Response surface methodology was used to optimize the fermentation conditions for the production of pristinamycin by immobilization of Streptomyces pristinaespiralis F213 in shaking flask cultivation. Seed medium volume, fermentation medium volume and shaking speed of seed culture were found to have significant effects on pristinamycin production by the Plackett-Burman design. The steepest ascent method was adopted to approach the vicinity of optimum space, followed by central composite design for further optimization. A quadratic model was built to fit the pristinamycin production. The optimum conditions were found to be seed medium volume of 29.5 ml, fermentation medium volume of 28.8 ml, and shaking speed of seed culture at 204 rpm. At the optimum conditions, a production of 213 mg/l was obtained, which was in agreement with the maximum predicted pristinamycin yield of 209 mg/l. This is the first report on pristinamycins production by immobilized S. pristinaespiralis using response surface methodology.


Background Dissemination of research results is now recognised as an important part of the research process. UK funding agencies and the Health Research Authority require that researchers have a clear plan about how findings should be reported back to patients and members of the public. Wider dissemination using a range of mechanisms specifically targeting the lay community enables the work to have impact outside its academic base and accelerate implementation. The study evolves over three stages: a review of the literature surveys of key stakeholders (research partners study participants members of the public and researchers) and a consensus meeting. Aim To present a literature review of dissemination activities planned by researchers as reported in published protocol papers. Methodology The MEDLINE electronic database was searched to identify study protocols published in 2017 and covering a range of study designs. Results 138 papers published in 2017 were reviewed. Most papers lacked a clear and detailed dissemination plan. In general descriptions of dissemination plans were short and listed a very limited number of stakeholder groups targeted for dissemination and few dissemination channels. A few papers contained additional information on dissemination strategies and activities. Four papers mentioned specific feedback to participants by newsletter or other methods. A full and detailed dissemination plan was present in three protocol papers. Conclusion Most of the previous research has focused on the researchers' perspective. The guidelines will embed the views of other stakeholders including the general public patient participants in research trials funding bodies and policy makers.


Nietzsche's thinking on justice and punishment explores the motives and forces which lie behind moral concepts and social institutions. His dialogue with several writers of his time is discussed here. Eugen Dühring had argued that a natural feeling of ressentiment against those who have harmed us is the source of the concept of injustice, so that punishment, even in its most impersonal form, is always a form of revenge. In attacking this theory, Nietzsche developed his own powerful critique of moral concepts such as responsibility and guilt. He borrowed his 'historical' approach to moral concepts from Paul Ree, who suggested that the utilitarian function of punishment had been obscured by its practice, which appears to be directly linked with moral guilt. Nietzsche responds that punishment has quite different purposes and meanings at different times, so that any single explanation or justification is inadequate. In this way, he rejects the pre-suppositions common to the retributivists and utilitarians of his time.


Hoping to sharply cut HIV/AIDS transmission rates in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) took the unusual step of recommending that doctors ask all patients from ages 13 to 64 whether they want to be tested for the virus. One in four Americans living with HIV don't know they are infected; for them, early diagnosis could mean early treatment and longer lives. Antiretroviral drug therapy has already saved nearly 3 million years of life in the U.S. alone. Meanwhile, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS around the world continues to grow, to 40 million, according to estimates released last week by the U.N.


This review guide is broken into six parts, each one corresponding to one of the six domain areas of the Security+ exam: systems security, network infrastructure, access control, assessments and audits, cryptography, and organizational security. Youll find this book to be essential reading if you are studying for Security+ certification and want to get up to speed on the most recent security topics. The CD-ROM contains more than 120 review questions, two bonus exams, electronic flashcards, and a searchable key term database.


"Abraham Lincoln, lawyer for the slave-owner, Robert Matson," does fit the description of a Great Emancipator. The fact remains that he did work zealously for Matson. This article argues that the Matson case does not contradict Lincoln's well-known reputation for hatred of slavery. Rather, in that case he acted in the tradition of John Adams who risked his reputation to represent the British soldiers who perpetrated the Boston Massacre.The article first describes Lincoln's participation in the Matson case, including an analysis of the habeas corpus hearing that preceded it. It continues with a description of Lincoln's skills as a trial lawyer. It then discusses the antebellum ethical rule enunciated by Lord Brougham and other leading scholars who said that zealous advocacy was required for even the most odious clients. The article concludes that Lincoln was following this rule and that the rule is still valid today. It maintains that Lincoln was acting on the highest level of professionalism in the sole case where he represented a slave owner.


Abstract This article compares government transparency and public participation in policymaking across China and the United States. The analysis specifically focuses on the notice and comment process—government announcement of proposed policies and solicitation of public feedback—at the Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The MOC and EPA are leading organizations in the implementation of such consultation in their respective countries. Information is collected and coded for hundreds of draft regulations and thousands of public comments that occurred during the 2002–2016 period. Statistical analysis of levels of, and variation in, transparency and participation demonstrates both similarities and differences in the operation of the notice and comment process at the MOC and EPA. Transparency and participation are generally lower at the MOC than in EPA consultations. Within such constraints, however, there is evidence of standardization in the administration of consultation by the MOC. These findings suggest that differences in the Chinese and U.S. political systems, rather than issues of administrative capacity, are the primary limitations of consultation as a policymaking innovation in contemporary China.


ABSTRACT The city as innovation machine. Regional Studies. This paper puts cities and urban regions at the very centre of the processes of innovation and entrepreneurship. It combines the insights of Jane Jacobs and recent urban research on the role of the city with the literature on innovation and entrepreneurship going back to Joseph Schumpeter. Innovation and entrepreneurship and their geography privileges the firm, industry clusters and/or the individual and poses the city as a container for them. By marrying Jacobs' insights on cities to those of Schumpeter on innovation, it is argued that innovation and entrepreneurship do not simply take in place in cities but in fact require them.


Many universities across the world offer full time programmes not only to younger students directly from formal basic education programmes such as secondary schooling but also to in-service or adult learners. In-service learners are serving or non-serving but experienced and mature students who are afforded an opportunity to enrol in full-time or part-time programmes. As such, higher education institutions are inevitably challenged to service both younger and adult learners under one roof. Exploring challenges faced by adult learners in higher education institutions full-time programmes can therefore no longer be ignored in many developing countries. Some institutions may have taken a more transformative move to create an adult learners' responsive academic environment, while others may have not. Based on the continuing professional development approach, this case study investigated the full-time in-service teachers' experiences as adult learners in Botswana higher education institutions. It further sought the views of lecturers of adult learners and education officers regarding their experience with the learners. The key findings include institutions' neglect of adult learners' social needs, subjecting them to the dilemma of having to either drop out or continue under stressful learning environment. In the final analysis, support systems to mitigate challenges encountered by adult learners in the academic environment are recommended.


Purpose The effects of short-term intensive lipid-lowering treatment on coronary plaque composition have not yet been sufficiently evaluated. We investigated the influence of short-term intensive lipid-lowering treatment on quantitative and qualitative changes in plaque components of non-culprit lesions in patients with acute coronary syndrome. Materials and Methods This was a prospective, randomized, open-label, single-center trial. Seventy patients who underwent both baseline and three-month follow-up virtual histology intravascular ultrasound were randomly assigned to either an intensive lipid-lowering treatment group (ezetimibe/simvastatin 10/40 mg, n=34) or a control statin treatment group (pravastatin 20 mg, n=36). Using virtual histology intravascular ultrasound, plaque was characterized as fibrous, fibro-fatty, dense calcium, or necrotic core. Changes in plaque components during the three-month lipid-lowering treatment were compared between the two groups. Results Compared with the control statin treatment group, there was a significant reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol in the intensive lipid-lowering treatment group (-20.4±17.1 mg/dL vs. -36.8±17.4 mg/dL, respectively; p<0.001). There were no statistically significant differences in baseline, three-month follow-up, or serial changes of gray-scale intravascular ultrasound parameters between the two groups. The absolute volume of fibro-fatty plaque was significantly reduced in the intensive lipid-lowering treatment group compared with the control group (-1.5±3.4 mm3 vs. 0.8±4.7 mm3, respectively; p=0.024). A linear correlation was found between changes in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and changes in the absolute volumes of fibro-fatty plaque (p<0.001, R2=0.209). Conclusion Modification of coronary plaque may be attainable after only three months of intensive lipid-lowering treatment.


The main aim of this study is to detect morpho-tectonic elements by using geomorphometry tools and GIS analysis to investigate and describe recent changes of the Earth surface relief. In particular, we search geomorphic evidences of active tectonics throughout active tectonics and classic morphometric indices. The upper Scrivia river basin is located along the Adriatic side of the Northern Apennines and shows peculiar landforms often controlled by both tectonics and lithology. Geologically this is a really interesting area, just to the East of the Sestri-Voltaggio Line, the boundary between the Ligurian Alps and the Northern Apennines. After a general characterization and a zoning of the study area with respect to channels order, we used GIS software to calculate the Asymmetry Factor and its distribution and to analyze the second order channels gradient, both connected to active tectonics. We recognized a general prevalence of regional tectonics on local tectonics. The gradient map of second order channels suggests recent uplift in the SE sector. The high second order channels gradient values near to the mouth of the studied sector may be connected, on the contrary, to the base level changes related to the Quaternary network evolution of the Po plain. Preliminary results underline the importance of morphometry to detect large-scale information about landscape evolution and its applicability in different contests. The low order channels gradient may also give useful information about natural hazard assessment.


