This thesis contributes to an understanding of how gender norms shape HIV / AIDS
risk perception, but importantly, the responsive actions taken by men and women to
reduce noted risks. Data was gathered in mid-2008 in Cabo Delgado Mozambique
and consisted of 16 participatory group discussions to better understand local norms
and HIV / AIDS risk determinants and 29 in-depth interviews to explore how gender
views interface with risk reduction efforts. The theory of triadic influence and gender
and power theory were used in the conceptual framework to guide the research in
terms of the factors that influence risk across a multitude of levels.
The findings are based on three key social situations where HIV / AIDS risk was
deemed high by respondents and where the interplay of gender norms between men
and women could be analysed in greater detail: 1) partner behaviour; 2) marriage and
3) the exchange of sex for resources. Men and women who actively take measures to
decrease the threat of HIV / AIDS do so in a context of often repressive gender norms,
however, the decision to engage in risk reduction behaviour is also based on other
factors including an assessment of risk, various level of influence from family or
peers, prior experience, relationship dynamics and a reflection of broader personal
outcomes. The findings demonstrated that the move towards more gender balanced
relationships and norms, while essential for reducing HIV / AIDS disparities in
prevalence rates and risk, are not a precondition for the employment of HIV / AIDS
risk reduction strategies. Efforts however, should continue to promote gender
equality in its own right as well as to help reduce HIV / AIDS risk among men and
women. Programmes should simultaneously build on local gender dynamics and
norms and incorporate strategies already being used by men and women to reduce
HIV / AIDS risk into interventions and policies.


In wireless networks, due to the broadcast property of the medium, nodes close to each other cannot simultaneously transmit over the same channel. One way to overcome this limitation is to use multiple independent channels available in the system. Although we can use a single wireless interface card to access multiple channels, such schemes can raise issues of compatibility (e.g., modification of the MAC protocol) and performance degradation (e.g., due to frequent channel switching). In this paper, we assume that nodes are equipped with multiple interface cards, and focus on the channel assignment problem for minimizing the total number of interferences among wireless links. We show that the problem is NP-hard and present distributed heuristics. We also present two centralized algorithms and show that the algorithms give constant factor approximation guarantees. We perform simulation experiments for the proposed distributed heuristic. The results show that compared to one-channel scenarios, our proposed algorithm can reduce the number of interferences by up to 85% when nodes are equipped with four interface cards. Through detailed packetlevel simulation experiments, we also show that depending on the scenario, the resulting channel assignment actually achieves up to seven times throughput improvement over the single-channel case.


John Edwin ('Jack') Harris (1932–2009) was a metallurgist, born in Monmouthshire and trained at Birmingham University. His principal research interests were in the fields of creep, creep fracture, vacancy flow and oxidation-induced stress. Working for the Central Electricity Generating Board at Berkeley Nuclear Laboratories, he led a team that pointed the way to significant improvements in nuclear fuel endurance. This permitted a near-doubling of the energy extracted from 'Magnox' reactor fuel, for which he received the Royal Society's Esso Gold Medal for Energy Conservation in 1979. After retirement from the electricity supply industry in 1990 he turned increasingly to popular science writing, publishing hundreds of articles in Materials World, New Scientist, Science and Public Affairs and Physics World, among others. These beautifully written pieces reflected his wide range of interests, covering subjects such as nuclear power, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, environmental issues, the decline of UK research, art appreciation and penal reform. Often they displayed his keen eye for curious facts and the ironies and vagaries of life.


Secure authentication and authorization within Facebook's infrastructure play important roles in protecting people using Facebook's services. Enforcing security while maintaining a flexible and performant infrastructure can be challenging at Facebook's scale, especially in the presence of varying layers of trust among our servers. Providing authentication and encryption on a per-connection basis is certainly necessary, but also insufficient for securing more complex flows involving multiple services or intermediaries at lower levels of trust. To handle these more complicated scenarios, we have developed two token-based mechanisms for authentication. The first type is based on certificates and allows for flexible verification due to its public-key nature. The second type, known as "crypto auth tokens", is symmetric-key based, and hence more restrictive, but also much more scalable to a high volume of requests. Crypto auth tokens rely on pseudorandom functions to generate independently-distributed keys for distinct identities. Finally, we provide (mock) examples which illustrate how both of our token primitives can be used to authenticate real-world flows within our infrastructure, and how a token-based approach to authentication can be used to handle security more broadly in other infrastructures which have strict performance requirements and where relying on TLS alone is not enough.


Disturbances like forest fires, tree falls or hurricanes are natural and essential processes in ecosystems [1,2]. Their initially catastrophic impacts are followed by beneficial effects on biodiversity [3,4] which is increasingly recognized to be fundamental in ecosystem functioning [5]. Recently, iceberg scouring of the Antarctica seabed has been identified as another important disturbance agent [6]. This finding is inconsistent with the paradigm that high benthic diversity on the deep Antarctic shelf [7] is primarily caused by long-lasting environmental stability.Here we show how iceberg scouring significantly shapes megabenthic structures. Sea-bed video-strips from the Weddell Sea provide evidence that at a local scale between 1 and 100 m, undisturbed glass sponge habitats were more diverse than disturbed ones. However, the increase in habitat heterogeneity caused by iceberg scouring enhanced species diversity at a regional scale (1-100 km). The recolonization seems to be highly variability and barely predictable in terms of time and species composition. Consequently, the Intermediate-Disturbance Hypothesis assuming the existence of competitive displacement at small spatial scales [4] can not be confirmed. Instead the coexistence of different successional stages generally described by the Patch-Dynamics Concept [2] leads to high benthic diversity in Antarctica.


Global eLearning is the first and only refereed chronicle of its kind in the world:  1) international in scope and purpose,  2) available online, 3) sponsored by IMS, an international organization focused exclusively on digital learning, and 4) MERLOT (Multimedia Educational Resource for Teaching and Online Learning), an international community of peer reviewed online teaching and learning materials.  Research papers published in the chronicle are clearly and firmly rooted in solid methodologies, whether quantitative or qualitative. Practitioner based articles and reflections are also solicited. The primary purpose of the chronicle is the provision of an international forum for the discussion of issues guiding, impacting, and transforming digital innovation and globalization at the local, national, or international level. Pioneering analysis reflecting innovation, research, practice, or reflection from the field is solicited. All submissions to the Global eLearning Journal are subjected to a double blind review selection process.  Scholars, administrators, policymakers, educators, and students who wish to shape the future of Global eLearning in Higher Education are encouraged to submit manuscripts. The Global eLearning Journal is listed in Cabell's Directories see the attached document: Cabell Directories – Global e-Learning Journal, The


Barbershops are considered as public places and can contribute to the transmission of many diseases. In this study, samples were obtained from a total of 18 barbershops in Kamyaran, Iran, to evaluate the type of bacterial and fungal contaminations. Sampling was carried out through sterile swab in both blood agar and Saborad Dextrose agar mediums. After identification of the bacteria through biochemical tests and determining their count, the relationship between type and amount of contaminations and several other factors were examined through statistical tests. a total of 6 bacterial species including gr- Bacilli, gr+ cocci, Micrrococcus, Staphylococcus, and gr+ Bacilli and 7 fungi species including Cladosporium, Trichophyton, Mucor, Aspergilus, Candida, Penicilium, Rhizopus were isolated and identified. Staphylococcus with a frequency of 29.6% and Aspergilus fungi with a frequency of 26.5% were the most frequent bacterial and fungal colonies, respectively.


Outdoor educators, nature-based tourism guides and private recreationalists make use
of wilderness river areas for extended journeys. The justification for running such
trips commonly involves the potential 'experience' that it affords participants. Yet
the experiences themselves are often unique, individual and difficult to describe.
While 'the experience' is commonly used as a justification for such journeys,
experience itself does not always appear to be well understood or easily articulated.
This research project explores participant descriptions of meaningful experiences on
a wilderness river journey, in order to answer the questions 'what forms of
meaningful experiences might occur on a wilderness river journey?', 'what
components of the journey facilitate those meaningful experiences?', 'what is the
role of the wilderness landscape itself in facilitating those experiences?', and 'what is
the potential value of meaningful wilderness experiences subsequent upon returning
to everyday life?'. The research uses a phenomenological approach to elucidate
individual perceptions of meaningful experiences, and then combines the
recollections to reveal the commonalities within those experiences. Using interviews,
journals, observations and follow-up emails from 32 participants on eight Franklin
River (ten day) trips, the project moves from the individual to the collective, to
identify and describe the qualities and essences of meaningful experiences on a
wilderness river journey.
The research identifies two recurrent key 'streams of experience'. These involve a
feeling of humility and being alive to the present. By interrogating the thematic
structure of participant descriptions surrounding these two streams of experience,
invariant structures are revealed. These invariant structures further provide the
opportunity to refocus on individual participant descriptions, and illuminate the
essential qualities of the phenomena described.
It is argued that by understanding potentially meaningful experiences on a wilderness
river journey, outdoor educators, commercial guides and facilitators will be better
able to make use of surrounding environs to facilitate such experiences. There is a
focus on the unique elements of the wilderness river journey that, in this research,
contributed to the unique experiences which participants valued as meaningful.


