This paper presents how to develop software for grading system in Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 programming language. The paper uses Microsoft Access as Back-End and Graphical User Interface (GUI) design in Visual Basic as Front-End. The Front-End serve as a platform to select the branch, year, semester and finally the grades obtained in each paper. The details of thus selected conditions viz., course code, course title, credits of each paper, and total credit are brought to the Front-End by connecting to a Microsoft Access database. Then the Grade Point Average (GPA) or Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) is calculated accordingly.


Abstract This article reconstructs the rhetoric of persuasion in the "Zhōu Wǔwáng yǒu jí" 周武王有疾 (King Wǔ of Zhōu suffered from illness), a text written on fourteen bamboo slips that is part of the Tsinghua collection of manuscripts and presumably dates to the Warring States period (ca. 481–222 BC). The "Zhōu Wǔwáng yǒu jí" has well-known transmitted counterparts in the Shàngshū and the Shǐjì, but in comparison with these texts, it largely omits explicit comment on the role of the Duke of Zhōu 周公 after the death of King Wǔ 武王. By taking this difference seriously and analysing the art of narrative in the text, this article reconstructs the social use of the text in the politico-philosophical discourse of the Warring States period. By drawing on theoretical work by Mieke Bal and Jan Assmann on narratology and memory production, this structural analysis of the "Zhōu Wǔwáng yǒu jí" further enables new insights into the circulation of knowledge, as well as into the production and circulation of texts at the time.


When we investigate the usability and aesthetics of user interfaces, we rarely take into account that what users perceive as beautiful and usable strongly depends on their cultural background. In this paper, we argue that it is not feasible to design one interface that appeals to all users of an increasingly global audience. Instead, we propose to design culturally adaptive systems, which automatically generate personalized interfaces that correspond to cultural preferences. In an evaluation of one such system, we demonstrate that a majority of international participants preferred their personalized versions over a nonadapted interface of the same Website. Results show that users were 22% faster using the culturally adapted interface, needed fewer clicks, and made fewer errors, in line with subjective results demonstrating that they found the adapted version significantly easier to use. Our findings show that interfaces that adapt to cultural preferences can immensely increase the user experience.


We analyze theoretically the optical properties of ideal semiconductor crystallites so small that they show quantum confinement in all three dimensions [quantum dots (QD's)]. In the limit of a QD much smaller than the bulk exciton size, the linear spectrum will be a series of lines, and we consider the phonon broadening of these lines. The lowest interband transition will saturate like a two-level system, without exchange and Coulomb screening. Depending on the broadening, the absorption and the changes in absorption and refractive index resulting from saturation can become very large, and the local-field effects can become so strong as to give optical bistability without external feedback. The small QD limit is more readily achieved with narrow-band-gap semiconductors.


Background: While the traditional risk factors of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) have been well-established, the evolving role of nontraditional risk factors is not apparent. This study aimed to evaluate the association between nontraditional risk factors and the calculated 10-year ASCVD risk in a general population. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted using the Pars Cohort Study data. All inhabitants of the Valashahr district in southern Iran, aged 40–75 years, were invited (2012–2014). Patients with a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) were excluded. The demographic and lifestyle data were collected using a validated questionnaire. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate the association between the calculated 10-year ASCVD risk and the nontraditional risk factors of CVD, including marital status, ethnicity, educational level, tobacco and opiate consumption, physical inactivity, and psychiatric disorders. Results: Of 9264 participants (mean age =52.2±9.0 y; 45.8% male), 7152 patients met the inclusion criteria. In total, 20.2%, 7.6%, 36.3%, 56.4%, and 46.2% of the population were cigarette smokers, opiate consumers, tobacco consumers, ethnically Fars, and illiterate, respectively. The prevalence rates of low, borderline, and intermediate-to-high 10-year ASCVD risks were 74.3%, 9.8%, and 16.2%, respectively. In multinomial regression, anxiety (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.58; P<0.001) was significantly associated with a lower ASCVD risk, whereas opiate consumption (aOR, 2.94; P<0.001) and illiteracy (aOR, 2.48; P<0.001) were significantly associated with a higher ASCVD risk. Conclusion: Nontraditional risk factors are associated with the 10-year ASCVD risk and, thus, might be considered besides traditional ones for ASCVD in preventive medicine and health policies.


Lethal autonomous machines will inevitably enter the future battlefield — but they will do so incrementally, one small step at a time. The combination of inevitable and incremental development raises not only complex strategic and operational questions but also profound legal and ethical ones. The inevitability of these technologies comes from both supply-side and demand-side factors. Advances in sensor and computational technologies will supply "smarter" machines that can be programmed to kill or destroy, while the increasing tempo of military operations and political pressures to protect one's own personnel and civilian persons and property will demand continuing research, development, and deployment. The process will be incremental because non-lethal robotic systems (already proliferating on the battlefield) can be fitted in their successive generations with both self-defensive and offensive technologies. As lethal systems are initially deployed, they may include humans in the decision-making loop, at least as a fail-safe — but as both the decision-making power of machines and the tempo of operations potentially increase, that human role will likely but slowly diminish. Recognizing the inevitable but incremental evolution of these technologies is key to addressing the legal and ethical dilemmas associated with them — U.S. policy for resolving those dilemmas should be built on these assumptions. The certain yet gradual development and deployment of these systems, as well as the humanitarian advantages created by the precision of some systems, make some proposed responses — such as prohibitory treaties — unworkable as well as ethically questionable. Those features also make it imperative, though, that the United States resist its own impulses toward secrecy and reticence with respect to military technologies, recognizing that the interests those tendencies serve are counterbalanced here by interests in shaping the normative terrain — the contours of international law as well as international expectations about appropriate conduct — on which it and others will operate militarily as technology evolves. Just as development of autonomous weapon systems will be incremental, so too will development of norms about acceptable systems and uses be incremental. The United States must act, however, before international expectations about these technologies harden around the views of those who would impose unrealistic, ineffective or dangerous prohibitions — or those who would prefer few or no constraints at all. (Note: This paper has been significantly revised for publication in 2013. The finalized version is available as "Law and Ethics for Autonomous Weapon Systems: Why a Ban Won't Work and How the Laws of War Can," The Hoover Institution National Security and Law Essay Series 2013, available at SSRN as http://ssrn.com/abstract=2250126.)


Background. As part of a longitudinal study, prevalence findings of DSM-IV disorders are presented for a random sample of 3021 respondents aged 14 to 24, with response rate 71%. Method. Assessment included various subtypes of disorders, subthreshold conditions and disorders that have only rarely been studied in other epidemiological surveys. The computer-assisted Munich-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (M-CIDI) was used to derive DSM-IV diagnoses. Results. Substance disorders were the most frequent (lifetime 17·7%; 12-month 11·4%), with abuse being considerably more frequent than dependence. Other mental disorders had a lifetime prevalence of 27·5% (12-month, 17·5%) with depressive disorders (16·8%) being more frequent than anxiety disorders (14·4%). Eating disorders (3·0%) and threshold somatoform disorders (1·2%) were rare disorders. Subthreshold anxiety and somatoform disorders, however, were more frequent than threshold disorders. Prevalence of disorders was equally high for males and females, although specific disorder prevalence varied significantly by gender. The co-occurrence of disorders (co-morbidity) was substantial and was significantly related to greater reductions in work productivity and increased rates of professional helpseeking behaviour. Conclusions. Findings underline that mental disorders in young adults are frequent and impairing, limiting work and education ability and social interaction. Given the fact that adolescents and young adults are in a key phase of socialization in terms of professional career and interpersonal relationships, our findings indicate a considerable risk potential for an accumulation of complicating factors and future chronicity. This paper is the first report of this ongoing longitudinal study about early developmental conditions of mental disorders.


This article documents the significant horizontal (across the landscape) and vertical (across the stratigraphy) chemical variability of volcanic clays from Vanuatu, South Pacific. Data illustrate why the chemical composition of the clay matrix in pottery should be used very cautiously in characterization or provenance studies. The variability of natural clays on Efate, Erromango, and Malekula is so significant that the data set disproves the assumption that two pottery samples with clay matrices showing similar chemical composition necessarily originate from the same location, the same bedrock, the same region, or even from the same island. This study is also a reminder that the outcomes of chemical characterizations and provenance studies of pottery are directly dependent on the scale at which the investigation is undertaken. In light of the data, it is also clear that such studies should not be undertaken in other similar insular environments affected by regular volcanic activity along the Circum‐Pacific Belt without assessing the natural variability of the raw material. Without an adequate sampling of natural clay representative of the vertical and geographic variability, the results from the chemical analysis of clay matrices risk of leading to incorrect associations between pots and procurement areas.


Several decades of research on 'urban agriculture' have led to markedly different conclusions about the actual and potential role of household food production in African cities. In the context of rapid urbanization, urban agriculture is, once again, being advocated as a means to mitigate the growing food insecurity of the urban poor. This article examines the contemporary importance of household food production in poor urban communities in 11 different Southern African Development Community (SADC) cities. It shows that urban food production is not particularly significant in most communities and that many more households rely on supermarkets and the informal sector to access food. Even fewer households derive income from the sale of produce. This picture varies considerably, however, from city to city, for reasons that require further research and explanation.