Creating high quality virtual reality (VR) experience takes time and requires extensive practice. Although, multiple virtual and augmented reality courses existed for years all over the world, high costs of the equipment were always in the way of building up the up to date knowledge. Rapid development of the technology caused the new VR boom and exposed a serious lack of the experienced VR/AR developers. In this paper, we present our introductory VR courses for master students. The aim of the courses is to provide introduction to the basics of VR and AR and supporting technology. We move the teaching focus from the specifics of a particular VR system to the skill build-up and development of the VR user experience. For that we provide the access to the up to date consumer hardware, such as HTC Vive and Leap Motion. We discuss the structure of the courses and methodology, and provide the teaching materials. Moreover, we discuss in details our updated practical course that unites the development of a low-cost desktop and a high-quality immersive VR applications using only off-the-shelf consumer equipment. Furthermore, we discuss the overall course evaluation by the students and further opportunities for their professional growth, as well as consecutive changes that will be made next.


In this pithy and provocative book, noted economist Daniel Cohen offers his analysis of the global shift to a post-industrial era. If it was once natural to speak of industrial society, Cohen writes, it is more difficult to speak meaningfully of post-industrial "society." The solidarity that once lay at the heart of industrial society no longer exists. The different levels of large industrial enterprises have been systematically disassembled: tasks considered nonessential are assigned to subcontractors; engineers are grouped together in research sites, apart from the workers. Employees are left exposed while shareholders act to protect themselves. Never has the awareness that we all live in the same world been so strong---and never have the social conditions of existence been so unequal. In these wide-ranging reflections, Cohen describes the transformations that signaled the break between the industrial and the post-industrial eras. He links the revolution in information technology to the trend toward flatter hierarchies of workers with multiple skills--and connects the latter to work practices growing out of the culture of the May 1968 protests. Subcontracting and outsourcing have also changed the nature of work, and Cohen succinctly analyzes the new international division of labor, the economic rise of China, India, and the former Soviet Union, and the economic effects of free trade on poor countries. Finally, Cohen examines the fate of the European social model--with its traditional compromise between social justice and economic productivity--in a post-industrial world.


Objective To investigate the effect of HSP70/CD80 DNA vaccine on the airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness of asthmatic mice. Methods Forty female healthy BALB/c mice were randomly divided into 4 groups; saline group, asthma group, pcDNA3. 1 plasmid control group, and prevention group with HSP70/CD80 DNA vaccine, with 10 mice in each group. The mice were immunized by intramuscular( i. m. ) injection with HSP70/CD80 DNA vaccine before sensitization and challenge with ovalbumin. Then, the murine model of allergic asthma was made with injection of ovalbumin intraperitoneal ( i. p. ) , and inhalation of ovalbumin. Before mice were sanctified, their airway hyperresponsiveness( AHR) was measured. After mice were sanctified, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid( BALF) was obtained and cytokine IL-13 and IFN-γ were measured. And the lung histology and histochemistry were examined. Results Compared with mice in asthma and pcDNA3. 1 group, mice in vaccine group showed significantly reduced airway inflammation (P<0. 05) and AHR (P<0. 05). IFN-γ content in BALF were increased in mice from vaccine group compared with the asthma group and the pcDNA3. 1 group ( P <0. 05) , and IL-13 content in BALF were decreased. Conclusion HSF70/CD80 DNA vaccine can reduce airway inflammation and hyperresponsiveness in asthmatic mouse and this chimerical plasmid could be a candidate vaccine to prevent asthma.

Key words:
HSP70;  CD80;  Asthma;  Airway inflammation;  Airway hyperresponsiveness


Children and young people's participation in public decision-making is now firmly on international and national agendas. This article concludes the special issue on such participation, by discussing three central issues for children and young people's participation: what is counted – or discounted – as legitimate forms of participation; the potential usefulness of theorisations of governance, citizenship and social capital; and how the roles of adults (participation workers) can be understood. The article celebrates the success of the rhetorical push for children and young people's participation, while suggesting that the tensions and dilemmas of current practice and policy need to be addressed by new and revitalised ideas and challenging theorisations.


Aim: To analyze the main problems and to define the possible prospects of optimization of the function of pharmaceutical consultation in the drugstores. Materials and methods: Questioning of visitors of the pharmaceutical organizations of Khabarovsk. After selection, 432 questionnaires were made. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient of answers of respondents was calculated with their characteristics of age and sex. Results. Pharmaceutical consultations were popular functions for visitors to drugstores, and since March 1, 2017, they have become an integral part of the retail of drugs. According to the results of the research, most of the visitors of the pharmaceutical organizations, which were taking part in the questioning, have been completely satisfied with the rendered service and considered the qualification of the expert enough for carrying out pharmaceutical consultation. Most of the Respondents were often interested in information on the application of therapeutic classes of nonprescription drugs such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and vitamins. Concerning prescription drugs, the greatest need for consultation was observed in a group of cardiovascular medicines. The most widespread questions of visitors of the pharmaceutical organizations were concerned at data on the existence of analogs, indications to the application, and dosage and schemes of application of drugs. The main difficulties in the process of pharmaceutical consultation, according to the poll of patients, were deficient in the assortment, employment of the employee of a drugstore, complexity of the applied terminology, and inability of the expert to ask the specifying questions. At the same time, most of the visitors had no idea of the modern understanding of the standardized pharmaceutical service and were represented generally by traditional ideas of the process of the address to specialists of drugstores. Conclusion: Standardization of pharmaceutical consultation and systematic professional development of employees of drugstores is rational not only concerning organizational requirements and pharmacological aspects of application of drugs but also in the field of improvement of communications with visitors of the pharmaceutical organizations. The optimization of the process of implementation of professional pharmaceutical consultation is necessary. An important component of the consultation is the recommendation of the visit of the doctor.


Was the Holocaust a natural product of a long German history of Anti-Semitism? Or were the Nazi policies simply a wild mutation of history, not necessarily connected to the past? Or does the truth lie somewhere in between? This latest volume in the acclaimed Studies in Contemporary Jewry series, edited by internationally known scholars at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, presents essays on the origins of the Holocaust. The works in this volume are diverse in scope and opinion, ranging from general philosophical discourses to detailed analyses of specific events, and often reflecting the divergent ideologies and methods of the contributors. But each adds to the whole, and the result is a fascinating panorama that is sure to be indispensable to all students and scholars of the subject.


The first DNA exoneree in this country was a man with a sub-70 IQ who pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty, and a total of 139 out of 315 (44.1%) DNA and non-DNA exonerees in 2015 and 2016 had been convicted after guilty pleas. Nonetheless, a number of states have pleading defendant prohibitions in their postconviction statutes that preclude defendants who pleaded guilty from (1) seeking DNA testing; and/or (2) presenting freestanding claims of actual innocence based on non-DNA evidence. Existing Constitutional challenges to these statutes have been largely foreclosed by the Supreme Court's opinion in District Attorney's Office for the Third Judicial District v. Osborne. This article advances a new theory for a right to prove innocence after pleading guilty. Through a series of cases, the Supreme Court has created a right known as the "right to access the courts." A state violates this right to access the courts by creating a right to appellate review but precluding certain classes of defendants from having the actual or constructive ability to exercise that right. Most notably, in Halbert v. Michigan, the Supreme Court found that Michigan violated the right to access the courts by providing the right to appellate counsel to defendants found guilty after trials but withholding that right from pleading defendants. This article contends that similar reasoning requires recognition of a right to access the courts for defendants who plead guilty and later seek to use DNA or non-DNA evidence to prove their actual innocence.


AIM
The objective of this study was to explore family caregivers' experiences with the impact of Huntington's disease (HD) on the family structure and roles in the family.

METHODOLOGY
We interviewed 15 family caregivers in families affected by HD, based on a semi-structured interview guide. The participants were recruited through hospital departments and a lay organisation for HD in Norway. Data from the interviews were analysed with systematic text condensation.

RESULTS
Huntington's disease could have a substantial impact on the family system, the shape of roles among family members and the hierarchical order between spouses, partners, and parents and children. The relationship between spouses and partners changed during the course of the disease. A reciprocal relationship was difficult to maintain, as the role as carer overshadowed other roles. Children of an affected parent could compensate for impairments by taking on adult responsibilities, and in some families, a child had the role as main caregiver. The increasing need for care could cause conflicts between the role as family member and family caregiver. The burden of care within the family could fragment and isolate the family.

CONCLUSIONS
Huntington's disease has a major impact on family systems. Caregiver roles are shaped by impairments in the affected family member and corresponding dynamic adoption and change in roles within the family. Making assessments of the family structure and roles, professionals may understand more about how to care for and support individuals in their role as family members and caregivers in different stages of the disease and family life cycle.


4513 Background: Patients with locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer cannot be cured with any of the therapeutic tools available today.

METHODS
After an initial induction treatment of three months, with CPA 200 mg for two week's and then monthly depot injections of LHRH analogue (decaptyl) plus 200 mg of CPA daily in 766 patients with locally advanced or metastatic prostate cancer, 626 patients whose PSA decreased below 4 or to 80% below their initial value, were randomised to intermittent or continuous therapy.