Protective systems that are simultaneously hard to puncture and compliant in flexion are desirable, but difficult to achieve because hard materials are usually stiff. However, we can overcome this conflicting design requirement by combining plates of a hard material with a softer substrate, and a strategy which is widely found in natural armors such as fish scales or osteoderms. Man-made segmented armors have a long history, but their systematic implementation in a modern and a protective system is still hampered by a limited understanding of the mechanics and the design of optimization guidelines, and by challenges in cost-efficient manufacturing. This study addresses these limitations with a flexible bioinspired armor based on overlapping ceramic scales. The fabrication combines laser engraving and a stretch-and-release method which allows for fine tuning of the size and overlap of the scales, and which is suitable for large scale fabrication. Compared to a continuous layer of uniform ceramic, our fish-scale like armor is not only more flexible, but it is also more resistant to puncture and more damage tolerant. The proposed armor is also about ten times more puncture resistant than soft elastomers, making it a very attractive alternative to traditional protective equipment.


The exchange of information between researchers, resource managers, decision makers, and the general public has long been recognized as a critical need in environmental science. We examine the challenges in using ecological knowledge to inform society and to change societal actions, and identify a set of options and strategies to enhance this exchange. Our objectives are to provide background information on societal knowledge and interest in science and environmental issues, to describe how different components of society obtain information and develop their interests and values, and to present a framework for evaluating and improving communication between science and society. Our analysis strongly suggests that the interface between science and society can only be improved with renewed dedication to public outreach and a wholesale reconsideration of the way that scientists communicate with society. Ecologists need to adopt new models of engagement with their audiences, frame their results in ways that ar...


The estuarine dynamics of the periodically-stratified Marsdiep basin are investigatedthrough a broad range of observations and numerical model simulations.Spatial surveys and long-term point measurements of velocity, salinity, temperature,density and turbulence production and dissipation are complementedwith a 1-D water column model (GOTM) and simulations of the western DutchWadden Sea (GETM/GOTM). This thesis aims at providing a better understandingof the factors and mechanisms that determine the vertical structure of velocityin the Marsdiep basin.The spatial surveys show that the amplitude of the tidal currents in theMarsdiep basin is characterized by a great spatial variability as a result of thelarge variations in water depth. The tidal amplitude is proportional to the waterdepth, if smaller than approximately 15 m, due to the effect of bed frictionon the flow. The tidal amplitude remains relatively uniform for greaterwater depths, but the fortnightly modulation is markedly greater for these waterdepths. Therefore, the lateral shears in along-stream velocity increase fromneap to spring tide, and hence differential advection increases.In the Marsdiep basin, the tidal wave is distorted as a result of the tidebathymetryinteraction. In the ebb-dominant section of the Marsdiep basin,where most measurements are conducted, the tidal wave is characterized bygreater peak ebb than flood currents. Furthermore, the late flood phase consistsof a long period of small currents, whereas the late ebb remains subjectto large currents. The ebb current increases from neap to spring tide, whereasthe flood current remains relatively constant. The tidal distortion has a considerableimpact on the estuarine hydrodynamics.The vertical structure of the along-stream current in the main tidal channel,the Texelstroom, is modified by the ebb-flood asymmetry in bed frictionand by vertical stratification, which produce vertical profiles uncommon forstandard periodically-stratified estuaries. Generally, the superposition of thebarotropic and baroclinic pressure gradients creates vertical profiles with thenear-bed (near-surface) vertical shears in along-stream velocity greatest duringflood (ebb). In the Texelstroom, the near-bed shears are greatest duringebb due to the presence of asymmetric drag induced by the surrounding bathymetry.The large spatial variations in water depth and the variable distributionof bedforms implies that large spatial differences in drag coefficient are presentin the Marsdiep basin. A uniform profile is present in the upper part of the watercolumn during ebb, because the large ebb currents inhibit the generation ofxixii SUMMA RYvertical stratification by classical tidal straining, which generally enhances thevertical shears in the upper part of the water column.On the contrary, vertical stratification is observed during late flood, generatedby cross-stream tidal straining and differential advection. The vertical stratificationduring late flood persists because the small currents are not able to destroythe stratification. The vertical stratification dampens the vertical exchangeof momentum, which creates a mid-depth maximum in along-stream velocity.The mid-depth velocity maximum is characterized by negative vertical shearsin along-stream velocity in the upper part of the water column, which produceinternally-generated turbulence.A classical estuarine circulation is observed despite the absence of the classicaltidal straining circulation and the occurrence of flood vertical stratification,scaling well with the Simpson number. The observed estuarine circulationis characterized by great seasonal variability and is superimposed on a depthaveragedresidual current. The latter is forced by tide-bathymetry interactionand by remote wind effect. The strength of the estuarine circulation is primarilydetermined by the magnitude of the baroclinic pressure gradient and is lessdependent on tidal amplitude. The increase in tidal amplitude, and associatedmaximum vertical mixing, from neap to spring tide is less important for the stabilityof the water column, because well-mixed conditions are already presentduring peak ebb and flood of neap tide. The data suggest that the estuarine circulationis primarily generated by a non-steady gravitational circulation duringthe long period of small currents from late flood to slack before ebb, which isfurther enhanced by increased shears related to the presence of vertical stratification.The estuarine circulation increases with increased tidal mixing, i.e. fromneap to spring tide, which contrasts typical tidal straining estuaries. The increasein cross-stream tidal straining and differential advection towards springtide promotes the generation of vertical stratification during late flood, whichenhances the strength of the estuarine circulation during spring tide.Furthermore, an ebb-dominant asymmetry in lateral advection is observed inthe Marsdiep basin, which acts to reduce the strength of the estuarine circulationfor along-stream salinity gradients greater than 2.5*10?4 psu/m. The observationssuggest that the strength of the classical estuarine circulation in theperiodically-stratified Marsdiep basin is primarily determined by the durationof the period of weak vertical mixing during late flood, the flood stratificationand the strength of the baroclinic pressure gradient.Turbulence dynamics in the Marsdiep basin varies on an intra- and inter-tidaltimescale and influences the estuarine dynamics in a variety of ways. The magnitudeof bed-generated turbulence is proportional to the strength of the tidalcurrent. Therefore, the largest turbulence production is observed during peakebb. Consequently, the bottom boundary layer persists over the entire watercolumn during most of ebb, whereas it only covers the lower 8 to 12 m of theSUMMA RY xiiiwater column during late flood, only covering the entire water column duringpeak flood. Surprisingly, bed-generated turbulence is not the only source of turbulence.Internal shears in cross-stream velocity during late flood and peak ebbcontribute between 30 and 50 percent to the total turbulent kinetic energy production.The total production approximately balances turbulent kinetic energydissipation, but only when the cross-stream component is included.The presence of vertical stratification during late flood and early ebb createsa hysteresis effect in total production: values are smaller during late floodand early ebb, when the water column is weakly-stratified, than during theopposite phases of the tide, when the water column is well-mixed. Therefore,flood stratification during late flood acts as a sink for turbulent energy, which iscommonly only observed during ebb. However, vertical stratification indirectlystimulates internal turbulence production by creating a mid-depth maximum inalong-stream velocity, which enhances the vertical shears in the water column.Summarizing, the Marsdiep basin is an estuary where a wide variety of estuarineprocesses occur, which all contribute to the vertical structure of velocity.The estuarine circulation is characterized by a highly non-steady behavior asa result of the great temporal variability in current speed and in vertical stratification.The tidal current strength, bed friction and the density gradients remainthe most important underlying factors that drive the hydrodynamics inthe periodically-stratified Marsdiep basin, despite the plentiful deviations fromstandard textbook estuaries.


Background: Fucoidan is a natural sulfated polysaccharide which exists mainly in the cell wall matrix of various species of brown seaweed. Various forms of fucoidan have also been recognized in some marine invertebrates such as sea urchins and sea cucumbers.Fucoidan inhibits the spread of cancerous cells by preventing the adhesion of tumor cells to the extracellular matrix in addition to inducing apoptosis, or programmed self-destruction, in human T-cells infected by T-cells leukemia virus type I (HTLV-1) which causes adult T-cell leukemia. The polysaccharide has also been shown to stimulate the phagocytic action of macrophages and synthesis of several immune cell types, which increases protection against infection. Fucoidan gives the immune system a big boost by enhancing phagocytosis. Additionally, it increases the number of mature white blood cells which are circulating in the body, thereby bolstering the first line of defense against infections and diseases.Moreover, fucoidan has anti-coagulant, anti-thrombotic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-allergic, anti-tumor properties and also many others.Methods and Results: In this study, we investigated whether fucoidan is able to alleviate the vascular remodeling process triggered by immunological stimuli in rat allogenic aorta transplantation model, in addition to the evaluated potential mechanisms responsible for the observed effects. Our rat aorta transplantation model was subjected to intraperitoneal or oral treatment with fucoidan or placebo. The results of our study demonstrated that fucoidan inhibits endointimal hyperplasia formation and vascular modulation. In particular, intraperitoneal and oral administration of fucoidan reduced neointima formation in allografts retrieved 8 weeks after transplantation. Moreover, both treatments with fucoidan reduced the number of smooth muscle (SM) a-actin positive cells in intima and adventitia, decreased percentage of macrophages in intima and media, and increased the number of leukocytes in media of the allografts. Fucoidan treatments have also caused reduction in apoptosis in allograft intima and media.Conclusion: Through our study, we demonstrated the inhibitory effect of fucoidan on vascular remodeling in transplant vasculopathy within rats. Our study is the first report of the beneficial effects of fucoidan oral administration on this process, which may have important clinical implications and result in a better understanding of vascular remodeling. Keywords: fucoidan, transplant vasculopathy, vascular remodeling


This thesis investigates Learning Classifier System architectures for decision making in continuous-valued domains. The information contained in continuous-valued domains is not always conveniently expressed using the ternary representation typically used by Learning Classifier Systems and an interval-based representation is a natural choice. Two intervalbased representations recently proposed are analysed, together with their associated operators. Evidence of considerable representational and operator bias is found. A new interval-based representation is proposed that is more straightforward than the previous ones and its bias is analysed. Learning Classifier Systems are compared for online environments that consist of real-valued states and which require every action made by the agent to count towards its performance. Two Learning Classifier System architectures are considered, XCS and ZCS. An interval representation is used for the rule conditions and a roulette wheel is used for action selection. The performance of these two Learning Classifier System architectures is investigated on a set of abstract environments with both deterministic and stochastic reward functions. Although XCS clearly delivers superior performance in the deterministic environments tested, the simple ZCS architecture is found to be robust and able to equal or exceed the performance of XCS in the stochastic environments tested, especially those with more demanding characteristics. Aspects of the algorithm and parameter set of ZCS are studied on problems with real-valued states and a Boolean action space. Increased performance is found to result from the use of an update algorithm based on that of NewBoole, an earlier strength-based Learning Classifier System. A new operator, specialize, is introduced and found to be effective in combatting over general classifiers. The modified algorithm and parameter set is tested on several variants of three real-valued test problems. The resulting Learning Classifier System is applied to simulated Foreign Exchange trading using an experimental setup and data previously presented in the literature. Results show that a simple Learning Classifier System is able to achieve a positive excess return in simulated trading.


