The influence of geography and genotype on shell shape (outline) and trait (morphometric) variation among North Atlantic blue mussels and their hybrids has been examined. Shape differences among reference taxa (Mytilus trossulus, Mytilus edulis and Mytilus galloprovincialis) were consistent with an association between taxon-specific genes and shape genes. Newfoundland M. edulis × M. trossulus populations and northern Quebec M. trossulus populations exhibited an uncoupling of taxon-specific genes from shape genes, whereas Nova Scotia M. trossulus populations and SW England M. edulis × M. galloprovincialis populations exhibited an association between taxon-specific genes and shape genes. We found no evidence of a geographic effect (NE versus NW Atlantic) for shape variation, indicating that the genotype effect is stronger than any geographic effect at macrogeographic scales. Pronounced differences were observed in trait variability consistent with an association between taxon-specific genes and trait genes in European populations, and trait divergence of New York M. edulis from all European mussels. Trait variability in mussels from Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and northern Quebec indicated an uncoupling of taxon genes from trait genes, whereas trait variability in SW England M. edulis × M. galloprovincialis populations was consistent with background genotype, indicating a strong association between taxon genes and trait genes. A pronounced macrogeographic split (NE versus NW Atlantic) regardless of taxonomy was observed, indicating that geography exerts a greater influence than genotype on trait variation at the macrogeographic scale. This is consistent with pronounced within-taxon genetic divergence, indicative of different selection regimes or more likely of different evolutionary histories of mussels on either side of the North Atlantic. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 96, 875–897.


For many years, people have migrated to other parts of their countries or across national borders. The reasons for the phenomenon of migration are many. People tend to migrate from poorer regions or countries to those that are comparatively better than their places of origin. Migration affects both host and destination countries in many ways. While there is evidence to support positive effects from migrations, mostly in developed countries, there is ongoing debate in most developing countries as to the effect of this phenomenon of migration. Immigrants are often associated with negative effects in destination countries. The purpose of this research is to determine the contribution of skilled professional immigrants to the South African economy. This report will narrow its focus to a case study of the contribution of skilled professionals in the health and higher education sectors but will also take a cursory look at the broad effects of other immigrant categories in South Africa. This research report focused on selected sectors of the South African economy since 1994 and found enough evidence to conclude that immigrants contribute positively to the South African economy. This is contrary to commonly held assumptions that foreign immigrants negatively affect the South African economy. However, this research only focused on the higher education and health sectors. A broader understanding of the effects of immigrants on the South Africa economy therefore requires further investigation.


To preserve our environment means to preserve the soil, the water, and the natural resources, i.e. life on our planet. And indeed, unspoilt nature is not only a prerequisite, but also valuable capital for doing business successfully, i.e. developing eco-tourism, organic farming, sustainable forestry, etc. On the one hand, managerial decisions which employ environmentally friendly production methods in our country make it possible to manage eco-systems (and bio-diversity in general). On the other hand, eco-systems provide a wide range of useful services and thus improve the quality of our life and create favourable conditions for the long-term well-being of people. The value of eco-systems will increasingly continue to grow in the future, mainly due to the loss of eco-systems. Therefore, the need to evaluate the services provided by eco-systems is becoming more obvious. Conscientious management of natural capital and services provided by eco-systems lead to increased social and economic sustainability not only at a regional and national level, but on a European and global scale as well.


This paper illustrates the design work from an integrated third year Architecture Design Studio and Environmental Controls Systems (ECS) Studio. As the final project, all students developed a 'Center for the Study of Light', based on the quarter long experiments with light. The quarter began with spatial experiments with both day and electric lighting. In the ECS course students started with several physical model interpretations of James Turrell's electric light installations and in the Design Studio several full-scaled working versions of Moholy Nagy's Light Space Modular were constructed to explore the connection of movement, light, space and materials. Another instructor taught the ECS course, but exercises were collaboratively formulated, so the student work developed would inform the architecture projects in the design studio. Assignment activities in both the Design and ECS courses are a continuation of a methodology of this author for using digital and physical media in a tightly structured framework for integrating building system principles into design studio projects. The main learning objective for the integration of these two courses was to create a range of improvisations early on in the quarter to create an intense focus on a kit-of-parts understanding of the technical aspects of environmental systems that can be shaped and molded into design project vocabularies later in the quarter [1,2,3]. Figure 1: Turrell


The Internet has provided distance education with a new delivery opportunity that tertiary institutions are rapidly deploying. However, little is known of the characteristics of effective human tutors to exploit this opportunity and what capabilities they require for particular online learning environments. This paper reports on an in-depth study examining the online learning milieu in six separate courses that incorporated the use of text-based online technologies at an Australian university.

The study required a determination of the environmental factors affecting online tutor capabilities and the relationship between these capabilities and the factors. Thirteen environmental factors emerged from an analysis of the data and a set of critical online tutor capabilities based upon five categories distilled after an exhaustive review of the literature. From this a model of the mediated relationship between these capabilities and environmental factors was created and recommendations were made concerning the required capabilities of online tutors that will assist tertiary institutions in selection and training processes. Finally, the study identified a dissonance between the perceptions of tutors, students and course designers that needs careful consideration and further research.


Nanotechnology is currently emerging as the next industrial revolution. It enables the production of goods (i.e. nanoproducts, NPs) with enhanced functionalities, which have nonetheless caused mounting concerns about the potential implications they can have on the environment, economy and society. This thesis employs Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding (MCDA), one form of decision support, to aid the sustainable development of nanotechnology. The first original contribution of this doctoral research is the development of a framework of sustainability assessment criteria for NPs, through a three-phase procedure based on the MCDA process, including a literature review, a pilot and a main survey. It lead to a comprehensive framework of 68 criteria, ranked according to their relative importance, allocated to six main domain areas: (i) economic performance; (ii) environmental impacts; (iii) environmental risk assessment; (iv) human health risk assessment; (v) social implications; and (vi) technical performance. All the criteria are reliable and can be used in real case studies to increase the knowledge about the sustainability of NPs. The second original contribution presented in this thesis is a robust model (DRSA-based model) based on green chemistry principles implementation for the classification of synthesis processes of nanomaterials in preference-ordered classes. This tool was developed through knowledge elicitation techniques based on coconstructive MCDA with the collaboration of two experts (the decision makers) in synthesis of nanomaterials. The robustness of the ensuing model was assessed (and confirmed) by means of another model developed ad hoc (ELECTRE-based model), structured on an MCDA method implementing a stochastic multiple criteria classification strategy. The results confirm that MCDA is an effective decision support approach to foster sustainable development of nanotechnology, providing that the analysts who apply it take these considerations into account. They must ensure that (1) multidisciplinary teams are created to perform comprehensive and credible sustainability evaluations; (2) problem structuring and model construction are as important as (if not more important) than the results (i.e. decision recommendations) themselves; (3) identification of the appropriate MCDA method depends on the problem at hand and not vice-versa; and (4) the credibility of the decision recommendations is subject to the preferences of the decision-makers. If these considerations are accounted for, the possibility of advancing nanotechnology on a sustainable path is very concrete and realistic.


Wireless sensor networks are an increasingly popular application area for embedded systems. Individual sensor nodes within a network are typically resource-constrained, event-driven, and require a high degree of concurrency. This combination of requirements motivated the development of the widely used TinyOS sensor node operating system. The TinyOS concurrency model is a lightweight nonpreemptive system designed to suit the needs of typical sensor network applications. Although the TinyOS concurrency model is easier to reason about than preemptive threads, it can still give rise to undesirable behavior due to unexpected interleavings of related tasks, or unanticipated preemption by interrupt handlers. To aid TinyOS developers in understanding the behavior of their programs we have developed a technique for using the process algebra Communicating Sequential Processes (CSP) to model the interactions between TinyOS components, and between an application and the TinyOS scheduling and preemption mechanisms. Analysis of the resulting models can help TinyOS developers to discover and diagnose concurrency-related errors in their designs that might otherwise go undetected until after the application has been widely deployed. Such analysis is particularly valuable for the TinyOS components that are used as building blocks for a large number of other applications, since a subtle or sporadic error in a widely deployed building block component could be extremely costly to repair.


Synaptic plasticity associated with learning and memory is presently modeled on an enhancement of synaptic efficacy called long-term potentiation (LTP), which is known to involve cAMP signaling and protein kinase A (see Mansuy). Pineda et al. analyzed mice for the involvement of the G protein that inhibits adenylyl cyclase Gαi by pharmacologic inhibition or by genetic knockout (Gαi1–/–) or antisense oligonucleotide-mediated depletion of Gαi, each of which showed similar disruptions in memory formation in live animals. Administration of pertussis toxin to the CA1 region of the hippocampus of mice disrupted memory measured by two behavioral tests. The knockout mice were also impaired in several, but not all, tests of memory, which suggests specificity in the signaling pathways implicated in forming different types of memories. However, the homozygous and heterozygous mice had increased levels of adenylyl cyclase activity. Analysis of various forms of synaptic plasticity in the hippocampal regions of the knockout mice indicated that the mice formed late-phase (longer-lasting) LTP under stimulating conditions that in wild-type mice formed an early, decremental LTP. Thus, loss of tonic inhibition of adenylyl cyclase activity may result in enhanced synaptic efficacy, which occludes the ability to encode synapse activity-dependent information required for proper memory formation. I. Mansuy, A constraint on cAMP signaling. Neuron 41, 4-6 (2004). [Online Journal] V. V. Pineda, J. I. Athos, H. Wang, J. Celver, D. Ippolito, G. Boulay, L. Birnbaumer, D. R. Storm, Removal of Giα1 constraints on adenylyl cyclase in the hippocampus enhances LTP and impairs memory formation. Neuron 41, 153-163 (2004). [Online Journal]


This technical report provides an overview of existing and potential financing structures for renewable energy project development in Alaska with a focus on four primary sources of project funding: government financed or supported (the most commonly used structure in Alaska today), developer equity capital, commercial debt, and third-party tax-equity investment. While privately funded options currently have limited application in Alaska, their implementation is theoretically possible based on successful execution in similar circumstances elsewhere. This report concludes that while tax status is a key consideration in determining appropriate financing structure, there are opportunities for both taxable and tax-exempt entities to participate in renewable energy project development.


