Social Networking Sites have become a part of our daily lifestyle as well as a universal aspect of internet usage, where 98% of internet users are on social networks. Several statistics highlight that the adoption rate of Social Networking Sites (SNS), and more specifically Facebook, is increasing continuously and especially among youth. However, little attention has been paid in literature to measure the value gratified by these young users when using Facebook as an example of SNS in terms of perceived benefits and perceived sacrifices. Grounded in the value literature, this paper develops a conceptual model that consists of a set of perceived benefits and perceived sacrifices related to the use of SNS, particularly the Facebook. In addition, the majority of prior research on SNS usage assumes that females and males evaluate SNS in a similar manner. Therefore, it is also important to examine the differences in term of perceived value (i.e. perceived benefits minus perceived sacrifices) between young males and young females when using Facebook. This is significant in framing future strategies and plans for Facebook and other similar SNS. As part of a larger research project, the paper also reports the survey instrument development and validation in the field. We administered the survey instrument to a sample of 60 students randomly chosen from University students in Jordan. Although the sample was small, it indicates that the reliability of the scales is within an acceptable range and it can be used to test the main study hypotheses.


Active learning happens to us when we participate in projects meaningful to us and engage with the
real world. [1] Correspondingly, this paper explores the role of Design students in industry and
research collaboration ultimately benefiting the poor. This paper presents a case study, a live client project initially aimed at free shoes to be offered to children in India as part of getting them to school regularly; drawing from comparative research expertise residing within the author's university on the footwear supply chain, waste management, knowledge transfer and the global market, and pedagogic research on engaging students in co-learning.

The case study reviews an ongoing undergraduate project with students in the United Kingdom, which
has been taking place in conjunction with the British School of Leather Technology and a footwear
manufacturer based in Chennai, India. In response to real needs, the students are encouraged in
negotiating research across disciplines, shadowing podiatrists within clinical practice, and in creating prototypes of shoe and sandal parts. While students learn to develop their own designs into feasible samples, they were also encouraged to apply the relevant design and production methods, with consideration of appropriate technologies suitable for manufacturing in an Indian community or 'cottage-industry' context. Finally, the paper discusses the roles of students, researchers and educators in the project and the benefits derived from an association with multiple partners in the teaching of socially responsible Design. It will be shown that design learning at the University itself changes with new collaborations across cultures and integrated projects that are supporting kinaesthetic learning styles. A new generation of students will be equipped with skill sets to realise appropriate and practical solutions that can move people out of poverty in a sustainable manner.


This dataset contains scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) pictures and Catodoluminescence (CL) measurements carried out on AlN nanorod. The samples were fabricated via a hybrid top-down/bottom up approach. Displacement Talbot Lithography is used to fabricate Au/Ni metal dots to act as a hard etch mask. Ultrathin AlN nanorod arrays are created thanks to a two-step dry-wet etching process with first, chlorine-based dry etching of an AlN template and second, KOH-based wet etching. AlN facet recovery is performed by Metal Organic Vapor Phase Epitaxy for various regrowth time. TEM and CL were used to assess the structural and optical quality of the AlN nanorod, respectively.


The paper presents open source software tools developed by the author to facilitate in-situ documentation of architectural and archaeological heritage. The design choices are exposed and related to a general issue in conservation and documentation: taking decisions about a valuable object under threat . The questions of level of objectivity is central to the three steps of this process. It is our belief that in-situ documentation has to be favoured in this demanding context, full of potential discoveries. The very powerful surveying techniques in rapid development nowadays enhance our vision but often tend to bring back a critical part of the documentation process to the office. The software presented facilitate a direct treatment of the data on the site. Emphasis is given to flexibility, interoperability and simplicity. Key features of the software are listed and illustrated with examples (3D model of Gothic vaults, analysis of the shape of a column, deformation of a wall, direct interaction with AutoCAD).


An evaluation has been carried out of the groundwater system in Bahrain. It
has involved the collection of water samples from all the water bearing
formations to study the quality of the groundwater. Each water sample was
tested physically, chemically, and bacteriologically. Additionally, the five day
biochemical oxygen demand test and hydrogen sulphide were detected. The
period of the actual sampling and testing extended from mid-1990 to the
beginning of 1992. The results obtained have been compared to the results of
an earlier study conducted between 1978 and 1979. The investigation has also
involved a statistical analysis of the variations in the sub-surface water table
level in each hydrogeologic formation. The piezometric levels have been
collected from monitoring boreholes/ standpipes. The levels obtained extended
from the beginning of 1980 when the earliest recording started up to the end
of 1991.
Bahrain abstracts its fresh water from five aquifers which in descending order
are the Sanad, the Alat, the Khobar, the Rus, and the Umm-Er-Radhuma
Aquifers. The quality of the groundwater appears to be deteriorating. The
excessive groundwater abstraction has caused the encroachment of the sea
into all the sub-surface waters. As the waters become saline, they are
expected to become unsuitable for human consumption and for irrigation. The
deeper aquifers are believed to consist of high values of the hydrogen sulphide
because the deeper geological formations contain oil rich in sulphur. land
spring water is expected not to be safe bacteriologically because it is exposed
to the atmosphere unlike the other boreholes in the various aquifers.The water table levels have been changing in each aquifer. The groundwater
levels in the Sanad Aquifer, which is the shallowest geological formation, are
expected to rise in the future in areas where the natural drainage is obstructed.
This is related to the sea coast reclamation area. The rise is expected to
reduce inland depending on the application of surface irrigation as well as the
possible leakages from the services systems. About two kilometres south from
the original shore, around Buddayya Road, the Sanad Aquifer's water table has
been shown to be falling. This fall is expected to be due to overpumping from
the groundwater system.
Apart from the Sanad Aquifer, the piezometric levels of the underlying aquifers
are expected to fall with time. Once again the fall is due to excessive
groundwater abstraction.
The study concludes by re-presenting the causes for the water table rise in the
near-surface Sanad Aquifer and discusses the possible geotechnical
consequences. It further produces some possible solutions to control the rise
of the water table level.


Leadership style becomes the important things a crucial factor to ensure the success of how the SME's small business owners in managing their business operation successfully. This study aims to analyzing the leadership style of the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise's owner whom located in Jakarta. By using the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire (LBDQ), this empirical study will analyzes whether the entrepreneur has acquire initiating structure or consideration while governed its business. The research method issues mixed method, both quantitative using survey through purposive sampling toward 30 entrepreneurs that located in Jakarta, and qualitative ones method using is applied through in-depth interview toward on several key informants. The result is shows behavioral pattern of the entrepreneurs have is high initiating structure which means they focus on the production and slightly high consideration that described that they also maintain its their staff as a member of the big family at their business.


The perspective of modeling knowledge in Artificial Intelligence is that these models are equal to the knowledge itself (e.g. equate the map with the territory). This encoding view treats knowledge as if it were primarily verbal and assumes that verbal concepts themselves can be replaced by descriptions of concepts—as if a body of descriptions and neural categorizations were equivalent mechanisms for generating behavior.[ ] This paper describes a number of concepts around the notion of 'situatedness': situated cognition, situated action, situated learning, and the concept of autopoiesis as an organizing principle. Situatedness changes the way we think about how knowledge is created (learning) and applied (action). In this light knowledge management changes its meaning from managing the knowledge of an organization to managing the situation in which learning happens. Collaboration and participation become the key management principles. In this paper we propose that Brahms (Business Re-design Agent-based Holistic Modeling System), an activity-based multi-agent modeling environment, allows us to model knowledge in situated actions and learning in human activities.


Structural and analytical characterization related to the formation mechanism of Au–Pt heterodimers from polyhedral Pt nanocrystals is reported. The observation of specific lattice strain effects and the emergence of misfit dislocations point to the relevance of the Stranski–Krastanov growth mode as a means of explaining the previously reported dimerisation reaction between Au and Pt. Two size-dependent strain relief mechanisms were identified. For dimers grown from 4.7 nm seeds, the mechanism is related to bulk lattice strain accumulation at {111} planes along with lattice relaxation effects on other crystalline planes. However, for dimers grown from 11.2 nm seed sizes, the formation of misfit dislocations proved to be a highly efficient mechanism by which to release interface mismatch strain. Nanoscale chemical mapping at Au–Pt interfaces also revealed Au–Pt alloying to be unlikely under the mild temperature conditions employed in this work for Au–Pt heterodimer synthesis.


This study explores methods to assess the seismic potential of a fault based on geodetic measurements, geological information of fault‐slip rate, and seismicity data. The methods are applied to the Parkfield section along the San Andreas fault (SAF) at the transition zone between the SAF creeping segment in the north and the locked section of Cholame to the south, where M_w ∼6 earthquakes occurred every 24.5 yrs on average since the 1857 M_w 7.7 Fort Tejon earthquake. We compare the moment released by the known earthquakes and associated postseismic deformation with the moment deficit accumulated during the interseismic period derived from geodetic measurement of interseismic strain. We find that the recurring M_w 6 earthquakes are insufficient to balance the slip budget. We discuss and evaluate various possible scenarios which might account for the residual moment deficit and implications of the possible magnitude and return period of M_w >6 earthquakes on that fault segment. The most likely explanation is that this fault segment hosts M_w 6.5–7.5 earthquakes, with a return period of 140–300 yrs. Such events could happen as independent earthquakes in conjunction with ruptures of the Carrizo plain segment of the SAF. We show how the results from our analysis can be formally incorporated in probabilistic seismic hazard assessment assuming various magnitude–frequency distribution and renewal time models.


