The transport of pelagic plankton by wind‐driven ocean currents and surface gravity waves is investigated for the example of Northeast Arctic cod eggs and larvae on the coast of northern Norway. Previous studies indicate that the wave‐induced drift (i.e., Stokes drift) is relevant for the transport of particles in the upper ocean. We use an ocean general circulation model together with a numerical wave prediction model and a Lagrangian particle tracking model to calculate trajectories of fish eggs and larvae. Waves are considered not only for particle drift but also for the air—sea momentum flux, its contribution to the Coriolis force, and vertical mixing. The sample species provides the advantage that many of its physical and behavioral properties are well known (e.g., egg buoyancy), allowing investigation of vertical particle displacement by turbulent mixing in response to wind forcing and wave breaking. The approach accounting for particle mixing by breaking waves enhances agreement between observed and modeled egg profiles. Results also show a general shoreward transport of particles by the Stokes drift. This wave drift exhibits a more constant direction than the Eulerian current and hence stabilizes particle diffusion to favor a dominant direction. For the case of Northeast Arctic cod, waves concentrated model eggs and larvae on average 1.5 km closer to shore, which is 20% of their total distance to the coast. This increases the residence time of first‐feeding larvae close to the spawning areas compared to earlier models.


Stable communication plays an important role in many autonomous robotic applications, particularly in challenging environments that lack communication infrastructures. At present, there exists a high demand for wireless communication networks that can be quickly established to operate devices or agents, such as tasked mobile robots. Eliminating the bottlenecks in data transmission and optimizing the communication ability of base stations, mobile robots, and clients are necessary to ensure stable wireless communication. To solve the problem, an efficient approach is proposed by equipping Wi-Fi routers on mobile robots to enable and enhance dynamic communication ability. First, two specific Wi-Fi models are proposed to detect the distribution of Wi-Fi signals over operating environments and assist in the navigation of relay robots. A visual-laser simultaneous localization and mapping is proposed to establish an environmental map and further localize relay robots. A rapidly exploring random trees-based motion planning method is utilized to identify the target relay locations with optimal communication ability based on the built Wi-Fi signal distribution. Mobile relay robots are controlled automatically to the corresponding target locations, and an ad-hoc wireless network with good quality is established. The experimental results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.


Domain generalization aims to improve the generalization capability of machine learning systems to out-of-distribution (OOD) data. Existing domain generalization techniques embark upon stationary and discrete environments to tackle the generalization issue caused by OOD data. However, many real-world tasks in non-stationary environments (e.g. self-driven car system, sensor measures) involve more complex and continuously evolving domain drift, which raises new challenges for the problem of domain generalization. In this paper, we formulate the aforementioned setting as the problem of evolving domain generalization. Specifically, we propose to introduce a probabilistic framework called Latent Structure-aware Sequential Autoencoder (LSSAE) to tackle the problem of evolving domain generalization via exploring the underlying continuous structure in the latent space of deep neural networks, where we aim to identify two major factors namely covariate shift and concept shift accounting for distribution shift in non-stationary environments. Experimental results on both synthetic and real-world datasets show that LSSAE can lead to superior performances based on the evolving domain generalization setting.


The power of canonical variate analysis (CVA) biplots, when regarded as extensions of ordinary scatterplots to describe variation and group structure in multivariate observations, is demonstrated by presenting a case study from the South African wood pulp industry. It is shown how multidimensional standards specified by users of a product may be added to the biplot in the form of acceptance regions such that the roles of the respective variables that influence the product can be ascertained. The case study considers an alternative to CVA and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) when the application of these procedures becomes questionable as a result of dealing with small sample sizes and heterogeneity of covariance matrices. It is explained how analysis of distance (AOD) analogous to analysis of variance may be performed in such cases. Biplots to accompany AOD are provided. The biplots and AOD illustrated in the case study from the wood pulp industry have the potential to be used widely where a primary product, influenced by several variables, is produced and where this product is of importance to various secondary manufacturers depending on which set of multidimensional specifications are met.


A method for syllable classification of the Great Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) has been studied and tested. This method uses multitapers in order to calculate the ambiguity domain and extracting features. Inspired by this technique four new methods, that build on extracting features from the ambiguity function using different types of multitaper kernels and noise reduction techniques, have been developed. These methods use different kinds of kernels and multitapers in order to change the focus of the method.

A smaller study is made of how the multitaper windows behave with different kernels and how to solve problems that can occur. The methods are validated in different noise levels on a simulated data set, where especially difficult cases are simulated, and on real datasets with extra noise added. From this study, it is found that kernels which retain the cross-terms and suppress the auto-terms are harder to adjust but may detect smaller differences in the signals. However, these methods lack robustness in noisy environments. On the other hand, methods that focus on the auto-terms are more noise robust but cannot detect smaller differences.

In order to make the methods more robust, different noise reduction techniques are created and validated. these techniques make the methods more robust but will lose accuracy in the classification.


When Peter Thiel and Max Levchin launched an online payment website in 1999, they hoped their service could improve the lives of millions around the globe. But when their start-up, PayPal, survived the dot.com crash only to find itself besieged by unimaginable challenges, that dream threatened to become a nightmare. PayPal's history - as told by former insider Eric Jackson - is an engrossing study of human struggle and perseverance against overwhelming odds. The entrepreneurs that Thiel and Levchin recruited to overhaul world currency markets first had to face some of the greatest trials ever thrown at a Silicon Valley company before they could make internet history. Business guru Tom Peters, author of "In Search of Excellence," called the hardcover edition of The PayPal Wars "a real page turner" that featured what he called "the best description of business strategy unfolding in a world changing at warp speed." The new paperback edition will feature updated material and even more insights on the state of internet commerce.


Background: Few published data exist with respect to current implementation of interventions that increase patient safety in intensive care units (ICUs) Furthermore, even less published data exist that address implementation of outcome-related methodologies of patient safety interventions in ICUs. Objective: The purpose of this study was threefold: (1) to increase implementation rates of known, evidence-based interventions in the Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) ICU that have been demonstrated to reduce morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients; (2) to develop a durable and reproducible intervention model that can be applied not only to various aspects of ICU medicine but to any healthcare microsystem that is process oriented; and (3) to design an "ICU-specific" value compass. Design: Using a before/after study design, the interventions involved: (1) establishing a systematic approach to integrate the delivery of proven ICU safety measures; (2) using the design of the various tools to develop a method for team communication and team building; (3) incorporating prompts into a ICU progress note for the healthcare team to address three evidence-based measures on a daily basis; and (4) using a data wall to demonstrate progress and to provide "real-time" feedback for error correction. Setting and participants: In the before and after study, two groups of 40 consecutive patients admitted to DHMC's Intensive Care Unit were evaluated. The first group of patients was admitted between April and May of 2003. The second group of 40 patients was admitted between May and June of 2004. To ensure process stability, control data were also collected on patients at an interval time point between these two groups. Main outcome measures: Three evidence-based interventions were identified that reduce the likelihood of adverse events resulting simply from an ICU stay: (1) prophylaxis against venous thrombo-embolic disease (venous thromboembolism or deep vein thrombosis); (2) prophylaxis against ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP); and (3) prophylaxis against stress-ulcers (SU). Two data points were obtained per patient per day corresponding to the work shift schedule in the ICU. The unit of measure was patient-shift observation. A limited data set was collected before implementing the change package to ensure system stability. Results: Both traditional statistical analysis and statistical process control (SPC) were used to evaluate the results. For each metric, it was possible to demonstrate an increase in the measure of the mean, reduced point-to-point variation as well as a substantial narrowing of the control limits indicating improved process control. Limitations: By virtue of the involvement of the researcher in the data collection for the control group, the potential existed for methodological bias by acting on the information collected. There was also the lack of a cohesive data structure from which to collect information (ie, the hospital computer speaks one language, the ventilator a second and the monitoring systems a third). Conclusions: A model for changing the ICU microsystem at DHMC was created that enabled successful implementation of evidence-based measures by maximising the natural flow of work and fostering a team-based culture to improve patient safety. Unique to this method and unlike currently available methods that define only the delivery of the appropriate intervention as success, system success was defined in terms of both true positives, namely delivering care when it is indicated, as well as true negatives, not delivering care when there is none indicated, to offer a more comprehensive system review. Additionally, the method of data collection allowed simplified defect analysis, thereby eliminating a resource-consuming audit of data after the fact. This approach, therefore, provides a basis for adapting and redesigning the PDSA cycle so as to specifically apply this type of "disciplinary" work.


The effects of steaming, grilling, and frying in corn and sunflower oils, respectively, on the fatty acid compositions of farmed and wild sea bream were evaluated. The lipid content increased with frying in both oil types. The maximum moisture value was found in steamed fish (P < 0.05). Fried sea bream in corn and sunflower oils contained a lower content of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (P < 0.05) (3.87 and 5.32% of total fatty acids (TFA) in farmed fish and 2.96 and 2.14% TFA in wild fish). The n-3/n-6 ratio decreased significantly after cooking, particularly after frying in corn and sunflower oils, respectively: from 2.51 to 0.08 and 0.12 in farmed fish and from 0.94 to 0.06 and 0.04 in wild fish. The trans fatty acid levels remain stable after steaming and grilling, but they were significantly affected by frying. Our results reveal that the cooking process has considerable effect on the fatty acid compositions of farmed and wild sea bream.


Spatial approaches to ice environment modeling can not only lead to better local hazard predictions but also produce regionalizations that are useful for construction, navigation, and other operations in the Arctic. Methods from multivariate statistics and visual image processing can be used to automatically identify geographical regions with similar ice characteristics. Of the many methods in the literature two are selected, adapted for the analysis of ice-chart information, and applied to Canadian Beaufort Sea data.