Is the Japanese economy really unique? This set collects the major English language contributions to the theories of the structure and performance of the Japanese economy in the twentieth century. It covers a wide range of topics including: * Japan before the Pacific War * post-war growth * trading with Japan * the nature of the Japanese firm The set gives the reader access to the most important debates about the contours of the modern Japanese economy and their evolution. Many of the articles in the set will also be accessible to non-economists, especially to political scientists. The set constitutes the largest and most comprehensive collection available on the economics of Japan, and will prove an invaluable reference base.


Sentinel lymph node biopsy (SLNB) was introduced in 1992 to allow histopathologic evaluation of the "sentinel" node, that is, the first node along the lymphatic drainage pathway from the primary melanoma. This procedure has less risk of complications than a complete lymphadenectomy, and if the sentinel node is uninvolved by tumor the likelihood a complete lymphadenectomy would find metastatic disease in that nodal basin is very low. SLNB is now widely used worldwide in the staging of melanoma as well as breast and Merkel cell carcinomas. SLNB provides safe, reliable staging for patients with clinically node-negative melanomas 1 mm or greater in thickness, with an acceptably low rate of failure in the sentinel node-negative basin. Evidence-based guidelines jointly produced by ASCO and the Society of Surgical Oncology (SSO) recommend SLNB for patients with intermediate-thickness melanomas and also state that SLNB may be recommended for patients with thick melanomas. Major remaining areas of uncertainty include the indications for SLNB in patients with thin melanomas, pediatric patients, and patients with atypical melanocytic neoplasms; the optimal radiotracers and dyes for lymphatic mapping; and the necessity of complete lymphadenectomy in all sentinel node-positive patients.


This paper synthesizes the literatures on labor dynamics and urban growth and agglomeration by presenting new evidence on the micro-level establishment dynamics of metropolitan areas. I explore how the patterns of job reallocation and entry and exit affect the growth and composition of these areas. I find that high-growth metropolitan areas have high rates of job and establishment turnover, primarily though higher rates of gross job creation and establishment entry, and have a relatively young distribution of establishments. Variations in the age distribution and differences in the entry and exit patterns of young establishments account for a sizeable portion of regional differences in labor dynamics and growth, even after controlling for regional differences in industry composition. These results suggest that variations in the age distribution and the dynamics that lead to such variations are important factors in understanding urban growth and agglomeration.


We live in 'interesting times' for better or worse. Scarcely has nucleic testing outstripped culture in the diagnosis of gonorrhoea, before it is threatened not only by the expected resistance to antibiotics, but also 'invisibility cloak' evolution in the form of mutants lacking the porA gene see the Editor's Choice by Ison et al. Having watched slow-to-adapt Chlamydia trachomatis evade new generation testing, the future of STI diagnosis looks increasingly uncertain. While enthusiasts continue to look forward to an age in which molecular typing helps in the characterisation of outbreaks, this all depends on making the diagnosis in the first place. With syphilis, we may have a little longer, but the perfect test still eludes us. Don't throw away microscopy and culture just yet.... HIV testing remains a challenge, with widespread reluctance to test persisting outside sexual health services in many settings. Pillay et al report the results of a promising educational intervention in a high prevalence borough of London UK, which appeared to improve HIV testing and diagnosis in participating practices. They propose further research in the form of a step wedge trial, and while this is to be commended, their study needs to be seen within the wider context of the many levers that are available to improve the implementation of public health interventions in general practice—including incentivization. We report two behavioural studies, which demonstrate high potential for accelerated HIV transmission. A study of customers in alcohol serving venues in South Africa demonstrates very high rates of concurrency, and low rates of condom use outside primary partnerships, in both men and women. In China, a study of adolescent female sex workers reaches similar conclusions, with high rates of unprotected non-commercial partnerships. Such populations are important and highly vulnerable groups who have a role in potentiating the HIV epidemic, and need to be better understood and served with both upstream and downstream interventions. We also report some early intelligence on behavioural interventions. Aghaizu et al report that half of a community sample of London men who have sex with men (MSM) would be willing to use Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis for HIV, and most of those likely to be in need are regularly in touch with clinical services. While the role of community prevention activities is increasingly recognised, we should not forget that clinical STI and HIV services are places where individuals at high risk of acquisition and transmission concentrate. It is important not to overlook clinical settings as a place for finding those at greatest need of interventions, wherever those interventions may then be delivered. Another report low rates of regular STI testing among MSM, and suggests the use of SMS texting to recall. Human papilloma virus (HPV) remains an evolving problem, and we were interested to see a study from Rakai, Uganda which demonstrates lower HPV shedding among circumcised men. Of course, the relationship between viral shedding and infectivity remains murky. A related issue is explored by Franco et al in a study which explores HPV shedding through the menstrual cycle. Like gonorrhoea, the biology and epidemiology of HPV will continue to evolve. Finally, a letter by Desruelles et al had extensive coverage in the UK press. This preliminary report of an excess of molluscum contagiosum among patients who shaved their pubic area raises interesting questions about STI transmission. This is the kind of research that clinicians are well placed to initiate, and is potentially of considerable public health importance. While much research is funded by national or international research councils and charities, it is always heartening to see the origin of research in our observation and care for our patients. Competing interests None.


The slave ship was the instrument of history's greatest forced migration and a key to the origins and growth of global capitalism, yet much of its history remains unknown. Marcus Rediker uncovers the extraordinary human drama that played out on this world-changing vessel. Drawing on thirty years of maritime research, he demonstrates the truth of W.E.B DuBois's observation: the slave trade was the most magnificent drama in the last thousand years of human history. The Slave Ship focuses on the so-called golden age of the slave trade, the period of 1700-1808, when more than six million people were transported out of Africa, most of them on British and American ships, across the Atlantic, to slave on New World plantations. Marcus Rediker tells poignant tales of life, death and terror as he captures the shipboard drama of brutal discipline and fierce resistance. He reconstructs the lives of individuals, such as John Newton, James Field Stanfield and Olaudah Equiano, and the collective experience of captains, sailors and slaves. Mindful of the haunting legacies of race, class and slavery, Marcus Rediker offers a vivid and unforgettable portrait of the ghost ship of our modern consciousness.


The Danish Building and Construction Workers Unions primary concern is to improve the overall working conditions for the construction workers. We are also determined to increase the quality, productivity and efficiency in the construction industry. We consider the theory of Lean Construction as a viable means to achieve these goals. Lean Construction puts the construction worker into focus, as he is the only participant in the building process directly generating value to the customer. Since the building process is a co-operation vertically and horizontally between many different participants it can best be understood as a form of teamwork. The teamwork inherent in this building process requires every participant to be dependent on each other. The process must be based on mutual respect and recognition of all the participants' competencies. If the trade unions are to achieve our goals this recognition is an absolute prerequisite. The unions view Lean Construction as a means to increase the construction workers' responsibility and influence by recognizing their qualifications regarding planning, coordination, cooperation and decision-making. The International Federation of Building and Woodworkers, IFBWW supports these views, although pointing out that the concept of Lean Construction is mostly applicable to the construction sectors of industrial rather than developing countries. This paper reviews research in cooperation, teamwork and life-long learning, and reports interviews with 28 construction workers who have participated in Lean Construction or Lean Construction related projects.


AIM
to design a model and assess the effectiveness of endurance exercise to increase physical fitness in intelectual disability (ID) patients with obesity.

METHODS
a randomized-controlled clinical trial was performed in ID patients with obesity aged 10-30 years old from all Special School in DKI Jakarta, which were randomly allocated into 3 groups and then given 3 different type of exercises: lower extremity muscles endurance exercise for 20 RM followed by cardiorespiratory endurance exercise for 24-25 minutes (type I), lower extremity muscles endurance exercises for 10 RM followed by cardiorespiratory endurance exercises for 26-27 minutes (type II), and threw a tennis ball with 10 m distance for 10 minutes as control (type III). These program was performed 3 times a week for 4 months. Assesment of the exercise effectiveness was done by measuring maximum load that can be lifted and six-minutes walking test on rectangular track which was converted with the VO2 max prediction formula. Analysis was perfomed with Kruskal Wallis test.

RESULTS
two hundred and twelve (212) subjects were included in the study, randomly allocated into three types (I, II, and III) of exercises groups. The type II of endurance exercise model was proved to be more effective in increasing lower extremity muscles endurance level compared to type I and III for ID patients with obesity (p<0.05). Meanwhile, type I of endurance exercise model was proved to be more effective in increasing cardiorespiratory endurance level compared to type II and III for ID patients with obesity (p<0.05).

CONCLUSION
lower extremity muscles endurance exercise followed by a cardiorespiratory endurance exercise can be used to increase physical fitness in ID patients with obesity.


