We have analysed the microseismic activity within the Rwenzori Mountains area in the western branch of the East African Rift. Seismogram recordings from a temporary array of up to 27 stations reveal approximately 800 events per month with local magnitudes ranging from –0.5 to 5.1. The earthquake distribution is highly heterogeneous. The majority of located events lie within faults zones to the East and West of the Rwenzoris with the highest seismic activity observed in the northeastern area, where the mountains are in contact with the rift shoulders. The hypocentral depth distribution exhibits a pronounced peak of seismic energy release at 15 km depth. The maximum extent of seismicity ranges from 20 to 32 km and correlates well with Moho depths that were derived from teleseismic receiver functions. We observe two general features: (i) beneath the rift shoulders seismicity extends from the surface down to ca. 30 km depth; (ii) beneath the rift valley seismicity is confined to depths greater than 10 km. From the observations there is no indication for a crustal root beneath the Rwenzori Mountains. The magnitude frequency distribution reveals a b-value of 1.1, which is consistent with the hypothesis that part of the seismicity is caused by magmatic processes within the crust. Fault plane solutions of 304 events were derived from P-polarities and SV/P amplitude ratios. More than 70 % of the source mechanisms exhibit pure or predominantly normal faulting. T-axis trends are highly uniform and oriented WNW-ESE, which is perpendicular to the rift axis and in good agreement with kinematic rift models. At the northernmost part of the region we observe a rotation of the T-axis trends to NEN-SWS, which may be indicative of a local perturbation of the regional stress field.


OBJECTIVE
There is evidence that interleukin-4 (IL-4) plays a major role in the induction of extracellular matrix protein synthesis in fibrotic disease. We therefore examined the effect of IL-4 on collagen synthesis in primary fibroblasts isolated from normal and TSK/+ mice, which spontaneously develop a scleroderma-like syndrome characterized by diffuse cutaneous hyperplasia.

METHODS
Expression of the IL-4 receptor was determined by flow cytometry and Western blotting. The IL-4 signal transduction cascade was analyzed by Western blotting. We assessed the role of signal transducer and activator of transcription 6 (STAT-6) in IL-4 induction of alpha2(I) collagen promoter activity and message levels via luciferase reporter assay and real-time polymerase chain reaction. The activation status of the transcription factors activator protein 1 (AP-1) and Sp-1 upon stimulation with IL-4 in normal and TSK/+ fibroblasts was examined by electrophoretic mobility shift assay.

RESULTS
Flow cytometry and Western blotting showed that IL-4 receptor alpha expression was elevated in TSK/+ fibroblasts compared with normal fibroblasts. After IL-4 stimulation, janus-activated kinase 1 (JAK-1) and JAK-2 were phosphorylated to a greater degree in TSK/+ fibroblasts than in C57BL/6 fibroblasts. TSK/+ fibroblasts appeared to be hyperresponsive to IL-4, displaying increased synthesis of alpha1(I) collagen messenger RNA (mRNA), collagen protein, and activity of a luciferase reporter construct containing the -300 to +54 murine alpha2(I) collagen promoter. Overexpression of STAT-6 enhanced this effect, whereas expression of a dominant-negative STAT-6 abrogated the ability of IL-4 to induce alpha1(I) collagen mRNA in TSK/+ fibroblasts. Moreover, IL-4 induced increased DNA binding activity of transcription factors that are important for collagen synthesis.

CONCLUSION
Our observations indicate that IL-4 has a profound effect on several factors that have been identified as playing major roles in the regulation of collagen synthesis and suggest that IL-4 increases the expression of type I collagen through a mechanism involving the activation of transcription factors that bind to and activate collagen promoter.


The paper by Richard J Smethurst discusses the influences that led to the economic policies pursued in the interwar period by Takahashi Korekiyo, who engineered Japan's recovery from the depression in the early 1930s, and is often thought of as the 'Keynes' of Japan. The paper traces the influence on Takahashi's thinking of his Western experiences and diverse bureaucratic career, but focusses in particular on the role of Takahashi's mentor, Maeda Masana. The paper by Masataka Matsuura analyses the term zaikai as used in prewar Japan and its identity as a small network whose influence was distinct from that of the zaibatsu. The paper traces the membership and activities of this small group from the time of Shibusawa Eiichi through to the Second World War, and argues for the importance of the functions they discharged in the context of the developing Japanese economy.


Physical activity (PA) provides numerous health benefits; however, PA levels decline as children age. Primary care-based physical activity interventions (PAI) are moderately effective in increasing youth PA levels. Medical organizations recommend that physicians provide PAI; however, physician PAI rates are low. There are several barriers to PAI, including physicians' lack of PAI knowledge and skills. PAI medical education is severely limited. Therefore, there is a need to develop and evaluate medical education PAI curricula. The primary purpose of this study was to develop, implement, and evaluate a PAI curriculum for pediatric residents; focusing on pre to posttest changes in residents' PAI knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors (KAB). The secondary purpose was to determine residents' perceptions of the instructional strategies. An embedded mixed methods design was used, with qualitative data embedded in quantitative data. Participants (n = 13) were administered the KAB Assessment before and after the program and a Participant Feedback form after the program. Additionally, instructor field notes and focus group responses were collected. A paired t test showed a significant pretest to posttest increase in PAI knowledge scores. A MANOVA indicated a significant increase in positive PAI attitudes. Follow-up univariate analyses showed significant effects and near significant effects for the attitudes constructs of perceived knowledge and feasibility, respectively. Paired t tests showed a significant increase only for the PAI behavior of PA prescription. However, participants reported higher rates of PAI behaviors than in previous literature. Most useful, least useful, and alternative instructional strategies were considered; along with limitations, strengths, and future directions for this PAI curriculum study.


Gender, Identity and the Culture of Organizations considers how organizations operate as spaces in which minds are gendered and men and women constructed. This edited collection brings together four powerful themes that have developed within the field of organizational analysis over the past two decades: organizational culture; the gendering of organizations; post-modernism and organizational analysis; and critical approaches to management. A range of essays by distinguished writers from countries including the UK, USA, Canada, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden, explore innovative methods for the critical theorizing of organizational cultures. In particular, the book reflects the growing interest in the impact of organizational identity formation and its implications for individuals and organizational outcomes in terms of gender. The book also introduces research designs, methods and methodologies by which can be used to explore the complex interrelationships between gender, identity and the culture of organizations.(Source: Publisher)


The greatest revolutions in twentieth-century public health and preventive medicine have been the concepts of risk factors and healthy lifestyles as methods of preventing disease. A risk factor is anything that increases the risk of disease in an individual. Lifestyle refers to the individual's personal behaviors with regard to risk factors. Identifying risk factors and modifying them by changing lifestyles in order to prevent disease has become ubiquitous as a strategy in public health. The book examines the history and evolution of the concepts of risk factors and healthy lifestyles and their application to coronary heart disease, the major chronic disease of the twentieth century. The first part contains a history of the use of statistics in public health and medicine, and the ways in which various industries developed the concept of the risk factor. The second part describes the concept of healthy lifestyles, which was devised by municipal public health departments and life insurance companies in the early part of the century.The third and fourth parts examine how the concepts of risk factors and lifestyles were applied to the primary chronic disease of the twentieth century -- coronary heart disease. The focus of the book overall is on coronary heart disease as a public health, rather than a medical, issue, and the various concepts that have been used in preventing it. William G. Rothstein is professor of sociology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.


The screening Trace Organic Chemical (TOrC) ecological risk approach, developed previously, was evaluated using seven case studies, located in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Colorado, California, and Ontario, Canada. Sites represented a range of complexity, types of biological impacts, and wastewater effluent dilution at low flow. Several different techniques for diagnosing potential effects of TOrCs were incorporated in these case studies including U.S. EPA's causal analysis framework, CADDIS; Canada's Environmental Effects Monitoring (EEM) approach; the consumer products ROUT model and the pharmaceutical model PhATE to predict concentrations of certain TOrCs at a wastewater-influenced site; and ecological modeling (Comprehensive Aquatic Systems Model, CASM). Both prospective and retrospective assessments are represented in these case studies illustrating how various tools can be used to determine whether TOrCs are or could be a cause of biological impairment. At most sites, high priority TOrC data (using any of the TOrC prioritization approaches previously developed in this project) were unavailable. At five of the seven sites, the screening approach indicated a potential for risk due to TOrCs based on the type of wastewater treatment available (secondary treatment with little or no nutrient removal, potential input sources of TOrCs present in addition to domestic sources) and the relatively high effluent concentration under low flow conditions. Except for two sites, data were unavailable for at least one level of biological organization making it difficult to evaluate TOrCs as a cause of impairment. The lack of diagnostic TOrC exposure data (i.e., suborganismal or organismal measures indicative of exposure to a certain class of TOrCs), or organism effects data (e.g., intersex, lesions) at most sites restricted the researchers' ability to diagnose whether certain TOrCs could have contributed to observed biological impairment at these sites. Their analyses confirm that the comprehensiveness and sensitivity of the population/community assessment is a critical factor affecting the success of diagnostic analyses. Indices of biological integrity (IBI) and most metrics that constitute such indices, offered little definitive diagnostic information regarding risks due to TOrCs, but were useful in supporting or eliminating other types of stressors such as excess nutrients and habitat quality. None of the case studies examined had sufficient TOrC data with which to demonstrate linkages between concentrations of specific TOrCs or groups of TOrCs and organism effects. However, results from two sites suggested that TOrC concentrations exceeding conservative screening threshold values may not result in observed effects at either the organism or population level based on the endpoints measured. While some of the case studies demonstrated apparent linkages between exposure to estrogenic chemicals and organism effects, none had sufficient information to definitively link organism and population/community level effects. Defining the conditions under which organism TOrC effects are likely to manifest as a population-level effect at a site should be a critical component of Phase 2.

