OBJECTIVE
To understand in detail the mechanisms of autoantibody production in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), we performed a comprehensive analysis of the normal human immunoglobulin light chain V(lambda) repertoire and compared it with the V(lambda) repertoire in SLE patients.

METHODS
The SLE V(lambda) repertoire of B cells obtained from 3 SLE patients was analyzed and compared in detail with the V(lambda) repertoire of IgM+ B cells obtained from 3 human fetal spleens and IgM+,CD5+ B cells obtained from 2 normal adults. Conventional IgM+,CD5- B cells obtained from normal adults were used as controls. V(lambda)-J(lambda) rearrangements were amplified from the genomic DNA of individual B cells by polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS
The expressed V(lambda) repertoire of SLE patients contained several similarities with the expressed repertoire of the fetus and the adult CD5+ B cells. The V(lambda) genes 3L and 1G were overexpressed in the fetus, the adult CD5+ B cells, and the patients with SLE. The selection for rearrangements with restricted junctional diversity by utilization of homology-mediated joining, together with diminished N nucleotide addition, was a prominent feature of fetal, adult CD5+, and SLE B cell repertoires. Furthermore, profound expansion of V(lambda) clones with identical third complementarity-determining regions was observed in the adult CD5+, fetal, and SLE B cell repertoires. Notably, significant numbers of expanded adult CD5+ B cells, fetal, and SLE V(lambda) clones utilized homology-mediated joining at the V(lambda)-J(lambda) junctions.

CONCLUSION
These data demonstrate that the SLE V(lambda)-J(lambda) repertoire manifests characteristics of normal adult IgM+,CD5+ and fetal B cell populations that are known to be enriched for the production of natural autoantibodies.


Public transportation (e.g., buses) can provide more efficient urban transportation systems by carrying more people in the same space. A commonly used solution to prioritize this mode is to dedicate a lane for bus use only. However, the changes in system capacity are not clear for the use of a dedicated bus lane instead of completely mixed-use lanes. Even if the capacity of the dedicated bus lane were not fully used, this strategy could still increase car capacity in the remaining lanes in two ways: (a) buses traveling on a separate lane would eliminate conflicting bus maneuvers and (b) the reduced number of lanes available for cars could reduce the number of lane changes and could smooth traffic. This paper empirically analyzes differences in car capacity between (a) a mixed-use scenario without the influence of buses and a dedicated-lane scenario and (b) a mixed-use scenario with and without buses. Results show that with mixed-use lanes the car capacity per lane remains the same as compared with a dedicated-lane scenario. However, in mixed-use conditions, the presence of a bus in traffic flow can reduce capacity by 20%. Based on these findings, a simple analysis is carried out to compare passenger delay at urban signalized intersections with a mixed use versus dedicated bus lane. It is shown that passenger delay can be reduced with use of dedicated bus lanes if bus occupancies are relatively high or if car demand is low.


In the annals of World War II, the role of America's British allies in the Pacific Theater has been largely ignored. Nicholas Sarantakes now revisits this seldom-studied chapter to depict the delicate dance among uneasy partners in their fight against Japan, offering the most detailed assessment ever published of the U.S. alliance with Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Sarantakes examines Britain's motivations for participating in the invasion of Japan, the roles envisioned by its Commonwealth nations, and the United States' decision to accept their participation. He shows how the interests of all allies were served by maintaining the coalition, even in the face of disputes between nations, between civilian and military leaders, and between individual services - and that allied participation, despite its diplomatic importance, limited the efficiency of final operations against Japan. Sarantakes describes how Churchill favored British-led operations to revive the colonial empire, while his generals argued that Britain would be further marginalized if it didn't fight alongside the United States in the assault on Japan's home islands Meanwhile, Commonwealth partners, preoccupied with their own security concerns, saw an opportunity to support the mother country in service of their own separatist ambitions. And even though the United States called the shots, it welcomed allies to share the predicted casualties of an invasion. Sarantakes takes readers into the halls of both civil and military power in all five nations to show how policies and actions were debated, contested, and resolved. He not only describes the participation of major heads of state but also brings in lesser-known Commonwealth figures, plus a cast of military leaders including General of the Army Douglas MacArthur and Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz on the American side and Admiral of the Fleet Sir Andrew Cunningham and Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke on the British. He also paints vivid scenes of battle, including the attack of the British Pacific Fleet on Japan and ground fighting on Okinawa. Deftly blending diplomatic, political, and military history encompassing naval, air, and land forces, Sarantakes' work reveals behind-the-scenes political factors in warfare alliances and explains why the Anglo-America coalition survived World War II when it had collapsed after World War I.


This thesis treats the classical simulation of strongly-interacting many-body quantum-mechanical systems in more than one dimension using matrix product states and the more general tensor product states.
Contrary to classical systems, quantum many-body systems possess an exponentially larger number of degrees of freedom, thereby significantly complicating their numerical treatment on a classical computer.

For this thesis two different representations of quantum many-body states were employed.
The first, the so-called matrix product states (MPS) form the basis for the extremely successful density matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm.
While originally conceived for one-dimensional systems, MPS are in principle capable of describing arbitrary quantum many-body states.
Using concepts from quantum information theory it is possible to show that MPS provide a representation of one-dimensional quantum systems that scales polynomially in the number of particles, therefore allowing an efficient simulation of one-dimensional systems on a classical computer.
One of the key results of this thesis is that MPS representations are indeed efficient enough to describe even large systems in two dimensions, thereby enabling the simulation of such systems using DMRG.

As a demonstration of the power of the DMRG algorithm, it is applied to the Heisenberg antiferromagnet with spin $S = 1/2$ on the kagome lattice.
This model's ground state has long been under debate, with proposals ranging from static spin configurations to so-called quantum spin liquids, states where quantum fluctuations destroy conventional order and give rise to exotic quantum orders.
Using a fully $SU(2)$-symmetric implementation allowed us to handle the exponential growth of entanglement and to perform a large-scale study of this system, finding the ground state for cylinders of up to 700 sites.
Despite employing a one-dimensional algorithm for a two-dimensional system, we were able to compute the spin gap (i.e. the energy gap to the first spinful excitation) and study the ground state properties, such as the decay of correlation functions, the static spin structure factors, and the structure and distribution of the nearest-neighbor spin-spin correlations.
Additionally, by applying a new tool from quantum information theory, the topological entanglement entropy, we could also with high confidence demonstrate the ground state of this model to be the elusive gapped $Z_2$ quantum spin liquid with topological order.

To complement this study, we also considered the extension of MPS to higher dimensions, known as tensor product states (TPS).
We implemented an optimization algorithm exploiting symmetries for this class of states and applied it to the bilinear-biquadratic-bicubic Heisenberg model with spin $S=3/2$ on the $z=3$ Bethe lattice.
By carefully analyzing the simulation data we were able to determine the presence of both conventional and symmetry-protected topological order in this model, thereby demonstrating the analytically predicted existence of the Haldane phase in higher dimensions within an extended region of the phase diagram.
Key properties of this symmetry-protected topological order include a doubling of the levels in the entanglement spectrum and the presence of edge spins, both of which were confirmed in our simulations.
This finding simultaneously validated the applicability of the novel TPS algorithms to the search for exotic order.


ABSTRACT Open Access (OA) has many tendrils running across the wider research information landscape. There are more researchers, organizations, and systems than ever before engaging with (or being asked to engage with) OA throughout the research ecosystem. However, too often OA activities and processes within repositories remain siloed from research information management systems (RIMS) and tasks, creating an undue burden of time and duplicating effort, thereby undermining the overall effectiveness of OA. By investing in interoperable metadata standards and practices, and creating a networked landscape of systems and community, technology ecosystems can be created that encourage researchers to make even more of their research open while streamlining research information management activities. By unifying the community around a more sustainable, systems-agnostic approach focused on flexible interoperability, it is possible to create an environment in which organizations can choose the tools relevant to their needs, bring those tools together in a complementary dynamic, and maximize data reuse.


On some occasions, it is the hard sweat and toil of palaeontologists labouring in the field at carefully planned excavation sites that yields the prize specimen on which careers are built. On other occasions, it is the chance discovery by an amateur collector that may yield that special fossil. We present an account of one such remarkable fossil discovery by an eccentric farmer in southern Sweden. However, more remarkable is that this exceptional fossil remained unstudied and largely unnoticed in a major museum for almost 40 years, before its true significance was realised.


This paper addresses canonical correlation analysis of two-channel data, when channel covariances are estimated from a limited number of samples, and are not necessarily full-rank. We show that empirical canonical correlations measure the cosines of the principal angles between the row spaces of the data matrices for the two channels. When the number of samples is smaller than the sum of the ranks of the two data matrices, some of the empirical canonical correlations become one, regardless of the two-channel model that generates the samples. In such cases, the empirical canonical correlations may not be used as estimates of correlation between random variables.