While there are numerous types of electronic learning environments including collaboratories, construction toolkits, systems with "scaffolding" and simulations, it is difficult to find authoring tools to build these systems. We have developed an application framework for constructing simulation-based learning environments called SimPLE (Simulated Processes in a Learning Environment). Environments developed with SimPLE use dynamic simulations and visualizations to represent realistic timedependent behavior and are coupled with guidance material and other software aids that facilitate learning. The software architecture enables independent contributions from developers representing educational content (e.g., simulation models, guidance materials) and software development (e.g., user interface). We provide a user interface template and accompanying software aids to reduce the software development effort.


Finding inspiration during the creation of a 3D model can be a difficult task. The designer can get stuck in the process. This study aims to find a way to stimulate serendipitous discovery in the process of creating a 3D model with the use of an interactive evolutionary algorithm. In this context, serendipitous discovery is the moment you find new inspiration from something you are not looking for. An interactive evolutionary algorithm is used to generate new 3D models based on the initial model created by the designer. To test if this is possible, an experimental tool is built. Reflected upon by the builders and four external evaluators from within the field. The reflection shows a mixed result from the builder and external evaluators. Concluding that serendipitous discovery can be stimulated depending on the state of the design process. At the beginning of the process, it is more likely for the tool the stimulate the user in having a serendipitous discovery.


Plasmid-based gene therapy and vaccination require the production of purified plasmid DNA. There is a current understanding that supercoiled plasmid DNA is the best form for administration and FDA guidelines state that a specification for the minimum level of supercoiled plasmid DNA, in the final product, should be made. Currently, plasmids of 10 kb or smaller are being used in gene therapy trials, but if plasmid-based vaccination is to become a reality then much larger plasmids, with the ability to carry multi-variant genes, will be required, this raises questions of feasibility of production. This study examined two main issues. Firstly a fed-batch strategy to maximise the level of supercoiling of a 6.9 kb plasmid resulting from fermentation of a recombinant Escherichia coli strain was developed. Secondly issues relating to the production of larger plasmids, for gene therapy and vaccination, were examined. A fed-batch fermentation strategy for the production of a 6.9 kb plasmid, pSV, in E. coli DH5, on a semi-defined medium, was developed. Starvation of amino acids was shown to induce plasmid amplification and in batch fermentation a maximum biomass of 3.5 g/L dry cell weight (DCW) and maximum plasmid yields of 40 mg/L and 11.3 mg/g DCW were achieved. However, amplified plasmid levels were not maintained. After 31 h 90% of plasmid was in the supercoiled form but only remained so for 1 h. Maximum plasmid yield and maximum plasmid supercoiling did not occur simultaneously. Hence a strategy to delay amplification was investigated. A dual feeding strategy consisting of a linear amino acids feed and an exponential D-glucose feed was employed. In fed-batch culture a mean maximum biomass of 4.9 g/L dry cell weight and mean maximum plasmid yields of 44 mg/L and 9.1 mg/g DCW were achieved. 90% of plasmid was in the supercoiled form after 25 h and remained at this level until harvest at 35 h. An important consideration in the production of large plasmids is the ability to supply sufficient oxygen to the fermentation. E. coli DH5 harbouring either the plasmid pBGS18, a 4.4 kb pUC-based plasmid, or pQR150, a 20 kb derivative of pBGS18, was grown in D-glucose-limited chemostat culture to investigate the effects of plasmid size and recombinant protein production on oxygen demand. Under conditions where no recombinant protein was expressed the cellular oxygen demand of the two strains was not significantly different. When recombinant protein was expressed cells harbouring pBGS18 demonstrated a statistically insignificant increase in mean specific oxygen uptake rate while those harbouring pQR150 demonstrated a statistically significant increase. It was concluded that plasmid size does not significantly affect oxygen demand. The increase in oxygen demand reported with an increase in plasmid size by other researchers is due to production of recombinant protein. The production of a 116 kb plasmid, p5176, in E. coli DH10 on complex and semi-defined media was investigated. Fermentations on complex medium were poorly reproducible while those on semi-defined medium were highly reproducible. Maximum plasmid yields were comparable between the two media, while higher biomass yields and lower oxygen requirements were observed with semi-defined medium. Lysis and primary recovery were investigated and indicated that, using current methods, the manufacture of a large plasmid product may be difficult. A fed-batch fermentation strategy which allows an increased yield of supercoiled plasmid DNA has been developed. It has been established that oxygen supply is not an issue in the production of large plasmids and a base for the production of large plasmids has been established for future work.


In search problems, a mobile searcher seeks to locate a target that hides in some unknown position of the environment. Such problems are typically considered to be of an on-line nature, in that the input is unknown to the searcher, and the performance of a search strategy is usually analyzed by means of the standard framework of the competitive ratio, which compares the cost incurred by the searcher to an optimal strategy that knows the location of the target. However, one can argue that even for simple search problems, competitive analysis fails to distinguish between strategies which, intuitively, should have different performance in practice.
Motivated by the above, in this work we introduce and study measures supplementary to competitive analysis in the context of search problems. In particular, we focus on the well-known problem of linear search, informally known as the cow-path problem, for which there is an infinite number of strategies that achieve an optimal competitive ratio equal to 9. We propose a measure that reflects the rate at which the line is being explored by the searcher, and which can be seen as an extension of the bijective ratio over an uncountable set of requests. Using this measure we show that a natural strategy that explores the line aggressively is optimal among all 9-competitive strategies. This provides, in particular, a strict separation from the competitively optimal doubling strategy, which is much more conservative in terms of exploration. We also provide evidence that this aggressiveness is requisite for optimality, by showing that any optimal strategy must mimic the aggressive strategy in its first few explorations.


Background Pure red cell aplasia is a severe, non-regenerative form of anaemia, with selective erythroid aplasia of the bone marrow. Although there are congenital forms, most cases are adquired by toxic, radiation or drugs and 50% are idiopathic. Purpose Our objective is to describe the probable relationship between the occurrence of pure red cell aplasia and the treatment with adalimumab in a patient diagnosed with Crohn´s disease. Material and methods 22 years old woman who was admitted to hospital because of probably central origin anaemia secondary to adalimumab administration, over base severe iron deficiency. The variables analysed were: haemoglobin (g/dl), hematocrit (%), erythrocytes (×109/l), leukocytes (×109/l), platelets (×109/l), serum iron (μg/dl), transferrin (mg/dl) and transferrin saturation index (%). Results The patient started treatment with adalimumab in November 2013 with an induction dose of 160 mg at week 0 and 80 mg at week 2, followed by 40 mg every other week. Baseline haemoglobin, erythrocytes and hematocrit were 11, 1 (norm. 12–15), 4, 18 (4–5) and 33, 8 (37–47), respectively. Concerning to iron study, baseline values of serum iron, transferrin and transferring saturation index were 22,4 (50–70), 217 (200–360) and 8, 13 (16–50), respectively. Platelets and leukocytes were in the normal range. After 5 months of treatment with adalimumab, the patient was admitted to hospital because of severe anaemia (haemoglobin = 4, 1, hematocrit = 14, 1 and erythtocytes = 2, 33), requiring stopping treatment and the administration of intravenous iron, 3 packed red blood cells and subcutaneous erythropoietin 40.000 once a week. After 5 weeks, the patient had haemoglobin values of 10.2 g/dl, showing a partial marrow recovery. Conclusion There have been rare cases of aplastic anaemia associated with the use of tumour necrosis factor antagonists, so that, although their relationship is unclear, patients with confirmed significant hematologic abnormalities should be considered to discontinue the treatment. Reference Kurvilla J, Leitch HA, Vickars LM, et al. Aplastic anemia following administration of a tumor necrosis factor-alfa-inhibitor. Eur J Haematol 2003;71:396–8 No conflict of interest.


Background: According to the Global Initiative of Asthma, the aim of asthma treatment is to gain and maintain control. In the INTERNATIONAL CROSS-SECTIONAL AND LONGITUDINAL ASSESSMENT ON ASTHMA CONTROL (LIAISON) study, we evaluated the level of asthma control and quality of life (QoL), as well as their determinants and impact in a population consulting specialist settings. Methods: LIAISON is a prospective, multicentre, observational study with a cross-sectional and a 12-month longitudinal phase. Adults with an asthma diagnosis since at least 6 months, receiving the same asthma treatment in the 4 weeks before enrolment were included. Asthma control was assessed with the 6-item Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) and QoL with the MiniAsthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (MiniAQLQ). Results: Overall, 8111 asthmatic patients were enrolled in 12 European countries. Asthma control was suboptimal in 56.5 % of patients and it was associated with poorer asthma-related QoL, higher risk of exacerbations and greater consumption of healthcare resources. Variables associated with suboptimal control were age, gender, obesity, smoking and comorbidities. Major determinants of poor asthma control were seasonal worsening and persisting exposure to allergens/irritants/ triggers, followed by treatment-related issues. Conclusions: The cross-sectional phase results confirm that suboptimal control is frequent and has a high individual and economic impact. Trial registration: The clinicaltrials.gov identifier is NCT01567280.


Nitrogen (N) is a key factor for any ecosystem and has been found limited for biomass production. More N in forest ecosystem and their efficient utilization will contribute to the maximization in their growth, competition, and reproduction. Invasive plants capture and utilize more N than native plants and accelerate N cycles through altering the structure and community of soil microbes and the litter decomposition rates, under microclimate conditions, resulting in an increase of N availability. All these factors are promoting the invasiveness of plants and cause further ecological and economic damage and decline in native biodiversity. Plant invasions affect soil microbial community, soil physiochemical properties, and litter decomposition rates, promoting N cycle and releasing more nitrous oxide (N 2 O) into the atmosphere, further facilitating global warming, causing changes in the geographic ranges of some invasive species. Also, a better understanding of the mechanism, affecting factors, impacts, and control of the invasive species will lead to proper forest management. Proper and effective management will ensure the control of invasive species which includes invasive plant inventory, early deduction and rapid response, management plan and implication, and government support.