That G. K. Chesterton was an ardent admirer of Dickens's talents is well known among Dickensian scholars. His two major works, Charles Dickens (1906) and Appreciation and Criticisms of the Works of Charles Dickens, published in book form in 1911, and previously as prefaces to Dickens's novels, are considered classics of Dickens criticism, among the best ever written, according to Peter Ackroyd (184) and Ian Kerr (ccxlvi). Chesterton refused to focus on the "Dark" Dickens and wrote enthusiastically about his comic achievements and unusually fertile imagination. Although Chesterton exaggerated the impact of Dickens's work on Victorian England and on its institutions, his discussion of the structure of the novels and their formal features was often ahead of its times. Despite his tendency to link fictional characters with their apparent originals, he succeeded in conveying the idea that Dickens was not merely recreating reality, but creating his own with reworked images of what he had personally experienced in the real world. However, Chesterton's appreciation of Dickens is far from being confined to his critical studies. On the contrary, echoes of his admiration can be found elsewhere, particularly in the five volumes of Father Brown detective stories published between 1911 and 1929. In some respects untypical of the genre, the stories about Father Brown portray a detective who, as a Catholic priest, is often more concerned with saving a soul than with seeing the criminal imprisoned. In their moral atmosphere, most of the stories have been compared to that of Dickens's novels (Dale 158). With an emphasis on confession and repentance, the stories tend to disseminate Catholic theology and the priest-detective solves puzzles not so much by reasoning and analyzing clues, but rather by following insights based on a flash or on a sudden epiphany. Another striking feature of the Father Brown stories is the quality of their language. Abounding in numerous poetic devices, this cycle departs from conventional detective fiction, where characterization and narration are secondary to solving the mystery according to the rules of reason and logic. The mysteries in Chesterton's stories incorporate the idea of the "unfamiliar in the familiar" that has been linked to The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Dale 158), whereas their style has been described by P. D. James as "richly complex, imaginative, vigorous, poetic" (James xiv). Of the literary devices one finds, intertextual allusions are the most common, employed generally to prompt readers to decode the intended meaning on the basis of larger frames of reference than textual clues provided by the narrator. This practice is neither infrequent nor limited to any particular background and ranges widely to include the Bible, mythology, English and French literature and fantastic stories of the Far East. In "The Blue Cross," Hercule Flambeau, the eminent criminal, is compared to the mythological colossus, whereas the result of his quitting his profession is likened to "a great quiet upon the earth" after the death of Roland, which clearly refers to La Chanson de Roland. In "The Eye of Apollo," as the title itself suggests, mythological allusions predominate. The intrigue in "The Strange Crime of John Boulnois" is based on the staging of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The original lovers are played by the "false" ones: Mrs. Boulnois (a professional actress) and Sir Claude Champion (her husband's rival, who attempts to seduce her). Chesterton reverses the original situation of the play; and yet, as in Shakespeare's tragedy, the false Romeo stabs himself, although he intends his death to look like a murder. In this story, Sir Champion is also compared to Haroun Alraschid from The Arabian Nights. Additionally, there are allusions to Poe's "The Raven" and to Sir Walter Scott, and frequent Biblical references. Biblical allusions are scattered all over "The Queer Feet," where there are direct quotations from the Bible and certain passages are reworked to contain implicit allusions. …


Abstract. Ozone performs a key role in the middle atmosphere and its monitoring is thus necessary. At the Institute of Applied Physics of the University of Bern, Switzerland, we built a new ground-based microwave radiometer, GROMOS-C (GRound based Ozone MOnitoring System for Campaigns). It has a compact design and can be operated remotely with very little maintenance requirements, being therefore suitable for remote deployments. It has been conceived to measure the vertical distribution of ozone in the middle atmosphere, by observing pressure-broadened emission spectra at a frequency of 110.836 GHz. In addition, meridional and zonal wind profiles can be retrieved, based on the Doppler shift of the ozone line measured in the four directions of observation (north, east, south and west). In June 2014 the radiometer was installed at the Maido observatory, on Reunion island (21.2° S, 55.5° E). High-resolution ozone spectra were recorded continuously over 7 months. Vertical profiles of ozone have been retrieved through an optimal estimation inversion process, using the Atmospheric Radiative Transfer Simulator ARTS2 as the forward model. The validation is performed against ozone profiles from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Aura satellite, the ozone lidar located at the observatory and with ozone profiles from weekly radiosondes. Zonal and meridional winds retrieved from GROMOS-C data are validated against another wind radiometer located in situ, WIRA. In addition, we compare both ozone and winds with ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) model data. Results show that GROMOS-C provides reliable ozone profiles between 30 and 0.02 hPa. The comparison with lidar profiles shows a very good agreement at all levels. The accordance with the MLS data set is within 5 % for pressure levels between 25 and 0.2 hPa. GROMOS-C's wind profiles are in good agreement with the observations by WIRA and with the model data, differences are below 5 m s−1 for both.


My training as an artist is firmly grounded in the traditional practice of figurative ceramic sculpture, with a track record of 20 years of solo and group projects and exhibitions. I have also reflected on my profession in residencies nationally as well as abroad, achieving funding to do research in art institutions across Australia, Asia, Europe and North-America. I have passed on my experience and professional concerns by teaching at the university level for two decades now. As a result of this interplay of practice, experiment, investigation and reflection, nowadays I break through the confining skin of ceramic sculpture in multiple, expansive ways. One increasingly important new stage in this process, which I will comment upon in this essay, is to explore the inner landscapes of my pieces by means of medical scan technology, so as to reveal their quasihuman interiors in a process of uncanny resonance with the apparent discreteness between artist and art work. These scan photographies and footage trace the creative tension between artwork and artist in ways that blur and question the self-evidence of their mutual embodiment and environment, the hospital environment constituting an adequate space of existential dis-ease in which such tensions can be revealed. I attempt to go beyond the mere surface of my body of work and my body as an artist to reveal new spaces which I see and experience as productive in their marginality and extraneousness to traditional art forms in clay. The first half of this paper gives a brief history of scanning technology and its postmodern, deconstructive uses in the arts precisely by its ability to see below and beyond the surface of tangible, material reality; the second half of this paper assesses my own location in the art-science dialogue.


We present a new example-based approach for synthesizing hand-colored cartoon animations. Our method produces results that preserve the specific visual appearance and stylized motion of manually authored animations without requiring artists to draw every frame from scratch. In our framework, the artist first stylizes a limited set of known source skeletal animations from which we extract a style-aware puppet that encodes the appearance and motion characteristics of the artwork. Given a new target skeletal motion, our method automatically transfers the style from the source examples to create a hand-colored target animation. Compared to previous work, our technique is the first to preserve both the detailed visual appearance and stylized motion of the original hand-drawn content. Our approach has numerous practical applications including traditional animation production and content creation for games.


As agreed with the chairman, I will address several aspects of the dispute settlement mechanism of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention), namely its added value vis-a-vis the traditional international dispute settlement system, the relevance of case law in respect of the delimitation of maritime spaces, and the potential role that provisional measures, as well as advisory opinions, may--or even should--play in the settlement of maritime disputes. The establishment of a mandatory dispute settlement system is one of the major innovative advances of the Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea compared to the international dispute settlement system in general. Article 286 of the Convention states in clear terms that any dispute concerning the interpretation or application of the Convention shall, where no settlement has been reached by recourse to section 1, be submitted at the request of any party to the dispute to the court or tribunal having jurisdiction under this section. If a dispute is not settled by negotiations, conciliation, or other means agreed upon by the parties, and accordingly comes under the dispute settlement procedure as provided for by section 2 of Part XV of the Convention, the parties only have the possibility to choose between the procedures set forth in Article 287 of the Convention. In this context it is mandatory to mention that Article 287 of the Convention entrusts three institutions with the task and the responsibility of interpreting and, within the framework of the Convention, progressively developing the text: namely the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; the International Court of Justice; and arbitration (the fallback position). This diversification of the judicial functions not only is a matter of political compromise to ameliorate the mandatory character of the dispute settlement system under Part XV of the Convention, but should also be seen as a means to broaden the basis for international jurisprudence on law of the sea matters. This requires the institutions concerned to harmonize their jurisprudence with the view to avoiding any fragmentation, in particular in respect of the delimitation of maritime areas. An assessment of the most recent cases--the Black Sea case, (1) the case between Barbados and the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (Award of April 11, 2006), and the case between Bangladesh and Myanmar (2)--clearly demonstrates that the courts and tribunals are fully aware of this responsibility. Let me come back to the alternatives the Convention provides for under Section 1 of Part XV. In the past, ITLOS encountered a disagreement concerning the interpretation of Section 1 of Part XV of the Convention, containing the rules governing the alternatives to the judicial settlement of disputes under Section 2 of Part XV of the Convention. Whereas ITLOS accepted--prima facie--its jurisdiction and that of a still to be established arbitral tribunal in the Southern Bluefin Tuna case (3) under Article 290, paragraph 5 of the Convention, the Arbitral Tribunal later denied its jurisdiction. The matter of contention between ITLOS and the Arbitral Tribunal was the interpretation of Article 282 of the Convention, which gives preference over the dispute settlement system under Part XV of the Convention to generally, regionally, or bilaterally agreed dispute settlement mechanisms that entail a binding decision. The bottom line of this controversy was whether states parties to the Convention have the possibility to opt out of the mandatory dispute settlement system by having recourse to procedures not providing for binding decisions. In my view, ITLOS was right not to open the door for an easy way out. As far as the relevance of case law in procedures on the delimitation of maritime spaces is concerned, the Tribunal in its most recent judgment of March 14, 2012, in the Dispute Concerning Delimitation of the Maritime Boundary between Bangladesh/Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal (Bangladesh/Myanmar) observed in paragraph 184 that [d]ecisions of international courts and tribunals referred to in article 38 of the Statute of the ICJ, are also of particular importance in determining the content of the law applicable to maritime delimitation under article 74 and 83 of the Convention. …