A regional fluid inclusion and stable isotope (H, O, C) study of the external part of the Pan-African Gariep Belt, with emphasis on the Rosh Pinah Zn-Pb sulphide deposit, demonstrated that the bulk of those fluids present at the time of syn-tectonic peak metamorphism and subsequent uplift and exhumation are of aqueous composition with low salinity. Exceptions are few moderately saline inclusions that are limited to the tectonic contact with the pre-Gariep basement near the volcano-sedimentary Rosh Pinah Formation. These are explained by derivation from a nearby, locally developed lagoonal, possibly evaporitic, facies. The infiltrated host rocks largely controlled the composition of the syn-orogenic fluids and no evidence was found for a regional pervasive flux of orogenic brines through the external parts of the belt. Very rare pre-orogenic fluids discovered in Rosh Pinah mine samples display markedly different composition and density that are in line with a derivation from a volcanic source. These fluid inclusions are interpreted as remnants of the original ore fluid that infiltrated the host sediments and pyroclastic rocks at a temperature of around 400°C and a hydrostatic pressure of a few hundred bars. This infiltration led not only to intense brecciation and silicification of arenitic footwall and sulphide precipitation but also to the dolomitisation of original limestone host rock. The good preservation of the syn-rift Rosh Pinah ore bodies during the Gariep orogeny is explained by the lack of regional orogenic brine flow.


This article explores the digital public sphere in Egypt through a 3-pronged investigation. First, we examine the media sphere from an institutional point of view. Second, we undertake a qualitative analysis of comments left on popular news pages on Facebook. Third, we discuss the findings of 30 semistructured interviews with young people in Cairo. Our results indicate that the media system is characterized by increasing control that has now extended online, whereas the social media space is dominated by religious personalities and entertainment. Turning to the public, we found that most comments mobilized anger and insults or were ironic and sarcastic. Finally, the interviews point to a disillusionment with both the political sphere and the role of social media. Disaffection is therefore taken to represent the specific structure of feeling found in the postrevolutionary Egyptian mainstream digital public sphere, with publics appearing alienated and unwilling to engage politically.


The coastal waters of Al-Mukalla, Hadramout Governate, Republic of Yemen, receive considerable amounts of treated and untreated domestic and industrial effluents, which carry a variety of contaminants including heavy metals. We surveyed benthic foraminiferal assemblages as potential indicators for pollution and collected geochemical, sedimentological and water-quality data. Cluster and canonical correspondence analyses delineated three areas: unpolluted areas east and west of Al-Mukalla harbor (biofacies I), a moderately polluted area in and around the harbor (biofacies II), and a highly polluted site within the main harbor (biofacies III). Biofacies I is characterized by sandy sediments with moderate proportions of CaCO 3 , low total organic matter and low heavy metal concentrations. This biofacies is characterized by pollution-sensitive smaller species ( Ammonia parkinsoniana , Discorbinella bertheloti and Pararotalia nipponica ). Biofacies II includes sites exposed to southwest monsoon winds, which are characterized by coarse sand relatively rich in CaCO 3 , as well as more protected sites that are somewhat more muddy, with somewhat higher concentrations of organic matter and heavy metals. Foraminiferal assemblages include larger taxa ( Amphistegina lessonii , Peneroplis pertusus , Neorotalia calcar , and Sorites orbiculus ), as well as smaller species ( Elphidium crispum , Glabratella patelliformis , and Discorbis turbo ). Biofacies III is found at a relatively muddy site that is rich in organic matter and heavy metals, particularly Cu and Zn. The foraminiferal assemblage is characterized by pollution-tolerant species, including Ammonia tepida , E. advenum , E. gerthi , Quinqueloculina eburnea , Q. bosciana , Haynesina germanica and Bolivina variabilis . The deleterious effects of pollution on the foraminiferal assemblage of biofacies III are clearly manifested by the highest incidences of test deformation.


Hyporheic water is thought to infiltrate at the head of a riffle, which in turn is complemented by upwelling back to the stream at the tail of the riffle in a pool‐riffle‐pool (PRP) sequence. Heat tracing is a potentially useful method to characterize these hyporheic flow paths and quantify associated fluxes. Temperature was monitored within a PRP sequence for several days. Temperature in the hyporheic zone reflected the diel temperature change in the river but not uniformly. The observed thermal pattern exhibited deeper penetration of thermal oscillations below the head pool and shallower penetration below the tail pool. This pattern is consistent with the conceptual model of hyporheic exchange over a PRP sequence. One‐dimensional analytical heat transport models were used at different points below the PRP sequence to estimate distributed vertical fluid fluxes. The calculated fluxes exhibit a trend that follows the expected distribution for a PRP sequence but modified for a losing stream (net fluid flux into the streambed). Deviation of both magnitude and distribution of fluxes from the conceptual "downwelling‐to‐upwelling" model is due partly to the dominantly losing conditions at the study site, but the trends are consistent with a losing stream undergoing hyporheic exchange. Violation of the assumptions in the analytical models most likely adds error to flux estimates. For this study, flux estimation methods using a temperature time‐series amplitude analysis more closely matched field measurements than phase methods.


Author(s): Fast, JD; Allan, J; Bahreini, R; Craven, J; Emmons, L; Ferrare, R; Hayes, PL; Hodzic, A; Holloway, J; Hostetler, C; Jimenez, JL; Jonsson, H; Liu, S; Liu, Y; Metcalf, A; Middlebrook, A; Nowak, J; Pekour, M; Perring, A; Russell, L; Sedlacek, A; Seinfeld, J; Setyan, A; Shilling, J; Shrivastava, M; Springston, S; Song, C; Subramanian, R; Taylor, JW; Vinoj, V; Yang, Q; Zaveri, RA; Zhang, Q | Abstract: Abstract. The performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting regional model with chemistry (WRF-Chem) in simulating the spatial and temporal variations in aerosol mass, composition, and size over California is quantified using measurements collected during the California Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Experiment (CalNex) and the Carbonaceous Aerosol and Radiative Effects Study (CARES) conducted during May and June of 2010. The extensive meteorological, trace gas, and aerosol measurements collected at surface sites and along aircraft and ship transects during CalNex and CARES were combined with operational monitoring network measurements to create a single dataset that was used to evaluate the one configuration of the model. Simulations were performed that examined the sensitivity of regional variations in aerosol concentrations to anthropogenic emissions and to long-range transport of aerosols into the domain obtained from a global model. The configuration of WRF-Chem used in this study is shown to reproduce the overall synoptic conditions, thermally-driven circulations, and boundary layer structure observed in region that controls the transport and mixing of trace gases and aerosols. However, sub-grid scale variability in the meteorology and emissions as well as uncertainties in the treatment of secondary organic aerosol chemistry likely contribute to errors at a primary surface sampling site located at the edge of the Los Angeles basin. Differences among the sensitivity simulations demonstrate that the aerosol layers over the central valley detected by lidar measurements likely resulted from lofting and recirculation of local anthropogenic emissions along the Sierra Nevada. Reducing the default emissions inventory by 50% led to an overall improvement in many simulated trace gases and black carbon aerosol at most sites and along most aircraft flight paths; however, simulated organic aerosol was closer to observed when there were no adjustments to the primary organic aerosol emissions. The model performance for some aerosol species was not uniform over the region, and we found that sulfate was better simulated over northern California whereas nitrate was better simulated over southern California. While the overall spatial and temporal variability of aerosols and their precursors were simulated reasonably well, we show cases where the local transport of some aerosol plumes were either too slow or too fast, which adversely affects the statistics regarding the differences between observed and simulated quantities. Comparisons with lidar and in-situ measurements indicate that long-range transport of aerosols from the global model was likely too high in the free troposphere even though their concentrations were relatively low. This bias led to an over-prediction in aerosol optical depth by as much as a factor of two that offset the under-predictions of boundary-layer extinction resulting primarily from local emissions. Lowering the boundary conditions of aerosol concentrations by 50% greatly reduced the bias in simulated aerosol optical depth for all regions of California. This study shows that quantifying regional-scale variations in aerosol radiative forcing and determining the relative role of emissions from local and distant sources is challenging during "clean" conditions and that a wide array of measurements are needed to ensure model predictions are correct for the right reasons. In this regard, the combined CalNex and CARES datasets are an ideal testbed that can be used to evaluate aerosol models in great detail and develop improved treatments for aerosol processes.


It has been a bit of a puzzle how it is that B2 bradykinin receptors (B2Rs) and M1 muscarinic receptors (M1AChRs) can both be coupled to activation of phospholipase C, which catalyzes cleavage of phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate into diacyl glycerol (DAG, an activator of protein kinase C family members) and inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3, which acts through a receptor to release calcium from intracellular stores), yet only stimulation of B2Rs can actually increase intracellular concentrations of free calcium. To get at this problem, Delmas et al. developed a method to use mammalian homologs of Trp (transient receptor potential) channels from Drosophila as sensors that function in real time to measure intracellular concentrations of DAG and IP3 produced in response to cell stimulation. They found that activation of either B2Rs or M1AchRs caused accumulation of DAG and IP3. The exclusive coupling of the B2R to calcium release appeared to be the result of proximity of the B2Rs to IP3Rs. Close association of those receptors was demonstrated by their presence together in microvesicles and by their coimmunoprecipitation from transfected cells. The association appears to require the actin cytoskeleton, as it was disrupted in the presence of cyotcholasin D. It seems that only when the IP3Rs are close to the activating receptor (B2R, in this case) do concentrations of IP3 get high enough fast enough to cause calcium mobilization. The authors point out that we are left wondering what the purpose of the IP3 that is generated by activated M1AchRs might be. P. Delmas, N. Wanaverbecq, F. C. Abogadie, M. Mistry, D. A. Brown, Signaling microdomains define the specificity of receptor-mediated InsP3 pathways in neurons. Neuron 14, 209-220 (2002). [Online Journal]


Spherical crystallization is a fast developing technique of particle design in which crystallization and agglomeration can be achieved simultaneously in one step. It has been successfully utilized for improvement of flow ability and compactability of crystalline drugs. The principle steps involved in the process of spherical crystallization are flocculation zone, zero growth zone, fast growth zone and constant size zone. General methods of spherical crystallization are emulsion solvent diffusion, spherical agglomeration, ammonia diffusion method and neutralization method. Factors controlling the process of agglomeration are solubility profile, mode and intensity of agitation, temperature of the system and residence time. Characterization of spherical crystals can be carried out using Optical Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, X-ray Powder Diffraction, Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Thin layer Chromatography.


