twentieth-century texts, Jean M. Langford argues that as Ayurveda evolved from an eclectic set of healing practices into a sign of Indian national culture, it was reimagined as a healing force not simply for bodily disorders but for colonial and postcolonial ills.

Interweaving theory with narrative, Langford explores the strategies of contemporary practitioners who reconfigure Ayurvedic knowledge through institutions and technologies such as hospitals, anatomy labs, clinical trials, and sonograms. She shows how practitioners appropriate, transform, or circumvent the knowledge practices implicit in these institutions and technologies, destabilizing such categories as medicine, culture, science, symptom, and self, even as they deploy them in clinical practice. Ultimately, this study points to the future of Ayurveda in a transnational era as a remedy not only for the wounds of colonialism but also for an imagined cultural emptiness at the heart of global modernity.


Helping other people can entail risks for the helper. For example, when treating infectious patients, medical volunteers risk their own health. In such situations, decisions to help should depend on the individual's valuation of others' well-being (social preferences) and the degree of personal risk the individual finds acceptable (risk preferences). We investigated how these distinct preferences are psychologically and neurobiologically integrated when helping is risky. We used incentivized decision-making tasks (Study 1; N = 292 adults) and manipulated dopamine and norepinephrine levels in the brain by administering methylphenidate, atomoxetine, or a placebo (Study 2; N = 154 adults). We found that social and risk preferences are independent drivers of risky helping. Methylphenidate increased risky helping by selectively altering risk preferences rather than social preferences. Atomoxetine influenced neither risk preferences nor social preferences and did not affect risky helping. This suggests that methylphenidate-altered dopamine concentrations affect helping decisions that entail a risk to the helper.


Small consulting engineering firms often find themselves working on multiple projects and heading in no clear direction, and eventually quality begins to suffer. The solution is to concentrate on a firm's niche—the type of services it provides best to the clients with whom it most enjoys working. By analyzing project types, profitability and risks, small firms can gain a focus. To help establish that focus, firms can ask themselves what business they are currently in. This is the first step in developing a marketing plan and a strategic plan. While a marketing plan is important, it's often used as a short-term device. In contrast, strategic planning is a process that helps firms determine their vision for the future and how to get there. Whatever size the firm, using a facilitator is a must to get the most out of strategic planning and discovering the firm's niche. A facilitator provides insights and guidance into a firm's staff, clients and business. In a process called slice and dice, firms can outline what types of business they should focus on and which clients should be eliminated. With this information, firms can outline what types of business they should focus on and which clients should be eliminated. With this information, firms can screen new clients to fit their new niche, which will benefit both the firm and the client.


Some UK universities have recently engaged in partnerships to develop police officers able to work more effectively with their local communities. Police training and development in the UK has traditionally been delivered by police trainers in national training colleges, working to occupational standards without accreditation. Policy changes to improve policing now require each of the 44 UK police forces to make local arrangements for initial training (Eliott, 2003). Many have retained skills-based provision, but a few have sought partnerships with universities to develop the new award of Foundation Degree (QAA, 2005), intended to widen access to HE to non-traditional students and to engage with employers to develop the workforce. This paper focuses on the design of a collaborative programme involving a consortium of three universities in partnership with one police force.
A collaborative critical reflective approach to capture the team's learning was adopted in the early stages, enabling action research, including open sharing of relevant organizational data and records. This paper provides a reflection from the HE perspective about designing to meet the needs and requirements of both the police and HE and balancing the aspirations of learner-centred police trainers and an emancipatory educationalist. Additional data has been collected through focus groups with students and staff and questionnaires.
The detailed programme design began with a lead academic and a small team of experienced police trainers. The aim was to develop 300 new police officers, in four intakes each year, through a continuous 43-week programme delivered by police trainers on three campuses in two universities. Student officers were also required to spend about half of this time in police work placements (to achieve occupational standards) and in short community placements with more than 100 local organizations. This complex programme has now been running successfully for well over a year and there is early evidence that it has significantly raised performance within the police. Issues discussed include:
• Developing shared understanding and trust;
• Philosophy, values, attitudes towards employees and students;
• Developing design process and intended learning outcomes;
• Learning for a job and education;
• Combining quality assurance frameworks;
• Developing 120 police trainers, workplace tutors and assessors to deliver and assess HE;
• Influencing change in both organisations;
• Management of expectations, flexibility, compromise and integrity;
• Early indications of benefits and costs.
This programme introduces culture change into both policing and HE, to respond to the needs and expectations of society. For the partner universities there are important questions to consider (Sastry et al, 2007) about the extent to which HE can and should engage with employers.


More than a decade after the publication of his dazzling book on the cultural, technological, and manufacturing aspects of measuring time and making clocks, David Landes has significantly expanded "Revolution in Time," In a new preface and scores of updated passages, he explores new findings about medieval and early-modern time keeping, as well as contemporary hi-tech uses of the watch as mini-computer, cellular phone, and even radio receiver or television screen. While commenting on the latest research, Landes never loses his focus on the historical meaning of time and its many perceptions and uses, questions that go beyond history, that involve philosophers and possibly, theologians and literary folk as well.


b -Coronaviruses are a family of positive-strand enveloped RNA viruses that include the severe acute respiratory syndrome-CoV2 (SARS-CoV2). While much is known regarding their cellular entry and replication pathways, their mode of egress remains uncertain; however, this is assumed to be via the biosynthetic secretory pathway by analogy to other enveloped viruses. Using imaging methodologies in combination with virus-specific reporters, we demonstrate that b -Coronaviruses utilize lysosomal trafficking for egress from cells. This pathway is regulated by the Arf-like small GTPase Arl8b; thus, virus egress is insensitive to inhibitors of the biosynthetic secretory pathway. Coronavirus infection results in lysosome deacidification, inactivation of lysosomal degradation and disruption of antigen presentation pathways. This coronavirus-induced exploitation of lysosomes provides insights into the cellular and immunological abnormalities observed in patients and suggests new therapeutic modalities.


