Portions of the western U.S. are experiencing the worst drought in 80 years (Piechota et al. 2004). Figure 1 indicates that Wyoming has experienced multiple periods where precipitation was below normal for consecutive years, with the most recent period being between 2000 and 2005. Average annual precipitation has been trending downward since 1895 when official records were kept. Moreover, research suggests that drier summers could become more common as the global climate changes (Hengeveld 2000). The most recent period of drought has reduced range productivity, lowered irrigation water supplies and ultimately forced some ranchers to reduce herd sizes. Many producers culled their herds at a time when cattle prices were below the cyclic peak (between the years of 2000 to 2004), resulting in lower sales revenue. They also incurred higher feed costs to maintain the remaining herd. Together, these factors contribute to reduced profitability. Additionally, breeding livestock purchased now to restock drought liquidated herds would be done so at or near the peak of the most recent cattle price cycle. Current forecasts suggest that cattle prices are likely to start their cyclical decline within the next two years (Livestock Marketing Information Center 2006). Livestock purchased now or in the next several years would likely generate negative returns throughout their productive life, even if a ranch had the available feed resources, causing restocking to be less desirable at this time (O'Neill et al. 1998). The economic consequences of restocking at this point in time coupled with smaller herd sizes from drought liquidation puts ranchers in a weaker financial position to survive the downside of this most recent price cycle. The combined effect of these events has concerned many ranchers, and they are turning to professionals from land grant universities and elsewhere for help or they are selling off their ranches altogether.


Abstract The lager brewing yeast M14 is the most widely used yeast strain in the high gravity brewing process in China. To investigate the characteristics of this strain, the genome of the yeast M14 was sequenced and the genome annotation information is presented in this study. The current assembly contained 133 scaffolds and its total size was around 23 Mb with a GC content of 38.98%. The brewing yeast M14 is a hybrid Saccharomyces cerevisiae × Saccharomyces uvarum at the genomic level and its genome is comprised of one circular mitochondrial genome originating from S. uvarum. Furthermore, the functions of the 9,796 protein coding genes were annotated and their functions were analyzed using the Swiss-Prot database. Among them, the key genes responsible for typical lager brewing yeast characteristics, such as maltotriose uptake and sulfite production, were annotated and analyzed. Interestingly, nine specific genes present in the brewing yeast M14 were not found in the genome of either S. uvarum CBS 7001 or S. cerevisiae S288C, which are very close to strain M14 in the phylogenetic relationship. These nine genes encoding proteins were melibiase, DNA replication protein, fructose symporter, hypothetical protein, hypothetical protein M773_09155, LIF1, minor spike protein H, ribosomal protein S27, and mitochondrial chaperones, respectively. The genome sequence of the yeast strain M14 provides a new tool to better understand brewing yeast behavior in industrial beer production.


Priapism, a persistent penile erection lasting longer than 4 hours and unrelated to sexual activity, is one of the most common emergencies treated by urologists. Priapism can be categorized as ischemic, recurrent ischemic (stuttering), and non-ischemic. Advances in understanding the pathophysiology of various types of priapism have led to targeted management strategies. This review aims to provide an up-to-date picture of the pathophysiology and management of priapism. A search of Medline and PubMed for relevant publications using the term "priapism" was performed. In addition to the "classical" articles, emphasis was placed on publications from January 2013 to September 2016 to evaluate the most recent literature available. Though advances in both basic and clinical research continue and effective treatment options are available, methods for the prevention of priapism continue to be elusive.


BACKGROUND
Evidence regarding the potential effect of fruit and vegetable consumption on cardiovascular diseases (CVD) was limited and inconsistent among Asian people.

METHODS
We prospectively examined associations of fruit and vegetable consumption with the risk of CVD among 9740 participants aged 65 years and older (mean baseline age: 88 years) in the Chinese Longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS) (2008-2018). Dietary data were collected using a validated food frequency questionnaire.

RESULTS
During 37 366 person-years of follow-up, a total of 3738 CVD cases were recorded. After adjusting for demographics, dietary, lifestyle and economical social factors, higher intakes of total fruits and vegetables were associated with lower risk of CVD [comparing with extreme quintiles, hazard ratio and 95% confidence interval: 0.84 (0.74, 0.95)]. The inverse association was mainly driven by vegetable consumption [0.86 (0.77, 0.95)]. Furthermore, the inverse association was stronger for the risk of hypertension [0.84 (0.72, 0.98)]. These associations were consistent across age, sex, body mass index, residence, exercise status, smoking, drinking, meat intake, modified hPDI and health status.

CONCLUSIONS
This study suggests higher intakes of total fruits and vegetables are associated with a lower risk of CVD among elderly Chinese people, supporting the current recommendations of increasing fruit and vegetable consumption as part of a healthy diet for the prevention of CVD.


In 1979, the Supreme Court began departing from strict rule of reason/per se categorization and by 1999 the Court made clear that the rule of reason was a continuum. With the Court providing little guidance on the details of the conduct for which truncated analysis is warranted, the FTC has attempted to fill this gap, focusing not on questions of market power but on the restraint itself. The Commission provided a basic structure for truncated analysis in 1988 Massachusetts Board, later modified in 2003 in Polygram. More recently, the federal antitrust agencies have sought to expand the class of conduct for which truncated analysis should apply in recent enforcement actions by the FTC involving real estate brokers and by the DOJ involving agreements between Silicon Valley tech companies not to cold-call each other's employees. We argue that the agencies' approach in these cases is not grounded on a reasoned analytical framework but instead relies on flawed reasoning through analogy. Truncation remains an important tool, both to promote efficient antitrust enforcement against those few restraints that can be condemned based on prior judicial experience and current economic learning without detailed and expensive consideration of market issues and to prohibit restraints that are shown through unambiguous direct evidence to cause substantial anticompetitive effects. Full consideration of the benefits and costs of challenged conduct remains the antitrust norm, and the government's recent attempts to expand the scope of truncated analysis through reasoning by analogy should be dismissed as aberrations that do not warrant judicial recognition.


Art using artificial life techniques is often founded on a desire for emergence, a desire to have novel, unexpected, or unpredictable results spring from a controlled, designed system. The author explores emergence, briefly tracing the history of debate around the term before using the work of Peter Cariani to discuss the problems involved in describing the results of computational processes as emergent. The relevance of these points to a-life art is illustrated through an imaginary software project in the form of an a-life "breeder." Finally, the urge for emergence is considered in its most general sense as a desire that leads outside art and human design, one that might paradoxically be fulfilled by cultural and social systems themselves, rather than by the artifacts they produce.


The Health Technology Management (HTM) staff in small or remote hospitals can have difficulty accessing good practice information, so we have created a simple, convenient, and accessible networking model for clinical engineers in Colombia, called Regionals Nodes. These Nodes break radically with tradition because they do not have a static structure that limits access to meetings or information. These Nodes are dynamic which allows them to reach more people in less time and at a lower cost. The Nodes use social media to be in contact, coordinate regular meetings with leaders and topics of interest, and disseminate large amounts of information quickly. Thus, new open spaces are created, they are adaptable to each region, and can easily evolve over time. Currently the Ministry of Health and Social Protection (MoHSP), with regional support of engineers from hospitals with national or joint commission accreditation (JCI) lead the Nodes. Today, there are 240 engineers from 140 hospitals and 13 universities and a regulatory agency that recently joined. This initiative began in 2015 with minimal coverage and we have now reached 40% of the country. The members of the Nodes meet every 2 months in order to prepare projects on Medical Equipment Management (MEM) and share information and experiences. Some of the accomplishments and outcomes of these meetings are: continuous training in Colombian regulations, positioning biomedical engineers as key stakeholders in MEM, institutional strengthening of the MoHSP in the health technology field, and HTM regional benchmarking. The interaction among the members of the participant institutions has facilitated a successful knowledge and best practices transfer in MEM from the 8 high-complexity university hospitals to almost 140 regional and local hospitals. These regional and local hospitals have limited access to resources and the operation of the Nodes has contributed in improving the efficiency in the equipment managing process and outcomes that better service the population. One of the priority projects of the Nodes is collaboration with the MoHSP in the validation of the Equipment Maintenance and Obsolescence Assessment Manual. The next steps are strengthening of the Nodes, increasing membership and motivating members and institutions, and interacting with professional engineering societies and health technology organizations worldwide. These steps will involve seeking support and improving communication with health authorities, hospital directors, and administrators looking for the expansion of the Nodes.


In this paper we discuss data from Brazilian Portuguese which arguably involve one instance of a preposition in the syntactic component but end up surfacing with two instances, yielding what at first sight looks like PP coordination. We argue that the copying of the preposition takes place in the morphological component and is triggered by the Parallelism Requirement on coordinated structures. More specifically, we propose that if morphological merger affects a preposition and an adjacent determiner that is part of a coordinated structure, all conjuncts must undergo similar morphological merger. If the syntactic structure has only one preposition, the morphological component then copies the preposition and merges the copies with all the conjuncts so that the Parallelism Requirement can be satisfied.


Oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) rates have been increasing significantly in recent years, despite a decreasing incidence of head and neck cancer in general. Oropharyngeal SCC has many characteristics that are distinct from other head and neck cancers, and thus it is important to focus specifically on cancers arising in this region, with the goal of improving patient outcomes. One important goal is to identify those patients who are likely to fail standard therapy and who could potentially benefit from alternative or targeted treatments.