Discrimination is a central moral and legal concept. However, it is also a contested one. Particularly, accounts of the wrongness of discrimination often rely on controversial and particular assumptions. In this paper, I argue that a theory of discrimination that relies on premises that are very general (rather than unique to the concept of discrimination) and widely accepted provides a plausible (exhaustive) account of the concept of wrongful discrimination. According to the combined theory, wrongful discrimination consists of allocating a benefit that is not supported by a morally significant fact (a valid reason), or in a way that involves distributive injustice, or both.


Food and nutrition insecurity are becoming increasingly concentrated in conflict-affected countries, affecting millions of people. Policies and interventions that build resilience to these shocks have the power to not only limit the breadth and depth of conflict and violence around the world, but also strengthen national-level governance systems and institutions.


Although many healthcare back office functions and support services are now available to both medical practitioners and patients, the field is yet to embark upon any significant medical online system that facilitates the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients via an on-line system. This paper proposes an online medical system that will enable patients to interact with medical practitioners in medical consultation, diagnosis, and treatment. The medical system provides a virtual environment for patients, practitioners and medical staff to interact. We outline the functional components of the medical system and describe the technologies applied to support an interactive experience. Several patient scenarios are used to describe how this system functions including general practitioner consultation, a medical specialist visit, and support for emergency services via mobile devices. The benefits of the proposed system are also contrasted with several existing medical expert systems. Given the growth and use of on-line systems and recent trends to deploy high bandwidth communication infrastructure (such as the National Broadband Network), the opportunity exists to deploy new medical systems that provide healthcare to all people in both local and remote communities.


Cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes constitute a multigene family of many endogenous and xenobiotic substances. The CYP1 family is of particular interest in environmental toxicology because its members are dominant in the metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and aryl amines. A new complementary DNA of the CYP1C subfamily encoding CYP1C1 was isolated from carp liver after intraperitoneal injection of beta-napthoflavone (BNF). The full-length cDNA obtained contained a 5' noncoding region of 244 bp, an open reading frame of 1572 bp coding for 524 amino acids, a stop codon, and a 3' noncoding region of 965 bp. The predicted molecular weight of the protein was approximately 59.3 kDa. The deduced amino acid sequence of this cDNA was 82.1% and 80.2% similar to Japanese eel and scup CYP1C1 sequences, respectively, while it exhibited a similarity of 74.9% with the scup CYP1C2 sequence. The deduced amino acid sequence of carp CYP1C1 showed similarities with those of the reported CYP1B1s of teleosts and mammals of 48.4, 48.8, 48.2, 48.6, 45.3, and 45.5% for carp CYP1B1, carp CYP1B2, plaice CYP1B1, and human, rat, and mouse CYP1B1, respectively. The phylogenetic tree constructed using fish and mammalian CYP1 sequences suggested a closer relationship of the CYP1C subfamily to CYP1B than to CYP1A. The tree showed the possibility of the existence of CYP1C subfamily genes in mammalian species. Northern blot analysis for the liver, intestine, gills, and kidney showed no detectable induced expression but constitutive expression in the gill organs.


Focused on protecting a few The illegal ivory trade threatens the persistence of stable wild elephant populations. The underground and covert nature of poaching makes it difficult to police. Wasser et al. used genetic tools to identify the origins of elephant tusks seized during transit (see the Perspective by Hoelzel). The majority of source animals were part of just a few wild elephant populations in Africa—and just two areas since 2006. Increased focus on enforcement in a few such areas could help interrupt poaching activities and restore wild elephant populations. Science, this issue p. 84; see also p. 34 Tracing the origins of elephant ivory pinpoints two major poaching areas. [Also see Perspective by Hoelzel] Poaching of elephants is now occurring at rates that threaten African populations with extinction. Identifying the number and location of Africa's major poaching hotspots may assist efforts to end poaching and facilitate recovery of elephant populations. We genetically assign origin to 28 large ivory seizures (≥0.5 metric tons) made between 1996 and 2014, also testing assignment accuracy. Results suggest that the major poaching hotspots in Africa may be currently concentrated in as few as two areas. Increasing law enforcement in these two hotspots could help curtail future elephant losses across Africa and disrupt this organized transnational crime.


Summary We review the conservation status of, and threats to, all 346 species of seabirds, based on BirdLife International's data and assessments for the 2010 IUCN Red List. We show that overall, seabirds are more threatened than other comparable groups of birds and that their status has deteriorated faster over recent decades. The principal current threats at sea are posed by commercial fisheries (through competition and mortality on fishing gear) and pollution, whereas on land, alien invasive predators, habitat degradation and human disturbance are the main threats. Direct exploitation remains a problem for some species both at sea and ashore. The priority actions needed involve: a) formal and effective site protection, especially for Important Bird Area (IBA) breeding sites and for marine IBA feeding and aggregation sites, as part of national, regional and global networks of Marine Protected Areas; b) removal of invasive, especially predatory, alien species (a list of priority sites is provided), as part of habitat and species recovery initiatives; and c) reduction of bycatch to negligible levels, as part of comprehensive implementation of ecosystem approaches to fisheries. The main knowledge gaps and research priorities relate to the three topics above but new work is needed on impacts of aquaculture, energy generation operations and climate change (especially effects on the distribution of prey species and rise in sea level). We summarise the relevant national and international jurisdictional responsibilities, especially in relation to endemic and globally threatened species.


The 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (the Declaration) has gained increasing attention as a tool for promoting Indigenous rights. The study reported in this article contributes to the discussion about the Declaration's effectiveness by analysing its role in advancing Indigenous peoples' self-determination. A qualitative case study was conducted between January and February 2018 with 18 Māori activists in Aotearoa New Zealand, using a rights-based and Indigenous-based approach to form the analytical framework. Principal findings indicate that the power imbalance in Aotearoa and weak responsiveness by government to Māori rights undermine their self-determination. The Declaration can help bridge this imbalance by providing norms and standards to hold government accountable. This article also provides new scholarship on how and why Indigenous activists utilise rights-based and Indigenous-based approaches, finding that no single approach or advocacy method is used alone and that Māori deftly combine the Declaration with Indigenous methods of activism to enhance their self-determination.


The fertility of a wheat male sterile line 337S was investigated in 4 consecutive years with 18 different sowing dates. Line 337S showed high sterility under both short daylength/low temperature and long daylength/high temperature during ear development. It has 2 time windows to be used as a male sterile line for hybrid seed production. Its fertility rate can be >50% with suitable sowing time; thus, it can be self-maintained as a male sterile line. Line 337S was reciprocally crossed with 7 common wheat varieties and the fertility of their F1, F2, and BC1 hybrids was investigated at different sowing dates. The results showed that recessive nuclear genes controlled male sterility in 337S and no cytoplasmic effect was observed. All common wheat varieties were able to restore its fertility. The male sterility was controlled by a pair of recessive genes under short daylength/low temperature, but was governed by 2 pairs of recessive genes under long daylength/high temperature. This novel male sterile line provides a new tool for using heterosis in wheat.


From the beginning of the artificial intelligence there was a desire of having a fully automated intelligent car. Numbers of experiments have been done and some of them were very much fruitful. As a result now we have intelligent smart cars. These cars are intelligent and can take some of the decision of their own. But they actually assist the driver for a limited amount of time. None of them are fully automated. We think a fully automated transportation can only be possible by having a combination of intelligent car and traffic system as well the environment like road on which the car actually moves. In this paper we have tried to discuss a new idea for an autonomous transportation systema complete solution.


The author uses lacanian concepts in order to review important clinical situations that stand out during adolescence such as being enamored and the love/hate relationship. Adolescent temporality is brought to light with the three logical times elaborated by J. Lacan, including the adult's repetition of phases of love that reinitiate the cycle of adolescent problematics. This juvenile phase is also a period of transmission.


Extracted from text ... V
Creating the modern firm:
management and leadership
challenges
Very few companies successfully develop
a winning strategy and an exceptional organisation.
Doing so is fundamentally a
creative act that requires both the analytical
problem solving that characterises
management and the vision, communication
and persuasion that are essential features
of leadership.
For success, the elements for the firm's
strategy and organisation must be aligned
with one another and must fit the environment
in which it operates. This need
for alignment and fit, combined with the
many interdependencies among the elements
of the strategy and organisational
design means the strategy and ..


