This is a response to E. Ben Zvi and J. D. Nogalski, Two Sides of a Coin: Juxtaposing Views on Interpreting the Book of the Twelve/The Twelve Prophetic Books (Gorgias Press, 2009). Nogalski is a major proponent of the thesis that the Twelve Minor Prophets are a redactional unity, while Ben Zvi is its most forthright sceptic. After summarizing the views of both scholars, the author introduces some considerations from his perspective as a literary critic. In particular, he contends that: i) the question of literary unity is an extremely fraught one; ii)arguments for the unity of the Twelve tend to ignore contrast; and iii) the hypothesis that the Twelve were redacted as a book raises acutely not only the methodological difference between redaction-critical and reader-oriented approaches, but also the question of whether prophets were poets, characterized by literary daring. The article concludes with reflections on models of reading in antiquity, and the opposition between metanarratives and marginality.


Many African societies limit the roles of women to domestic work and raising children while men are left to handle all the decision making processes. This perspective has been cemented by such opinions as "the societal conventions regarding gender and leadership, traditionally exclude women, and top leadership is viewed as a masculine domain" (Hojgaard, 2002), and that of Ngcongo (1993) who insinuate that should men lead while women follow. Practices such as men walking in front of women and sayings like "behind every successful man is a woman", depict the roles and positions that have been assigned to both gender parties. In this study we examine the factors determining the participation of women in decision making in the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA). The study employs a descriptive case-study research design utilising qualitative analysis of factors that contribute to low participation of women in decision making in ZRA headquarters in Lusaka district, Zambia. The population of study included Board Members, senior management members of staff along with intermediate management members of staff, technical staff and support staff members purposely selected to acquire key information across the entire institution. Care was taken to limit the subjects to fulltime workers in ZRA. The sample size was depicted largely by the availability of resources but was considered adequate to capture the existing group variability. Methods including focus groups, interviews, observation and documented resources were used to collect information from the sample population. From the results, it was established that women do not play a major role in decision making roles in ZRA. This was shown by the occupation of most executive positions by men. The governing board had no female members at the time of the study. The senior management members were comprised customarily of men and virtually with no women have ever occupied the top position of commissioner general. There are several cultural, economic, political and social factors contributing to the low participation of women in decision making roles in ZRA. These include lack of ambition, poor qualifications, timidity, family commitment, lack of experience, company policies and practices, and public and personal perceptions of women in decision making roles as well as financial benefits that are doubled in gratuity and pension accompanied by less work in lower positions. Improving the financial benefits, implementing affirmative action in the institution and creating incentives to aspire women to take up higher positions as well as changing the social and cultural perspective of women in decision making roles would increase the participation of women in decision making roles in ZRA


Recent research has pointed to the uneven distribution of diagnoses of Att ention Defic it Hyperactivity Disorder, with disproportionately high numbers in areas marked by poverty (Giffor d Sawyer et al., 2004; Olfsen et al., 2003). Thi s chapter examines this issue of ADHD and social and economic disadvantage. Drawing on research with youth professionals from some of the most disadvantaged communities in Australia, the chapter puts forward the case that the ADHD phenomenon has highly problematic effe cts on the lives of children and young people in these communities. The in tent is to show how the ADHD phenomenon interacts with disadvantage, and suggest how certain schooling practices that lead to the medicalization of child behavior have significa nt effe cts on people living in poverty.


To cite: Eriksson JK, Jacobsson L, Bengtsson K, et al. Ann Rheum Dis 2017;76:364–370. ABSTRACT Aims To assess and compare the incidence of cardiovascular (CV) events, by CV phenotype, between patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the general population. Methods Using linkages of national and populationbased registers, we identified one cohort of prevalent patients with AS (n=5358), one with RA (n=37 245) and one with matched general population subjects (n=25 006). These cohorts were identified in 2006 through 2011 and were followed in 31 December 2012, for first ever occurrence of acute coronary syndromes (ACS), deep venous thromboembolism, pulmonary embolism and stroke, respectively. For each outcome, we calculated incidence rates standardised to the age and sex distribution of the AS cohort, as well as relative risks using Cox proportional hazards models. Results Based on 69 ACS events during 20 251 person-years of follow-up of the patients with AS, and 966 events during 127 014 person-years in the RA cohort, the age/sex-adjusted relative risks for ACS compared with the general population was 1.3 (95% CI 1.0 to 1.7) for AS and 1.7 (1.4 to 2.0) for RA. For thromboembolic events, the corresponding risks were 1.4 (1.1 to 1.9) in AS and 1.8 (1.5 to 2.1) in RA. Finally, for stroke, the relative risks were 1.5 (1.1 to 2.0) in AS and 1.5 (1.2 to 1.8) in RA, compared with the general population. Conclusions Prevalent patients with AS are at a 30%–50% increased risk of incident CV events. When compared with patients with RA, this level of increase was similar for stroke, but only half as high for ACS and thrombotic events.


Guided by an integrated theoretical approach combining communication infrastructure theory with methods of assets-oriented community field mapping, this study reports the findings of an engaged scholarship project we term communication asset mapping (CAM). Ecological in orientation and participatory in practice, CAM represents a tool for analyzing urban spaces' potential as mediums for building healthy communities. This article offers two case studies from different low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles, the first a researcher-directed CAM application and the second undertaken in collaboration with community health promotion workers. Both offer insights for researchers and practitioners interested in the intersecting roles of communication and place in creating positive community change.


Silicon microring resonators very often exhibit resonance splitting due to backscattering. This effect is hard to quantitatively and predicatively model. This paper presents a behavioral circuit model for microrings that quantitatively explains the wide variations in resonance splitting observed in experiments. The model is based on an in‐depth analysis of the contributions to backscattering by both the waveguides and couplers. Backscattering transforms unidirectional microrings into bidirectional circuits by coupling the clockwise and counterclockwise circulating modes. In high‐Q microrings, visible resonance splitting will be induced, but, due to the stochastic nature of backscattering, this splitting is different for each resonance. Our model, based on temporal coupled mode theory, and the associated fitting method, are both accurate and robust, and can also explain asymmetrically split resonances. The cause of asymmetric resonance splitting is identified as the backcoupling in the couplers. This is experimentally confirmed and its dependency on gap and coupling length is further analyzed. Moreover, the wide variation in resonance splitting of one spectrum is analyzed and successfully explained by our circuit model that incorporates most linear parasitic effects in the microring. This analysis uncovers multi‐cavity interference within the microring as an important source of this variation.


Money laundering has been studied for many years, but mainly by lawyers and criminologists. This dissertation presents a number of ways on how an economist – mainly in a multidisciplinary fashion – can contribute to this field of research. This dissertation answers four important questions about money laundering: Why should we fight money laundering? How is money laundered? In which sectors is money laundered? And how can we fight money laundering? The literature mentions 25 effects of money laundering that can hurt or enrich our society. This dissertation analyses one of these effects, of which the conclusion is that anti-money laundering policy can not only reduce the amount of money laundering, but also crime in general. There are multiple ways to launder money. This dissertation analyses the behavior of money launderers that use the relatively new method of trade-based money laundering. Trade-based money laundering is a specific type of money laundering where import and export prices are falsified. The conclusion of this study is that money laundering flows can be explained with a model based on the gravity equation of Isaac Newton. Trade-based money laundering flows increase when the mass (measured in GDP) of a country increases and when the distance between the countries decrease. Furthermore, our empirical results suggest that money launderers that want to send their money to countries that fiercely fight money laundering in the financial sector, use trade-based money laundering as an alternative. With the potential size of money laundering, all this laundered money should appear in certain sectors in our economy. The real estate sector with its size and money laundering possibilities is one of the potential candidates. This dissertation analyses the real estate sector and concludes that money laundering happens significantly more often with real estate that has the following properties: price fluctuations, the involvement of just-established companies and foreign owners of real estate. At the moment there is international policy that basically forces countries to fight money laundering. This dissertation shows that countries can pretend to fight money laundering, without actually doing it, because the effectiveness of their policy is measured with statistics that are not uniformly collected and have vague definitions. Therefore countries are able to produce high statistics without exerting any additional effort. This dissertation suggest an alternative audit policy.


Multi-actuator structural testing has traditionally been regarded, from a control
point of view, as a multi-loop single-input, single-output problem. This approach does
not take into account the interaction between. different actuators, due to the dynamics
of the structure under test, which can be considerable. The result of this is often poor
laboratory reproduction of the actual service data.
This project shows that the mass of the structure under test has a considerable
impact upon the stability of the traditional multi-loop, single-input, single-output
control system. Where stability is prejudiced, the loop gains have to be reduced to
maintain stability and this can degrade the performance of the test. In these
circumstances multivariable control offers the potential for a significant improvement
in performance.
Two experimental rigs are used in this project, both exhibit major interaction
and pose a significant control problem. The first rig consists of a laboratory scale
cantilever beam excited by two electro-dynamic vibrators with displacements
measured by Linear Variable Differential Transformers (L VDTs). The second,
industrial-scale, rig consists of a large steel frame excited by two hydraulic actuators
with applied force measured by load cells. Multivariable controllers are designed and
implemented on these rigs based on the frequency-domain Characteristic Locus
method. The multivariable controllers are shown to demonstrate superior performance
to traditional multi-loop controllers.
Mathematical models of the rigs are not required for controller design, instead
experimental frequency responses are all that are needed. This is a major attraction of
the Characteristic Locus method since the task.of modelling the dynamics of a multichannel
structural test system is not trivial. However, obtaining the frequency response
of the second rig is made difficult by the imposition of closed-loop control during the
identification experiment. A technique is presented to overcome this problem using an
existing correlation method.