Acrosomal development in the early spermatid of the rufous hare wallaby shows evidence of formation of an acrosomal granule, similar to that found in eutherian mammals, the Phascolarctidae and Vombatidae. Unlike the other members of the Macropodidae so far examined, the acrosome of this species appears to be fully compacted at spermiation and extends evenly over 90% of the dorsal aspect of the nucleus. During spermiogenesis, the nucleus of the rufous hare wallaby spermatid showed evidence of uneven condensation of chromatin; this may also be related to the appearance of unusual nucleoplasm evaginations from the surface of the fully condensed spermatid. This study was unable to find evidence of the presence of Sertoli cell spurs or nuclear rotation during spermiogenesis in the rufous hare wallaby. The majority of spermatozoa immediately before spermiation had a nucleus that was essentially perpendicular to the long axis of the sperm tail. Nuclei of spermatozoa found in the process of being released or isolated in the lumen of the seminiferous tubule were rotated almost parallel to the long axis of the flagellum; complete parallel alignment occurred during epididymal maturation. At spermiation spermatozoa have characteristically small cytoplasmic remnants compared to those of other macropods. Unlike the majority of macropodid spermatozoa so far described, the spermatozoa of the rufous hare wallaby showed little evidence of morphological change during epididymal transit. There was no formation of a fibre network around the midpiece or of plasma membrane specializations in this region; the only notable change was a distinctive flattening of midpiece mitochondria and scalloping of the anterior mitochondrial sheath to accommodate the sperm head. Preliminary evidence from spermiogenesis and epididymal sperm maturation supports the classification of the rufous hare wallaby as a separate genus but also indicates that its higher taxonomic position may need to be re-evaluated.


BACKGROUND
There is no national protocol for the use of light therapy in bipolar depression. AIM: The chronotherapy collaboration group of the Foundation for Bipolar Disorders intended to write a protocol for light therapy in bipolar depressive episodes. METHOD: Narrative review of several systematic reviews, two clinician's guides and deliberation with the sub-commission Guidelines of the Dutch Ophthalmologic Society. RESULTS: The following indication was established: depressive episode, with or without seasonal features, in bipolar I or II disorder, including subsyndromal (depressive) seasonal complaints. The list of relative contra-indications (pre-existent retinal illnesses, systemic illnesses with effect on the retina and use of photosensitive medication) was shortened. In this case the medical professional discusses the possibility of an ophthalmologic consultation with the patient. Use of a mood stabilizer/antimanic medication in order to prevent mania or a mixed episode is only necessary in a depressive episode in bipolar I, but not in bipolar II disorder. Standard treatment is 10.000 lux white light during 30 minutes in the morning. CONCLUSION: There is sufficient evidence to propose light therapy in a bipolar depressive episode with or without seasonal features.


Abstract The beauty studio is a place of work where a beautician and her customers spend several hours, hence, it has to meet certain basic hygiene requirements so as to provide employees and customers conditions that keep them safe and healthy. The main dangers to which beauticians are exposed, are of physical, chemical, biological and psychophysical nature. Therefore, it is important to draw employees' attention to the possible effects of the particular dangers and risks that come about when there is lack of the use of appropriate preventive measures.


Everything you need to know to start creating native applications for the iPhone and iPod Touch The iPhone SDK and the Xcode tools are the official Apple tools used for creating native iPhone applications. This information-packed book presents a complete introduction to the iPhone SDK and the Xcode tools, as well as the Objective-C language that is necessary to create these native applications. Solid coverage and real-world examples walk you through the process for developing mobile applications for the iPhone that can then be distributed through Apple's iTunes Application store. The hands-on approach shows you how to develop your first iPhone application while getting you acquainted with the iPhone SDK and the array of Xcode tools. A thorough tutorial on the features and syntax of the Objective-C language helps you get the most out of the iPhone SDK, and an in-depth look at the features of the iPhone SDK enables you to maximize each of these features in your applications. Provides an introductory look at how the iPhone SDK and Xcode tools work with the Objective-C language to create native iPhone applications Familiarizes you with the latest version of the iPhone SDK and the newest Xcode tools that ship with Snow Leopard Walks you through developing your first iPhone applications Focuses on the features and syntax of the Objective-C language so that you can get the most out of the iPhone SDK With this hands-on guide, you'll quickly get started developing applications for the iPhone with both the iPhone SDK and the latest Xcode tools. Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.


Abstract A new numerical method is described for the fully iterated, conjugate solution of two discrete submodels, involving (a) a transport network model for heat, moisture, and airflows in a high-permeability, air-filled cavity; and (b) a variably saturated fractured porous medium. The transport network submodel is an integrated-parameter, computational fluid dynamics solver, describing the thermal-hydrologic transport processes in the flow channel system of the cavity with laminar or turbulent flow and convective heat and mass transport, using MULTIFLUX. The porous medium submodel, using TOUGH2, is a solver for the heat and mass transport in the fractured rock mass. The new model solution extends the application fields of TOUGH2 by integrating it with turbulent flow and transport in a discrete flow network system. We present demonstrational results for a nuclear waste repository application at Yucca Mountain with the most realistic model assumptions and input parameters including the geometrical layout of the nuclear spent fuel and waste with variable heat load for the individual containers. The MULTIFLUX and TOUGH2 model elements are fully iterated, applying a programmed reprocessing of the Numerical Transport Code Functionalization model-element in an automated Outside Balance Iteration loop. The natural, convective airflow field and the heat and mass transport in a representative emplacement drift during postclosure are explicitly solved in the new model. The results demonstrate that the direction and magnitude of the air circulation patterns and all transport modes are strongly affected by the heat and moisture transport processes in the surrounding rock, justifying the need for a coupled, fully iterated model solution such as the one presented in the paper.


The treatment of industrial liquid wastes is placed in a wide context of technologies and is related to the high variability of the influent physical-chemical characteristics. In this condition, the achievement of satisfactory biological unit efficiency could be complicated. An alternate process (AC) with aerobic and anoxic phases fed in a continuous way was evaluated as an operative solution to optimize the performance of the biological reactor in a platform for the treatment of industrial liquid wastes. The process application has determined a stable quality effluent with an average concentration of 25 mg TN L(-1), according to the law limits. The use of discharged wastewaters as rapid carbon sources to support the anoxic phase of the alternate cycle, realizes a reduction of TN of 95% without impact on the total operative costs. The evaluation of the micro-pollutants behaviour has highlighted a bio-adsorption phenomenon in the first reactor. The implementation of the process defined 31% of energy saving during period 1 and 19% for the periods 2, 3 and 4.


In this thesis we address the problem of integrating general purpose programming languages with relational databases. An approach to solving this problem is using raw strings to represent SQL statements. This approach leads to runtime errors and security vulnerabilities like SQL injection. The second approach is integrating the query in a host language. The most well-known example of the second approach is LINQ. This approach provides static checking of types and syntax during compilation. This thesis presents an embedded query language in Scala, namely Shadow Embedding in Slick. Shadow Embedding provides even stronger compile-time guarantees than LINQ and similar systems in Scala. The experimental results show that the performance of our approach is very similar to the case of using raw Strings, thanks to static code analysis and clever code caching.


Over thirty years ago, in a Comment in the Harvard Law Review, Laurence Tribe created what he termed the "testimonial triangle" as a framework for analyzing difficult definitional and theoretical issues raised by the hearsay rule. Today, a new hearsay problem demands a new triangle. The widespread use of expert testimony at trial has altered the shape of criminal and civil litigation. Much expert testimony rests, in whole or in part, upon inadmissible hearsay. Worse, the inadmissible hearsay is often hidden: through the vehicle of the expert's opinion, stealth hearsay sneaks into the jury box under the constitutional radar. This practice raises fundamental questions about our most basic constitutional Due Process rights, about the proper role of expertise at trial, and indeed about the very nature of our system of jury decision-making. It also forces us to question the conflicting paradigms of trust and distrust that bear on the treatment of expert opinion testimony. By drawing together three heretofore disconnected areas of constitutional and evidentiary law, this Article offers some answers to these questions. The Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment, the constitutional right to trial by jury, and the Daubert framework for admissibility of "expert testimony triangulate" at the point of expert reliance on inadmissible testimonial hearsay. In constructing a new expert testimonial triangle, this Article follows Tribe's example, seeking to reframe the problem of expert opinion testimony and offering a new lens through which to understand the larger issues. Now the important thing and the only important thing to notice is that the expert has taken the jury's place if they believe him.


After reviewing recent work on the feasibility of taxing capital gains on accrual or in an equivalent manner. This paper develops and presents simulations of a model of household behavior. aimed at assessing the efficiency effects of this and other tax reforms, The model accounts for the portfolio choice and intertemporal consumption distortions that capital gains taxes induce under current law. Among the simulation results are; 1. Eliminating the "lock-in" effect through a revenue-neutral move to accrual taxation causes national saving to decline, as households face a lower tax on present consumption from appreciated assets and. by reallocating existing wealth more efficiently, need to save less for future contingencies. Despite reducing saving, however. such a reform increases economic efficiency. 2. A simple reduction in the rate of capital gains taxation reduces national saving even for very high intertemporal elasticities of substitution, because of the additional income effect associated with reduced taxes on previously accumulated gains and the more efficient reallocation of existing wealth. However, making the tax cut prospective. although increasing saving. delays portfolio rebalancing and need not improve efficiency.