RESULTS
Among the 314 patients on Intermittent therapy, 50% have been off therapy for at least 52 weeks following the initial LHRH therapy, 29% have been off therapy for over 36 months. For the 197 patients whose PSA went down to ≤ 2 ng/ml, the median time off therapy was 74 weeks. When these patients returned to therapy they had a median of 14 weeks of treatment, followed by a second period off therapy, median 70 weeks. Patients with PSA < 2 ng/ml have spent a median of 82% of their time receiving no therapy.After a median follow up of 51 months, 321 patients have died: 162 in the Intermittent arm compared to 159 in the Continuous arm (HR = 1.03 [95% confidence interval 0.83, 1.28; p = 0.79]). Estimated survival at 5 years was 53.8% in the Intermittent Group and 51.0% in the Continuous Group.Subjective or Objective progression was noted in 224 patients, 113 on the intermittent arm and 111 on the continuous arm with a hazard ratio of 1.09 (95% CI 0.84, 1.42), p=0.52. The main differences in quality of life between the two arms of the study were confined to sexual function.Sexual activity was significantly greater (p<0.01) in the intermittent arm with 41% of men reporting sexual activity at 9 months, 40% at 15 months and 35% at 21 months.The most commonly reported side effects were hot flushes, were more frequently among those on Continuous Therapy, 30% of continuous patients compared to 20% of intermittent patients, p < 0.01.

CONCLUSIONS
There is no evidence that Intermittent therapy leads to a significantly elevated hazard of dying (p = 0.79) or to a greater subjective or objective progression (p = 0.52) and with less impact on quality of live and less medication, patients with PSA < 2 ng/ml on randomisation have spent a median of 82% of their time receiving no therapy. We think that intermittent therapy is an option to use in regular clinic. No significant financial relationships to disclose.


Previously, we have introduced an anticipatory robot that could generate a cognitive map while simultaneously localizing itself relative to it. Inspired by recent hippocampal research, there, we demonstrated that the robot could exhibit anticipatory behavior if episodic memories that encode both spatial/nonspatial stimuli and behavioral actions are adequately utilized. In this paper, we will propose various ways to improve the previous method. For example, to address the computational complexity problem observed in the previous method, we will incorporate a new internal state variable inspired by the somatic marker hypothesis (a biological premise that speculates the role of emotional responses in our brain in terms of memory and decision making). Furthermore, we conjecture that this framework for anticipation can be even extended farther for a robot to deal with a novel situation (i.e., improvisation). We will discuss the concept of our improvisational robot in terms of anticipatory failures and their possible solutions.


Abstract. Scientific interest in the sub-polar gyre of the North Atlantic Ocean has increased in recent years. The sub-polar gyre has contracted and weakened, and changes in circulation pathways have been linked to changes in marine ecosystem productivity. To aid fisheries and environmental scientists, we present here a time series of the Sub-Polar Gyre Index (SPG-I) based on monthly mean maps of sea surface height. The established definition of the SPG-I is applied, and the first EOF (empirical orthogonal function) and PC (principal component) are presented. Sensitivity to the spatial domain and time series length are explored but found not to be important factors in terms of the SPG-I's interpretation. Our time series compares well with indices presented previously. The SPG-I time series is freely available online ( http://dx.doi.org/10.7489/1806-1 ), and we invite the community to access, apply, and publish studies using this index time series.


The world of work continues to change. Labour markets in most countries are increasingly shaped by policies of neoliberal deregulation while strategies of flexibility dominate public policy and corporate strategy across an array of sectors. At the forefront of these changes are the myriad labour market intermediaries that are used by workers and employees to enhance their ability to navigate ever more complex and volatile labour markets. For some, mediated employment, recruitment and work practices mean greater career progression and profit making ability, but for many others, it means increased precarity, vulnerability and insecurity. This paper critically reviews existing literature within geography on three types of private labour market intermediary, namely temporary staffing agencies and contract brokers; executive search firms and headhunters; and informal intermediaries such as gangmasters. The final section addresses the future for research in labour geography and, in particular, suggests new ways in which to broaden our understanding of labour market intermediaries and their impact on worker agency.


In this chapter we argue that the constraints regulating the characteristic products of word-formation processes in different languages showcase the Whorfian principle at work. The structure-centered analysis of the differences in the creation and usage of compound verbs in English and Bulgarian reveals the centrality of the effects of the ergative cryptotype among the major differences between the two languages. Specific features of compound verbs in the two languages seem to drive language users towards registering and encoding marked patterns of salience in conceptualizing events for communicative purposes via the "self-imposing causal loop". This leads to recognizing a causal role for language in the culture-cognition-language interface.


When making the transition from compulsory school to upper secondary education and
training, young people in Switzerland have two main options: company-based apprenticeships
or exclusively school-based programmes. Based on Bourdieu, we assume that schools and
training firms each have their own particular selection procedures. We expect these different
procedures to change the patterns of the influence of social origin on transition – even
when controlling school achievement. We test our assumptions by applying event history
analyses to Switzerland's first nationwide longitudinal survey of young people (TREE). As
expected, cultural capital of the family of origin is highly relevant for access to school-based
programmes, whereas economic capital favours the entry into apprenticeships.


Why Syria Goes to War: Thirty Years of Confrontation, by Fred H. Lawson. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1996. xvi + 181 pages. Notes to p. 217. Index to p. 222. $29.95. Reviewed by Max L. Gross This volume is another in the series of "Cornell Studies in Political Economy," edited by Peter J. Katzenstein. As such, it is more a volume on political economy theory, in which Syria is the major case study, than a new book about Syria. Readers should be warned that this is not a "potboiler" nor a "page turner." Neither is it a seminal, groundbreaking study of the sort provided by Nicholas Van Dam, Patrick Seale, Raymond Hinnebusch, John Devlin, Volken Perthes, Tabitha Petran, Itamar Rabinovich, and others, although Lawson has relied heavily on these authors. As "primary" source material he depends heavily on several journalistic sources, such as Middle East Record, Arab Report and Record, Middle East Economic Digest, various US newspapers, and a few issues of Syrie et Monde Arabe. A few Arabic and French references are present, but the work is based primarily on English secondary sources. Despite these limitations, the author clearly is a sincere and honest scholar who has mastered the key English literature about Syria. He has a stronger interest, however, in the theoretical models he seeks to apply to Syria than in the country itself. The result is a number of key conclusions which seem simplistic interpretations of modern Middle Eastern history. With a title like Why Syria Goes to War, one expects at least some discussion of Syrian decision making, but there is none. The key argument of the book is that decisions of war and peace are made largely for the "dominant ruling social coalition" (pp. 12-13 and passim) by the prevailing political and economic climate. The author carries the ancient political wisdom that leaders often respond to domestic crises by provoking (or responding to) a foreign crisis into a virtual iron law of political behavior. As a corollary, when that "dominant ruling social coalition" is able to cope successfully with a domestic crisis, it backs away from (deescalates) active confrontation abroad. According to this theory, another factor, drawn from Marxist theory, called an "accumulation crisis" (i.e., surplus capital in one sector of the economy that is needed in other sectors of the economy), is the second key determinant in decision making by the leadership. Using Syria as his case study, the author tests the theory against five confrontation scenariosthe 1967 war with Israel; the 1970 deescalation of conflict with Jordan; the 1976 intervention in Lebanon; the 1982 backdown from confrontation with Iraq; and the 1994 rapprochement with Turkey despite serious issues dividing the two countries (Israeli-Syrian peace talks are also cited as evidence in support of the theory). Finding that the facts concerning Syria's political economy support the theoretical framework he has established, he concludes that it is valid. To carry his argument further, the author also examines briefly three other case studies-the 1948 Syrian conflict with Israel; the 1963 Algerian-Moroccan crisis; and the 1973 Egyptian-Israeli war. …


Abstract An updated, self-consistent point design for a heavy ion fusion (HIF) power plant based on an induction linac driver, indirect-drive targets, and a thick liquid wall chamber has been completed. Conservative parameters were selected to allow each design area to meet its functional requirements in a robust manner, and thus this design is referred to as the Robust Point Design (RPD-2002). This paper provides a top-level summary of the major characteristics and design parameters for the target, driver, final focus magnet layout and shielding, chamber, beam propagation to the target, and overall power plant.


Introduction: : Gram-negative bacteria such as Helicobacter pylori (HP) are becoming increasingly implicated in the etiology of Parkinson's disease (PD). This study aimed to investigate the association between PD and HP infections. Materials and Method: Eighty-three patients with PD and ageand sex-matched healthy control subjects with no history of PD were enrolled. Patients with secondary Parkinsonism and severe cognitive impairment were excluded. All patients were staged according to the Hoehn and Yahr scale. We obtained 10 mL venous blood samples from all patients and controls. The plasma was separated, and samples were stored at −200°C. IgG antibodies developing against HP were investigated using the ELISA method. Values >5 IU/ml were considered positive. Results: Eighty-three patients and 81 controls were included in the study. HP IgG was positive in 87% of the patient group and in 74% of the control group. The median antibody titer in the patient group was higher than that in the control group (p=0.0019). No significant relation was observed between disease severity and IgG positivity (p=0.947). However, a moderate correlation was observed between disease severity and mean IgG level (r=0.277, p=0.011). HP IgG positivity (OR 3.15, 95% CI 1.23–8.07, p=0.002), a family history of PD (OR 2.57, 95% CI 1.02–4.13, p= 0.03), and male gender (OR 2.05, 95% CI 0.95–6.99, p= 0.02) increase the likelihood of PD. Conclusion: HP infections may trigger various abnormal or enhanced immunological processes in patients diagnosed with PD; these abnormal immunological activities are probably involved in the disease pathogenesis.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To determine whether perceptions of quality of life (QOL) change over time in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who receive curative radiation therapy (XRT).

