Abstract The number of students with learning disabilities attending institutions of higher education has dramatically increased in the last ten years and will continue to do so. Since federal laws in the United States and other counties require appropriate accommodations for students with learning disabilities, it is important for universities to evaluate the effectiveness of accommodations and services. This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a class reserved for students with learning disabilities and to identify predictors of success based on student documentation. Evaluation of the relationship between student success and specific student documentation will facilitate the development of sound, researched policies for making accommodation and placement decisions. Introduction Increased attention to and legal support for those with learning disabilities in education has led to a dramatic increase in the number of students with learning disabilities attending colleges and universities. Unfortunately, few institutions are monitoring performance, graduation rates, attrition, satisfaction, or other indicators of success for students with learning disabilities in their learning services programs (Vogel & Adelman, 1992). Evaluation of what little information there is available for these programs suggest that there is reason to be concerned with success of students with learning disabilities (Vogel & Adelman, 1992). Most universities have ways to assess academic courses through student evaluations of teaching but few have a system in place for feedback on their learning services programs. This raises serious questions about the assessment and implementation of good accommodation and placement practices and the importance of evaluating the services that are in place. Mathematics learning is crucial to the overall academic success of students with learning disabilities. A significant number of students with learning disabilities have difficulty with mathematics learning (Miller & Mercer, 1997) and other learning disabilities may interfere with testing ability and mathematics learning even if students are not diagnosed with specific mathematics learning impairments (Nolting, 2000). Students with learning disabilities are more likely to fail to organize information, both mentally and physically, in a way that allows for easy retrieval, use, and generalization (Scheid, 1990). Often, students with learning disabilities achieve approximately one year of mathematical understanding for every two years of school attendance (Miller & Mercer, 1997). This progress continues into adulthood, leaving students with learning disabilities behind their contemporaries (Raskind, Goldburg, Higgins, & Herman, 1999). All of this suggests the placement and accommodations associated with mathematics learning are important in the success of students with learning disabilities in higher education. Placement and Accommodations Practices Ofiesh and McAfee (2000) surveyed ninety-one college learning services programs to examine current use of psycho-educational evaluations such as the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) and the Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities and Tests of Achievement (WJ). They found that these tests were being consistently used for eligibility, placement, and accommodation determinations. For eligibility purposes, a diagnostician has a formal and systematic process for interpreting scores supported by research. However, the process of how test scores are being used to determine accommodations and placement is much less structured and is widely undocumented through survey or empirical data at the postsecondary level. There is a strong need for further research to validate the practice of interpreting specific parts of psycho-educational test scores to make accommodation decisions (Ofiesh & McAfee, 2000). These decisions are often left to a learning services specialist who must make practical connections between test scores and available accommodations or courses. …


The land use/cover distribution on Langkawi Island, Malaysia was mapped using remote sensing and a Geographic Information System (GIS). A Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite image taken in March 1995 was processed, geocorrected and analysed using IDRISI, raster-based GIS software. An unsupervised classification was performed based on spectral data from a composite image of the bands TM3, TM4 and TM5. Using this output, field data together with available secondary data consisting of topography, land use and soil maps were used to perform a maximum likelihood supervised classification. The overall accuracy of the output image was 90% and individual class accuracy ranged from 74% for rubber to 100% for paddy fields. The classified areas on the image were mainly confined to the mountainous and hilly regions on the island. A shaded relief map, simulating sunshine conditions, showed that the unclassified areas are located in the shadowed slopes, i.e. the slopes facing west. Consequently, the imagery was subdivided on the basis of slope aspect and a stratified classification was performed. As a result of this procedure, the overall accuracy increased to 92% and the individual class accuracy for the inland forest class increased by 9% to 90% . Using IDRISI, individual class areas as well as percentages were calculated. The kappa coefficient for the classified image was 0.90. Qualitative analysis indicates that topography is the main control on the spatial distribution of land use/cover types on the island. As Langkawi Island has been developing rapidly over the last decade, successful planning will require reliable information about land use/cover distribution and change. This study illustrates that remote sensing and GIS techniques are capable of providing such information.


Developing economies have found it hard to use natural resource wealth to improve their economic performance. Utilising resource endowments is a multi-stage economic and political problem that requires private investment to discover and extract the resource, fiscal regimes to capture revenue, judicious spending and investment decisions, and policies to manage volatility and mitigate adverse impacts on the rest of the economy. Experience is mixed, with some successes (such as Botswana and Malaysia) and more failures. This paper reviews the challenges that are faced in successfully managing resource wealth, the evidence on country performance, and the reasons for disappointing results.


The dominant theory of the moon's origin is the Giant Impact Hypothesis, which states that the moon formed when a Mars-sized object named Theia impacted the proto-Earth early in the solar system's formation, with the resulting material contributing to the formation of the Moon. Using models of planetary development and the solar system's formation, we attempt to answer where the impactor Theia might have originated from. We conclude that the Asteroid belt is a likely location for Theia's formation, and we find that the parameters associated with this point of origin may help advance other models of the Moon's formation.


The North Carolina Coastal Land Trust, along with twenty other organizations, participates in the Cape Fear Arch Conservation Collaboration, a partnership to conserve high quality natural areas and biodiversity in the Cape Fear Arch, encompassing parts of coastal North and South Carolina. In its Conservation Plan, the Cape Fear Arch Conservation Collaboration cites the importance of working lands. Ecologically, privately owned working lands can serve as corridors of connectivity between larger already protected lands and can have important restoration potential. Private working lands in North Carolina are under increasing pressure from suburbanization and increasing land value, making it financially attractive for private owners to sell their land to developers. Identifying priority parcels of working lands in the Cape Fear Arch would be beneficial to the conservation goals of the Cape Fear Arch Conservation Collaboration as well as preserving the rural, historic, and economic resources of the area. This study prioritized parcels in three Cape Fear Arch Priority Areas located in Bladen and Cumberland County, NC: Suggs Mill Pond/Bushy Lake Complex, Tussock Bay Complex, and Jones Lake/Salters Lake and other Bladen Lakes Forest Bays. I used multi-attribute utility analysis to construct an objectives hierarchy of goals for working lands conservation with Janice Allen of the North Carolina Coastal Land Trust (NCCLT) as the primary decision maker. A preliminary analysis used the fifty largest parcels in the study area, using parcel area as a strict threshold cutoff. The smallest parcel in the preliminary analysis was 495 acres. I identified thirteen criteria: distance to nearest Managed Area (areas already under protection), parcel size, presence of prime agricultural soil, area of farmland, area of forest, forest state (natural or planted), area of significant natural heritage area, stream frontage, North Carolina Coastal Region Evaluation of Wetland Significance wetland type, multiple parcel ownership, enrolled in conservation agreement, percent of parcel in managed area, and presence of known longleaf pine. I assigned each criteria a weight and utility value based on Janice Allen's input. The results of this analysis successfully prioritized the fifty parcels in the study area on a scale of 0 to 1. Large parcels near Managed Areas and those containing significant natural heritage area or forested areas ranked highest on the priority scale; however, there were some areas that contained significant natural heritage areas that were not identified in the preliminary analysis. A secondary analysis focused on one Priority Area, Suggs Mill Pond/Bushy Lake …


Here we present new ontogenetic data on a fossil polychelidan crustacean. Polychelida are benthic decapods known nowadays only from deep-sea habitats. Fossil representatives of Polychelida are known to inhabit shallower depths than the modern deep-sea inhabiting forms (= Polychelidae). Therefore, fossil polychelidans still retain certain ancestral traits such as compound eyes that are reduced in the modern forms. Such differences and the evolutionary changes are important to understand the evolutionary history of Polychelida. Furthermore, as Polychelida is the sister group to all other reptantian lobsters, Polychelida are crucial for a better understanding of the evolution of reptantian lobsters as a whole. In this study, we present an analysis of morphological development during the ontogeny of Palaeopentacheles roettenbacheri, a fossil representative of Polychelida from the 150 million years old (Upper Jurassic) Solnhofen Lithographic Limestones of southern Germany. The investigated specimens have exceptionally preserved tiniest details, which can be well visualised with autofluorescence microscopy. We discuss the morphological changes of the different developmental stages of P. roettenbacheri and how these changes point to a change in the life style: the shift from a pelagic mode of life to a benthic one. Furthermore, the potential evolutionary transformations of morphological traits are discussed by comparing morphological structures of modern polychelidan larvae to those of fossil ones. Based on these data, an evolutionary reconstruction is presented for the change of the larval development in Polychelida, ultimately leading to the highly specialised giant larvae known from modern forms.


The fungus Fusarium graminearum forms an intimate association with the host species wheat whilst infecting the floral tissues at anthesis. During the prolonged latent period of infection, extracellular communication between live pathogen and host cells must occur, implying a role for secreted fungal proteins. The wheat cells in contact with fungal hyphae subsequently die and intracellular hyphal colonisation results in the development of visible disease symptoms. Since the original genome annotation analysis was done in 2007, which predicted the secretome using TargetP, the F. graminearum gene call has changed considerably through the combined efforts of the BROAD and MIPS institutes. As a result of the modifications to the genome and the recent findings that suggested a role for secreted proteins in virulence, the F. graminearum secretome was revisited. In the current study, a refined F. graminearum secretome was predicted by combining several bioinformatic approaches. This strategy increased the probability of identifying truly secreted proteins. A secretome of 574 proteins was predicted of which 99% was supported by transcriptional evidence. The function of the annotated and unannotated secreted proteins was explored. The potential role(s) of the annotated proteins including, putative enzymes, phytotoxins and antifungals are discussed. Characterisation of the unannotated proteins included the analysis of Pfam domains and features associated with known fungal effectors, for example, small size, cysteine-rich and containing internal amino acid repeats. A comprehensive comparative genomic analysis involving 57 fungal and oomycete genomes revealed that only a small number of the predicted F. graminearum secreted proteins can be considered to be either species or sequenced strain specific.