Travel behaviours were examined following the earthquake of 6.8 magnitude in Gisborne, New Zealand, on 20 December 2007. Surveys were returned from 438 households detailing their travel and information-seeking immediately after the earthquake. Although 85% of people experienced the earthquake at home, a volume of traffic that approximated peak weekday conditions was generated within an hour of the event. Within three hours of the event 37% of people had travelled. People away from their home were five times more likely to travel than those at home. Nearly all trips were undertaken in motor vehicles. Official warning not to travel long trip distances, dangerous conditions and the possibility of traffic jams did not decrease the likelihood of travel. People stayed at home only if they had no reason to travel. People initially travelled to meet other people and assess property damage. The findings support the use of simulation in disaster research.


This Special Issue includes reviews of crucial issues in current Cognitive Gerontology, and accounts of recent empirical work. Susan Kemper, Shannon Rash, Donna Kynette and Suzanne Norman describe the structure of Adult Narratives, Jerker Ronnberg describes research on Cognitive and Communicative Function: The Effect of Chronological Age and "Handicap Age". Gillian Cohen describes investigations of Age Differences in Recognition and Retrieval of Proper Names in terms of Anderson's "Fan Effect" and Elizabeth Stine and Arthur Wingfield discuss how much Working Memory deficits contribute to Age Differences in Discourse Memory. There are reviews of Age Differences in Attentional Selectivity and Capacity by David Madden, and a critique of Age Associated Memory Impairment by T John Rohsen.


Abstract The extended family household, in which multiple generations or married siblings of a family live together, is common in developing countries. We conducted a series of public goods experiments in such households in five villages in rural North India to shed light on decision-making efficiency within this household structure. In this experiment, we offered household members the choice to receive either a lower amount over which they have private control or a higher payout that becomes a common resource. We measure efficiency as the degree to which individuals are willing to forego personal rewards for larger, collective rewards. We find that relationships within extended households are not equally efficient, with the relationship between the daughter-in-law and mother-in-law particularly problematic. Supplementary survey and qualitative evidence points to the role of decision-making power, with young, married women lacking the power to assert their preferences in extended households and resorting to actions that reduce the overall efficiency of the household.


Purpose: Discovery of SNPs that predict a patient's risk of docetaxel-induced neuropathy would enable treatment individualization to maximize efficacy and avoid unnecessary toxicity. The objectives of this analysis were to discover SNPs associated with docetaxel-induced neuropathy and mechanistically validate these associations in preclinical models of drug-induced neuropathy. Experimental Design: A genome-wide association study was conducted in metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer patients treated with docetaxel, prednisone and randomized to bevacizumab or placebo on CALGB 90401. SNPs were genotyped on the Illumina HumanHap610-Quad platform followed by rigorous quality control. The inference was conducted on the cumulative dose at occurrence of grade 3+ sensory neuropathy using a cause-specific hazard model that accounted for early treatment discontinuation. Genes with SNPs significantly associated with neuropathy were knocked down in cellular and mouse models of drug-induced neuropathy. Results: A total of 498,081 SNPs were analyzed in 623 Caucasian patients, 50 (8%) of whom experienced grade 3+ neuropathy. The 1,000 SNPs most associated with neuropathy clustered in relevant pathways including neuropathic pain and axonal guidance. An SNP in VAC14 (rs875858) surpassed genome-wide significance (P = 2.12 × 10−8, adjusted P = 5.88 × 10−7). siRNA knockdown of VAC14 in stem cell–derived peripheral neuronal cells increased docetaxel sensitivity as measured by decreased neurite processes (P = 0.0015) and branches (P < 0.0001). Prior to docetaxel treatment, VAC14 heterozygous mice had greater nociceptive sensitivity than wild-type litter mate controls (P = 0.001). Conclusions: VAC14 should be prioritized for further validation of its potential role as a predictor of docetaxel-induced neuropathy and biomarker for treatment individualization. Clin Cancer Res; 22(19); 4890–900. ©2016 AACR.


Due to global warming and hydrocarbon exploration in the Arctic areas, there is an increasing maritime activity in ice infested waters. Today one can with good accuracy predict if a vessel will be able to survive an encounter with ice of a given thickness, but the knowledge is not good enough to predict the increased fuel cost for ice navigation. This thesis has investigated the validity of two analytical formulations for ice resistance in Arctic areas. The formulations are based on full-scale ice trials in the Finnish-Swedish waters, which have lower salinity and warmer climate than the Arctic areas. This is done by comparing the resistance estimated from onboard measurements of vessel speed, ice thickness and engine power with the estimates from the analytical formulations. The ratio between the two is investigated using statistical tools. While most of the data have too much variation for any conclusions to be made, some time sequences without large variation in the resistance has been identified. Analysis from these sequences indicate that the formulation presented by Riska et al. (1997) appears to be able to describe the speed dependency of ice resistance in the Arctic, but is inaccurate when describing the ice thickness dependence. The formulation presented by Lindqvist (1989) is found to be inaccurate when describing both ice thickness and speed dependency. It is unclear whether the source of inaccuracy comes from incorrect ice property values or if the formulations have been used outside their area of application (both are based on ice trials in the Baltic Sea).


Abstract. A selection of twenty-two Hubble Space Telescope images of Saturn's ultraviolet auroras obtained during 1997–2004 has been analysed to determine the median location and width of the auroral oval, and their variability. Limitations of coverage restrict the analysis to the southern hemisphere, and to local times from the post-midnight sector to just past dusk, via dawn and noon. It is found that the overall median location of the poleward and equatorward boundaries of the oval with respect to the southern pole are at ~14° and ~16° co-latitude, respectively, with a median latitudinal width of ~2°. These median values vary only modestly with local time around the oval, though the poleward boundary moves closer to the pole near noon (~12.5°) such that the oval is wider in that sector (median width ~3.5°) than it is at both dawn and dusk (~1.5°). It is also shown that the position of the auroral boundaries at Saturn are extremely variable, the poleward boundary being located between 2° and 20° co-latitude, and the equatorward boundary between 6° and 23°, this variability contrasting sharply with the essentially fixed location of the main oval at Jupiter. Comparison with Voyager plasma angular velocity data mapped magnetically from the equatorial magnetosphere into the southern ionosphere indicates that the dayside aurora lie poleward of the main upward-directed field-aligned current region associated with corotation enforcement, which maps to ~20°–24° co-latitude, while agreeing reasonably with the position of the open-closed field line boundary based on estimates of the open flux in Saturn's tail, located between ~11° and ~15°. In this case, the variability in location can be understood in terms of changes in the open flux present in the system, the changes implied by the Saturn data then matching those observed at Earth as fractions of the total planetary flux. We infer that the broad (few degrees) diffuse auroral emissions and sub-corotating auroral patches observed in the dayside sector at Saturn result from precipitation from hot plasma sub-corotating in the outer magnetosphere in a layer a few Saturn radii wide adjacent to the magnetopause, probably having been injected either by Dungey-cycle or Vasyliunas-cycle dynamics on the nightside.


Study Design. Qualitative research using semistructured interviews. Objective. To explore, from a patient perspective, factors influencing a patient's decision-making process and the decision to have surgery for lumbar disc herniation. Summary of Background Data. Since strong evidence favoring surgical over nonsurgical treatment is lacking and firm guidelines regarding the optimal timing of surgery are not available, it is essential to involve patients in the decision-making process. Thus the elements that might affect the decision-making process and the decision to have surgery must be identified. Methods. Using a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach, 14 patients who were referred for primary surgery for lumbar disc herniation were interviewed. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a meaning-condensation method to identify themes influencing a patient's decision-making process and the decision to have surgery for lumbar disc herniation. Results. Four main themes that could directly or indirectly influence the patients' decision-making process were identified: A) Patient information: patients' conceptions about treatment were not always based on sufficient information; B) Accelerated workflows: some patients needed time to process the information given, which may be limited due to accelerated workflows; C) Power imbalance: patients can be reluctant to challenge the system, as they do not want to offend, which can be seen as a power imbalance between clinicians and patients; and D) Personal past experience: experience, about treatment options from, i.e., close relatives, can impact patients thoughts about possible treatments. Conclusion. Several factors can influence patients' decision-making process and the decision itself: the amount and quality of information received as compared with their preconceived notions, the amount of time given to consider their decision, reluctance to challenge the system and offend the healthcare provider, and past personal experience. Understanding these complex factors will help clinicians to better support patients choosing between surgical and nonsurgical treatment for lumbar herniated disc. Level of Evidence: 5


&NA; Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are highly prevalent chronic obstructive lung diseases with an associated high burden of disease. Asthma, which is often allergic in origin, frequently begins in infancy or childhood with variable airflow obstruction and intermittent wheezing, cough, and dyspnea. Patients with COPD, in contrast, are usually current or former smokers who present after the age of 40 years with symptoms (often persistent) including dyspnea and a productive cough. On the basis of age and smoking history, it is often easy to distinguish between asthma and COPD. However, some patients have features compatible with both diseases. Because clinical studies typically exclude these patients, their underlying disease mechanisms and appropriate treatment remain largely uncertain. To explore the status of and opportunities for research in this area, the NHLBI, in partnership with the American Thoracic Society, convened a workshop of investigators in San Francisco, California on May 14, 2016. At the workshop, current understanding of asthma‐COPD overlap was discussed among clinicians, pathologists, radiologists, epidemiologists, and investigators with expertise in asthma and COPD. They considered knowledge gaps in our understanding of asthma‐COPD overlap and identified strategies and research priorities that will advance its understanding. This report summarizes those discussions.