Objective: Tuberculosis (TB) still remains a major global public health problem followed by drug-resistant TB. Understanding of deeper immunopathogenesis into the pathogen–host interactions is required so that it can be translated into effective tools at a public health level. Methods: We recruited 40 pulmonary TB (PTB, sputum smear-negative) patients and studied their peripheral blood (PBL) and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid. Of 40 patients, BAL fluid from 10 patients was collected from normal lung and diseased lung in the same patients. Immunophenotyping and intracellular cytokines were performed by flow cytometry. Results: We observed a significant increased expression of CXCR3+CCR5+T-cells (P = 0.002), CXCR3+ T-cells (P = 0.002), CCR5+ T-cells (P = 0.002), CXCR3+CD11ahigh T-cells (P = 0.002), and CCR5+CD11ahigh T-cells (P = 0.002) in BAL (n = 10) over PBL (n = 40). Increased frequency of CXCR3+CCR5+ T-cells (P = 0.02), CXCR3+ (P = 0.034), CCR5+T-cells (P = 0.039), CXCR3+CD11ahigh T-cells (P = 0.05), and CCR5+CD11ahigh T-cells (P = 0.05) was also observed in BAL of disease lung as compared to normal lung (n = 10). There was a significant decrease of inflammatory cytokine (P = 0.028) in the interferon-gamma level, whereas interleukin-4 level was significantly increased (P = 0.028) in BAL as compared to PBL. Conclusion: We conclude that in spite of significant enrichment of CXCR3+CCR5+ Th1-cells with the ability to produce inflammatory cytokines and CD11ahigh T-cells which play an important role in the recruitment of these T-cells, they are not able to control the TB infection. Therefore, our data provide insight into the functionality of effector T-cells at the disease site.


True or False? "Henry Ford invented mass production via the assembly line." If you answered "true," read on; if your response was "false," continue reading only if you wish to discover more about an individual who played a major role in putting millions of people into the horseless carriage. Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863, in Dearborn, Michigan, the son of William and Mary (nee Litogot) Ford. By the age of sixteen Henry had developed a dislike for farming (his father's occupation) and preferred tinkering with mechanical objects. He built a kerosene-fueled steam tractor but abandoned that idea because of the danger of explosions with the fuel or the boiler. His early career led to a variety of jobs: repairing watches, working for a valve manufacturer, operating a sawmill, and working briefing for the Michigan Car Company. As early as 1885 he repaired an "Otto" engine, an internal combustion, compressed-gasoline-powered device invented in 1876 in Germany by Nicholas Otto. Henry saw a future for the internal combustion gasoline engine and developed several prototypes. In 1896, while a night-shift engineer at the Detroit Edison Company, Ford attended a speech by Thomas Edison and afterward cornered Edison to see what advice this inventive wizard could offer. Ford recalled that Edison advised him, "There is a big future for any light-weight engine that can develop a high horsepower and be self-contained.... Keep on with your engine. If you can get what you are after, I can see a great future." The automobile was still a curiosity in 1900, however. Not many people took the belching, backfiring horseless carriages very seriously, and those who did were considered daft. It was the task of men such as Henry Ford, Walter Chrysler, Ransom Olds, William C. Durant, Louis Chevrolet, and others to redraw the face of America's map. Henry Ford popularized the automobile with auto races, and his car #999, driven by Barney Oldfield, was a sure winner. With Detroit investors, one of whom was the mayor of Detroit, Ford formed the Detroit Automobile Company, capitalized at $150,000 but with only 15,000 in cash, in 1899. The company planned to make ten cars the first year and then gradually increase production to two cars per day. In its advertising, the company promised "that it will emit no odor ... [and] it will make less noise than the ordinary vehicle drawn by a horse." The motor was assembled on a workbench; then the frame was placed on wooden sawhorses and the motor, transmission, springs, and axles were installed. Then the wheels, vehicle sides, seats, cushions, dash, and so on were brought to the chassis to finish the auto. The operation was labor-intensive, individual parts needed precise tolerances to fit properly (1/64 of an inch variance was acceptable), and a careful routing of work was necessary to bring the parts together. Priced at $1,000 (Henry Ford thought that was excessive), the Detroit Automobile Company was short-lived, dissolved by a sale of its assets in 1901. From this firm, however, the Cadillac Motor Car Company would later emerge. Failures in the automobile industry were not unusual at this time and most ventures failed to get past the start-up stage. In 1900 the auto industry made 4,192 cars; of these, 1,681 were steam-powered, 1,575 were electric, and 936 were gasoline-powered. Henry Ford's commitment to the internal combustion engine clearly put him in the minority with respect to where the industry was headed. It is not surprising that Ford's supervisor called him a "dreamer" when Ford left a secure future in a public utility, Detroit Edison, in 1899 to venture forth on the muddy, rutted, potholed, uncharted roads of the United States. Technology and legalities shaped the emerging auto industry. Steam-driven vehicles needed frequent stops for water and fuel and a long wait preceded any trip so that the proper pressure could be obtained. Electric (battery-powered) motors seemed promising and were placed experimentally in taxicabs operating in New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D. …


Our individuality is under attack as never before. Two huge new forces new technology and the rise in fundamentalism are in their different ways combining to threaten the control of our own minds and so the whole way our society functions. We have never more urgently needed to look at what we want for ourselves as individuals for our children, and for our future society. This book will draw on the latest findings in neuroscience to show how far we are and can be in control of the development of our brains and minds and the actions we need to take now both to safeguard our individuality and to find the fulfilment which our current unfettered materialism cannot provide. All this inevitably poses many questions about human nature, our past, what makes us individual, the connection between the brain and the mind, what a society of fulfilled individuals would actually mean.all of which this book attempts to answer.