Family coping strategy is one of the factors so that families with thalassemia children can survive and function properly. The purpose of this study is to determine whether family counseling had an effect on improving family coping strategy, by identifying 1). What are the characteristics of children and families in the Sukabumi branch thalassemia foundation? 2). what is the process of family counseling? 3). what are the results of implementing family counseling? This study used a qualitative approach with the action research method. Three families with Thalassemia children with main data collection techniques by in-dedepth interview, supplemented by observations and study documentation. The results showed that children with thalassemia had transfused between 3 to 10 years, and routinely performed transfusions every week to every month. Family counseling provides solutions to problems faced by families as an effort to improve family strategy copyng. Active families seek support from extended families, doctors and friends. Families always think positively and organize themselves not to display negative emotions and improve spiritual life. The conclusion of this study indicates that family counseling can have a positive influence on improving family coping strategy. Family counseling as an intervention that involves all family members also strengthens relationships between family members. The practical implication of the family counseling process requires commitment from all family members, the willingness to openly convey what is felt and thought. Openness allows the counseling process to run smoothly, find the real problem and find alternatives to solve the right problems. Keywords : Coping strategy, Family counselling, children with Thalassemia


World Graphic Design is the first-ever survey of contemporary graphic design and designers outside the United Kingdom, mainland Europe, North America and Australasia. Organized into four main geographical regions or cultural zones - Africa, the Far East, Latin America and the Middle East - and then alphabetically by country and designer/studio within each zone, it focuses on the work being carried out today within the most popular genres of graphic design: posters, book and album covers, packaging and promotion. As graphic design in the developed world becomes increasingly focused on the same small pantheon of designers and the same canonical approaches, World Graphic Design seeks to expose it to the energy, vitality and diversity of a vast body of work that has long co-existed alongside it, but that has hitherto been all but ignored. It is a deliberate attempt to do for graphic design what has been achieved for world music. With an informative critical profile and full contact details of each designer and studio, and more than a dozen illustrated examples of their recent output, World Graphic Design is a ground-breaking survey and an essential reference for anyone involved in graphic design worldwide.


Abstract Zircon ion probe (secondary-ion mass spectrometry or SIMS) data from a set of intrusive rocks emplaced in the vicinity of major ore bodies, as well as from large igneous intrusions in the Gällivare area, gave the following results: (1) the Dundret ultramafic–mafic layered complex (1883±5 Ma), the Aitik granite (1883±5 Ma), the Nautanen diorite (1870±12 Ma), the Vassaravaara ultramafic–mafic layered complex (1798±4 Ma), the Aitik dolerite (1813±9 Ma), the Bergmästergruvan and Sikträsk syenites (1795±4 Ma and 1801±3 Ma, respectively) and the Naalojärvi granite (1782±5 Ma). These data broadly fall within the ranges 1.89–1.87 Ga (early Svecofennian) and 1.80–1.78 Ga (late Svecofennian), but geochronologically allow further subdivision into pulses at 1885–1880, 1875–1870, 1800 and 1780 Ma. During these events, large layered ultramafic–mafic and felsic plutonic rocks were generated with distinct overlap in time suggesting coeval felsic–mafic magmatism. Results also indicate the presence of inherited c. 1.87 Ga zircon crystals in the plutonic rocks at 1.78 Ga, supporting reworking of the previous crust. These data indicate the importance of mantle-derived mafic underplating in the process of crustal magma generation in the region. The c. 1.88 Ga event that generated ultramafic–mafic layered complexes is tentatively suggested to have played an important role in the formation of the Aitik Cu–Au porphyry system. The later event at c. 1.80 Ga, generating voluminous mafic–felsic units, is suggested to be coupled to the regional iron-oxide-copper-gold (IOCG) overprint.


Enterovirus-derived C-terminal dystrophin fragment is a dominant-negative peptide representing a new therapeutic target for viral cardiomyopathy remediation. Enteroviruses infect millions each year, affecting many organ systems, including the heart. Heart-specific infections can cause dystrophic cardiomyopathy and even increase risk of death after heart attack, but the mechanisms behind these effects are unclear. Barnabei et al. found that the dystrophin cleavage product of the Coxsackievirus-encoded 2A protease was sufficient to cause severe cardiomyopathy in mice, characterized by ischemic injury, poor response to stress, and increased mortality. The C-terminal—but not N-terminal—fragment of the dystrophin cleavage product, called CtermDys, worked in a dominant-negative manner in a "two-hit" model: first localizing to the membrane of heart muscle cells, then displacing full-length dystrophin and utrophin. Giving full-length dystrophin rescued the mice from the deleterious effects of membrane-bound CtermDys, suggesting that both functional dystrophin and disruption of CtermDys are viable therapeutic approaches for enterovirus-mediated cardiomyopathy. M. S. Barnabei, F. V. Sjaastad, D. Townsend, F. B. Bedada, J. M. Metzger, Severe dystrophic cardiomyopathy caused by the enteroviral protease 2A–mediated C-terminal dystrophin cleavage fragment. Sci. Transl. Med. 7, 294ra106 (2015). [Abstract]


This paper examines the role of postpartum depression (PPD) on the emotional and cognitive development of 11-year olds, a key stage of transition in child development before entering adolescence. The present study uses data from the MCS, a longitudinal cohort study with a large and representative sample of the UK population. The results show that PPD impacts on child emotional difficulties when these are reported by the mother or the teacher; child-reported measures of emotional problems do not show any correlation with PPD Cognitive ability tests show no association between PPD and children's cognitive performance at age 11. The results of the paper have enhanced our insight regarding a significant period of transition which has not previously been the focus of research and demonstrate the impact PPD has on children's emotional development.


PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES
To compare a 12-week nontraditional exercise Nia program practiced at home to usual care on fatigue, quality of life (QOL), aerobic capacity, and shoulder flexibility in women with breast cancer undergoing radiation therapy.

DESIGN
Randomized clinical trial.

SETTING
Large community-based hospital in the midwestern United States.

SAMPLE
41 women with stage I, II, or III breast cancer starting radiation therapy.

METHODS
22 women were randomized to the Nia group and 19 to the usual care group. Those in the Nia group were instructed to practice Nia 20-60 minutes three times per week for 12 weeks. Those in the usual care group were instructed to continue normal activities.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES
Fatigue, QOL, aerobic capacity, and shoulder flexibility.

FINDINGS
Controlling for baseline scores, change over time between groups was significantly different for the women who practiced Nia at least 13 times during the 12-week period; those in the Nia intervention reported significantly less fatigue between weeks 6 and 12, as compared to control group (p = 0.05). No statistical differences in QOL, aerobic capacity, or shoulder flexibility were found, but trends favoring Nia were identified.

CONCLUSIONS
For women undergoing radiation therapy for breast cancer, Nia can help relieve fatigue. Additional research in arm and shoulder mobility and preservation also may be beneficial.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING
Oncology nurses are in a unique position to offer suggestions to help manage fatigue, and Nia could be considered as part of a cancer survivorship program.

KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION
Exercise is beneficial for women with breast cancer, and interest is growing in nontraditional exercise options. Nia can benefit women with breast cancer undergoing radiation therapy.


The motion estimator is a key element in many video compression systems and it tends to dominate the power consumption in them. With increasing demand of portable, power-aware multimedia devices, an architecture that can be flexible in both power consumption and compression quality is essential. To meet this requirement, this paper presents a novel power-aware architecture, called the Vario-power architecture, for the motion estimation. Based on a semi-systolic array with the content-based subsample algorithm, the architecture real-time disables some processing elements to reduce power consumption. By performing the edge extraction first, a threshold is then set as the criterion of whether to enable or disable processing elements and thus the switch activities of the system can be reduced. As the simulation shows, the architecture may operate at different power consumption modes according to the remaining capacity of the battery pack giving little quality degradation and the power overhead under 0.36%.


A high-resolution helium-atom scattering study on the surface structure and dynamics of in situ cleaved MgO(001) single crystals has been performed under ultrahigh vacuum conditions, in both high symmetry directions. Refined bound state resonance information is given for the energy levels of the He-MgO(001) surface potential, including confirmation of the lowest level at {approx}-10 meV. A weak half-order reconstruction has been observed in diffraction scans in the direction which is interpreted as due to a defect-induced release of the compressional surface stress. The Rayleigh modes were observed over most of the reduced surface Brillouin zone and found to agree with previous measurements and theory. At the zone boundaries the Rayleigh wave is no longer observed being replaced in the inelastic HAS spectrum by the first observations of the longitudinal Lucas mode and the crossing mode, both in agreement with given theoretical arguments.


Some have seen the doctrine of proximate cause as an especially incoherent feature of negligence law. This Article demonstrates that the doctrine is far more regular than many have supposed. Proximate cause is really two doctrines at the same time, one directed toward cases with multiple causes and another directed toward cases with multiple risks. Each doctrine includes distinct paradigms leading to either liability or nonliability. When we sort problem cases between these paradigms, we can reliably predict how the courts will decide them.