Cobalamin (Cbl) utilization as an enzyme cofactor is dependent on its efficient transit through lysosomes to the cytosol and mitochondria. We have previously proposed that pathophysiological perturbations in lysosomal function may inhibit intracellular Cbl transport with consequences for down-stream metabolic pathways. In the current study we used both HT1080 fibroblasts and SH-SY5Y neurons to assess the impact that protease inhibitors, chloroquine and leupeptin, have on the distribution of [57Co] Cbl in lysosomes, mitochondria and cytosol. Under standard cell culture conditions the distribution of [57Co] Cbl in both neurons and fibroblasts was approximately 5% in lysosomes, 14% in mitochondria, and 81% in cytosol. Treatment of cells with either 25 mM chloroquine or 40 mM leupeptin for 48 h significantly increased the lysosomal [57Co] Cbl levels, by 4-fold in fibroblasts and 10-fold in neurons, and this was associated with reduced cytosolic and mitochondrial [57Co] Cbl concentrations. Based on western blotting of LAMP2 in fractions recovered from an OptiPrep density gradient, lysosomal Cbl trapping was associated with an expansion of the lysosomal compartment and an increase in a subpopulation of lysosomes with increased size and density. Moreover, the decreased mitochondrial Cbl that was associated with lysosomal Cbl trapping was correlated with decreased incorporation of [14C] propionate into cellular proteins / macromolecules, indicating an inhibition of Cbl-dependent methylmalonyl-coenzyme A mutase activity. These results add support to the idea that lysosomal dysfunction may significantly impact upon Cbl transport and utilization.


Open Educational Resources (OER) are available globally in many OER repositories. Since The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (http://web.mit.edu/) OpenCourseWare (OCW) initiative began, seven years have elapsed. Therefore it is time to consider and evaluate what has worked, why and how we can maximise on the design and redesign of OER for the benefit of learners and teachers. Open Learning Network (OLnet) is an outward facing and open research project, which started in March 2009. Based on lessons from experience and evidence worldwide, the initial aim of the project is to draw in existing OER and social networked communities to evaluate what types of OER have worked well in terms of learning and teaching. The project investigates the best ways to develop new OER and redesign existing OER for reuse. OLnet is funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and starts from a base of having a number of partners, to build upon over the three-year period of the project. Methods for developing Open Educational Resources (OER) have evolved from different initiatives and projects. The first part of this paper is a step towards exploring the challenges faced and opportunities gained from different approaches. The methods adopted by two OER projects OpenER and OpenLearn are considered. Although OER may be created with one audience in mind (Higher Education) they can be adopted and adapted by different age groups and those with a variety of prior learning experiences. The second part of the paper considers the potential and actual adoption of OER by the school and further education sector. Questions addressed regarding the potential of OER are as follows: - Could OER material fit into the present timetable of study? - Might institutions provide assessment for OER material? - How would material be assessed? - What policies and procedures would need to be used or changed to allow the adoption of OER material for assessment? - Might OER material be better suited to learning in cases of non-accreditation? Finally the paper discusses two examples of reuse: one of material from DigilessenVO and the other a contrasting example from OpenLearn.


There has been increasing debate about whether users of communication services should have an "any device" right, i.e. a right to attach devices of their choice to networks to which they subscribe. This debate coincides with a trend toward an "Internet of Things" in which users connect not only computers to the Internet, but also smartphones, set-top boxes, e-readers, tablets, wireless hotspots, navigation devices, wireless routers, hard drives, printers, and telephones.Currently, wide variation exists in a user's right to attach devices based on network technology. A user's legal ability to attach devices depends on whether the device is attached to a telephone network, video network, cellular network, or the Internet. Part 68 regulations allow attachment of non-harmful devices to telephone networks. Proposed AllVid regulations would allow users to choose navigation devices, but would also allow MVPDs to dictate proprietary adapters. Cellular providers exercise great control over both wireless devices and their functionality. The Open Internet order prohibits blocking of non-harmful devices on fixed broadband Internet access but not on mobile broadband Internet access.In this paper, we investigate whether this convergence of network technology will render useless current laws and regulations in the United States governing device attachment. First, we ask whether technology convergence will cause consumer expectations of various network services to merge. We suspect that users who would not accept an Internet Service Provider dictating what devices the subscriber could attach to their home network may view similar restrictions on set-top boxes or mobile devices with suspicion. To investigate this conjecture, we identify real world scenarios that challenge current U.S. communications law. These scenarios include: consumer choice of set-top boxes; access to MVPD video content through mobile devices; cellular handset certification, crippling and locking; wireless handset subsidization; cellular provider text message blocking; and device-based service plans and device tethering. We conclude that U.S. rules governing device attachment will become unsustainable as network technologies converge.Second, we review the technology underlying attachment and control of devices in telephone, video, and cellular networks and in the Internet. We find that technical differences alone do not justify the inconsistencies in regulation by silo. We further find that the technical differences reveal commonalities in user and provider interests in the use of each type of network.Third, we propose two sets of rights - one intended to protect users of communications networks, and another aimed at protecting providers of communications services – that could be used to unify inconsistent device attachment rules. We return to the real-world scenarios and discuss whether each of these service provider practices would be allowed under our proposed principles. We find that the proposed sets of rights can provide useful guidance in future development of a unified device attachment statute.Finally, we suggest areas for future research. Should a user be guaranteed the right to attach any non-harmful device? How do you define "harm"? Should a provider be able to require a subscriber to use a device supplied by the provider? If so, what functionality should such a mandated device be allowed to implement? Do users have an unfettered right to control their own devices? If so, how can a network provider ensure that all user devices can interoperate with the provider's network? Does reasonable network management require that a network provider control certain functionality of some user devices?


This paper presents a study into the influence of the Through-The-Thickness (T-T-T) binder yarn count on the fibre volume fraction (Vf), crimp and damage tolerance within 3D woven carbon fibre composites. Three fabrics were woven with varying binder yarn counts; the first had 1x12k binders, the second had 2x6k binders (two individual 6k tows laid on top of one another into the structure to form one tow) and the third had 1x6k binder tows. Dry fabric compress tests conducted on the three 3D woven fabrics showed that a power law can be successful utilised to predict Vf and identify the required pressure to achieve a specific Vf. All three fabrics achieved Vf's in the range of 45–47% however the 2x6k binder fabric had higher %CV's compared to the other fabrics. The degree of crimp within the three 3D woven fabrics was shown to be highest within the 1x12k binder fabric followed by the 1x6k binder fabric with the 2x6k binder fabric having the lowest percentage crimp. Compression after Impact (CAI) tests were conducted and showed that impact depth was significantly influenced by impact location on the T-T-T binders with impact depth differences up to 97% observed. It was shown that impact location and depth played no major role in the CAI strength of the composite. CAI strength was observed to be highest within the 2x6 k binder composite followed by the 1x6k binder composite with the 1x12k composite having the lowest CAI values.


An enigma for 30 years, a problem in Porro-prism lasers has now been solved by CSIR researchers by applying basic arguments of mathematical symmetry, together with new physical insight into intra-cavity Porro prisms. The mathematical optics team at the CSIR National Laser Centre concentrates on solving problems in the realms of optics and lasers by approaching problems with mathematical rigour, while recognising the importance of experimental verification. Topics currently studied include creating novel laser beams for biological trapping and tweezing (the technique of using a focused laser beam as an atom trap), propagation of laser beams through a turbulent atmosphere to improve telecommunications signals and creating new laser systems based on micro-optical elements.


A palaeomagnetic survey has been made of fluviatile red beds and lacustrine flagstones in the Orcadian Basin. The results from five facies are all different in important respects and this suggests that the palaeomagnetic history is strongly influenced by short-term and long-term diagenetic processes. Red beds from below the Caithness Flagstones retain much of their original magnetization, probably due to the protection of quartz cementation. Red beds from above the Caithness Flagstones have stable magnetizations but they are apparently random in direction. This is because these porous sandstones were not protected by extensive cementation and had a long history of magnetization due to the continuous penetration of oxidizing agents. The Caithness Flagstones had varied palaeomagnetic histories and demonstrate the importance of early diagenetic events. Siltstones and dolostones in the lower Caithness Flagstones are unstable due to the presence of normal and reversed components with similar blocking temperatures. The Achanarras Limestone, a carbonate laminite deposited under strongly reducing conditions, has a stable magnetization but this is of post-Palaeozoic age and there is no original magnetization preserved. Flagstones of the Spital Group in the upper Caithness Flagstones have stable magnetizations carried by authigenic pseudo single-domain (PSD) magnetite apparently produced during early diagenesis. Throughout the Caithness Flagstones both normal and reversed components are present in many individual specimens. This makes it extremely difficult to obtain palaeomagnetically 'clean' directions and casts doubt on the use of the Caithness Flagstones for precise palaeomagnetic work.


One of the main obstacles towards a more efficient management and sharing of agricultural knowledge is the lack of good standard-compliant tools whose adoption and maintenance is really sustainable. In particular, in the implementation of repositories, agricultural Institutions have often faced some common issues in the selection of appropriate software tools, like the need to integrate a repository search and browse interface with their website, the need to implement custom content models, or custom metadata models, and the need to be able to exchange information with other systems and participate in networks.
The proposed poster will describe AgriDrupal, a "suite of solutions" for agricultural information management and dissemination, with special functionalities for repository management, built on the Drupal Content Management System. These solutions are provided, discussed and tested by different Institutions and individuals who are sharing their experiences in the AgriDrupal community.
Besides being available as modular solutions for Drupal, AgriDrupal can also be delivered as a full-fledged information management and dissemination tool putting together the best solutions implemented by the members of the community. This tool can be considered a "reference demo package", it is not a software tool that the community maintains or gives assistance for: it is a normal Drupal installation with a customized configuration and special modules, and support for Drupal and its modules can be found directly in the Drupal community. This is one of the reasons why AgriDrupal is a sustainable project.
Indeed the focus of the project is on sustainability: beside minimizing maintenance issues by leaving the bulk of maintenance to the community of Drupal developers, the adoption of AgriDrupal does not involve writing code in house or contracting a company, it leverages the open source approach and the wide community behind the tool, therefore benefitting from continuous improvements and upgrades to the latest technological developments. In addition, the features are not just developed ad hoc: the tool allows to handle all common needs of information management and is easily customizable to specific needs: the definition of metadata models, display criteria and browse/search functionalities can be done through an administration panel, and consequently it doesn't require highly skilled IT capacities.