WANG Tianyun ZHANG Zhenbi∗ SONG Aihua LIU Xiumei (Gansu Zhangye Prefectural People's Hospital) Abstract In this paper, we analyzed the quantification of serum lipoprotein performed on 30 cases (the mean age being 41 years old) with fluorine-associated aortic sclerosis, and 31 healthy adults (the mean age being 40.5 years old) were included in the control group. The determination of T-ch, HDL, LDL, VLDL and HDL/T-ch was performed on [all cases] in these two groups; the significance of differences was verified with the t test, and correlation analysis was made. Results demonstrated that HDL and HDL/T-ch for the fluorosis group were significantly lower than those for the control group, and VLDL for the fluorosis group was higher than that for the control group, but all those values did not exceed the normal ranges. VLDL, LDL and T-ch were positively correlated to the thickness of aortic wall measured by two-dimensional echocardiography, r being 0.45, 0.54 and 0.55 respectively. The relation between the pathogenesis of fluorine-associated aortic sclerosis and serum lipids was discussed, and the conclusion was as follows: The increased incoming Ca++ may cause the functional failure of muscle cells and their subsequent necrosis, resulting in local calcification and ulceration; in addition, the pathogenesis of fluorine-associated aortic sclerosis may be related to the important synergic action of fluorine ions with the enzyme system in the human body; the excessive uptake of fluorine may cause dysfunction of the enzyme system in the human body, leading to the elevation of VLDL and the reduction of HDL in the blood, and subsequent pathological changes of vascular walls.


Background: Allergy and asthma represent important problems for athletes. Also, exercise is known to induce oxidative stress and increase in reactive oxygen species during exercise might overwhelm endogenous antioxidant defence.
Type of study: Original research concerned the oxidative stress in athletes with IgE-dependent allergic response.
Research question: The aim of the present work was to assess oxidative stress biomarkers in elite athletes with known allergy and non-allergic controls.
Methods: Based on serum IgE concentration (cut-off 100 IU/L) and findings at physical examination, 66 elite athletes were divided into two groups: with some kind of IgE-dependent allergic response (n=19) and healthy controls (n=47). The following parameters were measured: White blood cell count (WBC), Immunoglobulin E (IgE), high sensitive C reactive protein (hs-CRP), Interleukin-6 (IL-6), oxidative stress parameters (reactive oxygen metabolites - ROMs, advanced oxidation protein products - AOPP and lipid hydroperoxides - LOOH) and biological antioxidative potential - BAP.
Results: Multivariate analysis of covariance revealed that IgE-dependent allergic response contributed 16.9 % to variability of oxidative status and hs-CRP and WBC to be significant covariates. Reactive oxygen metabolites (327 ± 81 vs. 294 ± 53; P=0.047) were significantly higher in athletes with IgE-dependent allergic response and biological antioxidative potential (2314 ± 344 vs. 2484 ± 226; P=0.031) was significantly lower in this group.
Conclusions: Increased reactive oxygen metabolites and reduced antioxidant capacity in athletes with IgE-mediated allergy lead us to suppose that free radical generation could be mediated at least in part via type I hypersensitivity response.


BACKGROUND
Suicidality is considered to be a facultative symptom of certain psychiatric disorders.

AIM
To provide evidence in support of the view that suicidality is not only a symptom of other disorders or comorbid with them but is often a disorder in its own right.

METHOD
We conducted a review of the literature.

RESULTS
Suicidality manifests itself as a disorder in its own right without any one-to-one relationships with other psychiatric or somatic disorders or illnesses.

CONCLUSION
Suicidality has specific features of its own such as susceptibility to interindividual contagion. By preventing suicide we may be able to forestall the development of other types of ill-health and thus improve the quality of the life that has been saved.


In a study on penalty decisions in soccer, Plessner and Betsch (2001) refer to a social cognition framework and demonstrate that referees? initial decisions exert an undesirable impact on later decisions. Mascarenhas, Collins, and Mortimer (2002) criticize this work for an error in the attribution of its findings. In their view, the referees? efforts to manage games by permanently adjusting decisions to the actual flow of a game have been underestimated. In the present experiment, 113 elite (i.e., first and second league) basketball referees made decisions on videotaped contact situations. These were presented either in their original game sequence or as random successions of individual scenes. Results showed that referees in the condition with the removed sequential context awarded more rigorous sanctions than their colleagues. Findings are interpreted as an instance of empirical evidence for what Mascarenhas et al. (2002) have described as game management. It is argued that the idea of game management should be modeled and further explored within the theoretical concept of social information processing.


The studies on population management of chickpea pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Huebn) using pheromone traps over a period of 16 years (1983 to 1998) revealed peak adult populations from 20 March to 23 April. Among the environmental factors (maximum and minimum temperature, rainfall, wind speed and relative humidity), maximum and minimum temperatures were observed to be the most important environmental factors determining the population build up of this insect. The most favourable maximum and minimum temperature ranges for 80 to 90% trap catch populations were 16 to 35°C and 10 to 20°C respectively).

Regression analysis of mean 16 years pooled trap catch populations to ascertain relationship between the trap catch population and environmental factors indicated that, 1) Maximum and minimum temperatures were found significant at 15 day mean (R2=0.5948, p<0.05, d.f.=6) and at 14 day mean (R2=0.5939, p<0.05, d.f.=6) respectively, 2) Rainfall and wind speed showed significance at 2 day mean (R2=0.049, p<0.05, d.f.=65), and at 5 day mean (R2=0.2119, p<0.01, d.f=24) respectively, 3) Relative humidity (%) were found significant at 14 day mean at 0900 h (R2=0.5151, p<0.05, d.f.=6) and at 6 day mean at 1600 h (R2 =0.1739, p<0.05, d.f.=19) respectively. Stepwise multiple regression analysis of environmental factors with trap catches revealed that one or more than one environmental factor(s) showed significant influence on trap catches in different year.

Relationship between chickpea crop phenology and insect infestation (from 1994 to 1998) revealed that peak oviposition was observed between 01 and 18 April at 60 to 100% flowering stage of the crop. Peak populations of 1sti and 2nd instar larvae were noted between 07 and 23 April at 40 to 100% flowering of the crop and between 15 to 28 April at 100% flowering to 80% small podding stage crop respectively. The Infestation peaks of 3rd and 41h instar larvae were observed between 15 April and 03 May at full podding stage and between 20 April and 14 May at 15% crop maturity respectively. Maximum infestation of 51h instar was noted during 23 April to 10 May at 50% crop maturity. Significant regressions for H. armigera adults populations were obtained with the number of eggs planr1, number of 1st and 2nd instar larvae plan-1.

Chickpea pod borer, H. armigera infestation prediction models revealed that 04 March ± 6 days, 13 April ± 4 days and 07 June ±t 16 days were calculated to be the predicted dates for start, peak and end of trap catch populations respectively according to Calendar date method. Similarly, Degree-day accumulation method, 181.2 ± 39.7, 480 ± 85.5, and 1379.6 ± 319.3 degree-days were calculated as to be the predicted degree-days for start, peak and end of trap catch populations respectively. In April 1999, insect peak population was seen on 14 April (fallen in agreement within the range of the calendar date model) and accordingly the plant protection measures were adopted.

Significant synergistic interactions were observed in most of the combinations of HD-1-S-1980 with malic acid. The LC500f HD-1-S-1980 decreased with 1.0,2.0, & 4.0 % malic acid. Potency of HD-1-S-1980 was increased by 0.4, 2.7, and 12.89 folds in 1.0, 2,0, and 4.0 % malic acid combinations respectively. The bioassay results on susceptibility of different larval instars indicated that LC50s 42.2, 37.4, 40.9, 44.6, 59.9 ~g/ml diet for early & late 1 s" early & late 2nd and early 3rd instars respectively were significantly less from the LC50s of early and late 4th instar (99.1 and 119.9 ~g/ml diet respectively). DiPel 2X@ showed the lowest LC50 (21.0 ~g/ml) and the highest potency (52,000 IU/mg) and relative potency (3.20) in comparison with the LC50s of the other microbial insecticides DiPel ES@, MVP@, and Echotech Pro@.

Potted chickpea plants treated with DiPel 2X @ 0.8 Kg (25.6 BIU) and 1.6 Kg (51.2 BIU)/hectare caused 66.60 and 81.48% larval mortalities respectively and DiPel ES@ 2.00 liters (35.2 BIU)/hectare caused 84.0% larval mortality of H. armigera .

Field tests of DiPel 2X@ with and without adjuvants for control of chickpea pod borer for 3 successive years (1993-94 to 1995-96 chickpea seasons) resulted in significant increase in grain yield in DiPel 2X@ treatments as compared to the grain yield in control plot. The grain yield in DiPel 2X@ treatments (@ 1.6 Kg/hectare) was 2 to 3 times higher (511 to 1535 Kg/hectare) as compared to control plot yield (171 to 591 Kg/hectare). Chemical insecticide treatment (Karate 2.5 EC @ 0.500 ml/hectare gave higher grain yield (935 to 1892 Kg/ha) as compared to DiPel 2X@ treatments.


One-pot combinations of sequential catalytic reactions can offer practical and ecological advantages over classical multi-step synthesis schemes. In this context, the integration of enzymatic and chemo-catalytic transformations holds particular potential for efficient and selective reaction sequences that would not be 10 possible using either method alone. Here we report the one-pot combination of alcohol dehydrogenasecatalysed asymmetric reduction of 2-azido ketones and Pd nanoparticle-catalysed hydrogenation of the resulting azido alcohols, which gives access to both enantiomers of aromatic 1,2-amino alcohols in high yields and excellent optical purity (ee >99%). Furthermore, we demonstrate the incorporation of an upstream azidolysis and a downstream acylation step into the one-pot system, thus establishing a highly 15 integrated synthesis of the antiviral natural product (S)-tembamide in 73% yield (ee >99%) over 4 steps. Avoiding the purification and isolation of intermediates in this synthetic sequence leads to an unprecedentedly low ecological footprint, as quantified by E-factor and solvent demand.