We propose and test a theory of how decisions not to hire reproduce sex segregation through what we term proportional prejudice. We hypothesize that employers are less likely to hire anyone when the applicant pool contains a large proportion of gender atypical applicants – that is, applicants from a different gender than the typical job holder – because they view this as a signal of a poor quality applicant pool. Analyses, of over seven million job applications for over 700,000 jobs by over 200,000 freelancers on an online platform for contract labor support our contention. A survey experiment isolates the mechanism: Applicant pools with a larger proportion of gender atypical applicants were perceived as less likely to contain people who "seemed skilled enough for the job." We conclude by demonstrating how our theory explains the mixed findings as to whether gender atypical job seekers are disadvantaged in the hiring process.


In even the most market-oriented economies, most economic transactions occur not in markets but inside managed organizations, particularly business firms. Organizational economics seeks to understand the nature and workings of such organizations and their impact on economic performance. This landmark book assembles the leading figures in organizational economics to present the first comprehensive view of both the current state of research in this fast-emerging field and where it might be headed. The Handbook of Organizational Economics surveys the major theories, evidence, and methods used in the field. It displays the breadth of topics in organizational economics, including the roles of individuals and groups in organizations, organizational structures and processes, the boundaries of the firm, contracts between and within firms, and more. The defining book on the subject, The Handbook of Organizational Economics is essential reading for researchers and students looking to understand this emerging field in economics.


This investigation explores the behaviour of contact interaction between probe tips of indicators (displacement gauges) and rough engineering surfaces, in order to gain new insights into uncertainty in industrial precision gauging. The conditions of interest are contact of a mm-scale hard sphere at 0.1 to 5 N force with metallic surfaces, Rq < 2 mm. The motivation arises from the growing demand of modern industries for higher machining processes and for finer inspection capabilities. In the near future, such a demand is likely to require careful analyses of the measurement error budget of these instruments with a greater consideration of the potential errors induced by the complex behaviour of contact, which is currently assumed to be negligible.

A preliminary experimental study was carried out on an existing test-rig of limited accuracy. It raised several concerns related to the effects of surface roughness and material on the resulting contact deflection at the load regimes of indicators' probes. It stimulated the need for more reliable data. So, a new test-rig of advanced capabilities was designed to perform a comprehensive study of a wider range of contact parameters to simulate real situations of industrial gauging processes. This advanced study confirms the consistent effects of roughness, material and probe tip size not only on the surface deflections but also on the probe rotations. Roughness variability across the same surface caused some inconsistencies in the deflection behaviour and repeatability, and surface contamination gave additional unsystematic effects on these relations. Re-establishing contact on the same position of a contaminated surface appeared to contribute errors of the order of those of a clean surface.

Based on the results of this investigation, systematic errors of contact can exceed the 1 mm level with uncertainty up to at least 0.4 mm in many measurement processes with precision indicators. Such figures reveal that the contact cannot any longer be considered a negligible source of errors, and precision metrology must account for these induced errors in the budget of displacement gauges.


A field experiment was conducted during the spring season of 2016   at research field of Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS), Lamjung, Nepal to evaluate effect of different nutrient management on growth attributing traits of maize. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) having three replications with following treatments; T1( Control), T2 (0.18:0.09:0.06 kg NPK), T3 (3.75 kg vermicompost),  T4 (7.5 kg Poultry manure), T5 (11.25 kg goat manure), T6(15 kg cattle manure) and T7(13 kg Asuro). All these fertilizers were used per plot (15 m 2 ) and the maize variety was Arun-2. The results showed that the application of poultry manure produced the highest plant height, leaf area index and dry matter which was followed by vermicompost.  The application of goat manure gave the highest benefit cost ratio. Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. Vol 5(1): 98-101


With his theory of sympathy in the Treatise of Human Nature, Hume has been interpreted as anticipating later hermeneutic theories of understanding. It is argued in the present article that Hume has good reasons to consider a hermeneutic theory of empathetic understanding, that such a theory avoids a serious difficulty in Hume's "official," positivist theory of sympathy, that it is compatible with the complex and subtle form of positivism, or naturalism, developed in Book 1 of the Treatise, and that his analysis of sympathy provides valuable methodological rules for empathetic interpreters. Against the interpretation of James Farr in "Hume, Hermeneutics, and History," it is maintained that Hume's theory does not support a hermeneutics of non-empathetic Verstehen.


