At the core of the debate in Ukraine about Babi Yar lies the Holocaust. Between 1941 and 1943 1.5 million Jews perished in Ukraine, yet a full understanding of that tragedy has been suppressed consistently by ideologies and interpretations of history that minimize or ignore this tragedy. For Soviet ideologues, admitting to the existence of the Holocaust would have been against the tenet of a "Soviet people" and the aggressive strategy of eliminating national and religious identities. A similar logic of oneness is being applied now in the ideological formation of an independent Ukraine. However, rather than one Soviet people, now there is one Ukrainian people under which numerous historical tragedies are being subsumed, and the unique national tragedies of other peoples on the territory of Ukraine, such as the massive destruction of Jews, is again being suppressed. According to this political idea assiduously advocated most recently during the Yushchenko presidency, the twentieth century in Ukraine was a battle for liberation. Within this new, exclusive history, the Holocaust, again, has found no real place. The author reviews the complicated history regarding the memorialization of the Jewish tragedy in Babi Yar through three broad chronological periods: 1943–1960, 1961–1991, and 1992–2009.


Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are part of the definition of investment in numerous international Investment Agreements (IIAs) signed at the bilateral and regional level by different countries. The inclusion of IPR in the IIAs may pose problems when a country temporarily suspends the medical patent held by a particular investor by issuing a compulsory license (CL) because such suspension may be construed as expropriation under an IIA. This issue is particularly important when viewed in light of the fact that the Doha declaration on TRIPS (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights agreement) and public health clearly recognise the right of member countries to use flexibilities like CL to mitigate any adverse impact of medical patents on accessibility of medicines. However, if issuance of CL for public health is construed as expropriation under an IIA, then countries may be deterred to make use of these policy flexibilities. Further, if issuance of CL is held as expropriation then a conflict may arise for the compensation to be paid because the compensation to be paid for issuing CL under TRIPS may be different from the compensation to be paid under an IIA. This paper analyses these issues in the context of India, which has signed numerous IIAs that have IPR as part of the definition of investment. The paper discusses the definition of investment and expropriation provisions in Indian IIAs to show that problems may exist if India were to issue a CL as such issuance of CL could be construed as expropriation under an Indian IIA although it may be consistent with the TRIPS agreement.


This study is a descriptive research study investigating the relationship of teachers' resilience levels with job satisfaction, burnout, organizational commitment and perception of organizational climate. Within the scope of the study, teachers' resilience level was also investigated with regard to its relationship with gender, age, experience and the school level they teach. The study group consisted of 581 teachers. The data were collected through "Personal Information Form", "The Resilience Scale for Adults", "Job Satisfaction Scale", "The Burnout Measure Short Version", "Organizational Commitment Scale for Teachers" and "The Organizational Climate Description Questionnaire." The results revealed a significant negative relationship between teachers' resilience levels and burnout; and significant positive relationships between teachers' resilience levels and organizational commitment, job satisfaction and perception of organizational climate. As a result of the one way ANOVA analysis regarding the differences between resilience levels of the teachers working at different school levels, it was found out that the resilience level of the teachers working at high schools differ significantly from the ones working at secondary schools in the family cohesion subscale, one of the sub dimensions of resilience. Additionally, resilience levels of the teachers who work at secondary schools were found to be significantly lower compared to the teachers who work at elementary schools and high schools. When the level of resilience was examined in relation to gender, it was concluded that there was no significant difference between the mean scores of the male and female teachers. The only significant difference was found in the perception of self subscale, where the mean scores of the male teachers were higher than the female teachers. There was no significant difference in teachers' resilience or sub-scales of it in terms of age and experience of the participants.