This title belongs to WERF Research Report Series .

ISBN: 9781843395393 (eBook)


This article explores the travel writings, illustrated with photographs, of Fanny Stevenson and Beatrice Grimshaw, two 'lady travelers' who visited the Pacific Islands at the turn of the twentieth century. Although little critical attention has been paid to their books, these texts are significant contributions to the comparatively small archive of Euro‐American women's narratives of travel and encounter in the Pacific Islands from this period. Their representations of the Islands are at once conventional and unusual, and analysis of their texts adds significantly to the literature on women's travel writing, especially as the Pacific Islands are an underrepresented area in this field. Rather than producing generalized exoticist representations, their discussions of class, race, gender, and colonial politics are particular to the Pacific Islands, and illustrate various moments of contact at a key transition point in Pacific colonial history. Their use of photographs also forges a strong connection between their work and a longer history of image production by Westerners in the Pacific Islands. Using colonial history as a framework for exploration of class, race, and gender politics in the Pacific Islands, this essay argues that Stevenson and Grimshaw's works suggest ways that popular audiences may have experienced the Pacific Islands through word and image publications.


In the present study the reaction kinetic and dynamic modeling of the reactor for syngas transformation into dimethyl ether using a mixture of a metallic oxides (CuO, ZnO, Al2O3), and an acidic component (γ-Al2O3) as the catalyst has been investigated. A combination of the Graff kinetic model for methanol synthesis and the Bercic model for methanol dehydration was correlated with the experimental results obtained in this study. Activity and kinetic measurements were carried out using a catalytic fixed bed micro reactor. The operating temperature range was 230-300 °C and the pressure was 8 barg. The experimental runs were performed applying a wide range of catalyst to feed ratios. A simple dynamic model for the reactor performance was developed and tested with the experimental data. The mean absolute deviation, concerning the data for the steady state conditions, was less than 8%.


Conflict by itself is neither good nor bad. Clash or competition between the people with odd needs, thoughts, attitude, principles, or targets can be defined as Conflict. Every management who claim themselves as a high performance team should know how to manage conflict to reduce the worst that never bear a fruitful outcome. Conflict is customary in a team; however, their outputs are not fixed but in all conflicts need not to be properly addressed and resolved. In every social setting, conflict is a common phenomenon that arises between all kinds of people in respect of human relationships. Conflict management process need to be understood by every management to maxim Conflict Management involves implementing strategies to limit the negative aspects of conflict and to increase the positive aspects of conflict at a level equal to or higher than where the conflict is taking place. It is not concerned with eliminating all conflict or avoiding conflict. In today's world we have to depend on others cooperation. Interpersonal conflict itself is not a severe trouble but it can become serious if it is not handled and managed in a proper way. The basic objective of this study is to manage the conflict in organizations by using Blake & Mouton's model. It also has covered causes, nature, theoretical background and conflict resolving styles which pursued with Blake and Mouton Model. Finally, the study outlined a conclusion with recommendations and an action plan for future research the author has chosen interpersonal conflict that occurred in personal life. The incidents which described and analyzed in this writings are purely an interactive conflict of two university faculty of the department of Sociology in a public University of Bangladesh.


A secret sharing scheme allows to share a secret among several participants such that only certain groups of them can recover it. Veriiable secret sharing has been proposed to achieve security against cheating participants. Its rst realization had the special property that everybody, not only the participants, can verify that the shares are correctly distributed. We will call such schemes publicly veriiable secret sharing schemes, we discuss new applications to escrow cryptosystems and to payment systems with revocable anonymity, and we present two new realizations based on ElGamal's cryptosystem.


Careers in Focus: Performing Arts 2006. New York, NY: Ferguson Infobase Publishing 218 pages, $29.95, Hardback Intended Audience(s): A, B, C, E, F, G, H, I, K Major Headings from the Table of Contents: Actors; Circus Performers; Comedians; Composers and Arrangers; Dancers and Choreographers; Disc Jockeys; Film and Television Directors; Film and Television Extras; Magicians; Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners; Music Conductors and Directors; Musicians; Music Journalists; Music Video Directors and Producers; Pop/Rock Musicians; Screenwriters; Singers; Songwriters; Stage Production Workers; Stunt Performers How Is the Book Most Useful for Its Intended Audience? Careers in Focus: Performing Arts is one of a series of 61 reference books targeted toward audiences of grade six and above who are interested in careers in various fields. This book provides a comprehensive, well-organized discussion of training requirements, employers, career progression, work environment, and occupational outlook for careers in the performing arts. The Top Five Things You Learned from Reading this Book: There is an online resume service, called StuntNET [go to www.stuntnet.com] that is used by casting directors. Many stage production workers belong to unions and union membership may be required to get a job. There are increased opportunities for songwriters due to the growth of the cable industry in advertising and original programming. The Assistant Directors Training Program of the Directors Guild of America accepts 20 or fewer trainees from among 800-1,200 applicants per year. Dancers have a highly unpredictable employment pattern, with long stretches between contracts and uncertain contract length. Careers in Focus: Performing Arts is an excellent resource for individuals contemplating or planning a career in the performing arts, and the counselors and other professionals who advise them. It is a highly readable and accessible book for young people who need to ensure they get the proper education and experiences for entry in the performing arts field. Twenty career paths are defined and a chapter is devoted to each, with a comprehensive and detailed examination of the history of the profession, current and future employment patterns, training requirements, and employer resources. Each chapter has a Quick Facts sidebar which includes salary ranges, certification and education, work environment, and outlook with references to specific pages of the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT), the Guide for Occupational Education (GOE), the National Occupational Classification (NOC) index, and the Occupational Information Network [O*NET Standard Occupational Classification System (SOC) index]. Chapters conclude with a helpful section which lists professional associations, societies, and guilds for the profession, thus providing the reader with resources for connecting with professionals in a particular career field. This second edition of the text is enhanced with interviews with professionals in the field, which enables the readers to see the field through the words of a passionate, accomplished professional. The book is written in an authoritative, yet approachable, style to convey a realistic and balanced view of what professional life and prospects are like for individuals in the performing arts. For example, the chapter on Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners makes the point that repair work entails precision, a conscientious nature, and extreme care of the instrument, while mediating the owner's expectation of an expedient return of their prized possession. Further, the Occupational Outlook sections note that job opportunities for instrument repairers and tuners are expected to grow more slowly than average through 2014, with most job openings due to replacement of professionals leaving or retiring from the field. …


Contemporary Western society is permeated by a culture in which personal tales can be told and listened to continuously, which is intensified by different modes of hi-tech mass media production and consumption. However, some narratives seem to flow into public discourses and find receptive audiences much more easily than others. Personal experience stories of excluded communities, when they feed into audiences that will listen to them, have the potential to bring about social change. Indeed, lifting the silence surrounding socially excluded lives is a legitimate, democratic means of achieving social and political justice. In a globalised world it is the degree to which a person has the capacity to control the story of their lives which is considered a significant means of empowerment. Refugee narratives are mostly represented by others, mainly as part of a political strategy to control their entry into Britain, and their lives whilst their claim for asylum is being considered. A range of narratives about refugees dominates public discourses, whilst personal refugee stories remain marginalised. There is limited scope for refugees to tell their stories, and restricted access to a potential audience. As a result they lack the capacity of agency in constructing their own lives, and in having any impact on their political and social circumstances. This qualitative study explores how personal refugee narratives are situated in a network of power relations. A methodological framework involving extensive fieldwork, which includes a number of in-depth life story interviews, provides the background to the study. Narrative analysis offers a profound insight into the extent to which refugees can be seen as agents in constructing their life stories. The current social climate and policy environment determines how refugee narratives are represented, which is epitomised in the asylum determination procedure, where refugee stories need to meet narrow criteria in order to be deemed credible. In contrast, the recent academic and government interest in the personal dimension of refugee integration within social cohesion discourses, indicates the urgent need for a narrative space, or a platform where different communities can share experiences. In this context, thinking about refugee narratives as constructed within a structural setting as well as conceptualising them as a vehicle to integration and empowerment, is high on the policy agenda and remain key areas of interest for future academic research.


Breast ironing is a form of violence that takes place in certain regions of Cameroon. It is a violent practice which is forced upon young girls who have just entered puberty, and is mostly performed by mothers on their daughters. It is one of the most widespread and systematic violations of the universal human rights to personal integrity committed against the girl child in Cameroon, abusing their physical, sexual and psychological integrity. Cameroon has ratified a number of international and regional human rights instruments that protect women and girl children from all forms of violence. However, despite Cameroon's obligations under international law, this practice continues to be widespread.
This article introduces the practice of breast ironing as a human rights issue, and will look at its history, social context, prevalence, rationale and consequences. It will discuss and analyse relevant international and African regional human rights instruments to which Cameroon is a party to and which protects women and girl children from violence. It will also look at the existing normative framework in Cameroon and examine steps taken to regulate this practice.