Until now no overview of the Quaternary deposits of northeastern Europe has been available. This book fills the gap. It presents the state of research on Quaternary stratigraphy and geology, with emphasis on glacial deposits, discusses the general scientific ideas and gives an overview of the methods of investigation, some of which have rarely been applied elsewhere. It has become apparent that the region covered has many environmental problems, and a proper understanding of the Quaternary deposits is a basic requirement for dealing with them. The same is true for civil engineering. In the formerly glaciated areas almost all construction sites for roads and houses will encounter glacial deposits. This volume provides an authoritative and fascinating overview for anyone planning to venture into this field. In its 53 regional chapters the book covers Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic and eastern Germany. From the text it becomes clear that not all the stratigraphical schemes are yet fully compatible or comprehensible. There can be no doubt, however, that the east was subjected to very extensive ice advances during the earlier Pleistocene. Also, in contrast to western Europe, there was a significant Early Weichselian ice advance, although not as extensive as the last, Late Weichselian event. The book is illustrated by 421 figures and 74 colour plates (mostly photographs). There are 23 tables, a detailed index and a list of over 1000 references, providing a unique collection of northeastern European geoscience literature, much of which has so far escaped the attention of western scientists. The volume, composed of contributions by 60 scientists, completes the trilogy on glacial deposits of northern Europe. Together with its two companion volumes, the Glacial deposits in North-West Europe and the Glacial Deposits in Great Britain and Ireland, it represents an invaluable source of information for the geoscientist, the advanced student or the amateur.


The use of the term, "self-defense," covers a wide array of defensive behaviors, and different actions that repel attacks may be permissible for different reasons. One important justificatory feature of some defensive behaviors is that the aggressor has rendered himself liable to defensive force by his own conduct. That is, when a culpable aggressor points a gun at a defender, and says, "I am going to kill you," the aggressor's behavior forfeits the aggressor's right against the defender's infliction of harm that is intended to repel the aggressor's attack. Because the right is forfeited, the aggressor cannot fight back, numbers do not count (the defender may kill as many culpable aggressors as he needs to), third parties may only aid the defender, and the defender does not owe the aggressor compensation for harms inflicted.Although liability for culpable aggression seems intuitive, there are a number of questions, including whether culpability is a necessary requirement for liability; what actions the aggressor must perform; whether there must be an actual threat or whether an apparent threat is sufficient; and whether the defender must believe that his use of force is responsive to that threat. The first part of this paper examines two prominent alternative theories of self-defense – Judith Thomson's rights-based account and Jeff McMahan's moral responsibility account. It argues that both of these theories are problematic as theories of liability and that culpability is a necessary condition of liability. The second part of the paper sketches a culpability account in the context of deadly force and indivisible harm, ultimately arguing that an aggressor is liable to defensive force when; the aggressor forms an intention to purposefully, knowingly, or recklessly kill the defender, the aggressor lacks a justification or excuse, and the aggressor will kill the defender unless defensive force is used, or the aggressor purposefully, knowingly, or recklessly engages in conduct that he is aware may lead the defender to believe that that (1a) is true, and the aggressor lacks a justification or excuse for so doing; AND based on his belief that he is subject to attack, the defender acts to repel the perceived attack.


A VLE is a system where three main actors can be devised: the teacher in the role of instructional designer, the tutor, and the stu- dent. Instructional designers need easy interaction for specifying the course domain structure to the system, and for controlling how well the learning materials agree to such a structure. Tutors need tools for having a holistic perception of the evolution of single students and/or groups in the VLE during the learning process. Finally, students need self regulation in terms of controlling their learning rate, reflect on their learning strategies, and comparing with other people in the class. In this work we claim that sharing an implicit representation of the knowledge about the course domain between all these actors can meet the requirements stated before, and we present a tool that has been developed as part of the I-TUTOR project according to our claim. The tool analyzes a suitable document corpus describing the course domain, and generates a semantic space, which in turn is displayed as a 2D zoomable map. All the relevant concepts of the domain are depicted in the map, and learning materials can be browsed through the tool. Also the texts generated by students during the learning process as well as their social activities inside the VLE can be placed in the map. The motivations of the work are reported as well as the underlying AI techniques, and the whole system is explained in detail.


In this paper, a novel decentralized cross-layer multi-hop cooperative network architecture is presented. Our architecture involves the design of a simple yet efficient cooperative flooding scheme,two decentralized opportunistic cooperative forwarding mechanisms as well as the design of Routing
Enabled Cooperative Medium Access Control (RECOMAC) protocol that spans and incorporates the physical, medium access control (MAC) and routing layers for improving the performance of multihop communication. The proposed architecture exploits randomized coding at the physical layer to realize cooperative diversity. Randomized coding alleviates relay selection and actuation mechanisms,and therefore reduces the coordination among the relays. The coded packets are forwarded via opportunistically formed cooperative sets within a region, without communication among the relays and without establishing a prior route. In our architecture, routing layer functionality is submerged into the
MAC layer to provide seamless cooperative communication while the messaging overhead to set up routes, select and actuate relays is minimized. RECOMAC is shown to provide dramatic performance improvements, such as eight times higher throughput and ten times lower end-to-end delay as well as reduced overhead, as compared to networks based on well-known IEEE 802.11 and Ad hoc On Demand
Distance Vector (AODV) protocols.


This document defines a reference path for Large-scale Measurement of
Broadband Access Performance (LMAP) and measurement points for
commonly used performance metrics. Other similar measurement projects
may also be able to use the extensions described here for measurement
point location. The purpose is to create an efficient way to describe
the location of the measurement point(s) used to conduct a particular
measurement.


"The purpose of this research was to obtain a detailed profile of the adolescent speaking voice and to assess which style of singing causes the highest level of muscular tension. The three singing genres evaluated were classical, musical theater, and gospel. Twenty middle and high school choral students, 13 females and 7 males, comprised the sample. The KayPentax Computerized Speech Lab (CSL) was utilized to extract acoustic parameters. Laryngeal imaging was performed on each subject using the KayPentax Stroboscopy System while the subjects sang excerpts of the three styles of music. Results showed acoustic parameters that were outside of published normative ranges for both females and males. Laryngeal imaging revealed greater muscular tension while singing musical theater compared to classical and gospel singing."--Abstract from author supplied metadata.


It is 50 years since the first Nobel Prize in economics was awarded to Jan Tinbergen and Ragnar Frisch. This article analyzes the collaborations between these pioneers of econometrics which spanned four decades and various subfields in economics, based on records of their correspondence. It is demonstrated that, while Frisch was largely responsible for theoretical breakthroughs, Tinbergen was responsible for making them public and popularizing them. This is especially relevant for understanding the development of econometric models in the 1950s, decision models of the 1950s, and subsequent work on utility measurement. This division of labor is analyzed in relation to the goals they pursued in their research and their respective perfectionistic (Frisch) and pragmatic (Tinbergen) approaches to economic science. Both men shared a sense of deep social responsibility, but differences in their personalities and approaches to science generated important differences in scientific recognition and policy influence. Although they are both widely remembered for helping to turn economics into a quantitative empirical science, this article shows that they were motivated by separate personal and political goals which shaped their scientific approaches.


This paper argues the systems of heteropatriarchal and speciesist oppression have been co-constituted. To explain this overlapping of oppression, we will first define speciesism and heteropatriarchy, by bringing up their link to other oppression systems (such as capitalism, colonialism, capacitism) from which these cannot be separated. Then, we will delve into the interrelation of oppressions by addressing several axes: (1) binary thinking, (2) building a hegemonic masculinity, (3) the phenomenon of domestication and body control, (4) (re)productivity and body exploitation in capitalist settings, and (5) the mechanisms through speciesist and heteropatriarchal normativity are perpetuated. The issue of representing other animals will be critically reviewed, and we will end with a defense of care ethics, encompassing the overlapping of oppressions when projecting social justice, environmental, and interspecies worlds.


The article examines academic support programs at American law schools and argues that academic support programs need to go beyond limited programs such as one-on-one counseling of students in academic difficulty. Academic support programs, it argues, must have a broader mission of engaging the faculty and administration of a law school in the "academic support mission." The adoption of academic support teaching and assessment methods throughout a law school is the true measure of an academic support program's success. The article asserts that a weak or marginalized academic support program can, in fact, have the detrimental effect of "enabling" a law school in continuing a dysfunctional teaching and curricular structure that creates barriers for many students and prevents their ultimate success.The article adds its voice to a growing body of scholarship in the area of academic support and learning theory in law schools. In addition to a theoretical discussion of academic support, the article provides concrete suggestions for improving academic support programs and critically examines specific programs at Northern Kentucky University's Salmon P. Chase College of Law.