In 1931 a new enrolee in the Adelaide Teachers' College, Isabel Kimber, began her two-year course. (1) At that time Olive Carter (known as Ollie) was the lecturer for elocution, voice production, and correct speech, and Frank Gratton was in charge of music, both at the college and in the Education Department. Kimber recalled that, "We all had to sing to Ollie Carter and she'd tell us whether we had a drawing room voice or what we had." (2) Those with a "drawing room voice" were encouraged, while those with something else received remedial attention. Regular lectures were given on music and voice production. Sometimes the content might overlap. Teachers and, for example, their fourth-grade students, were expected to practice the recitation of such poems as "The Land of the Counterpane" by Robert Louis Stevenson and "Hiawatha Goes Hunting" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. (3) In 1900 South Australian school inspector Alexander Clark had noted the skills and importance of recitation of poetry that demanded "a great variety of treatment ... [which needed] not only pure and correct pronunciation of the consonants and vowels, but an effort to find an appropriate speed." (4) There had been concerns about vocal tone, singing tone, and elocution from the inception of state-supported education in South Australia during the second half of the nineteenth century, as elsewhere. That Worrying Australian "Twang and Slang" Concerns about the Australian accent were noted early on in the Australian colonies. In 1844 Mrs. Charles (Louisa Anne) Meredith noted that "a very large proportion" of Australians have "the same nasal twang as many Americans." (5) Mrs Meredith was not alone. In 1859 Richard Horne wrote of "the colonial twang." (6) After this initial flurry of concern, however, comment waned and for the next twenty-five years there was little public debate by authorities, governmental or self-appointed, about the "twang." Then the debate resumed. In the late 1880s music educator Samuel McBurney entered the fray, offering what Baker called a number of "semi-phonetic observations." (7) On January 18, 1894, the Bulletin published a poem, "The Austrylian [sic] Songstress," which concluded with the lines: "Twere [sic] better if thou never sang, Than voiced it in Australian twang." (8) The Bulletin opined in a leader headed "Twang" on January 6, 1892: The early English convicts, mostly from London, brought it [the accent] with them. Early Australian parents were too busy, and generally too uneducated, to notice that their offspring had caught the complaint, and said 'kike' for 'cake.' ... If the thing is to be eradicated the reformers must start upon State schools at once, for every year brings its thousands of recruits to the twang brigade. At present there is no effort made to raise the standard of State school accent, nor are the masters in general aware that it is a terrible thing to hear the youngsters reading. They read nearly as nasally themselves. The twang is everywhere ... If it remains on familiar terms with society for a few years longer, it will become the accepted pronunciation of the country. (9) Disparagingly, this accent was ascribed as a "Cockney vulgarity" which was brought to Australia "long before rabbits, sparrows, snails and other British nuisances were grafted upon our budding civilisation." (10) Baker dispels the notion that the Australian accent is solely a variation of the Cockney dialect but also ascribes it to more northern English modes of speech, from which origins it has developed independently in Australia. He states: "The allegation that Australians talk like Cockneys must be regarded as one of the popular myths." (11) The Educators' Response Despite the debate concerning the provenance of the Australian accent, colonial educators heard the call to action. Once the decision had been made that there was only one way of pronouncing English, the South Australian "Education Department partook enthusiastically of 'the vulgar insolence of telling other Englishmen that they do not know how to speak their own language. …


Although there is growing evidence that the nitrification inhibitor 3,4-dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP) can lower soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in temperate environments, there is little evidence of its efficacy in subtropical or tropical environments where temperatures and rainfall intensities are typically higher. We investigated N2O emissions in field-grown aerobic rice in adjacent fields in the 2013–14 and 2014–15 seasons in a subtropical environment. Crops were topdressed with 80 kg nitrogen (N) ha–1 before rainfall, as either urea, urea + DMPP (at 1.6 kg DMPP t–1 urea: 'urea-DMPP') or a blend of 50% urea and 50% urea-DMPP in the 2013–14 season, and urea, urea-DMPP or polymer (3 month)-coated urea (PCU) in the 2014–15 season. DMPP-urea significantly (P < 0.05) lowered soil N2O emissions in the 2013–14 season during the peak flux period after N fertiliser application, but had no effect in 2014–15. The mean cumulative N2O emissions over the entire growing period were 190 g N2O-N ha–1 in 2013–14 and 413 g N2O-N ha–1 in 2014–15, with no significant effect of DMPP or PCU. Our results demonstrate that DMPP can lower N2O emissions in subtropical, aerobic rice during peak flux events following N fertiliser application in some seasons, but inherent variability in climate and soil N2O emissions limited the ability to detect significant differences in cumulative N2O flux over the seasonal assessment. A greater understanding of how environmental and soil factors impact the efficacy of DMPP in the subtropics is needed to formulate appropriate guidelines for its use commercially.