The AgriDrupal reference tool has advanced features for managing open access repositories in compliance with widely adopted library standards and the OAI-PMH protocol.
The document repository features include: a) a cataloguing interface that out of the box provides the most commonly used metadata elements in bibliographic databases, in particular those defined by the Agris Application Profile , but is easily extendable to include any other element; b) internal authority lists for authors (personal and corporate), journals and conferences; c) special input interface for subject indexing with the Agrovoc thesaurus; d) search and browse functionalities; e) exposure of records through the OAI-PMH protocol, implementing the Dublin Core metadata set; f) exposure of records also as RDF feed and XML file: the XML file is compliant with the above mentioned Agris AP, while RDF feeds can be customized in order to include properties from any vocabulary, thus making the repository fully interoperable - the use of Agrovoc URIs also linking it to a published Linked Open Data (LOD) triple store; g) extensible import and harvesting functionalities that also facilitate the exchange of information with other Institutions and the building of networks.
Since it can be very easily extended to manage any information type according to any metadata standard, AgriDrupal allows to easily integrate a document repository with a website and more in general with an integrated information system. The current 0.7.3 release of AgriDrupal manages documents, news, events, vacancies, institutions, experts and of course web pages.
The resulting integrated information system exposes RDF feeds for each type of information managed in the system, and the vocabularies and properties used in the RDF output can be customized, thus making an AgriDrupal installation a potential Linked Data provider.


The VapBC toxin-antitoxin (TA) family is the largest of nine identified TA families. The toxin, VapC, is a metal-dependent ribonuclease that is inhibited by its cognate antitoxin, VapB. Although the VapBCs are the largest TA family, little is known about their biological roles. Here we describe a new general method for the overexpression and purification of toxic VapC proteins and subsequent determination of their RNase sequence-specificity. Functional VapC was isolated by expression of the nontoxic VapBC complex, followed by removal of the labile antitoxin (VapB) using limited trypsin digestion. We have then developed a sensitive and robust method for determining VapC ribonuclease sequence-specificity. This technique employs the use of Pentaprobes as substrates for VapC. These are RNA sequences encoding every combination of five bases. We combine the RNase reaction with MALDI-TOF MS to detect and analyze the cleavage products and thus determine the RNA cut sites. Successful MALDI-TOF MS analysis of RNA fragments is acutely dependent on sample preparation methods. The sequencespecificity of four VapC proteins from two different organisms (VapCPAE0151 and VapCPAE2754 from Pyrobaculum aerophilum, and VapCRv0065 and VapCRv0617 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis) was successfully determined using the described strategy. This rapid and sensitive method can be applied to determine the sequence-specificity of VapC ribonucleases along with other RNA interferases (such as MazF) from a range of organisms.


INTRODUCTION
A boxed-warning in antidepressant labeling now informs prescribers of the potential for treatment-emergent suicidality to occur. Consequently, alternative "natural" antidepressant therapies widely viewed to be devoid of this risk, such as St. John's wort (SJW) and s-adenosyl methionine (SAM-e), may experience a resurgence in popularity and expansion of use beyond mild forms of depressive illness. The purpose of this article is to critically assess whether the clinical evidence supports the use of SJW and SAM-e as alternatives to conventional antidepressants in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). In addition, this article evaluates whether the behavioral adverse event profiles of SJW and SAM-e suggest an increased risk for suicidality, like their conventional counterparts.

METHODS
A comprehensive literature review was performed (Jan 1975-July 2010) to identify all English language reports of placebo-controlled studies of SJW and SAM-e conducted for psychiatric indications. MDD studies were categorized as "positive" or "negative" based on statistical superiority to placebo on prospectively-defined, primary, clinician-rated efficacy parameters (e.g., change in Hamilton Depression scores [HAM-D] or Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale [MADRS] total). Treatment effect size (Cohen's d) was also calculated in each case to assess the clinical relevance of the findings. Behavioral-related adverse events were summarized by treatment.

RESULTS
Ten of 14 (71%) SJW studies in mild-to-moderate MDD were positive. The mean and median effect sizes for HAM-D change in those studies were 0.64 and 0.48, respectively, indicative of a moderately-large treatment effect. In the few studies that included patients with severe symptoms, however, or which evaluated long-term maintenance of effect, SJW did not differentiate from placebo. The majority of SAM-e studies in MDD were also positive (8/14, 57%); however, most were methodologically flawed to some extent. Based on the magnitude of the treatment-effect size in a number of positive studies, SJW appears to be useful for the short-term treatment of mild-to-moderate depressive illness in adults. Existing data do not support the use of SJW in more severely depressed individuals. The SAM-e clinical data also are strongly suggestive of antidepressant efficacy; however, until more rigorously generated data become available it is not possible to reach a more definitive conclusion. There are no long-term treatment data that convincingly demonstrate long-term maintenance of effect for either product. The reviewed studies did not reveal evidence of treatment-emergent suicidality, suggesting that this risk for either product is low. However, the studies examined were not prospectively designed to detect such events and therefore were likely unable to reliably assess this risk.


In order to find better simplicity measurements for 3D object recognition, a new set of local regularities is developed and tested in a stepwise 3D reconstruction method, including localized minimizing standard deviation of angles(L-MSDA), localized minimizing standard deviation of segment magnitudes(L-MSDSM), localized minimum standard deviation of areas of child faces (L-MSDAF), localized minimum sum of segment magnitudes of common edges (L-MSSM), and localized minimum sum of areas of child face (L-MSAF). Based on their effectiveness measurements in terms of form and size distortions, it is found that when two local regularities: L-MSDA and L-MSDSM are combined together, they can produce better performance. In addition, the best weightings for them to work together are identified as 10% for L-MSDSM and 90% for L-MSDA. The test results show that the combined usage of L-MSDA and L-MSDSM with identified weightings has a potential to be applied in other optimization based 3D recognition methods to improve their efficacy and robustness.


Within-individual plasticity for reproductive investment was examined in a clonal fish (Poeciliidae: Poeciliopsis) grown under six levels of resource stress. Growth, age at first reproduction, egg production, egg size, egg energetic content, and survivorship were measured from fish grown in three dietary and two density treatments. Growth and fecundity decreased with both increased density and food stress. Age at first reproduction increased with increased density, but was unaffected by the diet treatments. Reproductive effort (clutch size per female weight), offspring investment (egg size and egg energetic content), and survivorship were invariant across all treatment combinations. We compare these results with predictions based on theoretical treatments of optimal reproductive investment.


This paper reports on new hybrid optomechanical technology for reconfigurable optical networking applications. Unique and versatile functions in the technology were provided by micrometer-scale fused-taper waveguides mounted on microelectromechanical actuating platforms. The proposed technology can endow new degrees of freedom to control spectral response and port-to-port output power of the throughput of multiport fiber-fused-taper devices. Applications in a reconfigurable optical switch, an interband router, and a high-power optical attenuator for optical networking are discussed.


2-Imidazolines are heterocycles with a wide range of applications in biomedical science, pharmaceuticals, surfactants and catalysis. The 2,4,5-trisubstituted derivatives are conventionally prepared through the reaction of aromatic aldehydes and ammonia, requiring harsh conditions and toxic solvents. Herein, we report a sustainable, one-pot synthetic route to obtain cis or trans diastereomers of 2,4,5-trisubstituted-2-imidazolines. The reaction parameters, such as the ammonia source, the substituents of the aromatic aldehydes and the effect of temperature and solvent, were systematically explored. The synthesis was attempted in sixteen different green solvents. Reaction kinetics and quantum mechanical studies (DFT B3LYP/6-31G(d,p)) revealed the elementary steps of the cyclisation and refuted two common speculations. The limitations of the synthesis were explored through varying the p-, o-, and m-substituents on the aldehyde as well as employing heterocyclic and non-aromatic derivatives. Ten out of the twelve products synthesised in this work can be solely purified by crystallisation, without the need for extraction or chromatography. Owing to the bulky nature of the products, the applicability of membrane-based purification was demonstrated to further improve the sustainability of the synthesis.


A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Mathematics,Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science Industrial Mathematics Institute of Distance Learning.November,2013


Since 1994, the eyes of the world have been on South Africa, observing with interest the societal reconstruction project, upon which the country had embarked. In this project, higher education is both the terrain and the perceived instrument of change. In this higher education system and its mission, the academic profession is pivotal – especially, the new up-and-coming generation of academics, who have entered the profession since 1994. Using data from the International Changing Academic Profession Survey of the academic profession, this article focuses on this new generation of South African academics: their teaching; their research and service activities; their biographical details; their international profile; their relations with institutional management; and their job satisfaction. The results of this analysis reveal that while the new generation is present in terms of numbers, they also face three challenges. These pertain to three critical areas, namely research productivity, internationalisation, and the creation of a satisfying work environment, amidst signs of seriously harmful managerialism. The article concludes with recommendations as to how to approach these challenges.