Background In 2015, a series of scandals exposed aggressive fundraising practices by charities that had caused distress to donors. In contrast, business has understood that the customer experience is vital to their success (Bitner & Brown, 2008; Lusch, Vargo & O'Brien, 2007; Martin, 1999). Services marketing theory describes the role of the customer in 'co-creating' their experience to increase customer satisfaction (Grönroos, 1994). Fundraisers now recognise that how donors feel about their experience of fundraising is crucial. Community fundraising is driven by donors who organise and deliver their own fundraising events and experiences. But there is a gap in our knowledge about the role donors play in creating their own experience and the effect on donor satisfaction. Aim To examine whether academic models derived from services marketing literature can be applied to community and supporter-led fundraising to improve the donor experience. In particular, we examine the concept of value and the role of the donor in value creation. Methods A literature review was conducted which highlighted the limited research available. Consequently, an exploratory approach was adopted. Empirical primary data was captured through a series of interviews at case study organisations. Three case studies were identified within a specific typology of organisation: hospice charities that fundraise using similar techniques within their local communities. Results The concept of value-in-use described by Grönroos (1994) and the role of the donor as an independent creator of value in the customer sphere (Grönroos & Voima, 2013) was supported by the research and can be applied to the donor experience. Conclusion It has never been more important for fundraisers to deliver an excellent donor experience. Fundraisers must employ coaching and facilitation skills to empower supporters to create value. Further research is required to ascertain how managers of fundraising can deliver service encounters and tangible resources that best facilitate the creation of value for the donor.


This study evaluates the risk for CO2 leakage from a storage site using a risk assessment criterion, the safety index, which considers the contributions of residual gas, solubility, ionic, and mineral trapping mechanisms. We present a case of CO2 storage in a deep saline aquifer in Yutengping (YTP) sandstone, Tiehchanshan (TCS) field, Taiwan. The numerical method was used to estimate the amount of different CO2 phases sequestered by the various trapping mechanisms. The CO2 injection rate was 1 million tons per year for 20 years. The total simulation time was 1000 years. In the case of down-dip well injection, the safety index was 0.77 at the storage time of 1000 years and much higher than the safety index of 0.45 for the up-dip well. More mobile supercritical CO2 had to be sealed using a caprock in the up-dip well injection case. Injecting CO2 using a down-dip well is a better engineering strategy because the safety index is higher. Article history: Received 3 March 2012 Accepted 20 August 2015


We present a comparative study of electrical and optical properties of two types of p+-i-n+ photodetectors based on self-assembled ensembles of vertical InP nanowires (NWs) monolithically grown on InP. The detectors differ in the type of p+ contact, one detector geometry has p+-i-n+ segments integrated into the NWs (type A) while the other detector has i-n+ NW segments grown directly on a p+ substrate(type B). The samples were prepared by first depositing 80 nm Au nanoparticles on a p+ InP substrate using an aerosol technique and subsequently growing NWs using MOVPE. The NWs have a polytypecrystal structure of alternating wurtzite and zincblende segments. The processing of the detectors include deposition of SiO2, followed by an etching step to remove the oxide from the tip of the NWs, and finally sputtering of ITO on 1x1 mm2 device areas. The two most prominent differences between the detectors concern the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics and the spatial location of generated photocurrent. From spectrally resolved photocurrent measurements, we conclude that the photocurrent in detector type A is primarily generated in the NWs, whereas the photocurrent in type B detectors mainly stems from the substrate. Photogenerated carriers in the substrate diffuse to the NWs where they are effectively funnelled into the NWs. The I-V characteristics of the type A detector displays a non-trivial transport behaviour for forward biases, whereas type B shows excellent rectifying behavior with an ideality factor of about 2.5. We will discuss detailed analysis of the spectral fingerprints of the two detector types revealing the mixed crystal phase of the polytype NWs and bandstructure effects, temperature dependence of the I-V characteristics and typical photodetector parameters.


This paper provides an analysis of the link between the oil market and the U.S. stock market returns at the aggregate as well as industry levels. We empirically model oil price changes as driven by speculative demand shocks along with consumption demand and supply shocks in the oil market. We also take into account in our model all the factors that affect stock market price movements over and above the oil market, in order to quantify the pure effect of oil price shocks on returns. The results show that stock returns respond to oil price shocks differently, depending on the causes behind the shocks. Impulse response analysis suggests that consumption demand shocks are the most relevant drivers of the stock market return, relative to other oil market driven shocks. Industry level analysis is performed to control for the heterogeneity of the responses of returns to oil price changes. The results show that both cost side and demand side effects of oil price shocks matter for the responses of industries to oil price shocks. However, the main driver of the variation in industries' returns is the shock to aggregate stock market.


This article reveals the median financial results for the club industry for 2011 using 24 financial ratios. The results are based on the submission of balance sheet and selected income statement numbers from 80 clubs. The ratios are reported as median results for the entire sample as well as the median results for the top and low performing clubs delineated by return on assets. The biggest differences between the two extreme groups of clubs are (1) average collection period, (2) operating cash flows to current liabilities and long-term debt, (3) fines interest earned, (4) fixed charge coverage ratio, (5) food and beverage inventory turnovers, (6) profit margin, (7) return on assets, (8) operating efficiency ratio, (9) labor cost percentage.


The storm season of 2005, with the indelible images of Hurricane Katrina stuck in our minds forever, left much of the Gulf Coast devastated. The aftermath of the storm also caused serious damage to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP or the Program), which provides federally subsidized flood insurance to communities participating in the Program. Following the storms of 2005, many home and building owners and insurance companies began to disagree about the terms of their agreements and the cause of damage upon these structures. The main point of dispute was whether damage could be attributed strictly to flooding, to wind, or to a combination of both. In an effort to eliminate similar disputes and to enhance the ability for home and business owners to obtain relief for their losses, lawmakers have proposed including wind coverage within the NFIP. This Note will examine the NFIP and the idea of adding multiple peril coverage to the Program. This Note will attempt to explain why adding wind coverage to the NFIP will only further exacerbate the problems for an already fiscally irresponsible program.


Global competition is increasing, that situation force many economic players to be superior to win the market. Hence, every single firm within national industry should have a competitive advantage to be survived in this chaotic global competition. One of the world large industry is a spinning industry and recently the Indonesian spinning industry performance has been declining. This phenomenon exists because the national spinning industry doesn't have a competitive advantage to succeed and survive in the tight global competition. To anticipate the decline and to promote the industry sustainability, the spinning industry should reengineer its marketing strategy, especially to be more responsive in creating and utilizing opportunity, as well as, in anticipating threats in the marketing environment. The spinning industry strategy on market segmenting, targeting, positioning, and marketing mix should consider the raw material supplier as well as its business customer. Hence, the industry could synergize all factors to improve the industry/firm performance that can be resulted on the increase of sales volume. This research focus on how spinning industry/firm can create its competitive advantage from the perspective of marketing management, especially on examining the influence of raw material supplies and the business customer requirement to segmenting, targeting, positioning, and marketing mix strategy with its implication on the sales volume. The observation unit is spinning industry/firms which are stated as the member of Indonesian Textile Association in Java Regi on . The research result shows that the number of spinning firms is greater than the number of raw material supplier. This situation creates the scarcity of raw material, so the supplier has stronger bargaining position power than the spinning firm. Consequently, the supplier has more ability to control the provision of  raw material, such as: the number of fiber, the quality, the price, and the sustainability of delivery. The provision of raw material supplies and customer requirements are the two factors that have a strong and significant influence to product-market strategy and marketing mix. Those two factors also have a strong and significant influence to the sales volume. Between the two factors, the supplies have the most significant influence to the sales volume. The major indicators that contribute the most significant influence to the sales volume are the price and quality as the indicators of supplies; and the accesibility to understand customer wants and demands as the indicator of the customer requirement. In determining market segmentation, the spinning firms are not only have to consider the profitability proxy but also the accesibility in executing the marketing program. The segmentation should be determined based on the firms capability and availability of resources. Thus, the firms could provide their customer requirements. Increasing product differentiation and variation that are required by the customers has also be fitted to the competitor strategy and consumer characteristics. Keyword s : s pinning, raw material supply, business customer requirements, product - market strategy, marketing mix and sales


This article studies the performances of publicly traded real estate companies (real estate investment trusts and listed property companies) from 14 countries covering North America, Europe, and Asia as proxied by FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Global Real Estate Indexes over the period from 2000 to 2015. We implement robust normalized risk-adjusted performance measures and compare nine performance indicators before, during, and after the global financial crisis (GFC). Our findings show that the GFC had a huge impact on the ranking of internationally listed real estate securities' relative performance. The study also stresses the importance of applying various performance measures to get a full picture of internationally listed real estate returns.


This thesis focuses on the commissioning and characterization of HARMONIUM, an ultrafast tunable EUV source based on high-harmonic generation for performing photoelectron spectroscopy of liquids. In ultrafast photoelectron spectroscopy a short pump pulse induces an excited state in a molecular system while a time-delayed short pulse interrogates the electronic distribution of the transient species. This method is an important tool in photochemistry as it combines features like element specificity and surface sensitivity with the absence of forbidden transitions and the ability to retrieve absolute binding energies. Ultrafast photoelectron spectroscopy of liquid media became possible by combining efficient turbomolecular pumping with a liquid micro jet in vacuum from which collisionless evaporation takes place. In HARMONIUM, it is possible to choose between high energy (up to 0.16 eV) or high temporal (up to 40 fs) resolution modes by selecting one of the 4 different gratings in a pulse-preserving single-grating EUV monochromator. High photon flux ranging from $2.3\cdot10^{11}$ photons/s at 36 eV to $1.5\cdot10^{8}$ photons/s at 102 eV has been demonstrated. Tunability of the laser repetition rate allows distributing the laser power among the maximum number of pulses per second for a given EUV photon energy, thereby minimizing EUV-induced space charges without compromising the acquisition time of photoelectron spectra. An ellipsoidal mirror in a 4:1 configuration yields an EUV focal spot size similar to the $\sim$ 20 $\mu$m diameter of the liquid jet. Apart from its implementation on photoelectron spectroscopy of liquid samples, the versatility of this beamline makes it suitable to study different states of matter. To this end, HARMONIUM will be coupled to a molecular beam and an angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) end stations. A photoelectron spectrum of a liquid sample is composed of electrons emitted from the liquid surface and those emitted from the surrounding evaporated molecules. In this thesis, a systematic approach for separating the gas contribution from the liquid+gas photoelectron spectrum is presented. This procedure opens the possibility to acquire photoelectron spectra of dilute aqueous media under conditions of moderate electrokinetic charging. In this regime, preliminary photoelectron measurements of protonated water in the absence of counterions suggest that changes in the water orbitals take place as a function of the hydrogen bond coordination. The laser assisted photoelectric effect in liquids is fully described for the first time. Convolution of its retrieved response function with the unpumped photoelectron spectrum reproduces the pumped photoelectron spectrum. This contribution is important as usually the laser assisted photoelectric effect masks photoinduced dynamics transients in time-resolved photoelectron spectra around the region of zero time delay. For the first time ultrafast photoelectron spectroscopy is used to temporally resolve photo induced dynamics in an aqueous metal complex. Impulsive photoreduction of the iron center followed by ultrafast oxidation in $\sim$ 550 fs was shown to take place upon excitation of the ligand-to-metal charge-transfer transition of aqueous ferricyanide solution.