Stress fractures (SF) are one of the most common and potentially serious overuse injuries. Purpose This study aimed to develop a computational biomechanical model of strain in human tibial bone that will facilitate better understanding of the pathophysiology of SF. Methods The MRI of a healthy, young male was used for full anatomical segmentation of the calf tissues, which considered hard–soft tissues biomechanical interactions. From the undeformed coronal MR images, the geometry of bones, muscles, connecting ligaments, and fat were reconstructed in three dimensions and meshed to a finite element model. A force that simulated walking was applied on the tibial plateaus. The model was then analyzed for strains in the tibia under various conditions: unloaded walking, walking with a load equivalent to 30% of bodyweight, and walking under conditions of muscular fatigue. In addition, the effect of tibia robustness on strain was analyzed. Results The model showed that the tibia is mostly loaded by compression, with maximal strains detected in the distal anterior surface: 1241 and 384 microstrain, compressive and tensile, respectively. Load carriage resulted in ~30% increase in maximal effective strains. Muscle fatigue has a complex effect; fatigued calf muscles (soleus) reduced the maximal effective strains up to 9%, but fatigued thigh muscles increased those strains by up to 3%. It had also been shown that a slender tibia is substantially prone to higher maximal effective strains compared with an average (22% higher) or robust tibia (39% higher). Conclusions Thigh muscle fatigue, load carriage, and a slender tibia were detected as factors that may contribute to the development of SF. The methodology presented here is a novel tool for investigating the pathophysiology of SF.


This thesis has involved the compilation of a catalogue of
unpublished pre-Islamic sculptural material, comprising statues,
statuettes, heads, reliefs and plaques bearing stylized human faces
and inscriptions. The objects come mainly from three known
archaeological site in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia (al-Ula, Fadak
and Qaryat al-Fau), and other unknown sites situated within the
South Western region of Arabia (ancient Yemen).
The thesis contains maps, drawings and photographs. The
catalogue first divides the objects according to their regions and
sites, then sub-divides the objects from South Arabia into groups,
types and sub-types. The classification has been done partly on a
typological basis, and partly, upon a' combination of several
outstanding aspects, such as method "of manufacture' and other
technical considerations.
A discussion of each individual object or classified object in
the catalogue follows its description. In these discussions
attempts are made to focus on many related aspects such as stylistic
and comparative studies and function. An attempt is also made to
trace the regional stylistic variation between the sculptures of
Qaryat al-Fau and South Arabia. No publication has made any attempt
to catalogue sculptures from these regions with respect to their
stylistic variation. This thesis thus seeks to fill the needs for a
scholarly cataloguing and discussion of this important class of art.
Conclusions are drawn concerning the main reasons behind the
uniformity and conformity of the conventional South Arabian
statuary. This study also sheds new light on the sculptural styles
to be found in the pre-Islamic Arabian peninsula.


Blogs have been increasingly used to supplement traditional classroom lectures in higher education. This paper explores the use of blogs, and how student attitudes towards online peer interaction and peer learning, as well as motivation to learn from peers, may differ when using the blog comments feature, and when students are encouraged to read and comment on each other's work. We contrast two ways blogs affect learning engagement: (1) solitary blogs as personal digital portfolios for writers; or (2) blogs used interactively to facilitate peer interaction by exposing blogging content and comments to peers. A quasi-experiment was conducted across two semesters, involving 154 graduate and undergraduate students. The result suggests that interactive blogs, compared with isolated blogs, are associated with positive attitudes towards academic achievement in course subjects and in online peer interaction. Students showed positive motivation to learn from peer work, regardless of whether blogs were interactive or solitary. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.


Background:The aim of this study was to evaluate whether full off-pump arterial revascularization could be performed in patients with three-vessel coronary artery disease without any difficulty. Methods: A total of 40 patients (20 in the off-pump group and 20 in the on-pump group) with three-vessel coronary artery disease were included in this prospective and randomized study, and patients in both groups underwent complete revascularization for the three systems with arterial grafts. Both groups were similar with respect to the preoperative characteristics. In the off-pump group, the left anterior descending artery was revascularized first to provide adequate coronary perfusion during manipulation of the heart for lateral and posterior wall revascularization. Intracoronary shunt was not used in any of these patients. Results:Both groups were similar for pre- and perioperative risk factors. The mean number of distal anastomoses per patient was higher in the on-pump group (3.2±0.4 versus 3±0; p=0.042). Postoperative transfusion requirements (4.5±2.1 units versus 6.4±1.8 units, p=0.018), extubation time (7.5±2.5 hours versus 10.8±1.8 hours, p<0.05), intensive care unit stay (15.7±5.6 hours versus 54.1±18.3 hours, p<0.05), and hospital stay (5.1±1.5 days versus. 6.9±2.1 days, p=0.004) were found significantly lower in the off-pump group. All left internal thoracic arteries were found patent in the control angiographic studies performed after six months, whereas five right internal thoracic arteries (three in off-pump group and two in on-pump group) and six radial artery grafts (three in off-pump group and three in on-pump group) were occluded. Conclusion: Full arterial revascularization can be achieved by off-pump bypass techniques in three-vessel coronary artery disease as efficiently as in patients operated under cardiopulmonary bypass.


In December 2004, a mystery business, JGR Acquisitions Inc., purchased the patent portfolio of bankrupt Commerce One at auction. Commerce One had not previously enforced the acquired patents and many companies were using the patented technologies at the time of the auction. Patent watchdog groups argued that JGR—a potential patent troll formed solely to purchase Commerce One's patents—should not be able to use the patents as a vehicle to extract licensing fees and that the patents should lapse into the public domain. Under current law, however, there is no provision for patents to be invalidated merely because they are used in a manner that discourages innovation. This iBrief argues that in order to keep patent trolls from stifling innovation and to protect legitimate patent holders, the Patent and Trademark Office should require an open post-grant review whenever patents are renewed or sold.


This research comprised an evaluation of a motivational interviewing programme, the Short Motivational Programme (SMP), delivered by the Department of Corrections and adapted for use with incarcerated offenders. The evaluation consisted of two components: outcome and process. Outcome Results indicated that offenders' motivation to change significantly increased from pre to post the SMP (eta squared = .19, p < .05), and a sub-group of offenders demonstrated that motivation to change was maintained at follow-up. This result, given the sample's risk of recidivism demographic, provided evidence for the SMP' s efficacy with high risk offenders. Process On a measure of motivational interviewing skills, psychologists demonstrated full competence only in the use of direction, although global clinician ratings, percent open questions, evocation, collaboration, autonomy and empathy approached competence. Other than, "rolling with resistance", offenders reported strongly experiencing motivational interviewing principles during the SMP. Lastly, offenders who experienced the motivational interviewing principles to the greater extent did not demonstrate any greater increases in motivation to change from pre to post the SMP and at follow-up. These findings are discussed and recommendations are made for further research.


Build complex, PHP-driven Web sites-fast! Discover powerful new PHP techniques, hands on! Learn all-new techniques based on PHP-GTK and PEAR::DB Master XML parsing, user authentication, forms processing, data mining, and much moreTake your PHP programming skills to the next level!In this concise, hands-on tutorial, PHP expert Christopher Cosentino delivers dozens of powerful new techniques for building serious Web applications. Through professional-quality examples drawn from his six years as a PHP developer, Cosentino walks you through building friendlier, more usable sites; improving user authentication; generating dynamic graphics; parsing XML documents; building database-independent Web applications; and much more!Take PHP to the limit... and beyond! Manage sessions more effectively Interact with multiple databases via PEAR::DB Improve your form processing scripts Parse large files and perform data mining Authenticate users by IP address, database query, or HTTP authentication Create custom error handlers Dump database contents into XML files Use PHP-GTK to build client-side cross-platform GUI applications And more...


This Article proposes the adoption of employee say-on-pay in corporate governance. The board would benefit from an advisory vote of employees on executive compensation. This proposal is based on two considerations: firstly, the benefits of better monitoring and reduced agency cost in corporate governance; secondly, the link between executive compensation and income inequity and wealth disparity in the broader economy. If it is adopted, shareholders and employees would monitor executive performance and pay at different levels. Shareholders through the market mechanism can only monitor at the level of public disclosures and share price. Employees can leverage private information. Non-executive managers in particular can better monitor the company and senior executives, based on inside knowledge and a longer term horizon, than diffuse, diversified, and short durational shareholders. Employees collectively possess the corporation's entire information content; the assessment derived there from would be relevant to the board's assessment of executive performance and pay. On the level of political economy, employee approval would legitimate executive pay in the current social, economic, and political environment in which executive compensation and income disparities have touched public consciousness. Executive compensation is no longer purely a matter of private contracting. Prominent economists have linked excessive pay to economic inequity, a pressing issue of public consciousness today. Employees are a major constituent of the corporate system and our political society. They can act as surrogate public monitors and perform a gatekeeping function of good corporate governance. Structured properly and achieved fairly as to the executive, employee say-on-pay would politically legitimate executive compensation and income disparity at both the firm and political levels.