DESIGN
Descriptive, longitudinal.

SETTING
Radiotherapy clinic of a comprehensive cancer center.

SAMPLE
23 patients with NSCLC, selected by nonprobability, consecutive sampling, receiving curative XRT.

METHODS
Subjects completed the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Lung (FACT-L) before, during, and twice after completion of the XRT treatment course. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a multivariate approach to analysis of variance for repeated measures.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLE
QOL.

FINDINGS
FACT-L scores were significantly lower during XRT than before XRT, were significantly higher one month after XRT than before or during XRT, and were not significantly different from the pretreatment level four months after XRT.

CONCLUSION
Perceptions of QOL change over time in patients with NSCLC receiving curative XRT. If the study findings are validated in a larger sample, nurses may be able to counsel patients with NSCLC receiving XRT. Nurses can inform patients that although QOL declines during XRT, the change is temporary because QOL will return to a level at least as high as the pretreatment level.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE
Nurses need to assess patients perceptions of QOL throughout the course of XRT and assess for sequelae of treatment that affect QOL. Nursing interventions need to be developed and implemented to more effectively manage treatment sequelae and maintain QOL in patients with NSCLC while they receive curative XRT.


ABSTRACT Burgess Shale–type deposits represent exceptional preservational windows for examining the biodiversity and ecological structure of some of the earliest metazoan communities that evolved during the Cambrian Explosion. While much attention has been paid to the original Burgess Shale locality, the Walcott Quarry on Fossil Ridge, temporal and regional variations of the depositional environment of the Burgess Shale biota as a whole are still poorly understood. Here we present the first comprehensive taphonomic and sedimentological study of the Tulip Beds on Mount Stephen (Campsite Cliff Shale Member, Burgess Shale Formation), based on a time-averaged assemblage of nearly 10,000 specimens. The taphonomic characteristics—size sorting, resistance to decay, and potential flow alignment—and mode of deposition of this assemblage are compared specifically to those of the nearby and stratigraphically younger Walcott Quarry assemblage. Like other Burgess Shale–type deposits, the Tulip Beds consist of millimeter-laminated, event-derived claystone, but lack the thicker claystone layers and prominent carbonate interbeds that occur in the Walcott Quarry. These differences suggest a depositional environment lower in energy and possibly more distal to the Cathedral Escarpment. Overall, taphonomic analyses suggest no significant decay biases, transport, or sorting of the assemblage, and most specimens, benthic taxa in particular, appear to have been buried close to their living environments. Single bedding planes with large accumulations dominated by a single taxon, e.g., isolated claws of Anomalocaris, suggest short time-averaged assemblages with limited background sedimentation. Overall the Tulip Beds locality is environmentally and taphonomically comparable to the Walcott Quarry and biotic variations between the two sites are likely to be primary in nature, thus paving the way for more detailed paleoecological investigations in the future.


This essay examines controversies in the European Union around legislation that bans women from dressing in a "visibly Muslim" way in public. It brings together two usually separate domains of inquiry to reconsider geopolitical, emotional, and intellectual crosscurrents of these ostensibly national controversies in parts of the EU. I argue that these two domains need addressing in tandem to generate new insights and move scholarly debates that have become polarized in turn. The first strand is critiques of the influence that popular culture, in particular reality television makeover shows, has on body image and global consumption practices. The second is postcolonial critiques of orientalist discourses around the agency of Muslim women and veil dressing practices. The aim is to unpack the underlying contradictions and blind-spots that characterize many of the arguments for and against these laws, used by critics of not only Burqa-Ban legislation but also Muslim women's veil dressing in a context in which western public imaginaries about what the veil really means are becoming increasingly polarized and punitive. This juxtaposition can provide a new theoretical and empirical point of departure for reflecting on the geopolitical and ethical implications of laws that aim to police women's bodies and ways of dressing in western liberal democracies; an hardening of attitude and political discourse that lies at the intersection of global shifts in post 9/11 popular imaginaries, national identity projects, and geopolitics.


Background: E-commerce is one of the most dynamic and important sectors of the economy. The latest trend in this market is cross-border trade. It is based on selling products to customers who are located in other countries. However, it is connected to several problems, such as a high cost and long time of delivery, language barriers, different legal and tax conditionings, etc. Methods: The studies were conducted on the basis of the authors' experience in the field of e-commerce. The issue of cross-border commerce was mainly analysed with the use of reports of the European Commission. The aim of the article is to propose a conception of an integrator of cross-border e-commerce, which will make it possible, among other things, to solve logistic problems. Results: The article presents an authorial conception of an integrator in cross-border e-commerce. Its main task is to integrate the whole supply chain. Thanks to the economies of scale, obtained as a result of consolidation of parcels from many e-shops, the integrator is able to achieve lower delivery costs in international transport, make returns of goods more effective and serve customers from different countries better. Conclusions: The conception of an integrator in cross-border commerce proposed in the article may increase competitiveness of micro and small e-enterprises, especially in the international arena. Moreover, applying this conception may contribute to a rise in the attractiveness of cross-border commerce, which, as result of a greater sale level, would contribute to an increase in the total e-commerce.


Sex ratio theory proposes that the equal sex ratio typically observed in birds and mammals is the result of natural selection. However, in species with chromosomal sex determination, the same 1 : 1 sex ratio is expected under random Mendelian segregation. Here, we present an analysis of 14 years of sex ratio data for a population of song sparrows (Melospiza melodia) on Mandarte Island, at the nestling stage and at independence from parental care. We test for the presence of variance in sex ratio over and above the binomial variance expected under Mendelian segregation, and thereby quantify the potential for selection to shape sex ratio. Furthermore, if sex ratio variation is to be shaped by selection, we expect some of this extra-binomial variation to have a genetic basis. Despite ample statistical power, we find no evidence for the existence of either genetic or environmentally induced variation in sex ratio, in the nest or at independence. Instead, the sex ratio variation observed matches that expected under random Mendelian segregation. Using one of the best datasets of its kind, we conclude that female song sparrows do not, and perhaps cannot, adjust the sex of their offspring. We discuss the implications of this finding and make suggestions for future research.


"II Chronicles" (Volume 13 in the acclaimed "Anchor Bible Commentary" series) is a crucial book for historians of the biblical period and for students of the Bible. Like "I Chronicles", it has been both over- and undervalued. In recent years it has, certainly, suffered undue neglect.However, "II Chronicles" is to be neither accepted as a faithful narrative of the period of biblical history from Solomon to Cyrus nor dismissed as an imaginative re-creation of that history. It must be taken as an important clue to the biblical process, for here we find the Bible quoting itself - sometimes directly, sometimes in paraphrase.Jacob M. Myers has set before himself the enormous task of organizing and correlating the evidence to be found in "II Chronicles" (as well as in "I Chronicles", "Ezra", and "Nehemiah" - for which he is also the editor and translator). Meticulously, he analyzes important aspects of the Chronicler and his work - his method of composition, his conviction that to rebuild the nation of Israel one had to restore and strengthen her traditional religion, his significant post-Exilic perspective. The book also examines the vast literature on "Chronicles" to find what it yields toward a better understanding of the Chronicler and a fuller appreciation of his work. The appendices in the book provide a list of the parallels and paraphrases that relate "Chronicles" to other books of the Bible, and genealogical charts summarize the family histories to be found in "Chronicles".


The present chapter aims to provide a conscious review of the principles associated with the chemical reactions and the control of the parameters related to the hydrothermal processing of perovskite-structured compounds. Highlights on fundamental principles of the thermodynamic modelling coupled with the relevant technical expertise gained during the past two decades are discussed. Achievements conducted in the early 1990s on thermodynamic modelling of hydro‐ thermal reactions, leading to the estimation of the chemical reaction equilibrium occurring under specific conditions, i.e. above 100°C and 0.1 MPa, are discussed. Additional efforts resulted in dif‐ ferent thermodynamic models that predict crystal growth kinetics and the stability for particle nu‐ cleation; the models based on chemical population balance approaches are also considered. However, these models do not apply for perovskite compounds containing rare earth elements that crystallize under hydrothermal conditions above 250°C, i.e. orthorhombic lanthanum chro‐ mite perovskite. Hence, the final part comprises a literature survey for the experimental research work conducted on various perovskite species produced via hydrothermal treatments, emphasiz‐ ing the relevant conditions that led to the stoichiometric single-phase crystallization.


AS THE reforms related to the tax harmonisation of retirement funds is set to become a reality on 1 March 2016 or T-day, as it has become known it is vital that members of pension and provident funds know the implications thereof in order to avoid making hasty (and potentially damaging) decisions. There has been a great deal of uncertainty from fund members as to how they will be impacted. The Q&A that follows aims to assist fund members to understand the latest amendments, and to what extent they are impacted by the changes.