It is well established that an emphasis on gender differences may have a negative effect on women's math performance in USA, Germany and the Netherlands. It has further been found that an individual's identification with the stereotyped group may moderate effects of negative stereotypes. The present study investigated how gender-based expectancies affected the math performance of women and men in Sweden, a nation with a smaller gender gap than in other countries, and a strong cultural emphasis on gender equality. Participants, 112 female and 74 male undergraduate math students from Swedish universities, completed a difficult math test in which their gender was either linked to their test performance or not. Men performed better than women when gender was made relevant among participants who did not see their gender as an important aspect of their identity, while participants high in gender identification were unaffected by gender identity relevance. Moreover, the gender relevance manipulation affected men's performance more than women's. The results deviate from findings on US samples, indicating that the role of group identification as a moderator of stereotype-based expectancy effects is complex, and that factors in the cultural context may interact with individual differences in identification to determine the impact of negative stereotypes.


Syringolin A (SylA), a virulence factor secreted by certain strains of the plant pathogen Pseudomonas syringae pv. syringae, is an irreversible proteasome inhibitor imported by plant cells by an unknown transport process. Here, we report that functional expression in yeast of all 17 members of the Arabidopsis oligopeptide transporter family revealed that OLIGOPEPTIDE TRANSPORTER1 (OPT1), OPT2, YELLOW STRIPE-LIKE3 (YSL3), YSL7, and YSL8 rendered yeast cells sensitive to growth inhibition by SylA to different degrees, strongly indicating that these proteins mediated SylA uptake into yeast cells. The greatest SylA sensitivity was conferred by YSL7 and YSL8 expression. An Arabidopsis ysl7 mutant exhibited strongly reduced SylA sensitivity in a root growth inhibition assay and in leaves of ysl7 and ysl8 mutants, SylA-mediated quenching of salicylic-acid-triggered PATHOGENESIS-RELATED GENE1 transcript accumulation was greatly reduced compared with the wild type. These results suggest that YSL7 and YSL8 are major SylA uptake transporters in Arabidopsis. Expression of a YSL homolog of bean, the host of the SylA-producing P. syringae pv. syringae B728a, in yeast also conferred strong SylA sensitivity. Thus, YSL transporters, which are thought to be involved in metal homeostasis, have been hijacked by bacterial pathogens for SylA uptake into host cells.


The author addresses the role of criminal justice in anti-corruption by investigating assumptions in the classic law and economics approach and debating the underlying criteria for an efficient criminal justice system. Drawing on real life challenges from the policy world, the book combines insights from the literature with updated knowledge about practical law enforcement constraints. Political and administrative incentive problems, which may hinder the implementation of efficient solutions, are presented and debated.


The field of surveillance studies is developing at a rapid rate, fuelled by a deep unease about the future of individual privacy and growing interest in a number of questions that lie at the heart of the discipline. What information is held about us? To what extent is that information secure? How should new technologies be regulated? How will developments in surveillance affect our ordinary and everyday lives? Deliberately multi-disciplinary in character, New Directions in Surveillance and Privacy examines these questions from a range of different perspectives, and includes contributions from leading academics in sociology, law, management studies, literary analysis and Internet studies. As privacy comes under increasing threat and surveillance extends into more and more areas of our daily lives, surveillance studies needs to develop in new directions, form new perspectives, and gain new insights. In keeping with this aim, the chapters of this book consider how individuals, organisations, and states gather, analyse, and share ever-increasing amounts of our personal and private information. Divided into three sections, this book contains chapters touching on issues of legal regulation, changes in the technology of surveillance, and on the future of privacy and surveillance. In so doing, this new collection provides a unique and eclectic insight into the question of how the spread of surveillance is changing our lives and the societies in which we live.


Flying snakes possess a sophisticated gliding ability with a unique aerial behavior, in which they flatten their body to make a roughly triangular cross-sectional shape to produce lift and gain horizontal acceleration. Also, the snakes assume an S-like posture and start to undulate by sending traveling waves down the body. The present study aims to answer how the snakes are able to control their glide trajectory and remain stable without any specialized flight surfaces. Undulation is the most prominent behavior of flying snakes and is likely to influence their dynamics and stability. To examine the effects of undulation, a number of theoretical models were used. First, only the longitudinal dynamics were considered with simple two-dimensional models, in which the snake was approximated as a number of connected airfoils. Previously measured force coefficients were used to model aerodynamic forces, and undulation was considered as periodic changes in the mass and area of the airfoils. The model was shown to be passively unstable, but it could be stabilized with a restoring pitching moment. Next, a threedimensional model was developed, with the snake modeled as a chain of airfoils connected through revolute joints, and undulation was considered as periodic changes in the joint angles. It was shown that undulation, when added to a linearization-based closed-loop control, could increase the size of the basin of stability. Our theoretical results suggested that the snakes need some extent of closed-loop control in spite of the clear contribution of undulation to the stability of glide. Next, we considered the effects of aerodynamic interactions between the fore and the aft body on the aerodynamic performance of flying snakes. Two-dimensional anatomically accurate airfoils were used in a water tunnel. Lift and drag forces were measured by load cells, and the flow field data were obtained using digital particle image velocimetry. The results confirmed strong dependence of the aerodynamic performance on the tandem arrangement. Flow fields around the airfoils were obtained to show how the tandem arrangement modified the separated flow and the wake; therefore altering the pressure field and resulting in changes in the lift and drag. Physical Mechanisms of Control of Gliding in Flying Snakes


As amended in 1999, 35 U.S.C. § 6 authorizes the Director of the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to appoint all administrative patent judges of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences. That method of appointment is almost certainly unconstitutional, and the administrative patent judges serving under such appointments are likely to be viewed by the courts as having no constitutionally valid governmental authority. The full extent of the problem was revealed in a recent statement to the press by a PTO spokeswoman, who disclosed that nearly two-thirds of the agency's administrative patent judges were appointed under the new statute. If administrative patent judges are being randomly assigned to three-judge panels, then a simple probability calculation shows that more than 95% of Board panels are likely to include at least one unconstitutionally appointed judge.


A new continuous steelmaking process has been designed in an effort to reduce meltshop costs and increase productivity beyond the possibilities of current EAF-LMF-CC meltshops. This paper discusses possible operational performance based on industrially-verified kinetic, thermodynamic, and heat-transfer models. Dynamic simulations predict variations in steel chemistry and temperature, resulting from steel treatment and upsets. Savings in costs are projected because of increased metallic yield, lower energy requirements, more efficient use of deoxidants and alloys, fewer man-hours per ton, and decreased capital investment.


In this Article, I argue that two powerful streams of contemporary American public policy are converging on a single idea. Using a phrase coined by Professor Carol Steiker, we are at risk of becoming a "preventive state," in which the paradigm of governmental social control has shifted from solving and punishing crimes that have been committed, to identifying "dangerous" people and depriving them of their liberty before they can do harm. The impulse for prevention has taken its strongest form in two disparate areas: the anti-terrorism efforts since 9/11, and ongoing legislative innovations in the campaign against sexual violence. In both areas, the government has erected what Professor Oren Gross has called an "alternate system of justice" in which the normal protections of our civil liberties are substantially degraded in order to make room for an aggressive preventive agenda. The prevention of harm is, of course, a positive. Our law books are full of statutes intended to regulate risky behavior in order to prevent harm. Here, however, I am concerned with a different type of prevention - what might be called radical prevention - that differs from routine prevention in two ways. First, radical prevention seeks to intervene where there is some sort of "propensity" or risk of future harm, whereas routine prevention responds to actual or attempted harm. Second, radical prevention operates by substantially curtailing people's liberty before harm results, whereas in routine prevention individuals suffer deprivations of liberty only after actual harm is done or attempted. The government's efforts at radical prevention have, in the last half century, met with diminishing success, as the courts have erected some important constitutional bulwarks against excessive erosions of our liberty in the name of prevention. Historically, a central feature of our radically preventive laws has been their focus on "outsider" groups. This has allowed their attendant constraints on liberty to be viewed as exceptional, thus preserving the legitimacy of the "normal" constitutional order. But the civil rights revolution of the past all but eliminated the legitimate targeting of outsider groups. At the same time, the Supreme Court has recognized the fundamental nature of key aspects of liberty, and insisted that criminal sanctions be limited in a variety of ways, including that they be applied only to behavior that has a relatively close connection to harm. These developments have helped to keep radical prevention in check, even in the face of the terrorist threat. The central thesis of this Article is that the sexual predator laws provide a model for undercutting these constitutional protections for liberty. The laws undercut these key bulwarks, and allow the establishment of an expansive alternate and degraded system of justice, in which radical prevention prevails at the expense of liberty. Sexual predator laws do this by re-introducing and re-legitimizing the concept of the degraded "other." Membership in this outsider group is then used to rationalize a degraded system of justice, in which the normal protections of the Constitution do not apply. The Article proceeds as follows. First, I summarize the push for radical prevention that has followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks, noting that many of the proposals have been controversial because they are seen as curtailing civil liberties too broadly. Second, I sketch the push for prevention in the sexual predator legislation and note the nearly unanimous political support for these initiatives. Third, I survey the history of preventive legislation in the U.S. I suggest that prevention is not a new impulse in the law. To the contrary, it has been widespread, yet has been tempered by the application of constitutional principles that have curtailed the most radical forms of prevention. I then briefly examine the recent legislative initiative to update public health laws in response to the threat of bio-terrorism, which despite the understandable fear of communicable contagion, has been constrained by constitutional principles. Finally, I show that the sexual predator legislation affords a template for radical prevention that undercuts these limiting principles, thus containing the toxic seeds of a degraded system of justice that strongly weights prevention over liberty.