We consider reasoning in an algebra of cyclic time intervals recently known in the literature; the algebra, CZ.A, is somehow the cyclic time counterpart of Allen's algebra of linear time intervals, 1277.A. A composition table has been built for C2¢4; the table can be used by a path consistency algorithm, such as Alien's, to propagate knowledge expressed in the algebra as a constraint satisfaction problem (CSP). An important question which has not been answered so far is whether path consistency decides consistency for CZ.A atomic relations. We provide an example showing that the answer to the question is unfortunately negative: path consistency does not decide consistency for CZA atomic relations. We will then define an algebra of cyclic time points, C'P.A.. which, somehow, is for C~-.A what Vilain and Kautz's linear time point algebra, 127~.A, is for 1277.4. C'PA is a subalgebra of CYCt, an algebra of ternary relations for cyclic ordering of 2D orientations also recently known in the literature. The pointisable part of CZA, i.e., the part one can translate into CPA, includes all atomic relations; from this, a complete solution search procedure for general CZ,4 CSPs derives, which uses results known for the algebra CYCt.


Once viewed as an infrequent disease of young pigs, Glasser's disease has emerged as a major pathogen affecting naive swine herds. Current trends recognize Haemophilus parasuis (HPS)serovar 5 as one of the most virulent and most prevalent serovars capable of eliciting sudden death and systemic Glasser's disease in swine. The prudent use of antimicrobials is considered to be an important component in the control of the septicemic spread of a HPS infection within a pig. Tulathromycin, a triamilide antibiotica, is an approved antimicrobial in many countries however its efficacy against HPS has not been completely examined. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of two different tulathromycin treatments in commercially weaned piglets challenged intratracheally with HPS serovar 5. A total of 27 piglets were infected with 5 x 10 (8) CFU HPS serovar 5. Eighteen of these piglets were administed two tulathromycin treatments at different times (7 days, 4 days)prior to infection and nine piglets served as controls. After challenge, severe clinical signs, pathological and histopathological lesions indicative of Glasser's disease were seen in all pigs infected with HPS. Furthermore, pyelitis was observed in seven challenged pigs. This is the first study which reports the findings of these lesions in HPS infected pigs and further studies are required to confirm these findings. Based on the results of the clinical examinations, gross and histopathological lesions, the administration of the two tulathromycin treatments 4 and 7 days prior to the experimental HPS infection did not appear to have a significant antimicrobial effect against the infection dose and serovar used in this study. Factors such as unsuitable application times or the high challenge inoculum dose may have contributed to these findings. Further studies examining the efficacy of tulathromycin taking these changes into consideration are necessary.


This paper describes the recent rediscovery by the author of the manuscript materials for James Boswell's Scottish Dictionary: a work which Boswell began in Utrecht in the 1760s, but which he never completed. The surviving manuscript, which was thought to be lost, is now in the Bodleian Library in Oxford. It had been misattributed to the Scottish lexicographer, John Jamieson, in the nineteenth century and subsequently catalogued under Jamieson's name. This paper gives the latest information on the remarkable history of the manuscript, and provides a first glimpse into the lexical riches in contains. Although never completed, Boswell's dictionary contains over 800 draft entries and is an important new source of information on eighteenth-century Scots. Research is still at an early stage, but the manuscript is already providing antedatings to the information in current historical dictionaries of Scots, and confirming the currency of some Scots words for which there was previously little evidence. It is also now possible to begin to compare Boswell's plan for his Scots dictionary, as outlined in his journals and memoranda, with the evidence of his surviving manuscript. The paper further outlines the author's future plans for transcribing and editing the manuscript, and describes the current website devoted to this ongoing research.


No consensus has yet been reached on the major factors driving the observed increase in the seasonal amplitude of atmospheric CO2 in the northern latitudes. In this study, we used atmospheric CO2 records from 26 northern hemisphere stations with a temporal coverage longer than 15 years, and an atmospheric transport model prescribed with net biome productivity (NBP) from an ensemble of nine terrestrial ecosystem models, to attribute change in the seasonal amplitude of atmospheric CO2. We found significant (p < .05) increases in seasonal peak‐to‐trough CO2 amplitude (AMPP‐T) at nine stations, and in trough‐to‐peak amplitude (AMPT‐P) at eight stations over the last three decades. Most of the stations that recorded increasing amplitudes are in Arctic and boreal regions (>50°N), consistent with previous observations that the amplitude increased faster at Barrow (Arctic) than at Mauna Loa (subtropics). The multi‐model ensemble mean (MMEM) shows that the response of ecosystem carbon cycling to rising CO2 concentration (eCO2) and climate change are dominant drivers of the increase in AMPP‐T and AMPT‐P in the high latitudes. At the Barrow station, the observed increase of AMPP‐T and AMPT‐P over the last 33 years is explained by eCO2 (39% and 42%) almost equally than by climate change (32% and 35%). The increased carbon losses during the months with a net carbon release in response to eCO2 are associated with higher ecosystem respiration due to the increase in carbon storage caused by eCO2 during carbon uptake period. Air‐sea CO2 fluxes (10% for AMPP‐T and 11% for AMPT‐P) and the impacts of land‐use change (marginally significant 3% for AMPP‐T and 4% for AMPT‐P) also contributed to the CO2 measured at Barrow, highlighting the role of these factors in regulating seasonal changes in the global carbon cycle.


The effects of fire on nutrient release in wetlands prior to, during and afterwards are notably rare. We initiated a long-term and large-scale ecosystem study, driven by a large restoration program, to assess ecological effects of repeated fires on a nutrient-enriched, cattail-dominated wetland in the Florida Everglades. Here, we report the immediate and short-term (30 days) impacts of the first prescribed fire focusing on a central question of whether the fire affected surface-and pore-water nutrient concentrations and forms. Specifically, we addressed several questions: 1) how fast could the impacts be detected, 2) what were the magnitude and duration of the impacts, and 3) were there any downstream effects detected and if so, how far downstream was the impact observed? The results showed that post-fire increases of average surface water total phosphorus (TP) concentrations over 10 days were 128 %, 119 %, and 135 % for within burned plot, 25 m downstream, and 100 m downstream, respectively, relative to the upstream control (82 +/- 11 mu g L(-1)). A post-fire surface water pH peak (8.4) was observed as soon as 15 minutes after the fire reached within burned plot, and the increase in pH lasted at least three weeks. A significant increase (400 %) in the daily peak dissolved oxygen was detected by the third week post-fire. Daily maximum water temperature increased 2-4 degrees C post-fire and this increase lasted the duration of the 30-day sampling period. Average periphyton TP concentrations from samples collected within burned plot were 3495 +/- 320 mg kg(-1) one month post-fire, but decreased to 1730 +/- 219 mg kg(-1) three months post-fire. Cattail seed germination decreased (41 %) from pre- to post-fire, while seed germination of sawgrass and other species increased (97 % and 12 %, respectively). Overall, whether these short-term responses have sustained effects and how they will shape other entities of the ecosystem in the long-term are currently being investigated and will be assessed in the near future.


The storage and bandwidth requirements of digital video and audio exceed those that can be supported by conventional file servers. Despite the emergence of new compression algorithms capable of providing extremely high compression ratios, there is still a challenge to provide optimised storage services capable of storing 1000s of hours of multimedia data and providing simultaneous access to hundreds and potentially thousands of clients. A number of prototype multimedia storage devices have been designed and built to address the real-time demands of digital video and audio1,9. These systems use RAID (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks) technology to increase the bandwidth and storage capacities of single disks. Unfortunately, RAID is non-scalable10 (i.e. disks cannot be incrementally added to provide higher bandwidth and storage facilities) and can prove to be a bottleneck in the system. This server bottleneck only becomes significant when the aggregate disk bandwidth of RAID increases beyond either the network interface or the server CPU / bus speed. Once this occurs the available storage and bandwidth can only be increased by introducing more RAID servers and introducing a load balancing policy where client requests can be shared across multiple server instances. This paper describes a Scalable Multimedia Storage Architecture (SMSA) that supports wide area storage, storage server scalability allowing the addition of extra storage nodes, and maximised available data streams through the use of the load balancing techniques of network striping / file replication. It also allows for the storage of multi-resolution data produced by scalable compression techniques to match the Quality of Service requirements of heterogeneous clients.


The speech of seven Kentish informants born in the closing decades of the 19th century (recorded by the Survey of English Dialects), and of their contemporary, the author H. G. Wells (also Kentish), is reviewed with respect to six sound changes already present in varying combinations in their Kentish speech, in order to elucidate the routes and timing for how they were being spread. The recordings have caught moments in the period 1860-95 where a new accent (Estuary English) was spreading across rural Kent from the towns along the shore of the Thames estuary, each informant exhibiting an individual mixture of new pronunciations and earlier Kentish pronunciations. Similar sound changes were occurring throughout the home counties, but their precise timing, progress and routes were not studied for this article. The changes examined here are loss of rhoticity, TRAP shifted away from DRESS, THOUGHT modified from [ɔː] to [oː], LOT from [a] to [ɔ], PRICE from [ʌi] to [ai], and MOUTH from [ɛʉ] to [aeɒ]. The results indicate that the sound changes started at different times, and spread through Kent over several generations, each starting from the north (London and the estuary coast), and ending in the east and south. Each change appears to have started spreading to neighbouring rural areas within a generation of appearing in estuary towns. The earliest of the six changes was PRICE, estimated appearing around 1800 in estuary towns (acquired by seven informants); then THOUGHT (acquired by five); MOUTH and rhoticity loss (four each); TRAP (three); and the most recent was LOT (two).