This essay investigates the topic of "sex-trafficking" of women from "eastern" Europe to Italy for work in prostitution within a framework that brings to the fore the material terrain of the EU immigration regulations and the implications of strict Schengen border regime and visa policies on trafficking in women. I will argue that interrogating the effects of the border-regimes of the new Europe and its material and legal apparatus, and theorizing trafficking within the context of the EU enlargement, in particular the processes of recruitment into trafficking and crossborder travel, might help us to challenge our current understandings of trafficking as an organized criminal activity, and of migrant women as victims duped into trafficking. By looking at processes of representation and how meanings are produced and allocated in public discourse - mass media, religious and feminist - my analysis questions the official representation of trafficking and maps out some of its central elements that re/appear in different sources and converge with the EU political agenda, thus underpinning the view of trafficking in terms of irregular migration and women as victims deceived and coerced into prostitution. The study - based on biographical narratives of trafficked women and focusing on the recruitment and travel phase of trafficking - shows a that when the categories of irregular migration, border crossing and crime are brought into focus, a gap between the interviewee's accounts of migration and the dominant rhetoric of trafficking becomes visible. Trafficking as such, respondents' narratives point out, is an inadequate category to account for women's experiences of labour migration. Given the discrepancy between official discourses on "sex-trafficking", policies and respondents' narratives, I argue that there is an urgent need of attention to the nuances of how trafficking is lived and negotiated on the one hand, and represented and institutionalized on the other.


The work of Galileo Galilei has, perhaps more than any other singular historical example, been used to support a huge variety of positions within philosophy of science. This simple fact immediately yields two questions: "what is it about the case of Galileo that lends itself to be so easily reinterpreted to fit such a wide variety of interpretations", and "what can we say with certainty about Galileo's philosophy of science?" In this essay, I show that many interpretations of Galileo's thought suffer from very specific problems and fallacies. These in turn allow a distorted view of Galileo's work to be used to support widely disparate positions. Secondly, I argue that despite the wide variety of interpretations, there are identifiable trends in the works of Galileo that we can genuinely label as Galilean. None of these trends are unique in and of themselves to Galileo, but the particular synthesis they undergo in Galileo's work is unique and is Galileo's particular legacy.


This paper compares the quality and use of regulatory analysis accompanying economically significant regulations proposed by US executive branch agencies in 2008, 2009, and 2010. We find that the quality of regulatory analysis is generally low, but varies widely. Budget regulations, which define how the federal government will spend money or collect revenues, have much lower-quality analysis than other regulations. The Bush administration's "midnight" regulations finalized between Election Day and Inauguration Day, along with other regulations left for the Obama administration to finalize, tended to have lower-quality analysis. Most differences between the Bush and Obama administrations depend on agencies' policy preferences. More conservative agencies tended to produce better analysis in the Obama administration, and more liberal agencies tended to do so in the Bush administration. This suggests that agencies more central to an administration's policy priorities do not have to produce as good an analysis to get their regulations promulgated.


This paper explores the link between external financing constraints and firm-level employment decisions. I introduce new data on the occupations of workers affected in mass layoff instances, which allows me to examine layoff behavior as well as the type of human capital dismissed. To isolate the effect of financial constraints on employment decisions, I exploit firm-level variation in the amount of debt coming due at the onset of the 2007-2009 financial crisis. I find that financially constrained firms reduced total employment by more than otherwise similar, unconstrained firms, and were significantly more likely to make a mass layoff. Among firms that made a mass layoff, I find that financially constrained firms laid off high human capital employees, contradicting theoretical labor economics predictions that firms lay off workers in inverse order of the degree of human capital. In looking at stock returns following mass layoff announcements, I find 3-day cumulative abnormal returns to be negatively related to the degree of human capital laid off. These results combine to suggest that financing constraints have a significant impact on firm-level employment outcomes and, in particular, on the type of human capital dismissed.


We present a study of the mechanical power generated by both winds and jets across the black hole mass scale. We begin with the study of ionized X-ray winds and present a uniform analysis using Chandra grating spectra. The high-quality grating spectra facilitate the characterization of the outflow velocity, ionization, and column density of the absorbing gas. We find that the kinetic power of the winds, derived from these observed quantities, scales with increasing bolometric luminosity as log (Lwind, 42/Cv) = (1.58  ±  0.07)log (LBol, 42) − (3.19  ±  0.19). This suggests that supermassive black holes may be more efficient than stellar-mass black holes in launching winds, per unit filling factor, Cv. If the black hole binary (BHB) and active galactic nucleus (AGN) samples are fit individually, the slopes flatten to αBHB = 0.91  ±  0.31 and αAGN = 0.63  ±  0.30 (formally consistent within errors). The broad fit and individual fits both characterize the data fairly well, and the possibility of common slopes may point to common driving mechanisms across the mass scale. For comparison, we examine jet production, estimating jet power based on the energy required to inflate local bubbles. The jet relation is log (LJet, 42) = (1.18  ±  0.24)log (LBondi, 42) − (0.96  ±  0.43). The energetics of the bubble associated with Cygnus X-1 are particularly difficult to determine, and the bubble could be a background supernova remnant. If we exclude Cygnus X-1 from our fits, then the jets follow a relation consistent with the winds, but with a higher intercept, log (LJet, 42) = (1.34  ±  0.50)log (LBondi, 42) − (0.80  ±  0.82). The formal consistency in the wind and jet scaling relations, when assuming that LBol and LBondi are both proxies for mass accretion rate, suggests that a common launching mechanism may drive both flows; magnetic processes, such as magnetohydrodynamics and magnetocentrifugal forces, are viable possibilities. We also examine winds that are moving at especially high velocities, v > 0.01c. These ultra-fast outflows tend to resemble the jets more than the winds in terms of outflow power, indicating that we may be observing a regime in which winds become jets. A transition at approximately LBol ≈ 10−2 LEdd is apparent when outflow power is plotted versus Eddington fraction. At low Eddington fractions, the jet power is dominant, and at high Eddington fractions, the wind power is dominant. This study allows for the total power from black hole accretion, both mechanical and radiative, to be characterized in a simple manner and suggests possible connections between winds and jets. X-ray wind data and jet cavity data will enable stronger tests.