Populism has often been understood as a description of political parties and politicians, who have been labelled either populist or not. This dissertation argues that it is more useful to conceive of populism in action: as something that is done rather than something that is. I propose that the populist toolkit is a collection of cultural practices, which politicians and citizens use to make sense of and do politics, by claiming that 'the people' are opposed by a corrupt elite – a powerful claim in contemporary politics, both in Finland and internationally. The concept of the populist toolkit has analytical utility, since it can separate a set of populist repertoires from others, for example that of exclusionary nationalism, and takes seriously the effect culture has on action, while avoiding cultural determinism. I study four instances in which the populist toolkit was used in Finnish politics from 2007 to 2016. As data, I use party publications, a Voting Advice Application, newspaper articles and opinion pieces, and a large set of online media data. Methodologically, I employ qualitative text analysis informed by theories of populism, cultural practices, frame analysis and Laurent Thévenot's sociology of engagements, as well as topic modeling. Article I argues that the state of the Eurozone in 2011 gave the Finns Party an opportunity to frame the situation as a crisis for Finland and to present itself as a righteous populist challenger to established parties. Article II shows that the Finns Party uses anti-feminist arguments to present itself as a populist alternative. Article III presents a theory of how populist argumentation can use familiar emotional experiences in bonding 'the people' together. Article IV tackles the populist epistemology: while populism can be critical of intellectuals and experts in general, the article shows that another populist strategy is counterknowledge, incorporating alternative knowledge authorities. This strategy is particularly employed by the populist radical right. After the monumental success of right-wing populism in Western democracies, the next big question is whether left-wing or liberal actors will take up the tools of populism, or will they rather position themselves on the side of pluralism, democratic institutions and scientific expertise. This will have to be assessed by future studies.


Abstract Cicindela cursitans LeConte is a small, flightless tiger beetle with a widely scattered distribution in the Great Plains, the Ohio Valley, and the north-central Gulf Coast region. Many aspects of the life history of C. cursitans are poorly known, and the larval stages have remained undescribed until now. We designed experiments to determine specific habitat preference, female oviposition preference, and daily activity cycles of the adults. In addition, we describe the entire pre-adult life history. Adults are most numerous on moist clay soils with sparse to patchy vegetation, but they may also occur in tall-grass prairies. Females oviposit strictly in moist soils consisting of fine particles. Adults are both diurnal and crepuscular, and presumably spend the nighttime hours hiding among vegetation. Larvae occur in the same habitats as the adults and are typically clustered near the bases of plants. The larvae are the smallest of any tiger beetle species described in North America (body length of first instars = 2.6–3.2 mm, second instars = 5.4–6.7 mm, third instars = 8.4–10.1 mm) and most similar in morphology to Cicindela debilis Bates. Knowledge of the life history and habitats used by this species will allow a better understanding of its distribution and abundance, and its association with prairie habitats. This information as well as low dispersal rates may make this species useful for assessment of habitat quality and restoration success.


The extract of Capsicum have been evaluated as green extract for the corrosion of carbon steel in 1M HCl solution was investigated using weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, ac electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), electrochemical frequency modulation (FEM) and energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) methods of monitoring corrosion. The inhibitive property of the extract is attributed to the presence of Capsaicin and Ascorbic acid as major constituent in the extract. Measurements showed that this extract act as mixed-type extract. The inhibition efficiency was found to increase with extract concentration. Results obtained by various techniques are close to each other and maximum efficiency of 86 % is acknowledged at the extract concentration of 300 ppm. Langmuir isotherm model is found most suitable to explain adsorption behavior of extract for C-steel surface. Molecular adsorption of extract over C- steel surface is found responsible for corrosion inhibition of C- steel in acid.


To simulate the airflow and acoustic wave propagation associated with voice production, a closed surface mesh representing the vocal tract is needed. Biomechanically, the vocal tract is composed of surfaces from several different anatomical structures. We present a method for assembling a dynamic vocal tract mesh by trimming and stitching surface meshes tracking biomechanical models of relevant structures. Two algorithms, one for trimming and one for stitching, are used to first isolate surface mesh patches that are in contact with the airway and then merge them into a closed surface. The algorithms rely on manually selected boundaries and are able to cover gaps between mesh patches. Test cases are used to illustrate how the algorithms behave in various situations. The algorithms are implemented in the toolkit ArtiSynth where many relevant biomechanical models are already available.