Aspect-oriented programming languages such as AspectJ provide a new way to separate out and consolidate code for debugging, profiling, distribution and other tasks that would otherwise become tangled with the main-line computation. Without aspects, this code can be difficult to understand and maintain. Unfortunately, while aspects purport to provide a new form of modularity, they also defeat the purpose of existing information hiding and modularity mechanisms. We have developed a new aspect-oriented programming language, AspectML, that allows programmers to control information hiding and access to the internals of a module through a simple static type system. Using our mechanisms, programmers can prevent aspects from interfering with local invariants or reading information that should be kept private to a module. Consequently, AspectML is the first aspect-oriented language that interoperates safely and effectively with rich module systems.


A high‐frequency echosounder was used to detect and characterize percent cover and stand height of the benthic filamentous green alga Cladophora sp. on rocky substratum of the Laurentian Great Lakes. Comparisons between in situ observations and estimates of the algal stand characteristics (percent cover, stand height) derived from the acoustic data show good agreement for algal stands that exceeded the height threshold for detection by acoustics (~7.5 cm). Backscatter intensity and volume scattering strength were unable to provide any predictive power for estimating algal biomass. A comparative analysis between the only current commercial software (EcoSAV™) and an alternate method using a graphical user interface (GUI) written in MATLAB® confirmed previous findings that EcoSAV functions poorly in conditions where the substrate is uneven and bottom depth changes rapidly. The GUI method uses a signal processing algorithm similar to that of EcoSAV but bases bottom depth classification and algal stand height classification on adjustable thresholds that can be visualized by a trained analyst. This study documents the successful characterization of nuisance quantities of filamentous algae on hard substrate using an acoustic system and demonstrates the potential to significantly increase the efficiency of collecting information on the distribution of nuisance macroalgae. This study also highlights the need for further development of more flexible classification algorithms that can be used in a variety of aquatic ecosystems.


Unemployment has been rising in South Africa for the last three decades, leading to official unemployment rates of 26.4% (37% if the broad definition is used). This implies a jobless total of 7 million, with more than 40% of the rural population unemployed, and the development of a growing pool of workers who are excluded from the labour market. The South African economy is facing labour market failure, with labour supply increasingly outstripping demand. If the economy continues on its current growth path this problem of labour market failure will intensify and the employment situation will continue to deteriorate. The severe levels of unemployment resulting from this market failure are a particular problem in South Africa given the role unemployment plays in exacerbating poverty and inequality in an already highly unequal and segmented society, and the uneven incidence of unemployment among racial groups. Public works programming offers a response to both poverty and unemployment, while also addressing the linked national priority issue of asset creation. This paper discusses the option of state intervention through public works, reviewing the South African response in the context of global public works experience. The paper examines both project based public works programming, which forms the dominant policy response in South Africa, and the option of large-scale labour intensification of state expenditure, and examines the employment creation and cost implications of each, drawing on a case study from KwaZulu Natal. The paper concludes that public works interventions in South Africa to date have been relatively limited in scope and impact, and that the potential exists for far greater job creation and poverty alleviation through both the labour intensification of public spending, and the rationalization of the project based approach.


We propose a new method for the generation of both triangular-shaped optical pulses and flat-top, coherent supercontinuum spectra using the effect of fourth-order dispersion on parabolic pulses in a passive, normally dispersive highly nonlinear fiber. The pulse reshaping process is described qualitatively and is compared to numerical simulations.


In the spring of 1911, the Supreme Court issued four opinions involving the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, all of them landmark decisions and each in its own way reflective of the era. One of them was Dr. Miles Medical Company v. John D. Park & Sons. Justice Charles Evans Hughes, writing for the Court, not only pronounced the doctrine that resale price maintenance was prohibited but set in motion the analytical dynamics of modern doctrine. Moreover, the underlying controversy offers a striking sight line into the era's swirling cultural and economic currents. Dr. Miles arose at the confluence of three federal statutes emblematic of Progressive Era responses to entrepreneurial excess. As every student of antitrust knows, the Sherman Act grounded Park's successful defense that the resale price provisions in Miles' form contracts were unenforceable. The context was also framed by the Trademark Act of 1905 and the Pure Food & Drug Act of 1906, both of which collided with the dominant marketing strategies of patent medicine firms. Because the costs of market entry and product imitation were low, supply tended to exceed demand, spurring intense brand competition. But the trademark statute's stronger protection of nationwide brands in the patent medicine industry, one of the first product markets driven by mass advertising, enabled large manufacturers to distance themselves from smaller firms and discourage upstarts. Moreover, the food and drug act's ingredient disclosure requirements and its ban on ill-founded therapeutic claims tended to benefit well-established firms as much as consumers. The chapter's first section describes the era's patent medicine markets and pays close attention to the commercial importance of trademarks and advertising. In this light, the second section analyzes Dr. Miles through the prism of prior litigation in the industry, an analysis that uncovers the centrality of property rights to the Court's competition policy as well as the industry-wide use of standard form contracts, use that was organized by national trade associations. In the patent medicine industry and perhaps in other emerging mass markets, standard form contracts were no less effective in restraining competition and maintaining price levels than the more visible business strategies of merger and cartelization. The focus on branded competition and standard form contracts illuminates the era's competition policy. The policy is misunderstood today, particularly its underlying classical economics, which informed the twin common law competition doctrines of contracts in restraint of trade and restraints on alienation of property. The chapter concludes with an afterword about modern doctrine, its modern economic rhetoric and its common law underpinnings.


The development of classical and lipophilic inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) as antitumour agents is reviewed and the advantages and problems associated with each class are discussed. The antitumour activity, pharmacokinetics and metabolism of m-azido-pyrimethamine (MZP), a novel lipophilic inhibitor, are considered and compared with metoprine, the prototype lipophilic antifolate. Evidence for a folate-independent target for lipophilic DHFR inhibitors is presented. Synthetic studies centred on three principal objectives. Firstly a series of structural analogues of MZP were prepared encompassing alkoxy, chloro and alkylamino substituents and evaluated, as the ethanesulphonate salts, for activity against mammalian DHFR. Inhibitory constant (KI) determinations were conducted by a Zone B analysis, the corresponding 4'-azido isomer of MZP proving more potent than the parent compound. Secondly, to facilitate metabolism and stability studies on MZP, a range of possible reference compounds were synthesised and characterised. Finally, a series of diaminopyrimidine derivatives were synthesised embracing structural features incompatible with DHFR inhibitory activity, in order that such compounds may serve as biochemical probes for the unidentified folate-independent target for lipophilic diaminopyrimidines discussed previously. Inactivity against DHFR was achieved via introduction of an ionic or basic group into a normally hydrophobic region of the molecule and compounds were screened against a mammalian DHFR and thymidylate synthase to confirm the abolition of activity. Several derivatives surprisingly proved potent inhibitors of DHFR exhibiting KI values comparable to that of methotrexate. Analogues were screened for antitumour activity in vitro and in vivo against murine leukaemia cell lines in order to identify potential lead compounds. Several derivatives virtually inactive against DHFR exhibited a disparate cytotoxicity and further biochemical studies are warranted. The nobreak hitherto unreported debenzylation of 2,4-diamino-5-(N-alkyl-benzylaminophenyl) pyrimidines was discovered during the course of the synthetic studies, treatment of these compounds with nitrous acid affording the corresponding benzotriazoles.


Background Cross-sectional studies suggest associations between abnormal lipid levels and prevalence of low back pain (LBP), but it is not known if there is any causal relationship. Objective The objective was to determine, in a population-based prospective cohort study, whether there is any relation between levels of total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and triglycerides and the probability of experiencing subsequent chronic (LBP), both among individuals with and without LBP at baseline. Methods Information was collected in the community-based HUNT 2 (1995–1997) and HUNT 3 (2006–2008) surveys of an entire Norwegian county. Participants were 10,151 women and 8731 men aged 30–69 years, not affected by chronic LBP at baseline, and 3902 women and 2666 men with LBP at baseline. Eleven years later the participants indicated whether they currently suffered from chronic LBP. Results Among women without LBP at baseline, HDL cholesterol levels were inversely associated and triglyceride levels positively associated with the risk of chronic LBP at end of follow-up in analyses adjusted for age only. Adjustment for the baseline factors education, work status, physical activity, smoking, blood pressure and in particular BMI largely removed these associations (RR: 0.96, 95% CI: 0.85–1.07 per mmol/l of HDL cholesterol; RR: 1.16, 95% CI: 0.94–1.42 per unit of lg(triglycerides)). Total cholesterol levels showed no associations. In women with LBP at baseline and men without LBP at baseline weaker relationships were observed. In men with LBP at baseline, an inverse association with HDL cholesterol remained after complete adjustment (RR: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.72–0.95 per mmol/l). Conclusion Crude associations between lipid levels and risk of subsequent LBP in individuals without current LBP are mainly caused by confounding with body mass. However, an association with low HDL levels may still remain in men who are already affected and possibly experience a higher pain intensity.


The nonlinear absorption properties of Ag nanoprism arrays synthesized by nanosphere lithography have been investigated by z-scan measurements. A picoseconds and low repetition rate laser source has been used to excite the electronic component of the nonlinear optical response without inducing thermal effects on the samples. Spectral effects in the nonlinear absorption response have been highlighted by performing measurements at different wavelengths, matching the laser wavelength with the dipolar and the quadrupolar surface plasmon resonances of the synthesized nanoarrays. The nonlinear absorption properties of the samples have been also investigated as a function of the polarization of the laser source and dichroism effects have been revealed.