Background : Compartment syndrome is a serious disorder caused by elevated pressure in a muscle compartment that can progress to muscle and nerve damage. This disorder can happen to anyone but more frequently in young adults. The occurrence frequency of hand compartment syndrome is relatively low. The aim of this study is to identify the profile of compartment syndrome in patients hand Methods : A descriptive study was perfomed to 15 cases that were collected from medical records from 2008-2012, in Dr. Hasan Sadikin General Hospital. The profile of the case consisted of age, sex, symptoms and signs, etiology, facsiotomy schedule after admission, length of stay and patient's outcome. The collected data were presented using tables. Results : The study showed that 12 out of 15 cases were males and 7 out of 15 cases were 20−39 years old patients. The common clinical findings were swelling, pain, limited range of motion and normal sensibility. The faciotomy procedure was conducted 1 day after the admission with length of stay more than 1 week. The patients condition were improved after operation. Conclusions: Hand compartment syndrome is a rare case, mostly affects younger adults and male. Most of the symptoms and signs are swelling, limitation of movement, pain in the location area with normal sensibility. The faciotomy procedure is conducted 1 day after admission. The length of stay is more than 1 week with an improved outcome. [ AMJ .2015;2(4):497–501] DOI:  10.15850/amj.v2n4.634


Dog fighting, along with other nonhuman-animal-fighting activities, is a popular pastime in rural South Punjab, Pakistan. This article explicates dog fighting and discusses its symbolic significance to those who control the game, organize it, and participate in the performance. In discussing the activity, the paper raises multiple questions: how do rural men develop an attachment to their fighting dogs? What motivates the men to engage in dog fighting? How is dog fighting a cultural practice? What type of social gains do dog fighters make when there is no gambling involved? Finally, what symbolic meanings can be drawn from this activity from an emic perspective? The article is based on year-long ethnographic fieldwork with dog fighters in South Punjab, Pakistan, and examines the activity within the Punjabi cultural context where it is taken as an enthusiastic predilection (shauq) for displaying masculinity (mardāngī) to achieve honor (izzat).


From the Publisher:
Ruby is a high-level, fully object-oriented programming (OOP) language. It is very powerful and relatively easy to learn, read, and maintain.

Sams Teach Yourself Ruby in 21 Days provides the best introduction to this language and addresses one of the key constraints it faces: "The paucity of quality English-language documentation is one of the few things holding Ruby back from widespread adoption," according to Dr. Curtis Clifton of Iowa State University's Department of Graduate Computer Science.


PURPOSE
To report novel variants and characterize the phenotype associated with the autosomal recessive retinal dystrophy caused by mutations in the lecithin retinol acyltransferase (LRAT) gene.

METHODS
A total of 149 patients with Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) or early onset retinal dystrophy were screened for mutations in LCA-associated genes using an arrayed-primer extension (APEX) genotyping microarray (Asper Ophthalmics). LRAT sequencing was subsequently performed in this 148-patient panel. Patients identified with mutations underwent further detailed phenotyping.

RESULTS
APEX analysis identified one patient with a previously reported homozygous LRAT mutation. Sequencing of the panel identified three additional patients with novel homozygous LRAT mutations in exon 2. All four patients had severe progressive nyctalopia, visual field constriction, and photophilia in childhood. Visual acuity ranged from 0.22 logMAR to hand motion. Funduscopy revealed severe retinal pigment epithelial atrophy and minimal retinal pigmentation. Asteroid hyalosis and macular epiretinal fibrosis were frequent. All demonstrated reduced fundus autofluorescence. Optical coherence tomography identified disrupted retinal lamination, outer-retinal debris, and an unidentifiable photoreceptor layer in two cases. Full-field electroretinograms were undetectable or showed severe rod-cone dysfunction. Photopic perimetry revealed severe visual field constriction. Dark-adapted perimetry demonstrated markedly reduced photoreceptor sensitivity. Dark-adapted spectral sensitivity measurements identified functioning rods in two of three patients. All three had severely reduced L- and M-cone sensitivity and poor color discrimination.

CONCLUSIONS
LRAT mutations cause a severe, early childhood onset, progressive retinal dystrophy. Phenotypic similarities to the retinal dysfunction associated with RPE-specific protein 65 kDa mutations, another visual cycle gene, suggest that LRAT deficiency may show a good response to novel therapies.


Summary A total of 398 pigs (PIC 19 × 1050 or PIC 3 × C29, initially 13.56 ± 0.02 lb) were used in a 42-d growth study to compare the effects of increasing two different sources of encapsulated butyric acid on growth performance of nursery pigs fed meal diets. Dietary treatments were arranged as a 2 × 2 + 1 factorial with main effects of butyric acid source (ButiPEARL vs. ButiPEARLZ; Kemin Industries, Des Moines, IA) and level (low (1 or 1.38 lb/ton) vs. high (2 or 2.76 lb/ton) respectively) plus a control diet without any butyric acid. The inclusion rates of each product were established such that the same amount of butyric acid was contributed from each source for the low or high levels, respectively. Experimental diets were fed in three phases from d 0 to 7, 7 to 21, and 21 to 42. Pens of pigs (6 barrows and 4 gilts) were balanced by initial BW and randomly allotted to treatments, with 8 replications (pens) per treatment. From d 0 to 7, a source × level interaction ( P < 0.05 ) was observed for ADG, ADFI, and F/G, with pigs fed diets containing ButiPEARL having improved performance at the low inclusion, but with those fed high butyric acid not different from the control. However, pigs fed Bu-tiPEARLZ had poorer growth performance at the low level, with the high level having performance similar to the control. In Phase 2 (d 7 to 21), ADG and ADFI were not influenced by butyric acid source or level, but an interaction ( P = 0.001) was observed for F/G as pigs fed ButiPEARL had poorer F/G as level increased; whereas pigs fed increasing ButiPEARLZ had improved F/G. For Phase 3 (d 21 to 42), increasing either butyric acid source tended ( P = 0.060) to decrease ADG. Overall (d 0 to 42), butyric acid source or level did not affect ADG, ADFI or F/G. In conclusion, this study showed that pigs fed low ButiPEARL in Phase 1 (d 0 to 7) had improved growth performance compared to other treatments with only minor treatment effects observed thereafter. More research is warranted to determine if the butyric acid sources used in this experiment would elicit different responses in pelleted nursery diets.


Glycidyl methacrylate was reacted in 2-methyl pyrrolidone solution with N-methyl-D-glucamine (NMG) to produce N-D-glucidol, N-methyl-2-hydroxy propyl methacrylate (GMHP). The reaction proceeded exclusively via ring opening of the oxirane. The resulting vinyl monomer was a waxy product and soluble in water, ethanol, methanol, DMF, and NMP. Copolymerization of GMHP with N, N t - tetraallyl piperazinium dichloride by the inverse suspension method (water in oil), using a toluene/chloroform (3 : 1) mixture as continuous phase, led to crosslinked hydrogels in imperfect bead form. Crosslinking was also achieved without using additional crosslinker. Heating of N-methyl-D-glucamine with 10 % excess of glycidyl methacrylate in NMP at 60 ° C for 4 h, resulting the formation of N-methyl-D-glucamine carrying two methacrylate groups. These dimethacrylate groups serve as a crosslinking agents. In situ redox polymerization of the mixture in water led to transparent hydrogels. These hydrogels in the swollen state have been demontrated to be very efficient sorbents for the removal of boron on ppm levels. The boron loaded polymers can be regenerated by simple acid (0,1 M HC1) and base (0,1 M NaOH) treatment.


The aim of this article is to analyse social status differences in alcohol norms and practices seen from the perspective of 'health governance'. Survey data on 1442 employees in a middle-sized, Danish firm are used to construct a Bourdieu-inspired social space, tied to four forms of capital: economic, cultural, inherited and organisational. A range of variables measuring alcohol norms, drinking practices and alcohol-related problems are then inserted into the space. This article identifies status differences in the employees' drinking patterns indicating that respondents with large amounts of economic, cultural and inherited capital are more responsive to alcohol-related health messages than respondents (and especially males) occupying positions low in the social space. This, however, does not mean that respondents from dominant groups have 'safe' drinking habits, as these are defined by the Danish National Health Board. Rather, this article identifies a relatively large group of high-positioned respondents balancing at the limits of risky drinking – or transgressing them, if measured by international standards.


In vivo host responses to an electrode-like array of aligned carbon nanotubes (ACNTs) embedded within a biopolymer sheet are reported. This biocompatibility study assesses the suitability of immobilized carbon nanotubes for bionic devices. Inflammatory responses and foreign-body histiocytic reactions are not substantially elevated when compared to negative controls following 12 weeks implantation. A fibrous capsule isolates the implanted ACNTs from the surrounding muscle tissue. Filamentous nanotube fragments are engulfed by macrophages, and globular debris is incorporated into the fibrous capsule with no further reaction. Scattered leukocytes are observed, adherent to the ACNT surface. These data indicate that there is a minimal local foreign-body response to immobilized ACNTs, that detached fragments are phagocytosed into an inert material, and that ACNTs do not attract high levels of surface fouling. Collectively, these results suggest that immobilized nanotube structures should be considered for further investigation as bionic components.


There is no universally available laboratory test to diagnose bile acid diarrhoea (BAD). Objective To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify a biomarker for idiopathic BAD in patients with functional bowel disorder (FBD) with diarrhoea. Design We searched multiple databases through 15 May 2015. Data were only available to estimate the diagnostic yield of each test (the prevalence of a positive test). Estimates were pooled across studies using the random effects model. Results We included 36 studies, enrolling 5028 patients (24 using 75selenium homotaurocholic acid test (75SeHCAT) retention of <10%, 6 using fasting serum C4, 3 using fasting serum fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) and 2 based on total faecal bile acid (BA) excretion over 48 h). The diagnostic yields (and 95% CI) of abnormal tests were: 0.308 (0.247 to 0.377) for 75SeHCAT retention (<10%), 0.171 (0.134 to 0.217) for serum C4, 0.248 (0.147 to 0.385) for serum FGF19 and 0.255 (0.071 to 0.606) for total faecal BA excretion over 48 h. The majority of the analyses were associated with substantial heterogeneity. Performance characteristics relative to a gold standard test could not be estimated. Conclusions Overall, the test with the highest diagnostic yield conducted in the largest number of studies was 75SeHCAT retention, which is not widely available in many countries outside Europe and Canada. Using different diagnostic tests, 25% (average) of patients with lower FBD with diarrhoea has evidence of idiopathic BAD. These tests serve to identify idiopathic BAD among patients with FBD with diarrhoea. Further studies are required to appraise the performance characteristics of tests for idiopathic BAD.