A systematic study of degenerate two-wave mixing in the stationary regime in thin nonlinear local-response media is presented. The model is based on the coherent interaction of four waves, the two incident beams, and the two main diffracted waves. Analytical results are obtained in all cases investigated under the assumption of weak-beam amplification. It is demonstrated that the energy transfer arises only from the forward degenerate four-wave mixing terms. In particular, the theoretical results show two new features: (1) the gain factor of the interaction is substantially reduced because of the phase change associated with the two-wave mixing terms and (2) a phase mismatch can compensate for this phase change, leading to an appreciable gain enhancement. Moreover, the general case is solved numerically. Particular attention is given to the influence of separate two-wave and forward degenerate four-wave mixing terms. Self-diffraction effects and the gain dependence versus the ratio of the pump-beam intensity to the signal-beam intensity are investigated.


1. A significant correlation between leucocyte and muscle zinc contents was observed in control patients and in patients with generalized diseases. 2. As muscle contains a large proportion of the whole-body zinc, it is suggested that leucocyte zinc content may be a useful indicator of tissue zinc status.


Purpose of the article: SMEs play an important role as producers of new goods and services, as carriers of innovation. They are promoters of intense competition, creating a culture of entrepreneurial energy, and also have the ability to establish and improve relations between enterprises. The remarkable feature is constantly creating new ideas, what innovative companies liquidate stagnant firms during economic cycles.
Methodology/methods: In formulating the scientific paper was used scientific methods of research, based on the classification of data from domestic and foreign sources, using conventional scientific methods such as analysis, synthesis and comparison. We also used the statistical method to query and scaling.
Scientific aim: The scientific paper is to determine the status of SMEs in the region of Bratislava. The main focus is on strengths and weaknesses of the business through empirical research. The focus of work will consist of a comparison of results in the diapason from 2002–2010. In the design of the proposed measures will improve the condition. The aim of our study was to detect the possibility of obtaining external funds for business.
Findings: Small and Medium Enterprises provides for the creation of new jobs. In the Slovak Republic, especially in the Bratislava region is business on increase evidenced by what also increase the number of businesses. Bridge financing used sources of business loans are. The most important criterion for obtaining funds from external sources for businesses is the interest rate.
Conclusions: The business community is crucial for competitiveness in a market economy at all levels. Because it has an important role in coping with competitive pressures of market forces. Businesses are carriers of stabilization, development and employment. The primary source of regional competitiveness, the competitiveness of its business units, which is determined by factors in the general environment, specific environmental factors of the region in which businesses operate and place-specific factors, internal and external business environment. Convenient location of the Bratislava region provides favorable conditions for building a position economically the most important region in Slovakia. The other positives are educated workforce, many universities and financial institutions.


Marina Jenkyns conveys the excitement of working therapeutically with dramatic text though a personal and highly readable analysis of plays from a variety of periods and cultures. Influenced by the theories of Winnicott and Klein she lays bare the dynamics of relationships and plots to show how they can be used to help us understand our own relationships to each other and the world around us. This highly innovative text integrates therapeutic practice and literature in an engaging and challenging book which will hold the attention of a wide audience. This book contains new ideas for dramatherapy practice, theatre directors and teachers.


Introduction The use of computers in libraries and information centers has become commonplace. Many Nigerian university libraries, however, are still battling to find their feet in the use of computers in libraries. Objectives of the Study The objective of this study is to investigate automation procedures in two Nigerian university libraries and the problems encountered during automation. Literature Review Historical survey of automation in Nigerian libraries According to Nok (2006), automation is the automatic, as opposed to human, operation of process, equipment, or system, or the techniques and equipment used to achieve this. In libraries, automation refers to functions such as circulation, cataloguing, or acquisitions. Nwalo (2003) posited that library automation involves the full application of computers in library routines hitherto manually performed. He goes further to state that Olanlokun and Salisu (1993) have cited Mathews (1980) as adducing the following criteria for automating library services: 1. It will help to improve the library services. 2. Automation of the library processes can enhance its reputation. 3. It can provide the Liberians with management information. 4. It can help the librarian in reporting on the various operations of the library. 5. Tasks can be completed more accurately and quickly with increased control. 6. Increased demands for services can be counter balanced with improved productivity especially with either static or declining budget resources. 7. It can facilitate co-operation between libraries. 8. It can provide the means to offer new improved services to patrons. 9. It may obviate the need to hire additional staff with increased demand for services. Library automation was come a long way, over an often uncertain and unpredictable path, since the 1930s when a few libraries began to incorporate IBM equipment into the circulation procedures. The evolution of technology is defined by developments in science and technology that create new modes of application. The convergence of information technology and communication technology in libraries has led to technological, organizational, and social change (Shepherd, 2000). Rosenberg (1997) surveyed African libraries and reported that IT exploitation by universities for information organization and access has become prevalent. A number of studies have reported on the application of information technology in university libraries in Nigeria. They include that of Oduwole citing Awogbami (1992), Lawani, Azubike and Ibekwe (1992), Mosuro (1996), Idowu and Mabawonku (1999), Ogunleye (1997) Agboola (2000), and Ajala (2001) Nok (2006). All of these studies have agreed that serious application of information technology to library processes started in Nigerian university libraries in the early 1990s. Individual efforts at library automation such as the one by the University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in the mid 1970s and 1980s, failed largely because of lack of technical knowhow relating to software development and maintenance of hardware (Alabi 1987). Agboola (2000) states that the greatest impetus to library automation in Nigerian university libraries so far has come from a World Bank project. The World Bank gave automation in the university libraries as one of its conditions for support. As a result, the National University Commission (NUC) presented one microcomputer and a four-user local area network version of the TINLIB (The information Navigator) software to each of the 20 participating libraries in 1992. This was after an agreement had been reached between the NUC and the University Librarians that all Federal Universities (Ogunleye 1997) use common software. Recent surveys carried out by Ogunleye (1997) and Idowu and Mabawonku (1999) showed that application of IT is gradually taking firm root in Nigerian university libraries. …


In this paper, we consider the Byzantine reliable broadcast problem on authenticated and partially connected networks. The state-of-the-art method to solve this problem consists in combining two algorithms from the literature. Handling asynchrony and faulty senders is typically done thanks to Gabriel Bracha's authenticated double-echo broadcast protocol, which assumes an asynchronous fully connected network. Danny Dolev's algorithm can then be used to provide reliable communications between processes in the global fault model, where up to f processes among N can be faulty in a communication network that is at least 2f+1-connected. Following recent works that showed how Dolev's protocol can be made more practical thanks to several optimizations, we show that the state-of-the-art methods to solve our problem can be optimized thanks to layer-specific and cross-layer optimizations. Our simulations with the Omnet++ network simulator show that these optimizations can be efficiently combined to decrease the total amount of information transmitted or the protocol's latency (e.g., respectively, −25% and −50% with a 16B payload, N=31 and f=4) compared to the state-of-the-art combination of Bracha's and Dolev's protocols.


A secreted glycoprotein acts as a switch to induce the formation of new blood vessels in disease or injury. Neovascularization, the formation of new blood vessels by angiogenesis, contributes to the pathology of various diseases and is regulated by complex mechanisms. For example, signaling mediated by transforming growth factor–β1 (TGF-β1) in endothelial cells (ECs) can be either angiostatic or pro-angiogenic. Wang et al. found that leucine-rich α-2 glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) mediates a pro-angiogenic switch by interacting with the TGF-β receptor type II (TβRII) complex. Genome-wide transcriptome analysis in mice identified Lrg1 as the most abundantly increased transcript in mouse models of retinal disease or in mice with laser- or hypoxia-induced retinal injury. LRG1 was present in normal retinal vessels in both adult human tissue and wild-type mice but was increased in the disease mouse models and in vitreous samples from patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. In human ECs cultured in Matrigel, a three-dimensional matrix, overexpression of LRG1 or treatment with recombinant LRG1 increased proliferation and tube formation, whereas both were inhibited by LRG1 knockdown or antibody treatment. Exogenous LRG1 also increased vessel outgrowth and branching in explanted wild-type fetal mouse metatarsals and aortic rings. Lrg1–/– mice were viable but showed delayed retinal vascular development, and wild-type mice treated with intravitreal injections of LRG1 antibody showed reduced retinal angiogenesis and pathogenic vascular tuft formation after laser injury. In lysates from rat brain ECs, LRG1 immunoprecipitated with the ectodomains of subunits of the TβRII complex. They tested individually and in combination the interaction between LRG1 and endoglin (ENG), activin receptor-like kinase-1 (ALK1), ALK5, and TβRII. Although LRG1 immunoprecipitated with each of the other subunits, LRG1 only immunoprecipitated with ALK1 in the presence of ENG. Depending on which ALK family members are present in the TβRII complex, TGF-β can either promote angiogenesis by activating the transcription factors Smad1 and -5 (Smad1/5) through ALK1 or inhibit EC proliferation by activating Smad2/3 through ALK5. TGF-β1 induced phosphorylation of both the Smad1/5 and Smad2/3 complexes in cultured wild-type brain ECs but only Smad2/3 in Lrg1–/–-derived ECs. Consistent with this regulation of Smad complexes, TGF-β1 induced proliferation in wild-type ECs but inhibited proliferation in Lrg1–/–-derived ECs. Addition of both LRG1 and TGF-β1 induced proliferation and Smad1/5 phosphorylation in ECs from either mouse. Knockdown of ALK1, ENG, or TβRII prevented LRG1-induced tube formation and phosphorylation of Smad1/5 in cultured human ECs, whereas knockdown of ALK5 did not inhibit LRG1-induced tube formation but did inhibit the phosphorylation of Smad2/3. In vivo, conditional knockdown of ENG in mouse lung ECs reduced vessel growth and branching and prevented Smad1/5 phosphorylation. Together, the findings suggest that LRG1, through its interaction with ENG, activates an angiogenic switch in multiple tissues to direct TGF-β1 signaling through the TβRII-ALK1-Smad1/5 pathway. X. Wang, S. Abraham, J. A. G. McKenzie, N. Jeffs, M. Swire, V. B. Tripathi, U. F. O. Luhmann, C. A. K. Lange, Z. Zhai, H. M. Arthur, J. W. B. Bainbridge, S. E. Moss, J. Greenwood, LRG1 promotes angiogenesis by modulating endothelial TGF-β signalling. Nature 499, 306–311 (2013). [Online Journal]