Introduction: The benefits of immediate reconstruction have been increasingly documented in the literature over the past few years. Today, with some exceptions, immediate reconstruction is the preferred surgical choice for breast cancer patients. In the recent years, the number of reconstructions using expanders and implants has increased. Methods: This retrospective study conducted between 2013 and 2014 included patients undergoing mastectomy followed by breast reconstruction, who were divided into direct implant reconstruction and expander treatment groups. Several variables were evaluated. Results: A total of 138 reconstructions (57 implants and 81 expander-implant) were performed. There were no intergroup differences in postoperative complications. Radiotherapy did not influence complications. Implant reconstruction patients underwent fewer surgeries (1.78 vs 2.54) and had fewer postoperative returns (8 vs 11.75). Conclusion: Immediate implant and expander-implant reconstruction approaches present low and similar postoperative complication rates. Patients undergoing implant reconstruction had a lower return rate and underwent fewer surgeries than those undergoing expander-implant reconstruction. ■ ABSTRACT


The transportation crisis in Atlanta has attained epic proportions. Inconveniences and hardships created by too many automobiles and not enough alternatives for movement, have reached untenable levels. Getting at what lies beneath the asphalt, interrogating what drives the paving of America, along with the seemingly unstoppable space, energy, and money consumption that the current mode of mobility entails will perhaps allow for future decisionmaking that includes a more nuanced reading of the landscape. In an effort to understand these forces, I interrogate the creation, trajectories, and current positioning of three major Atlanta transportation projects: the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), the bus and rail system that has been the backbone of metropolitan Atlanta's public transportation system for the past 30 years; the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA), which is the super-agency created in 1999 in an effort to address the air quality issues in the region; and the Beltline, an enormously popular current proposal to build a 22mile loop of greenspace, transit, and other amenities around an inner loop of the city built on existing rail beds. This investigation engages a wide literature on race, space, and place; attendance at various meetings and relevant symposia; archival data; and in-depth interviews with 20 area transportation experts and interested parties. As race and regionalism are so central to understanding power and procedure in metro Atlanta, particular attention is given to racial and spatial practices. This research reveals the contest over issue framing between carcentered growth promoters, environmental (or green) actors, and social justice, or equity proponents and how the outcomes of this triumvirate's competition results in regional transportation policies and procedures. The examination of the three instances; MARTA, GRTA, and the Beltline, give us an excellent window into the making of mobility in the region. INDEX WORDS: Transportation, Atlanta, Race and Regionalism, Mobility, GRTA, Beltline, MARTA. TRANSPORTING ATLANTA: THE MODE OF MOBILITY UNDER


A novel rhodium-catalyzed allylic substitution reaction using indium organometallics is reported. Aryl- and heteroarylindium reagents reacted in THF at 80 °C with primary and secondary allyl halides and their derivatives under rhodium(I) catalysis to afford the α-substituted products in good yields and with high regio- and stereoselectivity. The reaction takes place with substoichiometric amounts of the triorganoindium reagents, which demonstrates the efficiency of the indium–rhodium transmetallation process in carbon–carbon bond-forming reactions.


Wisdom is a phenomenon characterized by a rich cultural history and complex associations. Across cultures and history, wisdom has been discussed as the ideal of human knowledge and character. Starting from the dictionary definition of wisdom as "good judgment and advice in difficult and uncertain matters of life," psychologists have described wisdom as the search for the moderate course between extremes, a dynamic between knowledge and doubt, a sufficient detachment from the problem at hand, and a well-balanced coordination of emotion, motivation, and thought. Within psychological research on wisdom, two broad approaches can be distinguished. One is the study of lay conceptions of wisdom, and the other is the measurement of wisdom in individuals. In the latter case a personal and a general form of wisdom needs to be distinguished. Age trajectories and antecedents of general and personal wisdom are discussed.


In March 2009, the faltering insurance behemoth AIG sparked national outrage when it announced a payment of $165 million in executive bonuses after receiving more than $170 billion in bailout money from the U.S. Treasury. President Obama expressed his personal indignation in a public statement, emphasizing "the need for overall financial regulatory reform." Is this merely an anecdote, a unique case that requires a tailored solution, or a symptom of a more fundamental deficiency? The recent economic crisis showcased some of the main deficiencies of existing regulatory systems, and rekindled the debate on the importance and scope of regulation in general, and of financial services regulation in particular. Against this backdrop, insurance - one of the main pillars of the financial services sector - merits special attention, because it remains the only financial industry in the United States not regulated on the federal level. The Article unveils the inherent weakness of regulation on the state level, and advocates cautious federal intervention. But unlike previous studies, it uses an interest-group theory with a strong comparative bent. An interest-group theory is premised on the idea that regulation provides a mechanism through which well organized interest groups can influence the distribution of economic rents in an industry. Presumably, insurance regulation is no different. In addition, the state system of insurance regulation in the United States makes the use of foreign experience incomparably valuable, because in the absence of federal intervention individual states operate much like small foreign economies. The vast foreign experience, despite its great value to American scholars and policymakers, is usually inaccessible due to language barriers. This Article aims to lift at least one barrier and to enrich scholarly and political discourse with timely and highly pertinent insights.


Dear EditorI read with great interest the article by Jafargholizadeh et al., (2016) for the possible cytotoxic effects of Ecballium elaterium (L.) A. Richard fruit on gastric cancer cells due to its cucurbitacins. Although this toxicherb has been known since antiquity and was mentioned by ancient writers (as Hippocrates, Theophrastus Pliny,Dioscorides, Avicenna and others), Hippocrates was the first who suggested the administration of Ecballiumelaterium for the management of gastrointestinal cancer. Particularly, in the Book of Epidemics II, Hippocratesof Kos (c. 460 - c. 370 BC) wrote the following: "Ἀπό γαστρός ταραχῆς ἤ ἀπό βηχός καρκίνου γινομένου, τόστόμα πικραίνeται∙ διδόναι δέ πίνeιν ἐλατήριον δίς ἤ τρίς, ἤν μή ψιλός ᾖ" (If you develop cancer after a digestivedisorder or a cough, your mouth becomes bitter. The patient is given elaterium two or three times, unless thepatient is thin) (6,22). The administration of elaterium in this text was probably related to its laxative properties. Itis worth mentioning that the name Ecballium elaterium originates from the Greek words "ἐκβάλλω" (ekvallo)which means discharge and "ἐλατήριον" (elatirion) which means spring, because of a specific characteristic of theseeds of the plant, which are ejected like springs, even by the lightest touch of the surface of the fruit, when it is ripe.


Background and Aim: Acanthamoeba is a free-living amoebae commonly found in the environmental sources such as soil, water, and dust. This parasite is the causative agent of amoebic keratitis (AK). The objective of the present study was to investigate the presence of Acanthamoeba genotypes in water sources in Bojnurd City . Materials and Methods: Totally, 50 samples of water were taken from different localities of Bojnurd including agricultural canals, rivers, and swimming pools. Filtration and cultivation were carried out on non-nutrient agar medium (NNA). PCR analysis was conducted on positive samples. Sequencing was done for 10 PCR products. Genotypes were identified by means of Blast search and homology analysis. The obtained data was analyzed using SPSS software (V: 16). Results: Acanthamoeba amoebae was found in 34 (68%) samples of the water. Genotyping of 10 samples proved to be T4 (100%) genotype. Conclusion: While Acanthamoeba amoebae is found in our surrounding environment which unknowingly contaminates us every day. Thus, to prevent the contamination, hygiene consideration is recommended.


This environmental assessment for the Honduras La Esperanza Hydro Project, which contributes to greenhouse gas emissions by building and operating a hydroelectric power plant, anticipates negative environmental impacts and proposes measures to mitigate them. In response to the likely impacts to the physical environment, water resources, ecosystem, and drainage system, the following measures are recommended: Protect sensitive areas; although there are no known endangered species sensitize workers about this issue; use reforestation and replace topsoil in degraded areas and other sites where vegetation has been removed from construction; protect slopes, and road construction and pipe installation areas from soil erosion; compensate those few inhabitants whose lands are affected by pipe installation; set up an emergency plan for flood management during the winter season; train workers in handling hazardous waste; manage water flow and use in order to avoid affecting aquatic life; educate the public about natural habitat conservation; and strictly control impact to plant and animal life. Other environmental risks to plan for include the problem of leaching affecting water quality and the installations, sedimentation leading to water contamination, further landfill degradation, physical unsightliness aggravated by the construction site, and hydrocarbon contamination -- although the effects of this last impact may be minimal.


This case study is one in a series on industrial firms who are implementing energy efficient technologies and system improvements into their manufacturing processes. This case study documents the activities, savings, and lessons learned on the steel mill project.


This study investigates the effects of firm-specific factors on dividend policies of Turkish publicly listed firms in the post-2003 period. The paper focuses on this period, because Turkish authorities and regulators implemented various major economic and structural reforms for market integration and made significant changes in the regulatory framework of cash dividend policy rules starting with the fiscal year 2003. We analyse a panel dataset of 264 firms traded in the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE) over the period 2003-2012 and our results reveal that profitability, debt, growth, firm age and firm
size are the most important firm-specific characteristics determining cash dividend payment decisions of ISE-listed firms. The findings, thus, suggest that more profitable, more mature and larger size firms are more likely to pay dividends (and distribute higher dividends), whereas firms with higher growth (investment opportunities) and more debt are less likely to pay dividends (and distribute lower dividends) in the Turkish market. Overall, we detect that the firm-specific determinants that affect corporate dividend policies of ISE firms do follow similar patterns of dividend policy factors in more
developed economies after the implementation of major developments in the post-2003 period, and
hence such reforms make Turkish firms to be comparable to their counterparts in developed markets in terms of dividend policy setting process.