It is well known that the biological composites have superior mechanical properties due to their exquisite multilevel structural hierarchy. However, the underlying mechanisms of the roles of this hierarchical design in the toughness of the biocomposites remain elusive. In this paper, the deformation and fracture mechanism of multilevel hierarchical structures are explored by molecular dynamics simulations. The effects of the multilevel design on fracture toughness, nonlinear deformation of soft matrix, and the crack path pattern were quantitatively analyzed. We showed that the toughness of composites is closely associated with the pattern of the crack path and the nonlinear deformation of the matrix. Additionally, the structure with a higher level of hierarchy exhibit higher toughness, which is less sensitive to the geometrical change of inclusions, such as the aspect ratio and the staggered ratio. This work provides more theoretical evidence of the toughening mechanism of the multilevel hierarchy in fracture toughness of biological materials via new methods of analyzing fracture of multilevel structures and provides guidelines for the design of high-performance engineering materials.


We present our ongoing research on automatic segmentation of motion gestures tracked by IMUs. We postulate that by recognizing gesture execution phases from motion data that we may be able to auto-delimit user gesture entries. We demonstrate that machine learning classifiers can be trained to recognize three distinct phases of gesture entry: the start, middle and end of a gesture motion. We further demonstrate that this type of classification can be done at the level of individual gestures. Furthermore, we describe how we captured a new data set for data exploration and discuss a tool we developed to allow manual annotations of gesture phase information. Initial results we obtained using the new data set annotated with our tool show a precision of 0.95 for recognition of the gesture phase and a precision of 0.93 for simultaneous recognition of the gesture phase and the gesture type.


Within our community, there are children in the foster care system who suffer for various reasons. As these children journey through life, they do not always come across caring adults, worthy peer relationships, or are given a voice to talk about their experience when wanted. Yet, as adults, and as educators, we are responsible for providing children with a "kind and just parent" (Ayers) whether in the classroom, at home, or in foster care placements. This capstone documents how Jacqueline Woodson's young adult novel, After Tupac and D Foster, and William Ayer's, A Kind and Just Parent, were woven together into a curriculum for adults that work with at risk youth. The curriculum guides teachers to recognize what children in the foster care system might experience and how we educators can support them. The curriculum was designed with the goal of helping all of society's children, but especially the most vulnerable, to understand their own lives through the characters in the novel, and, in turn, use the novel as a tool to enable peers to relate more deeply to foster youth. By using young adult literature to bring to light what foster care youth experience, educators can "normalize" the idea of the foster care system, hopefully presenting it in a new, more positive, light. The curriculum, is designed to help children and teachers within our community feel more comfortable talking about foster care by giving children the chance to talk about their experience, while building healthy peer relationships, thus, building a kind and just world along the way. CREATING A KIND AND JUST WORLD 3 Creating a Kind and Just World: The Power of Literature to Create Hope for Foster


Results from 10 global climate change models are synthesized to investigate changes in extremes, defined as wettest and driest deciles in precipitation, soil moisture and runoff based on each model's historical 20th century simulated climatology. Under a moderate warming scenario, regional increases in drought frequency are found with little increase in floods. For more severe warming, both drought and flood become much more prevalent, with nearly the entire globe significantly affected. Soil moisture changes tend toward drying, while runoff trends toward flood. To determine how different sectors of society dependent on various components of the surface water cycle may be affected, changes in monthly means and interannual variability are compared to data sets of crop distribution and river basin boundaries. For precipitation, changes in interannual variability can be important even when there is little change in the long-term mean. Over 20% of the globe is projected to experience a combination of reduced precipitation and increased variability under severe warming. There are large differences in the vulnerability of different types of crops, depending on their spatial distributions. Increases in soil moisture variability are again found to be a threat even where soil moisture is not projected to decrease. The combination of increased variability and greater annual discharge over many basins portends increased risk of river flooding, although a number of basins are projected to suffer surface water shortages.


The purpose of this paper was to establish the joint effect of access to finance and firm capability on small businesses' performance in Kampala, Uganda. The study adopted a cross-sectional design with a sample of 384 small businesses. Self administered questionnaires were used in data collection and data was collected from August to November 2018. The study utilised SPSS to perform correlation and regression. The study found out that access to finance, firm capability and firm performance are positively related. Regression analysis also revealed that access to finance and firm capability equally account for 41.8% change in small business performance. Conversely, access to finance was found to be the most influential factor in predicting firm performance as compared to firm capability. Therefore, the study recommends that policies and programs to improve small business owners' capabilities should be implemented to enhance the performance of their firms; small business owners need government support to get finance characterised by low interest rates; no collateral security and as such, their performance will gradually improve. Small business owners also need to establish long-tern relationships with customers, suppliers and employees to improve their services and products to better the performance of their firms.

 Key words:  Firm capability, access to finance, firm performance, small businesses.


This work focuses on the study of large amplitude, nonlinear deflection dynamics of a piezoelectric accelerometer and aims to determine the material and geometry limitations on the structural integrity of the device. FEMLAB's multiphysics capabilities are used throughout this FEA study to understand the relationship of the geometry and materials to the resonance modes, large deflection dynamics of the tethers and the corresponding displacement-stress relationships. The presence of the piezoelectric thin film on certain sections of the tethers changes the dynamics somewhat and reduces the maximum stress that the tether bases can be subjected to, owing to the fact that the fracture stress of lead-zirconium-titanate (PZT) films are typically an order of magnitude less than that of single crystal silicon.


Adult neurogenesis of olfactory receptor neurons (ORNs) occurs in diverse organisms including in decapod crustaceans. This dissertation describes the molecular, cellular, and physiological changes that occur during adult neurogenesis of ORNs in the antennular lateral flagellum (LF) of the spiny lobster Panulirus argus. Examination of the role of splash (spiny lobster achaete scute homolog) in adult neurogenesis and regeneration using in situ hybridization showed splash was not closely associated with the formation of sensory neurons under normal physiological conditions. Damage to the LF, which induces regeneration, enhanced splash expression, suggesting an association between splash with regeneration and repair. This study suggests that splash plays multiple roles in the olfactory organ of adult spiny lobsters. Examination of extracellular and intracellular Ca in mediating spontaneous and odorinduced responses of ORNs, using calcium imaging showed that odor-induced Ca transient responses and spontaneous Ca oscillations in ORN somata are primarily mediated by an influx of extracellular Ca through Co -sensitive Ca channels, but that intracellular Castores also have some contribution. These responses are independent of TTX-sensitive Na channels, suggesting that these Ca responses may reflect receptor potentials. Examination of changes in odor specificity, sensitivity, and temporal responses in adult-born ORNs showed an increase in the percentage of odorant-responsive ORNs as they age from newly-born cells to mature, and a decrease in odorant-responsive ORNs as they senesce. As adult-born ORNs age, there was a decrease in the percentage of ORNs that undergo spontaneous Ca oscillations and an increase in the amplitude of oscillation. ORNs became more broadly tuned as they senesce, and their response profile, defined by the most effective odorant, changed. Odor sensitivity changed with age. This study demonstrated that the physiological response properties of adult-born ORNs changed with functional maturation. Taken together, this dissertation reveals molecular, cellular and physiological changes in adult born ORNs and elucidates mechanisms of adult neurogenesis. INDEX WORDS: Sensory neuron, Olfactory system, Neurogenesis, Regeneration, In situ hybridization, Calcium imaging, Odorant, Chemical senses, Panulirus argus ADULT NEUROGENESIS IN THE SPINY LOBSTER, PANULIRUS ARGUS: MOLECULAR, CELLULAR, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES OF OLFACTORY RECEPTOR NEURONS


We address the non-convex optimisation problem of finding a sparse matrix on the Stiefel manifold (matrices with mutually orthogonal columns of unit length) that maximises (or minimises) a quadratic objective function. Optimisation problems on the Stiefel manifold occur for example in spectral relaxations of various combinatorial problems, such as graph matching, clustering, or permutation synchronisation. Although sparsity is a desirable property in such settings, it is mostly neglected in spectral formulations since existing solvers, e.g. based on eigenvalue decomposition, are unable to account for sparsity while at the same time maintaining global optimality guarantees. We fill this gap and propose a simple yet effective sparsity-promoting modification of the Orthogonal Iteration algorithm for finding the dominant eigenspace of a matrix. By doing so, we can guarantee that our method finds a Stiefel matrix that is globally optimal with respect to the quadratic objective function, while in addition being sparse. As a motivating application we consider the task of permutation synchronisation, which can be understood as a constrained clustering problem that has particular relevance for matching multiple images or 3D shapes in computer vision, computer graphics, and beyond. We demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms previous methods in this domain.


In passing the 1974 Budget Act, Congress fundamentally reshaped the federal budgeting and appropriations process for generations to come, but along with this change came several related, unintended consequences that continue to have an impact today. The Act asserted Congressional power and independence from the Executive after a history marked with piecemeal decision-making and overriding Presidential power.
Part I of this study suggested that the 1974 Budget Act decreased federal spending the years immediately following the passage – after which federal spending increased, but by less than it would have otherwise. In this paper, we consider another potential outcome: Whether the new power structure made federal grantmaking more partisan. In other words, was the Executive branch incentivized to use these grants to curry favor and encourage passage of Presidential budget priorities? We find evidence that having both Senators or the Governor in the same political party as the President has increased grants given to states after the 1974 Budget Act.