Intensive research on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is being conducted in efforts to understand HIV pathogenesis. In the past decade, the development of innovative bioinformatics technology has focused research on the human gut microbiome and its potential role in the pathogenesis of HIV. Recent research has shown that gut microbial imbalance, or dysbiosis, may lead to microbial translocation and chronic inflammation in HIV-infected individuals, further enhancing HIV progression, potentially towards the development of AIDS. Gut microbiota in untreated men who have sex with men (MSM) with HIV can have an over-representation of pro-inflammatory Proteobacteria, associated with mucosal and systemic immune activation. My research aims to investigate the gut microbiome of 16 untreated HIV-infected men who have sex with men (MSM) at time-points that are ~6 months pre-seroconversion and ~6 months post-seroconversion to assess bacterial changes that may make individuals more susceptible to the development of AIDS, using Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study (MACS) fecal samples from 1984-1985. Using high throughput sequencing technology, bacterial 16s rRNA genes were amplified, sequenced, and then clustered into operational taxonomic units using QIIME software. Results showed that fecal samples from both non-HIV infected controls and HIV-infected MSM in 1984-85 had dominant taxa from the phyla Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes and Proteobacteria. Both visits non-infected controls showed a relative abundance of Firmicutes (35.3%), Bacteroidetes (56%) and Proteobacteria (5.53%); similarly, both visits seroconverters showed a relative abundance of Firmicutes (39.93%) Bacteroidetes (50.58%), and Proteobacteria (5.41)%). Genera level abundance of seroconverters (SC) both visits vs non-HIV infected controls both visits showed an increase in Prevotella (51.2% SC; 38% controls) and a decrease in Bacteroides (14.1% SC; 27.11% controls). These results suggest that an increase in Prevotella within the six month post-seroconversion to HIV, with microbial translocation of Prevotella or its metabolites, could be a factor in subsequent development of AIDS. Alpha diversity and beta diversity are currently being analyzed to provide the statistical significance of these findings. This pilot study sets a strong foundation for building further research in the MACS assessing the effects of the microbiome in HIV infection. This study is important for public health because it will help further develop an understanding of and how microbial composition and microbial products influence the pathogenesis of progressive HIV infection; potentially formulating improved ancillary treatments to improve the long-term health of HIV infected persons on ART.


Large point sources of carbon dioxide are responsible for a significant proportion of the world's greenhouse gas emissions – with fossil fuel power stations and other large-scale industrial activities responsible for around half of the total. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is expected to make a major contribution to reducing these emissions.
Few CCS projects currently exist in the world – and a lack of experience in regulatory agencies and commercial entities of how regulatory systems would apply to such projects increases risk – potentially leading to delays and increased costs for emerging CCS projects.
This toolkit has been produced by Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage (SCCS) researchers on behalf of the Scottish Government and sponsored by the Global CCS Institute. It guides users through a regulatory test exercise, which provides a low-cost, low-risk approach to testing regional and national legislation and regulatory systems for CCS projects, and gaining the benefits in follow-up activities.
The toolkit recommends use of a real or simulated CCS project as part of this exercise to assist government agencies and other stakeholders to work together to test and improve understanding of regulatory systems. It explains how a simulated or real CCS project can be taken through the regulatory process from inception to decommissioning – a test of the regulatory process at much lower cost, time and risk than would be incurred under a real project application.


This paper describes a content centric network architecture which uses software defined networking principles to implement efficient metadata driven services by extracting content metadata at the network layer. The ability to access content metadata transparently enables a number of new services in the network. Specific examples discussed here include: a metadata driven traffic engineering scheme which uses prior knowledge of content length to optimize content delivery, a metadata driven content firewall which is more resilient than traditional firewalls and differentiated treatment of content based on the type of content being accessed. A detailed outline of an implementation of the proposed architecture is presented along with some basic evaluation.


Hydroxyls are omnipresent on oxide surfaces under ambient conditions. While they unambiguously play an important role in many catalytic processes, it is not well-understood how these species influence surface chemistry at atomic scale. We investigated the adsorption of nitric oxide (NO) on a hydroxylated rutile TiO2(110) surface with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), X-ray/ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (XPS/UPS), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. At room temperature adsorption of NO is only possible in the vicinity of a surface hydroxyl, and leads to a change of the local electronic structure. DFT calculations confirm that the surface hydroxyl-induced excess charge is transferred to the NO adsorbate, which results in an electrostatic stabilization of the adsorbate and, consequently, a significantly stronger bonding.


COMPARATIVE PROFILING OF CIRCULATORY LEVELS OF ADIPOKINES AND CYTOKINES IN PATIENTS WITH VARIOUS TYPES OF NON ALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE. Mohammed H. Jarrar, PhD. George Mason University, 2007 Dissertation Director: Dr. Ancha Baranova Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic manifestation of metabolic syndrome and the most common cause of liver disease. The NAFLD spectrum ranges from simple benign steatosis to NASH to fibrosis and cirrhosis. Omental adipose tissue is a biologically active organ that plays a role in pathogenesis of NAFLD. Expansion of adipose tissue mass accompanied by alteration in adipocytokines could be a prominent mechanism in the pathogenesis and progression of NAFLD. Adipocytokines play a role in insulin resistance, oxidative stress and hepatocyte apoptosis and may be there is imbalance in their serum levels in NAFLD spectrum and the degree of insulin resistance. Accordingly, we explored the differences in the level of transcription of genes in adipose tissue and liver as well as adipocytokines serum levels in different types of NAFLD. This would help to identify non-invasive diagnostic marker profiles for early distinction between NASH and steatosis. In this study of gene expression analyses, we show that there is a prominent adipose-specific deregulation of the inflammation and immune system related genes in NASH. In addition, there are increases in the hepatic detoxification enzymes in obese patients. A number of liver and adipose-specific functional networks centered by TNFalpha, JUN/JUNB and IFNgamma were highlighted in relation to the NASH pathogenesis. Our results also show that serum levels of TNF-α and IL-8 were significantly higher in NAFLD patients compared to both obese and non-obese controls. Univariate analyses involving all patients revealed a significant correlation between serum concentrations of TNF-α and IL-8, as well as between IL-6 and IL-8. Insulin resistance measured by homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) scores negatively correlated with serum Adiponectin levels in NAFLD patients. Serum Visfatin was significantly higher in steatosis and obese controls than the non-obese controls. Visfatin and IL-6 serum levels in NASH patients were lower in comparison to patients with steatosis implicating their possible co-regulated protective role from progression of steatosis to NASH. Multivariate analyses revealed that TNF-α serum level levels influenced mainly by serum glucose, HOMA, BMI and IL-8 in NAFLD, while IL-6 levels influenced mainly by HOMA scores and IL-8. A multivariate analysis indicated that TNF-α was the only independent predictor of histologic fibrosis in patients with NASH. Apoptosis per se, measured by levels of Ck-18 cleaved at Asp396-neoepitope and secreated to the circulation is significantly increased in the serum of NASH patients in comparison to patients with steatosis and BMI matched morbidly obese patients. In NAFLD and obese controls, both apoptosis and total cell death measured by serum levels of intact CK18, closely correlated with TNF-α levels and IL-8, but in NAFLD apoptosis and total cell death only correlated with TNF-α. Of special importance, NASH could be reliably predicted by a combination of apoptosis, necrosis, serum Adiponectin and serum Resistin, with sensitivity of 95.45%, specificity of 70.21%, and AUC of 0.908. HCV infection is clearly characterized by alterations in cytokine serum levels. There are significant differences in serum levels of major pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-α) between patients groups with HCV infection regardless of genotype or association with steatosis when compared to group of patients with steatosis only. In addition, IL-8 and TNF-α were significantly increased in HCV3 infections compared to HCV1. Some of these cytokines play more prominent roles in development of steatosis accompanied by HCV infection. Our data shows that there is strong connection between the HCV genotype 3, steatosis and increases in IL-8 serum levels. Multiple correlation analyses showed that steatosis in HCV is mostly dependent on IL-6 and IL-8; in HCV1 on IL-6, TNF-α and IL-1B while in HCV3 is mostly dependent on IL-8. Actually HCV3 associated steatosis can be predicted by serum levels of IL-8 with 87.5% specificity, 100% sensitivity and AUC of 0.931.


This second volume completes a project, begun by Cambridge University Press, to produce an up-to-date detailed Greek flora. A team of 25 botanists from several European countries catalogue the flora and endemic species found in the Greek mountain region. Each entry gives name and bibliography reference, synonomy, a description of the species, notes on nomenclature and typification, ecology and flowering time, distribution, chromosome number and special features.