We have conducted a study of second phase particles and matrix alloying element concentrations in zirconium alloys using synchrotron radiation from the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory. The high flux of synchrotron radiation delivered at the 2BM beamline, compared to conventional X-ray generators, enables the detection of very small precipitate volume fractions. We detected the standard C14 hcp Zr(Cr, Fe) 2 precipitates (the stable second phase in Zircaloy-4) in the bulk material at a cumulative annealing parameter as low as l0 -2~ h, and we followed the kinetics of precipitation and growth as a function of the cumulative annealing parameter (CAP) in the range 10 -22 (quench) to l0 ~6 h. In addition, the unique combination of spatial resolution and elemental sensitivity of the 2IDD/E microbeam line at the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne (APS) allows study of the alloying element concentrations at ppm levels in an area as small as 0.2 • 0.3 ~m. We used X-ray fluorescence induced by this sub-micron X-ray beam to determine the concentration of these alloying elements in the matrix as a function of alloy type and thermal history. We discuss these results and the potential of synchrotron radiation-based techniques for studying zirconium alloys.


An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was developed to detect rabbit immunoglobulin G antibodies against purified lipopolysaccharide of the rough Re mutant of Salmonella minnesota. The time necessary for each step was investigated, and this resulted in a test that could be completed in 1 working day. Serial dilutions of rabbit sera drawn throughout immunization with the Re mutant revealed an elimination of the prozone effect upon prolonged immunization. We interpret this to demonstrate an increase in immunoglobulin G affinity for the lipopolysaccharide on prolonged immunization. We propose that the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay prozone effect be investigated for use as a measure of antibody affinity.


Buccheri, Mauro, Costa, Elio, and Holoch, Donald, Eds. The Power of Words, Literature and Society in Late Modernity. Ravenna: Longo Editore, 2005. 306 pp.The background behind this 2005 collection of essays published by the Italian Longo Editore is the questioning of what directions society, culture, and finally literature are taking in the third millennium. And the questions have such a broad scope that the editors Mario Buccheri, Elio Costa, and Donald Holoch decided to approach them from different angles, trying to account for different points of view and literatures, as well as for the social and economic backdrops. In fact what comes out of this collection of essays is a general inter-connection among different fields and a ero ss- fertilization of disciplines which, all together, could help us search for clarifications to our initial queries.The book is divided into three parts. The first part deals with general concerns about the relationship between literature and the hypertexts, which comprises of both the new technologies and the persistence of literature. The opening essay is Umberto Eco 's "Books, Texts and Hypertexts", in which the Italian semiotician analyses the almost paradoxical presence of paper books in a future world made of hypertexts and books on CD-ROM. But, as far as Eco has a deep knowledge of Middle Ages, he takes the Medieval fear of the Millennium as a comparison not to think of the fear of losing books in a future era, for new technologies do not necessarily supersede the old ones, as much as television or cinema have not supplanted literature yet; the question is analysed with hermeneutical concerns, but also in an ironic tone. The second essay by John O'Neill is titled "The Word's Millennial Power" and it analyses some of the Italian writer Italo Calvino' s works like Six Memos for the Next Millennium, Cosmicomics, and Invisible Cities, in which Calvino sustains the importance of the intellectual figure as a response to cultural entropy, and as a 'heroic' figure fighting against the amnesia of culture. Actually, O'Neill sustains, we must fight to remember and not to forget, for, according to Calvino "Literature (...) re-mythologizes the world, rationalized to the point of barbarism, in order to avoid the fall into cultural amnesia and historical schizophrenia." (12). Again, the issue of cognition is tackled by the following essay, by Lubomir Dolezel, "The Power of Words: Literature, Cognition and Practical Life". In it Dolezel explains why he thinks that the 20th century has been a "linguistic century", and in so doing he refers to the linguist De Saussure, the philosopher Derrida, and the semiotician Eco. That is why the approach to language comes from different angles, because he counters the post-structuralist conviction that language is monofunctional, thinking it is poly-functional and embracing all the concerns of our intellectual and densely practical lives. Umberto Eco 's and Italo Calvino 's works return again in the speculations of Rocco Capozzi's essay "Hypertextuality and Cognitive Experiences in the Labyrinths of Words and Images". In fact, Calvino' s concept of the multiplicity of literature and Eco' s thought about the hyper-textuality weave in Capozzi's conviction of the computer and hyper-texts as "rhizomatic structures" (13). Mauro Buccheri' s "The Return of Orpheus, or the Persistence of Literature and Myth" concludes the first part of the book by taking the figure of Orpheus as a symbol of the persistence of literature and myth as a figure able of bridging gaps. Buccheri sustains his views with contemporary literary and philosophical theories; he sustains that for instance Nietzsche, Michel Serres, or Eco again have developed a cultural system able of standing in between, and where Orpheus would represent the search for meaning even in aesthetic terms.The second part deals with more historical and philosophical questions, especially concerning Marxism or Bachtinian preoccupations, and the link between the role of the intellectual and market. …


We investigate the robustness of vision transformers (ViTs) through the lens of their special patch-based architectural structure, i.e., they process an image as a sequence of image patches. We find that ViTs are surprisingly insensitive to patch-based transformations, even when the transformation largely destroys the original semantics and makes the image unrecognizable by humans. This indicates that ViTs heavily use features that survived such transformations but are generally not indicative of the semantic class to humans. Further investigations show that these features are useful but non-robust, as ViTs trained on them can achieve high in-distribution accuracy, but break down under distribution shifts. From this understanding, we ask: can training the model to rely less on these features improve ViT robustness and out-of-distribution performance? We use the images transformed with our patch-based operations as negatively augmented views and offer losses to regularize the training away from using non-robust features. This is a complementary view to existing research that mostly focuses on augmenting inputs with semantic-preserving transformations to enforce models' invariance. We show that patch-based negative augmentation consistently improves robustness of ViTs across a wide set of ImageNet based robustness benchmarks. Furthermore, we find our patch-based negative augmentation are complementary to traditional (positive) data augmentation, and together boost the performance further.