In a model of career concerns for experts, when is a principal hurt from observing more information about their agent? This Paper introduces a distinction between information on the consequence of the agent's action and information directly on the agent's action. When the latter kind of information is available, the agent faces an incentive to disregard useful private signals and act according to how an able agent is expected to act a priori. This conformist behaviour hurts the principal in two ways: the decision made by the agent is less likely to be the right one (discipline) and ex post it is more difficult to evaluate the agent's ability (sorting). The Paper identifies a necessary and sufficient condition on the agent signal structure under which transparency on action is detrimental to the principal. The Paper also shows the existence of complementarities between transparency on action and transparency on consequence. The results on the distinction between transparency on action and transparency on consequence are then used to interpret existing disclosure policies in politics, corporate governance, and delegated portfolio management.


Zhang, Z., Coyne, D. P., Vidaver, A. K., and Mitra, A. 1998. Expression of human lactoferrin cDNA confers resistance to Ralstonia solanacearum in transgenic tobacco plants. Phytopathology 88:730-734. A construct containing a human lactoferrin cDNA was used to trans- form tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ) using an Agrobacterium -mediated DNA-transfer system to express this human protein in transgenic plants. Transformants were analyzed by Southern, Northern, and Western blots to determine integration of the cDNA into the plant genome and lactofer- rin gene expression levels. Most transgenic plants demonstrated significant delays of bacterial wilt symptoms when inoculated with the bacterial pathogen Ralstonia solanacearum . Quantification of the expressed lactoferrin protein by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in transgenic plants indicated a significant positive relationship between lactoferrin gene expression levels and levels of disease resistance. Incorporation of the lactoferrin gene into crop plants may enhance resistance to other phytopathogenic bacteria as well.


Introduction: Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare low-grade malignant tumor of soft tissues characterized by aggressive local infiltration and propensity for local recurrence. This retrospective study analyzed clinical outcomes, recurrence and survival rates after surgical treatment of DFSP. Methods: Patients underwent surgery to complete eradicate tumor, and subsequently a close follow-up by clinical examination and ultrasounds surveillance of primary tumor site and corresponding lymph nodes, to detect local or distant recurrence. Surgery invariably included wide excision of tumor, followed by different reconstructive procedures as skin grafting in 23 cases (85%), local flap in 2 patients (7.4%), free flap in 1 case (4%), while primary closure was performed only in one case (4%). Results: Second surgery was needed in 9 cases (33%) to achieve minimum free-margins of 2-3cm. Other surgical treatments like Mohs Micrographic Surgery, or adjuvant therapies, like radioor chemotherapy were not used. Free-recurrence lapse among this series of patients varied from 1 to 10 years, with a medium period of 6 years. Local recurrence occurred in 3 patients (11%), and required a further extended surgical excision. A total of 27 patients did not develop distance metastasis during the follow-up. Conclusion: Extended excision is effective to provide a reliable local control of disease, but only if free margins limiting 2-3 cm is confirmed by pathologist. Clinical and ultrasound surveillance during close follow-up provide early detection of eventual local recurrence and of lymph nodes involvement. ■ ABSTRACT


In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), a poor link between antibiotic policies and practices exists. Numerous contextual factors may influence the degree of antibiotic access, appropriateness of antibiotic provision, and actual use in communities. Therefore, improving appropriateness of antibiotic use in different communities in LMICs probably requires interventions tailored to the setting of interest, accounting for cultural context. Here we present the ABACUS study (AntiBiotic ACcess and USe), which employs a unique approach and infrastructure, enabling quantitative validation, contextualization of determinants, and cross-continent comparisons of antibiotic access and use. The community infrastructure for this study is the INDEPTH-Network (International Network for the Demographic Evaluation of Populations and Their Health in Developing Countries), which facilitates health and population research through an established health and demographic surveillance system. After an initial round of formative qualitative research with community members and antibiotic suppliers in three African and three Asian countries, household surveys will assess the appropriateness of antibiotic access, provision and use. Results from this sample will be validated against a systematically conducted inventory of suppliers. All potential antibiotic suppliers will be mapped and characterized. Subsequently, their supply of antibiotics to the community will be measured through customer exit interviews, which tend to be more reliable than bulk purchase or sales data. Discrepancies identified between reported and observed antibiotic practices will be investigated in further qualitative interviews. Amartya Sen's Capability Approach will be employed to identify the conversion factors that determine whether or not, and the extent to which appropriate provision of antibiotics may lead to appropriate access and use of antibiotics. Currently, the study is ongoing and expected to conclude by 2019. ABACUS will provide important new insights into antibiotic practices in LMICs to inform social interventions aimed at promoting optimal antibiotic use, thereby preserving antibiotic effectiveness.


Introduction: Non-high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol is the sum of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) cholesterol, and is usually approximated by the total cholesterol minus HDL-cholesterol. The National Lipid Association (NLA) has advocated the use of non-HDL cholesterol as its favoured lipid predictor. Cut-off points are based on LDL cholesterol values, with a lower end at 100 mg/dL (2.50 mmol/L) and a higher end at 190 mg/dL (4.75 mmol/L), adding 30 mg/dL (0.75 mmol/L) to keep triglyceride (TG) levels <150 mg/dL (1.70 mmol/L).

Objectives: The author will demonstrate that the use of non-HDL cholesterol has not been fully considered.

Methods: The author will examine a general population lipid database to demonstrate the frequency of distribution of non-HDL cholesterol in the part of the population that was known to have developed a form of atherothrombotic disease (ATD) and in the part that was not known to have done so. The effect of stratifying each non-HDL cholesterol quintile in terms of another lipid predictor that does not involve VLDL-cholesterol or TG will be demonstrated. The other risk predictor is the cholesterol retention fraction (CRF) defined as (LDL-HDL)/LDL.

Findings: All non-HDL cholesterol quintiles above the lowest quintile had higher frequencies in the ATD population than in the non-ATD population. The highest two quintiles had frequencies in the ATD population that are 2.5-times as high as those in the non-ATD population, whereas in the middle two quintiles, the frequency in the ATD population was minimally higher than in the non-ATD population. In the lowest quintile, the frequency is much higher in the non-ATD population than in the ATD population. At any non-HDL cholesterol quintile, the average age of ATD onset depends on cigarette smoking (not discussed here) and the CRF. Higher CRF levels equate to an earlier average age of ATD onset and lower levels of CRF equate to a later onset. A 75-year-old male who was a hypertensive diabetic and a former smoker was not on statins because of low lipid levels, had clean arteries on angiography, whereas a 45-year-old normotensive, non-smoking patient with severe dyslipidaemia (obtained at first encounter) had a massive stroke due to carotid stenosis. Both had non-HDL cholesterol levels in the intermediate ATD risk quintiles.

Conclusions: Non-HDL cholesterol is not the optimal predictor of the population at risk of atherothrombotic disease and its use should be reconsidered.


Wonhyo (617-686) is the dominant figure in the history of Korean Buddhism and one of the most influential thinkers in the Korean philosophical tradition. Koreans know Wonhyo in his various roles as Buddhist mystic, miracle worker, social iconoclast, religious proselytist, and cultural hero. Above all else, Wonhyo was an innovative thinker and prolific writer, whose works cover the gamut of Indian and Sinitic Buddhist materials: Some one hundred treatises and commentaries are attributed to him, twenty-three of which are extant today. Wonhyo's importance is not limited to the peninsula, however. His writings were widely read in China and japan, and his influence on the overall development of East Asian Mahayana thought is significant, particularly in relation to the Huayan, Chan, and Pure Land schools. In "Cultivating Original Enlightenment", the first volume in The International Association of Wonhyo Studies' "Collected Works of Wonhyo" series, Robert E. Buswell Jr. translates Wonhyo's longest and culminating work, the "Exposition of the Vajrasamadhi-Sutra" ("Kumgang Sammaegyong Non"). Wonhyo here brings to bear all the tools acquired throughout a lifetime of scholarship and meditation to the explication of a scripture that has a startling connection to the Korean Buddhist tradition. In his treatise, Wonhyo examines the crucial question of how enlightenment can be turned from a tantalizing prospect into a palpable reality that manifests itself in all activities.


Continental trend data for North America suggest that Horned Grebe ( Podiceps auritus ) breeding populations are declining and Red-necked Grebe ( P. grisegena ) populations are increasing. However, data reliability is low due to lack of survey routes in the northern boreal and taiga ecozones, areas encompassing much of the breeding range of both species. Locally in the southern Manitoba prairie ecozone, reliability of long-term trend data is also considered low and these data suggest that Horned Grebe populations are declining faster than the continental trend and that Red-necked Grebe populations are increasing rapidly. The lack of current quantitative information on population densities of these two species in southern Manitoba prompted me to compare 1970s historical data from two sites to recent data collected at the same locations in 2008–2016. I surveyed 42 (1970–1972) and 38 (2008–2016), and 144 (2009–2015) Class III-V wetlands at Erickson and Minnedosa, Manitoba, respectively. Historical Minnedosa data were available from previous field studies. At both locations, Horned Grebe breeding populations have fallen significantly, and Red-necked Grebe populations have risen significantly since the 1970s. The results of this study corroborate the Breeding Bird Survey's trend data for Horned and Red-necked Grebes in southwestern Manitoba pothole habitat.