All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome takes a playful look at Asperger Syndrome (AS), drawing inspiration from the feline world in a way that will strike a chord with all those who are familiar with AS. Delightful colour photographs of cats bring to life familiar characteristics such as sensitive hearing, scampering at the first sign of being stroked, and particular eating habits. Touching, humorous and insightful, this book evokes the difficulties and joys of raising a child who is different and leaves the reader with a sense of the dignity, individuality, and potential of people with AS. This engaging book is an ideal, gentle introduction to the world of AS. `There is a great deal of truth in humour. If you have only just begun to discover why someone with Asperger's syndrome is different, this book will inform and entertain you. The descriptions provide an accurate balance between the qualities and difficulties associated with Asperger's syndrome, while the photographs will make the journey of discovery enjoyable and remarkable.' - Tony Attwood, author of Asperger's Syndrome and The Complete Guide to Asperger's Syndrome


An important problem in pattern recognition is the effect of limited training samples on classification performance. When the ratio of the number of training samples to the dimensionality is small, parameter estimates become highly variable, causing the deterioration of classification performance. This problem has become more prevalent in remlote sensing with the emergence of a new generation of sensors. While the new sensor technology provides higher spectral and spatial resolution, enabling a greater number of spectrally separable classes to be identified, the needed labeled samples for designing the classifier remain difficult and expensive to acquire. In this thesis, several issules concerning the classification of high dimensional data with limited training samples are addressed. First of all, better parameter estimates can be obtained using a large number of unlabeled samples in addition to training samples under the mixture model. However, the estimation method is sensitive to the presence of statistical out1:iers. In remote sensing data, classes with few samples are difficult to identify and may constitute statistical outliers. Therefore, a robust parameter estima.tion method for the mixture model is introduced. Motivated by the fact that covariance estimates become highly variable with limited training samples, a covariance estimator is developed using a Bayesian formulation. The proposed covariance estimator is adviintageous when the training set size varies and reflects the prior of each class. Finally, a binary tree design is proposed to deal with the problem of varying training sample size. The proposed binary tree can function as both a classifiler and a feature extraction method. The benefits and limitations of the proposed methods are discussed and demonstrated with experiments. Work leading to the report was supported in part by NASA Grant NAG5-3975. This. support is gratefully acknowledged. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION


Francis Fukuyama argues that liberal democracy is the final form of human government and will become more and more prevalent in the long term. If this prediction is true, countries should converge in their political and economic systems toward liberal democracy, a form of institutional convergence. In this paper, we examine whether there is convergence in economic institutions, drawing on the literatures of economic convergence and of industrial organization. We use the Economic Freedom of the World-index over the period 1970-2009 to proxy for economic institutions. Our results indicate that countries with lower institutional quality experience faster institutional change than countries with higher quality, i.e., we observe institutional convergence. But countries with lower institutional quality have higher variability of institutional change. Using distributional analysis, we examine institutional transition probabilities, and find that the probability of a country ending up with high-quality institutions is high in the long-run. These findings support Fukuyama's prediction.


The renography using renograph is one of clinical modality to investigate the renal function among other such as laboratory medical check up and X-rays. The prototype of renograph IR-03 designed by BATAN has been constructed and the laboratory tests as well as clinical tests have been carried out at PRPN-BATAN Serpong and General Hospital Dr. Sardjito Jogyakarta, respectively. Cost associated with the clinical use of renograph at the hospital are analyzed according to the two major components: radiopharmaceutical cost and the use of equipment. Annual cost of operational of renograph by estimate number of patient is about 2,000 is IDR. 30.0 millions for radiopharmaceutical 131 Iodine. Total Direct Cost is about IDR. 212.5 millions and the Capital Cost for one unit renograph is IDR. 250 millions. The Break Event Point of invest one unit renograph is 1194 procedures (0.597%), or about IDR. 209,475 millions, which the cost for each procedure is IDR. 85,000.-. This value is depending on several variables, especially number of procedure can be reached. The cash flow analyses by Rate of Return (ROR) showed that the value of i* is 22.6% is much greater than the value of MARR or saving rate of interest in the Bank now is about < 10%. The Payback Period calculation to see on how interesting the investment of renograph and its prospect for application in the hospitals showed about 1.818 years, that is good prospect economically.  Received: 28 April 2011; Revised: 03 July 2012; Accepted: 07 July 2012


Anthelmintic drugs are widely used in veterinary medicine for protecting or treating animals mainly against gastrointestinal nematodes and trematodes. In general, they cause no human health risk if veterinary drugs are properly administered and the recommended doses are correctly adhered to.
However, there may be a concern that if withdrawal periods are not adhered to or if products are administered to animals in unapproved applications (e.g. administration to lactating species) those levels may exceed MRLs in foods.
In addiction, whenever chemicals are used, especially with long term low dose exposure, toxicological, teratological and carcinogenetic effects must be considered.
Only a limited number of products are licensed for treatment of animals during the lactating period and have a MRL listed under European Commission Regulation 37/2010. The widespread availability of cheaper generic veterinary medicinal products and the development of drug resistance to the limited number of licensed products have increased the potential for off-label applications.
SUMMARIES
The aim of this study was to investigate the persistence of oxyclozanide and levamisole residues in bovine milk after treatment with a combination product and their subsequent fate during cheese production. Animals were milked twice daily up to 16 days post treatment. Soft (3 d ripening), hard (35 d ripening) and whey cheeses were produced from the milk samples collected from first two milkings. Milk and cheese samples were subsequently analysed by UPLC-MS/MS. Highest levels of levamisole (<600 µg/kg-1) and oxyclozanide (<25 µg/kg-1) were determinate at first and third milking respectively. Levamisole residues were found to concentrate in all cheese types. There was a three fold concentration effect for levamisole in mature cheese. Oxyclozanide residues were found to occur at lower levels in soft and hard cheese than milk with a 10-fold concentration in whey cheese compared to milk. Residues were found at higher levels in cheeses compared to the milk. The results of this study demonstrate that levamisole and oxyclozanide residues are rapidly excreted in dairy cows and milk is compliant after few days, but survive the fermentation process to persist in cheese. Nitroxynil is a halogenated phenol used to control fascioliasis in cattle and sheep. No.35 pregnant dairy cows were treated in this study with a nitroxynil 340 mg/ml solution for injection at the recommended dose of 10 mg/nitroxynil per kg body weight at the start of the dry period, and from 53 to 74 days before the expected calving. Calving occurred between 43 days and 79 days after treatment. Subsequently, the concentrations of nitroxynil in the milk were monitored for up to 120 days after calving. Nitroxynil was detected by UHPLC-MS/MS (ultra high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry). The present study quantified the residue concentrations of nitroxynil in the milk of cows which were treated by subcutaneous administration at the recommended dose of 10 mg nitroxynil per kg body weight at the beginning of the dry period. The occurrence and the depletion of the residues in milk after calving were investigated.


What value remains in the concept of economic nationalism? As Michael Heilperin defined it in 1960, economic nationalism referred to "the desire to plan the economic life of the country as independently as possible of the condition of the world economy" (19£0:20). Heilperin's analysis echoes back to old battles between mercantilists and the liberal economists, whose arguments over trade and tariffs Eric Hobsbawm has summarized (1990:24-31). The concept of economic nationalism reached a particular florescence after World War I, sufficient to warrant its own volume in publisher H. W. Wilson's 1933 series of "timely topics" called The Reference Shelf (Hodgson 1933). Through the depths of the 1930s depression and the return of substantial tariff barriers, to the import substitution policies followed by many of the postcolonial new nations, the considerable literature concerned with "economic nationalism" describes the shifting alignments of economic and political borders (Burnell 1986; Johnson 1967; Simonds and Emeny 1935). Tracing these debates outlines an international history of the possibilities for social affiliation during the age of nation-states . Economic nationalism takes on a particular importance in a society like


Since 2014, when a first-of-its-kind empirical study looked at how public enforcers use their authority under UDAP laws, the enforcement landscape has changed. Most notably, the Trump Administration has weakened enforcement on the federal level. In the wake of this political shift, many state enforcers rushed to fill the gap left by weak federal enforcement. At the same time, the state enforcers themselves experienced changes both internal (including changes to budgets and stated policy priorities) and external (electoral changes regarding state Attorneys General, changes to statutory authority, and other changes governing the enforcer's authority).

This article presents findings from a follow-up study examining the public UDAP enforcement landscape in 2018. The principal finding from 2018 is that states employed substantially the same strategies toward UDAP enforcement as they did in 2014. This finding validates the central observation of both years' studies of state UDAP enforcement: states can be characterized by distinct strategies of consumer protection enforcement.

This information alone offers insight into the remarkable stability of state UDAP enforcement, even across varied strategies and a changing landscape. Other findings also begin to shed light on how states might react to extreme changes in enforcement on the federal level. For example, even though six states have made public statements backed by concrete actions to attempt to fill an enforcement gap left by the absence of federal action, state enforcement case volume was up among all states. Public compensation, however, was down among all types of enforcement actions in 2018.

Finally, comparisons of enforcement case volumes and strategy across states that experienced other changes over the time period -- changes in leadership and statutory authority, for example -- mirrored the overall trend of an increase in enforcement coupled with a general strategic stability. Strategies as a whole do not seem closely aligned with partisan politics.

This study creates a needed point of comparison to the 2014 data, allowing stakeholders to ask deeper questions about how public enforcers should wield their discretion and authority to resolve consumer protection cases. With debt levels in America at an all-time high, and federal enforcement of consumer law at an all-time low, research-based action is urgently needed to sharpen our understanding of the role and potential effectiveness of institutions tasked with protecting consumers from fraudulent lending schemes and oppressive debt collection strategies as well as the myriad other types of consumer scams that lead Americans toward more debt. The data here give state officials and state-based reformers the information needed to maximize enforcement in a way that makes consumers' lives better.