Researchers posit that conditions for improving teaching and learning are strengthened when teachers collectively question ineffective teaching routines, examine new conceptions of teaching and learning, find generative means to acknowledge and respond to difference and conflict, and engage actively in supporting one another's professional growth. Yet relatively little research examines the specific interactions and dynamics by which professional community constitutes a resource for teacher learning and innovations in teaching practice. In particular, few studies go "inside teacher community" to focus closely on the teacher development opportunities and possibilities that reside within ordinary daily work. This paper draws on intensive case studies of teacher knowledge, practice, and learning among teachers of mathematics and English in two high schools to take up the problem of how classroom teaching practice comes to be known, shared, and developed among teachers through their out-of-classroom interactions.


A common assumption in the Schumpeterian growth literature is that the innovation size is constant and identical across industries. This is in contrast with the empirical evidence which shows that: (i) the innovation size is far from being identical across industries; and (ii) the size distribution of profit returns from innovation is highly skewed toward the low value side, with a long tail on the high value side. In the present paper, we develop a Schumpeterian growth model that is consistent with this evidence. In particular, we assume that when a firm innovates, the size of its quality improvement is the result of a random draw from a Pareto distribution. This enables us to extend the class of quality-ladder growth models to encompass firm heterogeneity. We study the policy implications of this new set-up numerically and find that it is optimal to heavily subsidize R&D for plausible parameter values. Although it is optimal to tax R&D for some parameter values, this case only occurs when the steady-state rate of economic growth is very low.


Phosphate esters and anhydrides dominate the living world but are seldom used as intermediates by organic chemists. Phosphoric acid is specially adapted for its role in nucleic acids because it can link two nucleotides and still ionize; the resulting negative charge serves both to stabilize the diesters against hydrolysis and to retain the molecules within a lipid membrane. A similar explanation for stability and retention also holds for phosphates that are intermediary metabolites and for phosphates that serve as energy sources. Phosphates with multiple negative charges can react by way of the monomeric metaphosphate ion PO3- as an intermediate. No other residue appears to fulfill the multiple roles of phosphate in biochemistry. Stable, negatively charged phosphates react under catalysis by enzymes; organic chemists, who can only rarely use enzymatic catalysis for their reactions, need more highly reactive intermediates than phosphates.


This paper presents a computable general equilibrium model of endogenous (stochastic) growth and cycles that can account for two key features of the aggregate data: balanced growth in the long run and business cycles in the short run. The model is built on Schumpeter's idea that economic development is the consequence of the periodic arrival of innovations. There is growth because each subsequent innovation leads to a permanent improvement in the production technology. Cycles arise because innovations trigger a reallocation of resources between production and R&D. The quantitative implications of the calibrated version of our model are very similar to those of Kydland and Prescott's (1982) model. Moreover, under some parameterizations, our model can correct two shortcomings of RBC models: It can account for the persistence in output growth and the asymmetry of growth within the business cycle.


OVERVIEW We present a large-sample survey of open innovation adoption and management in large firms, a follow-up to a previous study. We repeat some of the survey measures from the first survey, finding that open innovation continues to be widely practiced in about 80 percent of responding firms. Outside-in open innovation is more often practiced than inside-out. In other words, large firms are net takers of free knowledge flows, in part because they are concerned about IP protection for outbound knowledge. When we added new measures to examine open innovation at the project level, we found that firms selectively manage knowledge flows into and out of projects and are formalizing processes as they move from problem definition to execution. We conclude with observations about the organizational challenges and risks of shifting to an open innovation approach.


Green criminology is now an established subfield of criminology. Having emerged in the 1990s, green criminology has rapidly grown, particularly in the last 10 years. Scholarship remains rooted in the critical and radical traditions that inspired its creation and challenge the orthodoxy of most criminological scholarship. This means that research in green criminology does not stick within the confines of only what is deemed criminal by the state but also uncovers harmful and injurious behaviors, particularly of the powerful, such as states and corporations. These once-hidden harms are approached from an environmental justice perspective that exposes the injury and suffering of marginalized people and also to the environment itself (ecological justice) and to nonhumans (species justice). More recent iterations of green criminology feature culture in addition to political economic explanations of crimes and harms against the environment and other species. Both theories of green crimes criticize capitalist societies and the ongoing problems of commodification and excessive consumption. In addition, new contributions, particularly from the Global South, are challenging the hegemony of Western criminological and environmental discourses, offering new (to the West) insights into relationships with nature and with other people. These studies have the potential to shape new prevention strategies and intervention mechanisms to disrupt green crimes and harms. This is urgent as the magnitude of environmental degradation is increasing—ranging from the threat of climate change, the possible extinction of a million species in the near future, and the ubiquity of plastic pollution, to name just a few forms of environmental destruction that humans have been, and are, perpetrating against the Earth.


Social media is altering how some religious leaders communicate with their followers and with the public. This has the potential to challenge theories of religious communication that have been developed through the study of traditional modes such as sermons. This study examines how leaders in U.S. evangelicalism take advantage of the public platform provided by Twitter. Using over 85,000 tweets from 88 prominent evangelical leaders, we find that these leaders often use their social media platforms as a natural extension of their current modes of communication. More specifically, evangelical leaders use their account to encourage and inspire their followers, while also conveying information about upcoming personal projects such as tours and book releases. In a small number of cases, evangelical leaders do make reference to political issues, but those individuals are ones who have already built a brand based on political commentary. Speaking broadly, the usage of political language by evangelical leaders is rare. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this analysis advances theories of religion and communication.


The protection of coastal water users from health problems due to pollution is a key responsibility of local and state governments in Australia. There is a continuing interest in finding better indicators and predictors of water pollution. The study of faecal contamination in Sutherland Shire recreational waterways was undertaken to examine the relationship between enterococci densities in coastal waters (as an indication of pollution) and catchment rainfall. Sutherland Shire Council would like to use such a relationship to predict the occurrence of elevated faecal contamination in recreational waters, and thus reduce human exposure to the potential health effects associated with contaminated water. Eight sites were selected for study based on water contamination history and popularity for recreational use. Extensive water quality and rainfall data from local and state government records was synthesised and subjected to multiple regression analyses. The results of the analyses indicated no statistical correlations between rainfall and enterococci concentrations for any site. Indicator bacteria densities were found to be highly variable and a number of temporal, spatial and environmental factors were identified as influencing enterococci levels in waterways. In addition, recent upgrades of sewerage systems in the Sutherland Shire have significantly reduced the frequency of sewage overflows in the area. These findings established that the use of rainfall to predict bacterial concentrations in Sutherland Shire coastal waters was extremely limited. This study demonstrated that systems within Sutherland Shire catchments are too complex to model using any single rainfall variable. More complex models incorporating a number of different variables may improve the capacity to predict enterococci concentrations in recreational waters.


This contribution to the Common Knowledge symposium "Peace by Other Means" demonstrates how, even as religious strife is pervasive in India, classical Hindu-stani music has remained a transreligious and intercommunal medium. Indeed, music is one of the few domains in which Hindu-Muslim tension is absent: in North India it is common for audiences composed of both Hindus and Muslims to attend performances in which Hindu vocalists sing devotedly of Allah, and Muslim vocalists of Krishna. Hindustani musicians of whatever faith, it is argued, worship Nada-Brahman, the Hindu "Sound-God." Three kinds of religious tradition in India have nurtured the perception that sound is sacred: Hindu bhakti, Sufism, and Santism, all of which this essay explores in case studies both of the formative period of devotional music in North India and of the current state of the genre and its venues of performance.


Recently, several real‐time soft shadow algorithms have been introduced which all compute a single shadow map and use its texels to obtain a discrete scene representation. The resulting micropatches are backprojected onto the light source and the light areas occluded by them get accumulated to estimate overall light occlusion. This approach ignores patch overlaps, however, which can lead to objectionable artifacts. In this paper, we propose to determine the visibility of the light source with a bit field where each bit tracks the visibility of a sample point on the light source. This approach not only avoids overlapping‐related artifacts but offers a solution to the important occluder fusion problem. Hence, it also becomes possible to correctly incorporate information from multiple depth maps. In addition, a new interpretation of the shadow map data is suggested which often provides superior visual results. Finally, we show how the search area for potential occluders can be reduced substantially.