A theoretical model has been developed which can simulate a linebreak occurring in a gas pipeline. By assuming one-dimensional homogeneous gas flow and neglecting minor losses and changes in cross-sectional area of the pipe, three simultaneous non-linear partial differential equations were derived from first principles which mathematically model pressure transients in a non-perfect gas. A constant value steady-flow friction factor was used to calculate the frictional losses which was considered to be a reasonable approach since it would not be possible to account for all the variations in friction. The heat transfer into the pipe was accounted for using a constant value Stanton Number approach which again was an acceptable approximation considering the comparatively small effect that heat transfer has on the pressure transients.

The equations were converted to ordinary differential equations using the Method of Characteristics and these were then solved numerically using a Taylor expansion. A novel feature of this project was the incorporation of a reduced grid size in the vicinity of the break allowing closer monitoring of the expansion waves in this area. Also included was a means of modelling flow reversal in the pipe which enabled situations with a non-zero initial flow rate to be simulated.

A computer code solving the mathematical model was written in Fortran 77 for use on a Gould PN9005 mainframe computer. Both tabular and graphical output were produced which could then be compared with available experimental data.

The experimental data that was selected for validation of the theoretical model included shock tube test results and some full size tests. Reasonable agreement was obtained between the theoretical and experimental results and any possible error sources were investigated.


In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, three G1 cyclins (Clns) are important for Start, the event committing cells to division. Sic1, an inhibitor of Clb-Cdc28 kinases, became phosphorylated at Start, and this phosphorylation depended on the activity of Clns. Sic1 was subsequently lost, which depended on the activity of Clns and the ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme Cdc34. Inactivation of Sic1 was the only nonredundant essential function of Clns, because a sic1 deletion rescued the inviability of the cln1 cln2 cln3 triple mutant. In sic1 mutants, DNA replication became uncoupled from budding. Thus, Sic1 may be a substrate of Cln-Cdc28 complexes, and phosphorylation and proteolysis of Sic1 may regulate commitment to replication at Start.


&NA; Habitat fragmentation can lead to major changes in community composition, but little is known about the dynamics of these changes, or how community trajectories are affected by the initial state of habitat maturity. We use four landscape‐scale experiments from different biogeographic regions to understand how plant community composition responds to fragmentation over decades. Within each experiment, we consider first whether plant communities in the most‐fragmented treatments diverge in composition from plant communities in the least‐fragmented treatments. Second, because communities embedded in different fragments may become more similar to one another over time (biotic homogenization), we asked whether beta diversity – compositional variation across space – declines among fragments over time. Third, we assessed whether fragmentation alters the degree to which temporal change in fragmented landscapes is due to ordered species losses and gains (nestedness) versus species replacements (turnover). For each of these three questions, we contrasted patterns of compositional change in mature communities following fragmentation (disassembly; n = 2 experiments) with patterns in newly‐developing plant communities in fragments cleared of vegetation (assembly; n = 2 experiments). In the two studies where communities were disassembling, community composition in the most‐fragmented habitats diverged from that in least‐fragmented habitats. Beta diversity within a fragmentation treatment did not change over time at any of the four sites. In all four experiments, temporal patterns of compositional change were due mostly to species turnover, although nestedness played a role in the least‐fragmented sites in two of the studies. Overall, the impacts on community composition varied among landscape experiments, and divergence may have been affected by the maturity of the plant community. Future comparisons across ecosystems that account for species identities (vs simply richness) will be critical for predicting the effects of fragmentation, managing mature plant communities in remnants, and restoring plant communities where habitat has been lost.


In this Chapter I begin by discussing the late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century constitutional climate in which the Canadian and Australian federations were created. At that time, thinking regarding sovereignty was dominated by the absolutist version favoured by Austin and, later, Dicey. According to this version, the Westminster Parliament could certainly constitute a federation in Canada and later Australia. But anything that the Westminster Parliament enacted could, in strict law, be altered or undone at a later time. The period from the Balfour Declaration and Statute of Westminster 1931 to the 1980s saw considerable evolution in understandings of sovereignty, to the point where it was assumed, at least by Canadian and Australian courts and commentators, that the Westminster Parliament could limit itself entirely, where their legal systems were concerned, and that such limitations were permanent, that is, irreversible. So viewed from a Canadian and Australian perspective, the Westminster Parliament not only created federal constitutions but also put them beyond the reach of that sovereign Parliament.
I then consider in the form of a series of propositions whether that which the Westminster Parliament created for Canada, Australia and other Commonwealth federations could be created for the United Kingdom itself. I conclude that it is possible, and were it to happen, it should involve legislation by Parliament indicating a clear intention to limit itself in the creation of a federation, together with a process – widespread consultation, a referendum and conspicuous respect for the best-learned lessons regarding principles such as constitutionalism, the rule of law and democracy – which would reassure officials that the change in the ultimate rule of the legal system was right and proper, and appropriate.


Sustainable mobility has proved to be a perennial challenge to realize. Scholars have argued that experiments could point the way forward towards sustainable mobility (cf. Loorbach, 2007, Markard and Truffer, 2008). In doing so, literature attributes a vital but complex task to those who engage in experiments. However, an important knowledge gap pertains to whether and how experiments contribute to learning about transitions and in what way they should be managed to break-up the more or less inertial mobility governance system. This paper aims to analyze how state-of-the-art literature on the governance of multi-actor systems considers experiments to contribute to transitions and highlight key dilemma's that professionals engaged in the management of experimental face in the day-to-day management and decision making processes during the experiment. The paper will highlight these dilemmas and choices and illustrate their importance for experiments in the field of transportation and more specifically in the specific context of the Dutch mobility system and the TRANSUMO research program. Identifying these dilemma's benefits practitioners who are engaged in the management of experiments to more consciously reflect on and include issues of second-order learning in the day-to-day management and decision making during the experiment to reach a more sustainable mobile system.


This is a new scholarly almanac devoted to the art of Vladimir Nabokov. Himself an ardent goalkeeper, the author of "Lolita" viewed soccer as more than a game: 'I was less the keeper of a soccer goal than the keeper of a secret' ("Speak, Memory"). The inaugural collection features contributions from two dozen leading Nabokov scholars worldwide, including academic articles (Neil Cornwell, Gerard de Vries, Samuel Schuman, and others); roundtable discussions (Brian Boyd, Jeff Edmunds, Priscilla Meyer, David Rampton, Leona Toker); interviews (Dmitri Nabokov, Alvin Toffler); archival materials; the Kyoto Nabokov conference report; and, book reviews (Pekka Tammi, Zoran Kuzmanovich, Galya Diment). "The Nabokov Almanac", edited by Yuri Leving, is affiliated with the "Nabokov Online Journal", published since 2007.


It is given an annotated list of the known scorpions of Hispaniola (Dominican Republic and Haiti), which belong to three families (Buthidae, Hormuridae, Scorpionidae), eight genera and 46 recent and four fossil species. Buthidae (five genera and 37 living species) is the most diversified family in this Antillean island, being Tityus C. L. Koch, 1836, Microtityus Kjellesvig-Waering, 1966, and Centruroides Marx, 1890, the most diverse and widespread genera with 14, 12 and seven species, respectively. The Dominican Republic (that represents the eastern two-thirds of the island), has 45 species and 36 of them are endemic from the country, whereas Haiti accounts nine species with a single national endemism. Isometrus maculatus (De Geer, 1778) has been introduced in both countries and is the only non-endemic species. This is the only Antillean island which includes representatives of both the Hormuridae family and the fossil fauna (in amber).


Deep budget cuts, increased accountability, and the growth of anti-government and anti-intellectual sentiments place Extension systems in a defensive position. In response, we're engaging in organizational change exercises, restructuring, regionalizing, rewriting mission statements, and developing strategic plans. We're spending considerable time counting and measuring our efforts to defend the public impacts and value of our work. In this article we argue that we also need to become better storytellers by learning how to craft and strategically communicate stories that capture important truths about the public value, meaning, and significance of our work.


We analyse sequential entry in a quantity-setting oligopoly model. Firms have the option to adopt either a productive capacity which is optimal at the time of entry or a smaller one. This capacity may be suitable either for the steady state or just some time after entry. In the latter case firms never carry idle capacity, while in the former they keep spare capacity in the steady state. In the Cournot-Nash setting, a subgame perfect equilibrium may result in firms investing in capacity that will turn out to be idle later, depending on the size of the market and the rental price of capital. Older firms have larger spare capacity than later entrants and we can tell the age of a firm from its unused capacity. If market size is large enough, excess capacity turns out to be socially optimal.


We present a touch-free interface for viewing large imagery on mobile devices. In particular, we focus on viewing paradigms for 360 degree panoramas, parallax image sequences, and long multi-perspective panoramas. We describe a sensor fusion methodology that combines face tracking using a front-facing camera with gyroscope data to produce a robust signal that defines the viewer's 3D position relative to the display. The gyroscopic data provides both low-latency feedback and allows extrapolation of the face position beyond the the field-of-view of the front-facing camera. We also demonstrate a hybrid position and rate control that uses the viewer's 3D position to drive exploration of very large image spaces. We report on the efficacy of the hybrid control vs. position only control through a user study.