Background: Prevalence of urolithiasis is increasing in modern society due to a variety of etiologiesand due to high recurrence rates. Though computed tomography is an imaging modality of choice to detect the calculus along with their number & location especially in ureter, susceptibility of its disintegration on lithotripsy, obstructive signs and delineating the roadmap for surgery in complicated cases but recently there are growing concerns related to radiation exposure especially in children, pregnant women, psychiatric patients and follow up cases. There is a recent interest in magnetic resonance urography (MRU) that combines the advantage of cross-sectional imaging &urography with simultaneous avoidance of contrastrelated & radiation risk. Hence, we conducted a pilot study for evaluating the diagnostic ability of MRU in urolithiasis patients. Materials & Methods: This observational,cross-sectional, comparative study was performed in the Department of Radiodiagnosis on 20 patients diagnosed with urolithiasis by 128-Slice CT scanner. MRU was performed on 1.5T MR scanner utilizing T2 weighted images in multiple planes. Data was recorded in blinded fashion and analysed using appropriate statistical tools & methods. Results: MRU revealed an overall detection rate of 65% for urolithiasis but was able to depict the obstructive signs clearly even when the calculus was not visualised yielding an overall capability of 100% in predicting future course of action. The major limitation was in detection of calculus <6mm and those located in distal ureter or vesicoureteric junction. Conclusion: Though MRU cannot replace the CT scan in patients with urolithiasis, yet it can be used as an alternative imaging tool to evaluate urolithiasis with a considerable degree of European Journal of Molecular & Clinical Medicine ISSN 2515-8260 Volume 07, Issue 10, 2020 3957 confidence & accuracy especially in predicting the future course of management in such patients.


Children who have multiple disabilities often have complex communicational needs (Crickmay 1966; Orelove & Sobsey, 1996; Van Riper & Erickson, 1996; Workinger 2005). To augment or supplement these children's communication skills some form of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) may be provided (Beukleman & Mirenda, 2005; Downing, 1996; Orelove & Sobsey, 1996; Stephenson & Dowrick, 2005). However it has been found that parents fear AAC will prevent focus on verbal output which is the preferred way of communication (Allaire et al 1991; Beukelman & Mirenda, 2005; Schlosser, 2003; Stephenson & Dowrick, 2005). This study investigated the impact of a combined therapy approach on the phonetic repertoire of children with multiple disabilities. In addition, changes in communication intent were also explored. Each child received intervention across four, 20-30 minute sessions per week for six weeks. Results show that all of the children made improvements, however not all changes were significant. Clinical implications of the study include the notion that working on traditional therapy techniques can improve the speech and language of children who have multiple disabilities and there is a need to look further at traditional therapies and incorporate AAC into these.


The aim of this paper is to reflect on how conceptions of networked learning have changed, particularly in relation to educational practices and uses of technology, that can nurture new ideas of networked learning to sustain multiple and diverse communities of practice in institutional settings. Our work is framed using two theoretical frameworks: Giddens's (1984) structuration theory and Callon & Latour's (1981) Actor Network Theory as critiqued by Fox (2005) in relation to networked learning. We use these frameworks to analyse and critique ideas of networked learning embodied in both cases. We investigate three questions: (a) the role of individual agency in the development of networked learning; (b) the impact of technological developments on approaches to supporting students within institutional infrastructures; and (c) designing networked learning to incorporate Web 2.0 practices that sustain multiple communities and foster engagement with knowledge in new ways. We use an interpretivist approach by drawing on experiential knowledge of the Masters programme in Networked Collaborative Learning and the decision making process of designing the virtual graduate schools. At this early stage, we have limited empirical data related to the student experience of networked learning in current and earlier projects. Our findings indicate that the use of two different theoretical frameworks provided an essential tool in illuminating, situating and informing the process of designing networked learning that involves supporting multiple and diverse communities of practice in institutional settings. These theoretical frameworks have also helped us to analyze our existing projects as case studies and to problematize and begin to understand the challenges we face in facilitating the participation of research students in networked learning communities of practice and the barriers to that participation. We have also found that this process of theorizing has given us a way of reconceptualizing communities of practice within research settings that have the potential to lead to new ideas of networked learning.


Background Defective cellular transport processes can lead to aberrant accumulation of trace elements, iron, small molecules and hormones in the cell, which in turn may promote the formation of reactive oxygen species, promoting DNA damage and aberrant expression of key regulatory cancer genes. As DNA damage and uncontrolled proliferation are hallmarks of cancer, including epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), we hypothesized that inherited variation in the cellular transport genes contributes to EOC risk. Methods In total, DNA samples were obtained from 14,525 case subjects with invasive EOC and from 23,447 controls from 43 sites in the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium (OCAC). Two hundred seventy nine SNPs, representing 131 genes, were genotyped using an Illumina Infinium iSelect BeadChip as part of the Collaborative Oncological Gene-environment Study (COGS). SNP analyses were conducted using unconditional logistic regression under a log-additive model, and the FDR q<0.2 was applied to adjust for multiple comparisons. Results The most significant evidence of an association for all invasive cancers combined and for the serous subtype was observed for SNP rs17216603 in the iron transporter gene HEPH (invasive: OR = 0.85, P = 0.00026; serous: OR = 0.81, P = 0.00020); this SNP was also associated with the borderline/low malignant potential (LMP) tumors (P = 0.021). Other genes significantly associated with EOC histological subtypes (p<0.05) included the UGT1A (endometrioid), SLC25A45 (mucinous), SLC39A11 (low malignant potential), and SERPINA7 (clear cell carcinoma). In addition, 1785 SNPs in six genes (HEPH, MGST1, SERPINA, SLC25A45, SLC39A11 and UGT1A) were imputed from the 1000 Genomes Project and examined for association with INV EOC in white-European subjects. The most significant imputed SNP was rs117729793 in SLC39A11 (per allele, OR = 2.55, 95% CI = 1.5-4.35, p = 5.66x10-4). Conclusion These results, generated on a large cohort of women, revealed associations between inherited cellular transport gene variants and risk of EOC histologic subtypes.


3 Aim This clinical study was designed to investigate the clinical behavior and assess the volumetric dimensional changes of a cancellous heterologous bone graft, when used to treat anterior maxilla bone defects, in comparison to cortical-cancellous autogenous bone blocks. Material and Methods Seven patients presenting with bone atrophy of the anterior maxilla area received two block grafts in a split mouth design: an autogenous bone block collected from the ascending ramus and an equine-derived bone block. Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans were recorded before the graft surgery (T0), 15 days (T1) and 6 months after the grafting surgery (T2). Bone and graft volume were analyzed using the SimPlant Crystal Pro® software (Materialise, Lueven Belgium). Results No complications were observed and all implants could be placed into the planned positions. Equine-derived bone blocks showed a significant smaller volume reduction than autogenous ones (9.2±1.6% vs.14.6±1.2%, respectively, p<0.05). Conclusion Preliminary results of this clinical study suggest that heterologous bone blocks might be used as a valid alternative to autogenous, intra-orally collected, bone block grafts to obtain sufficient bone volume for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the atrophic anterior maxilla.


The Orangi Pilot Project (OPP) has become one of the best known NGO projects in the provision of sanitation. In the 16 years since its inception, the Project has directly and indirectly assisted about one million people in Orangi (Karachi) to improved sanitation. Their intervention has been developed through research into household resources and aspirations in Orangi. From the beginning, OPP staff have sought to minimise external support in order to assist households to achieve their objectives for local development. From their first activities, their work has been extended in two directions. The Project has started to work with the people of Orangi and the surrounding area in the provision of a number of additional services including housing, health, credit for entrepreneurs, education and rural development. More recently, staff have been assisting both government and non-government agencies to initiate a number of new projects in other cities in Pakistan drawing on the experience of the Orangi Pilot Project.


AIMS
We have previously shown that preconditioning of stem and progenitor cells promotes their survival post-engraftment in the infarcted heart. The present study was designed to (i) delineate the role of microRNA-21 (miR-21) in interleukin-11 (IL-11) signalling during preconditioning of skeletal myoblasts (MY) and (ii) study the long-term fate of preconditioned MY ((PC)MY) post-transplantation in the infarcted heart.

METHODS AND RESULTS
We report that pharmacological preconditioning of MY with diazoxide showed robust expression of IL-11 and activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk1/2) and signal transducers and activators of transcription-3 (Stat3) with concomitantly increased miR-21. These molecular events improved cytoprotection of (PC)MY under oxidant stress in vitro which was compromised by pre-treatment of (PC)MY with IL-11-specific siRNA, Erk1/2 blocker, or anti-miR-21. In vivo studies for sry-gene detection in a female rat heart model of acute myocardial infarction showed two-fold higher survival of male donor (PC)MY 4 and 7 days post-engraftment. Long-term fate of the engrafted cells was determined at 4 months after transplantation. Immunohistological studies revealed that in comparison with (non-PC)MY, (PC)MY improved angiogenic response in the heart which was evident from a higher number of blood vessels per surface area (0.155 mm(2)) and myogenic differentiation of (PC)MY in the heart. Indices of myocardial contractility including ejection fraction and fractional shortening showed significant improvement in (PC)MY-treated animals.