The effects of parameter modifications imposed by hardware constraints on a self-organizing feature map algorithm were examined. Performance was measured by the error rate of a speech recognition system which included this algorithm as part of the front-end processing. System parameters which were varied included weight (connection strength) quantization, adaptation quantization, distance measures and circuit approximations which include device characteristics and process variability. Experiments using the TI isolated word database for 16 speakers demonstrated degradation in performance when weight quantization fell below 8 bits. The competitive nature of the algorithm relaxes constraints on uniformity and linearity which makes it an excellent candidate for a fully analog circuit implementation. Prototype circuits have been fabricated and characterized following the constraints established through the simulation efforts.


Engagement has been studied as a multidimensional construct consisting of three subtypes: behavioral, cognitive, and emotional (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004). Among these, behavioral engagement has received the most and emotional engagement, the least attention (Fredricks et al., 2004). The current study thus aimed to examine the relationship between lecturer-student interaction, emotional engagement (specifically affective reactions expressed within the classroom), and academic outcomes (such as, student achievement and learning) in a sample of 140 undergraduate psychology students (M = 24, F = 116). Participants were randomly assigned to one of the experimental conditions (i.e., good vs. poor lecturer-student interaction) and completed the Lecturer-Student Interaction (LSI) questionnaire, Class-related Emotions Questionnaire (CEQ), Perception of Learning (POL) Questionnaire, and two measures of academic achievement. Individuals who shared a good interaction with their lecturer reported higher levels of emotional engagement compared to those who shared poor interactions with their lecturers. In addition, while emotional engagement failed to mediate the pathway between lecturer-student interaction and academic achievement, it was found to partially mediate lecturer-student interaction and student learning. The present findings highlight the significance of emotional engagement in enhancing learning outcomes in students.


This study investigates sexual harassment in hospitality work, by interviewing women working in customer service roles. It explores their experiences and views on sexual harassment in hospitality service work. Semi-structured interviews were used to understand the relationship between women's experiences and their views of harassing behaviours, as well as influences on the incidence of harassment. Findings showed that participants cooperated with harassing behaviours because of their role view, and that older women were less prone to harassment, mostly because they were more skilled at rejecting unwanted advances. The study concludes by outlining management's responsibility to prevent harassment by recognising the assumptions implicit in servers' roles. These assumptions effectively prostitute the innate skills of young women who are keen to please management and customers, but not at the risk of assault and abuse.


In May 2006 the Prime Minister made it publicly clear to the incoming Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, David Miliband, that limiting the emissions of greenhouse gases, and dealing with climate change generally, is his top priority.1 Indeed, all policies and institutional arrangements will need to be challenged to achieve the ambition of 60 per cent reduction of carbon dioxide by 2050 (DTI 2003). How may this ambition be delivered sustainably? The UK Sustainable Development Strategy (HM Government 2005) placed an emphasis on the principles and practices of sustainability at all levels of government in the UK. Eventually all of these different levels will be expected to produce sustainable development action plans, beginning with all central government departments, regional administrations and devolved administrations in 2006 (HM Government 2005 2006). The regions have a vital role to play in delivering adequate responses to climate change, both in adapting to its impacts and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Crucial are the Regional Spatial Strategies, since these guide mid-range planning decisions on settlement, transport and energy (see also HM Government 2006). However, it is clear that integrating governance-for-sustainability into emerging regionalism and localism in the UK is still at the embryonic stage (O'Riordan 2004). The UK Sustainable Development Commission (2005) reviewed the regional policy machinery with a view to improving its capability to achieve sustainable development. It proposed that regional sustainable development frameworks should be established at the highest level of integration both for evaluating and progressing sustainability. In its response (HM Government 2006, 17), the Government called for the use of evidence-based scenarios, stakeholder involvement, integrated visions, clear targets, sustainability appraisal techniques and regular monitoring and reporting via independent regional sustainable development round tables.


This article discusses the rationale for various financial system-related functions and objectives to be 'delegated' to an independent agency, whether a central bank (as in the case of the Reserve Bank) or a separate supervisory authority. The delegation of these tasks marks a form of precommitment on the part of government to the long-run goal of financial stability. This pre-commitment helps reduce the risk of politicisation of policy making and the 'time inconsistency' problem – where government may understand the long-term benefits to society from financial stability, but may act in contrary ways over the short-term. However, the decision-makers heading these agencies are unelected. To compensate for this and the potential creation of a 'democratic deficit', independent agencies must demonstrate that they contribute to better outcomes than would otherwise prevail if they were not independent, while enshrining a high degree of 'procedural legitimacy' based on robust accountability arrangements. In the financial policy sphere, the construction of robust accountability arrangements can be challenging. Financial system objectives such as 'soundness' and 'efficiency' are not easily amenable to quantification.


Arsenic is a non-essential element in plant nutrition. However, As was detected in many agricultural plants, where it may pose a serious health hazard for next members of the food chain. This review presents the recent knowledge of As uptake, metabolism and transport in plants. Arsenates are taken up by phosphate transporters while arsenites are transported to cells via aquaporins located on cytoplasmic membranes. Inside the root cells, arsenates are rapidly reduced with arsenate reductase or some non-specific reducing agents. They are complexed by phytochelatins and then transported to vacuoles. Hyperaccumulators, instead of producing phytochelatins to detoxify As, transport free As to shoots and, similarly, accumulate it in vacuoles. The review highlights the importance of research on As phytotoxicity evaluation in terms of its impact on agricultural production. Exposure to As results in growth and reduction of biomass production, inhibition of germination, impaired nutrient uptake and adverse effects on photosynthetic processes. These aspects are discussed in the review.


This paper examines trends in the distribution of household wealth in Great Britain from 1995 to 2005 using the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). The data show that wealth is very unevenly distributed and reveal a widening absolute gap over the period between wealthier households and those with no or negative wealth. However, in relative terms, wealth grew fastest for households in the middle of the distribution and inequality measured by the Gini coefficient decreased. This mainly reflected housing wealth becoming a greater share of total net worth, more equally distributed, and the highest percentage increase in housing wealth taking place in the middle of the distribution. To estimate the distributional impact of the remarkable rise in house prices which defined this period, we simulate the distribution of net 2005 wealth in the hypothetical scenario in which house prices remained at their 1995 levels in real terms and find that the reduction in wealth inequality is almost entirely accounted for by changes in house prices. The paper also finds that, controlling for factors such as age, households that gained most from the house price boom were mortgagors, in particular those that were initially wealthier, and were advantaged in other ways such as by level of educational qualification.


The effects of two different noise sources upon their surrounding communities were investigated with both quantitative and qualitative measures. A high school football game, which presents continuous noise over a relatively short duration on a predictable schedule was found to have a slight annoyance on its surrounding community. In contrast, a train horn blow at a residential intersection was investigated. This sound was unpredictable and could occur at any time. Residents in this community were found to have a moderate level of annoyance. It was found that each of the noises studied violated suggested noise levels for common household activities, in addition to many local, state, and federal noise regulations. It is recommended that both of the sounds studied herein be reduced or eliminated altogether. Limiting the level of sound produced by the PA system at the football game and using a noise reducing barrier would help in the case of the football game. Converting the railroad intersection into one with sufficient safety features, especially a crossing quad-gate that no longer requires trains to blow their horns would be the optimal solution, with the added benefit of precluding vehicles from entering the crossing when a train is present.


This thesis examines the presentation of UK public health policy in the late 1990s and the associated media coverage of health inequalities. It also examines lay perceptions of these inequalities and of government initiatives to reduce them. Such a project is timely for a number of reasons. Inequalities in health were once again on the political agenda with the electron of a Labour government in 1997. Subsequent media coverage of the government's consultant and policy documents, as well as an independent inquiry, put health inequalities in the public domain. In addition, research into health inequalities had been accumulating. One line of enquiry focused on the role psycho-social mechanisms might play in the causation of ill health, yet little empirical work had been carried out on lay perceptions. Two distinct yet interlinking methodologies were employed in the study. Content analysis was carried out on government public health documents, an independent inquiry, their press releases, and of the subsequent press coverage, in order to examine the profile given to inequalities and the manner in which they were presented. Images and headlines from the press coverage were then used to facilitate discussion, in a focus group setting, on inequality, poverty, and relative deprivation. The government's intention to reduce health inequalities was communicated mainly in broadsheet publications. An absence of coverage in the tabloid media suggest that a large section of the population may have been unaware of the government's intentions. The transition from Green Paper to White led to a dilution of the initial fervour of the government to tackle inequalities, and this lack of emphasis was followed through in media coverage of health policy. What had started out as a strong issue faltered in the journey from consultation to policy. Political affiliation of newspapers greatly affected the way in which the inequalities debate was presented. Striking differnces emerged in the reporting of health inequalities by right and left-of-centre newspapers. Right-of-centre newspapers focused on proposals to improve and promote healthy behaviours, whereas left-wing publications focused their reporting on initiatives targeted at the deprived. Researching lay views on health inequalities, and inequality in society at a broader level, elicited often compelling and emotive responses. The government's intention to reduce health inequalities did not appear to register with participants. Inequalities were not discussed in the manner of a public debate churned out by the media. Rather, inequalities were a sensitive issue, affecting people in a very personal and far reaching manner. Those of lower socio-economic status were often painfully aware of their status in relation to other, and a large proportion expressed frustration, anger and helplessness, and linked such feelings to their health and well-being. Views from higher income groups tended to be more disparate and distanced, yet this only reinforced how polarised certain sections of society have become. The social snapshot presented in this thesis conveys a picture of a fundamentally fractured and divided modern Britain with very direct consequences for the future quality of social life.