Publications are the result of individual scientists or 'webs' of collaborators who present their scientific observations and share them with the scientific community. A study of authors and institutions who have published provides way to assess a country's research environment. Using PubMed and ISI Web of Science, this study identified Namibian authors and institutions which published biomedically-focused studies between 1995 and 2010. Results consisted of 150 different biomedically-oriented publications by a total of 190 different authors from 44 different institutions. 89% of the articles by Namibian authors were the results of collaboration, either foreign or Namibian-based. 47% of the papers were 1 st authored and 11% were single authored by Namibian-based authors. The majority of Namibian authors (72%) only produced one article while 28% produced 2 or more papers. Further analysis indicated that there has been a negative trend in the number of publications since 1998 which contrasts with the increasing number of institutions which have published at least one article during that period. In total, these results indicate that the biomedical science environment in Namibia has potential to develop and expand. However, it needs support from a national biomedical research strategy based on Namibian-informed research priorities, investment in potential authors and institutions and empowered tertiary institutions taking the lead to equip and build capacity in local collaborators in order to reach its true potential.


Renowned for her exquisite taste, her talent for attracting the most gifted artists and artisans of her time, and her ability to further their careers, Empress Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, had a profound and lasting effect on the arts of all Europe. "Josephine and the Arts of the Empire" presents, for the first time in a single volume, evidence of Josephine's far-reaching impact on painting, sculpture, garden design, the decorative arts, and even music. With the book's editor and principal author, Eleanor P. DeLorme, the eight contributors to this volume - M. Bernard Chevallier, Kimberly Chrisman Campbell, David Gildbert, Christopher Hartop, Peter Mithcell, Tamara Preaud, Diana Scarisbrick, and John Ward - are all experts in their respective fields. Their lively texts explore the salon culture that Josephine encouraged, the lavish interiors and gardens in which she walked, the fashions and jewellery she wore, the porcelain and silver that graced her table, and the music she heard. This book will appeal not only to scholars of early-nineteenth-century French art and history but also to dealers, collectors, and anyone interested in one of the most extraordinary women of her time.


To provide some context for the potential engagement behavior of Twitter users around science, this article investigates how Bitly short links to scientific publications embedded in scholarly Twitter mentions are clicked on Twitter. Based on the click metrics of over 1.1 million Bitly short links referring to Web of Science (WoS) publications, our results show that around 49.5% of them were not clicked by Twitter users. For those Bitly short links with clicks from Twitter, the majority of their Twitter clicks accumulated within a short period of time after they were first tweeted. Bitly short links to the publications in the field of Social Sciences and Humanities tend to attract more clicks from Twitter over other subject fields. This article also assesses the extent to which Twitter clicks are correlated with some other impact indicators. Twitter clicks are weakly correlated with scholarly impact indicators (WoS citations and Mendeley readers), but moderately correlated to other Twitter engagement indicators (total retweets and total likes). In light of these results, we highlight the importance of paying more attention to the click metrics of URLs in scholarly Twitter mentions, to improve our understanding about the more effective dissemination and reception of science information on Twitter.


Manmade radionuclides have been introduced to the environment for almost a century. The main source has been the nuclear weapons testing programmes, but accidental releases from the nuclear power production industries have also contributed. The risk to humans from potential releases from nuclear facilities is evaluated in safety assessments. Essential components of these assessments are exposure models, which estimate the transport of radionuclides in the environment, the uptake in biota, and transfer to humans. Recently, there has been a growing concern for radiological protection of the whole environment, not only humans, and a first attempt has been to employ model approaches based on stylised environments and transfer functions to biota based exclusively on bioconcentration factors. They are generally of a non-mechanistic nature and involve no knowledge of the actual processes involved, which is a severe limitation when assessing real ecosystems. The research presented in this thesis attempts to introduce a methodology for modelling exposure of biota that is based on systems ecological theories and concepts. All presented papers concern bioaccumulation and circulation of radionuclides in coastal areas of the Baltic Sea, which is a sea surrounded by several nuclear power plants, waste repositories and reprocessing facilities. Paper I illustrates how an ecosystem model can be used to predict the fate of C-14 in a bay, and to explore the influence of uptake route and water exchange on the concentrations in biota. Due to the longevity of many radionuclides, time spans of thousands of years need to be considered in assessments of nuclear waste facilities. In Paper II, the methodological problems associated with these long timescales are discussed and a new modelling approach is proposed. An extension and generalisation of the C-14 flow model into a generic model for other radionuclides is described and tested in Paper III. This paper also explores the importance of three radionuclide specific mechanisms (plant uptake, excretion and adsorption to organic surfaces) for the concentrations in biota. In Paper IV, the bioaccumulation kinetics of three radionuclides in three key benthic species of the Baltic Sea is studied experimentally. Paper V considers remobilisation and redistribution of sediment-associated radionuclides due to biological mixing, in a microcosm study. The findings in this thesis show both that it was possible to use an ecosystem approach to assess the exposure to biota, and that this approach can handle many of the problems identified in the use of traditional exposure models for radionuclides. To conclude, frameworks for the protection of the environment from ionising radiation would benefit from implementing methodologies based on ecologically sound principles and modelling techniques.


The steadily rising rate of economic growth in India has recently been around 8 percent per year (it is expected to be 9 percent this year), and there is much speculation about whether and when India may catch up with and surpass China's over 10 percent growth rate. Despite the evident excitement that this subject seems to cause in India and abroad, it is surely rather silly to be obsessed about India's overtaking China in the rate of growth of GNP, while not comparing India with China in other respects, like education, basic health, or life expectancy. Economic growth can, of course, be enormously helpful in advancing living standards and in battling poverty. But there is little cause for taking the growth of GNP to be an end in itself, rather than seeing it as an important means for achieving things we value.


Limnological conditions and the occurrence of taste-andodor compounds were studied in two reservoirs in Spartanburg County, South Carolina, from May 2006 to June 2009. Lake William C. Bowen and Municipal Reservoir #1 are relatively shallow, meso-eutrophic, warm monomictic, cascading impoundments on the South Pacolet River. Overall, waterquality conditions and phytoplankton community assemblages were similar between the two reservoirs but differed seasonally. Median dissolved geosmin concentrations in the reservoirs ranged from 0.004 to 0.006 microgram per liter. Annual maximum dissolved geosmin concentrations tended to occur between March and May. In this study, peak dissolved geosmin production occurred in April and May 2008, ranging from 0.050 to 0.100 microgram per liter at the deeper reservoir sites. Peak dissolved geosmin production was not concurrent with maximum cyanobacterial biovolumes, which tended to occur in the summer (July to August), but was concurrent with a peak in the fraction of genera with known geosminproducing strains in the cyanobacteria group. Nonetheless, annual maximum cyanobacterial biovolumes rarely resulted in cyanobacteria dominance of the phytoplankton community. In both reservoirs, elevated dissolved geosmin concentrations were correlated to environmental factors indicative of unstratified conditions and reduced algal productivity, but not to nutrient concentrations or ratios. With respect to potential geosmin sources, elevated geosmin concentrations were correlated to greater fractions of genera with known geosminproducing strains in the cyanobacteria group and to biovolumes of a specific geosmin-producing cyanobacteria genus (Oscillatoria), but not to actinomycetes concentrations. Conversely, environmental factors that correlated with elevated cyanobacterial biovolumes were indicative of stable water columns (stratified conditions), warm water temperatures, reduced nitrogen concentrations, longer residence times, and high phosphorus concentrations in the hypolimnion. Biovolumes of Cylindrospermopsis, Planktolyngbya, Synechococcus, Synechocystis, and Aphanizomenon correlated with the greater cyanobacteria biovolumes and were the dominant taxa in the cyanobacteria group. Related environmental variables were selected as input into multiple logistic regression models to evaluate the likelihood that geosmin concentrations could exceed the threshold level for human detection. In Lake William C. Bowen, the likelihood that dissolved geosmin concentrations exceeded the human detection threshold was estimated by greater mixing zone depths and differences in the 30-day prior moving window averages of overflow and flowthrough at Lake Bowen dam and by lower total nitrogen concentrations. At the R.B. Simms Water Treatment Plant, the likelihood that total geosmin concentrations in the raw water exceeded the human detection threshold was estimated by greater outflow from Reservoir #1 and lower concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen. Overall, both models indicated greater likelihood that geosmin could exceed the human detection threshold during periods of lower nitrogen concentrations and greater water movement in the reservoirs.


BACKGROUND
Pre-infarction unstable angina pectoris (UAP) can be considered ischemic preconditioning. The aim of this study was to compare short and long term outcomes in patients with or without pre-infarction UAP and ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

METHODS
593 patients with STEMI (388 without and 205 with UAP) were evaluated. Levels of biomarkers (troponin I, BNP, NT-ProBNP, neopterin, endoglin and pentraxin-3) at hospital admission and 24 h after STEMI onset were assessed. Echocardiography was undertaken on the fourth day after MI and after 12 months. The median follow-up was 37 months.

RESULTS
We found no significant differences in sex, age or risk factors for atherosclerosis between the UAP and non-UAP group. As the median time from the onset of chest pain to admission was significantly longer in the UAP group (228 min vs 258 min; P=0.009), we used a propensity score to obtain comparable matched groups for use in further analyses. The levels of NT-proBNP were significantly higher on admission and after 24 hours in the UAP group. Left ventricular functions according to invasive and echocardiographic parameters were entirely comparable at hospitalization and after 12 months. No differences were found in severity index of acute heart failure during hospitalization. The incidence of major acute coronary events during follow-up was comparable for the groups.