Do housing and equity booms significantly raise the probability of extremely bad outcomes at the margin? This study addresses this question for a group of 8 East Asian countries. The main findings are the following: (i) Asset price booms in housing and equity markets, either separately or jointly but especially in housing, significantly raise the probability at the margin that (a) the real output gap will be in the left tail of its distribution, in which output is significantly below trend, and (b) the price-level gap will be in the right tail of its distribution, in which the price level is significantly above trend. At the margin, the risk of the occurrence of these particular tail events due to asset price booms is largely asymmetric and does not apply to the tails of good outcomes; and (ii) Expected real output and price level outcomes that are either obtained without conditioning on asset price booms or are obtained conditional on asset price booms using the normal approximation underestimate the risk of tail events and lead to less pessimistic but misleading inferences. One implication for monetary policy is that an approach that is ex-ante more compatible with risk management may be appropriate.


Background: Chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) plays a role in neuronal survival/cell repair and also contributes to the progression of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. Chemokine ligand 12 (CXCL12) binds to CXCR4. In this study, we have investigated whether CXCR4 blockade by AMD3100 (a CXCR4 antagonist, member of bicyclam family) may affect neuronal survival in the absence of insult. Thus, we have measured the mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), Bax and Bcl-2 protein translocation, and cytochrome c release in AMD3100-treated brain cortical neurons at 7 DIV (days in vitro). Methods: For this aim, AMD3100 (200 nM) was added to cortical neurons for 24 h, and several biomarkers like cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release, caspase-3/9 activity, proteins Bax and Bcl-2 translocation, and cytochrome c release were analyzed by immunoblot. Results: CXCR4 blockade by AMD3100 (200 nM, 24 h) induces mitochondrial hyperpolarization and increases caspase-3/9 hyperpolarization without affecting LDH release as compared to untreated controls. AMD3100 also increases cytochrome c release and promotes Bax translocation to the mitochondria, whereas it raises cytosolic Bcl-2 levels in brain cortical neurons. Conclusion: CXCR4 blockade induces cellular death via intrinsic apoptosis in rat brain cortical neurons in absence of insult.


Discussion and Summary
Fourteen patients infected with schistosomiasis mansoni were treated with urea stibamine (Squibb). The drug was administered intravenously; the total amount given varied from 3.40 to 10.125 g.
Twelve out of 14 patients had stools negative for ova of S. mansoni when examined on the 30th day after the end of treatment and have remained negative thereafter for an additional period of 90 days.
One patient with the stools positive 60 days after treatment, had received the smallest amount of drug. The presence of ova in the stools of this patient may be attributed to the insufficient amount of drug administered.
Another patient died during hospitalization as a result of treatment. Toxic reactions to the drug occurred frequently among all patients and consisted of flushing of face, facial edema, hoarseness, dyspnea, tachycardia, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, congestion of conjunctival vessels, headache, weakness, loss of appetite, fever, decrease in white cell count, and albuminuria.
Although the patients have had stools negative for ova of S. mansoni during a period of 4 months following treatment, the true efficacy of the drug can be evaluated only by the results of examinations done through longer periods of time. If further observations prove that the disappearance of ova from stools during treatment with this drug is due to the actual death of the worms, one would then feel justified in recommending its use under careful medical supervision.


Transmural nerve stimulation (TNS) with 0.3-msec pulses between 1 and 25 Hz dilated cat cerebral artery segments in the presence of active muscle tone. Maximum vasodilatation occurred at 8 Hz. The dilator response to exogenous acetylcholine, but not to TNS, was abolished by atropine. Neither physostigmine nor hemicholinium affected the dilator response to TNS, which persisted after administration of guanethidine, phenoxybenzamine, propranolol, reserpine, and chronic sympathectomy. However, it was abolished by tetrodotoxin and cold storage. When examined histochemically, cat and rabbit cerebral arteries exhibited a rich plexiform distribution of acetylcholinesterase which was not affected appreciably by sympathetic denervation. These results suggest that vasodilation is not mediated through modification of sympathetic activity. They also indicate the existence of a nonadrenergic, possibly noncholinergic, vasodilator innervation in cat cerebral arteries. Preliminary studies suggest that the transmitter is not histamine, ATP, prostaglandins, γ-aminobutyric acid, dopamine, or serotonin. The cat cerebral artery segments contrast with the isolated rabbit cerebral arteries which predominantly constrict in response to TNS and show a small dilator response.


During the last decades, the Human Resources Management became a very important area of activity, which brought relevant changes to the human resources approach in terms of place and role within the Romanian R&D entities. Also, HR proved its importance through the solutions offered for personnel allocation in order to achieve the entities' objectives and, meanwhile, it supported the employees' aspirations. At present, although promoted a series of regulations on the status of the researcher, both, national and European level, as the main human resource in the establishment of RDI, to the research staff are imposed in most cases the general rules of human resources management. Starting with the strengthening of the concept of European Research Area ERA, the European Commission adopted the "European Charter for Researchers" and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. These documents are addressed to researchers and to public and private sector employers. Also, are considered key elements of EU policy researchers, to make careers more attractive, being considered vital for economic growth strategy and increase the number of employees of RDI. Human resource development requires good knowledge and understanding of their particular role to the organization. Researchers, regardless of hierarchy or job name, are the key resource of RDI entities (universities, institutes, NGOs, SMEs) that ensure their survival, development and competitive success. The evolution of knowledge-based companies needs to improve relations between knowledge and development. Knowledge is a necessary tool to meet economic needs and an important component of sustainable development at European level. European Research Area concept was launched at the Lisbon European Council meeting in March 2000, but true recognition began in 2007 with the launch of the European Commission's Green Paper on ERA. In 2008 the Council set in motion the Ljubljana process to improve political governance of ERA and adopted a common vision ERA 2020. Tangible progress has been made but a series of partnership initiatives proposed by the Commission since November 2008.Economy and social prosperity of Europe depends to a large extent of scientific, technological development, transfer of knowledge and successful new products, innovative services, creating a healthier environment and continuous improvement of living conditions. The only correct and safest alternative to successfully meet these new challenges is the development of intensive research and innovation, based on high quality research development and innovation and motivated human potential.


With the adoption of a common currency the degree of substitution between financial instruments supplied by EMU Member States to finance their national debts has risen. Providing the market for euro-denominated government securities with a large volume of similar financial instruments is likely to increase liquidity and lower yields. By contrast, providing an excessive volume of the same instrument might increase the return demanded by investors. This paper aims at empirically assessing the balance between liquidity and overcrowding effects by EMU countries' issuance plans. Our results document a significant relationship between bunching in issues and bond yields.


We assessed the weather data aggregation effect (DAE) on the simulation of cropping systems for different crops, response variables, and production conditions. Using 13 processbased crop models and the ensemble mean, we simulated 30 yr continuous cropping systems for 2 crops (winter wheat and silage maize) under 3 production conditions for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The DAE was evaluated for 5 weather data resolutions (i.e. 1, 10, 25, 50, and 100 km) for 3 response variables including yield, growing season evapotranspiration, and water use efficiency. Five metrics, viz. The spatial bias (Δ), average absolute deviation (AAD), relative AAD, root mean squared error (RMSE), and relative RMSE, were used to evaluate the DAE on both the input weather data and simulated results. For weather data, we found that data aggregation narrowed the spatial variability but widened the Δ, especially across mountainous areas. The DAE on loss of spatial heterogeneity and hotspots was stronger than on the average changes over the region. The DAE increased when coarsening the spatial resolution of the input weather data. The DAE varied considerably across different models, but changed only slightly for different production conditions and crops. We conclude that if spatially detailed information is essential for local management decision, higher resolution is desirable to adequately capture the spatial variability for heterogeneous regions. The required resolution depends on the choice of the model as well as the environmental condition of the study area.


Previous research has developed a number of efficient protocols for streaming popular multimedia files on-demand to potentially large numbers of concurrent clients. These protocols can achieve server bandwidth usage that grows much slower than linearly with the file request rate, and with the inverse of client start-up delay. This thesis makes the following three main contributions to the design and performance evaluation of such protocols.
The first contribution is an investigation of the network bandwidth requirements for scalable on-demand streaming. The results suggest that the minimum required network bandwidth for scalable on-demand streaming typically scales as K/ln(K) as the number of client sites K increases for fixed request rate per client site, and as ln NND+1 as the total file request rate N increases or client start-up delay D decreases, for a fixed number of sites. Multicast delivery trees configured to minimize network bandwidth usage rather than latency are found to only modestly reduce the minimum required network bandwidth. Furthermore, it is possible to achieve close to the minimum possible network and server bandwidth usage simultaneously with practical scalable delivery protocols.
Second, the thesis addresses the problem of scalable on-demand streaming of a more complex type of media than is typically considered, namely variable bit rate (VBR) media. A lower bound on the minimum required server bandwidth for scalable on-demand streaming of VBR media is derived. The lower bound analysis motivates the design of a new immediate service protocol termed VBR bandwidth skimming (VBRBS) that uses constant bit rate streaming, when sufficient client storage space is available, yet fruitfully exploits the knowledge of a VBR profile.
Finally, the thesis proposes non-linear media containing parallel sequences of data frames, among which clients can dynamically select at designated branch points, and investigates the design and performance issues in scalable on-demand streaming of such media. Lower bounds on the minimum required server bandwidth for various non-linear media scalable on-demand streaming approaches are derived, practical non-linear media scalable delivery protocols are developed, and, as a proof-of-concept, a simple scalable delivery protocol is implemented in a non-linear media streaming prototype system.


Beam fanning in low-symmetry photorefractive crystals features nonuniform angular distribution of linear polarization. We study this phenomenon experimentally in monoclinic Sn2P2S6 crystals that belong to the m class of symmetry and compare the results with the predictions of a simple model that describes amplification of a weak scattered wave via nonlinear coupling to the intense incident wave.