This popular and classic text chronicles America's roller-coaster journey through the decades since World War II. Considering both the paradoxes and the possibilities of postwar America, William H. Chafe portrays the significant cultural and political themes that have colored our country's past and present, including issues of race, class, gender, foreign policy, and economic and social reform. He examines such subjects as the Vietnam War, the civil rights movement, the origins and the end of the Cold War, the culture of the 1970s, the rise of the New Right, the events of September 11th and their aftermath, and various presidencies. Now thoroughly revised and updated, the seventh edition of The Unfinished Journey combines and reorganizes several chapters. The former Chapter 14, "New Rules, Old Realities," is now divided into two chapters. The new Chapter 14, "An Era of Political Malaise," covers the political history of the 1970s. It is followed by Chapter 15, "A Divided Culture, A Divided Society," which assesses the shifting cultural landscape of the 1970s and the emergence of major fissures in the social system of the nation. The final chapter contains substantial new material on the administration of George W. Bush, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the election of 2008, and the first year of Barack Obama's presidency. Brilliantly written by a prize-winning historian, The Unfinished Journey, Seventh Edition, is an essential text for all students of recent American history.


Bound electronic excitations play a major role in the electrodynamics of insulators and are typically described by the concept of Wannier-Mott and Frenkel excitons. The former represent hydrogenic electron-hole pairs delocalized over several unit cells of a crystal and they occur in materials with high dielectric constant; the latter correspond to a correlated electron-hole pair localized on a single lattice site and they mostly prevail in molecular solids. Between these two extremes, an intermediate type of excitons exists, typically referred to as charge-transfer excitons. A prototypical system in which these rare quasiparticles have been theoretically predicted but never experimentally confirmed is the anatase polymorph of TiO$_2$, which is one of the most promising material for light-energy conversion applications. Here, we combine angle-resolved photoemission and optical spectroscopies, along with ab initio state-of-the-art theoretical calculations, to demonstrate that the direct optical gap of anatase TiO$_2$ is dominated by a charge-transfer exciton band rising over the continuum of indirect interband transitions. In particular, we find that the lowest exciton possesses a two-dimensional nature and is characterized by a giant binding energy of $\sim$ 300 meV. The universality of these findings is proven in highly defective samples used in light-energy conversion applications, by interrogating these systems out-of-equilibrium via ultrafast two-dimensional UV spectroscopy.


Ad messages reflect image more than action. During election season, campaign messages highlight personal qualities of legislative candidates-yet at the same time these political communications transmit perceptions of governing bodies to which the candidates aspire. Selected ideas are conveyed in campaign advertising as part of the appeal for votes. Words and pictures dispatch bits of information about both Congress and the state legislatures. Campaign advertising is considered one vehicle of media contact, in some perspectives "more effective than news in carrying a message" to the voter.1 For presidential campaigns, we have studies of campaign advertising and of free media coverage,2 but at the state level we still know little about the substantive content of campaigns. While media research has regularly dealt with candidate recognition and campaign "effects," less attention has been given to the underlying informational message. Does advertising support the candidates' party label? What ideas are offered as the "meat" for voter evaluation? Do the legislators focus on state or national problems? What might the messages tell about the fundamental nature of the candidates and their governmental responsibilities? Political advertising may be the public's most plentiful source of substantive information about candidates for districtlevel office. The free media give scanty coverage. Announcements of legislative candidacies, usually with the standard identifying information, appear in the daily and weekly press and on live media. But media reports about state-level candidates are hit-or-miss.3 Office seekers with special credentials as "newsworthy" subjects might have ready access to the media (i.e. children of former politicians, figures from the entertainment world). Hard news might be created if major controversy erupts in a race, if it becomes dramatic or novel. But under ordinary circumstances, the free media lack the means (available reporters) and the space or time to disseminate in-depth facts about the many legislative candidates in state races, even about candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives. Incumbents, of course, employ active communication channels based on constituent service; these individuals rely much less than challengers on free media coverage of legislative races. Statewide wire services will cover candidates for governor and senator who perhaps receive adequate notice. U.S. House candidates get far less attention; coverage of state candidates is minimal. Therefore, paid media communication becomes a major avenue for dispensing informational detail about the the sub-state candidate and his policies; advertising requires major campaign expenditure. Clearly, the first mission of campaign advertising is to create a personal image, not to describe a legislator's local or national obligations. The personality is a saleable item.4 Responsibility, trust, experience, responsiveness are typical of personal qualities conveyed about all candidates. Any rhetoric bearing on the duties of the office will be supportive of the image.5 Issue-related advertising is secondary and has no philanthropic objective. Informational messages are primarily a tool of persuasion.6 Ads aim to please, to arouse, to excite with accounts of responsibilities or problems. The pictures of government are meant to coincide with those of the voter or to lead him gently to support the candidate's more attractive perception. But since individuals in society vary widely in level of political awareness, some voters may indeed learn from political advertising; others, at least, have their perceptions awakened.7 In lower-level elections, political communication may serve as an agent of stability, an aid to voter orientation, or even an agent of volatility. Voter attitudes on local issues often arise from evaluation of an incumbent,8 yet the basis for judging the incumbent may be a campaign message. …


This paper describes on-going work on the development of two complementary resources: WordMed® and Scriptum®. The former is a lexico-conceptual knowledge base (KB) comprising information from four medical sub-domains (diagnostics, procedures, tumors and medicines). This resource is only accessible for the language and domain expert in charge of supervising the knowledge acquisition and KB-updating processes. The latter resource, Scriptum®, is the user's tool; it contains a medical KB, transferred from WordMed®, together with a viewer for the user to access the knowledge stored in the KB.


The United States system of funding schools with local property tax dollars leads to qualitative disparities across school districts. It is crucial that state courts address this problem, since no federal right to education exists. Students and parents have successfully challenged these funding systems in many states, but courts in seven states - citing the political question doctrine - have refused to review these claims. It appears that most of these states lack a coherent political question history and have used the prudential standing doctrine to avoid education claims specifically. This Note argues that the political question doctrine should not be used as an excuse to ignore educational adequacy cases in states with an affirmative constitutional right to education. I. INTRODUCTION Beginning with San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez,1 plaintiffs concerned with educational equity have gradually lost access to the federal court system over the past thirty-five years. In response, education plaintiffs have taken their claims to state court. The first wave of state cases aimed to achieve equal education for all, but over time advocates have shifted to claims for a minimum baseline of educational adequacy.2 State court plaintiffs have framed their arguments on state constitution education clauses, which grant all students a positive right to education and often articulate more specifically what that right requires. In the states where the highest courts have considered educational adequacy claims on the merits, plaintiffs have won every single time.3 Some state judges, however, have recently refused to address the difficult business of school reform. These courts have ruled that education funding issues belong with the legislature and will not consider adequacy claims on their merits. For those who view the judiciary as the protector of minority rights, closing the door to state litigation is troubling. With education claims out of federal court for the foreseeable future, litigants must find ways back into these state courtrooms. Judges in seven states rely on the rarely invoked federal political question doctrine, explained in Baker v. Carr,4 to reject education claims.5 In that 1962 case, the Supreme Court set out six possible criteria explaining what would limit courts from hearing claims that belong with another political branch.6 This Note investigates why state courts have suddenly resurrected this fifty-year -old Supreme Court doctrine and applied it to educational adequacy claims. On what authority do these courts base their decisions to refuse to consider educational adequacy claims? Do these states have coherent political question doctrines, where courts routinely examine the justiciability of claims before reviewing them? If these states use the political question doctrine widely, consistency may imply some legitimacy to the practice. But if the decisions are targeted only at education, what does that mean for the use of the political question doctrine at the state level? Determining the reasons behind these decisions will reveal ways to challenge them with future litigation. Part II provides a brief history of recent education reform litigation in the United States, explaining the shift from the federal to the state system. It details the move from equity to adequacy litigation and what this shift means for the role of the courts. It also briefly explains the federal history of the political question doctrine. Part III details new research of the legal history of the seven states that have ruled education finance claims political questions: Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Florida, Alabama, Illinois, and Rhode Island. It examines how and when the courts in these states have used the political question doctrine in the past, and whether the application of the doctrine in the education context is far from the ordinary. Most of the states rely on one specific criterion of Baker v. …


In the Bull Flat area of Grand Staircase (Escalante National Monument, Utah, United States), sedimentological analysis of the tip line area of a Late Cretaceous normal fault reveals that the fault was active during the deposition and preservation of a sag pond deposit. Sag ponds deposits are probably under-recognized in the rock record, and, as demonstrated in this study, they are helpful in chronicling activity of ancient faults. The sag pond sequence is located just below the contact between the upper and capping sandstone members of the Wahweap Formation, and it occurs within close proximity to other features of seismogenic origin. The sag pond deposit is a 2.2-m-thick succession of carbonaceous, interlaminated mudstones and siltstones intruded by sublithic sandstone seismogenic dikes and sills. At least two seismic events are required to produce the observed sequence. The initial event ruptured the surface, probably tilting the underlying strata, and produced the down-drop for the sag pond. After infilling of the sag pond, a second seismogenic event mobilized sediment in the underlying upper member and generated the dikes and sills that intrude the sag pond deposit. Subsequently, a minor channel scoured the sag pond deposit with flow parallel to the fault trace. Infilling of the sag pond ended before deposition of the capping sandstone member.


This article investigates how community management of schools can affect educational outcomes as measured by retention rates. In our model, parents make decisions about whether or not their children should remain in school, and they monitor the performance of the teachers. We analyze a unique data set from El Salvador, which expanded the role of communities in school management through its Educación con Participación de la Comunidad (EDUCO) program. While we use nonrandomized data, we carefully examine biases arising from endogenous program placements and program self-selection. We find that EDUCO had a positive and robust influence on students, encouraging them to continue their schooling. Our results suggest that community participation, a better classroom environment, and careful teacher management are largely responsible for the positive effect of the EDUCO program. We conclude that in El Salvador the decentralization of responsibilities to communities seems to have had significant positive effects on school continuation.