CONCLUSIONS
In patients with STEMI treated with primary PCI, pre-infarction UAP has no beneficial clinical effect during hospitalization or during long-term follow-up.


The present study is based on the Ninety borrower farmers who were selected randomly from five villages of Manihari block of Ghazipur district. The study aims to find out the socio-economic profile of the sample borrower farmers, pattern of utilization of credit, its sources, productive and unproductive uses of credit etc. The study revealed that on an average 15.54 and 84.46 percent credit was made available from cooperative and commercial bank respectively. The major finance was made available to purchase tractor, which is used to perform various farm operations. The term and cooperative loan was reported 81 and 19 percent respectively and least misutilisation of credit was found among sample borrower farmers.


Abstract We estimate stress drops for earthquakes in and near the continental United States using the method of spectral ratios. The ratio of acceleration spectra between collocated earthquakes recorded at a given station removes the effects of path and recording site and yields source parameters including corner frequency for, and the ratio of seismic moment between, the two earthquakes. We determine stress drop from these parameters for 1121 earthquakes greater than M ∼3 in 60 earthquake clusters. We find that the average Brune stress drop for the few eastern United States (EUS) tectonic mainshocks studied (2.6–36 MPa) is about three times greater than that of tectonic mainshocks in the western United States (WUS, 1.0–7.9 MPa) and five times greater than mainshocks potentially induced by wastewater injection in the central United States (CUS, 0.6–5.6 MPa). EUS events tend to be deeper thrusting events, whereas WUS events tend to be shallower but have a wide range of focal mechanisms. CUS events tend to be shallow with strike‐slip to normal‐faulting mechanisms. With the possible exception of CUS aftershocks, we find that differences in stress drop among all events can be taken into account, within one standard deviation of significance, by differences in the shear failure stress as outlined by Mohr–Coulomb theory. The shear failure stress is a function of vertical stress (or depth), the fault style (normal, strike slip, or reverse), and coefficient of friction (estimated here to be, on average, 0.64). After accounting for faulting style and depth dependence, we find that the average Brune stress drop is about 3% of the failure stress. These results suggest that high‐frequency shaking hazard (>∼1  Hz) from shallow induced events and aftershocks is reduced to some extent by lower stress drop. However, the shallow hypocenters will increase hazard within several kilometers of the source. Electronic Supplement: Earthquake catalog.


Persistent or recurrent acute allograft rejection (AR) refractory to high-dose steroid therapy can adversely affect long-term outcomes of heart-lung (HLT), bilateral-lung (BLT), and single-lung (SLT) transplantations. The use of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) for the management of refractory acute AR in six transplant recipients (two men, four women; mean age, 29.8 +/- 3.8 years) is detailed. There are two HLT (primary pulmonary hypertension [PPH], cystic fibrosis [CF]), 1 BLT (pulmonary hypertension postventricular septal defect repair), and 3 SLT (sarcoid, PPH, congenital heart disease with atrial septal defect) recipients. Refractory AR is defined as persistent rejection unresponsive to high-dose steroid therapy in all cases. The BLT and SLT recipients had at least two moderate and one mild AR events per patient. The HLT recipients had at least two moderate acute heart and one severe and one mild asynchronous acute lung rejection events per patient. A total of 800 cGy of total lymphoid irradiation (TLI) was administered over a 5-week period. Mild and transient leukopenia was the only observed side effect. The patient with PPH received TLI 313 days after HLT for recurrent AR at another institution and died of ARDS 4 weeks after completing TLI. The patient with CF received TLI 707 days after HLT and died 457 days after TLI of severe obliterative bronchiolitis (OB) with multiorgan failure. The patient with BLT received TLI 176 days after transplant and died 372 days after TLI of respiratory failure related to severe rejection. One patient with SLT received TLI 78 days after transplant and died 679 days after TLI of severe acute AR. The two remaining patients with SLTs have been free from acute AR for more than 4 years. The patient with sarcoidosis received TLI 37 days after SLT following a clinical rejection event and two severe acute AR events. He is alive with normal lung function 5 years later. The patient with PPH received TLI 108 days after SLT following three moderate acute AR events and is alive with stable OB 4 years later. These limited preliminary results suggest that TLI has merit for the treatment of intractable acute AR following HLT and lung transplantation.


The effectiveness of vowel normalization methods has been suggested to be language-dependent. Six such methods have been used on Czech vowels to see which of them would lead to the best results in follow-up discriminant analyses while preserving the linguistically informative detail. The discriminant analyses had lower success rates for read continuous texts with multiple tokens from 75 speakers than for the carefully-pronounced monosyllables used previously by other authors, suggesting that the results might also be materialdependent. On the other hand, our variable data offered additional insights into sources of contextual variation and allowed us to identify the so-called enhancing contexts in which identity of a vowel is best preserved.


The type I polyketide geldanamycin is a potent anti-tumor reagent. Its biosynthesis includes three steps: the biosynthesis of precursors, such as 3-amino-5-hydroxybenzoic acid (AHBA), the polyketide synthase (PKS) chain extension, and the post-PKS modifications. According to the genomic and transcriptomic analysis, the PKS chain extension was deduced to be the rate-limiting step for geldanamycin production in Streptomyces hygroscopicus XM201. In order to improve the expression of PKS genes, a strong endogenous promoter 5063p was obtained based on the transcriptomic analysis and XylE enzymatic assay. By replacing the native PKS promoter gdmA1p with 5063p, the expression of the PKS genes during geldanamycin fermentation was increased by 4-141-folds, and the geldanamycin yield was increased by 39%. Interestingly, AHBA feeding experiment showed that the supply of AHBA in turn become a new rate-limiting factor for geldanamycin production. Further combined overexpression of the 6-gene AHBA biosynthetic cassette and PKS genes increased the yield of geldanamycin by 88%, from 773 mg L-1 of the wild-type to 1450 mg L-1 in the derived strain. Our results suggested that improved expression of all PKS genes in a particular biosynthetic gene cluster is important for the yield increase of the corresponding polyketide natural product.


Background: Recently, a focus has been placed on investigating the potential benefits of adherence to a ketogenic diet in enhancing body composition, physical health, psychological well-being, and performance of athletes from various sporting disciplines. As the available research is yet to be collated and analyzed in a single review, this scoping review aims to analyze and draw conclusions from the available literature that exists on the efficacy of a ketogenic diet among athletic populations. Methods: Several primary research databases and any relevant citation lists were searched to locate appropriate studies for inclusion in this scoping review. Studies that investigated the effects of adherence to a ketogenic diet (KD), defined by a carbohydrate intake of less than 5% of total energy intake, on body composition, physical health, psychological well-being, and performance among an athletic population were included in the review. From 814 articles screened, 12 were identified as meeting the inclusion criteria and were included in the final scoping review. Results: Adherence to a KD has beneficial effects on body weight and fat mass. Varying effects were identified on physical health with the diet, eliciting positive effects on fat oxidation but potentially deleterious effects on stool microbiota and iron metabolism. Conflicting results were reported regarding the effects of a KD on sporting performance. Benefits were reported regarding athlete well-being following commencement of a KD, but only after week two. Conclusions: The results of this scoping review demonstrate that there are both beneficial and detrimental effects associated with adherence to a KD among athletic populations. It is understood that further research is required to make any concrete recommendations regarding a KD to athletes.


In this paper, a two-fold strategy is carried out for gaining conceptual clarity in response to the question: What is terrorism? The first stage is to defend a broad working definition of terrorism that emphasizes the instrumental employment of terror or fear to obtain any number of possible ends. As proposed in this paper, Terrorism is an act or threat of violence to persons or property that elicits terror, fear, or anxiety regarding the security of human life or fundamental rights and that functions as an instrument to obtain further ends. This instrumentality relies upon either an explicit or implicit threat of separate acts of future violence. It is argued that such a functionalist approach to defining terrorism captures the core qualities that unite the broad family of both political and nonpolitical terrorist actions. At the same time, the proposed definition avoids the problems associated with other approaches that either focus upon the terrorist's 'unconventional' tactics, or the 'innocence' of their targets, or their coercive intentions. The breadth of the proposed definition allows for the more nuanced typological analysis in the second stage. The typology is primarily an analysis of the modes of terrorism's instrumentality. Thus, the broad phenomenon of terrorism is divided according to factors of targets, the degree of force employed, agency, and the geographic context of the action. It is only by drawing out the diverse types of terrorism that the projects of morally evaluating terrorism and formulating a just response to terrorism can take place in a concrete and meaningful way.


Work on applications of nanofluids can be restricted due to unavailable conductivity
meter for nanofluids in the market. This study is concerned with design and
development of a conductivity meter for nanofluids for temperature range of 20°C – 50
°C for copper oxide and alumina with distilled water as base fluid. This temperature
range is in accordance with ordinary thermal applications and our empirical limitations.
The meter is comprised of the components such as a plastic water bath, an electrical
heater, some thermometers, an electrical motor, a fan, an electrical transformer, and a
100 ml Pyrex beaker. In this method both conduction and convection were considered to
measure the thermal conductivity of moving fluids.
Calibration and verification of the equipment by using distilled water showed a
significant agreement to conductivity standard value of ASTM standard. Results showed that CuO-distilled water has higher thermal properties than aluminadistilled
water, and that means particles with higher thermal conductivity make higher
conductive nanofluids. For example percentage of thermal conductivity rising for
2%mass CuO-distilled water in 45°C is equal to 33.5% but this value for alumina is
equal to 26%. Among our nanofluids 4% mass particle concentration of CuO-distilled
water gave the highest conductivity value and least is 1 mass% particle concentration of
alumina-distilled water. Result also showed that this meter can give the conductivity
value of 0.001 decimal places.
Finally it can be concluded that nanofluids can consider as new generation of thermal
fluid with higher thermal conductivity than traditional thermal fluids. They also can
increase the efficiency of thermal equipments.