The article aims to reveal the internal and external integration problems of aliens granted asylum in the domains of employment, education, housing, health care and social relations. Mixed research strategy is used in the article: a questionnaire for aliens that were granted asylum and semi-structured interview with staff responsible for integration process implementation. The research included 52 aliens granted asylum and 5 employees. The research was conducted in 2011. The results revealed the individual problems of aliens, granted asylum, integrating into Lithuanian society: motivation, selfconfidence, lack of education, occupation, Lithuanian language skills, daily living skills; external problems of the Lithuanian integration system includes lack of access to services, particular attention is not paid to the individual needs of aliens granted asylum, cultural differences, domination of negative attitudes towards aliens granted asylum in the host society. In order to solve individual problems of persons granted asylum and issues of the integration system, it is recommended to promote social activeness of persons granted asylum, inter-institutional cooperation, develop social dialogue between foreigners and Lithuanian society, organize activities focused on mutual interaction.


Study Design. Retrospective study. Objective. To determine the frequency of facet arthrosis according to age, sex, and cervical level. In addition, we propose and evaluate a new grading system for cervical facet degeneration. Summary of Background Data. Cervical facets can play an important role in symptomatology. However, there is only one computed tomographic grading system for cervical facet joints. Methods. From January 2003 to January 2012, 1944 patients underwent computed tomography of the cervical spine in our institution. We randomly selected 40 males and 40 females from each of the following age groups: 40 to 49, 50 to 59, 60 to 69, and 70 to 79, such that we had a total of 320 patients. We then graded the degree of arthrosis of the facet joints from C2 to C7 on the axial, sagittal, or coronal images according to 4 grades. These categories were: grade I, normal; grade II, degenerative changes including joint space narrowing, cyst formation, small osteophytes without joint hypertrophy seen; grade III, facet joint hypertrophy from large osteophytes without fusion; and grade IV, bony fusion of the facet joint. The intra- and interobserver reliabilities for the grading system were calculated using reliability statistics by intraclass correlation. Results. Facet arthrosis is common with older patients and at C2–C3, C3–C4, and C4–C5. Facet arthrosis was more common on the left side and in males. Greater than grade III facet joint arthrosis was common in patients older than 60 and at C2–C3, C3–C4, and C4–C5. The reliability statistics by intraclass correlation for the grading system was 0.878 for the intraobserver reliability and 0.869 for the interobserver reliability. Conclusion. It seems that upper cervical levels are more likely to degenerate and to have more advanced degrees of degeneration than the lower cervical levels. As expected, age correlates with worsening degeneration. The proposed computed tomographic grading system for cervical facet arthrosis seemed to be reliable. Level of Evidence: 4


Paramagnetic centers and absorption bands induced by ultraviolet photons in Ge-doped ${\mathrm{SiO}}_{2}$ glass are investigated. Four kinds of samples with different Ge contents were exposed to ultraviolet photons from a KrF excimer laser (5.0 eV), a XeCl excimer lamp (4.0 eV), and a KrCl excimer lamp (5.6 eV). Irradiation with the KrF excimer laser induces two paramagnetic centers, named Ge(1) and Ge(2), in proportion with a decrease in the absorption at 5.1 eV and with an increase in absorption at 4.5 and 5.8 eV. The total density of the induced paramagnetic centers is linearly proportional to each induced change of the three absorption components and their proportionality constants are independent of the Ge content of the samples. The 4.0-eV photons from the XeCl excimer lamp induce only a Ge ${E}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ center, while the 5.6-eV photons from the KrCl excimer lamp induce a Ge(1) besides a Ge ${E}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ center. From these results, Ge(1) and Ge(2) are, respectively, assigned to the Ge electron center (GEC) and the positively charged Ge oxygen-deficient center $(\mathrm{GODC}{)}^{+},$ which donated an electron to the GEC. The oscillator strength of the GODC for the absorption at 5.1 eV was found to be 0.1. From this, it is considered that the GODC that acts as the electron donor is the Ge lone pair center (GLPC). Thermally stimulated luminescence (TSL) is also examined in Ge-doped ${\mathrm{SiO}}_{2}$ glass that was exposed to photons from the KrF excimer laser. The TSL spectrum is very similar to the photoluminescence spectrum that is known to be due to the GLPC's. It was found that the absorption, which was induced by the KrF excimer laser photons, decreases during the TSL measurement and that this decrement of the absorption is proportional to the TSL intensity. As mentioned above, the electrons that are to be trapped to generate the GEC's are released from the GLPC's during the photon irradiation. Then, in its reverse reaction, these electrons are thermally detrapped from the GEC's to regenerate the GLPC's, and the TSL is caused by an electronic de-excitation in such formed GLPC's. To conclude, the TSL phenomenon further validates the assumption that the GLPC is the electron donor to generate the GEC's.


Hemochromatosis is a progressive iron overload disorder that is prevalent among individuals of European descent. It is usually inherited in an autosomal-recessive pattern and associated with missense mutations in HFE, an atypical major histocompatibility class I gene. Recently, we described a large family with autosomal-dominant hemochromatosis not linked to HFE and distinguished by early iron accumulation in reticuloendothelial cells. Through analysis of a large pedigree, we have determined that this disease maps to 2q32. The gene encoding ferroportin (SLC11A3), a transmembrane iron export protein, lies within a candidate interval defined by highly significant lod scores. We show that the iron-loading phenotype in autosomal-dominant hemochromatosis is associated with a nonconservative missense mutation in the ferroportin gene. This missense mutation, converting alanine to aspartic acid at residue 77 (A77D), was not seen in samples from 100 unaffected control individuals. We propose that partial loss of ferroportin function leads to an imbalance in iron distribution and a consequent increase in tissue iron accumulation.


As documented in parts one and two of this series, young blacks are completing high school and college at higher rates than in the past. This third installment and subsequent reports will examine whether these increases in educational attainment have led to better labor market outcomes. The data show that education does make a difference. College-educated young blacks have higher employment rates than less-educated blacks. However, blacks overall still suffer from lower employment rates than whites. This gap in employment rates increased during the recent recession and is still larger than its pre-recession level.


If I reasonably think that you and I enjoy the same evidence as well as virtues and vices, then we are epistemic peers. What does rationality require of us should we disagree? According to the conciliatory view, I should become less confident in my belief upon finding out that you, whom I take to be my peer, disagree with me. Question: Does the conciliatory view lead to wholesale skepticism regarding areas of life where disagreement is rampant? After all, people focusing on the same arguments and possessing the same virtues commonly disagree over religion, politics, ethics, philosophy and other areas. David Christensen and Adam Elga have responded that conciliationism does not lead to wholesale skepticism. I argue that Christensen and Elga cannot avoid the charge of wholesale skepticism. But I also argue that if they could avoid skepticism, then the conciliatory view would become irrelevant since it would not inform us as to what rationality requires of us in every-day disagreement. Thus either way the conciliatory view is saddled with unintuitive consequences.


In the period between the Wars of the Roses and the Refonnation spies were used in foreign and military-affairs and for reasons of domestic security.* Contrary to expectations spies are not difficult to locate or document. They were a feature of classical and ancient civilisations; and the Middle Ages, which drew inspiration from the classical world, followed its example. Classical histories, the study of which was part of a prince's education, contain examples of espionage. The works of Jean de Bueil (d. 1477) and Robert de Balsac ( 1502), present in the Royal library, prescribed the use of spies. Christine de Pisan, synthes1ser of contemporary military practice and the Vegetian canon, was translated into Enghsh and published in 1492 on the orders of Henry VII. 1 The literature of the period suggests that spies were an everyday part of military life. Blind Hary's Wallace, written in 1478. describes two spies being sent out at midnight to reconnoitre a castle. The chronicles of the period deal with espionage in a matter of fact way, presenting it with little or no comment, except where there was a contemporary controversy. Polydore Vergil spent several paragraphs dismissing the notion that 'as some people think' Sir Robert Clifford and Sir Robert Curzon were spies of Henry VII. 2 Letters of the period also evidence the work of spies. Royal accounts state openly that rewards were given for spying or in the circumnambulation of the time state that such and such an individual was 'about the king's business'.