All shotpoint locations from multichannel seismics survey, USGS cruise G1-99-GM During June 1998 and April 1999, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted two research cruises in the northern Gulf of Mexico to acquire high-resolution seismic reflection data across the upper and middle continental slope as part of an investigation of the seismic character, distribution, and potential effects of naturally-occurring marine gas hydrates and related free gas within the gas hydrate stability zone. Over 1600 km of two-dimensional multichannel seismic reflection profiles were acquired during these two cruises. The specific objectives of this investigation are (a) to produce high-resolution images of the gas hydrate stability zone; (b) to study the distribution and character of potential seafloor failures and their relationship to known and inferred gas hydrate deposits; (c) to look at systematic variations in subsurface structure in gas hydrate and non-hydrate areas; and (d) to estimate, if possible, the amounts of hydrates present within the gas hydrate stability zone. The multichannel profiles provide high-quality images with approximately 5 meters of vertical resolution and up to 2 km of penetration. This report gives an overview of the acquisition and data processing of the multichannel seismic reflection profiles and provides references and links to reports with more detailed information. Geologic interpretations of these seismic profiles regarding gas hydrate occurrence and distribution within the study areas of this investigation are given in Cooper and Hart (2002).


This paper describes the preliminary results of combining two complementary technologies: Orlando, a semantically-tagged XML collection of born-digital scholarly resources, and the Mandala Browser, an XML visualization tool. Orlando's current delivery system privileges text as an approach to literary historical scholarship. The Mandala browser represents a radically different way of mediating between the user and the text, translating a text or set of texts into a circular visual form and pushing the user towards a more distant, or at least a more selective, reading of the materials than that associated with conventional print or screen rendering. Through experimental visualizations of Orlando content, we began to address questions concerning the participation of Victorian and Renaissance writers in various genres, the relationship between reproduction and literary production, the connection of censorship to the destruction of literary works, and the relationship between suffrage and liberal or conservative political groups. We argue that, just as a postcolonialist or a new historicist needs to learn about the tenets and processes involved in a postcolonial or new historical critical framework, so too an algorithmic critic should expect to invest some time learning the techniques of a given approach and how to apply them to a particular text or body of texts. These investigations may interest other humanities scholars working with online digital collections, as well as those thinking through the question of how to involve computational processes in complex inquiries using large quantities of texts.


This research is concerned with processes of choice in consumers and models of consumer behaviour. It also envisages a broader contribution towards economics in general to clarify how preferences in economic agents arise and change.
The research question is: "are the models and factors of evaluation predicted by experts applicable to real cases?" Factors of value and evaluation processes will be observed in real world participants and in everyday behaviour. The results will be compared to models found in the consumer research literature.
The fieldwork will focus on a single activity carried out by a sample of consumers: shoe buying behaviour. The first set of data is drawn from 11+11 open ended interviews of participants chosen in the two complementary groups of experts and consumers for the purpose of construal identification. The second stream of data relies on an ethnographic approach that involves recording first-person experiences by use of a miniature camera applied at eye-level, or "subcam" (17 participants). The recordings are analysed in order to reconstruct the choice processes through content analysis of events. The third stream of data in the research is produced by means of replay interviews conducted on those same participants who produced the subjective recordings (selection of 12 participants).
Using a first-person ethnographic method allowed: (i) A more exact tracking of the actions involved in the choice process versus standard participant observation or in-shop surveillance cameras, (ii) intersubjective post-hoc account of the recorded activity and, (iii) elicitation of reflective rationalization from the participants in narrative form. The material collected at this step underwent a special kind of process analysis involving memory registers.
Findings suggest the need to re-rank factors typically considered for choice in consumer behaviour. A fundamental rebalancing of weight must be attributed to habits versus rational evaluation as long-term factor of choice. Equally short-term factors, like emotions and attitudes, acquire distinctive significance in connection with environmental cues that are susceptible to trigger their repetition in future shopping episodes.
The contribution to methodology is twofold. The empirical component extends the use of firstperson ethnographic methods to self-reporting of consumer activities in addition to introspective and survey methods. Activity reconstruction led to amending consumer behaviour models by including the influence of social environment found in installation theory.


An important student learning outcome for students in biology courses is the ability to apply the information attained to "real life" situations. Newspaper articles covering course-related material provide an avenue for students to see how the material discussed in the course relates to life outside of the course. Assessment of students' understanding of the articles provides an opportunity to measure how well students are able to apply information to situations outside of traditional coursework.


In my recent experimental research of wholesale electricity auctions, I discovered that the complex structure of the offers leaves a lot of room for strategic behavior, which consequently leads to anti- competitive and inefficient outcomes in the market. A specific feature of these complex-offer auctions is that the sellers submit not only the quantities and the minimum prices at which they are willing to sell, but also the start-up fees that are designed to reimburse the fixed start-up costs of the generation plants. In this paper, using the experimental method I compare the performance of two complex-offer auctions (COAs) against the performance of a simple-offer auction (SOA), in which the sellers have to recover all their generation costs --- fixed and variable ---through a uniform market-clearing price. I find that the SOA significantly reduces consumer prices and lowers price volatility. It mitigates anti-competitive effects that are present in the COAs and achieves allocative efficiency more quickly.


Corporate Governance is the relationship between corporate managers, directors and the capital providers, who save and invest their capital to earn money in form of dividend, interest or gain. Shareholders of the company appoint Board of Directors to fulfill their objectives aligned with the corporate objectives. Board of Directors appoints key managers for implementing corporate strategies. Corporate objectives are attained with the series of actions of the directors & managers. Capital & other necessary resources are provided by shareholders and other stakeholders to the company to fulfill the common objectives. It entails responsibility of corporate managers towards investors, society & environment that provides valuable resources to the corporation in achieving their objectives. Good corporate governance practices ensure that the board of directors is accountable for the pursuit of corporate objectives to enhance wealth of corporation and that the corporation itself conforms to the law and regulations in form & spirit. This paper identifies who are the levers of corporate governance and then investigates the powers of those levers, which influences the quality of corporate governance in corporate India. We critically analyze the effectiveness of Indian legal framework to ensure good corporate governance practices. The actors who can influence the quality of corporate governance are depicted in Chart-1 classified into (i) Internal: including shareholders, independent directors, audit & nomination committee and (ii) External: including auditors, Registrar of Companies, stock exchanges, Security Exchange Board of India and the Competition Commission of India.


Background:The typical algorithm for human epidermal growth factor-2 (HER2) testing is immunohistochemistry (IHC), followed by reflex HER2 fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) for HER2 IHC–ambiguous (2+) cases. At our institution, HER2 FISH testing is initially performed as part of routine breast cancer testing, with HER2 FISH–ambiguous (HER2:CEP17 ratio, 1.8 to 2.2) cases reflexed to HER2 IHC. This provides a unique dataset for lesions that may not routinely undergo FISH testing. The clinicopathologic characteristics of HER2 FISH–ambiguous cases are described. Design:The electronic pathology database in our institution was searched for HER2 FISH–ambiguous cases from 2007 to December 2011. Review of clinical and pathologic characteristics was performed. Results:Sixty cases from 60 patients were reported as HER2 FISH ambiguous. Reflex HER2 IHC testing was performed on all 60 cases, of which 26 were HER2 IHC negative (0 to 1+), 18 were HER2 IHC ambiguous (2+), and 16 were HER2 IHC positive (3+). Of the 46 HER2 FISH–ambiguous patients with available clinical records, 13 (32%) pursued anti-HER2 treatment (10 IHC 3+, 1 IHC 2+, 2 IHC 0 to 1+). All were grade II or III ductal carcinomas, with 1 grade III metaplastic carcinoma. Conclusions:Reflex HER2 IHC testing after initially ambiguous HER2 FISH testing provides definitive HER2 status in a majority of cases (70%). However, a substantial percentage (30%) of HER2 FISH–ambiguous cases is also HER2 IHC ambiguous, suggesting an intermediate HER2 biology. Most HER2 FISH–ambiguous patients who received trastuzumab were HER2 IHC 3+, grade III, and had associated high-grade ductal carcinoma in situ. Although not statistically significant and with only minimal follow-up, no recurrences have occurred in those patients treated with trastuzumab (P=0.5754).


1. The rectilinear mode of progression in Boa occidentalis is described. It is fundamentally similar to that of an earthworm. The terms 'snail' and 'caterpillar' principles of other authors are inappropriate. 2. During movement, waves of muscular contraction and relaxation pass in a posterior direction over the ventral cutaneous musculature. 3. The ventral surface moves forward in 'steps' while the vertebral column and all parts rigidly connected with it move forward at relatively constant speed. The ribs do not execute any appreciable movement relative to the vertebral column. 4. The probable interaction of the musculature, as deduced from the mechanics and the geometrical arrangements, is discussed. 5. Rectilinear progression is probably a unique type of vertebrate locomotion in so far as it does not involve any lever actions of skeletal structures.


The effects of lanthanide co-dopants on oxygen diffusion in yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) are studied using a combined first principles density functional theory (DFT)/kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) modeling approach. DFT methods are used to calculate barrier energies for oxygen migration in different local cation environments, which are then input into kMC simulations to obtain long-time oxygen diffusivities and activation energies. Simulation results show a substantial increase in the maximum value of the oxygen diffusivity upon co-doping and in the dopant content at which this value is obtained for Lu-co-doped YSZ; while relatively little change is seen for Gd-co-doped YSZ. Examination of the DFT barrier energies reveals a linear scaling of barrier heights with the size of cations at the diffusion transition state. Using this strong correlation, oxygen diffusivity is examined in YSZ co-doped with several lanthanide elements. The oxygen diffusivity decreases with dopant atomic number (and decreasing dopant ion size) for co-dopants smaller than Y, and changes relatively little when Y is replaced by co-dopants larger than it. These results are broadly consistent with experiment, and are explained in terms of cation-dopant and vacancy concentration-dependent correlation effects, with the aid of a simple analytical model.