We use the reaction–diffusion framework (RDF) to study the kinetics of formation of hierarchical microstructures of cadmium–aluminum layered double hydroxide (CdAlCl LDH), its particle size distribution, and its polymorphic transformation to brucite-like cadmium hydroxide (β-Cd(OH)2). The system exhibits the evolution of two successive bands separated by a sharp interface, a leading one that constitutes the yellow CdAlCl LDH followed by the white brucite band. We show that by using the RDF we can manipulate the size distribution of the particles within the LDH band along the tubular reactor. The spatiotemporal dynamics of these bands provides a simple means to study the kinetics of formation of the LDH and its polymorphic transformation as a function of the cationic ratio, hence predicting its stability. Consequently, the relative rate constants and the Avrami exponents are calculated and are shown to exhibit a linear correlation with the cationic ratio. The collapse of the LDH microstructures into nano-spheroids of β-Cd(OH)2 is visualized using scanning electron microscopy at the LDH–brucite interface.


We have studied the stability of systems of plane mirrors by using a new way to describe ray transformations caused by such systems. All stable systems comprising as many as three mirrors are described and classified. Besides the well-known corner cube, infinitely many stable retroreflecting and direction-preserving three-mirror systems have been found.


Asylum denied : A refugee's struggle for safety in America tells the story of David Ngaruri Kenney, a Kenyan tea farmer who led a boycott by tea farmers during the administration of President Daniel arap Moi. He was forced to flee to the United States of America (USA) to seek asylum after experiencing torture and other inhuman treatment from Kenyan state operatives. The book narrates the hurdles Kenney had to overcome in his ten-year quest for asylum in the USA in the words of Kenney and Philip G Schrag, a lawyer who worked with him through his asylum process.


KARASU, A., 2012. Effect of nitrogen levels on grain yield and some attributes of some hybrid maize cultivars (Zea mays indentata Sturt.) grown for silage as second crop. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 18: 42-48 This study was carried out in order to determine the effects of nitrogen fertilizer on yield and yield components and some technological attributes of 3 dent maize cultivars grown under irrigated conditions in Mustafakemalpasa, Bursa, Turkey in 2005 and 2006 years. The plant height, the first ear height, ear length, ear diameter, ear number per plant, seed number per ear, 1000 seed weight, protein content, and grain yield (kg ha-1 )were investigated. In the experiment three cultivars as LG 2687, 34 M 43 and GH 2547 and 4 rates of nitrogen (0, 150, 300, 450 kg ha-1) were used. When the nitrogen levels increased, grain yield also significantly increased up to 300 kg N ha-1. The highest grain yield (13323 kg ha-1 ) was obtained from 300 kg N ha-1 nitrogen doze, and the lowest yield (9805 kg ha-1) was produced the control plant (0 kg N ha-1). The effects of different nitrogen rates were not significant on plant height, first ear height, ear diameter, seed number per ear, and 1000 seed weight characters but significant on ear length, ear number per plant, seed yield and crude protein content. It was determined that 300 kg N ha-1 was suitable for seed yield. The seed yield of cultivars ranged between 11649 kg ha-1 to 11918 kg ha-1.


The North Sea (Fig. 1) is known as a random sea with depths in the southern part between 40 m and 100 m so that in contrary to the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines deep sea wave conditions do not exist. After four years of comprehensive wave measurements in the offshore area of the Island of Sylt near the Danish border a general analysis of the wave climate in that region was possible. In this paper results and suggestions will be presented under the aspect of replacing qualitative judgements by quantitative statements which are derived from the knowledge of the adjacent wave climate. Because the wave action varies from year to year a general time unit is not advisable for the evaluation of shore processes; therefore the time scale should be substituted by the integral of incoming wave energy occurring after a certain time. The investigated method of expressing the total energy of one season or one year in the electrical unit Kilowatthour (kWh) per meter (m) width of shoreline could prove in future as a feasible way of classifying the irregular seasonal and yearly wave intensities. It is further shown that wave measurements over a period of several years can be sufficient for the investigation of correlations between the wind velocities occurring from all directions and the resulting wave heights. In case of satisfying correlation factors it will then be possible to carry out feedback operations for periods from which only records of wind velocities and directions are available and even to hindcast the wave heights for certain not yet measured wind velocities.


While multi-hop broadcast protocols, such as Trickle, Deluge and MNP, have gained tremendous popularity as a means for fast and convenient propagation of data/code in large scale wireless sensor networks, they can, unfortunately, serve as potential platforms for virus spreading if the security is breached. To understand the vulnerability of such protocols and design defense mechanisms against piggy-backed virus attacks, it is critical to investigate the propagation process of these protocols in terms of their speed and reachability. In this paper, we propose a general framework based on the principles of epidemic theory, for vulnerability analysis of current broadcast protocols in wireless sensor networks. In particular, we develop a common mathematical model for the propagation that incorporates important parameters derived from the communication patterns of the protocol under test. Based on this model, we analyze the propagation rate and the extent of spread of a malware over typical broadcast protocols proposed in the literature. The overall result is an approximate but convenient tool to characterize a broadcast protocol in terms of its vulnerability to malware propagation. We have also performed extensive simulations which have validated our model.


Although reform of personal property security law has been long neglected, it is too important to be ignored any longer. A clear consensus has emerged that the reforms incorporated in the draft PPSA Bill would do much to attain the desirable objectives within secured financing in Australia of a cheaper, faster, simpler, easier, and safer scheme of personal property security law on a national uniform basis of best practice. The reforms will also confirm Australia's position in the global financial network through a regime that is compatible with our trading and financing partners.


The motivation of this thesis was the study of radio-loud, active galaxies. These galaxies house relativistic jets at their centres, powered by accretion onto a super massive black hole. The focus was on the optical flux and polarised emission produced by these powerful jets. An automated pipeline was developed to reduce data from the Liverpool Telescope Ringo2 and Ringo3 polarimeters. As part of this work, the Ringo3 instrumental polarisation and depolarisation were characterised by repeated observations of standard stars. The Ringo2 and Ringo3 optical polarimetry and photometry of a sample of 20 gamma-ray bright blazars were combined with Fermi gamma-ray space telescope data and were used to explore possible correlations and thus probe the emission sites in the jet. We found that optical and gamma-ray fluxes had strong, positive correlations. This suggests that the dominant source of optical and gamma-ray emission is from shared emission regions. If the Inverse Compton model is adopted to explain the gamma-ray emission (i.e. upscattering of photons by relativistic electrons), this correlation suggests that synchrotron self-Compton emission processes are occurring in the jet, along with inverse Compton upscattering from nearby electrons (rather than those outside the jet). The gamma-ray flux and optical degree of polarisation were not significantly correlated. The optical flux and degree of polarisation were weakly positively correlated (with correlations that did not improve with an introduced lag). Both of these results imply that there is no large scale highly ordered magnetic field in the region where the gamma-ray emission originates. We found that the maximum degree of polarisation differs depending on the location of the source's synchrotron-peak. This may be a result of the viewing angle of the observer with respect to the jet. This suggests that the majority of optical polarisation is produced in shocked regions within the jet, downstream of the main emission region. We found that the degree of polarisation was lower during a period of polarisation angle rotation compared with a period of non-rotation. This implies that the downstream magnetic field structure is either helical or compressed in a direction transverse to that of the jet. Consistent with other work, our Ringo3 colour analysis showed that, with the exception of one source, flat spectrum radio quasars had a `redder' when brighter property. This suggests that when the source is more luminous, the jet (i.e. non-thermal) emission dominates over the thermal emission from the accretion disk (which is powerful in FSRQs). We found that BL~Lacs had a `bluer' when brighter behaviour, suggesting that the brighter emission may come from more energetic photons within the jet. We presented data from our long-term, multi-colour, blazar monitoring campaign. We found that all but one source had a `redder' polarisation when the polarisation was higher. This implies that the highest polarisation is associated with higher densities of lower energy particles in the jet. Well-sampled, regular cadence data is very important for the effective study and interpretation of blazars. This is particularly crucial for the interpretation of the position angle rotations, which can afford information about the electric vector angle (and hence the magnetic field angle). In this work, we presented the design of a new multicolour polarimeter, MOPTOP. The optical components in MOPTOP allow as much of the light from the source to be exploited as possible by replacing the rotating Polaroid (from the Ringo polarimeter design) with a rotating half-wave plate and beam splitter. MOPTOP's design minimises exposure times, allowing more frequent observations and a better sampling of data. A densely sampled monitoring program that is not interrupted by periods of sunlight would be highly desirable for the study of blazar jets.


Petrographical characteristics and post-depositional alteration studies of sandstones are the two important factors to reservoir rocks, which affect oil and gas storage and permeability of reservoir rocks. This study revealed petrographical characteristics, post-depositional alteration, and their influence on the porosity and permeability of Oligocene sandstones, including C, D, and E and F sequences, block 15-1/05, Cuu Long Basin. The results show that most of the sandstones were arkose, lithic arkose, and sporadically interbedded by feldspathic greywacke. The post-depositional alteration was progressively increasing following the burial depth from early diagenesis of sequence C, to intermediate diagenesis of sequence D and advanced diagenesis of sequence E and F. The post-depositional alterations significantly influenced on the porosity of the Oligocene sandstone were the cementation and mechanical compaction. They reduced the porosity and permeability of the sandstone. Additionally, authigenic clay minerals have a negative effect on permeability in which sandstones were rich illite and illite-smectite clay minerals, and the permeability tended to decrease stronger than others. Our results showed that the potential reservoir rocks of Oligocene sandstones, block 15-1/05 were sequence E and F sandstones that are in well grain sorting, well grain roundness shape, and contained a small number of cement, particularly the absence of illite and illite-smectite.