The number of research papers related to solar cells field is increasing rapidly. It is hard to grasp research trends and to identify emerging research issues because of exponential growth of publications, and the field's subdivided knowledge structure. Machine learning techniques can be applied to the enormous amounts of data and subdivided research fields to identify emerging researches. This paper proposed a prediction model using a machine learning approach to identify emerging solar cells related academic research, i.e. papers that might be cited very frequently within three years. The proposed model performed well and stable. The model highlighted some articles published in 2015 that will be emerging in the future. Research related to vegetable-based dye-sensitized solar cells was identified as the one of the promising researches by the model. The proposed prediction model is useful to gain foresight into research trends in science and technology, facilitating decision-making processes.


Rapamycin is an anticancer agent and immunosuppressant that acts by inhibiting the TOR signaling pathway. In yeast, rapamycin mediates a profound transcriptional response for which the RRD1 gene is required. To further investigate this connection, we performed genome-wide location analysis of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) and Rrd1 in response to rapamycin and found that Rrd1 colocalizes with RNAPII on actively transcribed genes and that both are recruited to rapamycin responsive genes. Strikingly, when Rrd1 is lacking, RNAPII remains inappropriately associated to ribosomal genes and fails to be recruited to rapamycin responsive genes. This occurs independently of TATA box binding protein recruitment but involves the modulation of the phosphorylation status of RNAPII CTD by Rrd1. Further, we demonstrate that Rrd1 is also involved in various other transcriptional stress responses besides rapamycin. We propose that Rrd1 is a novel transcription elongation factor that fine-tunes the transcriptional stress response of RNAPII.


In polar regions, apart from tundra and glaciers, geothermally active areas with elevated temperatures are important elements of ecosystems. One such geothermally active region characterized by mosaic ecosystems and vast areas covered by recent lava fields is Iceland. The aim of our study was to explore the diversity of invertebrates inhabiting geothermally active lava fields in the Krafla area (Iceland). Eight bryophyte samples were collected from a warm surface, mainly from the steaming areas. We have found Nematoda, Rotifera, Tardigrada and Oribatida in the samples. Habitat analysis demonstrated there to be 12 bryophyte species (five liverworts and seven mosses). The diversity of bryophytes in a single sample ranged from one to six species. The most common bryophyte was Racomitrium lanuginosum (Hedw.) Brid. Four species of tardigrades were found, including one that was new. Pilatobius islandicus sp. nov. is described herein by morphological, morphometric and molecular approaches (COI, 28S rRNA, 18S rRNA). Oribatida mites were identified as two species (Malaconothrus monodactylus (Michael, 1888) and Camisia foveolata Hammer, 1955). The average density of invertebrates was 13.1 ind./g with a maximum of 40.8 ind./g calculated per dry material. The tardigrades found in our study belonged to herbivores, microbivores and omnivores, whereas the mites belonged to saprophages, which indicates complex trophic networks in geothermally active lava fields.


Dry needling (DN) fanning technique is an effective treatment for myofascial trigger points (MTP), however, it causes swelling and intramuscular haemorrhage which results in post-needling soreness (PNS). Kinesio ® taping space-correction-technique (KTSCT) is claimed to aid in reducing pain by decreasing inflammation, increasing circulation and lymphatic drainage. This in theory indicates that Kinesio ® taping could reduce/alleviate PNS pain after DN. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of KTSCT utilizing Kinesio ® Tex Gold tape in reducing the level of PNS associated with DN a trapezius muscle trigger point two. Method: Forty five patients with active trapezius muscle MTP two were randomly allocated into one of three treatment groups. All groups received a standardized DN treatment. Thereafter, group one received no further treatment and acted as the control group, group two received an application of KTSCT utilizing Kinesio ® Tex Gold tape, while group three received a non-proprioceptive hypoallergenic tape application. Assessments were made pre-, post-treatment and at a follow-up consultation on the following day once the taping application was removed. Assessments included numerical pain rating scale-101 (NRS-101), a pain diary and algometer readings. Results: Group three showed an improvement over the control group, however, it was not a statistically significant improvement in any of the assessments. Group two showed statistically significant improvement over the control in the pain diary and algometer readings overall. Results from the NRS-101, showed that group two had a statistically significant improvement when compared to the control group over the time interval when the Kinesio ® Tex Gold tape was applied to the patient. Conclusion: KTSCT utilizing Kinesio ® Tex Gold tape had a greater effect in reducing the level of PNS associated with DN a trapezius muscle trigger point two, when compared with either a non-proprioceptive hypoallergenic tape application or a control group.


As a result of the increase in natural disaster losses, policy-makers, practitioners, and members of the research community around the world are seeking effective and efficient means of overcoming or minimising them. Although various theoretical constructs are beneficial to understanding the disaster phenomenon and the means of minimising losses, the disaster risk management process becomes less effective if theory and practice are set apart from one another. Consequently, this paper seeks to establish a relationship between two theoretical constructs, 'disaster risk reduction (DRR)' and 'vulnerability reduction', and to develop a holistic approach to DRR with particular reference to improving its applicability in practical settings. It is based on a literature review and on an overall understanding gained through two case studies of post-disaster infrastructure reconstruction projects in Sri Lanka and three expert interviews in Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is one of the enzymes involved in folate metabolism and DNA methylation and synthesis. Some genotypes of this highly polymorphic enzyme are associated with decreased activity. Previous studies have suggested that individuals with the MTHFR 677TT, 1298AC and 1298CC have a lower risk of adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).

DESIGN AND METHODS
In order to test this association we studied the presence of the C677T and A1298C mutant alleles in 174 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and in 110 controls from central Italy.

RESULTS
We did not find any association between the different polymorphisms and susceptibility to ALL. In multivariate analysis different genotypes did not show any correlation with the risk of ALL. The adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for MTHFR C677T were 0.69 (0.4-1.19) for 677CT versus 677CC wild type, and 0.99 (0.50-1.97) for 677TT versus 677CC. The corresponding values for MTHFR A1298C were 0.93 (0.56-1.53) for 1298AC versus 1298AA wild type and 1.14 (0.36-3.61) for 1298CC versus 1298AA.

INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
These results do not support the suggestion that populations carrying different genotypes of the two MTHFR polymorphisms, C677T and A1298C, have a different susceptibility to ALL, at least in the Mediterranean area.


This paper presents a comparison of various machine learning methods applied to the problem of recognizing grasp types involved in object manipulations performed with a data glove. Conventional wisdom holds that data gloves need calibration in order to obtain accurate results. However, calibration is a time-consuming process, inherently user-specific, and its results are often not perfect. In contrast, the present study aims at evaluating recognition methods that do not require prior calibration of the data glove. Instead, raw sensor readings are used as input features that are directly mapped to different categories of hand shapes. An experiment was carried out in which test persons wearing a data glove had to grasp physical objects of different shapes corresponding to the various grasp types of the Schlesinger taxonomy. The collected data was comprehensively analyzed using numerous classification techniques provided in an open-source machine learning toolbox. Evaluated machine learning methods are composed of (a) 38 classifiers including different types of function learners, decision trees, rule-based learners, Bayes nets, and lazy learners; (b) data preprocessing using principal component analysis (PCA) with varying degrees of dimensionality reduction; and (c) five meta-learning algorithms under various configurations where selection of suitable base classifier combinations was informed by the results of the foregoing classifier evaluation. Classification performance was analyzed in six different settings, representing various application scenarios with differing generalization demands. The results of this work are twofold: (1) We show that a reasonably good to highly reliable recognition of grasp types can be achieveddepending on whether or not the glove user is among those training the classifiereven with uncalibrated data gloves. (2) We identify the best performing classification methods for the recognition of various grasp types. To conclude, cumbersome calibration processes before productive usage of data gloves can be spared in many situations.


Erceg et al. (2000) show that when both wages and prices are sticky, maximization of expected utility is equivalent to minimizing a loss function with three terms, involving measures of the variability of wage inflation, price inflation and the output gap respectively. Here we generalize their analysis, most importantly by not assuming the existence of output and employment subsidies that eliminate the distortions resulting from market power in goods and labor markets, so that the equilibrium level of output under flexible wages and prices would not necessarily be optimal. We show that a quadratic loss function can still be justified that involves the same three terms, albeit with different relative weights and a different definition of the output gap. Many conclusions of Erceg et al. are thus found to apply more generally. However, we argue that in the presence of significant steady-state distortions, simple rules of the kind that they examine are likely to approximate optimal policy less closely than is suggested by their numerical results.