This study investigated whether populations of naturally-occurring soil bacteria, fungi and actinomycetes influence the effect of fungicides on the survival and growth of Beauveria bassiana . The toxicity of methyl thiophanate, pyraclostrobin, mancozeb and copper oxychloride at the recommended doses was analyzed in culture medium and in soil inoculated with fungus at various time points after addition of fungicides. All fungicides completely inhibited the growth and sporulation of B. bassiana in the culture medium. The fungicides were less toxic in soil, emphasizing the action of the microbial populations, which interfered with the toxic effects of these products to the fungus. Actinomycetes had the greatest influence on the entomopathogen, inhibiting it or degrading the fungicides to contribute to the survival and growth of B. bassiana in soil. Native populations of fungi and bacteria had a smaller influence on the population density of B. bassiana and the action of fungicides towards entomopathogen. The toxic effect of the fungicides was greater when added to the soil one hour before or after inoculation than at 48h after inoculation.


Why has America experienced an explosion in crime rates since 1960? Why has the crime rate dropped in recent years? Though politicians are always ready both to take the credit for crime reduction and to exploit grisly headlines for short-term political gain, these questions remain among the most important-and most difficult to answer-in America today. In Crime & Politics, award-winning journalist Ted Gest gives readers the inside story of how crime policy is formulated inside the Washington beltway and state capitols, why we've had cycle after cycle of ineffective federal legislation, and where promising reforms might lead us in the future. Gest examines how politicians first made crime a national rather than a local issue, beginning with Lyndon Johnson's crime commission and the landmark anti-crime law of 1968 and continuing right up to such present-day measures as "three strikes" laws, mandatory sentencing, and community policing. Gest exposes a lack of consistent leadership, backroom partisan politics, and the rush to embrace simplistic solutions as the main causes for why Federal and state crime programs have failed to make our streets safe. But he also explores how the media aid and abet this trend by featuring lurid crimes that simultaneously frighten the public and encourage candidates to offer another round of quick-fix solutions. Drawing on extensive research and including interviews with Edwin Meese, Janet Reno, Joseph Biden, Ted Kennedy, and William Webster, Crime & Politics uncovers the real reasons why America continues to struggle with the crime problem and shows how we do a better job in the future.


Serial Synchrotron Crystallography (SSX) is rapidly emerging as a promising technique for collecting data for time-resolved structural studies or for performing room temperature micro-crystallography measurements using micro-focused beamlines. SSX is often performed using high frame rate detectors in combination with continuous sample scanning or high-viscosity or liquid jet injectors. When performed using ultra-bright X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) sources serial crystallography typically involves a process known as 'diffract-and-destroy' where each crystal is measured just once before it is destroyed by the intense XFEL pulse. In SSX, however, particularly when using high-viscosity injectors (HVIs) such as Lipidico, the crystal can be intercepted multiple times by the X-ray beam prior to exiting the interaction region. This has a number of important consequences for SSX including whether these multiple-hits can be incorporated into the data analysis or whether they need to be excluded due to the potential impact of radiation damage. Here, we investigate the occurrence and characteristics of multiple hits on single crystals using SSX with lipidico. SSX data are collected from crystals as they tumble within a high viscous stream of silicone grease flowing through a micro-focused X-ray beam. We confirmed that, using the Eiger 16M, we are able to collect up to 42 frames of data from the same single crystal prior to it leaving the X-ray interaction region. The frequency and occurrence of multiple hits may be controlled by varying the sample flow rate and X-ray beam size. Calculations of the absorbed dose confirm that these crystals are likely to undergo radiation damage but that nonetheless incorporating multiple hits into damage-free data should lead to a significant reduction in the number of crystals required for structural analysis when compared to just looking at a single diffraction pattern from each crystal.


Ps 19:7-11, The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, Yea, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.


We show how a beamforming technique for analytical spatial filtering, called Flexibeam, can be applied to mobile phone mast broadcasting so as to result in concentrations of power where most devices are. To that end, Flexibeam is interpreted as transmission beamforming. An analytically described radiation pattern is extended from a sphere to Euclidean space. A continuous beamforming function is then obtained by the Fourier transform of the extended radiation pattern. We then show how a Gaussian filter can be approximately achieved using beamforming. The method is then expanded by means of an example of a collection of mobile phone masts covering an area of Zurich city so as to concentrate energy where devices are concentrated.


Under what conditions do rebel organizations control territory during civil war? How do civilians influence the distribution of territorial control? This article introduces a civilian agency theory, emphasizing community collective action capacity (CAC) defined by underlying social network structure, to complement existing explanations of territorial control. I argue communities with greater CAC mobilize information and resources more efficiently, increasing belligerents' incentives to control territory. However, CAC also increases community bargaining power to demand costly investments in governance, partially offsetting these gains. CAC increases rebel control in areas of state neglect. But, as state service provision increases, communities leverage CAC to demand prohibitively costly rebel governance, deterring rebel control. The article tests the theory in the context of the communist insurgency in the Philippines, using military intelligence reports from 2011-2014 to measure village-level communist insurgent territorial control and a household-level census (2008-2010) to measure village CAC. Interviews with village elders in Eastern Mindanao illustrate causal mechanisms and explore alternative explanations.


This book examines the application of these ideas to Bronze Age burials in east Crete, in order to examine the historical significance of a specific pattern of changes in funerary monumentality. Within the Early Bronze Age landscape, tombs built above the ground were monumental landmarks. Such monumentality was lost during the Middle -Late Bronze Age period, when the dead were usually buried underground or in caves. At the same time, the living made their presence increasingly marked in the landscape, with the erection of 'palaces' and 'villas' and the formation of nucleated settlements. Finally, the re-emergence of burials in the landscape during the Late Minoan III period, albeit in the form of modest semi-subterranean chambers, coincides with a fragmentation of large urban settlements and a return to modest-sized communities. An examination of funerary activity from a landscape perspective can provide a better understanding of the relationship between funerary monumentality and socio-historical process and also the ways in which this relationship was expressed in the landscape.


This paper considers concerns that social care research may be stifled by health-focused ethical scrutiny under the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the requirement for an 'appropriate body' to determine ethical approval for research involving people who are deemed to lack capacity under the Act to make decisions concerning their participation and consent in research. The current study comprised an online survey of current practice in university research ethics committees (URECs), and explored through semi-structured interviews the views of social researchers engaged in or exploring work concerning people who may, under the Act, lack the capacity to make decisions to consent to participate in a research programme. The paper concludes that there was a lack of overt knowledge of and reference to the implications of the Act for research and some concerns that a restrictive focus on health-related scrutiny might prevent social care research from taking place. There was also a degree of creativity shown by social care researchers in responding to changing demands and a wish to assist people in making decisions to participate where possible.


Background: The training of food handlers with regard to the hazards associated with their products, its safe handling, and the preparation of food following good hygienic practices, as practicable under local street-vending conditions, is an essential part of any strategy to improve the safety and quality of street-vended food. People are becoming increasingly concerned about the health risks posed by microbial pathogens and potentially hazardous chemicals in food, especially those that may enter food during its preparation or while serving. This study assessed the effect of health education training on food hygiene habits among street food vendors in Sabon Gari Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental study consisting of pre- and postintervention components was conducted among 109 adult street food vendors who sell cooked food or other food items by the roadside or open spaces in Sabon Gari LGA. Multistage sampling technique was used for selecting the respondents. Training intervention was conducted for the study group over a period of 6 weeks, and data were collected using observation checklist and pretested interviewer-administered structured questionnaire with closed-ended questions before and after intervention. The data obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 20.0 software (IBM-SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, United States). Results: There was significant improvement in the knowledge and the practice of food hygiene, from 46.7 to 53.3%, among the street food vendors in the study area after the training intervention. However, change with regard to knowledge and the practice of food hygiene seen in the street food vendors belonging to the control LGA at the end of the study was from 50.4 to 49.6%. In the intervention arm of the study, there were changes in food hygiene (30.9–69.1%) and environmental sanitation (23.1–76.9%) practices. In addition, it was also determined whether the changes were statistically significant or not. However, changes seen in the control LGA were not as remarkable, with food hygiene and environmental sanitation practices improving from 49.0 to 51.0% and 46.8 to 53.2%, respectively. Conclusion: There was improvement in the knowledge and the practice of food hygiene among street food vendors in the study area after the training intervention. Hence, appropriate authorities should ensure a periodic training of street food vendors on food hygiene.


This study examined patterns of help-seeking for educational and career planning issues in a sample of 483 students in grades 11–12 from two schools in southern Ontario. Although counsellors were the most common source of support for educational issues, very few students sought their assistance for career issues, choosing to turn to family members instead. Logistic regression revealed that males and students with lower occupational aspirations were more likely to avoid seeking assistance from counsellors for educational planning issues, while males, students with lower educational aspirations, and students with parents who attained higher levels of education were least likely to see counsellors for career planning. These results indicate that it is important to more fully explore student, counsellor, and contextual infl uences on help-seeking in the career domain, in order to design alternative intervention strategies for individuals who do not seek assistance from their school counsellors.