NOTE: This chapter was part of a workbook that went with a filmed series of lectures on genetics given by Lederberg and other
 major geneticists on public television station KETC in Saint Louis and at Saint Louis University in 1959.


This thesis presents an approach to modelling dynamic mass capture which is applied to a number of system models. The models range from a simple 2D Euler-Bernoulli beam with point masses for the end-effector and target to a 3D Timoshenko beam model (including torsion) with rigid bodies for the end-effector and target. In addition, new models for torsion, as well as software to derive the finite element equations from first principles were developed to support the modelling. Results of the models are compared to a simple experiment as done by Ben Rhody. Investigations of offset capture are done by simulation to show why one would consider using a 3D model that includes torsion. These problems have relevance to both terrestrial robots and to space based robotic systems such as the manipulators on the International Space Station capturing payloads such as the SpaceX Dragon capsule. One could increase production in an industrial environment if industrial robots could pick up items without having to establish a zero relative velocity between the end effector and the item. To have a robot acquire its payload in this way would introduce system dynamics that could lead to the necessity of modelling a previously 'rigid' robot as flexible.


The health effects of low-dose radiation (LDR) have been the concern of the academic spheres, regulatory bodies, governments, and the public. Among these effects, the most important is carcinogenesis. In view of the importance of immune surveillance in cancer control, the dose-response relationship of the changes in different cell types of the immune system after whole-body irradiation is analyzed on the basis of systemic data from the author's laboratory in combination with recent reports in the literature. For T lymphocytes J- or inverted J-shaped curves are usually demonstrated after irradiation, while for macrophages dose-response curves of chiefly stimulation with irregular patterns are often observed. The intercellular reactions between the antigen presenting cell (APC) and T lymphocyte (TLC) in the immunologic synapse via expression of surface molecules and secretion of cytokines by the two cell types after different doses of radiation are illustrated. The different pathways of signal transduction thus facilitated in the T lymphocyte by different doses of radiation are analyzed to explain the mechanism of the phenomenon of low-dose stimulation and high-dose suppression of immunity. Experimental and clinical data are cited to show that LDR retards tumor growth, reduces metastasis, increases the efficacy of conventional radiotherapy and chemotherapy as well as alleviates the suppression of immunity due to tumor burden. The incidence of thymic lymphoma after high-dose radiation is lowered by preexposure to low-dose radiation, and its mechanism is supposed to be related to the stimulation of anticancer immunity induced by low-dose radiation. Recent reports on lowering of standardized cancer mortality rate and all cause death rate of cohorts occupationally exposed to low-dose radiation from the US, UK, and Canada are cited.


Individualism and collectivism, egoism and altruism, are interwoven threads that make up the social fabric of all organizations. In consequence, political behavior is an integral part of organizational life. These two interconnected characteristics of human behavior - conformism and opportunism - account for most of the actions and interactions that take place in organizations every day. This volume examines all kinds of organizations from a political perspective, analyzing them in terms of social power and politics. It presents several theories of power and compares them as it scrutinizes the political layout of organizations. For ease of understanding, the book applies the language of political games to describe organizational politics in terms borrowed from the realm of sports, such as contesters, playgrounds, encounters, rules of the game, strategies and tactics, scores, and victories and defeats. It thoroughly analyzes the concepts of social power and social influence from various points of view. Samuel also outlines the variety of political games that are played in the realm of organizations, listing nine types of games in which individual level politics, group level politics, and organizational level politics take place. While scrutinizing the political layout of organizations, he also demonstrates how major issues dealt with through processes of decision-making turn into political agendas within organizations. And finally, he addresses the issue of managerial politics, drawing upon research that shows how managers influence their subordinates, and how executives conduct power struggles and political maneuvers to defend their lucrative positions. The Political Agenda of Organizations is an enlightening analysis of the power and influence in business organizations and will be of interest to sociologists and other social scientists as well as students of management and business administration.


This thesis considers the idea of the 'metaphysical' in sixteenth- and seventeenthcentury
women's poetry, notably by exploring the female-voiced lyrics affiliated with
Marie Maitland (d. 1596) in the Scottish manuscript verse miscellany, the Maitland
Quarto (c. 1586). The study aims to reintegrate important strands of Renaissance culture
which have been lost by too exclusive a focus on English, male writing and contexts.
For many literary historians the 'metaphysical' refers overwhelmingly to Dryden's
pejorative categorization of Donne and his followers. However, Sarah Hutton has
recently shown how the 'metaphysical' can be traced to an Aristotelian Neoplatonism,
whereby influential fifteenth-century thinkers such as Marsilio Ficino were conflating
the spiritual and material for political purposes. For the queer Renaissance critic,
Michael Morgan Holmes, the 'political' pertains to individual spiritual-material desires
which can undermine hegemonic definitions of the natural and unnatural. Building on
this, my thesis illuminates 'metaphysics' in the work of Maitland, Aemilia Lanyer
(1569-1645), Constance Aston Fowler (1621?-1664) and Katherine Philips (1632-
1664). These poets use the physical and spiritual bonds between women to explore the
nature of female space, time and identity. Hutton's and Holmes's definition of the
'metaphysical' has special applicability for these poets, as they tacitly deconstruct the
patriarchal construction of the virgin/whore and offer their own configuration of the
spiritual-sensual woman. While critics have foregrounded a male metaphysical tradition
in the early modern period, this study proposes that there is a 'dissident' female
metaphysical strand that challenges the 'dominant' male discourses of the time.

Over the last few decades, feminist scholars, notably, Lorna Hutson, Barbara
Lewalski, Kate Chedgzoy, Carol Barash and Valerie Traub have reinstated the work of
Lanyer and Philips in the English canon of Renaissance writing. More recently Sarah
Dunnigan has drawn attention to the importance of the Scots poet and compiler,
Maitland. Moreover, Helen Hackett has indicated that the writings of Fowler force us to
rethink the roles of women in early modern literary culture. I take this further in two
ways. First, I examine these poets' relationship to the 'metaphysical', the importance of
which has been underestimated by critics, despite Dryden's original gendered use of the
term. Secondly, I propose that these writers are responding to a 'polyglottal' female
metaphysical tradition that develops in Renaissance Europe through a female republic
of letters. I also assess the difficulties in belonging to a 'female tradition' in an era
where female authorship was necessarily affected by misogynistic attitudes to women as
writers. The research re-contextualizes the work of these women by examining the
philosophical ideologies of Aristotle, Ficino, Marguerite of Navarre, Donne, Sir Richard
Maitland, Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth Melville, Olympia Morata, Herbert
Aston, Katherine Thimelby, St Teresa of Avila and Andrew Marvell. By juxtaposing
these four poets and reading them from within this philosophical-political context, the
thesis sheds new light on the nature of early modern female intertextuality, whilst
challenging male Anglocentric definitions of the 'Renaissance'.


Formative assessment has been considered a promising way to support student learning. It has been defined as both an instrument and a process. The instrument provides information about a student's learning. During the process, the information is judged and used by teachers, students, or their peers for actions that support that learning. Teachers have difficulty understanding and using the evidence from assessment instruments. Therefore, this dissertation investigates what content and visual presentation of a formative assessment instrument could help teachers. The dissertation consists of five studies: -A theoretical study about the validation of formative assessment. -A needs assessment, which investigated the type of instructional actions as well as the information needs to enable these actions. -A evaluation study investigating the usability of a formative assessment platform -A factorial study investigating the extent to which visualizations of measurement error in score reports influence teachers' instructional decisions. -A study that explores how to visualize a learning trajectory that can be used for the purpose of formative assessment. With regard to the content of formative assessment instruments, we concluded that the instrument needs: 1. Fine-grained information about students' current performance (e.g., learning strategies, misconceptions); 2. Information about students' desired performance (e.g., learning objectives, learning trajectory); 3. Directions to follow-up actions (e.g., learning materials, suggestions for grouping). With regard to the visual presentation of formative assessment instruments, we concluded that: 1. Measurement error presentations affect teachers' decisions, however, several misconceptions were identified. 2. A graphical visualization might be the most appropriate way to present possible learning pathways. Several design principles for visualization were identified in relation to the content, structure, and usability of the learning trajectory. Overall, this dissertation shows that it is necessary and fruitful to design and evaluate assessment instruments with the intended audience in order to ensure that they will understand and use the assessment results in an appropriate way.


The goal of this paper is to design a statistical test for the camera model identification problem. The approach is based on the state-of-the-art model of Discret Cosine Transform (DCT) coefficients to capture their statistical difference, which jointly results from different sensor noises and in-camera processing algorithms. The noise model parameters are considered as camera fingerprint to identify camera models. The camera model identification problem is cast in the framework of hypothesis testing theory. In an ideal context where all model parameters are perfectly known, this paper studies the optimal detector given by the Likelihood Ratio Test (LRT) and analytically establishes its statistical performances. In practice, a Generalized LRT is designed to deal with the difficulty of unknown parameters such that it can meet a prescribed false alarm probability while ensuring a high detection performance. Numerical results on simulated database and natural JPEG images highlight the relevance of the proposed approach.


This paper examines the relationship between occupation and dierent types of human capital—skills, education, ability and health. Summary statistics of our panel data from the Ghana Household Worker Survey strongly suggest that height and health vary by occupation. Our regression results show that after controlling for age, gender and movement out of jobs, the self-employed are the most likely to have at least one day of illness (a health shock) in the past year. However, conditional on having at least one day of illness, the self-employed have the lowest expected number of days ill. On the other hand, evidence that large firm workers have longer illnesses than other workers, perhaps reflecting their better employment circumstances that allow more time o when sick, cautions against the use of days of illness as a measure of health that is unbiased by occupational choice. We also investigate labour market outcomes and find that the number of days ill does not aect the labour supply decision. Controlling for entry into the labour force, however, days of illness does have a significant negative impact on earnings, especially if it exceeds 30 days. Our analysis suggests that changes in health and changes in occupation are strongly correlated; understanding the causal links in this relationship should be the focus of future work.