Fc fragments derived from human immunoglobulin were found to be capable of inducing both a proliferative and polyclonal antibody response in human peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures. The cell population proliferating in response to Fc fragments belongs to the B cell lineage. Expression of polyclonal antibody formation requires the presence of both adherent monocytes and T cells. The role of the monocyte is to enzymatically cleave the Fc fragment into 19,000 mol wt Fc subfragments that are then able to induce polyclonal antibody secretion. Stimulation of polyclonal antibody production by Fc subfragments occurs in the absence of adherent monocytes but still requires the presence of T cells.


Understanding when, where, and how increasingly diverse and dynamic subpopulations interact in urban environments is critical to the integrity of the city as a whole. This knowledge can facilitate the development of communication strategies, urban planning methodologies, and resource allocation to best serve citizens. Previous research focused either upon large temporal trends for the city as a whole, or mapped citizens in social or geographic space using broad categories (such as shared interests on social media or one's racial designation). Whereas these studies focused on a single geographic area, this paper includes Twitter data from three culturally distinct metropolitan areas over the same 92-day period: Los Angeles, CA, United States; Chicago, IL, United States; and Istanbul, Turkey. The global embrace of the Twitter social media platform provides the primary data source for a methodology applicable to any urban area. For Tweets emanating from within each city, a bag-of-words approach to the messages' textual content creates topical clusters within the most frequently occurring languages. These classifications transcend traditional racial designations. Time series analysis of each Tweet's timestamp reveal that the volume of tweets across topics is significantly correlated with major regional events. Furthermore, certain subpopulations' postings rise and fall in sync with others. Examining the trends among strongly correlated topic groups provides an indication of how these groups might interact.


The Escherichia coli RecA protein is involved in SOS induction, DNA repair, and homologous recombination. In vitro, RecA protein serves as a co-protease to cleave LexA repressor, the repressor of the SOS regulon; in addition, RecA protein promotes homologous pairing and DNA strand exchange, steps important to homologous recombination and DNA repair. To determine if these two functions of RecA protein are competing or parallel, the effect of uncleavable LexA S119A repressor on RecA protein-dependent activities was examined. LexA S119A repressor inhibits both the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-dependent ATP hydrolysis and DNA strand exchange activities of RecA protein. As for wild-type LexA repressor (Rehrauer, W. M., Lavery, P. E., Palmer, E. L., Singh, R. N., and Kowalczykowski, S. C. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271, 23865-23873), inhibition of ATP hydrolysis is dependent upon the presence of E. coli single-stranded DNA binding (SSB) protein, arguing that LexA repressor affects the competition between RecA protein and SSB protein for ssDNA binding sites. In contrast, inhibition of DNA strand exchange activity is SSB protein-independent, suggesting that LexA S119A repressor blocks a site required for DNA strand exchange. These results imply that there is a common site on the RecA protein filament for secondary DNA and LexA repressor binding and raise the possibility that the recombination and co-protease activities of the RecA protein filament are competitive.


Digital Watermarking is a technology used for the copyright protection of digital applications. Watermarking is a concept of embedding a special symbol, watermark, into an electronic document so that a given piece of copyright information is permanently tied to the data. It is an effective way to protect copyright of multimedia data even after its transmission. In recent years image watermarking techniques are grown-up. So digital video watermarking is the next challenging task and it is becoming a current academic research topic. Digital watermarking is a process of embedding watermark into digital document, where watermark can be some binary data, a small image or a seed value. It can also be any arbitrary or serial number, possession identifier, information about the inventor, date etc, that would be inserted into the original digital products. Digital watermarking refers to embedding watermarks in a multimedia documents and files in order to protect them from illegal copying and identifying manipulations. We proposed a technique is Hybrid DWT, PCA and SVD method for digital video watermarking. In two parts a proposed method of watermarking is divided: watermark embedding and watermark extracting.


The opening title screen of this "interactive journey into the world of musical instruments" is followed by a "Contents" window that groups information in four partitions: 1. Families of Instruments, 2. Musical Ensembles, 3. Instruments of the World, consisting of maps showing simplistically where various instruments can be found, and 4. A-Z of Instruments, which provides for either straight alphabetical or random access traversal of the individual instruments on the CD. The Families of Instruments section is oddly divided into Brass, Strings, Woodwinds, Keyboards, and Percussion, and the concept of instrument families is expanded here to refer to any cluster or grouping of instruments that has a similar appearance or similar mechanical or acoustical design. This is an unusual premise for musicians, but it could be potentially useful to the casual observer. A tighter linkage between this family concept and the more traditional Sachs/Hornbostel classification system would improve the package. The Musical Ensembles section is divided into Orchestras, Wind Bands, Jazz Bands, Steel Bands, Gamelans, Chamber Groups, and Rock Bands. Some of the information in the "Orchestras" subsection is problematic. The diagram for the baroque orchestra matches few contemporaneous seating diagrams found in the treatises and didactic manuals, and no mention is made of the great diversity of seating configurations utilized during the period. The "Chamber Groups" include: 1) Baroque trio sonata, 2) Piano trio, 3) Wind octet, and 4) String quartet, and the editors should probably have surveyed more carefully the available literature before considering the wind octet to be such a significant Western chamber ensemble. The A-Z of Musical Instruments section utilizes most of the space on the disk. In this section, each instrument is pictured in large format in a window that has short descriptions with line pointers to some of the more important parts of the instrument. At the bottom of the window is a brief description of the instrument, the basic material(s) from which it is constructed, and its most common performance contexts. The user has the option of clicking on a speaker icon in this window to hear a more extensive sound file than is available from the "Families" windows, where it was apparently decided that quick comparisons between instrument sounds within a "family" would probably be the user's first priority. In addition to the speaker icon, there is sometimes a "Views" miniwindow on screen that will reveal added angles from which the instrument's picture has been taken, together with additional information about the instrument's construction. At the bottom of the instrument window are "Types" and "Facts" icons. The "Types" icon takes the user to a window of related instruments (some more clearly related than others), and the "Facts" icon produces a "Facts Box" that contains the Name, Family, Pitch Range, Material, Size (in inches and millimeters), Origins (there is no instrument etymology here), Classification (a meek attempt at Sachs/Hornbostel), and finally a "Did You Know?" section that provides an additional curiosity or two about the instrument or its players. Above the instrument at the top of the window is another speaker icon, and a click on it produces a non-idiomatic pronunciation of the name of the instrument. Some of the musical instruments in this product receive considerably more coverage than others, and one wishes for greater internal consistency in this area. The cello, for example, is covered extensively, even including a "Sound Box" icon. Clicking on this brings up a complex window containing a staff from c' to g" with the letter-names of the notes in separate small shadow-squares under the notes on the staff. These pitches may be played in any order by the user. To the right of the staff is a treble clef icon labeled "Play Complete Range," which it automatically does when called, although in some cases the "complete range" is not really complete. …


Sports performance, although depending on individuais' characteristics,alsoreflectsthewaycoach-athleterelationshiptakes place in the sport preparationprocessoSocial psychologyof sport hasdevelopedthestudyof the interactionprocessesbetweenthose actors,aimingat havinga betterunderstandingof themandat having a conceptualbasis to proposethe managementof that relationship in order to make it more productive in terms of social and sport dynamics. International research has been following difterent approaches in the study of this subject: (1) the social-emotional approach has been pointing out to the emotional component resulting from the interaction between coach and athlete, which may have both positive, or negative effects on the athlete's adapting behaviours, as well as on the affective balance of the dyad. Empirical research on satisfaction, drop out, self-esteem or self-efticacy are some examples of research topics in this field, as well as those produced within the scope of analytical psychology models; (2) the organisational approach takes into account the concept that sport teams are organisations that despite having specific characteristics, can be studied according to the models of organisational psychology. Thus, the relationship coach-athlete is studied under the leader-member perspective. Chelladurai's Multidimensional Model of Leadership in Sport considers the antecedents and consequences of leader's intervention, as well as the behaviours developed by him/her. It has been the most productive model regarding international research; (3) the behavioural approach has been investigating the coach's concrete behaviours in training or competition by means of observa-tionaImethodologies, inspired by Smoll's & Smith's Mediational Model, which classifies the coach's behaviours in interactional categories. Therefore, the coach will be able to evaluate his/her eftect upon the athlete and to introduce the needed changes in his/her behaviour. This article discusses these models referring to the main results in international research and also presents a model of coach's anxiogenic behaviours in the context of the sport training processo


We have evaluated novel cation exchange resin and membrane which is potentially suited for continuous process in biologics manufacturing. • Typically cation exchange chromatography (CEX) is used in a bind/elute (B/E) mode for the MAb process since MAb act as cation at the buffer condition used for CEX due to the pI from neutral to weak basic. Generally, purpose of CEX chromatography is to remove aggregates and other impurities like HCP and DNA. Especially, aggregate removal is of interest to the industries. A continuous process in MAb downstream process can solve several bottlenecks in typical batch process. However its capability cannot be fully utilized if some step of chromatography is used in a B/E mode since it will take a longer process time due to the posing of product stream for binding and washing and it will take a more cost due to the requirement of large amount of resins as we use at the batch process. In such a case, chromatography in flowthrough mode has a potential to overcome those issues for both cost and time and enables us to develop more streamlined continuous process. • We will present the result of our study to evaluate novel CEX resin developed by EMD Millipore (The Life Science division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany) by comparing with the existing process of Mab A and we obtained a conclusion that this resin is fitted to the continuous processing very much. The novel resin showed a better impurity clearance than our existing process. For example, over 65% removal of aggregate by the novel resin was obtained in contrast to no removal by the existing process. A 20-fold better clearance for DNA was confirmed for the novel resin than the existing process. This indicates an additional polishing step can be omitted and this new chromatography can be a strong option if we need to reduce such impurities further. Also the resin cost is expected to be reduced down to 1/10 in maximum since those impurity clearance results were obtained about 10-times larger load than the typical B/E mode operation of CEX. Considering those aspects, we conclude that this resin showed a better fit for a continuous process. We will also discuss an expected effect of the novel CEX resin on cost and process time savings by a continuous process.