Background: Despite the high prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) among persons living with HIV (PWH), the prevalence of HCV screening, treatment, and sustained virologic response (SVR) is unknown. This study aims to characterize the continuum of HCV screening and treatment among PWH in HIV care. Setting: Adult patients enrolled at 12 sites of the HIV Research Network located in 3 regions of the United States were included. Methods: We examined the prevalence of HCV screening, HCV coinfection, direct-acting antiretroviral (DAA) treatment, and SVR-12 between 2014 and 2015. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify characteristics associated with outcomes, adjusted for site. Results: Among 29,071 PWH (age 18–87, 74.8% male, 44.4% black), 77.9% were screened for HCV antibodies; 94.6% of those screened had a confirmatory HCV RNA viral load test. Among those tested, 61.1% were determined to have chronic HCV. We estimate that only 23.4% of those eligible for DAA were prescribed DAA, and only 17.8% of those eligible evidenced initiating DAA treatment. Those who initiated treatment achieved SVR-12 at a rate of 95.2%. Blacks and people who inject drugs (PWID) were more likely to be screened for HCV than whites or those with heterosexual risk. Persons older than 40 years, whites, Hispanics, and PWID [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 8.70 (7.74 to 9.78)] were more likely to be coinfected than their counterparts. When examining treatment with DAA, persons older than 50 years, on antiretroviral therapy [AOR 2.27 (1.11 to 4.64)], with HIV-1 RNA <400 [AOR 2.67 (1.71 to 4.18)], and those with higher Fib-4 scores were more likely to be treated with DAA. Conclusions: Although rates of screening for HCV among PWH are high, screening remains far from comprehensive. Rates of SVR were high, consistent with previously published literature. Additional programs to improve screening and make treatment more widely available will help reduce the impact of HCV morbidity among PWH.


The author presents a morphological research of a risk situation that takes place in activity of agricultural enterprises. This research was conducting with using a system approach, analyses and synthesis. In addition, the author dis-cusses systematization of elements of a risk situation – sources of risk, groups and types of risk, consequences of risk in agriculture.


Paleomagnetic data have been used to infer clockwise rotations and significant southward motion of the Indochina block during Cenozoic extrusion from the India-Asia collision zone. Because the Cenozoic of the Indochina block has been sparsely sampled to date and is key to determining the timing of this tectonic motion, we performed an extensive paleomagnetic study on Paleocene to Oligocene redbeds and middle Miocene sandy silts from the Jinggu Basin (23.5°N, 100.7°E), in northern Indochina. Paleomagnetic results from the redbeds pass fold tests, but they show exclusively normal polarity. There is controversy, however, on the age assignment to the lower part of the succession. If the age of the redbeds is indeed Paleogene, this indicates a prefolding remagnetization associated with Oligocene deformation of the Indochina block. If the age of the redbeds would be Late Cretaceous, their magnetization may be primary, and deposition could have taken place during the Cretaceous normal superchron. However, the abundance of secondary hematite in the redbeds in combination with the biostratigraphy, which indicates a Paleogene age for at least the upper two formations of the redbeds in the Jinggu Basin, implies a pervasive remagnetization. The middle Miocene sediments pass both the fold test and the reversals test and contain magnetite as well as hematite as carriers, suggesting a primary magnetization. Our large data set from the redbeds (>2000 paleomagnetic directions) demonstrates an ∼30°−35° clockwise rotation of the Jinggu Basin with respect to Eurasia, for both scenarios, i.e., when compared to a ca. 100 Ma pole (if the redbeds carry a primary natural remanent magnetization) or to a ca. 30 Ma pole (if the sequence is remagnetized). The middle Miocene results, however, indicate that the Jinggu Basin experienced no significant (2° ± 5.6°) rotation with respect to Eurasia. Since no major deformation has occurred within northern Indochina during Late Cretaceous to Eocene times, our results reflect a major clockwise rotation of the Indochina block during its Oligocene to early Miocene extrusion from the India-Asia collision zone.


Different photoinitiating systems were carried out for the design of well-defined macromolecular structures using near-infrared (NIR) light via Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) and Copper-Catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Click Reactions (CuAAC). Lower-oxidation state copper salts are required for both processes, however; this brings some limitations into the reactions. In order to mitigate these limitations, the use of light energy has been utilized by starting with higher-oxidation state copper salts and reducing them via photoinduced electron transfer reactions (PET).
In addition, there have been huge affords to conduct these reactions in metal-free conditions. For the first time, the use of NIR irradiation for the controlled radical polymerization system via ATRP process in the absence of inorganic catalyst was demonstrated in this thesis. In order to do that, the emitting ultraviolet (UV) light from up-conversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) after NIR laser irradiation was used to excite UV photoinitiator which is 2-isopropyl thioxanthone (ITX). The initiation mechanism involves PET from the electron donor amine to the excited state of ITX in order to form radical anion of ITX. The generated radical anion of ITX reduces the alkyl initiator to generate initiating radicals which allow the addition of the monomers and the polymerization to be proceeded.
Additionally, the use of NIR sensitizers (Sens) for both reactions (ATRP and CuAAC), for the first time, were successfully investigated in this thesis. The initiation mechanism involves a photoinduced electron transfer reaction between the exited state of a heptamethine cyanine absorber and CuII/Ligand complex. The oxidation potential of the Sens resulted in a negative free enthalpy in combination with the CuII/Ligand complex considering successful electron transfer reactions after excitation by near-infrared light emitting diodes (NIR LEDs). After the photochemical reaction, the back electron transfer was presented which allows the system to be a catalytic cycle. The characterization of the polymers obtained were analyzed by spectroscopic and chromatographic methods. Controlled molecular weight characteristics were observed and block copolymer synthesis was achieved in both ATRP and CuACC reactions via NIR exposure.
As an alternative, similar photocatalytic system using carbon nanodots (CDs) which were prepared from seaweeds was shown to be able to catalyze free radical and controlled radical polymerization processes using blue light emitting diodes. The use of these materials was included in this work because they can be an alternative as biocompatible and green photocatalyst. They showed no toxicity and good efficiency for the synthesis of tailor-made materials.


We examine the effect on atmospheric CO2 of the occurrence of increased shallow water carbonate deposition and regrowth of the terrestrial biosphere following the last glacial. We find that contrary to recent speculations that changes in terrestrial carbon storage were primarily responsible for the observed similar to20 ppmv late Holocene CO2 rise, a more likely explanation is coral reef buildup and other forms of shallow water carbonate deposition during this time. The importance of a responsive terrestrial carbon reservoir may instead be as a negative feedback restricting the rate of CO2 rise possible in the early stages of the deglacial transition. This separation in time of the primary impacts of regrowth of the terrestrial biosphere and increased shallow water carbonate deposition explains the occurrence of an early Holocene carbonate preservation event observed in deep-sea sediments. We demonstrate that their combined influence is also consistent with available proxy estimates of deep ocean carbonate ion concentration changes over the last 21 kyr. Accounting for the processes that act on the carbonate chemistry of the ocean as a whole then allows us to place strong constraints on the nature of the remaining processes that must be operating at the deglacial transition. By subtracting the net CO2 effect of coral reef buildup and terrestrial biosphere regrowth from recent high-resolution ice core data, we highlight two periods, from 17.0 to 13.8 kyr and 12.3 to 11.2 kyr BP characterized by sustained rapid rates of CO2 increase (> 12 ppmv kyr(-1)). Because these periods are coincident with Southern Hemisphere "deglaciation,'' we argue that changes in the biogeochemical properties of the Southern Ocean surface are the most likely cause.


Privacy preserved data mining methods are used to protect the sensitive attributes in knowledge discovery process. Privacy preservation is used to protect private data values. Anonymity is considered in the privacy preservation process. Clustering method is used to group up the records based on the relevancy. Distance or similarity measures are used to estimate the transaction relationship. Census data and medical data are referred as micro data. User permissions are managed with dynamic data and policy management mechanism with privacy. Privacy Protection Mechanism (PPM) uses suppression and generalization of relational data to anonymize and satisfy privacy needs. Accuracy-constrained privacy-preserving access control framework is used to manage access control in relational database. The access control policies define selection predicates available to roles while the privacy requirement is to satisfy the k-anonymity or l- diversity. Imprecision bound constraint is assigned for each selection predicate. Role-based Access Control (RBAC) allows defining permissions on objects based on roles in an organization. Top Down Selection Mondrian (TDSM) algorithm is used for query workload-based anonymization. Query cuts are selected with minimum bounds in Top-Down Heuristic 1 algorithm (TDH1). The query bounds are updated as the partitions are added to the output in Top-Down Heuristic 2 algorithm (TDH2). The cost of reduced precision in the query results is used in Top-Down Heuristic 3 algorithm (TDH3). Repartitioning algorithm is used to reduce the total imprecision for the queries. The policy based access control mechanism is enhanced to support dynamic data management technique. Data insert, delete and update operations are connected with the partition management mechanism. Cell level access control is provided with differential privacy method. Dynamic role management model is integrated with the access control policy mechanism for query predicates.