CONCLUSION
miR-21 is a key regulator of Erk1/2-Stat3 signalling downstream of IL-11 during preconditioning of MY. The therapeutic benefits of (PC)MY were stable and persisted until 4 months of observation.


Abstract. Distinctive periglacial landscapes have formed in late-Pleistocene ice-rich permafrost deposits (Ice Complex) of northern Yakutia, Siberia. Thermokarst lakes and thermokarst basins alternate with ice-rich Yedoma uplands. We investigate different thermokarst stages in Ice Complex deposits of the Lena River Delta using remote sensing and geoinformation techniques. The morphometry and spatial distribution of thermokarst lakes on Yedoma uplands, thermokarst lakes in basins, and thermokarst basins are analyzed, and possible dependence upon relief position and cryolithological context is considered. Of these thermokarst stages, developing thermokarst lakes on Yedoma uplands alter ice-rich permafrost the most, but occupy only 2.2% of the study area compared to 20.0% occupied by thermokarst basins. The future potential for developing large areas of thermokarst on Yedoma uplands is limited due to shrinking distances to degradational features and delta channels that foster lake drainage. Further thermokarst development in existing basins is restricted to underlying deposits that have already undergone thaw, compaction, and old carbon mobilization, and to deposits formed after initial lake drainage. Future thermokarst lake expansion is similarly limited in most of Siberia's Yedoma regions covering about 106 km2, which has to be considered for water, energy, and carbon balances under warming climate scenarios.


Four million extra teachers are needed across Sub-Saharan Africa by 2015 if the Millennium Development Goal of universal access to primary education (UPE) is to be met (COMED/ADEA 2011). In addition there continues to be urgent need to improve the quality of teaching of existing teachers in primary classrooms. There is not sufficient capacity to meet those demands through teacher training or continuous professional development (CPD) courses at Higher Education Institutions (HEI)s and teacher training colleges. In many countries in Africa, particularly but not exclusively in the rural areas, in-service training or CPD outside the school is difficult for teachers to access or to finance. In any case, the school itself has increasing importance as the locus of professional development for teachers. School-based CPD can focus directly on teaching practices and the practicalities of improving the quality of teaching. There is a substantial literature on the benefits to sustainability and long-term change of professional development which arises directly out of classroom practice. The Open Educational Resources (OERs) created by the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) community have been developed to help teachers improve practice, and they lend themselves to this type of school-based professional development. However, leadership is critically important for this kind of school-based teacher education. Without the direct and strategic support of school leaders, it is difficult to organise and sustain this kind of CPD.

This paper explores the ways in which Egerton University, Kenya, is working directly with head teachers, deputy head teachers, subject panel heads and teachers in collaborating schools to encourage them in their use of school-based professional development using the TESSA OERs. This paper conceptualises and discusses the kinds of leadership practices which are in evidence and which are helpful to increasing and sustaining this kind of school-led teacher education.


A new method for testing aspheric surfaces by annular subaperture stitching interferometry is introduced. It can test large-aperture and large-relative-aperture aspheric surfaces at high resolution, low cost, and high efficiency without auxiliary null optics. The basic principle of the method is described, the synthetical optimization stitching model and effective algorithm are established based on simultaneous least-square fitting. A hyperboloid with an aperture of 350 mm is tested by this method. The obtained peak-to-valley (PV) and root-mean-square (RMS) values of the surface error after stitching are 0.433'lambda' and 0.052'lambda' ('lambda' is 632.8 nm), respectively. The reconstructed surface map coincides with the entire surface map from null test, and the difference of PV and RMS errors between them are 0.031'lambda' and 0.005'lambda', respectively. This stitching model provides another quantitive method for testing large aspheric surfaces besides null compensation.


Title of Thesis: FACTORS AFFECTING UNIVERSITY GPA OF MARYLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER STUDENTS WHO PERSIST TO GRADUATION Sarah Elizabeth Hall, Master of Arts, 2005 Thesis Directed By: Dr. Linda Clement, Affiliate Associate Professor Department of Counseling and Personnel Services This study examined Maryland community college transfer students who persist to graduation. Personal characteristics, academic qualifications, and major were examined to determine if any of these factors were predictors of university GPA. These characteristics were: age, race, gender, community college, transfer GPA, first semester GPA, accepted transfer credits, completion of freshmen fundamental studies, Associates degree completion, and college of major. The sample consisted of 530 subjects. The data analysis revealed significant results. Age, race, gender, transfer GPA, first semester GPA, and college of major were all significant predictors of variance in cumulative GPA for community college transfer students. Women, White subjects, and College of Education graduates were significantly more likely to earn higher cumulative GPAs than other subjects within each of these variables. University GPA was significantly correlated with age, transfer GPA, and first semester GPA. These findings have practical implications for admissions and student support services at four-year institutions. FACTORS AFFECTING UNIVERSITY GPA OF MARYLAND COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER STUDENTS WHO PERSIST TO GRADUATION


Lively current debates about narratives of historical progress, the conditions for international justice, and the implications of globalization have prompted a renewed interest in Kant's Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Aim. The essays in this volume, written by distinguished contributors, discuss the questions that are at the core of Kant's investigations. Does the study of history convey any philosophical insight? Can it provide political guidance? How are we to understand the destructive and bloody upheavals that constitute so much of human experience? What connections, if any, can be traced between politics, economics, and morality? What is the relation between the rule of law in the nation state and the advancement of a cosmopolitan political order? These questions and others are examined and discussed in a book that will be of interest to philosophers, social and political theorists, and intellectual and cultural historians.


Failure of the cement mantle has been identified as a possible
mode of failure of the implanted femur in total hip replacement (THR)
[1]. Finite element (FE) analyses have been used to investigate the
stresses experienced in the cement mantle [2] and to predict the life of
the cement mantle when taking different factors into account [3]. The
number of elements used, or mesh density, is an important
consideration when creating a FE model. A model with an insufficient
mesh density will not be able to fully capture the stress state in the
area of interest, but increasing the mesh density dramatically increases
the computational cost of the analysis.
The aim of this study is to determine the mesh density necessary
to model creep and damage accumulation in the cement mantle of a
cemented implanted femur. We compare the initial stress state and
damage accumulation rate for different mesh densities and different
element types.


The South‐North Water Transfer Project (SNWTP), if fully developed, could divert 40‐50 km 3 /yr from the Yangtse basin to the North China plain, alleviating water scarcity for 300‐325M people living in what even then will be a highly water-stressed region. Construction of the next stage, diverting up to 20 km 3 at a cost of about $17,000M (including $7000M in ancillary costs), is to start in 2002/3. A recent World Bank study suggests that the project is economically attractive. This conclusion has been disputed by the World Wildlife Fund (now the Worldwide Fund for Nature). This paper concludes that little confidence can be placed in either of these analyses. It therefore seeks to throw light on how the project fits within a broader regional and agricultural development setting. The project is hugely expensive, and would at the margin tend to preserve water in low value agriculture and require the resettlement of upwards of 300,000 people. On the other hand, the pace and scale of socioeconomic change in China are without precedent, and adjustment problems on the North China plain are greatly exacerbated by water scarcity. Reallocation of water from irrigation to municipal and industrial uses or to the environment is socially divisive and in some instances physically impracticable. The transfer project would greatly alleviate these difficulties. It is these arguments (which are ultimately political and pragmatic), rather than those based strictly on economic or food security concerns, that make the Government's decision to proceed with the project fully understandable.


In recent years we witnessed the rise of applications in which data is continuously generated and pushed towards consumers in real time through complex processing pipelines. Software connectors like remote procedure call (RPC) do not fit with the needs of such applications, for which the publish/subscribe and the stream connectors are more suitable. This paper introduces the design space of the stream software connector by analyzing recent stream processing engine frameworks and domain specific languages featuring native streaming support. On the one side, we want to classify and compare streaming systems based on a taxonomy derived from the wide range of features they offer (i.e., pipeline dynamicity and representation, load balancing and deployment flexibility). On the other side, the gaps in the design space we identify point at future research directions in the area of distributed stream processing. To do so, we gather valuable architectural knowledge in terms of architectural issues and alternatives, elicited by surveying the most important architectural decisions made by the designers of several representative streaming framework architectures.


Enteroviruses are common human pathogens associated with a wide spectrum of symptoms ranging from asymptomatic infection to acute flaccid paralysis and neonatal multi‐organ failure. Molecular methods that provide rapid diagnosis and increased sensitivity have been developed for the diagnosis of enterovirus infection using oligonucleotide primers complementary to conserved sequences located in the 5′ untranslated region (UTR), but data generated from these regions are not sufficiently discriminatory for typing due to the lack of correlation between their nucleic acid sequence and serotype specificity. Sequences derived from the gene encoding the capsid VP1 correlate with serotype, and therefore provide the opportunity for the development of molecular typing methods consistent with present serogical methods. In this study, oligonucleotide primers that amplify a region of the 5′UTR to detect enterovirus RNA, and the region encoding the enterovirus VP1 N‐terminus to characterize virus strains were used in nested and semi‐nested RT‐PCRs, respectively. The ability of the VP1 RT‐PCR to amplify diverse viruses within genotypes and genogroups was confirmed by the correct identification of both prototype strains, and strains circulating currently of the same genotypes. The mole‐cular methods proved their utility through the detection of enteroviruses that failed to grow in cell culture, their subsequent characterization and the characterization of strains that failed to serotype in neutralization assays. Molecular methods increased significantly the sensitivity of detection (P < 0.001) and of characterization (P < 0.01) of enteroviruses when compared to classical methods. J. Med. Virol. 78:243–253, 2006. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.