In this paper, we offer an endogenous theory of professionalization and ever-higher degree attainment. We theorize that higher education is a self-driving growth engine. We introduce two endogenous mechanisms that act on the education enterprise, causing the number of educated people to increase dramatically with relatively short-term changes in the job market. Using an illustrative dynamic model based on simple rules of degree attainment and job selection, we argue that these self-driving growth engines are adequate to over-incentivize degree attainment, and can affect the match between supply and demand for college-educated labor. We also show that the mechanisms magnify effects of short-term recessions or technological changes, and create long-term waves of mismatch between workforce and jobs. The implication of the theory is degree inflation, magnified pressures on those with lower degrees, underemployment, and job market mismatch and inefficiency.


This paper is the representation of the computational and experimental methods of a new injector nozzle for a sequential port injection CNG engine. The objective of this study was to review the previous research in the development of gaseous fuel injector for port injection CNG engine converted from diesel engine. Next, a simulation of the fuel flow of the new injector nozzle was made using FLUENT. The final objective was to investigate the performance characteristics of the CNG engine using the new injector nozzle. The investigation focused on engine performance based on variations in location of injector, number of holes in injectors and pressure. The results showed that the conversion of the diesel engine to a CNG engine reduced engine performance. The simulation of the fuel flow of the new injector nozzle increased the spray distribution, fuel-air mixing and fuel flow velocity. The fuel nozzle injector multi holes geometries development was to produce optimum fuel air mixing and increasing the volumetric efficiency of the engine that will promote a comparable engine performance and efficiency.


This study considers the links between primary indicators of health and individual labor productivity in Colombia and explores how additional public expenditures on health may improve individuals' health. Sample statistics how that illness occurs more frequently for women than for men, for less educated than for more educated, for rural than urban residents, and for older individuals. The well educated are considerably taller than those without schooling (6 cm. for males and 4 cm. for females). The empirical evidence confirms that health indicators are related to individual earnings in Colombia. A Mincerain log-earnings equation that includes health indicators as a form of human capital in addition to schooling is specified. When the morbidity variable is treated as endogenous and measured with error and the model is estimated by instrumental variables [IV], it becomes significant and has the expected negative sign. Controlling for age, education, sector of employment, gender and geographic location, an increase by 50% on the average number of days an individual was ill and unable to do his ordinary activities in the last month would imply reductions in labor earnings of 11% for urban males, 8% for urban females, 13% for rural males and 7% for rural females. The estimations with height show a positive sign and high significance even without the IV correction, but the coefficients increased with IV methods by an order of magnitude. Having one more centimeter of stature would increase urban female earns by 4.7% and urban male earnings by 12%. Individual's wealth and living in a community with better health provision indicators are linked with better health outcomes. An analysis of the returns to schooling shows that schooling captures part of the effect of health on productivity when the health indicator is not included in the Mincer equation.


Recognition that policies aimed at 'getting prices right' in less-developed countries have not been successful due to incomplete markets has spurred a new wave of reforms aimed instead at 'getting markets and institutions right'. Previous studies of this policy shift have documented the potentially crucial role played by the brokerage institution in crop commercialization. However, few have investigated the factors that influence wholesalers' decisions regarding their use of brokers. Results from a primary survey with traders show that brokerage services are particularly valuable for wholesalers who lack social capital and storage capacity, who are based in areas with low population density, and who trade at a distance, especially when roads are not asphalt. Buyers in drought-prone domains rely on brokers more for their long-distance purchases, while sellers in moisture-reliable domains employ brokers more for their long-distance sales. These results provide useful indications regarding where and how the recent formalization of brokerage functions through the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) could be most beneficial for the functioning of Ethiopian agricultural markets.


This study was undertaken to investigate and to propose a solution to the pastoral dilemma that faced the Catholic Church in Australia the 1990's. The pastoral dilemma contrasted two opposing pastoral responses to the significant changes in Catholic life since the Second Vatican Council. One response reacted to the changes by interpreting them as 'crises of faith'. This response determined that the decline in mass attendance, the fewer vocations to the priesthood and religious life and the disregard of the teaching authority of the Church was the result of a loss of faith. Consequently, it prescribed a return to previous values and behaviour. The other response was more difficult to determine and has been the principle work of this thesis. The second pastoral response was identified in the search for the sacred in the daily lives of the people. This search linked the changes in Catholic life to the ongoing journey of faith that has taken place. A pastoral response based on this understanding of the changes in Catholic life was seen to provide an opportunity for 'all who invoked the name of Christ' to enter a deeper relationship with him and each other. This response embraced the spirit of renewal proposed by the Council. A review of religious literature published in Australia since the Council was conducted to provide an overview of the journey of Catholic life. It identified four categories of literature that displayed the most interest in the changes. Whilst the review had a particular focus on Catholics, it included other traditions. Of the four categories initially sociology of religion which attracted most interest, followed later by theological reflections and interpretations, and ultimately an interest in spirituality, or the 'spirituality revolution'. The historical and biographical studies reviewed recounted the changes in Church life and remained at a lesser, but constant expression of interest. An examination of the research of sociology of religion in Australia established that the changes in religious belief and practice were influenced by environmental factors and, for Catholics, the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The methods of sociology identified the significant areas of change, but their limited explanations of the changes did little to assist church authorities to resolve the tensions and difficulties. The limitations of statistical information about religion contributed to the pastoral dilemma. The findings of sociology increased interest in theological reflection about the influence of the changing context of society on Catholic life. These reflections endeavoured to explain the reforms of the Council, the relationship to the changes to the reforms and led to 'contextual' theology which was embraced by the 'Discovery of an Australian Theology'. Spirituality by the 1990s had become a popular response that purported to take the place of 'organised religion' in the community. The interest in spirituality also became the key factor in the Catholic search for deeper values, and inspired a renewed sense of the spiritual in ordinary everyday life. The popular interest in spirituality was located in the tradition of Christian spirituality, and the thesis concluded that this tradition embraced the personal experience of God, as expressed in the lives of Catholics in Australia. Such personal experiences were identified and discerned to benefit of the individual and through dialogue transformed the community. The transformation, thus begun, continued in further dialogue, engaged the community, and inspired others beyond the community of the Church to believe. Therefore, the personal experience of the spiritual was authenticated by its place in the developing tradition of the Church. The Council called for individuals and communities in the Church to identify the 'signs of the times' as the opportunities for renewal, and personal renewal was closely linked to communal renewal. The 'search for a soul' expressed an Australian 'sign of the times'. The search provided the opportunity for many people to embark on a journey that led to personal and communal renewal or transformation. Consequently, pastoral responses to renewal based on rule and regulation, or expectations of the past, lacked the personal spiritual dimension. Thus, the title of the thesis figuratively describes the spiritual journey of Catholics from a devotional religious experience to one that seeks to find the sacred in the core values and experiences of life.


This study evaluates the efficacy of providing an 'infant safer sleep box' (ISSB) compared to a standalone cot in the same room to reduce the occurrence of modifiable risk factors associated with SIDS whilst bed-sharing, by providing observational data of mother-infant dyads using ISSBs in the parent-infant sleep lab.

The present study recruited 11 mother-infant dyads who attended the parent-infant sleep lab for two overnight observations. A randomised crossover study design was used to compare the influence of allocating an infant safer sleep box (ISSB) and a standalone cot in the same room on night-time behaviour. Infant safer sleep boxes, modelled on New Zealand's pēpi-pod are aiming to engage parents with safe sleep advice and provide a safe sleep space for infants. Participants were either allocated a standalone cot on the first night and an ISSB on the second night or vice versa. The study aimed to (1) collect observational data relating to the use of infant safer sleep boxes, (2) compare the effects of allocating an ISSB or a standalone cot on night-time caregiving and (3) to understand if ISSBs can provide a safe sleep environment for infants.

The study population consisted of 10 exclusively breastfeeding infants and one formula feeding infant. The average age of infants was 15 weeks with a range of 4-19 weeks and 80% of participants reported bed-sharing at least once a week. None of the sample reported currently smoking or smoking in pregnancy. On nights allocated an ISSB the study population showed a significantly greater number of looking and touching events (p=.024) and increased maternal proximity (p=.008) in comparison to nights when their infants were settled in a standalone cot in the same room. Results also indicated that allocating an ISSB may be influential in increasing the frequency and duration of breastfeeding, reduce the occurrence of head covering events and create a safer sleep environment compared to a standalone cot in the same room for a preponderance of the study population.

This study contributes to the growing understanding of portable sleep enablers as safe sleep spaces for infants who are contraindicated to bed-sharing. This study has indicated that using an ISSB did not interfere with normal infant care and may enhance parental monitoring and awareness of infants.


We compare the cost of labor input for 39 areas of the United States using Törnqvist multilateral (transitive) place to place index numbers incorporating characteristics-based, hedonic labor characteristics adjustment as an integral feature. Our characteristics adjustments are based on establishment data at the level of the approximately 18,000 jobs priced in the Employment Cost Index (ECI) survey, and worker data at the level of the 39 areas in the ECI sample from the Current Population Survey. We find that the compensation parities prior to labor characteristics adjustment are generally more variable from place to place than after adjustment, and that the primary determinants of geographical compensation variations after controlling for industry and occupation are firm size and unionization from the establishment data, and education/experience from the worker data.