Nigerian economy is technically in Recession. This is because it has been smacked hard by the pressure of economic recessionary, caused by inflationary pressure, sky-scraping exchange rate, unemployment rate, interest rate and tax rate. This makes it imperative for the paper to examine inflationary and recessionary pressure in Nigeria. The study used multiple regression analysis on time series data which spanned the period of 1986-2016 with the aid of Coharane Orcutt iterative method to correct autocorrelation or serial correlation on selected macroeconomic variables based on the model employed. The results revealed negative contributions of these macroeconomic variables such as inflation rate, exchange rate, unemployment rate, interest rate and tax rate on Gross Domestic Product as proxy to measure recessionary pressure in Nigeria. This was attributed to the fact that a fall in economic growth proxy by GDP for two consecutive quarters in an economy is an evidence of economic recession. The study further examined the performance of the forecasting ability of the model, and how well the simulated series track the actual data. In doing this, historical simulation of the model was carried out. Thus, it was observed that, ARIMA model performed well in different periods and ARIMA was also considered good as a benchmark model. The study recommended that Nigeria needs optimistic economic revolution through relative price stability, devaluation of naira, diminution of unemployment rate (provision for self employment), moderate rise in interest rate and finally reduced tax rates on individuals, small businesses, and corporations by lowering the tax rate by at least 10% points.


This paper is aimed at the development of simulation methodologies suitable both as industrial tools for the prediction of the acoustic performance of flow duct systems, as well as for analyzing the governing mechanisms of duct aeroacoustics.. A frequency-domain linearized Navier-Stokes equations methodology has been developed to simulate sound propagation and acoustic scattering in flow duct systems. The performance of the method has been validated to experimental data and analytical solutions for several cases of in-duct area expansions and orifice plates at different flow speeds. Good agreement has generally been found, suggesting that the proposed methodology is suitable for analyzing internal aeroacoustics.


Since the early 1970s, the small town of Mayapur in West Bengal has been home to a multinational Gaudiya Vaishnava community of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) devotees, popularly known as the Hare Krishnas. Although the land of Mayapur is understood to be sacred and therefore conducive to spiritual life, devotees often struggle with the practices and prohibitions that are deemed indispensable for their salvation. They are also, however, both prone to and adept at articulating their inability to live up to the ideals of Krishna consciousness, so much so that narrating failure itself becomes a privileged mode of moral self-cultivation. Devotees inhabit the moral system not simply by conforming to a set of Vaishnava ideals but by articulating their failure to do so consistently within Vaishnava moral narratives that account for the aperture between precept and practice. In other words, they inhabit the moral system by failing well. This article contributes to recent debates in the ethical turn that center on the twin problems of identifying and locating ethics. I suggest that beyond a focus on virtue, the anthropology of ethics must also account for how people relate to vices, and how moral systems accommodate the problem of moral failure.


Background The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis postulates that exposures during early life, such as maternal dietary intake during pregnancy, may have a lifelong impact on the individual's susceptibility to diseases. The individual's own lifestyle habits are obviously an additional factor, but we have only limited knowledge regarding how it may interact with prenatal exposures in determining later disease. To gain further insight into these potentially complex relationships, we examined the longitudinal association between maternal diet quality during pregnancy and diet quality in early adolescence in a contemporary cohort. Methods and findings From 1996 to 2003, the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) was established. Women from across the country were enrolled, and dietary intake in midpregnancy was assessed concurrently with a 360-item food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) (https://www.dnbc.dk/-/media/arkiv/projekt-sites/dnbc/kodeboeger/dnbc-food-frequency-questionnaire/dnbc-food-frequency-questionnaire-pdf.pdf?la=en). During 2013–2018, dietary intake was assessed at age 14 years with a 150-item FFQ (https://www.dnbc.dk/-/media/arkiv/projekt-sites/dnbc/kodeboeger/ffq-14/dnbc-ffq-14-english-translation.pdf?la=en) in the DNBC children. Among the 19,582 mother–offspring pairs included in the analyses, the mean age (±standard deviation [SD]) was 30.7 (±4.1) years and 14.0 (±0.0) years for mothers and offspring, respectively. The majority of both mothers (67%) and offspring (76%) were classified as normal weight. For both questionnaires, a Healthy Eating Index (HEI) was developed as an indicator for diet quality based on current Danish Food-Based Dietary Guidelines (FBDG) including eight components: fruits and vegetables, fish, dietary fibres, red meat, saturated fatty acids (SFAs), sodium, sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs), and added sugar. The HEI score was divided into quartiles; individuals in the highest quartile represented those with the most optimal diet. The maternal HEI score was correlated positively with offspring HEI score (Pearson r = 0.22, p < 0.001). A log-linear binomial model was used to estimate the relative risk of the offspring being in the highest quartile of HEI at age 14 years if the mother was ranked in quartile 4 during pregnancy. Results showed that offspring born to mothers who were in the highest HEI quartile during pregnancy were more likely themselves to be located in the highest HEI quartile at age 14 years (risk ratio [RR]: 2.1, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.0, 2.3, p < 0.001). Adjusting for maternal prepregnancy body mass index (BMI), parity, education, alcohol intake, physical activity, smoking, and breastfeeding, as well as offspring total energy intake and sex, did not influence the effect estimates. The limitations of our study include that some attrition bias towards more healthy participants was observed when comparing participants with nonparticipants. Bias in the FFQ method may also have resulted in underrepresentation of adolescents with poorer diet quality. Conclusions In this study using data from a large national birth cohort, we observed that maternal diet quality during pregnancy was associated with diet quality of the offspring at age 14 years. These findings indicate the importance of separating early dietary exposures from later dietary exposures when studying dietary aetiologies of diseases postulated to have developmental origins such as, for instance, obesity or asthma in observational settings.


How much emphasis is afforded to the role of soft power has significant implications for the study of hegemony and predictions regarding the future of US hegemony and the rise of China as a hegemon. The fact that much mainstream work (particularly neorealism) continues to neglect the role of soft power in international relations is seen as a disturbing shortcoming. This study wishes to address this perceived shortcoming by exploring the role of 'soft power' as an integral non-material aspect of hegemony by focusing on the perspectives of selected authors (Cox, Nye, Waltz, Keohane), and applying them to the cases of the United States of America and China. It is contended that there is a need for a shift of emphasis in International Relations (IR)away from the hard power centric analysis towards a 'soft power' analysis that focuses on ideas. This study further argues that recognising the importance of the role of 'soft power' will result in a more effective analysis and understanding of hegemony in the international system. This is not to disregard 'hard power' as an aspect of hegemony, but rather to emphasise 'soft power' as it is often neglected or underscored by scholars in their analysis of hegemony and power structures within international relations. The United States of America is a prime example of how 'soft power' can help a state to prevent decline through consensus and alliance formation. The Chinese on the other hand have become increasingly aware of the importance of soft power– whilst the US have recently neglected it as a sustaining capability for hegemony. Thus China is growing and nurturing its 'soft power' capabilities in order to create an image of a benevolent super power, whilst the US is increasingly being perceived as malevolentwhich is not conducive to hegemony in the international system. It is argued that if the Chinese can attain ideological dominance within the global structure, they could become the new hegemon.


Quoting Rom. 10:17, "Faith commeth by hearing," English reformers stressed the aural in worship and argued that noise in church disturbs not only liturgy and sermon but also the salvation of souls. Visitation articles andecclesiastical canons regulated the sounds of lay behavior; religious polemic describes liturgical practices as "noisy" to brand them as misguided at best and devilish at worst. William Bradshaw, Peter Smart, John Field, and Thomas Wilcox use noise to condemn "popish" behavior, and Richard Hooker and George Herbert discuss how lay behavior affects hearing the word. The concept of noise intensifies several liturgical debates.Writers' use of noise to condemn a liturgical practice reveals theological differences on what creates order in worship and shapes Christian souls. These texts ostensibly deal with practical problems of noise in church, yet each text's definition of noise implies a stance on impassioned debates over the kinds of worship that best helped the laity to hear God.


The purpose of this research was to determine the extent that computer-related factors affect the success of nontraditional college students. Since nontraditional students typically have fewer skills than traditionally-aged students, they may be less efficacious regarding their ability to use technology. Unfortunately, such reduced confidence may adversely affect the entire college experience for students, and ultimately, successful employment. The simple process of obtaining information on campus websites may be daunting enough; however, when students enter the classroom, they often find that course requirements include considerable amounts of computer use. Therefore, in addition to learning specific course content, nontraditional students must also learn how to operate computers and conduct Internet research. Such expectations may reduce the potential for college success. To conduct the research, surveys were administered to students attending two Midwestern community colleges. Using the resultant data, various analyses were conducted to examine interactions between computer-related variables and course grades and completion rates. Results indicated that high school access was the most significant factor in determining computer efficacy in college students. The second most successful method of obtaining confidence was found among students who used computers for work. Students employed with computers also enrolled in more online courses than students who were unemployed or who worked in non-technical positions. Additional factors that correlated to efficacy were high-bandwidth Internet access and the availability of computer-related devices. THE IMPACT OF COMPUTER EFFICACY iii Although more nontraditional than traditional students withdrew from college classes in general, nontraditional students were not more likely to withdraw from computer literacy or online courses. Therefore, adult students seemed to compensate for their reduced proficiency by persisting in the classes necessary to improve skills. Computer efficacy appeared to be more critical than computer skills in online course enrollment. Students with greater confidence in their abilities enrolled in more online courses, even if their actual skills were lower than other students. Additional relationships between computer skills and efficacy and college success factors such as persistance and improved grades are also discussed. THE IMPACT OF COMPUTER EFFICACY iv


Sexual orientation, identity and desire is the final product of complex interactions between factors such as genetic influences, epigenetic, developmental pathways, both prenatal such as sex hormones, including the maternal factors acting on the foetus, and postnatal factors including shared environmental influences such as family education, social and cultural influences, and nonshared environmental influence such as unique personal experiences. Male homosexuality poses an evolutionary dilemma as it entails reduced fitness but is nevertheless, in part, influenced by genetic factors. Examining the causes of homosexuality the author investigates the Darwinian dilemma as to why genetic factors that influence homosexual nonreproductive behaviour can be maintained in the population without disappearing as expected. Sexually antagonistic selection can explain male homosexuality. A sexually antagonistic model with genetic factors partially linked to X chromosome by increasing fecundity in females and influencing homosexuality in males could be selectively balanced in the population and explain all the peculiarity of male homosexuality.