The purpose of this paper is to suggest an empirically based model for identification, recognition and measurement of internally generated intangible assets (IIAs) that meets the fundamental qualitative characteristics of useful financial information. The paper sets out to empirically test observed relations reflecting new product development activities and their economic consequences in listed companies, by means of personal interviews with senior managers, selected on the basis of their knowledge in the specificities of the innovation process in their firm by means of a phenomenographic analysis the identified relations are conceptualized in terms of logically related categories. There seems to be a match between the identified observed relations and the recognition requirements that International Accounting Standard (IAS) 38.57 sets out, which indicates that the requirements are relevant and information meeting the requirements may faithfully represent what it purports to represent or reasonably can be expected to represent. By relating the recognition and measurement of IIAs to the proposed model the linkage between IIAs and related organizational mechanisms will be made more explicit which may improve the representational faithfulness of the financial information. One of the practical implications of this study is that an entity specific control system based on the recognition criteria presented in paragraph IAS 38.57 can improve the robustness of recognized IIAs arising from innovative activities. By building a bridge between the dynamic capability literature and the accounting literature the paper develops a new model of how to account for IIAs.


The present study investigates how Discourse Connectives are handled in
translation. It starts by reviewing available published studies on DCs with a
particular focus on how these impacted on the field of translation studies and
translation practice. DCs in English are mainly looked at from two different
angles as the study shows: coherence/cohesion theory or from a relevance
theory perspective. In Arabic, they are mainly grammatical structures.
The study provides arguments which explain why looking at these linguistic
structures from a relevance theory standpoint provide a better basis for
understanding their role and the discourse in which they occur.
The aim of the present research is to investigate how Discourse Connectives
(DCs)- the structures used to provide the reader/hearer with clues as to what
direction the writer/speaker wants them to focus on- are handled in
translation.
The research attempts to shed light on choices translators make when
encountering DCs, and endeavours to put these choices to scrutiny by
drawing on relevance theory. Thus, the main hypothesis adopted is that each
instance a DCs is utilised, it is assumed that it bears a degree of relevance to
the reader/hearer or in other words assist them to a less costly process - in
terms of time and mental processing effort - in reaching the intended
communication. To provide evidence for this view an empirical investigation
was carried out. The corpus studied was published by the American geo-
political studies think-tank (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace)
were selected together with their professionally translated and published
versions. An investigation of DCs and their translation was carried out on
carefully selected corpora. The basis of this discussion is the application of
the Principle of Relevance as suggested by proponents of Relevance Theory in
reaching the intended meaning in the source text through contextual effects
(knowledge of the world, to use relevance theory proponents terms) and the
notion of 'clues7, provided by discourse connectives, which facilitate a
successful rendering.


Glioma regression requires the recruitment of potent antitumor immune cells into the tumor microenvironment. Dendritic cells (DC) play a role in immune responses to these tumors. The fact that DC vaccines do not effectively combat high-grade gliomas, however, suggests that DCs need to be genetically modified specifically to promote their migration to tumor relevant sites. Previously, we identified extracellular signal–regulated kinase (ERK1) as a regulator of DC immunogenicity and brain autoimmunity. In the current study, we made use of modern magnetic resonance methods to study the role of ERK1 in regulating DC migration and tumor progression in a model of high-grade glioma. We found that ERK1deficient mice are more resistant to the development of gliomas, and tumor growth in these mice is accompanied by a higher infiltration of leukocytes. ERK1-deficient DCs exhibit an increase in migration that is associated with sustained Cdc42 activation and increased expression of actin-associated cytoskeleton-organizing proteins. We also demonstrated that ERK1 deletion potentiates DC vaccination and provides a survival advantage in high-grade gliomas. Considering the therapeutic significance of these results, we propose ERK1-deleted DC vaccines as an additional means of eradicating resilient tumor cells and preventing tumor recurrence. Mol Cancer Ther; 15(8); 1–


Changes in glaciers and ice caps provide some of the clearest evidence of climate change, and as such they constitute key variables for early detection strategies in global climate-related observations. These changes have impacts on global sea level fluctuations, the regional to local natural hazard situation, as well as on societies dependent on glacier meltwater. Internationally coordinated collection and publication of standardised information about ongoing glacier changes was initiated back in 1894. The compiled data sets on the global distribution and changes in glaciers and ice caps provide the backbone of the numerous scientific publications on the latest findings about surface ice on land. Since the very beginning, the compiled data has been published by the World Glacier Monitoring Service and its predecessor organisations. However, the corresponding data tables, formats and meta-data are mainly of use to specialists. It is in order to fill the gaps in access to glacier data and related background information that this publication aims to provide an illustrated global view of the available data sets related to glaciers and ice caps, their distribution around the globe, and the changes that have occurred since the maximum extents of the so-called Little Ice Age (LIA).
International glacier monitoring has produced a range of unprecedented data compilations including some 36 000 length change observations and roughly 3 400 mass balance measurements for approximately 1 800 and 230 glaciers, respectively. The observation series are drawn from around the globe; however, there is a strong bias towards the Northern Hemisphere and Europe. A first attempt to compile a world glacier inventory was made in the 1970s based mainly on aerial photographs and maps. It has resulted to date in a detailed inventory of more than 100 000 glaciers covering an area of about 240 000 km2 and in preliminary estimates, for the remaining ice cover of some 445 000 km2 for the second half of the 20th century. This inventory task continues through the present day, based mainly on satellite images.
The moraines formed towards the end of the Little Ice Age, between the 17th and the second half of the 19th century, are prominent features of the landscape, and mark Holocene glacier maximum extents in many mountain ranges around the globe. From these positions, glaciers worldwide have been shrinking significantly, with strong glacier retreats in the 1940s, stable or growing conditions around the 1920s and 1970s, and again increasing rates of ice loss since the mid 1980s. However, on a time scale of decades, glaciers in various mountain ranges have shown intermittent re-advances. When looking at individual fluctuation series, one finds a high rate of variability and sometimes widely contrasting behaviour of neighbouring ice bodies. In the current scenarios of climate change, the ongoing trend of worldwide and rapid, if not accelerating, glacier shrinkage on the century time scale is most likely of a non-periodic nature, and may lead to the deglaciation of large parts of many mountain ranges in the coming decades. Such rapid environmental changes require that the international glacier monitoring efforts make use of the swiftly developing new technologies, such as remote sensing and geo-informatics, and relate them to the more traditional field observations, in order to better face the challenges of the 21st century.


The coral reef damage in Probolinggo region was expected to be caused by several factors. The first one comes from its society that exploits fishery by using cyanide toxin and bomb. The second one goes to the extraction of coral reef, which is used as decoration or construction materials. The other factor is likely caused by the existence of large industry on the seashore, such as Electric Steam Power Plant (PLTU) Paiton and others alike. Related to the development of coral reef ecosystem, availability of an accurate data is crucially needed to support the manner of future policy, so the research of coral reef coverage percentage needs to be conducted continuously. The aim of this research is to collect biological data of coral reef and to identify coral reef coverage percentage in the effort of constructing coral reef condition basic data on Binor, Paiton, and Probolinggo regency seashore. The method used in this research is Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method. LIT method is a method that used to decide benthic community on coral reef based on percentage growth, and to take note of benthic quantity along transect line. Percentage of living coral coverage in 3 meters depth on this Binor Paiton seashore that may be categorized in a good condition is 57,65%. While the rest are dead coral that is only 1,45%, other life form in 23,2%, and non-life form in 17,7%. A good condition of coral reef is caused by coral reef transplantation on the seashore, so this coral reef is dominated by Acropora Branching. On the other hand, Mortality Index (IM) of coral reef resulted in 24,5%. The result from observation and calculation of coral reef is dominated by Hard Coral in Acropora Branching (ACB) with coral reef coverage percentage of 39%, Coral Massive (CM) with coral reef coverage percentage of 2,85%, Coral Foliose (CF) with coral reef coverage percentage of 1,6%, and Coral Mushroom (CRM) with coral reef coverage percentage of 8,5%. Observation in 10 meters depth resulted in coral reef coverage percentage of 63,33%. 75% of living coral found on this 10 meters depth are dominated by Acropora branching coral, while the rest 25,21% are filled by Acropora tabulate coral and non-Acropora coral in the life form of branching, massive, sub-massive, foliose, and mushroom, where coral Mortality Index (IM) reached 28,5%. The high number of coral reef coverage percentage on Paiton is caused by successful coral transplantation and low activity of society in this location. The domination of large size Acropora branching coral were estimated comes from a few types, showing that coral resulted from transplantation has grown large and form a complex 3 dimension structure that is suitable for the life form of fish and living benthic.