Public policy debates and theoretical disputes motivate this paper%u2019s examination of (i) the relationship between bank concentration and banking system fragility and (ii) the mechanisms underlying this relationship. We find no support for the view that concentration increases the fragility of banks. Rather, banking system concentration is associated with a lower probability that the country suffers a systemic banking crisis. In terms of policies, we find that (i) regulations and institutions that facilitate competition in banking are associated with less -- not more -- banking system fragility and (ii) including these policy indicators does not change the results on concentration. This suggests that concentration is a proxy for something else besides the competitive environment. Also, we do not find that official capital regulations, reserve requirements, or official prudential regulations lower crises probabilities. Finally, we present suggestive evidence that concentrated banking systems tend to have larger, better-diversified banks, which may help account for the positive link between concentration and stability.


Abstract Preliminary studies of the palynoflora from the Lavanttal Basin show a relatively rich assemblage of pollen and spores. The palynoflora comprises at least 17 different kinds of spores, representing the Bryophyta (Sphagnum), Lycopodiophyta (Lycopodium, Selaginella), and the Pteridophyta (Dryopteris, Osmunda, Pteris), about 20 different pollen types of conifers assignable to Cupressaceae and Pinaceae, and 130–160 different kinds of angiosperm pollen. In this study, we describe all spores together with pollen from two seed plants, i.e. Ginkgo (Ginkgophyta) and Ephedra (Gnetophyta). The fossil spores and pollen grains are preserved in phosphoritic nodules. Absence of palynomorphs characteristic of marine settings and presence of numerous freshwater algae (diatoms, dinoflagellates, and different green algae) indicate freshwater environments. This is also supported by sedimentological observations suggestive of wetland surroundings, characterised by lakes, swamps, streams, rivers and floodplain areas. The taxa reported here all seem to represent part of azonal vegetation with plants growing in swamps, on hummocks, along border of lakes or streams, on levees, or on sandy patches of floodplains. Preliminary results suggest that the vegetation thrived under a relatively warm and humid climate.


One of the considerations in selecting Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) as a substitute for conventional reinforcement is its ability against corrosion makes it suitable for structures directly related to land, water, and corrosive areas. In terms of strength, GFRP which has high yield strength is very suitable as a reinforcement to hold the shear force. Similarly as with steel bar, GFRP reinforcement is used as a composite material of reinforced concrete; therefore, it is worth to know the grade of the bond strength. The bond strength is one of the important factors in order to have a good interaction between GFRP and concrete in holding work loads on structures, so that the study is conducted to get the grade of the bond strength of GFRP reinforcement with monolith concrete casted. The experiment is using the pull out test with a cube specimens, sized 250 mm × 250 mm × 250 mm and GFRP bar sized 25 mm diameters. Bond strength of GFRP reinforcement will then be closely compared to the bond strength of BJTS40 deform rebar sized 25 mm diameters. The concrete used in this study has about f'c 100 MPa. The test results indicate the grade of bond strength of GFRP reinforcement with concrete reaches 6.54 MPa and the bond strength of steel bar with concrete  reaches 8.22 MPa. The grade of bond strength of GFRP reinforcement is smaller 79.56% than the bond strength of the steel reinforcement. The failure happened on all test objects is the mode of splitting failure.


This project will consist of an in-depth review of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) and their increasing role in districts and schools across the country. This project will document successes of PLCs and those components of a PLC that are most essential to the success of beginning and maintaining one. It will also look at the barriers that arise in attempting to implement a PLC in a district and/or school, and how best to overcome those barriers. Finally, this project will focus on the implications for special education when formulating and implementing a PLC in a school. Methodology will consist of library and/or archival research, along with attendance at a PLC conference and interviews with those administrators attempting to start a PLC in their respective schools. The final form of this completed thesis will be a lengthy research paper, including the implications for special education in the implementation and administration of PLCs. Degree Type Open Access Senior Honors Thesis Department Special Education First Advisor Jacquelyn S. McGinnis, Ph.D., Supervising Instructor Second Advisor Lidia Lee, Ph.D., Honors Advisor


The role of assessments is getting attention throughout legal education. A growing acceptance of the Graduate Record Examination ("GRE") as an alternative to the Law School Aptitude Test ("LSAT") and its incorporation into the U.S. News & World Report ("USN&WR") law school rankings opened the door to changes in who is going to law school and how they are recruited. At the other end of students' journey through legal education, the discussion of recent graduates' bar exam performance – linked by some to declining LSAT scores of entering students – raised questions about the design of bar exams as well as about law schools' preparation of graduates for the bar. In between, the American Bar Association's incorporation of assessment into its accreditation process spurred growing interest in how law schools conduct assessments and is prompting changes in how legal educators evaluate students. In this article, we begin with the issues raised by the GRE's appearance as an alternate pathway. Next, we set out assessment principles likely to influence future conversations in the legal academy. Then we look at how the bar results discussion connects to improving assessment strategies. Finally, we conclude with speculation about what this all means.


How important was coal to the Industrial Revolution? Despite the huge growth of output, and the grip of coal and steam on the popular image of the Industrial Revolution, recent cliometric accounts have assumed coal mining mattered little to the Industrial Revolution. In contrast both E. A. Wrigley and Kenneth Pomeranz have made coal central to the story. This paper constructs new series on coal rents, the price of coal at pithead and at market, and the price of firewood, and uses them to examine this issue. We conclude coal output expanded in the Industrial Revolution mainly as a result of increased demand rather than technological innovations in mining. But that expansion could have occurred at any time before 1760. Further our coal rents series suggests that English possession of coal reserves made a negligible contribution to Industrial Revolution incomes.


The use of bubbles in water and wastewater treatment, including dissolved air flotation (DAF) and electro-flotation (EF), is attracting much interest recently. These flotation processes are governed by characteristics of the bubbles as well as the particles, and therefore it is necessary to investigate the size distribution of the bubbles that are generated. In this research, a new method has been developed to measure the bubble size, using commercially available batch-type and on-line particle counters. The results are compared with the traditional image analysis method. Although there are some discrepancies, the results show that an on-line particle counter can produce reasonably accurate size distributions conveniently and efficiently. The bubble size measurement technique developed in this study will assist understanding and improvement of the DAF and EF processes, from both theoretical and practical points of view.


Coronaviruses (CoV) are a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV). A novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans. Coronaviruses are zoonotic, meaning they are transmitted between animals and people. Detailed investigations found that SARS-CoV was transmitted from civet cats to humans and MERS-CoV from dromedary camels to humans. Several known coronaviruses are circulating in animals that have not yet infected humans. Common signs of infection include respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, infection can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death(1).


Vanadium dioxide/titanium dioxide bilayer films have been investigated as a thermochromic coating for application as intelligent window glazings for buildings. The nanostructured VO2 and TiO2 films were deposited on fluorine doped tin oxide coated glass substrates using electric field assisted aerosol assisted chemical vapour deposition (ElFi-AACVD) and sol–gel spin coating, respectively. Their thermochromic properties were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, variable temperature UV/Vis/NIR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies. Compared to bare VO2 films, the VO2/TiO2 bilayer films exhibit an increase in visible light transmittance of up to 30%, an increase in integrated luminous transmittance, with values up to 66%, and a higher transmittance modulation in the near infrared of up to 20% at the thermochromic transition temperature. The TiO2 top layer not only enhances visible light transmittance, but also serves to protect the VO2 bottom layer from oxidation. The bilayer films are shown to exhibit photo-induced super-hydrophilicity. These properties are affected by the morphology of the VO2 under-layer.


New, thermally stable dipolar ferrocene–diketopyrrolopyrrole (Fc–DPP) dyads with alkene as a linker exhibited structure dependent first hyperpolarizabilities, βHRS, recorded by a femtosecond HRS technique using a femtosecond (120 fs) pulsed laser light system at 900 nm at ambient temperature. On the basis of linear optical, electrochemical and TD-DFT studies, a good structure–polarization relationship has been established to account for the observed trends in first hyperpolarizabilities. The dyads exhibited fluctuating but matching solvatochromism. Nonlinear optical properties are modulated both by the strength of the acceptor as well as the length and nature of the π-conjugation bridge. βHRS of the dyads were compared with structurally related dyads in which the DPP core and the Fc donor are linked via an alkyne bridge. It is interesting to observe that the replacement of an alkyne link with alkene in these D–π–A chromophores does not necessarily furnish enhanced βHRS.


Traditional network optimization focuses on a single control objective in a network populated by obedient users and limited dispersion of information. However, most of today's networks are large-scale with lack of access to centralized information, consist of users with diverse requirements, and are subject to dynamic changes. These factors naturally motivate a new distributed control paradigm, where the network infrastructure is kept simple and the network control functions are delegated to individual agents which make their decisions independently ("selfishly"). The interaction of multiple independent decision-makers necessitates the use of game theory, including economic notions related to markets and incentives. This monograph studies game theoretic models of resource allocation among selfish agents in networks. The first part of the monograph introduces fundamental game theoretic topics. Emphasis is given to the analysis of dynamics in game theoretic situations, which is crucial for design and control of networked systems. The second part of the monograph applies the game theoretic tools for the analysis of resource allocation in communication networks. We set up a general model of routing in wireline networks, emphasizing the congestion problems caused by delay and packet loss. In particular, we develop a systematic approach to characterizing the inefficiencies of network equilibria, and highlight the effect of autonomous service providers on network performance. We then turn to examining distributed power control in wireless networks. We show that the resulting Nash equilibria can be efficient if the degree of freedom given to end-users is properly designed.