We examine CMIP6 simulations of Arctic sea‐ice area and volume. We find that CMIP6 models produce a wide spread of mean Arctic sea‐ice area, capturing the observational estimate within the multimodel ensemble spread. The CMIP6 multimodel ensemble mean provides a more realistic estimate of the sensitivity of September Arctic sea‐ice area to a given amount of anthropogenic CO2 emissions and to a given amount of global warming, compared with earlier CMIP experiments. Still, most CMIP6 models fail to simulate at the same time a plausible evolution of sea‐ice area and of global mean surface temperature. In the vast majority of the available CMIP6 simulations, the Arctic Ocean becomes practically sea‐ice free (sea‐ice area <1 × 106 km2) in September for the first time before the Year 2050 in each of the four emission scenarios SSP1‐1.9, SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5, and SSP5‐8.5 examined here.


Isolation and enumeration of endophytic and phylloplane fungi from different leaf samples of the medicinal plant, Solanum nigrum was carried out in the Microbiology laboratory, Department of Botany, K.M. Center for P.G Studies (Autonomous), Pondicherry during early 2015. Agar plate and moist chamber techniques were used to isolate the endophytic and ectophytic fungi. During the study period, a total of 16 fungi were isolated under 10 genera from both agar plate and moist chamber plates. Incidence of the fungi isolated by moist chamber was less than agar plates. In agar plate technique, Penicillium digitatum, Aspergillus awamori, Alternaria sp., recorded from the leaf samples but, in moist chamber, Torula herbarum, Trichoderma harzianum and Aspergillus flavus were recorded from the leaf samples. Alternaria sp., Cladosporium herbarum, Aspergillus awamori, A. flavipes, A. niger Monascus sp., Penicillium citrinum, P. digitatum, Torula herbarum and Trichoderma harzianum were identified as phylloplane fungi and Alternaria sp., Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Brown sterile mycelia, Penicillium chrysogenum, P. digitatum, Torula herbarum, Trichoderma sp. and White sterile mycelia were recognized as endophytes. Of all fungi recorded, Torula herbarum was found as the true endophytes among the total number of isolated phylloplane and endophytic fungi from the leaf samples of Solanum nigrum by two different methods. Moist chamber method was found to be easy to isolate endophytic and phylloplane fungi correctly in comparison to agar plate method, where the sporulation of fungi was very fast than the moist chamber.


Knowledge Management (KM) continues to develop as an emerging discourse within businessmanagement. The area is eclectic in nature and covers systematic management of knowledge, of all kinds, within all levels and types of organisations. However, the majority of studies, in common with other emergent business philosophies, are focused on larger organisations where, for example, readily available, somewhat unlimited resources is an underlying assumption. In contrast KM investigation within Small Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) tends to focus on specific cases with no key trends identified for KM adoption across the sector. Considering the downturn in the current economic climate empirical research to identify key factors common to all organisations, irrelevant of size is necessary, supported by both empirical findings and case experiences. This paper presents the findings from a large-scale empirical investigation conducted in 2009 with anumber of UK companies. The purpose of the research was to investigate how KM implementation can influence organisational sustainability, development and maturity in both small and large companies. This research builds on a ten-year project investigating KM implementation within UK companies employing both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The research considers how KM affects internal organisational processes, to strengthen the link between operations and strategy, resulting in better decision maker, faster products to market, better service quality and enhanced customer loyalty. Core aspects of technological application, information management, employee emancipation and process improvement are considered providing a framework for KMadoption and uptake. This paper compares KM implementation and development between large corporations and SMEs to ascertain if organisation size matters. The paper commences with a brief literature review outlining key elements which effect KM implementation. Based on the MeCTIP model and utilising the 'Benchmarking KM' online survey tool, empirical analysis of KM implementation and development with a large sample of UK companies is undertaken. Initial statistical analysis finds that KM can contribute to organisational sustainability, development and maturity by a number of internal organisational factors, such as technology, information andpeople. As organisations are receptive to influences beyond their boundaries, changes in the macro-environment tend to affect both organisational climate and internal technical climate, which has a knock-on effect for KM adoption and implementation. This paper compares results for SMEs and larger firms.


The extensive construction work performed by the Franciscans, Dominicans and Augustinians in the sixteenth century in Mexico comprises small and large masonry religious buildings of great architectural significance. This paper studies the constructive and structural characteristics of the "visiting" chapels and conventual churches. These buildings, erected by the first three mendicant orders to arrive in Mexico, are the oldest pieces of work created after the first contact between America and Europe. The main objective of this work is to identify the origin of the outline of their roofing systems, and classify and study them from the historic and structural points of view, along with their walls and buttresses. The document shows a detailed study of one building that represents each one of the types of typical roofs of the sixteenth century in Mexico, based on the review of rules of construction contained in treatises of the time, and their possible application in Mexican religious buildings. Based on this review, it was possible to see that in certain cases there is a great similarity between the geometric characteristics of their structural elements with the rules of these treatises, that might have served their builders to guarantee the stability of their buildings. Results are given for two conventual temples and one chapel, where it was possible to find this similarity and know the basics of the design of buttresses, which will be useful for future structural and constructive studies.


This paper describes MIXIT, a system that improves the throughput of wireless mesh networks. MIXIT exploits a basic property of mesh networks: even when no node receives a packet correctly, any given bit is likely to be received by some node correctly. Instead of insisting on forwarding only correct packets, MIXIT routers use physical layer hints to make their best guess about which bits in a corrupted packet are likely to be correct and forward them to the destination. Even though this approach inevitably lets erroneous bits through, we find that it can achieve high throughput without compromising end-to-end reliability.
 The core component of MIXIT is a novel network code that operates on small groups of bits, called symbols. It allows the nodes to opportunistically route groups of bits to their destination with low overhead. MIXIT's network code also incorporates an end-to-end error correction component that the destination uses to correct any errors that might seep through. We have implemented MIXIT on a software radio platform running the Zigbee radio protocol. Our experiments on a 25-node indoor testbed show that MIXIT has a throughput gain of 2.8x over MORE, a state-of-the-art opportunistic routing scheme, and about 3.9x over traditional routing using the ETX metric.


The first edition of Living Downstream--an exquisite blend of precise science and engaging narrative--set a new standard for scientific writing. Poet, biologist, and cancer survivor, Steingraber uses all three kinds of experience to investigate the links between cancer and environmental toxins. The updated science in this exciting new edition strengthens the case for banning poisons now pervasive in our air, our food, and our bodies. Because synthetic chemicals linked to cancer come mostly from petroleum and coal, Steingraber shows that investing in green energy also helps prevent cancer. Saving the planet becomes a matter of saving ourselves and an issue of human rights. A documentary film based on the book will coincide with publication.


Infrared microspectroscopy and immunolabeling techniques were employed in order to obtain deeper insight into the biochemical nature of aleurone cell walls of wheat grain. The use of a synchrotron source, thanks to its intrinsic brightness, has provided unprecedented information at the level of a few micrometers and has allowed the discrimination of various polysaccharides in cell walls. The high spectral quality obtained in the small analyzed domain has been beneficial in estimating the relative proportions of β-glucan and arabinoxylan, through the use of principal component analysis (PCA). The highest amount of β-glucan is found in periclinal cell walls close to the starchy endosperm. The junction regions between aleurone cells are enriched in arabinoxylan. At the early stage of wheat grain development (271°D), the chemical composition along the cell walls is more heterogeneous than at the mature stage. Both synchrotron infrared microspectroscopy and immunolabeling experiments made it possible to reveal the spatial heterogeneity of the various chemical compositions of aleurone cell walls.


Note from Editor. I would like to thank those who have submitted reviews in the past and would like to encourage both former and new reviewers to consider submissions in the future. I will provide an updated list of videos sent to me by distributors and currently available for review on the UALE website, http://www.uale.org/lsj/reviews. I will also send an e-mail notice via the UALE listserv. If you see something that interests you, please let me know so I can send the video to you. Reviews are to be no more than 500 words and are to conform to the general style requirements of the Journal. They may be submitted on disk or as an email attachment in Word or WordPerfect.


My paper is a critical analysis of anti-racist and tolerance promotion initiatives in Latvia. First, I trace the historical and geopolitical conditions that enable the emergence of two discursive positions that are central to arguments about racism – that of liberally inclined tolerance activists and that of Latvians with politically objectionable nationalist sensibilities. Subsequently, I argue that, plagued by developmentalist thinking, anti-racist and tolerance promotion initiatives fail in their analysis of contemporary racism. They posit backward attitudes as the main hindrance to the eradication of racism and displace racism as a constitutive feature of modern political forms onto individual and collective sensibilities. Instead of the fast track diagnosis of racism that animates liberal anti-racism, I suggest that an analysis of racism should integrate attention to the common elements of modern racism across political regimes and the historical particularities that shape public and political subjectivities in concrete places.