Scottish forestry policy promotes integrated multifunctional forestry and continued forest expansion, and the private forestry sector is key to achieving these goals. However, a variety of factors can constrain multifunctional forestry, particularly in upland areas. Management objectives for private forests are also not always widely known and the potential impacts of government policy, and particularly conservation designations, on the delivery of multifunctional forestry have not been explored. Furthermore, the effects of landownership on forest management are unclear. The key aim of this research was to evaluate how forests and woodlands in the Cairngorms are being managed, and to determine the main constraints and opportunities to the further application of a multifunctional approach to forest management in the region at various scales.

The research incorporated GIS analysis, a postal questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews. A typology was developed which identified three key management themes: sustainable multifunctional management; restricted functionality forestry; and dual function management. Forest owner preferences, economic concerns, government policy and the wider land use context all influence forest management. No consistent relationship was evident between specific types of landownership and forest management functionality. A link was apparent between species and structural diversity and forest multifunctionality. Overall, 'social' objectives were relatively weak, particularly for private forests, while 'environmental' objectives were consistently strong and 'productive/ economic' objectives varied in importance.

The themes of constraint and opportunity were: spatial fragmentation and integration; forestry markets; bureaucracy and policy integration; public pressure and public support; and unpredictability and forest resource resilience. Many constraints result from temporal, spatial and organizational scale mis-matches between social and natural systems. The matching up of scales at the management, organizational and market levels and the treatment of forests as complex social-ecological systems is recommended. Further recommendations include: further land management integration; increased policy regionalization; timber market localization; and enhanced long-term planning.


Background In vivo imaging using Annexin A5-based radioligands is a powerful technique for visualizing massive cell death, but has been less successful in monitoring the modest cell death typically seen in solid tumors after chemotherapy. Here we combined dynamic positron emission tomography (PET) imaging using Annexin A5 with a serum-based apoptosis marker, for improved sensitivity and specificity in assessment of chemotherapy-induced cell death in a solid tumor model. Methodology/Principal Findings Modest cell death was induced by doxorubicin in a mouse xenograft model with human FaDu head and neck cancer cells. PET imaging was based on 11C-labeled Sel-tagged Annexin A5 ([11C]-AnxA5-ST) and a size-matched control. 2-deoxy-2-[18F]fluoro-D-glucose ([18F]-FDG) was utilized as a tracer of tissue metabolism. Serum biomarkers for cell death were ccK18 and K18 (M30 Apoptosense® and M65). Apoptosis in tissue sections was verified ex vivo for validation. Both PET imaging using [11C]-AnxA5-ST and serum ccK18/K18 levels revealed treatment-induced cell death, with ccK18 displaying the highest detection sensitivity. [18F]-FDG uptake was not affected by this treatment in this tumor model. [11C]-AnxA5-ST gave robust imaging readouts at one hour and its short half-life made it possible to perform paired scans in the same animal in one imaging session. Conclusions/Significance The combined use of dynamic PET with [11C]-AnxA5-ST, showing specific increases in tumor binding potential upon therapy, with ccK18/K18 serum measurements, as highly sensitive markers for cell death, enabled effective assessment of modest therapy-induced cell death in this mouse xenograft model of solid human tumors.


The subject's perspective objection (SPO) is an objection against externalist theories of justification, warrant, and knowledge. In this article, I show that externalists can accommodate the SPO while remaining externalist. So, even if the SPO is successful, it does not motivate internalism, and the primary motivation for internalism has been lost. After this, I provide an explanation for why so many people find cases that motivate the SPO convincing.


SEUL, Stephanie Title: Journalists in the service of British foreign policy : the BBC German service and Chamberlain's appeasement policy, 1938-1939 Author: SEUL, Stephanie Date: 2008 Citation: Frank BÖSCH and Dominik GEPPERT (eds), Journalists as political actors : transfers and interactions between Britain and Germany since the late 19th century, Augsburg : Wißner-Verlag, 2008, Beiträge zur Englandforschung, vol. 59, pp. 88-109 URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1814/29537 ISBN: 9783896396730 Abstract: Journalists and the media have not only played a role as political actors in Anglo-German relations, which was independent of their governments. Likewise, they have also worked in the service of their states, surrendering more or less consciously their journalistic independence for the 'national interest'. One such example is the British propaganda campaign directed at the German public during 1938-1939 with the help of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The campaign is an interesting historical case that shows the enormous influence a government could exert on the media even in a democratic society. This article examines the relationship between the journalists of the BBC German Service and the Foreign Office and offers an insight into the mechanisms of British propaganda production between the Munich Agreement and the outbreak of the Second World War.


This article deals with the theory and practical analysis of the relationship between bitcoin and ethereum cryptocurrencies. The existing developments on this issue are investigated by generalizing the literature on the basic characteristics and relationship of bitcoin and ethereum prices. Based on the problems and existing research on the topic, the analysis of the relationship between ethereum and bitcoin prices is defined as the goal of the article. A mathematical model of the cryptocurrency relationship analysis is presented, which helps to establish that the relationship is quite close. The main result is the conclusion that a connection exists between the prices of bitcoin and ethereum, and this connection can be used for diversification and risk insurance when trading on the cryptocurrency exchange. The purpose of this article is to identify a tool that can describe the relationship between the price of ethereum and both its volume and the price of bitcoin and can predict their changes over time. This article analyzes the price of ethereum as dependent on the price of bitcoin. TOPICS: Currency, Real assets/alternative investments/private equity, performance-measurement, statistical methods, portfolio construction Key Findings • The relationship between the price of ethereum and its volume and the price of bitcoin, as well as the ability to predict their change over time is analyzed. • The revealed multiple regression equation can be used to create operational analytical programs capable of real-time forecasting the price movement of ethereum.


Teaching and demonstration gardens are places where the public can learn about different types of gardens and landscapes. This 10-page fact sheet discusses the various types of gardens, how to plan and develop a demonstration garden, logistical and design considerations, and educational programming. Written by Gail Hansen, and published by the UF Environmental Horticulture Department, July 2015.


Acetabular or anterior pelvic ring fractures are rare but extremely complicated and challenging injuries for orthopedic trauma surgeons. Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is widely used in the management of these two fracture types for surgical benefits. Our study aimed to explore whether 3D printing-assisted acetabular or pelvic surgery is beneficial in terms of shortening the length of hospital stay (LHS) and intensive care unit (ICU) stay (ICU LS) for older patients. This retrospective study included two groups of 76 participants over 60 years old who underwent operations with (n = 41) or without (n = 35) guidance by 3D printing. The Mann–Whitney U test was used to analyze continuous variables. Chi-square analysis was applied for categorical variables. Univariable and multivariable linear regression models were used to analyze the factors associated with LHS. The median LHS in the group without 3D printing assistance was 16 (12–21) days, and the median ICU LS was 0 (0–2) days. The median LHS in the group with 3D printing assistance was 17 (12.5–22.5) days, and the median ICU LS was 0 (0–3) days. There was no significant difference in LHS associated with 3D printing assistance vs. that without 3D printing among patients who underwent open reduction and internal fixation for pelvic or acetabular fractures. The LHS positively correlated with the ICU LS whether the operation was 3D printing assisted or not. For fracture surgery in older patients, in addition to the advancement of surgical treatment and techniques, medical teams require more detailed preoperative evaluations, and more personalized medical plans regarding postoperative care to achieve the goals of shortening LHS, reducing healthcare costs, and reducing complication rates.