Reliable facial expression recognition plays a critical role in human-machine interactions. However, most of the facial expression analysis methodologies proposed to date pay little or no attention to the protection of a user's privacy. In this paper, we propose a Privacy-Preserving Representation-Learning Variational Generative Adversarial Network (PPRL-VGAN) to learn an image representation that is explicitly disentangled from the identity information. At the same time, this representation is discriminative from the standpoint of facial expression recognition and generative as it allows expression-equivalent face image synthesis. We evaluate the proposed model on two public datasets under various threat scenarios. Quantitative and qualitative results demonstrate that our approach strikes a balance between the preservation of privacy and data utility. We further demonstrate that our model can be effectively applied to other tasks such as expression morphing and image completion.


IMPORTANCE
Surgery is an effective treatment for drug-resistant focal epilepsy. Neuroimaging studies are considered essential in the diagnostic evaluation of individuals with medically refractory focal seizures being considered for surgical treatment.

OBJECTIVES
To review the evidence for the use of neuroimaging studies in the selection of patients with drug-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy for focal cortical resection and discuss the prognostic importance of selected techniques.

EVIDENCE REVIEW
Randomized clinical trials, meta-analyses, and clinical retrospective case studies (≥20 patients with ≥1 year of follow-up) were identified using Medical Subject Headings and indexed text terms in EMBASE (1988-November 29, 2014); MEDLINE (1946-December 2, 2014), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (1991-October 31, 2014), and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2005-October 31, 2014). Twenty-seven articles describing 3163 patients were included. Neuroimaging techniques analyzed included magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). Subpopulations and prognostic factors were identified.

FINDINGS
Of the 27 studies evaluated (3163 patients), 7 showed the outcome was more favorable in patients with MRI-identified hippocampal atrophy indicating mesial temporal sclerosis. Five additional studies indicated that the outcome was less favorable in patients with unremarkable MRI studies. There are conflicting findings regarding the prognostic importance of PET-identified focal hypometabolism; however, 2 investigations indicated that the presence of a PET imaging study demonstrating abnormalities in individuals with unremarkable MRI results showed an operative outcome similar to that in patients with mesial temporal sclerosis. The studies assessing SPECT use in temporal lobe epilepsy did not reveal a correlation with outcome.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE
There is strong evidence that preoperative MRI-identified hippocampal atrophy consistent with mesial temporal sclerosis concordant with the seizure origin in the temporal lobe is a significant factor associated with a favorable outcome. PET studies may be valuable in individuals with unremarkable MRI findings. The current evidence does not support the prognostic importance of SPECT in patients undergoing temporal lobe surgery.


Information on the degree of inbreeding is very important in the effective management of captive populations of animals in zoos. For the North Persian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor), in particular, no report on this aspect is available. This study evaluated the effect of inbreeding on fitness traits and the possible occurrence of purging in a captive population of the leopard based on pedigree records of the Australasian Regional Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria covering the period 1955–2008. The significance of individual, sire or dam inbreeding on individual and litter fitness traits and litter size was analyzed using linear mixed models. Results showed that individual inbreeding significantly decreased survival at days 30 and 90 (weaning age) after birth, while litter inbreeding significantly decreased litter survival at days 7, 30 and 90. There was also a corresponding decrease in litter size when the dam was inbred. Purging of genetic load is possible with increased survival of the individual and litter when the dam was inbred. However, enhanced zoo management has to be considered with increased survival of individuals. Considering the unpredictable response of traits to inbreeding, designing breeding programs for captive populations should be geared toward maximizing genetic diversity and minimizing the rate of inbreeding.


Introduction: PRONOUNCE compared the efficacy and safety of pemetrexed+carboplatin followed by pemetrexed (Pem+Cb) with paclitaxel+carboplatin+bevacizumab followed by bevacizumab (Pac+Cb+Bev) in patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Methods: Patients ≥18 years of age with stage IV nonsquamous NSCLC (American Joint Committee on Cancer v7.0), and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status 0/1 were randomized (1:1) to four cycles of induction Pem+Cb (pemetrexed, 500 mg/m2, carboplatin, area under the curve = 6) followed by Pem maintenance or Pac+Cb+Bev (paclitaxel, 200 mg/m2, carboplatin, area under the curve = 6, and bevacizumab, 15 mg/kg) followed by Bev maintenance in the absence of progressive disease or discontinuation. The primary objective was progression-free survival (PFS) without grade 4 toxicity (G4PFS). Secondary end points were PFS, overall survival (OS), overall response rate (ORR), disease control rate (DCR), and safety. Resource utilization was also assessed. Results: Baseline characteristics of the patients randomized to Pem+Cb (N = 182) and Pac+Cb+Bev (N = 179) were well balanced between the arms. Median (months) G4PFS was 3.91 for Pem+Cb and 2.86 for Pac+Cb+Bev (hazard ratio = 0.85, 90% confidence interval, 0.7–1.04; p = 0.176); PFS, OS, ORR, or DCR did not differ significantly between the arms. Significantly more drug-related grade 3/4 anemia (18.7% versus 5.4%) and thrombocytopenia (24.0% versus 9.6%) were reported for Pem+Cb. Significantly more grade 3/4 neutropenia (48.8% versus 24.6%), grade 1/2 alopecia (28.3% versus 8.2%), and grade 1/2 sensory neuropathy were reported for Pac+Cb+Bev. Number of hospitalizations and overall length of stay did not differ significantly between the arms. Conclusions: Pem+Cb did not produce significantly better G4PFS compared with Pac+Cb+Bev. Pem+Cb was not superior in PFS, OS, ORR, or DCR compared with Pac+Cb+Bev. Both regimens were well tolerated, although, toxicity profiles differed.


Isoxazole derivatives possess antibacterial, antiviral, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory insecticidal activities. Claisen- Schmidt Condensation method was adopted to get chalcones. Acetophenone on condensation with aldehyde in the presence of base produced chalcones. Chalcones were subjected for reaction with hydroxyl amine hydrochloric acid and potassium hydroxide to give isoxazoline derivative of chalcone. All the synthesized compounds have been characterized by using elemental analysis, FT-IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR spectroscopy and further supported by mass spectroscopy. Purity of all the compounds has been checked on thin layer chromatographic plate and HPLC technique. All the synthesized compounds were tested for their antibacterial and antifungal activity in vitro by broth dilution method with two Gram-positive bacteria, two Gram-negative bacteria and two fungal strains. The biological activities of the synthesized compounds have been compared with standard drugs Benzyl pencillin and Ketoconazole. The compounds exhibited significant antibacterial and moderate antifungal activities. These compounds can be further exploited to get the potent lead compounds. The detailed synthesis and the antimicrobial screening of the new compounds are reported.


This paper proposes a new discriminative training method in constructing phrase and lexicon translation models. In order to reliably learn a myriad of parameters in these models, we propose an expected BLEU score-based utility function with KL regularization as the objective, and train the models on a large parallel dataset. For training, we derive growth transformations for phrase and lexicon translation probabilities to iteratively improve the objective. The proposed method, evaluated on the Europarl German-to-English dataset, leads to a 1.1 BLEU point improvement over a state-of-the-art baseline translation system. In IWSLT 2011 Benchmark, our system using the proposed method achieves the best Chinese-to-English translation result on the task of translating TED talks.


Nigeria's current status in the world and within the Sub-Saharan region is reviewed in terms of its focus on information technology education, by examining the Higher Education market, private computer industries within Nigeria, and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), a national initiative designed to dramatically improve Nigeria's competitiveness in computer industries. The results of research into the effectiveness of Public-Private Partnerships in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Nigeria are then discussed. The perceptions of computer industry executives and Higher Education representatives towards greater competitiveness in Nigeria's Information Technology industry are investigated. The authors provide recommendations for how Nigerian Higher Education Institutions and computer-related businesses can develop effective method of advancing ICT Public-Private Partnerships.


Across the globe, corruption presents a major risk that reduces construction project performances by inflating costs and reducing the quality of the infrastructure commissioned. In developing countries, corruption stifles economic development and engenders social inequality. Using a structured questionnaire survey to elicit direct knowledge and lived experiences of construction practitioners, this study uncovered the prevalence and forms of corrupt practices within the developing country of Ghana. Research findings illustrate that habitual corruption and unethical behavior prevail among public officials, contractors, and construction professionals during the bid evaluation, tendering, and contract implementation stages of a construction contract. This research proffers that corruption is driven by a toxic concoction of high political connections, excessive and reckless sole sourcing of public construction projects, lack of commitment by construction companies in addressing corruption, and the inherently idiosyncratic operational environment of the construction sector. The top five forms of corruption frequently encountered, in descending order, are kickbacks (extortion), bribery, collusion and tender rigging, conflict of interest, and fraud. This research presents a rare glimpse of construction industry corruption in a developing country and provides polemic clarity geared to intellectually challenge readers in government and industry. Future work is required to explore and develop appropriate countermeasures to address corrupt practices and behaviors.