Key Concepts:

Homosexuality is a volatile concept that varies with culture, history and traditions. Besides a difficulty in its definition even assessing its distribution across populations poses problems of reliability still unresolved. Basically, we still cannot claim that we know the actual distribution of human homosexuality.

The homosexual phenotype is a complex set of emotion, behaviour and feelings influenced by a multiplicity of factors, environmental, developmental and genetic. The search of a single cause to explain the whole complexity of human homosexual phenotype seems arrived to an end.

In homosexuals, genetic influence interacts with a multitude of environmental, familiar, early experiences or prenatal effects such as hormonal influences, stress or immune reactions by the mother, and other biological factors such as genomic, zygotic drive and epigenetics.

Kin selection and avuncularity is a possibility that could compensate for the reduced fecundity of homosexuals, but most researches did not find any evidence of specific homosexual behaviour in modern society, which could promote close kin fecundity.

The partial influence of genetic factors on homosexuality poses an interesting Darwinian conundrum which might be resolved by a sexually antagonistic selection mechanism.

A sexually antagonistic selection mechanism suggests that the reduced fecundity of male homosexuals is balanced by the effect of the same genetic factors that promote fecundity in the maternal line females, thus balancing the effects on fitness and maintaining male homosexuality in the population.

Keywords:

male homosexuality;
bisexuality;
sexual orientation;
genetic influence;
sexually antagonistic selection;
balancing selection;
fecundity;
pedigrees;
androphilia


We present the results of an extensive validation program of the most recent version of ozone vertical profiles retrieved with the IMK/IAA (Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research/Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia) MIPAS (Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding) research level 2 processor from version 5 spectral level 1 data. The time period covered corresponds to the reduced spectral resolution period of the MIPAS instrument, i.e., January 2005-April 2012. The comparison with satellite instruments includes all post-2005 satellite limb and occultation sensors that have measured the vertical profiles of tropospheric and stratospheric ozone: ACE-FTS, GOMOS, HALOE, HIRDLS, MLS, OSIRIS, POAM, SAGE II, SCIAMACHY, SMILES, and SMR. In addition, balloon-borne MkIV solar occultation measurements and ground-based Umkehr measurements have been included, as well as two nadir sensors: IASI and SBUV. For each reference data set, bias determination and precision assessment are performed. Better agreement with reference instruments than for the previous data version, V5R_O3_220 (Laeng et al., 2014), is found: the known high bias around the ozone vmr (volume mixing ratio) peak is significantly reduced and the vertical resolution at 35 km has been improved. The agreement with limb and solar occultation reference instruments that have a known small bias vs. ozonesondes is within 7% in the lower and middle stratosphere and 5% in the upper troposphere. Around the ozone vmr peak, the agreement with most of the satellite reference instruments is within 5 %; this bias is as low as 3% for ACE-FTS, MLS, OSIRIS, POAM and SBUV.


The increasing prevalence of persistent biofilm infections, such as wound infections, chronic lung infections or medical device- related infections, which usually tolerate conventional antibiotic treatment, calls for the development of new therapeutic strategies. To date, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are considered as promising agents in the fight against multidrug-resistant bacterial biofilm infections, since many of them have been shown to prevent biofilm formation or even kill preexisting, mature biofilms of several Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in addition to their bactericidal actions to planktonic cells. In this mini-review, we summarize in vitro and in vivo antibiofilm properties of natural and synthetic cationic AMPs against clinically relevant bacterial pathogens. Furthermore, the benefits and challenges in the use of AMPs for the medical treatment of bacterial biofilm infections are discussed.


Taxpayer choice pervades the federal income tax system. This choice can be made either implicitly, whereby the taxpayer arranges his economic and/or legal affairs so as to qualify for his desired tax treatment, or explicitly, whereby the taxpayer merely tells the Internal Revenue Service how he wishes to be treated for tax purposes, without having to take any specific non-tax actions or structure his financial or legal dealings in any particular way. Scholars often focus on implicit taxpayer choice and seek to hinder that type of tax planning. However, explicit taxpayer choice garners little scholarly attention. This hole in the literature is surprising given that explicit taxpayer choices, in the form of tax elections, generally reflect pure tax-planning opportunities that are affirmatively granted to taxpayers by Congress and the Treasury Department and given that tax elections continue to be added to the Internal Revenue Code. To help fill this gap, this Article provides a framework for understanding how explicit tax elections are and should be used in the federal income tax system. Specifically, by drawing on a wide variety of tax elections, this Article discusses problems that may be caused by the use of explicit tax elections, identifies and assesses four major functions served by explicit tax elections, and derives a few generally applicable recommendations about how to design explicit tax elections so as to maximize their efficacy and minimize criticisms of their use. Despite the many compelling criticisms of the availability of explicitly provided taxpayer choices, this Article argues that carefully conceived explicit elections can be valuable tools in the design and administration of the tax system. Moreover, by isolating and analyzing situations where Congress and the Treasury affirmatively turn over to the taxpayers the right to determine their own tax consequences, this study of explicit elections can provide insight into the broader balance of power between taxpayers and the government. And, at the very least, this Article brings scholarly attention to the under-studied role of explicit elections in the tax system.


Arsenic is a well-known carcinogen that contributes to the progression of multiple cancers and has recently been reported to be one of the most effective new anticancer agents in the treatment of various cancer types, together with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) as well as other solid tumors. However, the effect of arsenic and its compoundson different metabolic processes are still unknown. In cancer therapy, the advancement of arsenic trioxide in the treatment of different cancers has a unique history. The glorious past of arsenic and its different forms with a significant focus on arsenic trioxide as a therapeutic approach along with the mode of action, pathogenicity, pharmacokinetics, health hazards, current clinical studies of arsenic trioxide is illustrated in this study.Besides, how arsenic strengthens its deleterious effects and how it can effectively contribute to new therapeutic developments must also be understood.Therefore an urgent need for a deeper understanding of arsenic's contradictory effect, which could have the potential to be an effective medication for different kinds of cancers. In this review, we emphasized its selective channels that would have been beneficial in focusing attention over its real role in terms of toxicity as well as potential medications for the treatment of various forms of cancer.


The Ruth H. Hooker Research Library and Technical Information Center of the Naval Research Laboratory has installed an optical disk system consisting of a Sony autochanger, Sun minicomputer, Sun workstations, TDC scanners, printers, personal computers, and various other peripherals. The system stores large portions of the library's collection on twelve-inch optical disks and can be expanded to allow retrieval over the campus network by the scientists of the Naval Research Laboratory. The first segment of the collection to be processed is a technical report collection consisting of 140,000 reports averaging fifty-five pages each. A third of this collection has currently been scanned to disk and is available for retrieval and on-demand printing by the library patron. This paper describes the development of an optical disk storage capability at the Ruth H. Hooker Research library and Technical Information Center of the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). Optical storage was selected for the preservation and maximum protection of the library's immensely valuable collection of technical reports. This collection represents results of research in the areas of physics and engineering since the beginning of the Second World War, and much of this information is unavailable from any other source. Optical disk technology also provides a viable, sensible solution to many of the serious recurrent problems that plague librarians. The most striking advantage of optical storage is that it is a permanent solution to the space problem; no matter how you treat them, index them, or catalog them, paper products, film products, and so on take up space, and space costs money. Omitting the costs associated with filing, retrieving, and refiling reports, the savings to the NRL in overhead will be more than $100,000 a year when the entire unclassified report collection has been put on disk. Space requirements will drop from 3,600 square feet to only 144 square feet. Optical storage also saves money by eliminating all future filing. retrieving, and refiling associated with physical storage. A paper copy of an item can be printed at the touch of a key and never has to be refiled, since the archived copy remains on the disk. This technology presents a dream scenario in which a librarian can sit in a pleasant environment, identify a paper, report, or picture, and retrieve the item in seconds without leaving the area or the patron. While the costs of equipment and conversion mandate careful consideration and planning for the implementation of optical storage and retrieval, these costs are not so great that smaller libraries are prohibited from taking advantage of this technology. Small turn-key units can be purchased at reasonable costs, and if libraries collaborate in the scanning, costs can be absorbed in the budgets of even the smaller establishments. Optical disk technology exists today and is being applied both in the government and commercial sectors. For example, the Internal Revenue Service, which must deal with the phenomenal problem of storing income tax returns both from the private and industrial sectors, has several prototype optical disk storage and retrieval systems currently operational and several others in the planning stage.(1) The giant insurance company United Services Automobile Association in San Antonio, Texas, has produced a practically paperless operation using optical disk technology; smaller insurance agencies are opting for this technology as well.(2) The U.S. Navy's "paperless ship project" launched by Admiral Metcalf in 1987 is an undertaking that includes converting vast numbers of documents to optical storage.(3) The list of those who are applying this technology is a long one and users and potential users may be found wherever there are large quantities of information to be stored. Libraries are obvious beneficiaries, since by their very nature they are places where large quantities of information are stored in every kind of format: books, journals, maps, charts, film, and computer databases. …


ABSTRACT This paper seeks to reconcile performative theorizing, which captures the place of systems of thought on foreign policy practice, and broader sociological approaches that link networks and institutions across space, especially as they relate to the global economy. Once developed, the theory, which is termed here 'spatial performativity', is applied to recent efforts to promote industrialization through the development of special economic zones in Ethiopia. In doing so, attention is drawn to a burgeoning area of African and Chinese foreign policy and economic cooperation.