Employment growth is highly correlated across regions. The author uses joint movements in regional employment growth to define and estimate a common factor, analogues to the business cycle. Regions differ substantially in the relative importance of cyclical shocks and idiosyncratic shocks in explaining the steady state variance in regional employment growth. For example, cyclical shocks account for almost 90 percent of the steady state variance in employment growth in the East South Central region and about 40 percent in the West South Central Region.


Abstract The Kuna Amerinds reside chiefly in the San Blas islands (Kuna Yala) on the Caribbean coast of Panama. The diet of this population has not previously been described in detail and composition data for certain foods consumed by this population does not exist or is lacking for certain important nutrients. The protein, fat, moisture, fiber, sugar, mineral and procyanidin content was determined in foods selected because of the frequency with which they are consumed by this population. For that reason, emphasis was given to Tule Masi, a typical Kuna stew-like dish, and cocoa-containing beverages. The foods analyzed were generally low in fat and protein. Potassium and magnesium are present in Tule Masi, common beverages and certain fruits and vegetables at significant levels when considering the preliminary reports on the daily intake of these foods. In addition, preliminary reports indicate that salt use is common, an observation that is supported by the sodium content of the Tule Masi. The cocoa and cocoa beans used in the preparation of beverages are rich in several minerals and procyanidins, as expected. This analysis will allow for the estimation of nutrient intake and subsequent investigations into the relationship between diet and health in this population.


Biochemical and mechanical signals enabling cardiac regeneration can be elucidated by using in vitro tissue engineering models. We hypothesized that human insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) and 3-dimensional (3D) dynamic microenvironment could enhance the survival and differentiation of adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ADSCs). In this study, ADSCs were cultured on 3D porous scaffolds with or without plasmid DNA PIRES2-IGF-I in cardiac media, in static culture dishes, and in a spinning flask bioreactor, respectively. Cell viability, formation of cardiac-like structure, expression of functional proteins, and gene expressions were tested in the cultured constructs on day 14. The results showed that dynamic microenvironment enhanced the release of plasmid DNA; the ADSCs can be transfected by the released plasmid DNA PIRES2-IGF-I in scaffold. IGF-I showed beneficial effects on cellular viability and increase of total protein and also increased the expressions of cardiac-specific proteins and genes in the grafts. It was also demonstrated that dynamic stirring environment could promote the proliferation of ADSCs. Therefore, IGF-I, expressed by ADSCs transfected by DNA PIRES2-IGF-I incorporated into scaffold, and hydrodynamic microenvironment can independently and interactively increase cellular viability and interactively increase the expression of cardiac-specific proteins and genes in the grafts. The results would be useful for developing tissue-engineered grafts for myocardial repair.


Abstract.
 We explored the notion that small canals could be good experimental proxies of streams by documenting physiochemical parameters and macroinvertebrate community development in an aridland irrigation canal. Further, we tested the production-compensation hypothesis between benthic invertebrates and invertebrates in the water column (drift). If the hypothesis held, invertebrates in the drift would be low until the benthic carrying capacity was reached; then organisms in the drift would increase as individuals avoided overcrowded conditions in the substrate. In a small, naturalized freshwater canal, we sampled macroinvertebrates in the substrate and those in the drift once every 2 weeks over 170 days (May–October). We placed macroinvertebrates into functional feeding groups (FFG) and examined these groups along with total density and taxa richness. We found no density-dependent relationship either in FFG or total density between the benthos and invertebrates in the drift. Our negative results might indicate that the stream benthos did not reach carrying capacity (partially affected by adult emergence in the autumn), the invertebrate dynamics in the canal did not adequately represent those occurring in a natural stream, or the duration of our study was too short. However, the invertebrate community in the canal did follow community buildup patterns for small streams reported in the literature, and it also resembled the community in a nearby natural stream. We suggest that naturalized canals could be used as "mesocosms," mimicking small natural streams, in which highly manipulative experiments could be conducted. In addition, the effects of temporary and permanent canals across the arid western landscape have been understudied and represent a new area of ecological research.


Background: Joint contracture is a limitation in the passive or active range of motion (ROM) of a joint, where in addition to the mobility limiting factor the pain is also present. Repetitive pulsed Magnetic Stimulation (rPMS) appears to be an effective, non-invasive and safety solution for treating this condition. Therefore aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of rPMS in treating joint contracture. Methods: 30 subjects with joint contracture in the knee were enrolled in this study and divided respectively into Treatment and Control group. The treatment group were delivered with rPMS therapy. The control group was delivered with conventional physiotherapy method (ultrasound). The primary outcome measurements were: 1. Mobility evaluation by goniometry (ROM in degrees while performing flexion) and Patient Functional Assessment Questionnaire (PFAQ) for ability to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and 2. Pain evaluation by 10-point Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for pain perception. Absence of adverse events was set as a secondary measure. Results: The results of the study show statistical difference (p<0.05) between the levels of improvement of all studied parameters while comparing between both groups. The results suggest greater immobility restoration and pain relieving effect of the rPMS in comparison to conventional physiotherapy method. Conclusion: rPMS an effective and safe non-invasive method for mobility restoration and pain relief in case of joint contractures. This study suggests the method as beneficial and quality of life ameliorating among patients suffering from immobilized joints accompanied by pain.


The ongoing process of democratisation lead to the growing importance of the
electoral systems that regulate the procedures of gaining and legitimizing power in
democracy. Taking it into account it is worth asking about the relationship between
these particular 'game rules' contained into electoral law and the respect of
the rule of law, being one of the basic norms of a democratic system. A question
then may be raised about the existence and the character of the relation between
electoral systems and the level of political corruption. It is worth noticing that
besides the research conducted by political scientists and the representatives of
various branches of social sciences the significant analysis of the issue have been
presented by the economists.
In this article a brief overview of the economic studies on the relationship between
level of political corruption and the electoral systems is presented so as to
assess to what degree this approach may be treated as fruitful.


The purpose of this paper is to present accurate, objective information about the kinematic characteristics of three of the punches used in striking combat sports: cross, swing and uppercut. The use of MOVEN equipment and a computational methodology that have been presented in other studies have made it possible to present a highly accurate analysis. The kinematic parameters chosen for the comparative analysis of these striking techniques are the fist's speed, the minimum fist's acceleration value (recorded after impact as a measure of the impact force), the length of the fist's trajectory and the distance measured from the point where the arm movement begins to the point where the target impact occurs. The subject of the study is a multi-national champion in the 81 kg weight category in full-contact, low-kick and light-kick styles and the data acquisitions were made within the Ciprian Sora Sports Club in Bucharest. The subject executed 10 cross punches, 10 swings and 10 uppercuts in a 40- kg box bag, having MOVEN equipment mounted on it. After calculating the parameters of each stroke we calculated the average values for each type of stroke and compared the variance of these averages over time, referring to the maximum and minimum values for each parameter taken into account. We also have a series of graphical representations to create a clearer picture of the differences we want to highlight. The usefulness of this approach is more than simply informative, such a method of analysis can be useful in drawing up the tactical plans of the fighters and especially in the formation and optimization of the patterns of motion used for each technique and much more, for as many combinations as possible.


In Sub-Saharan Africa, a knowledge void still exists on two contextual questions of university-community outreach: 1) how social demographics differences are related to farmer learning behaviour towards student outreach, and 2) how student outreach models compare with public and non-public extension services. A cross-section survey was used to obtain data from a sample of 283 respondents purposively selected from previous hosts of student outreach of Gulu University in Uganda. Results from Kruskal-Wallis method revealed that there were significant differences among host-farmers with respect to farmstead distance to the university for knowledge sharing (?2 (2) = 8.5; P < 0.05) and giving feedback (?2 (2) = 7.6; P < 0.05). Regarding the experience of participating in outreach program, significant differences among host-farmers were found in seeking information (?2 (2) = 12.3; P < 0.01); knowledge sharing (?2 (2) = 10.4; P < 0.01); seeking feedback (?2 (2) = 16.4; P < 0.01) and giving feedback (?2 (2) = 8.1; P < 0.05). Further, Friedman test results showed that host-farmers perceived the university-student outreach to be superior and significantly different from public and non-public agricultural extension. We conclude that university outreach is a useful service to farmer. However, its success in facilitating farmer learning is dependent on farmstead distance to the university and farmers' level of experience of participating in university activities. We recommend more logistical support from governments to university outreach programs so that outreach services can efficiently complement public and non-public interventions in delivering community-based training and learning approaches.


Abstract. Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) play a key role in stratospheric ozone loss and are strong infrared absorbers that contribute to global warming. The stratospheric lifetimes of CFCs are a measure of their stratospheric loss rates that are needed to determine global warming and ozone depletion potentials. We applied the tracer–tracer correlation approach to zonal mean climatologies from satellite measurements and model data to assess the lifetimes of CFCl3 (CFC-11) and CF2Cl2 (CFC-12). We present estimates of the CFC-11/CFC-12 lifetime ratio and the absolute lifetime of CFC-12, based on a reference lifetime of 52 years for CFC-11. We analyzed climatologies from three satellite missions, the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment-Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS), the HIgh Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder (HIRDLS), and the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS). We found a CFC-11/CFC-12 lifetime ratio of 0.47±0.08 and a CFC-12 lifetime of 112(96–133) years for ACE-FTS, a ratio of 0.46±0.07 and a lifetime of 113(97–134) years for HIRDLS, and a ratio of 0.46±0.08 and a lifetime of 114(98–136) years for MIPAS. The error-weighted, combined CFC-11/CFC-12 lifetime ratio is 0.46±0.04 and the CFC-12 lifetime estimate is 113(103–124) years. These results agree with the recent Stratosphere-troposphere Processes And their Role in Climate (SPARC) reassessment, which recommends lifetimes of 52(43–67) years and 102(88–122) years, respectively. Having smaller uncertainties than the results from other recent studies, our estimates can help to better constrain CFC-11 and CFC-12 lifetime recommendations in future scientific studies and assessments. Furthermore, the satellite observations were used to validate first simulation results from a new coupled model system, which integrates a Lagrangian chemistry transport model into a climate model. For the coupled model we found a CFC-11/CFC-12 lifetime ratio of 0.48±0.07 and a CFC-12 lifetime of 110(95–129) years, based on a 10-year perpetual run. Closely reproducing the satellite observations, the new model system will likely become a useful tool to assess the impact of advective transport, mixing, and photochemistry as well as climatological variability on the stratospheric lifetimes of long-lived tracers.