Mate encounter rates in pelagic copepods depend on the characteristics of the mate detection mechanism as well as on the motility patterns and concentrations of males and females. We describe male and female motility patterns in two species (Centropages typicus and Pseudocalanus elongatus) in which the females excrete male‐attracting pheromones and in one species (Acartia tonsa) in which the mates are detected by hydromechanical signals. For both pheromone‐producing species, male and female motilities differ strongly; males are more directionally persistent and swim as fast as or faster than the females, and only at scales exceeding several centimeters do the male motilities resemble random walk. This prevents resampling of the same volume at the scale of encounter and maximizes the rate at which males encounter female signals. In contrast, female motility patterns are more similar to random walk, even at small scales. For the species depending on hydrodynamic cues and in which detection is practically symmetrical between the mates, male and female motilities are similar and can both be described as random walk, also at small scales. We develop simple encounter models and utilize information on motility patterns and mate signaling from our own observations and the literature to estimate search volume rates for pelagic copepods ranging between 0.6–3.0 mm in length. We show that pelagic copepods are capable of searching tens to thousands of liters of ambient water for mates daily, that search capacity increases approximately with the cube of copepod length for both chemical and hydrodynamic signalers, and that these impressive mate search volume rates are sufficient to sustain populations at typical adult densities.


Although the benefits of ICP-MS are well documented, the determination of
analytes at low levels in high concentrations of matrix elements has proved
difficult. As ICP-MS is a 'flow into' instrument the deposition of salts throughout
the system is a common cause of significant loss of signal. The application of
desolvation of aluminosilicate samples, to aid in the production of more robust
plasma conditions, was investigated to increase the efficiency of the ICP in
processing the sample. The performance of the ICP-MS was monitored with
different cone arrangements and by running the skimmer cones at elevated
temperatures.
An alternative to modification of the instrument is to employ chemical modification
of the sample and hence the separation of Au and Pt from an aluminosilicate
matrix via the use of solid phase extraction (SPE) columns were investigated as a
means of dealing with high levels of dissolved solids. OVB based SPE columns
were found to give high retentions of Au and Pt when chelated with ammonium
pyrrolidinediethylcarbamate (APOC).
A second alternative that avoided digestion of the aluminosilicate matrices, was to
carry out the analysis using laser ablation (LA). LA-ICP-MS is becoming
increasingly used for trace elemental analysis but as yet no universal calibration
method is available. The general problems associated with matrix matched
standards are inherent as the ablation mechanism and plasma conditions can
differ dramatically with very small changes in matrix composition. Hence the
addition of chromophores was employed to increase the absorption of the laser
energy. The use of vanillic, nicotinic and pyrazinoic acid were used to improve the
ablation of pressed powder discs at the laser wavelength of 213 nm. Synthetic
aluminosilicate discs and standard additions were both employed for the
calibration and determination of Ti.


Summary Weedy red rice (Oryza sativa) is a problematic weed in cultivated rice. About 50% of US rice is produced in Arkansas and 60% of these fields have some red rice infestation. Red rice populations are morphologically and phenologically diverse. We hypothesise that red rice in Arkansas has high genetic diversity, which underlies its wide phenotypic diversity, and that some alleles from cultivated rice have been introgressed into red rice during more than a century of coexistence. We tested 137 red rice accessions from four ecological zones in Arkansas and 36 cultivars that have been grown in Arkansas in the past century. Twenty-seven rice microsatellite primers, distributed across 12 chromosomes, were used to generate molecular markers. The overall Neis genetic distance (GD) of red rice accessions was 0.70. Rice grown in the last century had an overall GD of 0.26. The awnless strawhull red rice was genetically distant from blackhull (GD = 0.55) and brownhull (GD = 0.60) red rice types. Neis GD between blackhull and brownhull red rice was 0.42. Brownhull and blackhull formed one genotypic cluster, whereas the majority of strawhull red rice formed another cluster. Within blackhull red rice, the GD was 0.76, whereas for awnless strawhull it was 0.68, 0.75 for awned strawhull and 0.80 for brownhull types. The gene diversity of blackhull and strawhull correlated with zone of origin. A quarter of the red rice accessions share common alleles with cultivated rice. A diverse complex of weedy populations has evolved in a region devoid of other weedy and wild Oryza species.


Bovine fasciolosis, caused by Fasciola hepatica, is widespread in Switzerland. The risk regions were modelled in 2008 by an interactive map, showing the monthly potential risk of transmission of F. hepatica in Switzerland. As this map is based on a mathematical model, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the interactive map by means of a field survey taking different data sources into account. It was found that the interactive map has a sensitivity of 40.7-88.9%, a specificity of 11.4-18.8%, a positive predictive value of 26.7-51.4%, and a negative predictive value of 13.1-83.6%, depending on the source of the data. In conclusion, the grid of the interactive map (100 x 100 m) does not reflect enough detail and the underlying model of the interactive map is lacking transmission data.


Humans are the major cause of ecological change around the globe, products for use, shelter, and transforming land to provide food. Land transformation affects many of the planet's physical, chemical, and biological systems and directly impacts the ability of the Earth to continue providing the goods and services upon which humans depend. The study therefore assessed the ecological impacts of Land Cover/Land Use types in communities around Erinle/Owala Reservoir, Osun State, Nigeria, for the time period 1986-2009 using GIS technology. Data used for the study include and five imageries: Landsat TM 1986, 1991, and IKONOS  2009. The images were digitally processed using ENV 4.7 AND ERDAS IMAGINE software and subsequently classified using the maximum likelihood classification algorithm, which identified six land cover/ use classes including wetland, Forestland, Shrub lands, Settlement, Croplands and other lands. The LC/LU change detection pattern showed a change in the classified Images, after 1986 which resulted in the increase of wetland is clear evidence that a vast area of farmland and forest area has been changed to wetland thus increasing the flooded area pave way for diverse impacts in and around the surrounding communities. This paper therefore highlights the relevance of remote sensing and GIS techniques in assessing the situation in Osun state south-western Nigeria.


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The Colonisation of Scientific Uncertainty: Liminality & Agency in Science Boundary Work The thesis focusses on the traditional problem of demarcation in science through the study of the politics of scientific "boundary work"{ and cultural cartography amidst scientific controversies where claims about the constitution of science and its "other" are asserted, contested and renegotiated. Human and non-human agents and agency are characterised via recourse to a critical practice theory and performative idiom approach where dialectical interactions between social structures and between collective, individual and natural agents are axiomatic. The study aims to provide a multi-sited ethnography of how notions of scientific convention and deviance are (re)defined in the course of scientific practice. Scientific texts and qualitative data yielded from ethnographic interviews and participant observation are analysed to provide insights into how the demarcation of science is achieved, contested and renegotiated by various science boundary workers. The symmetrical analysis of two case-studies of recent controversy in (Australian) science will show the ways in which both orthodox and controversial scientists and other scientific boundary workers deploy similar discursive tactics in order to "seduce" and "colonise" the minds (and therefore the bodies and resources) of their audience(s). The colonisation of uncertainty in scientific confroversies involves the discursive upgrading of certainty in one's own methods, claims and motives while undermining those of opponents. Hegemonic visions of ideal scientific agency as value-free, acultural and apolitical are reproduced in both dissident and orthodox discourses, despite the strategic deployment by dissidents of a quasi-sociological critique of their denouncers. Both controversial workers and their denouncers engage in justificatory discursive work that "domesticates" or "colonises" uncertainty in descriptions of natural agents and in the general trustworthiness of scientific claims. The strategic presentation through various public 'performances' of scientific work as the product of a scientific collective is seen to provide a highly seductive means by which scientific boundary workers galvanise confidence and support. However, an asymmetry in the scientific boundary work sampled can be seen in dissident workers' definitions of the non-human or natural agents they study as complex, dynamic and non-linear. Lmear, machine-like or "machinic" visions of "natural" agency provide an ontological ground from which new scientific work may be denounced as liminal or ambiguous and thus suspect or controversial, or as clearly "polluted" and thus "deviant" and stigmatised.


The story of the 1930s Eastern Medicine Renaissance in Korea is an unusual case in the history of colonial medicine. Responding to Japanese colonial rule that began in the first decade of the twentieth century, a few thousand Korean physicians of Eastern medicine complied with the new registration requirements, but they turned that compliance into effective resistance. By organising conferences, publishing journals and books, and through the new medium of advertising, the physicians refuted Japanese official arguments of the superiority of Western medicine. The Koreans flipped on its head the Japanese rhetorical argument of Koreans and Japanese as one body (with the Japanese as 'the head') and persuaded the Japanese that they could learn from Korean medical practices. Flipping the Japanese trope of Korean weakness upside down, Koreans thereby used their version of Eastern medicine to demonstrate Korean strength.


Background Recent spates of bomb blasts unleashed by terrorists in eight Nigerian States warranted research into the health cost of managing one such bomb blast victim. Methods We conducted a retrospective study in one hospital in each of eight states (Borno, Plateau, Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe, Niger, Kaduna and Kano) during 2010–2012 using a cluster sampling method, selecting 50 victims of bomb blast per state. We obtained data from hospital intake billing registers. Results The following costs reflect the range of in-patient hospital costs only. They do not include follow up treatment, rehabilitation, or mental health counselling. Hospital stays ranged from 4–8 weeks per person. 1. Borno State: 700USD–2000USD 2. Plateau State: 750USD–3500USD 3. Bauchi State: 720USD–3000USD 4. Yobe State: 700USD–3150USD 5. Gombe State: 730USD–3350USD 6. Niger State: 710USD–3450USD 7. Kaduna State: 800USD–3750USD 8. Kano State: 850USD–4000USD Conclusion and Significance The relevance of this pilot study in identifying the cost of managing injuries of one bomb blast victim exposes an enormous diversion of scare healthcare resources from the care of between 10–57 people based on current Nigerian health expenditures per capita. There is an urgent need to prevent violence from these terrorists.