Introduction Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is a primary immunodeficiency characterized by eczema, thrombocytopenia, infections, and a high risk of developing autoimmunity and cancer. In a recent clinical trial, a γ-retroviral vector was used to introduce a functional WAS gene into autologous hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSCs), followed by reinfusion of the gene-corrected HSCs into the patients. This strategy provided clinical benefit but resulted in expansion and malignant transformation of hematopoietic clones carrying vector insertions near oncogenes, thus increasing leukemia risk. We have developed a clinical protocol for WAS based on lentiviral vector (LV) gene transfer into HSCs. Analysis of common insertion sites (CIS) in gene therapy trials using lentiviral versus γ-retroviral vectors. Word clouds show the intensity of insertion sites clustering in each of the CIS genes (the larger the gene name, the larger the number of insertion sites within or in the proximity of that gene). The names of the CIS genes detected in both gene therapy trials are reported at the intersection between the circles. Analysis of common insertion sites (CIS) in gene therapy trials using lentiviral versus γ-retroviral vectors. Word clouds show the intensity of insertion sites clustering in each of the CIS genes (the larger the gene name, the larger the number of insertion sites within or in the proximity of that gene). The names of the CIS genes detected in both gene therapy trials are reported at the intersection between the circles. Methods Three patients with WAS were treated in a phase I/II clinical trial with gene-corrected HSCs after pretreatment with a reduced-intensity myeloablative regimen. Autologous CD34+ cells were transduced with an optimized LV carrying the WAS gene under the control of its endogenous promoter. Patients were monitored for up to 2.5 years after gene therapy by molecular, immunological, and clinical tests. We also investigated the genomic distribution of LV integration sites in the patients' bone marrow and peripheral blood cell lineages. Results Administration of autologous HSCs transduced with LV at high efficiency (>90%) resulted in robust (25 to 50%), stable, and long-term engraftment of gene-corrected HSCs in the patients' bone marrow. WAS protein expression was detected in myeloid cells at similar rates and in nearly all circulating platelets and lymphoid cells. In vitro T cell proliferative responses, natural killer cell cytotoxic activity, immune synapsis formation, and suppressive function of T regulatory cells were normalized. In all three patients, we observed improved platelet counts, protection from bleeding and severe infections, and resolution of eczema. Vector integration analyses on >35,000 unique insertion sites showed distinct waves of HSC clonal output, resulting in highly polyclonal multilineage hematopoietic reconstitution. In contrast to ©-retroviral gene therapy, our LV-based therapy did not induce in vivo selection of clones carrying integrations near oncogenes. Consistent with this, we did not see evidence of clonal expansions in the patients for up to 20 to 32 months after gene therapy. Discussion Our gene transfer protocol provided efficient stem cell transduction in vitro, resulting in robust and stable in vivo gene marking. WAS expression was restored to near-physiological levels in the patients, resulting in immunological and hematological improvement and clinical benefit. Clonal tracking of stem cell dynamics by vector insertions showed details of hematopoietic reconstitution after gene therapy. Comparison with clinical data from ©-retroviral gene therapy in the same disease setting strongly suggests that LV gene therapy offers safety advantages, but a longer follow-up time is needed for validation. Collectively, our findings support the use of LV gene therapy to treat patients with WAS and other hematological disorders. Next-Generation Gene Therapy Few disciplines in contemporary clinical research have experienced the high expectations directed at the gene therapy field. However, gene therapy has been challenging to translate to the clinic, often because the therapeutic gene is expressed at insufficient levels in the patient or because the gene delivery vector integrates near protooncogenes, which can cause leukemia (see the Perspective by Verma). Biffi et al. (1233158, published online 11 July) and Aiuti et al. (1233151; published online 11 July) report progress on both fronts in gene therapy trials of three patients with metachromatic leukodystrophy (MLD), a neurodegenerative disorder, and three patients with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS), an immunodeficiency disorder. Optimized lentiviral vectors were used to introduce functional MLD or WAS genes into the patients' hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) ex vivo, and the transduced cells were then infused back into the patients, who were then monitored for up to 2 years. In both trials, the patients showed stable engraftment of the transduced HSC and high expression levels of functional MLD or WAS genes. Encouragingly, there was no evidence of lentiviral vector integration near proto-oncogenes, and the gene therapy treatment halted disease progression in most patients. A longer follow-up period will be needed to further validate efficacy and safety. Lentivirus-mediated gene therapy produces encouraging results in three children with a rare immunodeficiency disorder. [Also see Perspective by Verma] Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is an inherited immunodeficiency caused by mutations in the gene encoding WASP, a protein regulating the cytoskeleton. Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) transplants can be curative, but, when matched donors are unavailable, infusion of autologous HSPCs modified ex vivo by gene therapy is an alternative approach. We used a lentiviral vector encoding functional WASP to genetically correct HSPCs from three WAS patients and reinfused the cells after a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen. All three patients showed stable engraftment of WASP-expressing cells and improvements in platelet counts, immune functions, and clinical scores. Vector integration analyses revealed highly polyclonal and multilineage haematopoiesis resulting from the gene-corrected HSPCs. Lentiviral gene therapy did not induce selection of integrations near oncogenes, and no aberrant clonal expansion was observed after 20 to 32 months. Although extended clinical observation is required to establish long-term safety, lentiviral gene therapy represents a promising treatment for WAS.


Abstract. Precise quantification of the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentration is crucial for understanding aerosol indirect effects and characterizing these effects in models. An evaluation of various methods for CCN parameterization was carried out in this paper based on in situ measurements of aerosol activation properties within HaChi (Haze in China) project. Comparisons were made by closure studies between methods using CCN spectra, bulk activation ratios, cut-off diameters and size-resolved activation ratios. The estimation of CCN number concentrations by the method using aerosol size-resolved activation ratios, either averaged over a day or with diurnal variation, was found to be most satisfying and straightforward. This could be well expected since size-resolved activation ratios include information regarding the effects of size-resolved chemical compositions and mixing states on aerosol activation properties. The method using the averages of critical diameters, which were inferred from measured CCN number concentrations and particle number size distributions, also provided a good prediction of the CCN number concentration. Based on comparisons of all these methods in this paper, it was recommended that the CCN number concentration be predicted using particle number size distributions with inferred critical diameters or size-resolved activation ratios.


This thesis describes four novel superconducting machine concepts, in the pursuit of finding a suitable design for large offshore wind turbines. The designs should be reliable, modular and light-weight. The main novelty of the topologies reside in using a single loop shaped stationary superconducting field winding, which eliminates the rotating transfer couplers and electric brushes or brushless exciters. Furthermore, the electromagnetic forces in the superconducting wire are also eliminated, which simplifies the design and manufacturing of the cryostat and the support structure. Among the four topologies presented, the claw pole type machine is the most promising one. The rotor of the machine composes of claw-poles made from laminated electrical sheets, the superconducting field winding and the armature winding are stationary. The machine is analysed using 3D FEA simulations and a small linear machine prototype is manufactured to verify the
simulations. For large scale applications, a double-sided claw pole machine is proposed, which has balanced magnetic attraction forces in the rotor. The machine has a modular cryostat structure, which increases the availability of the machine. Thus, even if a fault occurs in the cryocoolers or in the armature coils, the rest of the machine can operate at partial load until the maintenance is performed. Moreover, it is much easier to replace the faulty parts, as full disassemble of the machine is not required, and a small on-site crane can be used. As a result, it offers operational advantages over the existing superconducting topologies. A 10 MW, 10 rpm generator design is presented, which has a diameter of 6.6 m and an axial length of 1.4 m. The total active mass of the generator is 58 tonnes, and the structural mass is 126 tonnes, which gives a total mass of 184 tonnes. There are four independent cryostats and two independent armature windings in the machine to improve modularity.
The biggest advantage of the design is the significantly less superconducting wire usage compared to any other designs; 10 MW machine just needs 15 km of MgB2 wire at 30 K. Thus, it is believed that the proposed topology is a very cost effective and suitable candidate for a successful entry to the wind turbine market.


Background Malaria control through use of long-lasting insecticidal nets (LN) is threatened by the selection of anopheline mosquitoes strongly resistant to pyrethroid insecticides. To sustain future effectiveness it is essential to identify and evaluate novel insecticides suitable for nets. Mixtures of two insecticides with contrasting mode of action have the potential to kill resistant vectors and restore transmission control provided the formulation can withstand regular washing over the net's life span. Method The efficacy of a novel mixture LN, Interceptor® G2, that combines the pyrrole chlorfenapyr and pyrethroid alpha-cypermethrin was evaluated under controlled household conditions (experimental hut trial) and by laboratory bioassay against pyrethroid resistant An. gambiae in Benin before and after standardized washing. Comparison arms included standard alpha-cypermethrin LN, nets hand-treated with chlorfenapyr-only and untreated nets. Results The chlorfenapyr-alphacypermethrin LN demonstrated improved efficacy and wash resistance compared to a standard alpha-cypermethrin LN against pyrethroid resistant mosquitoes (resistance ratio 207). In experimental hut trial alpha-cypermethrin LN killed only 20% (95% CI 15–26%) of host-seeking An. gambiae whilst mixture LN killed 71% (95% CI 65–77%). Mixture LN washed 20 times killed 65% (95% CI 58–71%), and thus intensive washing reduced efficacy by only 6% (95% CI 1.3–11%). The chlorfenapyr net killed 76% (95% CI 70–81%). Personal protection and blood feeding inhibition did not differ between mixture and pyrethroid LN; however, the mixture LN was 2.5 (95% CI: 2.1–3.1) times more protective than untreated nets. Standard WHO cone bioassays conducted during day time hours failed to anticipate field efficacy but overnight tunnel tests successfully predicted mixture LN and chlorfenapyr net efficacy in field trials. Conclusion Interceptor® G2 LN demonstrates the potential to control transmission and provide community protection over the normal lifespan of long lasting nets where standard pyrethroid LN show signs of failing due to resistance.


Investments in renewable energy and climate change mitigation go beyond the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Secondary benefits include technology transfer, reduction in emissions of other pollutants, and job creation, often called green jobs. It is known that job creation reflects on social, economic, environmental and territorial aspects. Therefore, it can be an indicator of social performance of energy projects. Wind power has experienced an explosive growth over the past few years, and projects contracted between 2009 and 2011 will increase Brazilian installed capacity by 450% in 2016. This article evaluates the potential consequences of this rapid growth on job creation in Brazil. Jobs were quantified in manufacturing, installation and operation stages, observing national manufacture of major components. Estimated wind power growth will generate 90,000 jobs from 2012 till 2016. Over 74% of the jobs are created in the construction and operation stages, which have high level of local employment, bringing social and economic benefits to the installation sites.