Likert scales traditionally used in student evaluations of teaching (SET) suffer from several shortcomings, including psychometric deficiencies or ambiguity problems in the interpretation of the results. Assessment instruments with Behavioral Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) offer an alternative to Likerttype questionnaires. This paper describes the construction of an appraisal tool with BARS generated with the participation of 974 students and 15 teachers. The resulting instrument eliminates ambiguity in the interpretation of results and gives objectivity to the evaluation due to the use of unequivocal behavioral examples in the final scale. However, BARS methodology presents the problem of losing behavioral information during scale construction. The BARS methodology presented by the authors introduces an additional step to the traditional procedure, which significantly reduces the loss of information during the scale construction. The authors conclude that the qualitative approach of the proposed instrument facilitates the application of the formative function of the evaluation.


1, The daily excretion of oxalate, calcium, magnesium and creatinine was determined in fifty-two normal men and sixty-five male patients with calcium oxalatecontaining renal stones. 2. Direct relationships were found between calcium and oxalate excretion, magnesium and oxalate excretion and calcium and magnesium excretion in both normal subjects and stone-formers. The significance of these relationships is discussed. 3. The mean excretion of calcium and oxalate was significantly higher in the stoneformers, compared with the controls, both calcium and oxalate excretion being raised by about 20%. 4. The effect of oral ingestion of glucose and casein on the rate of excretion of calcium, magnesium, oxalate and phosphate was examined. Glucose increased the rate of calcium and magnesium excretion but had no effect on oxalate excretion and suppressed phosphate excretion. Casein also increased calcium excretion but had little or no effect on magnesium or oxalate excretion, and it increased phosphate excretion. 5. The association of high calcium excretion with high oxalate excretion, in both normal subjects and stone-formers, results in a high degree of supersaturation of the urine with respect to calcium oxalate. The implication of these findings with respect to the cause and treatment of calcium oxalate stones is discussed.


Introduction
Salmonella typhimurium and Campylobacter jejuni are gram-negative pathogens responsible for many food-poisoning outbreaks across the United States.  Gram-negative bacteria have various filamentous protein structures that extend from their outer membrane.  The most commonly encountered structures are flagella that provide motility and chemotaxic response.  Figure 1 is a transmission electron micrograph of a single negatively stained S. typhimurium organism with two flagella (white arrows) exiting from opposite poles of the bacterium.  The light-colored circles in the background of the preparation are protein aggregates from the culture media.  While S. typhimurium organisms are typically peritrichous bacteria (i.e., bacteria with the surface covered with flagella), a cell with limited flagella expression was chosen to more clearly demonstrate the presence of other structures radiating from the outer membrane of the cell (see Fig. 3 or enlarge Fig. 1).
The flagellum filament itself is made up of the protein flagellin which can have different protein structural orientations depending on the bacteria.  This is illustrated in Fig. 2, a panel of transmission electron micrographs depicting negatively stained flagella from S. typhimurium (Fig. 2A) and C. jejuni (Fig. 2B).  In the case of S. typhimurium, flagellin is present in a helical arrangement (Fig. 2A, white arrow), while in C. jejuni flagellin appears to have an elongated, more filamentous appearance (Fig. 2B, white arrow).
Fimbriae are also frequently observed radiating from the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria.  These structures allow for bacterial attachment to other cells and surfaces.  Figure 3 is an enlargement of Fig. 1 showing numerous fimbriae (white arrows) radiating from the outer membrane of a S. typhimurium bacterium.  The inset depicts the area on the bacterium from which the enlargement is made.  Of note, the presence of fimbriae on Campylobacter has not been demonstrated (5).
Methods
Bacterial cultures were field isolates obtained from the intestine of a chicken (S. typhimurium) and a dairy cow (C. jejuni).  Both isolates were prepared from overnight cultures with S. typhimurium grown in trypic soy broth while C. jejuni was grown in Bolton's broth without antibiotics under microaerophilic conditions (1).  Aliquots of each species were negatively stained on formvar coated copper grids (Ted Pella Inc., Redding, CA) using either freshly prepared 1% uranyl acetate or 1% uranyl formate.  Grids were floated on the culture media for up to 1 minute; then, negative stain was applied for several seconds and subsequently decanted.  Stained grids were allowed to air dry.  Negative stained grids were examined using a Hitachi H7000 transmission electron microscope and images were recorded using conventional electron imaging film.
Discussion
Flagella, composed of arrays of the protein flagellin, are substantially longer and larger in diameter than fimbriae, measuring approximately 10 µm in length and 20 nm in width.  Flagella rotate, creating thrust that allows for bacterial motility and, as the case for both species presented in this report, have been identified as a virulence factor (2, 4).  Due to sequence similarity between flagellar coiled-coil domains, S. typhimurium was thought to be a model for all bacterial flagellar filaments.  However, it has been determined that C. jejuni and several related species have a different flagellar structure due in part to a difference in the number of protofilaments within each flagellum (3).  Transmission electron micrographs show that while S. typhimurium flagella appear to have a helical protein arrangement, Campylobacter flagella can exhibit a parallel protein structure (6).  Fimbriae are present as short protein tubes that extend from the bacterial surface of many species.  These extensions allow for bacterial attachment to surfaces and cells.  While fimbriae are coded by many genes, they appear to have the same general structure when viewed by transmission electron microscopy, varying primarily in length and diameter.  These differences may be of key importance in developing efficient medications against these prevalent enteric pathogens.
References
1. Dhillon, A. S., H. L. Shivaprasad, D. Schaberg, F. Wier, S. Weber, and D. Bandli. 2006. Campylobacter jejuni infection in broiler chickens. Avian Dis. 50:55–58.
2. Dreyfus, G., A. W. Williams, I. Kawagishi, and R. M. Macnab. 1993. Genetic and biochemical analysis of Salmonella typhimurium FliI, a flagellar protein related to the catalytic subunit of the F0F1 ATPase and to virulence proteins of mammalian and plant pathogens. J. Bacteriol. 175:3131–3138.
3. Galkin, V. E., X. Yu, J. Bielnicki, J. Heuser, C. P. Ewing, P. Guerry, and E. H. Egelman. 2008. Divergence of quaternary structures among bacterial flagellar filaments. Science 320:382–385.
4. Guerry, P.  2007. C
ampylobacter flagella: not just for motility. Trends Microbiol. 15:456–461. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966842X07001746.
5. Konkel
, M. E., M. R. Monteville, V. Rivera-Amill, and L. A. Jones. 2001. The pathogenesis of Campylobacter jejuni-mediated enteritis. Curr. Issues Intest. Microbiol. 2
:55–71.
6. McCoy, E. C., D. Doyle, H. Wiltberger, K. Burda, and A. J. Winter. 1975. Flagellar ultrastructure and flagella-associated antigens of Campylobacter fetus. J. Bacteriol. 122:307–315.


In the late 1970s, the New Christian Right emerged as a formidable political force, boldly announcing itself as a unified movement representing the views of a ""moral majority."" But that movement did not spring fully formed from its predecessors. American Evangelicals and the 1960s refutes the thesis that evangelical politics were a purely inflammatory backlash against the cultural and political upheaval of the decade. Bringing together fresh research and innovative interpretations, this book demonstrates that evangelicals actually participated in broader American developments during ""the long 1960s,"" that the evangelical constituency was more diverse than often noted, and that the notion of right-wing evangelical politics as a backlash was a later creation serving the interests of both Republican-conservative alliances and their critics. Evangelicalism's involvement with - rather than its reaction against - the main social movements, public policy initiatives, and cultural transformations of the 1960s proved significant in its 1970s political ascendance. Twelve essays that range thematically from the oil industry to prison ministry and from American counterculture to the Second Vatican Council depict modern evangelicalism both as a religious movement with its own internal dynamics and as one fully integrated into general American history.


Say you're wealthy and want to influence American politics. How would you do it? Conventional campaign finance — giving or spending money to sway elections — is one option. Lobbying is another. This Article identifies and explores a third possibility: quasi campaign finance, or spending money on non-electoral communications with voters that nevertheless rely on an electoral mechanism to be effective. Little is currently known about quasi campaign finance because no law requires its disclosure. But its use by America's richest and politically savviest individuals — the Koch brothers, Michael Bloomberg, and the like — appears to be rising. It also seems to skew policy outcomes in the spenders' preferred direction.

After introducing quasi campaign finance, the Article considers its legal status. Is it like ordinary campaign finance, in which case it could be regulated fairly extensively? Or is it like garden-variety political speech, rendering it presumptively unregulable? One argument for pairing quasi and regular campaign finance is that they share several features — who bankrolls them, the tactics they pay for, the reasons they work — and so may serve as substitutes. Another rationale for conflation is that they may both cause the same democratic injuries: corruption, the distortion of public opinion, and the misalignment of public policy. Pitted against these points is the slippery-slope objection: If quasi campaign finance may constitutionally be curbed, what political speech may not be?