We consider networks of impulse-radio ultra-wide band (IR-UWB) devices. We are interested in the architecture, design, and performance evaluation of these networks in a low data-rate, self-organized, and multi-hop setting. IR-UWB is a potential physical layer for sensor networks and emerging pervasive wireless networks. These networks are likely to have no particular infrastructure, might have nodes embedded in everyday life objects and have a size ranging from a few dozen nodes to large-scale networks composed of hundreds of nodes. Their average data-rate is low, on the order of a few megabits per second. IR-UWB physical layers are attractive for these networks because they potentially combine low-power consumption, robustness to multipath fading and to interference, and location/ranging capability. The features of an IR-UWB physical layer greatly differ from the features of the narrow-band physical layers used in existing wireless networks. First, the bandwidth of an IR-UWB physical layer is at least 500 MHz, which is easily two orders of magnitude larger than the bandwidth used by a typical narrow-band physical layer. Second, this large bandwidth implies stringent radio spectrum regulations because UWB systems might occupy a portion of the spectrum that is already in use. Consequently, UWB systems exhibit extremely low power spectral densities. Finally IR-UWB physical layers offer multi-channel capabilities for multiple and concurrent access to the physical layer. Hence, the architecture and design of IR-UWB networks are likely to differ significantly from narrow-band wireless networks. For the network to operate efficiently, it must be designed and implemented to take into account the features of IR-UWB and to take advantage of them. In this thesis, we focus on both the medium access control (MAC) layer and the physical layer. Our main objectives are to understand and determine (1) the architecture and design principles of IR-UWB networks, and (2) how to implement them in practical schemes. In the first part of this thesis, we explore the design space of IR-UWB networks and analyze the fundamental design choices. We show that interference from concurrent transmissions should not be prevented as in protocols that use mutual exclusion (for instance, IEEE 802.11). Instead, interference must be managed with rate adaptation, and an interference mitigation scheme should be used at the physical layer. Power control is useless. Based on these findings, we develop a practical PHY-aware MAC protocol that takes into account the specific nature of IR-UWB and that is able to adapt its rate to interference. We evaluate the performance obtained with this design: It clearly outperforms traditional designs that, instead, use mutual exclusion or power control. One crucial aspect of IR-UWB networks is packet detection and timing acquisition. In this context, a network design choice is whether to use a common or private acquisition preamble for timing acquisition. Therefore, we evaluate how this network design issue affects the network throughput. Our analysis shows that a private acquisition preamble yields a tremendous increase in throughput, compared with a common acquisition preamble. In addition, simulations on multi-hop topologies with TCP flows demonstrate that a network using private acquisition preambles has a stable throughput. On the contrary, using a common acquisition preamble exhibits an effect similar to exposed terminal issues in 802.11 networks: the throughput is severely degraded and flow starvation might occur. In the second part of this thesis, we are interested in IEEE 802.15.4a, a standard for low data-rate, low complexity networks that employs an IR-UWB physical layer. Due to its low complexity, energy detection is appealing for the implementation of practical receivers. But it is less robust to multi-user interference (MUI) than a coherent receiver. Hence, we evaluate the performance of an IEEE 802.15.4a physical layer with an energy detection receiver to find out whether a satisfactory performance is still obtained. Our results show that MUI severely degrades the performance in this case. The energy detection receiver significantly diminishes one of the most appealing benefits of UWB, specifically its robustness to MUI and thus the possibility of allowing for parallel transmissions. This performance analysis leads to the development of an IR-UWB receiver architecture, based on energy detection, that is robust to MUI and adapted to the peculiarities of IEEE 802.15.4a. This architecture greatly improves the performance and entails only a moderate increase in complexity. Finally, we present the architecture of an IR-UWB physical layer implementation in ns-2, a well-known network simulator. This architecture is generic and allows for the simulation of several multiple-access physical layers. In addition, it comprises a model of packet detection and timing acquisition. Network simulators also need to have efficient algorithms to accurately compute bit or packet error rates. Hence, we present a fast algorithm to compute the bit error rate of an IR-UWB physical layer in a network setting with MUI. It is based on a novel combination of large deviation theory and importance sampling.


This briefing paper presents a case study of a Peepoo implementation in first phase humanitarian response. The case is taken from the Philippines, post typhoon Haiyan in 2013 and aims to demonstrate a safe way of handling of human waste without risking the contamination of water. This briefing paper will outline how the organisations, ACF, arche noVa, Oxfam and Red Cross implemented the Peepoo solution and lesson learnt so far. Some of the key lessons learnt in the projects were that; it is preferred to have the Peepoos stocked locally in order to have them available for phase one in humanitarian response; training implementing staff on Peepoo prior to the intervention increases the probability of success; and exit strategies must be set up in order to secure good sanitation practices after the implementing organisations stop distributing Peepoos.


Didymoconidae are an enigmatic group of Asian endemic insectivorous mammals. We describe the new didymoconid species Archaeoryctes wangi sp. nov. from the Upper Member of the Wanghudun Formation (Middle Paleocene). This new species from the Qianshan Basin (Anhui Province, China) forms an interesting geographical intermediate between A. notialis from South China and A. borealis and A. euryalis from the Mongolian Plateau. To better understand the origin and evolutionary diversification of Didymoconidae, we performed a cladistic and stratocladistic study of the Didymoconidae and various outgroups. This study of dental material did not resolve the higher level affinities of Didymoconidae, but confirms the validity of the family and its distinctiveness from the morphologically similar Sarcodontidae. Moreover, our results corroborate the current didymoconid classification with the distinction of three subfamilies: "Ardynictinae", Kennatheriinae and Didymoconinae; "Ardynictinae" are a paraphyletic stemgroup for the two other subfamilies. Our results suggest three distinct didymoconid radiations: (1) primitive ardynictines appeared in South China from the start of the Nongshanian; their evolution continues on the Mongolian Plateau with (2) the radiation of more evolved ardynictines and kennatheriines at the start of the Middle Eocene Arshantan and (3) the origin of didymoconines at the start of the Late Eocene Ergilian.


ABSTRACT Background and objective: The benefits of progesterone have been demonstrated in the animal models of traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the results of clinical studies are conflicting. Considering the heterogenic nature of TBI, the effect of progesterone in patients with diffuse axonal injury (DAI) was investigated in a clinical trial. Methods: In this study, 48 patients with DAI and Glasgow Coma Scale of 3–12, admitted within 4 hours after injury, were randomly assigned to the progesterone or control group. The dose of progesterone administration was 1 mg kg–1 per 12 hours for 5 days. The effect of progesterone was investigated using extended-Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS-E), functional independence measure (FIM) scores and also mortality within the follow-up period. Results: The progesterone group exhibited higher GOS-E and FIM scores in comparison to the control group at 6 months post-injury (p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). Mortality was also found in the control group (p < 0.05). The adverse events attributed to the progesterone administration were not found throughout the study. Conclusions: Findings of this study suggest that progesterone may be neuroprotective in patients with DAI. However, large clinical trials are needed to assess progesterone as a promising drug in DAI.


OBJECTIVE
To describe the nursing workforce in very remote Australia, characteristics and key issues.

METHODS
Data were collected from four main sources: the refined CRANAplus database of remote health facilities; the 2006 census which provided population and percentage of Indigenous people in communities in very remote Australia; a national survey on occupational stress among nurses and an earlier study into violence and remote area nurses conducted in 1995. A descriptive analysis of the data was conducted.

SETTING
Health facilities in very remote Australia.

RESULTS
  The registered nursing workforce in very remote Australia is mostly female (89%) and ageing, with 40.2% 50 years or over, compared to 33% nationally. Many (43%) are in remote Indigenous communities. Over the last decade, there has been a significant decrease in registered nurses with midwifery qualifications (55%) and in child health nurses (39%) in very remote Australia. Only 5% have postgraduate qualifications in remote health practice.

CONCLUSION
The nursing workforce in very remote areas of Australia is in trouble. The workforce is ageing, the numbers of nurses per population has fallen and the numbers of midwives and child health nurses have dropped significantly over the last 15 years. As many of these nurses work in Indigenous communities, if these trends continue it is likely to have a negative effect on 'closing the gap' in Indigenous health outcomes.


Lead sulfide semiconducting thin films were chemically deposited on indium tin oxide coated glass plates for use as photoreceptor layers in conjugation with optically addressed spatial light modulators (OASLMs). Deposition conditions such as temperature, reagent concentration, pH and deposition time were optimized in order to achieve homogeneous, continuous and adherent films. Mirror-like films with tunable particle size and film thickness were obtained. The microstructure and morphology evolution of the films were investigated using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. Electrical and optical properties were studied using four-point probe measurements, FTIR spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, photo-current and photo-voltage measurements. Blue shift of the band gap to the short wavelength infra-red (SWIR) range was obtained as a function of particle size, and significant photovoltaic effect was measured. The resistivity of the films, as well as their photo-voltage response, were enhanced after thermal annealing. These results indicate that PbS films can serve as effective photoreceptors in OASLMs for applications including SWIR detection for night vision purposes.


Background/Context Despite a history of racial oppression and degradation in U.S. schools, African Americans have responded to racism and discrimination in ways that promote educational attainment and school success. Many Black adolescents have been empowered to succeed academically partly because of their awareness of racist practices in education and society. This empowerment to succeed in the face of racism is also seen as resiliency. A growing body of research suggests that despite experiencing racism in schools, many African Americans possess an achievement ethos that demands a commitment to excellence; despite experiencing racism as a stressor, these students develop resilient strategies for resisting racism in the school context. Purpose/Objective/Focus of Study The purpose of this study was to understand the adaptive behaviors that high-achieving Black students employed in a predominantly White high school to maintain school success and a positive racial self-definition. The focus of this article is to examine how these students describe, understand, and respond to experiencing racial microaggressions in classroom, social, and extracurricular domains within their school. Research Design The article includes data from a yearlong qualitative investigation of high-achieving Black students in a predominantly White high school. The author analyzed interview data, participant observations, and field notes and used a grounded theory approach to analyzing the data to arrive at an understanding of how students perceived experiences with racial microaggressions in their school. Findings/Results Findings indicate that students experienced racial microaggressions in the form of sometimes being spotlighted because of their race (i.e., racial spotlighting) and sometimes being ignored because of their race (i.e., racial ignoring). Students managed these experiences by utilizing a variety of resilient strategies that represent varying degrees of resistance. The use of these behavioral strategies demonstrates their resilience not only to racism but also to a school climate in which racism acts as a structural barrier to potentially constrain or impede achievement. These strategies allow students to effectively navigate within and across classroom and nonclassroom domains despite experiencing racial discrimination and to acquire and maintain school success without rejecting their racial identity. Conclusions/Recommendations The article concludes with implications for teacher education and creating culturally inclusive school and classroom environments. The article challenges educators to critically examine the relationships between race, racism, Whiteness, and teaching and learning. Specifically, recommendations are offered for preservice teacher preparation and in-service teacher professional development.