On October 26, 2012, the University of Akron School of Law's Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential solutions at the intersection of these fields. This report summarizes this discussion by describing the problems raised, areas of agreement and disagreement between the participants, suggestions and solutions made by participants and the subsequent evaluations of these suggestions and solutions. Led by the moderator, participants at the Forum focused generally on three broad questions. First, are there alternatives to either the patent system or specific patent doctrines that can provide or help provide sufficient incentives for health-related innovation? Second, is health information being used proprietarily and if so, is this type of protection appropriate? Third, does IP conflict with other non-IP values that are important in health and how does or can IP law help resolve these conflicts? This report addresses each of these questions in turn.


It has been shown that the incubation of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) with polyclonal antibodies from HIV-infected persons and complement results in complement-mediated neutralization due, at least in part, to virolysis. The current study was performed to determine whether any of a panel of 16 human monoclonal antibodies to HIV could activate complement and, if so, which determinants of the HIV envelope could serve as targets for antibody-dependent complement-mediated effects. Human monoclonal antibodies directed to the third variable region (V3 region) of HIVMN gp120 induced C3 deposition on infected cells and virolysis of free virus. Antibodies to two other sites on HIVMN gp120 and two sites on gp41 induced few or no complement-mediated effects. Similarly, only anti-V3 antibodies efficiently caused complement-mediated effects on the HIVIIIB isolate. In general, the level of C3 deposition on infected cells paralleled the relative level of bound monoclonal antibodies. As expected, pooled polyclonal antibodies from infected persons were much more efficient than monoclonal antibodies inducing C3 deposition per unit of bound immunoglobulin. Treatment of virus or infected cells with soluble CD4 resulted in increases in anti-gp41 antibody-mediated virolysis and C3 deposition but decreases in anti-V3 antibody-mediated virolysis and C3 deposition. In general, virolysis of HIV was more sensitive as an indicator of complement-mediated effects than infected-cell surface C3 deposition, suggesting the absence of or reduced expression of functional complement control proteins on the surface of free virus. Thus, this study shows that human monoclonal antibodies to the V3 region of gp120 are most efficient in causing virolysis of free virus and C3 deposition on infected cells. Elution of gp120 with soluble CD4 exposes epitopes on gp41 that can also bind antibody, resulting in virolysis and C3 deposition. These findings establish a serologically defined model system for the further study of the interaction of complement and HIV.


Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH), the standard subject language used in library catalogues, are often criticized for their lack of currency, biased language, and atypical syndetic structure. Conversely, folksonomies (or tags), which rely on the natural language of their users, offer a flexibility often lacking in controlled vocabularies and may offer a means of augmenting more rigid controlled vocabularies such as LCSH. Content analysis studies have demonstrated the potential for folksonomies to be used as a means of enhancing subject access to materials, and libraries are beginning to integrate tagging systems into their catalogues. This study examines the utility of tags as a means of enhancing subject access to materials in library online public access catalogues (OPACs) through usability testing with the LibraryThing for Libraries catalogue enhancements. Findings indicate that while they cannot replace LCSH, tags do show promise for aiding information seeking in OPACs. In the context of information systems design, the study revealed that while folksonomies have the potential to enhance subject access to materials, that potential is severely limited by the current inability of catalogue interfaces to support tag-based searches alongside standard catalogue searches.


Previous research has shown that attitudes and behavior towards sustainability are not correlated. Social factors including norms and desirability have been found to explain these results. One hundred and six students from California Polytechnic State University participated in this study. The survey used was composed of several sections: attitudes, behaviors, knowledge, social norms, social desirability, and a demographic section. Attitudes and behaviors were found to be correlated in this study. Knowledge and behavior towards sustainability was not found to be correlated as expected. Participants' attitudes were correlated with friends' and families' but not professors' and peers' attitudes. Participants' behaviors were correlated only with friends' attitudes. This study is particularly relevant for colleges who are moving towards a sustainable future and wish to measure the effectiveness of the movement.


In this paper we discuss the use of an object-oriented approach for webbased applications design, based on a method named Object-Oriented Hypermedia Design Method (OOHDM). We first motivate our work discussing the problems encountered while designing large scale, dynamic web-based applications, which combine complex navigation patterns with sophisticated computational behavior. We argue that a method providing systematic guidance to design is needed. Next, we introduce OOHDM, describing its main activities, namely: conceptual design, navigational design, abstract interface design and implementation, and discuss how OOHDM designs can be implemented in the WWW. Finally, related work and future research in this area are further discussed.


The passage of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (AJCA) provided U.S. tax incentives for U.S. multinational companies that receive large dividends from their foreign affiliates. In 2005, dividends paid by foreign affiliates to their U.S. parents were 4 times as large as in 2004. With most international financial transactions, it is usually difficult for an observer to determine whether tax considerations were a primary factor in motivating the transactions versus just one of many important factors. However, given Congress' stated motivation for passing the AJCA and the substantial increase in dividends received by U.S. parent companies after enactment, there certainly does appear to be a casual relationship (with tax considerations playing a primary role) in at least this instance.


Resource-based consensus is the backbone of permissionless distributed ledger systems. The security of such protocols relies fundamentally on the level of resources actively engaged in the system. The variety of different resources (and related proof protocols, some times referred to as PoX in the literature) raises the fundamental question whether it is possible to utilize many of them in tandem and build multi-resource consensus protocols. The challenge in combining different resources is to achieve fungibility between them, in the sense that security would hold as long as the cumulative adversarial power across all resources is bounded. In this work, we put forth Minotaur, a multi-resource blockchain consensus protocol that combines proof of work (PoW) and proof-of-stake (PoS), and we prove it optimallyfungible. At the core of our design, Minotaur operates in epochs while continuously sampling the active computational power to provide a fair exchange between the two resources, work and stake. Further, we demonstrate the ability of Minotaur to handle a higher degree of work fluctuation as compared to the Bitcoin blockchain; we also generalize Minotaur to any number of resources. We demonstrate the simplicity of Minotaur via implementing a full stack client in Rust (available open source[24]). We use the client to test the robustness of Minotaur to variable mining power and combined work/stake attacks and demonstrate concrete empirical evidence towards the suitability of Minotaur to serve as the consensus layer of a real-world blockchain.


Introduction. High frequency oscillatory ventilation (HFOV) is a rescue therapy for hypoxemic patients who deteriorate in conventional mechanical ventilation and/or for the air-leak syndrome treatment. A recent meta analysis showed that HFOV might have reduced mortality in pediatric and adult patients compared with conventional ventilation. In this context it's important to evaluate the effectiveness of this method in everyday use. Objectives. Main: To analize the effectiveness of HFOV in everyday practice in a center without extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) capabilities. Secondary: To describe demographics and causes of severe respiratory failure of patients requiring HFOV. To assess the relationship between potential predictors and the occurrence of mortality. Population and methods. Retrospective study analyzing medical records of all patients that required HFOV in a tertiary care pediatric hospital pediatric intensive care units between march 1st 2008 and july 1st 2010. Results. Sixty-nine patients received 76 HFOV treatments. Eighty percent were diagnosed with acute lower respiratory infection or sepsis and 62.3% (n= 43) had preexisting chronic co-morbidities. The majority of HFOV treatments were because refractory hypoxemia (93.4%). Non survivors patients had worse clinical status at PICU admission, higher multiorgan failure, worse oxygenation and pulmonary condition. Conclusions. Everyday use of HFOV in a population with high incidence of chronic, oncologic and/or immunocompromised patients was associated with a survival of 33.4%. More prognostic studies are needed for a more effective selection of HFOV candidates.


How should the 'problem of order' associated with weapons of mass destruction be understood and addressed today? Have the problem and its solution been misconceived and misrepresented, as manifested by the problematic aftermath of Iraq War? Has 9/11 rendered redundant past international ordering strategies, or are these still discarded at our own peril? These are the questions explored in this Adelphi Paper. It opens by focusing attention on the linked problems of enmity, power and legitimacy, which lie at the root of the contemporary problem of order. The Paper shows how the 'WMD order' that was constructed during and after the Cold War was challenged from various directions in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It shows how the growing disorder was a cause and effect of a potent 'double enmity' that arose in the US against both 'rogue states' and the international constitutionalism that had been espoused by previous US governments and bound states to a common purpose. An ordering strategy that is imperious and places its main emphasis on counter-proliferation and the threat of preventive war cannot be successful. The recovery of order must entail the pursuit of international legitimacy as well as efficacy. It will require all states to accept restraint and to honour their mutual obligations.


The prevalence of feature-based 3D modeling in industry has necessitated the accumulation and maintenance of standard feature libraries. Currently, firms who use standard features to design parts are storing and utilizing these libraries through their existing product data management (PDM) systems. Standard features have enabled companies to regulate the way key features are defined across all models and revisions, while helping to speed up the modeling process, but the new features also come with limitations. These advantages and disadvantages can become crucial for a firm trying to make its product lifecycle run more smoothly. This paper will detail how a leading PDM package manages 3D geometry, how a standard feature interacts within a 3D part file, and how those conditions affect the way standard feature libraries are stored in a PDM system. It will also describe some of the general obstacles to storing this conceptual information, and make recommendations on how to define standard features more effectively, and how we can best prepare students facing these challenges upon entering the workforce.