Lastly, the Article suggests how quasi campaign finance should (assuming it actually may) be regulated. Limits on contributions and expenditures are unwise and probably unadministrable. Disclosure, though, is a necessity. The public should know who is trying to persuade it (and how). Even more promising is the public subsidization of quasi campaign finance. If every voter received a voucher for this purpose, then public funds might crowd out private capital, thus alleviating its harmful effects.


BACKGROUND & AIMS
The composition of the gastrointestinal microbiota is thought to have an important role in the etiology of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) such as Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). Interindividual variation and an inability to detect less abundant bacteria have made it difficult to correlate specific bacteria with disease.

METHODS
We used 454 pyrotag sequencing to determine the compositions of microbial communities in feces samples collected from a cohort of 40 twin pairs who were concordant or discordant for CD or UC, and in mucosal samples from a subset of the cohort. The cohort primarily comprised patients who were in remission, but also some with active disease.

RESULTS
The profiles of the microbial community differed with disease phenotypes; relative amounts of bacterial populations correlated with IBD phenotypes. The microbial compositions of individuals with CD differed from those of healthy individuals, but were similar between healthy individuals and individuals with UC. Profiles from individuals with CD that predominantly involved the ileum differed from those with CD that predominantly involved the colon; several bacterial populations increased or decreased with disease type. Changes specific to patients with ileal CD included the disappearance of core bacteria, such as Faecalibacterium and Roseburia, and increased amounts of Enterobacteriaceae and Ruminococcus gnavus.

CONCLUSIONS
Bacterial populations differ in abundance among individuals with different phenotypes of CD. Specific species of bacteria are associated with ileal CD; further studies should investigate their role in pathogenesis.


At a time when medical care for the people of the United States is undergoing wrenching change due mainly to vast and costly technological progress, doctors have had to cede much of their initiative and responsibility to third parties. Medicine has become a commercial enterprise. Patients must affiliate themselves with a managed health care organization in order to have access to their doctors. In the hurly-burly of today's techno-medicine, many physicians are too busy to spend time in dialogue with their patients. As a consequence, social and emotional circumstances that have been thoroughly documented to affect physiology and susceptibility to disease are overlooked. Stewart Wolf here critiques the medical establishment and the way those concerned with its various responsibilities discharge them. He puts medicine's responsibilities to society into historical perspective, relating it to social changes. He begins with the ways medical candidates are selected. He continues with commentary on currently designed teaching and learning, the qualities required in a physician and in a medical scientist, and the nature and challenges of disease and what can be done about them. Finally, Wolf provides a useful way of thinking about human biology, to better understand why people become sick or well and what people have to contend with to stay well. Throughout he emphasizes the role of the brain in controlling behavior of all sorts, general and visceral. Wolf emphasizes the regulatory power of the nervous system as it perceives and evaluates life experiences and influences learning, behavior, and susceptibility to disease. Wolf'sgoal is not to supply a recipe for the achievement of better health, but to encourage a better understanding of ourselves and the paths toward health. Educating Doctors reexamines the responsibilities, goals, and activities of the medical establishment. As such it is a must read for policymakers, sociologists, and professionals working in the medical field.


PRESENT WITH AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE: DISPOSITIONAL MINDFULNESS, COVARIATION BIAS, AND EVENT-RELATED POTENTIAL RESPONSES TO EMOTIONAL STIMULI IN UNCERTAIN CONTEXTS By: Robert J. Goodman, M.A. A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2014 Director: Kirk Warren Brown, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology Uncertainty represents a robust threat that can amplify aversive experiences and exaggerate negative expectations about uncertain future outcomes. Mindfulness – an open and receptive attention to present moment experiences -has been shown to facilitate adaptive regulation when faced with a variety of distinct emotional threats. Reduced experiential avoidance and equanimity in the face of unpleasant emotional experiences have been theorized as central to these emotional regulatory benefits. The present study explored whether dispositional mindfulness would promote adaptive responses to uncertainty during the anticipation of, and after exposure to emotional stimuli, as indicated by self-reports and neural (event-related potential) markers of anticipation and appraisal. Participants were exposed to stimulus cues that informed them about the valence of a subsequent emotional picture as neutral, aversive, or uncertain. Consistent with past research, uncertainty during the anticipation of an emotional stimulus amplified unpleasant stimulus appraisals, and participants demonstrated biased expectations to associate uncertainty with aversiveness. Dispositional mindfulness was associated with lower expectations for unpleasant stimuli, and was found to amplify the effect of uncertainty on a cortical marker of stimulus appraisal called the late positive potential (LPP). Traits that contrasted with mindfulness predicted opposite patterns of association with these measures. However, these findings were directly the opposite of findings from past research. A theoretically defensible explanation is discussed for these findings and suggestions were made for future research on the role of mindfulness on ERP variability. The results from the present study contribute to a growing body of evidence that suggests that uncertainty during the anticipation of potentially negative future outcomes can exert a potent downstream influence on emotional anticipation and appraisal processes. Further research is needed to clarify the role of dispositional mindfulness during emotional stimulus anticipation and appraisal following uncertainty.


In response to competitive pressures small and medium enterprises have begun to form alliances between them. This allows each company to increase their ability to react and adapt to changes in their business environment, concentrating on their core competencies, increase the availability of resources and gain economies of scale. Thus, the project-based fractal company model enables virtual and temporary integration between different companies to achieve specific business objectives. The successful implementation of the model lies in the establishment of client-server relationships between project managers. This paper analyses the use of agentbased simulation to show behaviors that emerge from the interaction of project managers and resources managers when they establish client-server relationships. To do this, use Netlogo language as a tool intends to demonstrate emergent behavior resulting from interactions between agents of the fractal company.


Land subsidence due to slow compaction sediments is one of the most dangerous phenomena in nature. Human activities such as removal of hydrocarbons are among important environmental issues. While traditional mapping can determine the rate of subsidence factors in depression, modern techniques are used to reduce costs and increase quality of the results. The purpose of this study is to obtain reservoir subsidence accurately via INSAR technique in one of Iran's oil fields. The rate of subsidence is significant and that's why it has been studied. The results are quite consistent with the observed changes of the field production data. The results show that the INSAR method can be used extensively in industrial and research projects.


The rate of depletion of plants and animal species in Ghana has assumed an alarming dimension, and the government is finding it difficult to control the process. Several factors account for this. A major one is the neglect of the traditional ecological knowledge prevalent in the culture of Ghana. Sasa is the Akan word for the spirit believed to be found in some plants and animals. This paper examines the role of sasa in flora and fauna conservation in Ghana. Traditional Ghanaians have a strong belief that some plants and animals have special spirits, which when cut (as in the case with plants) or killed (animals) can bring serious harm to the person. Thus, such plants and animals are not eliminated. This paper argues that sasa as an Akan indigenous conservation tool can complement the modern means of nature conservation in Ghana.


The narrative history of playback technology, from the Victrola to MP3: how the technology shapes the music, how the music changes the technology, and how technology drives the business. Suddenly, popular music resembles an alien landscape. The great common ground of 45s, LPs, and even compact discs is rapidly falling by the wayside to be replaced by binary bits of sound. In the 21st century, radical advances in music technology threaten to overshadow the music itself. Indeed, today the generations divide over how they listen to the music, not what kinds of music they enjoy. Playback is the first book to place the staggering history of sound reproduction within its larger social and cultural context. Concisely told via a narrative arc that begins with Edison's cylinder and ends with digital music, this is a history that we have all directly experienced in one way or another. From the Vic trola to the 78 to the 45 to the 33 1/3 to the 8track to the cassette to the compact disc to MP3 and beyond (not to mention everyone from Thomas Edison to Enrico Caruso to Dick Clark to Grandmaster Flash to Napster CEO Shawn Fanning), the story of Playback is also the story of music, and the music business, in the 20th century.


Single-cell transcriptomic approaches are revolutionizing neuroscience. Integrating this wealth of data with morphology and physiology, for the comprehensive study of neuronal biology, requires multiplexing gene expression data with complementary techniques. To meet this need, multiple groups in parallel have developed "Patch-seq," a modification of whole-cell patch-clamp protocols that enables mRNA sequencing of cell contents after electrophysiological recordings from individual neurons and morphologic reconstruction of the same cells. In this review, we first outline the critical technical developments that enabled robust Patch-seq experimental efforts and analytical solutions to interpret the rich multimodal data generated. We then review recent applications of Patch-seq that address novel and long-standing questions in neuroscience. These include the following: (1) targeted study of specific neuronal populations based on their anatomic location, functional properties, lineage, or a combination of these factors; (2) the compilation and integration of multimodal cell type atlases; and (3) the investigation of the molecular basis of morphologic and functional diversity. Finally, we highlight potential opportunities for further technical development and lines of research that may benefit from implementing the Patch-seq technique. As a multimodal approach at the intersection of molecular neurobiology and physiology, Patch-seq is uniquely positioned to directly link gene expression to brain function.