Abstract. Gaofen-5 carries six instruments aimed at various land and atmosphere applications, and it's an important unit of China High-resolution Earth Observation System. As Gaofen-5's thermal infrared payload is similar to that of ASTER, which is widely used in mineral exploration, application of Gaofen-5's thermal infrared data is discussed regarding its capability in mineral classification and silica content estimation. First, spectra of silicate, carbonate, sulfate minerals from a spectral library are used to conduct spectral feature analysis on Gaofen-5's thermal infrared emissivities. Spectral indices of band emissivities are proposed, and by setting thresholds of these spectral indices, it can classify three types of minerals mentioned above. This classification method is tested on a simulated Gaofen-5 emissivity image. With samples acquired from the study area, this method is proven to be feasible. Second, with band emissivities of silicate and their silica content from the same spectral library, correlation models have been tried to be built for silica content inversion. However, the highest correlation coefficient is merely 0.592, which is much lower than that of correlation model built on ASTER thermal infrared emissivity. It can be concluded that GF-5's thermal infrared data can be utilized in mineral classification but not in silica content inversion.


With the emerging network 'softwarization', the scope of services that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can provide now extends from traditional networking services to include higher layer infrastructure, network elements and applications. However, partly due to unclear economic incentives for ISPs, new network services, especially Software-Defined Network (SDN) services are mostly deployed in isolated silos. In this paper we propose a framework for abstracting and managing path services in SDNs so that they can be advertised, composed and purchased via marketplaces. Based on this framework, we present a service composition mechanism that can be used to maximize the provider benefit while satisfying the customer requests for services. The architecture is based on the NSF Future Internet Architecture (FIA) project called ChoiceNet.


A new computer algorithm has been developed for selecting the optimal set of wavelengths for spectroscopic quantitative analysis of mixture samples. The method is based on the criterion of the minimum mean square error between concentrations of the mixture components and their estimates. The branch and bound algorithm finds the optimal set from all possible combinations of wavelengths. This algorithm saves computation time significantly, compared with the enumerative method. The mathematical formulation of the lower bound of the mean square errors for the combinations in a given subset is derived as a recurrence inequality. Experimental results of wavelength selection for infrared absorption spectra of xylene-isomer mixtures are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the algorithm in terms of computation complexity and accuracy in quantitative analysis for the fixed measurement time.


Signal processing applications have been shown to map well to time multiplexed coarse grained reconfigurable array (CGRA) devices, and can often be decomposed into a set of communicating kernels. This decomposition can facilitate application development and reuse but has significant consequences for tools targeting these devices in terms of allocation and arrangement of resources. This paper presents a CGRA floorplanner to optimize the division and placement of resources for multi-kernel applications. The task is divided into two phases aligned with the respective goals. Resource allocation is accomplished through incremental assignment to minimize performance bottlenecks while operating within the bounds of the maximum available resources. The resulting allocation of resources is arranged in the device using simulated annealing and a perimeter-based cost function which serves to minimize resources needed for both interand intra-kernel communications. The floorplanner is applied to a set of multi-kernel benchmarks demonstrating resource allocations providing maximum throughput across a range of available resources. The algorithms are very fast, taking only a few seconds while producing high quality results. Inter-kernel wire lengths are almost always minimal, and the resource allocation is proven optimal.


CSR is the continued commitment by a business to behave ethically and contribute to the economic development and welfare of the society while at the same time improves the quality of life of its workforce, their families as well as the larger society. The national government, together with institutions like state corporations, the police and the judiciary among others are obligated to provide its publics with necessities and amenities that ease and make life worthwhile. Businesses, NGO activists and local communities have taken a lead in addressing those issues which the national government has failed or is slow to come up with solutions so as to ensure that the public's life is comfortable. Social responsibility is an ethical or ideological theory that an entity whether it is a government, a corporation, an organization or individual has the responsibility to society. It is the economic, legal, ethical and discretionally expectations that society has organizations at a given point and time [1]. The pressure on businesses to play a role in social issues is growing and over the last ten years, these institutions have grown in power and influence as they compete in playing CSR roles to a point where the public is forced to define a business by how much and how conspicuously it contributes towards CSR. The modern day business has almost capitalized on CSR, to create awareness that it exists, advertised its goods and services and demonstrated how philanthropic it is. Actually CSR is more of an advertising side show where the media plays an important role in ensuring that all and sundry notice that "we give back to society". The largest corporate giving programs are driven by either strategic or commercial interest with their basic motivation being a combination of wanting to acquire greater market share, improve public image and to encourage staff motivation and competition in the labor market. Therefore, over the years, the brand and public image of a corporation has increasingly become CSR's focal point providing support so as to look good and drive up sales. The major cry is that business organization plays CSR roles not with any hidden agenda but for the very purpose of giving back to the public who keeps giving to the organization by purchasing their products and services. The objectives of this review are: to give an overview of CSR practice, to bring to light wrong motives in CSR performance by some organizations and to give recommendations on positive CSR practices. This article reviews documents such as research studies, journals, scholarly texts and the internet. The review's scope is both the public and private sector organizations that undertake CSR activities.


An improvement on a concept for all optical mag- netometry using nitrogen vacancies in diamond is presented. The concept is based on the fluorescence attenuation of optically pumped nitrogen vacancies by magnetic fields up to ≈ 50 mT. The attenuation is registered by modulating the pumping power to generate a constant signal at a photodetector. A sensitivity of $2.6\mu {\text{T}}/\sqrt {{\text{Hz}}} $ at a sampling frequency of 500 Hz is achieved.


Private nonprofit organizations comprise a vast and growing sector of the national economy, and they are a vital partner with government in the provision of a wide range of social and human services.(1) Growth in the size and influence of the nonprofit sector has led to increased visibility and public scrutiny by diverse stakeholders including government oversight agencies, private donors and foundations, clients, the media, and the public at large. Anyone who doubts the growing importance of accountability in the nonprofit sector need only scan the headlines of the professional periodicals and newspapers for evidence to the contrary. One recent issue of The Chronicle of Philanthropy (January 26, 1993) contained stories on: the attempts of a special Senate committee to crack down on lax financial reporting by selected charities; modifications of IRS = forms requesting more information on salaries of charities' top officials; a report from California's attorney general on nonprofit fund raising in that state; and the reluctance of charities to conduct performance evaluations of their volunteers. Attention to issues of accountability in the nonprofit sector is not a new phenomenon (Commission on Private Philanthropy and Public Needs, 1975). In fact, public scrutiny and controversy over the appropriate role of the sector has existed for more than 200 years, since the emergence of the third sector in the United States (Hall, 1987a). The debate was revived with intensity following last years controversy in the national office of the United Way of America which sparked a fire storm of interest in the national media, among the general public, and especially in nonprofit professional circles. Today, throughout the nonprofit sector, there is renewed interest in issues such as: measuring the value-added performance of nonprofit organizations in terms of actual outcomes and impacts (Kanter and Summers, 1987; O'Connell, 1988; Drucker, 1990); ensuring that trustees and other volunteers understand and fulfill their legal and professional responsibilities (Dayton, 1987; Carver, 1990; Panus, 1992); public disclosure of operating practices related to fund raising and executive compensation (Council of Better Business Bureaus, 1982; Hills Bush, 1992; Kahn, 1992); and fulfilling explicit or implicit obligations associated with public subsidies (i.e., tax exemptions) of nonprofit activities (Ackerman, 1982; Simon, 1987; Gaul and Borowski, 1993). Rationale for Focusing on Accountability in Nonprofit Organizations The general notion of accountability is quite familiar to most government officials, whether elected or appointed, but perhaps less familiar to nonprofit professionals. In the substantial literature dealing with distinctions between public and private management, the contributing elements of accountability-political constituencies, public mandates, oversight agencies, checks and balances, and media scrutiny--are presented as core differences in the respective managerial contexts of governmental and for-profit organizations (Allison, 1980; Miles, 1982, pp. 39-41). Also, accountability is a prevalent theme in the curricula of schools of public policy and management. Therefore, even before they begin their careers, prospective public servants are exposed to the concept of managing public expectations and working within specific legal and procedural frameworks of accountability. In the business sector, as well, the concept of public accountability has received more attention in the last three decades. Today, most standard business texts contain chapters on social responsibility, business ethics, and interactions with government, and many business schools now offer full courses on these topics. The interest in accountability in government and business has produced a wealth of literature on the topic that has focused on operational definitions of accountability (Shafritz, 1992, p. …


Exploring mmWave frequencies and adopting small-cell architectures are two key enablers for increased wireless data rates. To make these evolutions economically viable, centralized architectures based on radio-over-fiber (RoF) are devised. To reduce the complexity of the cellular network even further, RF-over-Fiber transmission schemes are adopted in combination with reflective uplink operation. This paper relies on a very low complexity narrowband GaAs electronics / Si photonics transceiver for scalable RFoF architectures with which we demonstrate a fiber-wireless link capable of transmitting over 7 Gb/s in down- and uplink for a 2 km fiber and 5 m wireless link in the 28 GHz band. Furthermore, it is shown that Rayleigh degradation caused by reflective uplink operation can be avoided by using a coherent detection scheme.


The twenty-first century has seen a boom in museum construction, both in new buildings and renovations or additions to existing ones. Nearly thirty museums are given close inspection in this generously illustrated volume. Each entry includes a discussion of the building's cultural and geographic environment, complemented by color photographs, sketches, and architectural plans. The book encompasses four continents and highlights, among others, the designs of Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano, Steven Holl, Zaha Hadid, Mario Botta, David Chipperfield, Tadao Ando, Yoshio Taniguchi, and Daniel Libeskind. In addition, the authors provide thoughtful commentary on the relationship between architecture and the fine arts and an assessment of museum functionality in modern times.