Nanocellulose consisting of crystalline cellulose nanoparticles has high potential to serve as a building block for bio-based functional materials. The intrinsic chirality of cellulose provides them with high added values such as optical properties and chiral induction ability. At the nanoscale, this chirality is connected to the right-handed longitudinal twisting of these fibrous crystallites. However, this nanoscale fibrillar twist has been a matter of debate due to contradictory data between ultrastructural observations and molecular simulations and so far, the exact twist geometry has not been elucidated. Here, an electron microdiffraction (μED) analysis under cryogenic conditions reveals the continuous twisting of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) in aqueous suspension. This intrinsic regular twist is drastically modified to a discontinuous sharp twist when the CNCs are dried on a flat surface. The present μED-based analysis at the single nanoparticle level allows the establishment of the quantitative structure-property relationship of various solid and colloidal nanocellulose systems.


Watsu therapy is a water relaxation intervention technique performed individually in a warm pool with music and peaceful settings involving harmonious rotational movements, stretching, tractions on the joints and pressures at the points of muscle tension. This study evaluated the effect of Watsu therapy on psychological aspects (anxiety and minor psychiatric disorders) and on the quality of life of a patient with temporomandibular disorders. The patient answered three questionnaires: STAI (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and GHQ (Goldberg Health Questionnaire) to assess anxiety and psychiatric disorders respectively, and WHOQOL- Brief (World Health Organization Quality of Life) to assess quality of life. Watsu therapy has been used in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) such as myofascial pain diagnosed by RDC/TMD (Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders). Psychological aspects and quality of life were assessed before and after Watsu therapy. The results after treatment showed relevant and significant improvement on all indices evaluated. Therefore, it was shown that Watsu therapy was effective in reducing anxiety and minor psychiatric disorders, as well as improved quality of life of patients with temporomandibular disorder.


This study examines perceptions of three stakeholder groups (African American Family Forest Landowner, Government Agency, and Nonprofit) regarding federal landowner assistance programs in the southern United States by combining a SWOT (strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat) analysis with the AHP (analytical hierarchy process). Factors with the highest priority values were professional advice, lack of staff members, forestland retention, and heirs' property under the SWOT categories of strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat across stakeholder groups, respectively. The guidelines for existing federal landowner assistance programs do not match the needs of African American family forest landowners, especially the mandatory requirements of clear land titles and initial upfront payments. Policy changes coupled with a more targeted and personal outreach approach focusing on capacity building of African American family forest landowners is needed to increase their participation in federal landowner assistance programs.


: Albatrosses have among the most remarkable travelling capacities of any extant animal. However, previous studies regarding their movements at sea have mainly focused on breeding birds commuting between the nest site and offshore feeding grounds. In this study, we compare the move- ment patterns and at-sea activity of breeding and inter-breeding black-browed albatrosses Diomedea melanophris from the Falkland Islands. Data were recorded via global location and activity sensors for 26 incubating birds [during single foraging trips lasting 6.8 d on average) and 6 inter-breeding individuals (during non-stop offshore journeys of 127.5 d on average). Our results showed that forag- ing black-browed albatrosses utilise vast offshore areas (the average foraging area was 102000 +_ 132 000 km2 by incubating birds and 1552 000 * 970 000 km2 by inter-breeding birds). However, mean forag~ng range was similar in both groups (691 * 330 km and 680 t 192 km by incubating and inter-breeding birds, respectively) as were their core foraging areas and their at-sea activity patterns Our results thus indicate that black-browed albatrosses from the Falkland Islands, which represent the largest albatross population world-wide (ca 800 000 individuals), mainly rely on marine resources avail- able within the Patagonian Shelf area. Although this hghly productive continental shelf is the largest of the Southern Hemisphere, rapid development of industrial fisheries currently results in the removal of over 1.4 million tonnes of fish and squid per year in this zone. As our data also show significant spatio-temporal overlap between human and albatross fishing activities within the Patagonian Shelf, we anticipate major detrimental effects on the albatross population in terms of competition for food and additional mortality caused by bird bycatch.


Law is a discipline in transition moving, among others, from a predominantly monodisciplinary dogmatic tradition towards more and more attention for multidisciplinary and empirical legal research, from a national to a more international and global orientation and from a research culture of 'laissez faire' towards more managerial control, rankings and research programming. Questions lying in wait are, among others: how can we revitalize doctrinal legal research in Europe in a way that it is up for the challenges of the future, such as the blurring of borders between European and national law, public and private law and state and non-state law and what does the multidisciplinary turn in legal research mean for the education of law students and starting researchers? Moreover, how should legal scholars react to the increased instrumentalization of law in order to avoid that legal research is reduced to a policy tool that is meant to 'solve' the major societal problems of today? We believe that what is required is not only more focus on methodology with a small 'm' concentrating on how to train new generations of academics to conduct different sorts of legal research. Just as much needed is more attention in research and education for the importance of methodology with a big 'M' aiming for (self- )criticism, awareness of the risk of advocacy scholarship and herd behavior and concentrating on slow science: theory-building with the intention to explain why law in a globalized world develops as it does.


Objectives: Social participation is linked to healthy aging and the maintenance of functional independence in older individuals. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between social participation and orderly's mental health . Method: Totally 380 people, aged over 60 residing in city of Hamadan were participated in the study. The participants completed a researcher-tailored inventory assessing their social participation and a GHQ28 questionnaire assessing their mental health. Required social and demographic data was also gathered. Results: Findings showed that the elderly, relatively, enjoyed good level of mental health. In general, mental health was significantly associated with social participation. However, when looking at subscales, only somatic and social performance had a significant positive relationship with social participation . Discussion: Social participation can be of effective factors on which policy makers and therapists can plan to improve the mental health of aged people .


With the ever-growing amount of image data on the web, much attention has been devoted to large scale image search. It is one of the most challenging problems in computer vision for several reasons. First, it must address various appearance transformations such as changes in perspective, rotation and scale existing in the huge amount of image data. Second, it needs to minimize memory requirements and computational cost when generating image representations. Finally, it needs to construct an efficient index space and a suitable similarity measure to reduce the response time to the users. This thesis aims to provide robust image representations that are less sensitive to above mentioned appearance transformations and are suitable for large scale image retrieval. Although this thesis makes a substantial number of contributions to large scale image retrieval, we also presented additional challenges and future research based on the contributions in this thesis.


Quantitatively Directed Exploration (QDE) approaches based on information such as model sensitivity, input data covariance and model output covariance are presented. Seven approaches for directing exploration are developed, applied, and evaluated on a synthetic hydrogeologic site. The QDE approaches evaluate input information uncertainty, subsurface model sensitivity and, most importantly, output covariance to identify the next location to sample. Spatial input parameter values and covariances are calculated with the multivariate conditional probability calculation from a limited number of samples. A variogram structure is used during data extrapolation to describe the spatial continuity, or correlation, of subsurface information. Model sensitivity can be determined by perturbing input data and evaluating output response or, as in this work, sensitivities can be programmed directly into an analysis model. Output covariance is calculated by the First-Order Second Moment (FOSM) method, which combines the covariance of input information with model sensitivity. A groundwater flow example, modeled in MODFLOW-2000, is chosen to demonstrate the seven QDE approaches. MODFLOW-2000 is used to obtain the piezometric head and the model sensitivity simultaneously. The seven QDE approaches are evaluated based on the accuracy of the modeled piezometric head after information from a QDE sample is added. For the synthetic site used in this study, the QDE approach that identifies the location of hydraulic conductivity that contributes the most to the overall piezometric head variance proved to be the best method to quantitatively direct exploration.


Gender biases persist in forestry research and practice. These biases result in reduced scientific rigor and inequitable, ineffective, and less efficient policies, programs, and interventions. Drawing from a two-volume collection of current and classic analyses on gender in forests, we outline five persistent and inter-related themes: gendered governance, tree tenure, forest spaces, division of labor, and ecological knowledge. Each emerges across geographic regions in the northern and southern hemisphere and reflects inequities in women's and men's ability to make decisions about and benefit from trees, forests, and their products. Women's ability to participate in community-based forest governance is typically less than men's, causing concern for social equity and forest stewardship. Women's access to trees and their products is commonly more limited than men's, and mediated by their relationship with their male counterparts. Spatial patterns of forest use reflect gender norms and taboos, and men's greater access to transportation. The division of labor results in gender specialization in the collection of forest products, with variations in gender roles across regions. All these gender differences result in ecological knowledge that is distinct but also complementary and shifting across the genders. The ways gender plays out in relation to each theme may vary across cultures and contexts, but the influence of gender, which intersects with other factors of social differentiation in shaping forest landscapes, is global.


The objective of this research was to investigate the physical/chemical and water flow characteristics of various pervious concrete mixes made of different concrete materials and their effectiveness in attenuating water pollution. Four pervious concrete mixes were prepared with Portland cement and with 15% cementitious materials (slag, limestone powder, and fly ash) as a Portland cement replacement. All four pervious concrete mixtures had acceptable workability. The unit weight of the fresh pervious concrete mixtures ranged from 115.9 lb/yd³ to 119.6 lb/yd³ , while the 28 day compressive strength of the pervious concrete mixes ranged from 1858 psi (mix with 15% slag) to 2285 psi (pure cement mix). The compressive strength generally increased with unit weight and decreased with total porosity (air void ratio). The permeability of the four mixes generally decreased with unit weight and increased with total porosity. The permeability coefficients ranged from 340 in./hr for the pure cement mix to 642 in./hr for the mix with 15% slag. The total porosities of the four pervious concrete mixes ranged from 24.00% (mix with 15% slag) to 31.41% (pure cement mix) as measured by the flatbed scanner test method, while the porosities ranged from 18.93% (mix with 15% slag) to 24.15% (pure cement mix) as measured by the RapidAir method. The total porosities of the four pervious concrete mixes measured by the flatbed scanner method were higher than those measured by the Rapid Air method, but the specific surface areas measured by the flatbed scanner method were all lower than those measured by the Rapid Air method. For the pollution abatement experiments, mixes with fly ash and limestone powder removed about 30% of the input naphthalene concentration, while the mix with slag only removed 0.5% of the influent naphthalene concentration. The water volume balance showed that less than 1% of the water added was retained in the experimental column setup.