The inception and development of the Social Sciences cannot be taken out of the context of European – and later also American – colonialism. This field of knowledge, with its assumptions, representations, concepts and analyses, has proceeded hand-in-hand with the consolidation of the capitalist world system. The latter has been marked by a separation between its core and the vast postcolonial areas of the globe. In the early 20 th century, Max Weber, one of the founding fathers of Sociology, devoted a great amount of his extensive work to comparative research between different societies and historical periods, aiming at explaining the so-called uniqueness of the West. In general, his results point to cultural and economic deficiencies and absences of the non-Western world vis-à-vis the West. In this paper, I explore Weber's concept of patrimonialism and its usages to analyze South Korea. In addressing the latter along with more recent critiques, the paper argues that representations of South Korean society as patrimonial are ultimately hostages of euro-centered representations about the 'rest' of the world, that they operate on the basis of problematic historical premises, and that they obscure rather than help to explain the distinct contemporary configurations of capitalism and their specific forms of social domination in South Korea.


The paper presents a study of the low-temperature photoconductivity of 6H-SiC. The photocurrent at the absorption edge is assigned to Auger recombination of excitons captured to impurities. This is shown to saturate and decrease with increasing the photon energy, so the further increase in the photocurrent, observed in the purest sample, can be attributed to free excitons created in non-bound states in the exciton continuum. Thus, the exciton binding energy can be estimated, E-bx approximate to 60 +/- 5 meV in 6H-SiC.


Abstract SI engines are highly susceptible to excess emissions when started at low ambient temperatures. This phenomenon has multiple air quality and climate forcing implications. Direct injection petrol engines feature a markedly different fuelling strategy, and so their emissions behaviour is somewhat different from indirect injection petrol engines. The excess emissions of direct injection engines at low ambient temperatures should also differ. Additionally, the direct injection fuel delivery process leads to the formation of PM, and DISI engines should show greater PM emissions at low ambient temperatures. This study reports on laboratory experiments quantifying excess emissions of gaseous and solid pollutants over a legislative driving cycle following cold start at a low ambient temperature for both engine types. Over the legislative cycle for testing at -7°C (the UDC), emissions of HC, CO, NOx and CO2 were higher when tested at -7°C than at 24°C. Massive increases in emissions of HC and CO were observed, together with more modest increases in NOx and CO2 emissions. Results from the entire driving cycle showed excess emissions in both phases (though they were much larger for the UDC). The DISI vehicle showed lower increases in fuel consumption than the port injected vehicles, but greater increases in emission of HC and CO. DISI particle number emissions increased by around 50%; DISI particle mass by over 600%. The observed emissions deteriorations varied somewhat by engine type and from vehicle to vehicle. Excesses were greatest following start-up, but persisted, even after several hundred seconds' driving. The temperature of the intake air appeared to have a limited but significant effect on emissions after the engine has been running for some time. All vehicles tested here comfortably met the relevant EU limits, providing further evidence that these limits are no longer challenging and need updating.


Paired planktic foraminiferal δ 18 O and Mg/Ca data reveal trends of increasing temperatures (~3 °C) and salinities in the subpolar North Atlantic over the course of the Holocene, which were punctuated by abrupt events. The trends likely refl ect an insolation-forced northward retreat of the boundary between polar and North Atlantic subsurface waters. The superimposed variability does not appear to be periodic, but tends to recur within a broad millennial band. The records provide convincing evidence of open-ocean cooling (nearly 2 °C) and freshening during the 8.2 ka event, and suggest similar conditions at 9.3 ka. However, the two largest temperature oscillations in our record (~2 °C) occurred during the past 4 k.y., suggesting a recent increase in temperature variability relative to the mid-Holocene, perhaps in response to neoglaciation, which began at about this time.


Potato callus has been shown to be capable of de novo organized development including shoot and root formation. A surprising finding in a study of potato (Solanum tuberosum cv. Iwa) callus culture initiated from leaf explants on a medium supplemented with auxin and cytokinin is reported here. Five weeks after callus formation, a low frequency (about 10%) of the callus cultures had formed microtubers. The microtubers initially appeared to be light green and some were elongated. One week later the microtubers had lost much of the green appearance and were full of hairs on the side and with many scattered dark brown spots on the top view. Histological analysis showed that a microtuber was connected with the callus and not with the leaf explant as the callus typically lacked the internal organization of a leaf. This is the first report of the occurrence of microtubers in potato callus cultures.


The relative sensitivity of radiography, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging for detecting palmar process fractures of the distal phalanx in foals was determined and the imaging findings were compared with histomorphologic evaluations of the palmar processes. Compared to radiography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging did not improve the sensitivity for detection of palmar process fractures. Statistical agreement for palmar process fracture diagnosis was excellent among the three imaging modalities. Histomorphologic evaluations were more sensitive for diagnosis of palmar process fracture than any of the imaging modalities. Three-dimensional image reconstructions and volume measurements of distal phalanges and palmar process fracture fragments from computed tomography studies provided more complete anatomical information than radiography. Magnetic resonance imaging confirmed that the deep digital flexor tendon insertion on the distal phalanx is immediately axial to the site where palmar process fractures occur, and differentiated cartilage, bone, and soft tissue structures of the hoof.


This paper presents the development of a proportional-integral sliding mode controller for tracking problem of robot manipulators. A robust sliding mode controller is derived so that the actual trajectory tracks the desired trajectory as closely as possible despite the highly nonlinear and coupled dynamics. The proposed controller is designed using the centralized and decentralized approaches. The proportional-integral sliding mode is chosen to ensure the stability of overall dynamics during the entire period, i.e., the reaching phase and the sliding phase. Application to a two-link planar robot manipulator is considered.


"Argument and Research" focuses on analysis, sythesis and evaulation, logical thinking, the techniques of argument, writing about literature, and preparation of the documented essay.


Performance pay has been one of the main trends in public sector reform over the last decade and aims to increase employees' motivation. However, positive results are sparse. In a majority of cases, pay scheme designers neglect that intrinsic motivation may be distorted by the introduction of extrinsic rewards (crowding out). Nevertheless, under certain conditions, performance pay schemes may also enhance intrinsic motivation (crowding-in). The perception of rewards has proven to be an especially crucial factor for the outcome of performance pay. Based on psychological contract theory, this paper analyzes the relationships between intrinsic motivation, public service motivation (PSM), personality characteristics, and the design of the performance- appraisal scheme. The empirical analysis relies on a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach. Model findings reveal that a fair, participatory, and transparent design reduces the controlling perception while fostering the intrinsic motivation of employees. In addition, participants who score high on neuroticism perceive performance pay schemes to be more controlling and have lower values of intrinsic motivation.


The aim of the GENKOMB project was to find and analyse transcription
factor binding sites in the human genome, by correlating expression
data for a set of genes with the nucleotide sequences in their
upstream regions. This document is a technical description of
tools that have been developed and results that have been obtained
in the GENKOMB project. Apart from detecting transcription factor
binding sites, this project has resulted in programs for matching
weight matrices to DNA sequences and multiple alignment of short
nucleotide sequences.


The concentrations of Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and V in water, sediment and the gill, liver and muscle tissues of Synodontis resupinatus, Heterotis niloticus and Clarias gariepinus, all commercially important fish species of the lower Niger River, were investigated in 2015. Water, sediment and fish samples were collected for six months and heavy metals were determined using an Atomic Absorption Spectrometer. Fe ranked highest in water and sediment, with concentrations of 2.74 mg l−1 and 61.60 mg kg−1, respectively. Metals followed the magnitude of Fe > Mn > Ni > V > Pb in the water and Fe > Mn > V > Ni > Pb in the sediments. Metal concentrations were higher in the tissues of S. resupinatus compared with H. niloticus and C. gariepinus. Fe was also highest in the gills, liver and muscle of the three fish species. Its highest concentration of 132.97 mg kg−1 dry weight was recorded in the gills of S. resupinatus. Bioconcentration factors of metals ranged from 8.79 for Mn in H. niloticus muscle to 67.99 for Ni in S. resupinatus gills. The fish species studied pose no health risk for all metals studied, because the target hazard quotient was less than 1 and the estimated daily intakes of the metals were below the reference doses.


Joan F. Mira is one of the key figures in contemporary Catalan culture. Because of his many interests (anthropologist, translator and author in different genres) he is not easily classified. In the manner of T.S. Eliot, Mira has managed to tie his output with the great classical works of Catalan literature and that of Europe. His interests, strictu sensu, stretch from a microcosm located in his hometown in Valencia's Horta, to the great European cities – and cultures far beyond – which he has visited during his life-long journey either physically or with his readings. This article seeks to offer an approach to strategies employed by Mira, including cultural anthropology or his narrative's hybridity, to incorporate into his discourse spaces he has mapped during his life or by extension, those of his country. Methodology is based on a geocritical approach applied to literary studies (Bou, Marqués, Salvador, Tally, Westphal), with a transversal and multidisciplinary approach to the analysis of the work of Joan Francesc Mira.