Amazon Best Books of theMonth, November 2011: It is difficult to read the opening pages of Walter Isaacsons Steve Jobs without feeling melancholic. Jobs retired at the end of August and died about six weeks later. Now, just weeks after his death, you can open the book that bears his name and read about his youth, his promise, and his relentless press to succeed. But the initial sadness in starting the book is soon replaced by something else, which is the intensity of the read--mirroring the intensity of Jobss focus and vision for his products. Few in history have transformed their time like Steve Jobs, and one could argue that he stands with the Fords, Edisons, and Gutenbergs of the world. This is a timely and complete portrait that pulls no punches and gives insight into a man whose contradictions were in many ways his greatest strength. --Chris Schluep Amazon Exclusive: A Q&A with Walter Isaacson Q: It's becoming well known that Jobs was able to create his Reality Distortion Field when it served him. Was it difficult for you to cut through the RDF and get beneath the narrative that he created? How did you do it? Isaacson: Andy Hertzfeld, who worked with Steve on the original Macintosh team, said that even if you were aware of his Reality Distortion Field, you still got caught up in it. But that is why Steve was so successful: He willfully bent reality so that you became convinced you could do the impossible, so you did. I never felt he was intentionally misleading me, but I did try to check every story. I did more than a hundred interviews. And he urged me not just to hear his version, but to interview as many people as possible. It was one of his many odd contradictions: He could distort reality, yet he was also brutally honest most of the time. He impressed upon me the value of honesty, rather than trying to whitewash things. Q: How were the interviews with Jobs conducted? Did you ask lots of questions, or did he just talk? Isaacson: I asked very few questions. We would take long walks or drives, or sit in his garden, and I would raise a topic and let him expound on it. Even during the more formal sessions in his living room, I would just sit quietly and listen. He loved to tell stories, and he would get very emotional, especially when talking about people in his life whom he admired or disdained. Q: He was a powerful man who could hold a grudge. Was it easy to get others to talk about Jobs willingly? Were they afraid to talk? Isaacson: Everyone was eager to talk about Steve. They all had stories to tell, and they loved to tell them. Even those who told me about his rough manner put it in the context of how inspiring he could be. Q: Jobs embraced the counterculture and Buddhism. Yet he was a billionaire businessman with his own jet. In what way did Jobs' contradictions contribute to his success? Isaacson: Steve was filled with contradictions. He was a counterculture rebel who became a billionaire. He eschewed material objects yet made objects of desire. He talked, at times, about how he wrestled with these contradictions. His counterculture background combined with his love of electronics and business was key to the products he created. They combined artistry and technology. Q: Jobs could be notoriously difficult. Did you wind up liking him in the end? Isaacson: Yes, I liked him and was inspired by him. But I knew he could be unkind and rough. These things can go together. When my book first came out, some people skimmed it quickly and cherry-picked the examples of his being rude to people. But that was only half the story. Fortunately, as people read the whole book, they saw the theme of the narrative: He could be petulant and rough, but this was driven by his passion and pursuit of perfection. He liked people to stand up to him, and he said that brutal honesty was required to be part of his team. And the teams he built became extremely loyal and inspired. Q: Do you believe he was a genius? Isaacson: He was a genius at connecting art to technology, of making leaps based on intuition and imagination. He knew how to make emotional connections with those around him and with his customers. Q: Did he have regrets? Isaacson: He had some regrets, which he expressed in his interviews. For example, he said that he did not handle well the pregnancy of his first girlfriend. But he was deeply satisfied by the creativity he ingrained at Apple and the loyalty of both his close colleagues and his family. Q: What do you think is his legacy? Isaacson: His legacy is transforming seven industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, digital publishing, and retail stores. His legacy is creating what became the most valuable company on earth, one that stood at the intersection of the humanities and technology, and is the company most likely still to be doing that a generation from now. His legacy, as he said in his "Think Different" ad, was reminding us that the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do. Photo credit: Patrice Gilbert Photography


Through mutual trade in goods and assets, economies become closer linked integrated and this changes the way these economies react to their own and each other's economic policy and disturbances. Recognising this, the countries may chose to enter into integration arrangements which facilitate goods and asset trade and may permit co-ordinated action in the policy sphere. A monetary integration arrangement unites more closely the monetary systems of a number of countries, and this may be in the absence or presence of a broader economic integration arrangement (for example a common market). This thesis examines aspects of the integration arrangement known as the Common Monetary Area (CMA) , between South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland. Chapter 2 outlines theoretical considerations of the desirability of monetary integration, while Chapter 3 uses a model to analyse the effects of goods and asset market integration on the economic policy and disturbance transmission of two countries. Chapter 4 describes the institutional and historical setting of the CMA, as well as the reasons behind the changes made to the legal arrangement in 1986. Chapter 5 presents a critique of an attempt -to analyse the CMA as an optimal currency area, while Chapter 6 analyses the state of broader economic integration over the CMA, and assesses its implications for monetary integration. Chapter 7 addresses empirically the question of the degree of asset and goods market integration and explains the implications for monetary integration, while chapter 8 analyses the situation of Botswana, a non-CMA member, to assess its importance for the CMA and its relation to the debate surrounding the continued existence of the CMA. The conclusion that is reached is that, given extant levels of goods and asset market integration, the members of the CMA (especially the smaller members) would benefit from greater joint policy making and policy co-ordination, Le. greater monetary unification.


Syphilis is diagnosed by serologic testing or by identification of the causative agent, Treponema pallidum. The bacterium has historically been detected in clinical specimens by dark-field microscopy, immunostaining with polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies, or the rabbit inoculation test (RIT). RIT is considered to be very sensitive and specific, although it is available only in research settings and is not clinically useful due to the length of time required to obtain a result. In recent years, several PCR methods have been developed for the detection of T. pallidum, but none of these has shown a clear advantage in sensitivity over RIT. We have developed a specific and highly sensitive reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) that targets a 366 bp region of the 16S rRNA of T. pallidum. This RT-PCR can detect a single organism by Southern analysis when whole organisms are diluted and 10(-2) to 10(-3) T. pallidum organisms when RNA equivalents are used to make cDNA. The test was demonstrated to detect 10(-2) T. pallidum RNA equivalents in cerebrospinal fluid. Twenty different strains of T. pallidum, isolated from cerebrospinal fluids, aqueous humor, blood, and chancres, were shown to be detectable by this test. This efficient and sensitive technique could be more useful than existing methods for detecting very low numbers of organisms in clinical samples.


Our goal is to develop peptide vaccines that stimulate tumor antigen-specific T-cell responses against frequently found cancers. Previous work has shown that to generate effective T-cell responses, peptides have to be administered in combination with strong adjuvants such as Toll-like receptor agonists. However, most animal tumor model systems used to study peptide vaccines were not truly representative of malignant diseases in humans because they solely used transplantable tumor lines, and instead of true tumor antigens, they used highly immunogenic foreign proteins. Here, we describe a peptide vaccination strategy, which is highly effective in delaying or preventing the occurrence of spontaneous breast tumors. Transgenic female BALB-neuT mice that carry the activated rat HER-2/neu oncogene were vaccinated with a synthetic peptide from the rat HER-2/neu gene product, which represents an epitope for CTLs in combination with a Toll-like receptor agonist adjuvant. Our results show that to obtain tumor antigen-specific CTL responses and antitumor effects, the vaccine had to be administered repetitively, or the function of CD4/CD25 T regulatory cells had to be blocked with anti-CD25 antibody therapy. Mice that were vaccinated with this approach remained tumor-free or were able to control spontaneous tumor growth and exhibited long-lasting CTL responses, not only against the immunizing peptide but also against other peptides derived from rat HER-2/neu product (i.e., epitope spreading). These results suggest that similar strategies should be followed for conducting clinical studies in patients.


Context. Analysis of thermal dust emission spectra for dust mineralogy and physical grain properties depends on comparison spectra, which are either laboratory-measured infrared extinction spectra or calculated extinction cross sections based on certain grain models. Often, the agreement between these two kinds of spectra, if available, is not yet satisfactory because of the strong influence of the grain morphology on the spectra. Aims. We investigate the ability of the statistical light-scattering model with a distribution of form factors (DFF) to reproduce measured infrared dust extinction spectra for particles that are small compared to the wavelength, i.e. in the size range of 1 μ ma nd smaller. Methods. We take advantage of new experimental spectra measured for free particles dispersed in air with accompanying information on the grain morphology. For the calculations, we used DFFs that were derived for aggregates of spherical grains, as well as for compact grain shapes corresponding to Gaussian random spheres. In addition we used a fitting algorithm to obtain the best-fit DFFs for the various laboratory samples. In this way we can independently derive information on the shape of the grains from their infrared spectra. Results. With the DFF model, we achieve an adequate fit of the experimental IR spectra. The differences in the IR band profiles between the spectra of particulates with different grain shapes are simply reflected by different DFFs. Irregular particle shapes require a DFF similar to that of a Gaussian Random Sphere with σ = 0.3, whereas roundish grain shapes are best fitted with that of a fractal aggregate of Df = 2.4–1.8. The fitted DFFs generally reproduce the measured spectral shapes quite well. For anisotropic materials, different DFFs are needed for the different crystallographic axes. The implications of this finding are discussed. Conclusions. The use of this model could be a step forward toward more realistic comparison data in infrared spectral analysis of thermal dust emission spectra, provided that these spectra are dominated by emission from submicron grains.


OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to evaluate inflammatory cells, the profile of inflammatory mediators in nasal lavage (NL), and the involvement of the paranasal mucosa in atopic infants with no symptoms of sinusitis. METHODS: 48 atopic patients with allergic rhinitis (AR), and 33/48 patients with asthma were studied; the control group consisted of 13 nonatopic children. Those individuals with acute, chronic or recurrent sinusitis were excluded. The involvement of the paranasal mucosa was assessed by coronal computed tomography (CT) and graded by a standard protocol (0-30). A CT score greater than or equal to 12 indicated extensive involvement. Nasal lavage was used to quantify total and differential nasal cell counts. An aliquot of the supernatant was used for determining inflammatory mediators: interleukin-8 (IL-8), myeloperoxidase (MPO), and eosinophil cationic protein (ECP). Albumin was used as a marker for increased vascular permeability. These measurements were performed on all of the atopic patients and in 6/13 patients in the control group. The three groups were submitted to spirometry and complete blood cell count. RESULTS: Extensive involvement of the paranasal mucosa was observed in 7/33 (21%) of asthmatic patients (Group I) and 2/15 (13%) of those with allergic rhinitis (Group II). The highest CT score in the control group (Group III) was 7. Total cell and eosinophil count/ml and albumin concentration in nasal fluid were higher in asthmatic patients whose CT score was greater than 12. Interleukin-8 concentration, number of neutrophils and epithelial cells/ml in nasal fluid were similar in the three groups. A positive correlation between CT score, peripheral blood eosinophilia, number of eosinophils/ml and eosinophil cationic protein concentration was found in the nasal fluid of atopic children (n=48). There was an association between number of neutrophils and titers of interleukin-8 and myeloperoxidase, and between interleukin-8 and eosinophil count. CONCLUSIONS: In asthmatic patients with no symptoms of sinusitis, the extensive involvement of the paranasal mucosa is associated with blood and nasal lavage eosinophilia and cellular activation. Neutrophil infiltration and activation were not related to increased involvement of the paranasal mucosa.


Immunotherapy has great potential to treat cancer and prevent future relapse by activating the immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells. A variety of strategies are continuing to evolve in the laboratory and in the clinic, including therapeutic noncellular (vector-based or subunit) cancer vaccines, dendritic cell vaccines, engineered T cells, and immune checkpoint blockade. Despite their promise, much more research is needed to understand how and why certain cancers fail to respond to immunotherapy and to predict which therapeutic strategies, or combinations thereof, are most appropriate for each patient. Underlying these challenges are technological needs, including methods to rapidly and thoroughly characterize the immune microenvironment of tumors, predictive tools to screen potential therapies in patient-specific ways, and sensitive, information-rich assays that allow patient monitoring of immune responses, tumor regression, and tumor dissemination during and after therapy. The newly emerging field of immunoengineering is addressing some of these challenges, and there is ample opportunity for engineers to contribute their approaches and tools to further facilitate the clinical translation of immunotherapy. Here we highlight recent technological advances in the diagnosis, therapy, and monitoring of cancer in the context of immunotherapy, as well as ongoing challenges.


This paper focuses on Joshua Knobe's experiments which show that people attribute blame and intentionality to the chairman of a company that knowingly causes harmful side effects, but do not attribute praise and intentionality to the chairman of a company that knowingly causes helpful side effects. Knobe's explanation of this data is that people deter- mine intentionality based on the moral consideration of whether the side effect is good or bad. This observation and explanation has come to be known as the "Knobe Effect." One implication from the Knobe Effect is that it seems profit-driven businesses can only intentionally cause harmful and never good side effects. This paper examines the Knobe Effect, and argues for a way that business persons can understand it and avoid its impli- cations. The argument has three parts. The first point is that business persons who care only about profits are blameworthy and rightly should not get credit for good side effects. Second, when a morally praiseworthy person who cares about values other than profits causes side effects, her actions are intentional and praisewor- thy. Therefore, profit-driven business persons can be praised for intentionally producing good side effects if they consider other moral values as moral agents should. Finally, morally praiseworthy business persons need only to be Minimally Good Samaritans and not totally altruistic. When a business person strives for profits, adheres to other morally important values, and produces morally good side effects, then we should say that she intentionally caused those effects and is praiseworthy.


This paper discusses the relationship between constituent order and information structure in main and subordinate clauses in Karitiana, based on data taken from dialogues and a narrative. We show that head-internal relative clauses display an obligatory movement of the head (pivot) to the left edge of the clause paired with a special verb prefix ti - when the extracted argument is the object whereas adverbial subordinates may vary in constituent order without any changes in morphology. A possible source for this object focus morphology is suggested: an object nominalization prefix limited to embedded clauses in Proto-Tupi may have given rise to object relative clauses in Karitiana and spread to clefts and main clause environments, grammaticalizing as an object focus marker. Keywords: Karitiana; constituent order; focus marker; relative clause; cleft


A review of the main directions of development, the most promising new techniques, and urgent applications of coherent four-photon methods of investigation of excited and ionized gas media is presented. It is demonstrated that the methods of coherent four-wave mixing (FWM) provide important spectrochronographic information on atoms and ions, allow selective studies of separate components of nonstationary gas and plasma systems with a complex composition using polarization-sensitive four-photon spectroscopy and coherent ellipsometry, and permit nonlinear-optical imaging of the spatial distribution of atoms and ions in excited gases and plasmas.


It is important to analyze the reputation or demands for a regional event, such as a school festival. In our work, we use sentiment polarity classification in order to coordinate regional event reputation. We proposed sentiment polarity classification based on bag-of-words models in the previous works. To get over the traditional models, we proposed several classifier models based on deep learning models. As the application, we also described the overview of a system supports to analyze regional event reputation and an example of regional event analysis using our system. In this paper, we described how to improve the performance of the sentiment polarity classification using deep learning models. We compared the performance of four models in terms of the classification accuracy and the training speed. We found the Convolutional Neural Networks based model, three words convolutions, was the best model among the four models.


A female child of healthy, unrelated parents presented at 12 months of age with a history of moderately severe developmental delay, macrocephaly, dysmorphic facies, hypotonia, hepato‐splenomegaly, mild generalized dysostosis multiplex, mucopolysacchariduria (dermatan and heparan sulfates), and Alder‐Reilly bodies in peripheral blood leukocytes. Iduronate sulfatase activity in plasma was markedly depressed: 0.11 units/ml/h (normal, 1.75 ±0.56, N = 6). Analyses of arylsulfatases A, B, and C, heparan N‐sulfatase, α‐mannosidase, β‐mannosidase, β‐glucuronidase, β‐hexosaminidase, β‐galactosidase, and α‐fucosidase activities in plasma, leukocytes, and/or cultured skin fibroblasts were all normal. Urinary sulfatide excretion was also within normal limits. Karyotypes of peripheral blood leukocytes and cultured skin fibroblasts were normal. Serum iduronate sulfatase activities in the parents were in the normal range (father, 1.63 units/ml/h; mother, 1.25 units/ml/h). The results of analyses of restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) of DNA from cultured skin fibroblasts with the use of probes for loci extending from Xpter to Xq28 showed X chromosome heterozygosity and confirmed the paternal origin of one of the X chromosomes. Studies on sulfur‐35 uptake in mixed fibroblast cultures showed cross‐correction of [35S]‐glycosaminoglycan accumulation between cells from the patient and normal cells or cells from a patient with Hurler disease; however, there was no cross‐correction between cells from the patient and those from boys affected with classical Hunter disease. This represents only the second confirmed case of Hunter disease reported in a karyotypically normal girl.


In today's globalized world movement of people, information and knowledge is made easier each passing day. Thus, isolated, monolingual communities are rare in the modern world. This dissertation looks into bilinguals' use of their languages within the community of Turkish-Dutch speakers in the Netherlands. It studies recordings of naturally occurring bilingual conversations among friend groups and monolingual interviews with second generation bilinguals. It approaches language as a usage-based system that is entirely made up of units which differ only in their degree of complexity, their degree of schematicity (a continuum from schematic, or open to lexical selection, to specific, or 'lexically filled') and in how entrenched they are. The speakers' use of code-switching as well as the structural and lexical aspects of their Turkish are studied from this usage-based perspective to gain a deeper insight into how factors like frequency of use and semantic specificity affect their language use. The results of the analysis of their everyday in-group use of both Dutch and Turkish is used to reassess the conventional typology of code-switching patterns. Their Turkish is studied in order to assess whether changes that are found, in the form of deviations from Turkish as spoken in Turkey, might be explained by language contact. Contact-induced language change is a relatively new source of empirical data for usage-based linguistics; exploring the combination of theoretical perspective and empirical data allows us to further deepen our understanding of what drives language use and how the changes it makes visible can be explained.


We investigated the effects of purified histone H4 on glucose transport activity in rat soleus and flexor digitorum brevis muscles. Histone H4, at concentrations up to 11.8 microM, increased 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) uptake in a dose-dependent fashion. However, at concentrations higher than 11.8 microM, H4 caused a decrease in 2-DG uptake from the maximum, suggesting a secondary inhibitory action of this compound. The maximal effect of H4 on 2-DG uptake was not additive to the maximal effect of insulin. Moreover, 2-DG uptake in the presence of both H4 and insulin was significantly lower than the 2-DG uptake in the presence of insulin alone. The maximal effect of H4 on stimulation of 2-DG uptake was neither additive nor inhibitory to the maximal effects of the intracellularly acting insulin mimetics sodium vanadate or H2O2. It was, on the other hand, additive to the maximal effects of muscle contractions. Also, in contrast with the effects of H4 on insulin-stimulated 2-DG uptake, H4 did not inhibit insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I)-stimulated 2-DG uptake, as the maximal effects of H4 and IGF-I were additive. Scatchard analysis of the binding of 125I-insulin in the absence or presence of histone H4 revealed that H4 increased the specific binding of insulin without affecting receptor affinity. These data suggest that H4 interacts with the insulin, rather than the hypoxia/contraction, pathway for activation of glucose transport in muscle tissue, and that H4 acts either directly or indirectly to increase the number of insulin receptors at the surface of the muscle cell. This interaction does not appear to occur with the similar, although distinct, IGF-I receptor. These studies may provide additional insight into the complex signal-transduction systems of insulin action.