Although there are similarities between all members of Ahlul Bayt and they are from the same light, there is a special link between Imam Husayn and Imam Mahdi. In this paper, verses from the Qur'an and hadiths of the Ahlul Bayt will be used to demonstrate this connection. Indeed, Imam Mahdi is from the progeny of Imam Husayn who will rise on the Day of Ashura and will speak of his grandfather's oppression. Imam Husayn also spoke of Imam Mahdi avenging for him, and helping Imam Husayn is similar to helping Imam Mahdi. Moreover, one of the best deeds on the birth of Imam Mahdi is to recite Ziyarah of Imam Husayn, as renewing one's allegiance with Imam Husayn is renewing it with Imam Mahdi. ***** Although there are many similarities between all members of Ahlul Bayt and they are from the same light, there is a special link and connection between Imam Husayn and Imam Mahdi. Below we will study some of the links and then we will try to explain the reason behind this exceptional connection. 1) In Chapter Israa, we read: Do not kill the soul that Allah has made inviolable, except with due cause, and whoever is killed wrongfully, We have certainly given his heir an authority. But let him not commit any excess in killing, The one who is the guardian of one who is killed would be helped by Allah and would be victorious. (Quran 17:33) The most obvious case for this verse is Imam Husayn as approved by several hadiths that introduce Imam Husayn as the first oppressed person. There are also hadiths from Imam Rida and other Imams that say that this verse is related to Imam Husayn and Imam Mahdi. For example, Imam Baqir said: The one who is killed is Husayn and his guardian is Imam Mahdi. And Israaf is to kill someone other than his killers. 'Truly he is helped." This world will not expire unless a man from the family of the Prophet would come. He will fill the earth with equity and justice as it has been filled with injustice and inequity. The demand of that guardian of that innocent life is establishment of justice all over the world.1 The blood of Imam Husayn will not receive its compensation if worldwide justice does not take place. Of course, all Imams after Imam Husayn were guardians. However, Imam Mahdi is special. He is the victorious whom will be helped by Allah. 2) More than three hundred hadiths stress on the fact that Imam Mahdi is the progeny of Imam Husayn. 180 of these are from the Prophet. Imam Husayn himself said: There will be twelve people who are guided. The first Imam who is guided by Allah and does not need to be guided by people is Imam Ali, and the last one is the ninth generation of my progeny. He is the Imam that is will rise truthfully, and the one who gives life to earth after being dead. And Allah is going to make the right religion prevail [over] all other religions even if the pagans may not like it.2 Therefore, the hadith emphasizes that Imam Mahdi is progeny of Imam Husayn. 3) According to hadiths, the day of the uprising of Imam Mahdi is the day of Ashura. There is a call in Month of Ramadan and then the uprising is on the day of Ashura. Imam Sadiq said: There would be a call for him in the night of 23 but he will be raised on the day of Ashura in which Imam Husayn was killed.3 4) Imam Mahdi will stand between Rukn and Maqam next to the Ka'ba clearly making reference to Karbala in the beginning of his movement: O people of the world, I am the uprising Imam. O people of the world, I am the avenger. O people of the world, my grandfather Husayn was killed while he was thirsty. O people of the world, my grandfather was left without dress. O people of the world, they damaged the body of my grandfather. Also, Imam Husayn said to Imam Sajjad: By Allah, my blood will keep boiling until Allah sends the Mahdi and kills seventy thousand of those disbelievers who are transgressors and hypocrites.4 When Hirawi asked Imam Rida to check a hadith from Imam Sadiq regarding Imam Mahdi killing some of the progeny of the killers of Imam Husayn, Imam Rida approved it. He then asked, 'How this can be explained with regards to the verse that says, 'No one carries the burden of another person (Qur'an 6:164)5."6 The Imam replied:7 Allah says the truth in all his sayings but these are those who are proud and satisfied with what their fathers did. When one is pleased with something, it is like the one who is doing it. If someone is killed in the east and another person in the west is happy with this killing, it is as if he is also involved.8 Regarding the above hadith, maybe the punishment is different but there is punishment and involvement. Thus, this is with the people who are happy with what has been done in Karbala. We will explain how the end of times (akhir ul-zaman) would be built around Husayn. One of the conflicting points of truth and falsehood would revolve around him. 5) There are hadiths that state the helper of Imam Husayn to be similar to helping Imam Mahdi. As mentioned by Imam Husayn during the night of Ashura My grandfather said that, 'My son Husayn will be killed in Karbala while he is alone and thirsty and abandoned [In that lonely time] whoever helps Husayn has helped me and has helped his son, alHujjah.' Thus, helping Husayn is similar to helping both the Prophet and Imam Mahdi. They have the same ideas and goals, and if you accept and try to achieve those goals, you are with them. Betraying one of them is like betraying all of them. If we wisely spread the message of Imam Husayn today, we are helping Imam Mahdi. 6) Imam Sadiq said that 4000 angels wanted to help Imam Husayn on the Day of Ashura, although the Imam did not accept. The angels went to get permission from Allah to take part without the Imam's permission, yet when they descended to the earth, the Imam was killed: When they descended to the earth, the Imam was already killed. They have remained in Karbala. They are covered with dust and will cry for him until the resurrection. They are waiting for the coming of Imam Mahdi. Imam Rida also said: Four thousands angels descended to earth to help him. They found him killed. They will remain there until the coming of Imam Mahdi. Then they will help him. And their motto is Yaa lathaaraat alHusayn!"9 Imam Sadiq also said: The supporters of Imam Mahdi wish to be killed in the way of Allah and their motto is 'Ya lithaarat alHusayn!" Whenever they move fear goes in front of them one month in advance."10 7) On the night of the 15th Sha'ban, the night of the birth of Imam Mahdi, one of the best deeds is to recite Ziyarah of Imam Husayn. Sheikh Abbas al-Qummi in his Mafatih ul-Jinan, says that there are many authentic hadiths regarding the rewards for those who visit Imam Husayn in the middle of Sha'ban; it is as if the visitor shook hands with the 124,000 prophets. Renewing one's allegiance to Imam Husayn is renewing one's allegiance to Imam Mahdi. Without having love for Imam Husayn, you are not counted as a lover of Imam Mahdi. 8) The Night of Qadr is the night of Imam Mahdi. Every year on this night 'the spirit and the angels descend" (97:4) to the heart of Allah's proof Imam Mahdi: He sends the spirit to the one whom he is pleased with. (16 2) This verse argues for Imamah: the Imams are the only people to whom the Allah would send the angels. In this night, Allah decides everything for the twelve months of the year and the spirit and the angels bring down the decisions to the heart of the Imam. Moreover, on this night, one of the best deeds is to visit Imam Husayn. There is one of special recitation of ziyarat exclusively for the night of Qadr. This shows the strong the link between Imam Husayn and Imam Mahdi. And it is with this recitation that all the prophets shake hands with you as you are supporting a goal in which all the prophets strove for. Allah says, 'We sent aforetime our messengers with Clear Signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance (of right and wrong), that men may stand forth in justice" (57 25). Hundred twenty four thousand prophets worked to establish justice, and the people of the end of time, with the Imam's leadership, will achieve it. Hence, when one visits Imam Husayn and affirms his commitment to this cause, all the prophets will shake hands with him. Of course, justice begins by establishing justice within oneself. 9) In Dua al-Nudba, there is also a link starting with all the prophets, Prophet Mohammad, the AhlulBayt, and then we say: Where is Hasan? Where is Husayn? Where are the sons of Husayn? Where is he who shall avenge the blood of the one killed in Karbala? Where is he who shall be aided against all who transgress against him or lie about him? The one helped by Allah here refers to Imam Mahdi because Allah will help him as mentioned from the Qur'an. Again, here you can see special emphasis put on Imam Husayn in a dua about Imam Mahdi. 10) In Ziyarat Ashura we can also find the link between Imam Husayn and Imam Mahdi in one passage: I ask Allah that He grant me the opportunity to seek your revenge with the victorious Imam from the family of Muhammad. And also: I ask Allah and that He grant me the ability to fight for justice and fair play with the rightly guided Imam, who surely will come and speak the truth, (and who is) from your progeny. 11) On the Day of Ashura, we are recommended to offer condolences to each other by saying: May Allah make our reward and your reward great, for our grief for Husayn, peace be on him and may He place us and you from those who help his cause with His guardian, the guided Imam from the family of Muhammad, peace be on them.11


BACKGROUND
The in vivo developing embryo is naturally exposed to constant vibrations of around 6 Hz, increasing to 20 Hz when the oviductal fluid is mechanically agitated by the cilia. This study examines the effects on viability of subjecting human pronuclear oocytes and embryos to mechanical agitation during their in vitro culture before transplantation.

METHODS
Metaphase-II oocytes were ICSI/IVF with morphologically normal spermatozoa and then divided into two groups according to whether the cells underwent mechanical agitation (20 Hz over 5 seconds once per hour) of the culture medium (Group 2, n=23) or were cultured without mechanical agitation (Group 1, n=23). The fertilization rate of oocytes was recorded 18 hours later. Embryo development was monitored every day during the whole period of in vitro culture up to the embryo transfer on day 3, 4 or 5.

RESULTS
Pregnancy rates after the transfer of 3 Day embryos in Group 1 and Group 2 were 50% and 80%, and of 5 Day embryos in Group 1 and Group 2 were 36% and 73%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS
The in vitro culture of human embryos in a medium subjected to regular short bursts of mechanical agitation drastically increases their development rate.


Given that disclosure is important for the efficient functioning of capital markets, this paper explores the impact of infringement of continuous disclosure by Australian listed firms. We observe a significantly negative market reaction for our sample firms around the day an infringement is announced. Our findings also provide partial evidence of an increase in spreads and a decrease in price informativeness following the announcement of a breach. Overall, our results indicate that the market considers the breach of continuous disclosure to be a relatively important incident.