Abstract Neotropical mountain forests are characterized by having hyperdiverse and unusual fungi inhabiting lichens. The great majority of these lichenicolous fungi (i.e., detectable by light microscopy) remain undescribed and their phylogenetic relationships are mostly unknown. This study focuses on lichenicolous fungi inhabiting the genus Lobariella (Peltigerales), one of the most important lichen hosts in the Andean cloud forests. Based on molecular and morphological data, three new genera are introduced: Lawreyella gen. nov. (Cordieritidaceae, for Unguiculariopsis lobariella), Neobaryopsis gen. nov. (Cordycipitaceae), and Pseudodidymocyrtis gen. nov. (Didymosphaeriaceae). Nine additional new species are described (Abrothallus subhalei sp. nov., Atronectria lobariellae sp. nov., Corticifraga microspora sp. nov., Epithamnolia rugosopycnidiata sp. nov., Lichenotubeufia cryptica sp. nov., Neobaryopsis andensis sp. nov., Pseudodidymocyrtis lobariellae sp. nov., Rhagadostomella hypolobariella sp. nov., and Xylaria lichenicola sp. nov.). Phylogenetic placements of 13 lichenicolous species are reported here for Abrothallus, Arthonia, Globonectria, Lawreyella, Monodictys, Neobaryopsis, Pseudodidymocyrtis, Sclerococcum, Trichonectria and Xylaria. The name Sclerococcum ricasoliae comb. nov. is reestablished for the neotropical populations formerly named S. lobariellum (Sclerococcales). A key to sexual and asexual states of 40 species of lobariellicolous ascomycetous fungi is provided. Teleomorph-anamorph connections were established for several species using molecular methods and/or visual observations in nature. Additionally, we found that the anamorphic species Cornutispora ophiurospora inhabiting Lobariella was often accompanied by ascomata of Spirographa. Results of phylogenetic analyses, including newly generated sequences of several Cornutispora and Spirographa species inhabiting various host lichens, support the conclusion that Cornutispora is a synonym of Spirographa. Our Maximum Likelihood inference based on multiple loci show that all studied Spirographa (including Cornutispora) belong to a new lineage within Ostropales. Based on these highly supported phylogenetic placements and the distinct character states of their conidiomata, in comparison with other Lecanoromycetes, a new family is proposed – Spirographaceae fam. nov. This new lineage includes broadly distributed mycoparasites, inhabiting various lichen and fungal hosts, and representing an early diversification event preceding the lichen-forming clade of Fissurinaceae, Gomphillaceae and Graphidaceae. Two lichenicolous species, Asteroglobulus giselae and Pleoscutula arsenii, were found to be nested within the Spirographa clade, and their teleomorph-anamorph connections were confirmed based on genotypic and phenotypic data. This phylogenetic result is corroborated by their highly similar ascomata anatomy. Together these results strongly indicate that both species are congeneric with Spirographa. As a result, four new species (S. aggregata sp. nov., S. galligena sp. nov., S. maroneae sp. nov., and S. parmotrematis sp. nov.) and 15 new combinations are proposed (Spirographa ascaridiella comb. nov., S. arsenii comb. nov., S. ciliata comb. nov., S. giselae comb. nov., S. herteliana comb. nov., S. hypotrachynae comb. nov., S. intermedia comb. nov., S. lichenicola comb. nov., S. limaciformis comb. nov., S. ophiurospora comb. nov., S. pittii comb. nov., S. pyramidalis comb. nov., S. triangularis comb. nov., S. tricupulata comb. nov., and S. vermiformis comb. nov.). Species of the genus Spirographa, as outlined here, are strongly host-specific, mainly at the generic level of their host. Some host genera can harbour more than one Spirographa species.


The problems associated with using a single fixed beam divergence for short-range inter-unmanned aerial vehicle free-space optical communications are discussed. To overcome the problems, a beam divergence changing mechanism is proposed. Four different methods are then proposed to implement the beam divergence changing mechanism. The performance of these methods is evaluated in terms of transmission distance under adverse weather conditions. The results show that the performance is greatly improved when the beam divergence changing mechanism is used.


This article investigates the ideology of Al-Qaeda as perceived from within the network. Particular attention is paid to the ideological background of Al-Qaeda's intellectual leadership, its sociopolitical context and the nature of its recruits. The inner logic of the Al-Qaeda organisation advances an intellectual concept that is not based on the main schools of Islamic theology, but on a new ideological starting point that results from the application of Islamic principles to sociopolitical change. With its political goals reinforced by the teachings of the Quran, exemplified by the content and rhetoric of a recently discovered training manual, the organisation creates powerful imagery embedded in the collective consciousness of the Muslim community. Thus, the message provided by Al-Qaeda inspires its followers to commit violent acts of destruction while being fully convinced that they are fulfilling the ordained will of Allah.


The literature on firm heterogeneity in international trade posits that only the most productive firms become exporters (Melitz 2003). However, empirical findings suggest that also firms that are not highly productive export. This paper investigates empirically how firms organize their export trade. If selling directly, sunk costs of foreign market entry are arguably very high, so only productive firms can achieve this (Schroeder et al. 2003). Low productivity firms, by contrast, may prefer to export through trading companies, which involves lower sunk costs. Using a firm level panel data set of Ghanaian firms we investigate the relationship between firm productivity and the use of export intermediaries. Our estimation results take simultaneity problems into account and reveal that indeed low productivity firms tend to export through intermediaries.


In 2004 the Fermilab Long Range Planning Committee identified a new high intensity Proton Driver as an attractive option for the future, primarily motivated by the recent exciting developments in neutrino physics. The Fermilab Director has requested further development of the physics case for a new Fermilab Proton Driver, exploring both its ability to support a World class neutrino program, and the other physics opportunities it would provide. A physics study has been ongoing for the last 6 months. The emerging physics case will be presented.


Factors influencing the erosive behavior of large pyroclastic density currents (PDCs), both mainly massive and thinly stratified, are not well understood. To investigate the parameters influencing the erosive behavior of PDCs produced during the flowing phase of large, caldera-forming Plinian (Campanian Ignimbrite) and phreatoplinian (Neapolitan Yellow Tuff) eruptions, we use scoured fall deposits at the base of, or interstratified with, PDC deposits from the Campanian region of Italy. At several localities, we calculated the depth of PDC erosion by comparing the measured thickness of eroded remnants to reconstructed thickness at each site (estimated by isopach mapping), and recorded the (1) distance from vent, (2) elevation of the locality, and (3) paleoslopes. Furthermore, we have considered how these factors can be influenced by outcrop exposure. Depth of erosion correlates with distance from the vent in low-relief landscape, while across very rugged topography the only related parameter is elevation. The different erosive patterns appear to show how pyroclastic currents interact with the topography in the surrounding terrain. When a PDC crosses relatively flat surfaces, it decelerates away from the vent, decreasing its erosive capacity; but when moving through steep terrain, a PDC accelerates down the valley, increasing its erosive capacity.


Earthquake Alarm Systems, or ElarmS, is a network-based earthquake early warning (EEW) system developed in California. This dissertation concerns the transition of ElarmS from research prototype to production-grade code. We test ElarmS' performance for large earthquakes with an extensive dataset of large events from Japan. Using the Japanese dataset and results, we develop a statistical error model for the magnitude, location, and ground motion prediction algorithms. We adapt ElarmS to run continuously throughout the state and analyze system latencies due to various seismic networks and instruments. We then rewrite ElarmS completely in newer, more efficient code, while redesigning the association and alert algorithms for improved performance. Finally, we apply an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) at the end of system processing, to detect and block false alerts. The ANN allows ElarmS to send earlier, faster alert messages, when fewer stations have contributed data to an event estimate. ElarmS now sends realtime alert messages to the California Integrated Seismic Network's ShakeAlert EEW system.


The purpose of the paper is to analyze model uncertainty and economies of scale of the Swedish national freight transport model system Samgods to changes in its zone-to-zone base matrices. Even though economies of scale is important for freight transport, few studies analyze model uncertainty and economies of scale at a national level. Compared to many large scale networkbased freight models working on aggregated transport flows, an important feature in Samgods is that it simulates logistics behavior at a disaggregated firm level. The paper studies effects on total tonne- and vehicle-kilometre, modal split, consolidation and logistics costs when the base matrices are scaled up and down and estimates economies of scale for Swedish freight transports. The results indicate that the logistics model can find new logistics solutions for larger demand volumes, mainly by shifting freight to sea transport. If transport volume increases with one percent, average logistics cost per tonne is reduced by around 0.5 percent. Part of the cost reduction comes from increased consolidation of shipments due to larger transport volumes. The results derived in the paper can serve as a reference for empirical validation and comparisons with other large scale freight models. The paper is a first contribution that tries to fill the knowledge gap on the impact of base matrices on transport model outcomes, such as economies of scale, in the context of a full-fledged real-world freight transport model.


ncRNAs (non-coding RNAs) are implicated in a wide variety of cellular processes, including the regulation of gene expression. In the present chapter we consider two classes of ncRNA: miRNAs (microRNAs) which are post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression and lncRNAs (long ncRNAs) which mediate interactions between epigenetic remodelling complexes and chromatin. Mutation and misexpression of ncRNAs have been implicated in many disease conditions and, as such, pharmacological modulation of ncRNAs is a promising therapeutic approach. miRNA activity can be antagonized with antisense oligonucleotides which sequester or degrade mature miRNAs, and expressed miRNA sponges which compete with target transcripts for miRNA binding. Conversely, synthetic or expressed miRNA mimics can be used to treat a deficiency in miRNA expression. Similarly, conventional antisense technologies can be used to silence lncRNAs. Targeting promoter-associated RNAs with siRNAs (small interfering RNAs) results in recruitment of chromatin-modifying activities and induces transcriptional gene silencing. Alternatively, targeting natural antisense transcripts with siRNAs or antisense oligonucleotides can abrogate endogenous epigenetic silencing leading to transcriptional gene activation. The ability to modulate gene expression at the epigenetic level presents exciting new opportunities for the treatment of human disease.