This paper describes a fast method to estimate crosstalk noise in the presence of multiple aggressor nets for use in physical design automation tools. Since noise estimation is often part of the inner-loop of optimization algorithms, very efficient closed-form solutions are needed. Previous approaches have typically used simple lumped 3-4 node circuit templates. One aggressor net is modeled at a time assuming that the coupling capacitances to all quiet aggressor nets are grounded. They also model the load from interconnect branches as a lumped capacitor and use a dominant pole approximation to solve the template circuit. While these approximations allow for very fast analysis, they result in significant underestimation of the noise. In this paper, we propose a new and more comprehensive fast noise estimation model. We use a 6 node template circuit and propose a novel reduction technique for modeling quiet aggressor nets based on the concept of coupling point admittance. We also propose a reduction method to replace tree branches with effective capacitors which models the effect of resistive shielding. Finally, we propose a new double pole approach to solve the template circuit. We tested the proposed method on noise-prone interconnects from an industrial high performance processor. Our results show a worst-case error of 7.8% and an average error of 2.7%, while allowing for very fast analysis.


*** PITHON, M. M.; DOS SANTOS, R. L.; MARTINS, F. O. & ROMANOS, M. T. V. Cytotoxicity of dental alginates. Int. J. Odontostomat., 4(3):303-308, 2010. ABSTRACT: Alginate, or irreversible hydrocolloid, is one of the most accepted impression materials used in dentistry. However, some substances existing in these materials can be toxic. The aim of this study was to assess the cytotoxicity of alginates for dental applications. Fourteen different alginates were assessed: Jeltrate, Jeltrate Plus, Jeltrate Chromatic, Alga Gel, Printer Gel, Ava Gel, New Print, Kromopan 100, Tropicalgin, Cavex Orthotrace, Hydrogum, Orthoprint, Cavex Color Change, and Qualitygel. Three control groups were also used in this study: positive control group (C+) consisting of cell detergent Tween 80, negative control group (C-) consisting of PBS, and cell control group (CC) consisting of non-exposed cells. After manipulating the materials according to the manufacturer's instructions, samples were made by using silicone rings. Next, the samples were immersed into Eagle's minimum essential medium (MEM) for 2 minutes followed by removal of supernatants and contact with L929 fibroblasts. After contact with the medium, the cells were incubated for further 24 hours in which 100� l of 0.01% neutral red stain were added. Cells were incubated again for 3 hours so that the stain could be absorbed. After this period, the cells were fixed and viable cell counting was performed by using a spectrophotometer (BioTek, Winooski, Vermont, USA) at wavelength of 492 nm. The results demonstrated statistical differences between CC and C- groups in relation to other ones (p<0.05). No statistical differences were observed between Jeltrate Plus and Hydrogum groups, between Jeltrate and Jeltrate Chromatic, Printer Gel, Tropicalgin, and Qualitygel groups, and between Jeltrate Chromatic and Alga Gel, Ava Gel, New Print, Kromopan 100, Cavex Orthotrace, Hydrogum, Orhtoprint, and Cavex Color Change groups. One can conclude, based on the results of this study, that all alginate materials were found to be cytotoxic.


Recent progress in High-Level Synthesis (HLS) techniques has helped raise the abstraction level of FPGA programming. However implementation and performance evaluation of the HLS-generated RTL, involves lengthy logic synthesis and physical design flows. Moreover, mapping of different levels of coarse grained parallelism onto hardware spatial parallelism affects the final FPGA-based performance both in terms of cycles and frequency. Evaluation of the rich design space through the full implementation flow - starting with high level source code and ending with routed net list - is prohibitive in various scientific and computing domains, thus hindering the adoption of reconfigurable computing. This work presents a framework for multilevel granularity parallelism exploration with HLS-order of efficiency. Our framework considers different granularities of parallelism for mapping CUDA kernels onto high performance FPGA-based accelerators. We leverage resource and clock period models to estimate the impact of multi-granularity parallelism extraction on execution cycles and frequency. The proposed Multilevel Granularity Parallelism Synthesis (ML-GPS) framework employs an efficient design space search heuristic in tandem with the estimation models as well as design layout information to derive a performance near-optimal configuration. Our experimental results demonstrate that ML-GPS can efficiently identify and generate CUDA kernel configurations that can significantly outperform previous related tools whereas it can offer competitive performance compared to software kernel execution on GPUs at a fraction of the energy cost.


Cast nickel aluminum bronze (NAB) alloy is widely used for large engineering components in marine applications due to its excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance. Casting porosity, as well as coarse microstructure, however, are accompanied by a decrease in mechanical properties of cast NAB components. Although heat treatment, friction stir processing, and fusion welding were implemented to eliminate porosity, improve mechanical properties, and refine the microstructure of as-cast metal, their applications are limited to either surface modification or component repair. Instead of traditional casting techniques, this study focuses on developing NAB components using recently expanded wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM). Consumable welding wire is melted and deposited layer-by-layer on substrates producing near-net shaped NAB components. Additively-manufactured NAB components without post-processing are fully dense, and exhibit fine microstructure, as well as comparable mechanical properties, to as-cast NAB alloy. The effects of heat input from the welding process and post-weld-heat-treatment (PWHT) are shown to give uniform NAB alloys with superior mechanical properties revealing potential marine applications of the WAAM technique in NAB production.