Objectives The aim of this paper is to consider the extent to which generics can be regarded as substitutes for their branded equivalents and whether financial gains achievable are exaggerated given the potential efficiency losses resulting from their adoption when therapeutic equivalence is compromised. Methods The paper considers the literature to assess the extent to which generics can be regarded as therapeutically equivalent and cost saving. Results The evidence that bioequivalence equates to therapeutic equivalence remains inconclusive. The approval processes for generics are less intensive than branded therapies and the extent of their clinical equivalence is not fully assessed, while drugs with a narrow therapeutic index require careful monitoring to ensure that patient benefit is not compromised. In terms of cost savings the perspective employed for such an analysis is crucial. At the individual patient level, differences in acquisition cost might be more than offset by additional costs resulting from further consultations, adverse events or compromises to treatment adherence. For individual conditions, the extent of cost difference is dependent on therapeutic equivalence being as exact as possible. Conclusion Generic substitution is an effective policy in terms of overall cost savings to healthcare budgets. However, it is essential that therapeutic equivalence is not compromised as there are major efficiency losses associated with deficits in treatment efficacy, existence of more adverse effects, increases in patient monitoring and compromised patient adherence to prescribed medication. Further, high quality studies are needed to assess the therapeutic equivalence of branded and generic drugs – and their relative resource utilisation – especially in areas where the evidence is generally weak.


Pesticides applied to bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon L.) can be captured by the canopy, absorbed by the roots, or bound in the thatch layer, which reduces the amount available to leach compared with a fallow soil system where pesticides may be applied directly to soil. 14 C-Simazine was applied to dormant bermudagrass and fallow soil in lysimeters in a cold growth chamber (5°C) (cold-fallow soil) and to actively growing bermudagrass and fallow soil in lysimeters in a greenhouse (25°C) (warm-fallow soil) in April. Following clipping collection, lysimeters were irrigated with 5 cm of water every 3-4 d, and leachate was collected. After 25 d, lysimeters were divided into 2-cm increments from 0 to 10 cm, then 5-cm increments from 10 to 30 cm. Because of evapotranspiration, actively growing bermudagrass and warm-fallow soil yielded significantly less leachate than dormant bermudagrass and cold-fallow soil indicating less moisture is available for downward movement during summer. After the addition of 31 cm of irrigation, the greatest quantities of 14 C-simazine were in the 0- to 2-cm increment for all treatments and decreased with depth. Although the greatest quantities of 14 C-simazine in leachate occurred in dormant bermudagrass, the reached factor was greatest for cold-fallow soil (0.20), followed by dormant bermudagrass (0.17), warm-fallow soil (0.16), and actively growing bermudagrass (0.14). Therefore, simazine is least mobile in bermudagrass during summer and most mobile in fallow soil in winter.


This paper describes the development of a portable potentiostat which can perform square wave voltammetry on electrochemical sensors and wireless transmission of the measured data to a smartphone using Bluetooth. The potentiostat consists of a square wave potential pulse generation circuit for applying the potential pulse to the electrochemical sensor, a reduction/oxidation (or redox) current measurement circuit, and Bluetooth for wireless data transmission to an Android-based smartphone. The measured data are then processed to show the output graph on the smart phone screen in real time. This data transformation into a graph is carried out by developing and installing a simple transformation application software in the Android-based smartphone. This application software also enables the user to set and change the measurement parameters such as the applied voltage range and measured current range at user's convenience. The square voltammetry output data measured with the developed portable potentiostat were almost same as the data of the commercial potentiostat. The measured oxidation peak current with the commercial potentiostat was 11.35 μA at 0.26 V and the measured oxidation peak current with the developed system was 12.38 μA at 0.25 V. This proves that performance of the developed portable measurement system is comparable to the commercial one.


Michele Patruno The Effectiveness of Multicultural Storytelling on Attitudes Toward Different Cultures in the Elementary Classroom 2001 Dr. Randall R. Robinson, thesis advisor Masters of Science in Teaching The purpose of this study was to consider the effects of multicultural storytelling and students' attitudes toward different cultures within the classroom. It was hypothesized that exposure to multicultural storytelling in the classroom with a discussion period to follow will produce positive affitudes toward different cultures as opposed to students who are not exposed to the storytelling. The subjects of the study were fifty-five third grade students from a southern New Jersey suburban school district. The study consisted of an experimental and a control group. Each group was administered a pretest and a posttest to determine if changes took place. A t-test for independent and nonindependent samples, Pearson Correlation, and a sign test were administered to determine if there was a significant difference between the scores in terms of magnitude and direction. The t-tests indicated that there was a slight significance of difference between the scores. The correlation indicated that there were no significant differences in magnitude, however, the sign test showed highly significant differences in the positive direction.


Concentrations of noble metals (Ir, Ru, Rh, Pt, Pd, and Au) in ocean-island basalts from the Cook Islands, Polynesia, were determined by improved fire-assay and tellurium coprecipitation techniques with an inductively-coupled-plasma mass spectrometer. Isotope, major element, and trace element compositions of these basalts indicate that the present samples include distinctive HIMU (high µ = high 238U/204Pb) and normal non-HIMU basalts. Examination based on Ni-Mg-Fe partitioning between olivine and liquid suggests an only minor effect of accumulation of phenocrysts in governing the compositional variations of the present samples. The fractionation trends obtained show monotonic decrease and increase in noble-metal elements with decreasing MgO content in HIMU and non-HIMU basalts, respectively. These characteristic trends indicate that HIMU magmas are differentiated by fractional crystallization and have higher sulfide/silicate ratios than non-HIMU basalts.


The aim of this research was to investigate the agricultural information sources and strategies for disseminating agricultural research findings to farmers in Iringa District, Tanzania. A total of 90 farmers were interviewed by using self-administered questionnaire. The statistical Package for Service Solutions (SPSS) software and Spreadsheet were used as instruments to analyse the findings. Results of this study indicate that radios, church leaders, village leaders and seminars are the main channels of information used by extension officers to disseminate agricultural information to farmers. With regard to strategies the study revealed that, the use of religious leaders and government officials; use of primary school teachers and pupils; non-political interference; repackaging and packaging of technical information reports; deployment of extension officers in rural areas; use of community-based organisations and the establishment of agricultural information boards were the main effective strategies for disseminating agricultural research information to farmers. It is therefore, concluded that radio, church leaders, seminars, Newspapers, brochures and fliers should be intensively used to disseminate agricultural information among farmers so as to raise productivity in their farms. The study suggests that, there is a need to use other disseminators such as influential people, religious leaders, political leaders, primary school teachers and pupils to disseminate such information in addition to repackaging of agricultural research findings to tailor it to the farmers' needs.


This article describes a framework for distributed multimedia retrieval which permits the connection of compliant user interfaces with a variety of multimedia retrieval engines via an open communication protocol, MRML (Multi Media Retrieval Markup Language). It allows the choice of image collection, feature set and query algorithm during run-time, permitting multiple users to query a system adapted to their needs, using the query paradigm adapted to their problem such as query by example (QBE), browsing queries, or query by annotation.

User interaction is implemented over several levels and in diverse ways. Relevance feedback is implemented using positive and negative example images that can be used for a best-match QBE query. In contrast, browsing methods try to approach the searched image by giving overviews of the entire collection and by successive refinement. In addition to these query methods, Long term off line learning is implemented. It allows feature preferences per user, user domain or over all users to be learned automatically.

We present the Viper multimedia retrieval system as the core of the framework and an example of an MRML-compliant search engine. Viper uses techniques adapted from traditional information retrieval (IR) to retrieve multimedia documents, thus benefiting from the many years of IR research. As a result, textual and visual features are treated in the same way, facilitating true multimedia retrieval.

The MRML protocol also allows other applications to make use of the search engines. This can for example be used for the design of a benchmark test suite, querying several search engines in the same way and comparing the results. This is motivated by the fact that the content-based image retrieval community really lacks such a benchmark as it already exists in text retrieval.


The interviews, essays and articles collected in this book span a quarter of a century of Philip Roth's distinguished career and 'reveal a preoccupation with the relationship between the written and the unwritten world.' Here is Roth on himself and his work and the controversies it's engendered. Here too are Roth's writings on the Eastern European writers he has always championed; and on baseball, American fiction, and American Jews. The essential collection of nonfiction by a true master, Reading Myself and Others features his long interview with the Paris Review.


Taking global value chains (GVCs) into account has important implications for trade policy. When production is vertically fragmented and trade in intermediate inputs is prevalent, one has to look differently at a certain number of issues. Through case studies, this paper provides new evidence on the incidence on services of tariffs levied on goods (case study 1) and then discusses effective rates of protection in a world of GVCs and what the removal of tariffs on intermediate inputs implies, using the example of Canada (case study 2). To illustrate how trade agreements could be made more relevant for GVCs, the paper further looks at sectoral approaches in trade negotiations through the example of the Information Technology Agreement (case study 3) and finally compares the network of regional trade agreements in force with global production networks (case study 4).


This contribution illustrates recent efforts in the research project SEMERGY, a computational environment, which incorporates semantic web technologies to support building design and refurbishment optimization. A major part of the necessary information for energy efficient building planning is implicitly available in the World Wide Web. However, this theoretically valuable repository of information cannot be practically used, given its ill-structured nature. SEMERGY addresses this very problem through a number of developments. Specifically, SEMERGY: 1) embeds a comprehensive building data model, 2) incorporates an Ontology for building product data, 3) deploys a rule-based logic for identification of valid building construction alternatives, 4) provides an easy-to-use optimization procedure evaluating energy demand, environmental impact, and investment costs of alternatives, and 5) offers a web-based Graphical User Interface. The present contribution provides a general overview of the whole project and documents the state of its development.