When mares are inseminated repeatedly, protein molecules from the seminal plasma (SP) prevent sperm-neutrophil binding and reduced fertility. The molecule(s) responsible for spermneutrophil binding is not known and the identification of beneficial SP proteins is complicated by their large numbers and abundance variation. We examined several important aspects of spermneutrophil binding to ultimately facilitate the identification and isolation of the molecule(s) responsible. First, we raised anti equine P-selectin antibodies to determine the involvement of this adhesion molecule in sperm-neutrophil binding. While these antibodies identified equine Pselectin, they did not inhibit sperm-neutrophil binding. However, acrosome reacted equine sperm expressed a molecule similar to the ligand recognition unit of P-selectin. Second, we attempted to characterize SP protein binding to equine sperm and gauge their affinity. Biotinylated SP proteins were incubated with fresh sperm, washed over a viscus medium, electrophoresed and probed with avidin. Several SP proteins bound to sperm with a strong affinity to withstand these treatments. This finding may prove valuable for future attempts to identify and characterize specific SP molecules. Lastly, we compared the secretions from male sex organs/glands on sperm motility, sperm-neutrophil binding, and their protein profile. We expected fewer proteins from individual organs/glands, which would facilitate isolation and identification of target molecules. While each secretion had a varying effect on motility and sperm-neutrophil binding, the protein profile was as complex as that seen in whole SP, indicating that collection of proteins from individual sources will not facilitate this work. Together, these experiments answer several important questions related to sperm-neutrophil binding, sperm-SP proteins interaction, and the complexity of the SP proteome.


BACKGROUND
Despite the widely documented risks of not breastfeeding, initiation rates remain relatively low in many high-income countries, particularly among women in lower-income groups. In low- and middle-income countries, many women do not follow World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations to initiate breastfeeding within the first hour after birth. This is an update of a Cochrane Review, first published in 2005.

OBJECTIVES
To identify and describe health promotion activities intended to increase the initiation rate of breastfeeding.To evaluate the effectiveness of different types of breastfeeding promotion activities, in terms of changing the number of women who initiate breastfeeding.To evaluate the effectiveness of different types of breastfeeding promotion activities, in terms of changing the number of women who initiate breastfeeding early (within one hour after birth).

SEARCH METHODS
We searched Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth's Trials Register (29 February 2016) and scanned reference lists of all articles obtained.

SELECTION CRITERIA
Randomised controlled trials (RCTs), with or without blinding, of any breastfeeding promotion intervention in any population group, except women and infants with a specific health problem.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors independently assessed trial reports for inclusion, extracted data and assessed trial quality. Discrepancies were resolved through discussion and a third review author was involved when necessary. We contacted investigators to obtain missing information.

MAIN RESULTS
Twenty-eight trials involving 107,362 women in seven countries are included in this updated review. Five studies involving 3,124 women did not contribute outcome data and we excluded them from the analyses. The methodological quality of the included trials was mixed, with significant numbers of studies at high or unclear risk of bias due to: inadequate allocation concealment (N = 20); lack of blinding of outcome assessment (N = 20); incomplete outcome data (N = 19); selective reporting (N = 22) and bias from other potential sources (N = 17). Healthcare professional-led breastfeeding education and support versus standard care The studies pooled here compare professional health workers delivering breastfeeding education and support during the prenatal and postpartum periods with standard care. Interventions included promotion campaigns and counselling, and all took place in a formal setting. There was evidence from five trials involving 564 women for improved rates ofbreastfeeding initiation among women who received healthcare professional-led breastfeeding education and support (average risk ratio (RR) 1.43, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07 to 1.92; Tau² = 0.07, I² = 62%, low-quality evidence) compared to those women who received standard care. We downgraded evidence due to design limitations and heterogeneity. The outcome of early initiation of breastfeeding was not reported in the studies under this comparison. Non-healthcare professional-led breastfeeding education and support versus standard care There was evidence from eight trials of 5712 women for improved rates of breastfeeding initiation among women who received interventions from non-healthcare professional counsellors and support groups (average RR 1.22, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.40; Tau² = 0.02, I² = 86%, low-quality evidence) compared to women who received standard care. In three trials of 76,373 women, there was no clear difference between groups in terms of the number of women practicing early initiation of breastfeeding (average RR 1.70, 95% CI 0.98 to 2.95; Tau² = 0.18, I² = 78%, very low-quality evidence). We downgraded the evidence for a combination of design limitations, heterogeneity and imprecision (wide confidence intervals crossing the line of no effect). Other comparisonsOther comparisons in this review also looked at the rates of initiation of breastfeeding and there were no clear differences between groups for the following comparisons of combined healthcare professional-led education with peer support or community educator versus standard care (2 studies, 1371 women) or attention control (1 study, 237 women), breastfeeding education using multimedia (a self-help manual or a video) versus routine care (2 studies, 497 women); early mother-infant contact versus standard care (2 studies, 309 women); and community-based breastfeeding groups versus no breastfeeding groups (1 study, 18,603 women). None of these comparisons reported data on early initiation of breastfeeding.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
This review found low-quality evidence that healthcare professional-led breastfeeding education and non-healthcare professional-led counselling and peer support interventions can result in some improvements in the number of women beginning to breastfeed. The majority of the trials were conducted in the USA, among women on low incomes and who varied in ethnicity and feeding intention, thus limiting the generalisability of these results to other settings.Future studies would ideally be conducted in a range of low- and high-income settings, with data on breastfeeding rates over various timeframes, and explore the effectiveness of interventions that are initiated prior to conception or during pregnancy. These might include well-described interventions, including health education, early and continuing mother-infant contact, and initiatives to help mothers overcome societal barriers to breastfeeding, all with clearly defined outcome measures.


PHOTOCHEMICAL ELIMINATION REACTIONS via ZWITTERIONIC INTERMEDIATES GENERATED BY ELECTROCYCLIC RING CLOSURES. Majher Ibna Mannan Sarker, B.S., M.S. Marquette University, 2012 The research focuses on the design of photoremovable protecting groups that can be used to deprotect biological substrates of an organic compound by photolysis. The deprotection of the protecting group via photolysis requires heterolysis of a bond to the substrate. Heterolysis of a C-O or C-S σ-bonds in a zwitterionic intermediate is proposed. The photochemical electrocyclic reactions studied involve acrylanilides, benzothiophene carboxanilides, and N-(9-oxothioxanthenyl) benzothiophene carboxamides. α,βUnsaturated anilides bearing leaving groups at the allylic position of the αmethylacrylamide group undergo photochemical electrocyclic ring closure with release of leaving group which could occur directly from a photochemically produced zwitterionic intermediate or via an enolate produced upon deprotonation of zwitterionic intermediate. An accompanying minor photoproduct retaining the leaving group is thought to be formed via a 1,5-H shift of the zwitterionic intermediate. The photolysis wavelength can be 365 nm by introducing a benzoyl group into the para position of the anilide. The photochemistry derives from the singlet excited state. The most efficient photochemical electrocyclic ring closure and leaving group expulsion found thus far occurs with benzothiophene carboxanilides, which has considerable potential for use as cage compounds. A variety of leaving groups, incorporated at the C-3 position of the benzothiophene ring system are photochemically expelled completely, and the quantum efficiencies for LG expulsion vary with basicity of the LG over the range 0.007-0.2. The approximate dependence of log Φ on the pKa of the leaving group conjugate acid suggests that the LG expulsion competes with ring-opening of the zwitterionic intermediate. The electrocyclic ring closure to form the zwitterionic intermediate occurs in the triplet excited state. Incorporation of benzophenone chromophore by replacing the N-phenyl group of the anilide allows photolyses to be conducted at 365 nm. Thioxanthones bearing a benzothiophene carboxamide group at the C-2 position are capable of expelling leaving groups such as ClPhS, HS and PhCH2S . The leaving group expulsions can be achieved using 390 nm light. Moreover, the inclusion of a carboxylate group at the C-6 position of the benzothiophene ring improves solubility in aqueous media. The photocyclizations occur in the triplet excited state according to quenching experiments.


The AVR microcontroller from Atmel (now Microchip) is one of the most widely used 8-bit microcontrollers. Arduino Uno is based on AVR microcontroller. It is inexpensive and widely available around the world. This book combines the two. In this book, the authors use a step-by-step and systematic approach to show the programming of the AVR chip. Examples in both Assembly language and C show how to program many of the AVR features, such as timers, serial communication, ADC, SPI, I2C, and PWM. The text is organized into two parts: 1) The first 6 chapters use Assembly language programming to examine the internal architecture of the AVR. 2) Chapters 7-18 uses both Assembly and C to show the AVR peripherals and I/O interfacing to real-world devices such as LCD, motor, and sensor. The first edition of this book published by Pearson used ATmega32. It is still available for purchase from Amazon. This new edition is based on Atmega328 and the Arduino Uno board. The appendices, source codes, tutorials and support materials for both books are available on the following websites: http://www.NicerLand.com/ and http://www.MicroDigitalEd.com/AVR/AVR_books.htm