Background Crassostrea gigas accumulates paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) associated with red tide species as Gymnodinium catenatum. Previous studies demonstrated bivalves show variable feeding responses to toxic algae at physiological level; recently, only one study has reported biochemical changes in the transcript level of the genes involved in C. gigas stress response. Principal Findings We found that 24 h feeding on toxic dinoflagellate cells (acute exposure) induced a significant decrease in clearance rate and expression level changes of the genes involved in antioxidant defense (copper/zinc superoxide dismutase, Cu/Zn-SOD), cell detoxification (glutathione S-transferase, GST and cytochrome P450, CPY450), intermediate immune response activation (lipopolysaccharide and beta glucan binding protein, LGBP), and stress responses (glutamine synthetase, GS) in Pacific oysters compared to the effects with the non-toxic microalga Isochrysis galbana. A sub-chronic exposure feeding on toxic dinoflagellate cells for seven and fourteen days (30×103 cells mL−1) showed higher gene expression levels. A significant increase was observed in Cu/Zn-SOD, GST, and LGBP at day 7 and a major increase in GS and CPY450 at day 14. We also observed that oysters fed only with G. catenatum (3×103 cells mL−1) produced a significant increase on the transcription level than in a mixed diet (3×103 cells mL−1 of G. catenatum+0.75×106 cells mL−1 I. galbana) in all the analyzed genes. Conclusions Our results provide gene expression data of PST producer dinoflagellate G. catenatum toxic effects on C. gigas, a commercially important bivalve. Over expressed genes indicate the activation of a potent protective mechanism, whose response depends on both cell concentration and exposure time against these toxic microalgae. Given the importance of dinoflagellate blooms in coastal environments, these results provide a more comprehensive overview of how oysters respond to stress generated by toxic dinoflagellate exposure.


The selection silvicultural system is widely recommended for sustainable management of North American cool-temperate tolerant hardwood forests, yet concerns about high-grading, excessive removals, and adequate regeneration persist. We used field measurement of 96 recently harvested stands in the Great Lakes Region of the United States, under corporate, nonindustrial private, and state ownership, to appraise the observance of accepted standards. Current overstory and stumps from harvest were used to estimate preand postharvest stand composition, structure, and stocking. Preharvest condition was fully or overstocked in all stands irrespective of ownership. Neither prenor postharvest classification of stocking by size class showed statistical differences among landowners, although in absolute terms the greatest removals were on state forests and the least on corporate lands. However, only 23% of harvests overall conformed to accepted standards. Potential consequences in the 41% of stands cut heavily include diminished future yield due to low stocking, and the 36% of stands cut lightly may have compromised regeneration through insufficient disturbance. Hypotheses about landowner differences were not supported, suggesting that many are either unaware of standard practices or choose alternatives; the consequence is possible diminished long-term sustainability in the tolerant hardwood type.


Our understanding of how cooperation can arise in a population of selfish individuals has been greatly advanced by theory. More than one approach has been used to explore the effect of population structure. Inclusive fitness theory uses genetic relatedness r to express the role of population structure. Evolutionary graph theory models the evolution of cooperation on network structures and focuses on the number of interacting partners k as a quantity of interest. Here we use empirical data from a hierarchically structured animal contact network to examine the interplay between independent, measurable proxies for these key parameters. We find strong inverse correlations between estimates of r and k over three levels of social organization, suggesting that genetic relatedness and social contact structure capture similar structural information in a real population.


According to Reeves (2006), "the demands of leadership almost invariably exceed the capacity of a single person to meet the needs at hand" (p. 32).This research study intended to identify challenges that school administrators face in their profession and how school district leaders can offer supportive strategies to alleviate these obstacles.Through a qualitative approach, interviews with school principals and district administrators in one school system were carried out to discover trend data that would validate the commonalities of principals' needs and describe potential solutions for district staff to implement. This research was specifically linked to the North Carolina School Executive Standards (SES) adopted by the State Board of Education as the new evaluation tool for school administrators.The seven leadership standards outlined in the SES served as a guide during interviews and prompted discussion in each function to determine the supportive mechanisms needed to build capacity for distinguished school executives.The purpose of this study was to benefit the thoughtful process of evaluation that will be required by districts in order to meet the expectations of the new evaluation model.The study should also contribute to the ongoing efforts of other scholarly works that attempt to identify the complexities of the principalship and the need for sustainable support.


Carbon emissions from the construction and operation of dwellings account for nearly a third of the UK's total emissions. By 2016, all new-build dwellings are expected to be 'zerocarbon', meaning net emissions from operation will be zero or less. Emissions associated with the construction of dwellings, however, have largely been ignored in legislation. By 2016, such emissions will make up 100% of emissions associated with a new dwelling. This paper describes the development of a life-cycle carbon footprinting model that estimates carbon emissions arising from all stages of a dwelling's life, including construction, operation, and decommission. The model is intended to be used as a design tool to reduce emissions from each stage, and promotes the use of local, renewable, natural and environmentally-friendly building materials and services, as well as design for low-energy demand. Using the model, it has been shown how the life-cycle carbon emissions of a case-study dwelling can be reduced by 70% over a 100 year life.


Mast cell disease (MCD) is a rare proliferation that may be easily confused with other hematopoietic tumors. Several paraffin section antibodies immunoreact with mast cells but most are not specific. Tryptase, a specific marker of mast cells, may not be cost-effective to maintain in a laboratory because of the rarity of these lesions. This study was undertaken to assess the immunoreactivity of MCD and attempt to select a limited antibody panel for diagnosing MCD among hematopoietic tumors that morphologically mimic MCD. Immunophenotyping of cutaneous ( 10 cases) and extracutaneous (18 cases) MCD, as well as 94 other hematopoietic neoplasms, was performed on paraffin sections. All cases of MCD showed strong and diffuse positivity for CD68 and tryptase. In the vast majority of the cases, the mast cells were also positive for CD117 (27 of 28) and CD43 (25 of 27). Four cases (40%) of cutaneous MCD demonstrated a subpopulation of mast cells expressing myeloperoxidase (MPX), whereas all extracutaneous MCD were negative for MPX. Two (40%) extramedullary myeloid tumors (EMT) expressed CD43, CD68, CD 117, and MPX, but none expressed tryptase. CD43, CD68, CD117, and tryptase were expressed by 25%, 1%, 15%, and 1%, respectively, of all B-cell lymphoid neoplasms, and none expressed more than one of these four antigens. We conclude that (1) cutaneous MCDs may demonstrate a subpopulation of MPX antigen expressing tumor cells and may be confused with cutaneous involvement by myeloid leukemia if other antibodies are not used; (2) tryptase is the most specific mast cell marker among the antibodies studied; and, (3) the detection of tryptase, together with CD68, CD117, and usually CD43, is unique to MCD among hematopoietic tumors.


Although leiomyoma is the most common benign esophageal neoplasm, it is a rare condition. Resection of the tumor is recommended in symptomatic patients, and observation is recommended in asymptomatic patients with small lesions. We discussed here a patient admitted to our hospital for dyspepsia in whom a calcified mediastinal neoplasm was diagnosised preoperatively and esophageal leiomyoma was diagnosised postoperatively. Enucleation of a leiomyoma of the esophagus is recommended and the optimal approaches should be tailored based on the location and size of the tumor.


ABSTRACT The regulation of stress by an attachment figure is a key feature of attachment relationships. Previous research suggests that in some cases animal companionship may be regarded as an attachment relationship. This may be particularly important for persons with an insecure or disorganized attachment pattern who may find it more difficult than securely attached individuals to accept social support from humans. In our study, we investigated whether 31 boys (aged 7–12 years) with insecure/disorganized attachment would profit more from the presence of a dog (n = 11) than of a friendly human (n = 11) or a toy dog (n = 9) as support during a socially stressful situation (Trier Social Stress Test for Children, TSST-C). Stress levels were assessed via salivary cortisol recorded five times before, during, and after the TSST-C. The behavior of the children was coded from video recordings. Self-reported stress levels did not significantly differ between the groups before and after the TSST-C. Salivary cortisol, however, was significantly lower in the real dog condition than in the other two conditions (Kruskal-Wallis H test on area under the curve increase (AUCi): χ2 = 15.17, df = 2, p = 0.001). Also, the more the children stroked the dog, the less pronounced was their stress reaction (rs = −0.818, p = 0.002). Our data suggest an important role of physical contact in the stress reducing effect. We conclude that the children investigated profited more from interacting with a friendly dog than with either a human or a toy dog in a stressful situation. We discuss the relevance of our findings for animal-assisted interventions.