The Default Mode Network is a network of connected brain regions that are active when the brain is not focused on external tasks. Minor brain injuries, such as concussions, can affect this network and manifest symptoms. We measured the correlation between the symptoms people experienced after a concussion and their age at the time the concussion occurred. We hypothesized that some symptoms, including depression, anxiety, insomnia and other sleeping problems, have a higher correlation with age than other possible symptoms. Data were collected from 133 people who had experienced concussions, as well as data from 24 healthy controls. Investigation of healthy controls via regression analysis revealed no notable or significant patterns. In concussed individuals, the incidence of sleeping problems was not correlated with the maturity of the Default Mode Network; however, there was a higher percentage of people who had a concussion between the ages of 14–16 who experienced depression, anxiety, and insomnia, as compared to other age groups and symptoms. By comparing the regression analyses, we determined that the symptoms not related to the Default Mode Network were more linearly correlated with age than symptoms related to the Default Mode Network. This phenomenon is intriguing and deserving of further research.


Smartphones have become key communication and entertainment devices in people's daily life. Sensors on (or attached to) smartphones can enable attractive sensing applications in different domains, including environmental monitoring, social networking, healthcare, transportation, etc. Most existing smartphone sensing systems are application-specific. How to leverage smartphones' sensing capability to make them become unified information providers for various applications has not yet been fully explored. This dissertation presents a unified and green platform for smartphone sensing, which has the following desirable features: 1) It can support various smartphone sensing applications; 2) It is personalizable; 2) It is energy-efficient; and 3) It can be easily extended to support new sensors. Two novel sensing applications are built and integrated into this unified platform: SOR and LIPS. SOR is a smartphone Sensing based Objective Ranking (SOR) system. Different from a few subjective online review and recommendation systems (such as Yelp and TripAdvisor), SOR ranks a target place based on data collected via smartphone sensing. LIPS is a system that learns the LIfestyles of mobile users via smartPhone Sensing (LIPS). Combining both unsupervised and supervised learning, a hybrid scheme is proposed to characterize lifestyle and predict future activities of mobile users. This dissertation also studies how to use the cloud as a coordinator to assist smartphones for sensing collaboratively with the objective of reducing sensing energy consumption. A novel probabilistic model is built to address the GPS-less energy-efficient crowd sensing problem. Provably-good approximation algorithms are presented to enable smartphones to sense collaboratively without accurate locations such that sensing coverage requirements can be met with limited energy consumption. A Unified And Green Platform For Smartphone Sensing


Raves for the First Edition! "I sure wish I had this book ten years ago. Some might think that I don't need any Java books, but I need this one." i¾–James Gosling, fellow and vice president, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "An excellent book, crammed with good advice on using the Java programming language and object-oriented programming in general."i¾–Gilad Bracha, coauthor of The Java™ Language Specification, Third Edition "10/10i¾–anyone aspiring to write good Java code that others will appreciate reading and maintaining should be required to own a copy of this book. This is one of those rare books where the information won't become obsolete with subsequent releases of the JDK library."i¾–Peter Tran, bartender, JavaRanch.com "The best Java book yet written.... Really great; very readable and eminently useful. I can't say enough good things about this book. At JavaOne 2001, James Gosling said, 'Go buy this book!' I'm glad I did, and I couldn't agree more." i¾–Keith Edwards, senior member of research staff, Computer Science Lab at the Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), and author of Core JINI (Prentice Hall, 2000) "This is a truly excellent book done by the guy who designed several of the better recent Java platform APIs (including the Collections API)." i¾–James Clark, technical lead of the XML Working Group during the creation of the XML 1.0 Recommendation, editor of the XPath and XSLT Recommendations "Great content. Analogous to Scott Meyers' classic Effective C++. If you know the basics of Java, this has to be your next book." i¾–Gary K. Evans, OO mentor and consultant, Evanetics, Inc "Josh Bloch gives great insight into best practices that really can only be discovered after years of study and experience." i¾–Mark Mascolino, software engineer "This is a superb book. It clearly covers many of the language/platform subtleties and trickery you need to learn to become a real Java master." i¾–Victor Wiewiorowski, vice president development and code quality manager, ValueCommerce Co., Tokyo, Japan "I like books that under-promise in their titles and over-deliver in their contents. This book has 57 items of programming advice that are well chosen. Each item reveals a clear, deep grasp of the language. Each one illustrates in simple, practical terms the limits of programming on intuition alone, or taking the most direct path to a solution without fully understanding what the language offers."i¾–Michael Ernest, Inkling Research, Inc. "I don't find many programming books that make me want to read every pagei¾–this is one of them." i¾–Matt Tucker, chief technical officer, Jive Software "Great how-to resource for the experienced developer." i¾–John Zukowski, author of numerous Java technology books "I picked this book up two weeks ago and can safely say I learned more about the Java language in three days of reading than I did in three months of study! An excellent book and a welcome addition to my Java library." i¾–Jane Griscti, I/T advisory specialist Are you looking for a deeper understanding of the Java™ programming language so that you can write code that is clearer, more correct, more robust, and more reusable? Look no further! Effective Java™, Second Edition, brings togetheri¾ seventy-eight indispensable programmer's rules of thumb: working, best-practice solutions for the programming challenges you encounter every day.This highly anticipated new edition of the classic, Jolt Award-winning work has been thoroughly updated to cover Java SE 5 and Java SE 6 features introduced since the first edition. Bloch explores new design patterns and language idioms, showing you how to make the most of features ranging from generics to enums, annotations to autoboxing.Each chapter in the book consists of several "items" presented in the form of a short, standalone essay that provides specific advice, insight into Java platform subtleties, and outstanding code examples. The comprehensive descriptions and explanations for each item illuminate what to do, what not to do, and why.Highlights include: New coverage of generics, enums, annotations, autoboxing, the for-each loop, varargs, concurrency utilities, and much more Updated techniques and best practices on classic topics, including objects, classes, libraries, methods, and serialization How to avoid the traps and pitfalls of commonly misunderstood subtleties of the language Focus on the language and its most fundamental libraries: java.lang, java.util, and, to a lesser extent, java.util.concurrent and java.io Simply put, Effective Java™, Second Edition, presents the most practical, authoritative guidelines available for writing efficient, well-designed programs.


This paper explains how hedge-fund activists are exerting power over corporate resource allocation far in excess of the actual voting power of their shareholdings. The power of these `minority-shareholding corporate raiders` derives from misguided regulatory `reforms` carried out in the 1980s and 1990s in the name of `shareholder democracy`. Sanctioned and overseen by the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), these reforms include the introduction of compulsory voting by institutional investors and proxy-voting rule changes that greatly facilitated hedge-fund activists` aggregation of the proxy votes of institutional investors. In addition, the introduction of the 1996 National Securities Markets Improvement Act (NSMIA) that allowed hedge funds to draw funds from institutional investors effectively with no limit also played an important role in the rise of hedge-fund activism. The paper concludes with policy proposals to rebalance value creation and value extraction by rebuilding the engagement and proxy voting system including (1) making it mandatory for shareholders to submit justifications in shareholder proposals on value creation or capital formation of corporations concerned; (2) removing voting as a fiduciary duty of institutional investors; (3) introducing differentiated voting rights that favor long-term shareholders; and (4) making it mandatory for both shareholders and management to reveal to the public what they discussed in engagement sessions.


The market of metro optical networking has increased rapidly over the last few years. Traditional telecommunication infrastructure has an emphasis on long-haul optical transmission with ultra broadband capacity, relying mostly on large pure dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) systems. Today, however, metro core optical networks take the major role in provisioning local access services and interconnecting service points of presences (POPs) with long-haul transmission. This represents a pivotal point in business operations of data communication services for service providers and large enterprises. In addition, the upper layer data services completely leans upon the substrate wavelength communication, and hence the survivability and reliability issues in the optical domain are now becoming crucial topics. This paper provides a detailed discussion around the development process of protection technologies in metro core optical transport infrastructure


Production of high β plasmas in anchor-cell is necessary for MHD stabilization in the tandem mirror GAMMA10. Plasma heating in anchor-cell has been carried out by ICRF system(RF1) with both east and west type-III antennas installed in the central-cell. By using an additional ICRF system (RF3) with a bar-type antenna installed in the east anchor-cell, more effective anchor heating have been confirmed. East type-III and the bar-type antennas are driven with the same frequency and phase difference between two antennas can be controlled in the experiment. Plasma parameters depend on the phase difference between both antennas. Increase of the line density and the soft X-ray signal are observed in the opposite phase. Stable plasma production with only east RF1 and east RF3 is also confirmed.


Octacalcium phosphate (OCP) is regarded as a precursor of hydroxyapatite (HA) which is an inorganic constituent of human bones and teeth. OCP is also becoming regarded as one of the important biomaterials. Despite some studies on OCP as biomedical materials, there are few methods for shape forming of OCP. The objective of this study is preparing spherical granules of OCP. The spherical granular shape has an advantage for handling. The spherical granules can achieve easy injection into the defect site by a catheter. In the present study, preparation of spherical granules of OCP from α-tricalcium phosphate (α-TCP) was attempted. The starting material of α-TCP powder was dispersed in the gelatin solution. The resultant slurry was added into vegetable oil, and then the spherical granules of α-TCP/gelatin were formed by the surface tension of the slurry and the shearing force of stirring. By calcining the obtained α-TCP/gelatin granules, the spherical granules with α-TCP single phase were obtained. These spherical granules of α-TCP were immersed in the acetic acid buffer solution whose temperature and pH were controlled. The calcium phosphate spherical granules containing OCP were obtained. The shorter treatment time was favorable for preparing spherical granules containing more OCP.