Title: Winning in a Global Market: The Significance Of Training For Skills Required To Be Effective In International Marketing. Author: Peter Ohonsi Supervisor: Anders Hederstierna Department: School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology Course: Master's Thesis in Business Administration, 10 credits. Background and Problem Discussion: International marketing has intensified and is evident in nearly all aspects of daily life. Local regions or national boundaries no longer restrict competitive forces. To be successful in today's global economy, companies must be simultaneously responsive to local and global market conditions. Hence, international marketing skills are an important ingredient for every company, whether or not it is currently involved in exporting activities. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to (1) Identify the skills needed to be effective in international marketing; (2) identify the level of importance of each of these skills; (3) identify the degree to which these skills are present in employees of exporting companies; and (4) describe the gap between the skills these employees have and the skills they need. Method: Data were collected, regarding skill importance, through a Delphi participant sample of thirty academic and practitioner international marketing experts. Companies, exporting between $500,000 and $50 million, were surveyed regarding the degree their employees possessed the identified skills. Possession ratings were compared across importance ratings, in a way that allowed skill-based areas for training programs to be prioritized. Theory: An extensive review of the literature was completed relative to determining which skills are required for effective international marketing. The literature provided several organizational frameworks, which focused on general elements of international marketing. Analysis: Sixty skills were identified as necessary for effective international marketing, and were classified into, and analyzed within categories - (1) planning and operational skills; (2) pricing skills; (3) promotional skills; (4) product skills; and (5) distribution skills. Twenty-four of the skills were rated as being highly important, thirty-six were rated as being of medium importance, and none were rated as being of low importance. Possession ratings were compared across importance ratings, which identified twenty-four international marketing skills as training priorities. Conclusion: There were three major managerial implications based on the findings: (1) Implications relating to the degree that small and medium-sized actively exporting companies may participate in international marketing training programs; (2) International promotional skills should be the topic most emphasized when offering international marketing training programs; and (3) This study has produced a new assessment tool which would go a long way to assist firms in identifying international marketing training needs.


OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether patients with constrictive pericarditis have changes in collagen content and architecture that could influence left ventricular function. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: University teaching hospital. PATIENTS: Biopsy specimens of myocardium from 13 patients admitted consecutively for treatment of chronic constrictive pericarditis were compared with normal heart tissue taken at necropsy from 15 patients free of cardiac disease. INTERVENTION: Pericardiectomy through median sternotomy. Biopsy specimens (4 or 5) were taken from the left ventricular free wall. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Biochemical and histological assessment of total collagen content, relative proportion of type I and III collagen, and amount of orthogonal collagen fibre meshwork (crosshatching) in the left ventricular tissue. RESULTS: There was more collagen in the myocardium of patients with constrictive pericarditis than in controls when measured either biochemically by hydroxyproline content (89.4 v 50.4 mg/g dry weight) or by histological measurement of the collagen fraction of the myocardium (2.4% v 7.0%). Neither of these measurements, however, correlated with left ventricular ejection fraction, pulmonary wedge pressure, or right ventricular end diastolic pressure. The thickness of the fibrous trabeculae in the myocardium was, however, inversely related to both left ventricular ejection fraction (r = -0.76) and deceleration time (r = -0.68). Trabecular thickening was also related to NYHA class, with those in class III and IV having the greatest thickening. CONCLUSION: Changes in collagen content and architecture may contribute to impaired ventricular function in patients with chronic constrictive pericarditis.


In this paper, progressive damage modeling was used in order to identify the maximum allowable clamping force in single (3DS) and double (3DD) bolted lapped joints. A constitutive model based on continuum damage mechanics was implemented and used in joint simulation. The model results were compared with experimental results and good agreement was evaluated. A 3D finite element model consists of a composite laminate plate, steel plates, steel washers, and steel bolts was adopted for the modeling of the single and double bolted joint. The effect of bolt clearance, friction coefficient, and joint type on the maximum clamping force was studied and analyzed. It was found that using the composite plate between two steel plates (double lap) increased joint clamping force capacity significantly. This leads to enhancement in the effect of clamping force and decreases the compression damage in the thickness direction of the composite plate. According to this study it is recommended to use washer bolt hole clearance less than or equal to the composite plate bolt hole clearance as bigger washer clearance can cause early damage due to bolt tightening. It was found that, the beak point of the stress destruction under the washer or the steel plate is shifted due to the softening behavior under the washer head. The clamping stiffness in the case of single lapped joint is about double the case of double lap.


Conceptual and Methodological Elements for Cumulative Environmental Effects Assessment (CEEA) in Subtropical Forests. The Case of Eastern Salta, Argentina: Northern Argentina experienced an unprecedented deforestation rate of xerophitic forests as a consequence of agricultural expansion. In the Province of Salta, 26% of the forest were removed between 1977 and 2008. At the end of 2007, just before the No. 26331 Law of Native Forest Protection was voted by the Congress, the highest annual rate of deforestation was registered, reaching a value of 2.1%. Regarding this situation, indigenous people of Eastern Salta along with the "criollos" (local small ranchers) appealed to the National Supreme Court of Justice for legal protection. The Court requested the province to elaborate a Cumulative Environmental Effects Assessment (CEEA) regarding the process of logging and deforestation in four departments of Salta Province (San Martin, Rivadavia, Santa Victoria, and Oran). The aim of this work is to present a conceptual framework to conduct a CEEA in eastern Salta and to present the evidences and existing methodologies to characterize the impacts of deforestation. The conceptual framework suggested depends on the quantitative characterization of the changes in the provision level of key ecosystem services as a function of the stress and/or disturbance level (in this case deforestation). Based on the literature and our own data, the effects of deforestation on four key ecosystem services have been assessed: C dynamics, energy balance and greenhouse gases emissions, water dynamics and landscape structure. Deforestation produced emissions of 2000 t of CH4, 200 t of N2O, above 20 Gg of C/year, a 1.1 watt/m2 reduction in reflected radiation and 4400 TJ radiative energy emissions caused by deforestation fires, increases in the risk of soil salinization and landscape fragmentation. Considering these aspects of the structure and functioning of the ecosystems provides objective elements to evaluate management alternatives and to elaborate monitoring programmes. To consider such management and monitoring alternatives arises technical challenges but also institutional and political ones. [


Identity in Latin America is addressed most commonly with a specific focus on the organizing framework and ideology of mestizaje. This paper examines two distinct Latin American identities that exist on the margins of the dominant framework for understanding identity in Latin America. Scholarly work dealing with mestizaje emphasizes Indian-White polarities while also highlighting the ambiguities inherent in the mestizo identity. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in coastal Ecuador and Amazonian Peru, this article explores the similarities between montubio and ribereño identities. This article emphasizes the place-based nature of these unique identities while at the same time examining economic practice as fundamental to both montubio and ribereño cultural identities. Additionally, this article examines the shifting meanings associated with each identity while suggesting that montubio and ribereño identities can be viewed as undergoing parallel processes with regard to the nation-state and the dominant ideology of mestizaje.


The paper investigates the information content of Philippine television advertisements. Specifically, it intends to establish exposure patterns and information content profile of television advertisements; and to determine if information content of television commercials varies in different product categories. The Foote-Cone-Belding (FCB) Planning Matrix was utilized to classify the advertised products.


The underlying ethos of dbGaP is that access to these data by secondary data analysts facilitates advancement of science. NIH has required that genome-wide association study data be deposited in the Database of Genotypes and Phenotypes (dbGaP) since 2003. In 2013, a proposed updated policy extended this requirement to next-generation sequencing data. However, recent literature and anecdotal reports suggest lingering logistical and ethical concerns about subject identifiability, informed consent, publication embargo enforcement, and difficulty in accessing dbGaP data. We surveyed the International Genetic Epidemiology Society (IGES) membership about their experiences. One hundred and seventy five (175) individuals completed the survey, a response rate of 27%. Of respondents who received data from dbGaP (43%), only 32% perceived the application process as easy but most (75%) received data within five months. Remaining challenges include difficulty in identifying an institutional signing official and an overlong application process. Only 24% of respondents had contributed data to dbGaP. Of these, 31% reported local IRB restrictions on data release; an additional 15% had to reconsent study participants before depositing data. The majority of respondents (56%) disagreed that the publication embargo period was sufficient. In response, we recommend longer embargo periods and use of varied data-sharing models rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.


Storage Area Networks (SAN) are based on direct interaction between clients and storage servers. This unmediated access exposes the storage server to network attacks, necessitating a verification, by the server, that the client requests conform with the system protection policy. Solutions today can only enforce access control at the granularity of entire storage servers. This is an outcome of the way storage servers abstract storage: an array of fixed size blocks. Providing access control at the granularity of blocks is infeasible there are too many active blocks in the server of entire servers is used. Object, stores (e.g, the NASD system) on the other hand provide means to address these issues. An object store control unit presents an abstraction of a dynamic collection of objects, each can be seen as a different array of blocks, thus providing the basis for Protection at the object level. In this paper we present a security model for the object store which leverages on existing security infrastructure. We give a simple generic mechanism capable of enforcing an arbitrary access control policy at object granularity. This mechanism is specifically designed to achieve low overhead by minimizing the cost of validating an operation along the critical data path, and lends itself for optimizations such as caching The key idea of the model is to separate the mechanisms for transport security from the one used for access control and to maximize the use standard security protocols when possible We utilize a standard industry protocol for authentication, integrity and privacy on the communication channel (IPSec for IP networks) anti fine a proprietary protocol for authorization on top of the secure communication layer.