The database industry is a multi-billion, world-wide, all-encompassing part of the software world. Quantifiers in Action: Generalized Quantification in Query, Logical and Natural Languages introduces a query language called GQsGeneralized Quantification in Query. Most query languages are simply versions of First Order Logic (FOL). GQs are an extension of the idea of quantifier in FOL. GQs are a perfect example of a practical theory within databases. This book provides a brief background in logic and introduces the concept of GQs, and then develops a query language based on GQs. Using Query Language with Generalized Quantifiers, the reader explores the efficient implementation of the concept, always a primary consideration in databases. This professional book also includes several extensions for use with documents employing question and answer techniques. Designed for practitioners and researchers within the database management field; also suitable for advanced-level students in computer science.


Abstract Culmen length has been suggested as being diagnostic for sex in the American White Pelicans (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos). However, the literature on the use of culmen length to determine sex is inconsistent, with reported overlap in culmen lengths for males and females ranging from 1 mm to >120 mm. Morphological measurements from 188 American White Pelicans collected in Mississippi and Louisiana whose sex was determined by dissection and gonadal inspection were measured. The use of culmen length alone was used to determine gender for this sample by establishing the minimum observed culmen length for males and the maximum observed culmen length for females that provided the fewest incorrect determinations for each gender. A multivariate discriminant function model was developed to determine sex from our data and compared the diagnostic accuracy of the model with the accuracy based on culmen length alone. Both methods were validated using an independently collected sample of 22 pelicans from Florida. A culmen length of ≥310 mm for males and ≤309 mm for females from our data correctly classified sex for 99% of American White Pelicans from our Mississippi and Louisiana samples and 95% of AWPE for the Florida sample. Culmen length and wingcord length were significant variables in the discriminant function model. The resulting model correctly classified sex of 97% of the birds and 94% of the independent Florida sample. The culmen length alone predicted the sex of American White Pelicans as well as multivariate methods and provides an accurate simple, non-lethal method for sexing the species.


Evidence suggests that being significantly unhappy is associated with negative cardiac outcomes and that positive
affect is beneficial to health. The aim of this study was to examine the relationships between happiness and the
individual risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in otherwise healthy working adults. Participants were
recruited from one workplace in Auckland, New Zealand and completed a CVD risk assessment and demographic,
nutrition and physical activity, and Authentic Happiness Inventory (AHI) questionnaires. One-way ANOVAs
were performed to identify whether any significant differences existed in AHI scores by demographic and health
variables. Bivariable linear regression was used to investigate the relationship between potential predictor
variables and AHI classification (low or high). Variables associated with AHI classification at p < 0.20 were then
examined simultaneously in multivariable logistic regression. After elimination of all non-significant factors in the
multivariable logistic regression, only smoking status remained negatively associated with AHI score (p = 0.016).
Despite the fact that many smokers report that smoking makes them happy, smoking was negatively associated
with happiness in this sample. This finding may be implemented in smoking cessation and CVD interventions and
health promotion initiatives


Since its reopening up in the 1840s, China came again into contact with India, the former "Buddha's land," which was at that time a conquered frontier of new powers. In that particular historical context, knowledge about India not only entails purely intellectual interests, but entangles with questions about China's cultural self-identity and political ideology. Modern Indology was brought into China as a part of Western studies, first indirectly via Japanese scholarship and later directly from the Europe-US Western world. The internalized Buddhist legacy and the work of diligent Buddhist intellectuals added Chinese indigenousness to this branch of Western studies. Early scholars' encounters with Western oriental studies paved the way for Ji Xianlin, who later studied Indology in Göttingen and brought back the German academic tradition to China. Other future Indologists, including both laymen like Jin Kemu and Buddhists like Baihui, turned towards India, following the Chinese diaspora along the revived China-India trade route. For the leftists who were anxiously seeking solutions to end China's miseries, however, India provided only bitter lessons about how a "backward oriental culture" can weaken a nation. Pragmatic concerns intervened in scholarly life when China had to rely on the Allies' strategic supply provided via India during the later years of World War II. As a result, the government established a Hindi programme in the new National Institute of Oriental Languages, which was later incorporated into Peking University. Hindi scholars like Yan Shaoduan and Liu Anwu preferred secular writings, those of Premchand and Yashpal in particular, depicting a progressive India that invoked a non-religious common affinity between the two countries. Thus, in the formative years of China's Indology, Chinese intellectuals developed their perspectives within three important transnational networks; the revived Buddhist ancestral China-India connection, the scholarly network around Western, particularly German orientalists, and the political network based on socialist and anti-imperialist ideology. The internalization of these streams resulted in a distinct appearance of China's Indology and still influences China's perception of India.


The biopharmaceutical complexity of today's new drug candidates provides significant challenges for pharmaceutical scientists in terms of both candidate selection and optimizing subsequent development strategy. In addition, life cycle management of marketed drugs has become an important income stream for pharmaceutical companies, but the selection of least risk/highest benefit strategies is far from simple. The proactive adoption of human drug absorption (HDA) studies using remote controlled capsules offers the pharmaceutical scientist significant guidance for planning a route through the maze of product development. This review examines the position of HDA studies in drug development, using a variety of case histories and an insightful update on remote controlled capsules to achieve site-specific delivery.


The stochastic contextual bandit problem, which models the trade-off between exploration and exploitation, has many real applications, including recommender systems, online advertising and clinical trials. As many other machine learning algorithms, contextual bandit algorithms often have one or more hyper-parameters. As an example, in most optimal stochastic contextual bandit algorithms, there is an unknown exploration parameter which controls the trade-off between exploration and exploitation. A proper choice of the hyper-parameters is essential for contextual bandit algorithms to perform well. However, it is infeasible to use offline tuning methods to select hyper-parameters in contextual bandit environment since there is no pre-collected dataset and the decisions have to be made in real time. To tackle this problem, we first propose a two-layer bandit structure for auto tuning the exploration parameter and further generalize it to the Syndicated Bandits framework which can learn multiple hyper-parameters dynamically in contextual bandit environment. We derive the regret bounds of our proposed Syndicated Bandits framework and show it can avoid its regret dependent exponentially in the number of hyper-parameters to be tuned. Moreover, it achieves optimal regret bounds under certain scenarios. Syndicated Bandits framework is general enough to handle the tuning tasks in many popular contextual bandit algorithms, such as LinUCB, LinTS, UCB-GLM, etc. Experiments on both synthetic and real datasets validate the effectiveness of our proposed framework.


Combining the latest work of leading sentencing and punishment scholars from twelve different countries, this major new international volume answers key questions in the study of sentencing and society. It presents not only a rigorous examination of the latest legal and empirical research from around the world, but also reveals the workings of sentencing within society and as a social practice. Traditionally, work in the field of sentencing has been dominated by legal and philosophical approaches. Distinctively, this volume provides a more sociological approach to sentencing: so allowing previously unanswered questions to be addressed and new questions to be opened. This extensive collection is drawn from around one third of the papers presented at the First International Conference on Sentencing and Society. Almost without exception, the chapters have been revised, cross-referenced and updated. The overall themes and findings of the international volume are set out by the opening "Introduction" and the closing "Reflections" chapters. Research findings on particular penal policy questions are balanced with an analysis of fundamental conceptual issues, making this international volume essential reading for: sentencing and punishment scholars, criminal justice policy-makers, and graduate students.


We present a novel approach to proving the absence of timing channels. The idea is to partition the program's execution traces in such a way that each partition component is checked for timing attack resilience by a time complexity analysis and that per-component resilience implies the resilience of the whole program. We construct a partition by splitting the program traces at secret-independent branches. This ensures that any pair of traces with the same public input has a component containing both traces. Crucially, the per-component checks can be normal safety properties expressed in terms of a single execution. Our approach is thus in contrast to prior approaches, such as self-composition, that aim to reason about multiple (k≥ 2) executions at once. We formalize the above as an approach called quotient partitioning, generalized to any k-safety property, and prove it to be sound. A key feature of our approach is a demand-driven partitioning strategy that uses a regex-like notion called trails to identify sets of execution traces, particularly those influenced by tainted (or secret) data. We have applied our technique in a prototype implementation tool called Blazer, based on WALA, PPL, and the brics automaton library. We have proved timing-channel freedom of (or synthesized an attack specification for) 24 programs written in Java bytecode, including 6 classic examples from the literature and 6 examples extracted from the DARPA STAC challenge problems.


A cross-sectional survey was undertaken with the European Union (EU) Member States and Norway and Iceland to describe seasonal influenza immunisation in the 2006-7 season, in particular to identify country-specific recommendations for risk groups, obtain vaccine uptake information and allow comparison with global recommendations. A standardised questionnaire was completed electronically by each country's project gatekeeper. Of the 29 countries surveyed, 28 recommended seasonal influenza vaccination for older age groups (22 for those aged > 65 years), and in one country vaccine was recommended for all age groups. All countries recommended vaccinating patients with chronic pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases and most countries advised to immunise patients with haematologic or metabolic disorders (n=28), immunologic disorders (n=27) and renal disease (n=27), as well as residents of long-term care facilities (n=24). Most countries recommended vaccination for staff in hospitals (n=25), long-term care facilities (n=25) and outpatient clinics (n=23), and one-third had such recommendations for workers in essential (n=10), military (n=10) and veterinary services (n=10) and poultry industry (n=13). Eight countries recommended vaccine for pregnant women; and five advised to vaccinate children (with age limits ranging from 6 months to 5 years). Twenty countries measured influenza vaccine uptake among those aged > 65 years (range 1.8%-82.1%), seven reported uptake in healthcare workers (range 14%-48%) and seven assessed coverage in persons with underlying medical conditions (range 27.6%-75.2%). The data provided by this study can assist EU states to assess and compare their influenza vaccination programme performance with other countries. The information provides a comprehensive overview of policies and programmes and their outcomes and can be used to inform joint discussions on how the national policies in the EU might be standardised in the future to achieve optimal coverage. Annual surveys could be used to monitor changes in these national policies.