Carrier-mediated drug delivery has emerged as a powerful methodology for the treatment of various pathologies. The therapeutic index of traditional and novel drugs is enhanced via the increase of specificity due to targeting of drugs to a particular tissue, cell or intracellular compartment, the control over release kinetics, the protection of the active agent or a combination of the above. Nanoparticles (NPs) were proposed as drug carriers over 30 years ago and have received growing attention since, mainly due to their stability, enhanced loading capabilities and control over physicochemical properties. The unique pathophysiology of solid tumors allows passive accumulation of NPs at these sites upon intravenous injection. Furthermore, stealth NPs with long circulation times are more efficient in reaching tumor tissue. In addition to systemic administration, localized drug release may be achieved using macroscopic drug depots close to the target site. Among various systems considered for this approach, in situ-forming biomaterials in response to environmental stimuli have gained considerable attention, due to the non-invasive character, reduction of side effects associated with systemic administration and better control over biodistribution. This thesis focuses on the design, preparation and in vitro characterization of polymeric, hydrogel nanoparticles with thermoresponsive properties. Inverse emulsion polymerization was selected for their fabrication via cross-linking of acrylate derivatives of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and poly(ethylene glycol)-bl-poly(propylene glycol)-blpoly( ethylene glycol) (PEG-PPG-PEG) copolymers, also known as Pluronics®. This polymerization technique allows for control over size, is versatile in respect to initiation and composition, and proceeds to full double-bond conversion in relatively short times. Incorporation of functional comonomers in the polymeric network additionally offers the possibility of further modifications, as is demonstrated by fluorescent labeling of the colloids. Moreover, hydrogel NPs of 100-500 nm are stable against aggregation as aqueous dispersions and as freeze-dried solid powders. The particles we discuss here, may be visualized as nanoscale, three-dimensional, polymeric networks consisting of PPG-rich, hydrophobic domains surrounded by a hydrophilic, PEG-rich matrix. The permanence of domains similar in hydrophobicity to Pluronic micellar cores, but insensitive to dilution under the critical micellar concentration, allows the accomodation of poorly water-soluble drugs through hydrophobic interactions, as was experimentally shown using the anticancer agent doxorubicin. A fast and efficient solvent evaporation technique was developed in order to physically encapsulate the drug. Doxorubicin is thus partially protected from degradation and diffuses out of the NPs without a burst, over one week under sink conditions in vitro. Thermosensitivity of nanoparticles is manifested as a size reduction of non-interacting colloids in dilute dispersions and as a macroscopic, fluid-to-solid, physical transition of concentrated samples. The driving force of these phenomena is an entropically-driven deswelling of the hydrogel NPs with increasing temperature, which leads to their hardening. At concentrations above which there is physical contact of neighboring particles, this intraparticulate event results in the dynamic arrest of particles within a 'cage' formed by their neighbors. This mild and reversible transition occurs at a clinically-relevant temperature range (25-30°C), with no syneresis or by-product formation, and is compatible with living cells. Upon dissolution in body fluids, the colloidal macroscopic drug depot will give rise to a colloidal dispersion; however, it is notable that the processes of encapsulated drug release and dissolution are independent and may be tailored on a case-to-case basis. In vitro cell culture studies revealed that nanoparticle cytotoxicity was negligible even at high concentrations. Interactions with macrophage-like cells, intended to model cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system, showed limited colloidal uptake which is not influenced by the presence of serum, but is energy dependent to a considerable extent (approx. 30%). We believe this low association stems from the hydrophilic, protein-repellent nature of the materials employed and suggests a stealth character. In conclusion, the nanoparticles presented here are well suited for certain drug delivery applications, including cancer therapy and in the prevention of post-operative adhesions, both in the form of injectable dilute dispersions or as in situ gelling thermoresponsive biomaterials.


You might find this additional information useful... This article cites 51 articles, 30 of which you can access free at: http://ajpheart.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/292/4/H1943#BIBL Updated information and services including high-resolution figures, can be found at: http://ajpheart.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/292/4/H1943 Additional material and information about AJP - Heart and Circulatory Physiology can be found at: http://www.the-aps.org/publications/ajpheart This information is current as of April 11, 2007 . € ISSN: 0363-6135, ESSN: 1522-1539. Visit our website at http://www.the-aps.org/.


Accurate data is vital to enlightened research and policymaking, particularly publicly available data that are redacted to protect the identity of individuals. Legal academics, however, are campaigning against data anonymization as a means to protect privacy, contending that wealth of information available on the Internet enables malfeasors to reverse-engineer the data and identify individuals within them. Privacy scholars advocate for new legal restrictions on the collection and dissemination of research data. This Article challenges the dominant wisdom, arguing that properly de-identified data is not only safe, but of extraordinary social utility. It makes three core claims. First, legal scholars have misinterpreted the relevant literature from computer science and statistics, and thus have significantly overstated the futility of anonymizing data. Second, the available evidence demonstrates that the risks from anonymized data are theoretical - they rarely, if ever, materialize. Finally, anonymized data is crucial to beneficial social research, and constitutes a public resource - a commons - under threat of depletion. The Article concludes with a radical proposal: since current privacy policies overtax valuable research without reducing any realistic risks, law should provide a safe harbor for the dissemination of research data.


This work proposes a novel methodology to determine the design fire of modern buildings that are outside the range of applicability of nominal methods. Structural engineers face the problem of how to characterize the fire environment to be used in the design stage of buildings. This question is addressed here in the context of complex high-rise buildings where the resulting fire environments pose unique features that are not necessarily accounted for in traditional design fires. A comprehensive analysis of the fire environment, with the objective of maximizing the challenge to the structural elements is proposed to understand the particular fire dynamics of the building. The results must be expressed in simple terms without loss of generality in order to be of valuable engineering use. The methodology combines computational fluid dynamics and engineering simplifications such as using steady-state temperatures and dividing the fire environment into near and far fields. Both, fully distributed fires and travelling fires are investigated. The methodology is applied to a real building to illustrate the importance of this analysis and the comparison with the results from the standards.


Laboratory investigation was carried out on the abundance and composition of bacteria in the digestive system of a total of 35 specimens, including bivalve molluscs, i.e. swan mussel Anodonta cygnea (Linnaeus, 1758) from Lake Spėra (Sirvintos district) and swollen river mussel Unio tumidus (Philipson, 1788) from the Curonian Lagoon near Juodkrantė, zebra mussel ( Dreissena polymorpha ) from the Curonian Lagoon near Juodkrantė and an anostracan – Chirocephalus josephinae (Grube, 1853) from a pond in Ilciukai village, Utena district, and in the water of related water bodies. Studies on bivalve molluscs (swan mussel and swollen river mussel), zebra mussel and an anostracan – Chirocephalus josephinae , as well as microbiological investigation of water demonstrated that the number of microorganisms in the digestive system of mollusc and anostracan species fluctuated and varied between different species and water bodies. The greatest percentage of HDB among total heterotrophic bacteria was found in the digestive system of swollen river mussels (21.53%) and in zebra mussels (19.99%) caught in the Curonian Lagoon and in the water of the lagoon (24%). A considerably smaller percentage of HDB was detected in the digestive system of swan mussels from Lake Spėra (17.6%) and in the water of the lake (16.66%). The smallest percentage of HDB was found in the digestive system of Chirocephalus josephinae (6.63%) and in the water of the Ilciukai pond (2.72%). According to the values of abundance of petroleum hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria (HDB) and total coliform bacteria (TCFB) in the digestive system of aquatic organisms we can state that the water ecosystem of Ilciukai pond was the least contaminated with petroleum, its products and sewage water, and the Curonian Lagoon water ecosystem was the most contaminated. Abundance of petroleum hydrocarbons degrading bacteria could be used as a bioindicator reflecting the level of ecosystem pollution petroleum and its products. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.erem.66.4.5300


The effects of four different rearing temperatures (15, 18, 21 and 24oC) on reversed asymmetry and larval development in the hatchery-reared larvae of the flounder, Platichthys flesus luscus, were investigated in this study. Incidence of reversed asymmetry (sinistral forms) were found to be 13.0, 10.4, 11.6 and 21.3% at 15, 18, 21 and 24oC, respectively. The sinistrality rate was not affected by temperature between 15°C and 21°C, while this incidence was significantly higher at 24°C (P<0.05). At completion of the metamorphosis (day 60), juvenile final total length and survival rates were 18.4, 19.9, 18.8, 15.7 mm and 13.5, 9.0, 10.6, 9.2% at 15, 18, 21 and 24°C, respectively. The results of the present study strongly suggest that rearing temperature not only influences growth and survival during the larval development but also reversed asymmetry in the flounder at the metamorphosis, especially at high temperatures.


"People Meet in Architecture" is the official catalog of the 12th International Architecture Biennale. The idea of Kazuyo Sejima for this Biennale is to restart the discussion about architecture and its role in civilization, thus helping people relate to architecture while helping architecture relate to people and helping people relate to themselves. "With this exhibition"--asserts architect Sejima--"we are given the chance to test the various possibilities offered by architecture; to understand how it meddles with the new ways of living in the XXI century; to show that it is the output of different values and approaches. I would be very glad if, thanks to this experience, we could understand what our society is heading for."


A study has been made of the variation in resolving power with magnification for telescopic systems used to view Foucault test objects of different inherent contrast. The study included the use of a form of the K.D.C. Apparatus. The results of the study indicate the existence of an optimum magnification that can be used to resolve Foucault test objects and that the optimum value of the magnification depends upon the inherent contrast of the test object. As the test object contrast decreases, the optimum amount of magnification decreases. For test objects having an inherent contrast of approximately 100 percent, an optimum amount of magnification was found to be approximately 70× for each 25.4 mm of aperture of the telescopic system under consideration. For objects of 10 percent inherent contrast, the optimum magnification was found to be approximately 30× for each 25.4 mm of aperture.