Many decisions involve selecting among many more options than an individual can effectively examine and consider. Therefore, people usually consider smaller and different "choice sets" as viable options. To better understand the processes affecting choice-set formation, we developed a computational model of how households become aware of potential choices in a context for which understanding household decision-making has important public policy implications: market-based reforms in education. In the model, households learn about the schools to which they can send their children through three mechanisms: find out about geographically proximate schools, access to publicly available information, and information gathered from interactions with other households. We calibrated the model using data from four cities in Chile, where students are not required to attend their neighborhood school. We then used the model to conduct hypothetical computational experiments that assessed how each mechanism impacted the sets of schools known to households before they make their choice (their "awareness set"). We found that the inclusion of a social interaction mechanism was crucial for producing simulated awareness sets that matched the awareness sets provided in a survey conducted by the Chilean Ministry of Education. We also found that the social interaction mechanism played the largest role in determining the quality and price range of the choices available in households' awareness sets. Our findings highlight the importance of social interactions in a stage of decision-making before the direct impact of other individuals is typically made explicit. Moreover, it validates an approach that can be used in future models where understanding how decision-makers become aware of their options may be as important as the way they choose among them.


Face and signature are still two most dominant authentication modes in banking, legal documents, or personnel records in spite availability of more robust biometric modes. Hence, it is imperative to develop low-cost and reliable automated face recognition and signature verification system. Therefore, this paper presents our work in development of a two-in-one portable low-cost dsPIC30F3013 digital signal processing microcontroller based system for real time face recognition and signature verification. The face recognition part of the system is based on eigenface method, while the offline signature verification is based on 12-dimensional feature vector derived from the signature's geometric attributes.


Oregano spice is widely used in the Mediterranean diet, which is associated with a low risk for colon cancer. Although the medicinal benefits of oregano, such as the anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activities, are well known; nonetheless, only few data are available on its effect in cancer prevention, especially concerning the mechanism of action. Here, we investigated the effect of Origanum vulgare ethanolic extracts on redox balance, cell proliferation, and cell death in colon adenocarcinoma Caco2 cells. Oregano extract leads to growth arrest and cell death in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Changes in glutathione content, as well as the increase in its oxidized form, may be involved in oregano-triggered death. Both extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathways appear to be activated by spice extract. Our findings suggest that oregano amounts found in the Mediterranean diet can exert proapoptotic effects, which are selective for cancer cells. Moreover, whole extract, instead of a specific component, can be responsible for the observed cytotoxic effects.


This paper presents a systematic approach to the design of receiver for indoor optical wireless communication. In particular, it is concerned with how one can properly chooses the front-end preamplifier and biasing circuitry for the photodetector. A comparison between differences types of amplifier, and bandwidth enhancement technique is also discussed. For most photodetector applications, large values of RL and CD would severely restrict bandwidth. It is shown that a proper front-end design incorporates a transimpedance preamplifier which tends to integrate the detector output. Such a design provides significant reduction in photodiode capacitance and increase bandwidth when compared to a design which does not integrate initially. Two novel techniques, using bandwidth adjustment for better service quality with a bootstrapped transimpedance amplifier and bootstrapped composite transimpedance amplifier is presented. A controllable capacitance is introduced at the output of the second stage of the amplifier. These technique permits a bandwidth adjustment from 52Hz to 233MHz for a capacitance range of 10uF to 1pF, while the composite amplifier bandwidth adjustment of the circuit can be controlled in the frequency range of 6MHz to 60MHz for a capacitance range of 50pF to 1nF.


BACKGROUND
The health benefits of organic foods are unclear.

PURPOSE
To review evidence comparing the health effects of organic and conventional foods.

DATA SOURCES
MEDLINE (January 1966 to May 2011), EMBASE, CAB Direct, Agricola, TOXNET, Cochrane Library (January 1966 to May 2009), and bibliographies of retrieved articles.

STUDY SELECTION
English-language reports of comparisons of organically and conventionally grown food or of populations consuming these foods.

DATA EXTRACTION
2 independent investigators extracted data on methods, health outcomes, and nutrient and contaminant levels.

DATA SYNTHESIS
17 studies in humans and 223 studies of nutrient and contaminant levels in foods met inclusion criteria. Only 3 of the human studies examined clinical outcomes, finding no significant differences between populations by food type for allergic outcomes (eczema, wheeze, atopic sensitization) or symptomatic Campylobacter infection. Two studies reported significantly lower urinary pesticide levels among children consuming organic versus conventional diets, but studies of biomarker and nutrient levels in serum, urine, breast milk, and semen in adults did not identify clinically meaningful differences. All estimates of differences in nutrient and contaminant levels in foods were highly heterogeneous except for the estimate for phosphorus; phosphorus levels were significantly higher than in conventional produce, although this difference is not clinically significant. The risk for contamination with detectable pesticide residues was lower among organic than conventional produce (risk difference, 30% [CI, -37% to -23%]), but differences in risk for exceeding maximum allowed limits were small. Escherichia coli contamination risk did not differ between organic and conventional produce. Bacterial contamination of retail chicken and pork was common but unrelated to farming method. However, the risk for isolating bacteria resistant to 3 or more antibiotics was higher in conventional than in organic chicken and pork (risk difference, 33% [CI, 21% to 45%]).

LIMITATION
Studies were heterogeneous and limited in number, and publication bias may be present.

CONCLUSION
The published literature lacks strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods. Consumption of organic foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE
None.


This paper presents a two-step optimization-based design method for iterative learning control and applies it onto the quadrotor unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) trajectory tracking problem. Iterative learning control aims to improve the tracking performance through learning from errors over iterations in repetitively operated systems. The tracking errors from previous iterations are injected into a learning filter and a robust filter to generate the learning signal. The design of the two filters usually involves nontrivial tuning work. This paper presents a new two-optimization design method for the iterative learning control, which is easy to obtain and implement. In particular, the learning filter design problem is transferred into a feedback controller design problem for a purposely constructed system, which is solved based on H-infinity optimal control theory thereafter. The robust filter is then obtained by solving an additional optimization to guarantee the learning convergence. Through the proposed design method, the learning performance is optimized and the system's stability is guaranteed. The proposed two-step optimization-based design method and the regarding iterative learning control algorithm are validated by both numerical and experimental studies.


This book sets out not simply to criticize advertisements on the grounds of dishonesty and exploitation, but to examine in detail, through over a hundred illustrations, their undoubted attractiveness and appeal. The overt economic function of this appeal is to make us buy things. Its ideological function, however, is to involve us as 'individuals' in perpetuating the ideas which endorse the economic basis of our society. If it is economic conditions which make ideology necessary, it is ideology which makes those conditions seem necessary.

If society is to be changed,this vicious circle of 'necessity' and ideas must be broken. Decoding Advertisements is an attempt to undo one link in the chain which we ourselves help to forge, in our acceptance not only of the images and values of advertising, but of the 'transparent' forms and structures in which they are embodied. It provides not an 'answer', but a 'set of tools' which we can use to alter our own perceptions of one of society's subtlest and most complex forms of propaganda.


Background: Road traffic accidents (RTA) are the leading cause of disabilities among people aged 15-30 years. Traumatic optic neuropathy (TON) occurs in upto 5% of closed head traumas. It is an ophthalmic emergency for which there is no standardized treatment protocol. Purpose: To evaluate clinical presentations and visual outcome of TON. Methods: Retrospective analysis of 56 TON patients treated in a tertiary eye care facility over three years. Clinical profile, ocular and cranial injuries were recorded. Visual outcomes of treated (1gm/day intravenous methylprednisolone for three days followed by oral prednisolone 1 mg/kg over 2 weeks) and untreated patients were analysed.Best corrected visual acuity at one month follow up was taken as the primary outcome measure. Statistical analysis was done using Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon sign rank test. Results: Of 56, nine patients had presenting vision >6/60 and 47 had ≤6/60. Forty four out of 56 patients received intravenous and oral steroids, of them, >2 line improvement was seen in 25 patients. Final vision of >6/60 was recorded in 32 patients (31 treated,1untreated). 24 patients had a final vision ≤6/60 (13 treated, 11 untreated). Significant difference between baseline visual acuity and post treatment visual acuity at one month review was noted in patients who received steroids (P = 0.001). Of the 12 Patients managed conservatively no significant improvement was seen. Conclusion: Patients with baseline vision >= 6/60 improved after high dose IV methylprednisolone but those with very poor baseline vision on and those managed conservatively did not significant improvement. No major side effects were encountered with the above stated steroid regimen.


Basically, strict liability is part of the mechanism for expressing judgment or sentence by using direct evidence. This principle is very useful in order to obtain remedies from any damage either directly or indirectly. The principle in Rylands v Fletcher is responsible on imposing strict liability where if something brought onto land or collected there escapes liability under this rule can include not only the owner of land but also those who control or occupation on it. However, as a matter of fact, policy and regulation are also important in taking any action against any party who are responsible for environmental pollution or damage, which may include mismanagement of waste or industrial waste or agricultural waste. There are certain policies and regulations on environmental protection such as the National Environmental Policy, certain Acts and several regulations under the Environmental Quality Act 1974 (Act 127), which are very useful for agricultural waste management inter alia: Waters Act 1920 (Act 418), Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises) (Crude Palm Oil) Regulations 1977, Environmental Quality (Prescribed Premises) (Raw Natural Rubber) Regulations 1978, Environmental Quality (Sewage and Industrial Effluents) Regulations 1979, and Environmental Quality (Compounding of Offences) Rules 1978. As a matter of fact, we should realize that time is of an essence for any parties which are involved in court cases and especially in avoiding the element of externality, which is commonly suffered by the government. In making this paper, therefore, some element of comparison with certain developed jurisdiction such as in the United Kingdom and Japan could not be avoided in order to obtain better outcome and to be more practical for the purpose of environmental protection and agricultural waste management.