Durand, Hallie. Mitchell's License . Illus. Tony Fucile. Somerville, Mass: Candlewick Press, 2011. Print. Three and a half year old Mitchell, who never wants to go to bed, receives his "remote-controlled dad driver's license", which allows him to drive his father around the house like a car.  This delightful picture book features plenty of visual sight gags as Mitchell puts the car into gear (by pulling on his father's ears), checks the tires (feet), cleans the windshield (eyeglasses), and honks the horn (nose).  Although Mitchell initially drives his dad straight into a wall, over time he learns how to avoid collisions and make hairpin turns.  The book concludes with the son trying to feed his dad some gas (a cookie) before being driven off to bed. This is the first picture book by author Durand (also known for the Just Desserts books), whose husband invented the "remote-controlled dad" game for their children.  There isn't much of a story, nor does there need to be; the pleasure in the book is the driving game and the interaction between Mitchell and his dad.  Fucile, who is well known from his career in animation, is a perfect illustrator for bringing this high-speed adventure to life, especially the overtly slapstick scenes where Dad collides into the wall or has "oil" poured into his mouth.  Many pages use a lot of white space, which when combined with Fucile's graphic style; make the illustrations look as though they were taken directly from a sketchbook.  This effect gives the whole book a feeling of fluidity and improvisation that complements the driving game being enacted, while never coming off as blatantly cartoony. This book is highly recommended, especially for any child who loves cars and driving.  However, parents should probably expect children to demand their own driver's licenses after reading this book! Highly recommended: 4 out of 4 stars Reviewer: Dale Storie Dale is Public Services Librarian at the John W. Scott Health Sciences Library at the University of Alberta. He has a BA in English, and has also worked in a public library as a children's programming coordinator, where he was involved with story times, puppet shows, and book talks.


Basement membranes (BMs), a specialized form of extracellular matrix, underlie nearly all cell layers and provide structural support for tissues and interact with cell surface receptors to determine cell behavior. Both macromolecular composition and stiffness of the BM influence cell-BM interactions. Collagen IV is a major constituent of the BM that forms an extensively cross-linked oligomeric network. Its deficiency leads to BM mechanical instability, as observed with glomerular BM in Alport syndrome. These findings have led to the hypothesis that collagen IV and its cross-links determine BM stiffness. A sulfilimine bond (S = N) between a methionine sulfur and a lysine nitrogen cross-links collagen IV and is formed by the matrix enzyme peroxidasin. In peroxidasin knockout mice with reduced collagen IV sulfilimine cross-links, we find a reduction in renal tubular BM stiffness. Thus this work provides the first direct experimental evidence that collagen IV sulfilimine cross-links contribute to BM mechanical properties and provides a foundation for future work on the relationship of BM mechanics to cell function in renal disease.


Pitch-related deposition has been a significant issue in paper mills that produce wood-containing paper grades. A component analysis showed that a mill deposit sample was a mixture of wood resin, fiber, metal cations, and other inorganics. Based on the differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) method, some critical parameters, including pH, metal cations, and their interactions, on the thermal stability of pitch-related deposits were studied. The valency of metal cations determined the ability of capturing pitch the formation of deposits. Trivalent Al3+ or Fe3+ ions had much stronger effects than divalent Ca2+, Mg2+, or Mn2+. It was also found that a higher pH and trivalent Al3+ or Fe3+ increased the thermal stability of deposits formed in colloidal pitch solutions.


A method for labeling acyl carrier protein (ACP) fusion proteins using derivs. of CoA is described. The method relies on the transfer of a label from a CoA type substrate to an ACP fusion protein using a holo-acyl carrier protein synthase (ACPS) or a homolog thereof. The method allows detecting and manipulating the fusion protein, both in vitro and in vivo, by attaching mols. to the fusion proteins that introduce a new phys. or chem. property to the fusion protein. Examples of such labels are, among others, spectroscopic probes or reporter mols., affinity tags, mols. generating reactive radicals, cross-linkers, ligands mediating protein-protein interactions or mols. suitable for the immobilization of the fusion protein. Synthesis of a series of reporter mol. conjugates, including digoxigenin, Cy3 and Cy5, with CoA is reported. [on SciFinder (R)]


This case is about the takeover bid of Zandu Pharmaceutical Works, a small Indian traditional medicine manufacturer based at Jamnagar, (Gujarat, India). It encapsulates the protracted multi-level negotiations among its two promoter families - the Parikhs and the Vaidyas - with Kolkata, India based Emami group that intended to take over the firm in 2008. The two families had established Zandu Pharma in 1910. The Vaidyas came from a lineage of Ayurveda practitioners and brought technical know-how to the business. The Parikhs belonged to a traditional trading community and brought their business acumen to the firm. Complimenting each other, the two families managed the business for about hundred years. However, with passage of time, the later generations of the Parikhs gained technical knowledge and became firmly entrenched within the firm's operations. On the other hand, the Vaidyas failed to effectively pass on the technical expertise to their later generations. Thus their importance in the eyes of the Parikhs went down and Vaidya descendants were viewed as incompetent. The Vaidyas felt ignored and marginalized; the Parikhs repeatedly denied their demand for a director's position on the company's board. Pushed into a corner, the Vaidyas sold their stake in Zandu to Kolkata based beautycare and healthcare company - Emami. The Parikhs viewed this as a hostile move and tried to thwart Emami's bid for Zandu's control. The decision dilemma that Parikhs face in the case is - whether to sell their stake to Emami or to fight the takeover battle. The case narrates the circumstances and the actions taken by parties involved. The case deals with various managerial issues like leadership, communication, acquisition strategy and emotional issues faced by promoter families. The case serves as an effective tool for students to learn and apply leadership, communication, strategic and negotiation skills in complex acquisition scenarios, like those in family controlled businesses.