We present an analysis of the radial profiles of a sample of 43 HI-flux selected spiral galaxies from the Nearby Galaxies Legacy Survey (NGLS) with resolved James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) CO $J=3-2$ and/or Very Large Array (VLA) HI maps. Comparing the Virgo and non-Virgo populations, we confirm that the HI disks are truncated in the Virgo sample, even for these relatively HI-rich galaxies. On the other hand, the H$_{2}$ distribution is enhanced for Virgo galaxies near their centres, resulting in higher H$_{2}$ to HI ratios and steeper H$_{2}$ and total gas radial profiles. This is likely due to the effects of moderate ram pressure stripping in the cluster environment, which would preferentially remove low density gas in the outskirts while enhancing higher density gas near the centre. Combined with H$\alpha$ star formation rate data, we find that the star formation efficiency (SFR/H$_{2}$) is relatively constant with radius for both samples, but Virgo galaxies have a $\sim40\%$ lower star formation efficiency than non-Virgo galaxies.


In this dissertation, a novel self-repair approach based on Consensus Based Evaluation (CBE) for autonomous repair of SRAM-based Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) is developed, evaluated, and refined. An initial population of functionally identical (same input-output behavior), yet physically distinct (alternative design or place-and-route realization) FPGA configurations is produced at design time. During run-time, the CBE approach ranks these alternative configurations after evaluating their discrepancy relative to the consensus formed by the population. Through runtime competition, faults in the logical resources become occluded from the visibility of subsequent FPGA operations. Meanwhile, offspring formed through crossover and mutation of faulty and viable configurations are selected at a controlled re-introduction rate for evaluation and refurbishment. Refurbishments are evolved in-situ, with online real-time input-based performance evaluation, enhancing system availability and sustainability, creating an Organic Embedded System (OES).
A fault tolerance model called N Modular Redundancy with Standby (NMRSB) is developed which combines the two popular fault tolerance techniques of NMR and Standby fault tolerance in order to facilitate the CBE approach. This dissertation develops two of instances of the NMRSB system—Triple Modular Redundancy with Standby (TMRSB) and Duplex with Standby (DSB). A hypothetical Xilinx Virtex-II Pro FPGA model demonstrates their viability for various applications including a 3-bit x 3-bit multiplier, and the MCNC91 benchmark circuits. Experiments conducted on the model evaluate the performance of three new genetic operators and demonstrate progress towards a completely self-contained single-chip implementation so that the FPGA can refurbish itself without requiring a PC host to execute the Genetic Algorithm.
This dissertation presents results from the simulations of multiple applications with a CBE model implemented in the C++ programming language. Starting with an initial population of 20 and 30 viable configurations for TMRSB and DSB respectively, a single stuck-at fault is introduced in the logic resources. Fault refurbishment experiments are conducted under supervision of CBE using a fitness state evaluation function based on competing outputs, fitness adjustment, and different level threshold. The device remains online throughout the process by which a complete repair is realized with Hamming Distance and Bitweight voting schemes. The results indicate a Hamming Distance TMRSB approach can prevent the most pervasive fault impacts and realize complete refurbishment. Experimental results also show that the Autonomic Layer demonstrates 100% faulty component isolation for both Functional Elements (FEs) and Autonomous Elements (AEs) with randomly injected single and multiple faults. Using logic circuits from the MCNC-91 benchmark set, availability during repair phases averaged 75.05%, 82.21%, and 65.21% for the z4ml, cm85a, and cm138a circuits respectively under stated conditions. In addition to simulation, the proposed OES architecture synthesized from HDL was prototyped on a Xilinx Virtex II Pro FPGA device supporting partial reconfiguration to demonstrate the feasibility for intrinsic regeneration of the selected circuit.


By now, the story of the great rise of stock prices in the late 1990s and their great fall in the early 2000s seems clear. In the late 1990s, exuberant investors lifted P/E ratios to levels much higher—and pressed dividend yields to levels much lower—than their historical averages. True to form, stock prices fell in the early 2000s. By now, the lesson seems equally clear: Sell stocks when P/E ratios go above their historical average or when dividend yields go below their historical average. But is this lesson a good one? Statman argues that it is not. In a 2005 study, Fisher and Statman adopted the perspective of market timers, who search for P/E and dividend-based trading rules to guide them in switching from U.S. stocks to bills and back to stocks—such that they accumulate more than the sums accumulated by buy-and-hold stock investors. In this article, Statman follows with a study of market timing in three additional markets: U.K., Germany, and Japan. If P/E and dividend-based trading rules can be used to reliably time the market, such rules should work in similar fashion in all major developed markets. However, we find that they do not.


KOC has undertaken an initiative to generate a regional in situ stress map for 23 Kuwait oil and gas fields using the data from more than 400 wells. Key objectives of this project are to integrate all available well data sources from these fields to derive the in situ stress orientation and also to create an interactive digital stress map supported by sub-surface structural geological data including formation seismic horizons, faults and well markers with the help of visualization software. In this way, the outcome of this project is available as an interactive geomechanical knowledge base which can be viewed at regional scale. The results of this project indicate that the maximum principal stress azimuth in Cretaceous formations is consistent with the regional Zagros tectonics and it is more or less uniform N45° (±10°) E direction even across major fault systems. However the sub-salt Jurassic formations exhibit high variability in stress orientation across faults as well as in the vicinity of fracture corridors. In addition to the patterns seen in stress orientation, the geomechanical models from each field exhibited that the Gotnia Salt is mechanically decoupling the highly stressed, strong, Jurassic formations from shallower, relatively lower stressed and weaker Cretaceous formations. It was also found that these stress anomalies in Jurassic formations coincide with associated fault and fracture corridors which appear to be critically stressed. Characterizing critically stressed fractures at the wellbore scale provided an understanding of possible permeable fracture sets that could contribute to gas flow. This paper discusses detailed results of the regional stress distribution patterns including innovative criteria developed to manage quality control of stress orientation data, correlation between stress anomalies and structural geological elements in Kuwait and also covers insights developed for exploration and development strategies of deep gas reservoirs in Kuwait.


Bulk heterojuntion organic solar cells (BHJ OSCs) have gained much attraction in recent years. These solar cells have layered geometric structure and optimization of each layer is essential to achieve the overall performance of the device. Active layer consisting of donor and acceptor material is sandwiched between two electrodes. In order to improve the device stability and efficiency, often interfacial layers, namely electron and hole transport layers, between the active layer and electrodes are introduced. Poly (3.4-ethylenedioxythiophene): Poly (styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) is most commonly applied hole transport layer (HTL) in OSCs. However, it limits the device performance due to its highly hygroscopic and acidic nature which arise reliability issues while reducing the cell life drastically. Metal oxides have been proved to be a good alternative to it. These metal oxides improve the device efficiency comparable with standard HTL and at the same time they substantially enhance cell stability. The aim of this work is to optimize the hole transport layer by using different metal oxides such as vanadium pentaoxide (V2O5) by improving its structural, optical, and electrical properties. V2O5 has been extensively studied as a promising candidate for charge extraction and transportation because of its exceptional electronic properties. It proved to be more stable due to its good transparency, low resistance and better adhesions to the active layer. The novelty of our study is to develop a highly controllable, reproducible and cost effective fabrication technique to build our device with poly [N-9'-heptadecanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4',7'-di-2-thienyl-2',1',3'-benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT), and (6,6)-Phenyl C71 butyric acid methyl ester (PC71BM) based active layer yielding high stability and efficiency. This work is focused on improving the device stability along with the efficiency which has not been explored much to date. In this work, we demonstrate the fabrication of PCDTBT:PC71BM based bulk heterojunction solar cells with two variants of hole transport layer (HTL) in different fabrication atmospheres. Device with standard PEDOT:PSS hole transport layer has been compared with its organic-inorganic (V2O5 in PEDOT:PSS) hybrid variant in terms of efficiency and life time stability when they are fabricated in controlled mode in the nitrogen filled atmosphere and an ambient mode in the presence of oxygen and 65% relative humidity (RH). Vanadium pentaoxide (V2O5) nanoparticles, synthesized by co precipitation method, are mixed in PEDOT:PSS layer to form an organic-inorganic hybrid HTL. Both variant of hole transport layer are further characterised for their structural and optical properties to optimise these fundamental properties to ensure highly stable and efficient solar cell. Normalized efficiencies are calculated as a function of time for life time stability tests of both types of devices fabricated in both atmospheric modes. The best performance is achieved for a device with hybrid HTL fabricated in controlled mode where the life time stability has improved from 70% to 94% over one week period and from 65% to 90% over four week time when they are compared with their standard PEDOT:PSS HTL counterpart. Our results confirm that fabrication environment play a key role in device performance in terms of stability and efficiency along with the improvement brought by addition of V2O5 nanoparticles in the pristine PEDOT:PSS hole transport layer. Keywords: Hole transport layer; Organic solar cells; PEDOT:PSS; Stability; V2O5


Effective treatments for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) already exist in the form of cognitive processing therapy (CPT) and prolonged exposure therapy (PE). However, common symptoms of PTSD, like depression and avoidance, make finding and engaging patients in these treatments difficult. We have designed SAGA, an online game to help veterans suffering from PTSD. SAGA works to illustrate and educate players about effective therapy so they can successfully engage in evidence-based treatment. SAGA allows players to create and repeatedly edit stories to illustrate how exposure therapy works. This chapter presents the game design choices made to motivate and engage players with PTSD and reports the results of a small pilot study. We also present the design of our upcoming clinical trial, which will determine SAGA's effectiveness in changing attitudes toward evidence based PTSD therapy.