A sequence a = a1a2...an is said to be non-repetitive if no two adjacent blocks of a are exactly the same. For instance the sequence 1232321 contains a repetition 2323, while 123132123213 is non-repetitive. A theorem of Thue asserts that, using only three symbols, one can produce arbitrarily long non-repetitive sequences. In this paper we consider a natural generalization of Thue's sequences for colorings of graphs. A coloring of the set of edges of a given graph G is non-repetitive if the sequence of colors on any path in G is non-repetitive. We call the minimal number of colors needed for such a coloring the Thue number of G and denote it by π(G). The main problem we consider is the relation between the numbers π(G) and ∆(G). We show, by an application of the Lovász Local Lemma, that the Thue number stays bounded for graphs with bounded maximum degree, in particular, π(G) ≤ c∆(G)2 for some absolute constant c. For certain special classes of graphs we obtain linear upper bounds on π(G), by giving explicit colorings. For instance, the Thue number of the complete graph Kn is at most 2n − 3, and π(T ) ≤ 4(∆(T ) − 1) for any tree T with at least two edges. We conclude by discussing some generalizations and proposing several problems and conjectures.


Abstract. Pollen records from large lakes have been used for quantitative palaeoclimate reconstruction, but the influences that lake size (as a result of species-specific variations in pollen dispersal patterns that smaller pollen grains are more easily transported to lake centre) and taphonomy have on these climatic signals have not previously been systematically investigated. We introduce the concept of pollen source area to pollen-based climate calibration using the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau as our study area. We present a pollen data set collected from large lakes in the arid to semi-arid region of central Asia. The influences that lake size and the inferred pollen source areas have on pollen compositions have been investigated through comparisons with pollen assemblages in neighbouring lakes of various sizes. Modern pollen samples collected from different parts of Lake Donggi Cona (in the north-eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau) reveal variations in pollen assemblages within this large lake, which are interpreted in terms of the species-specific dispersal and depositional patterns for different types of pollen, and in terms of fluvial input components. We have estimated the pollen source area for each lake individually and used this information to infer modern climate data with which to then develop a modern calibration data set, using both the multivariate regression tree (MRT) and weighted-averaging partial least squares (WA-PLS) approaches. Fossil pollen data from Lake Donggi Cona have been used to reconstruct the climate history of the north-eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). The mean annual precipitation was quantitatively reconstructed using WA-PLS: extremely dry conditions are found to have dominated the LGM, with annual precipitation of around 100 mm, which is only 32% of present-day precipitation. A gradually increasing trend in moisture conditions during the Late Glacial is terminated by an abrupt reversion to a dry phase that lasts for about 1000 yr and coincides with "Heinrich event 1" in the North Atlantic region. Subsequent periods corresponding to the Bolling/Allerod interstadial, with annual precipitation (Pann) of about 350 mm, and the Younger Dryas event (about 270 mm Pann) are followed by moist conditions in the early Holocene, with annual precipitation of up to 400 mm. A drier trend after 9 cal. ka BP is followed by a second wet phase in the middle Holocene, lasting until 4.5 cal. ka BP. Relatively steady conditions with only slight fluctuations then dominate the late Holocene, resulting in the present climatic conditions. The climate changes since the LGM have been primarily driven by deglaciation and fluctuations in the intensity of the Asian summer monsoon that resulted from changes in the Northern Hemisphere summer solar insolation, as well as from changes in the North Atlantic climate through variations in the circulation patterns and intensity of the westerlies.


In this paper, I offer a situated perspective on the political and semiotic landscapes of the circulation of racist and antiracist images and texts in and around a dark-skinned female character, Adelaide, in the popular Brazilian TV show Zorra Total. I aim to differ and defer the character as a sign, in order to undermine the character's hegemonic frame of interpretation. First, I contextualize some resources used in a typical episode, including the character's performance as a trajectory of racist signs about the black woman's body. Next, I discuss the contemporary circulation of the character, confronted by the experience of discussing this character in an undergraduate classroom. In conclusion, I argue that by exposing trajectories of the black female body, it is possible to gather together its fragmented signs as a multi-layered and overlapping set, and I identify these trajectories as a blind spot in the history of Brazilian racism.


Business process engineering and modelling is an important practical activity, presently based on a variety of methodologies. These are practically derived methods, grounded in concepts such as "action", "event", "process" and "model", which can vary according to methodology. In this paper, we formalise these notions of business process, actions and business models, by relating them to well-established theories of time and temporal activity. The ontology of the terms employed in business process engineering is discussed, and formal definitions of the main terms are given. The term "temporal model" of a business process is introduced, and a formal definition of a sub-process is given with relation to the temporal model. A sub-process can be viewed as a module of a business process which can be replaced or altered without affecting the rest of the process. It is shown that existing business process models using business process modelling can be given a logical foundation based on formal temporal theory.