The use of blue green algae Spirulina in aquaculture has several potential advantages over the production of fish. This study was designed to investigate the effect of different replacement levels of fishmeal with Spirulina on microbial load of common carp Cyprinus carpio L., the trail was conducted for 105 days and for this purpose 200 fingerlings common carp. Mean initial weight was (32.7 g). The fish were acclimated to laboratory conditions and fed with control pellets (32% protein) prior to the feeding trials for 21 days . Five experimental diets were used and Spirulina replaced fishmeal protein from the standard diet at 0% (T1), 5% (T2), 10% (T3), 15% (T4) and 20% (T5) levels. Bacterial total account in rearing water and the bacterial total count in carp intestine for the third treatment was higher significantly as compared to other treatments, which is the conclusion of this study.


Abstract. In 2016, Hurricane Matthew devastated many parts of the Caribbean, in particular the country of Haiti. More than 500 people died and the damage was estimated at 1.9 billion USD. At the time, the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) activated their network of volunteers to create base maps of areas affected by the hurricane, in particular coastal communities in the path of the storm. To help improve HOT's information workflow for disaster response, one strand of the Crowd4Sat project, which was funded by the European Space Agency, focussed on examining where the Picture Pile Tool, an application for rapid image interpretation and classification, could potentially contribute. Satellite images obtained from the time that Hurricane Matthew occurred were used to simulate a situation post-event, where the aim was to demonstrate how Picture Pile could be used to create a map of building damage. The aim of this paper is to present the Picture Pile tool and show the results from this simulation, which produced a crowdsourced map of damaged buildings for a selected area of Haiti in 1 week (but with increased confidence in the results over a 3 week period). A quality assessment of the results showed that the volunteers agreed with experts and the majority of individual classifications around 92 % of the time, indicating that the crowd performed well in this task. The next stage will involve optimizing the workflow for the use of Picture Pile in future natural disaster situations.


We begin by ¯nding an appropriate parametrization for d that will ensure pd has
continued fraction expansion of period three. After ¯nding this parametrization, we
use elementary arguments to limit the possible values of d leading to real quadratic
number ¯elds Q(pd) of class number one to a set of 30 congruence classes modulo
9240. We then examine the class number formula, and using an analytic result we
are able to place an upper bound on d beyond which the class number must exceed
one (with at most one exception).
We conclude by examining algorithms that enable us to compute the class num-
ber more e±ciently. Using such algorithms (as programmed in PARI) we give an
enumeration of all such ¯elds with class number one.


A broadband white-light processing technique for smeared color photographic image deblurring is described. The technique utilizes a diffraction grating method to disperse the smeared image spectra in the Fourier plane so that the entire spectral band of the white-light source can be utilized for the deblurring. In this paper the technique of synthesizing a fan-shape type complex deblurring filter to accommodate wavelength variation is presented. Experimental results showed that this broad spectral band processing technique offers an excellent coherent artifact noise suppression, and the technique is particularly suitable for color image deblurring. Experimental demonstrations and comparisons with the narrowband and coherent deblurring are also provided.


Stimulation of Toll-like receptors (TLRs) on macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs) by pathogen-derived products induces the production of cytokines, which play an important role in immune responses. Here, we investigated the role of the TPL-2 signaling pathway in TLR induction of interferon-β (IFN-β) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) in these cell types. It has previously been suggested that IFN-β and IL-10 are coordinately regulated after TLR stimulation. However, in the absence of TPL-2 signaling, lipopolysaccharide (TLR4) and CpG (TLR9) stimulation resulted in increased production of IFN-β while decreasing IL-10 production by both macrophages and myeloid DCs. In contrast, CpG induction of both IFN-α and IFN-β by plasmacytoid DCs was decreased in the absence of TPL-2, although extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) activation was blocked. Extracellular signal-related kinase–dependent negative regulation of IFN-β in macrophages was IL-10–independent, required protein synthesis, and was recapitulated in TPL-2–deficient myeloid DCs by retroviral transduction of the ERK-dependent transcription factor c-fos.


Abstract Schmidt hammer (SH) sampling of 54 10Be-dated granite surfaces from the Pyrenees reveals a clear relationship between exposure and weathering through time (n=52, R 2=0.96, P<0.01) and permits the use of the SH as a numerical dating tool. To test this 10Be-SH calibration curve, 100 surfaces were sampled from five ice-front positions in the Têt catchment, eastern Pyrenees, with results verified against independent 10Be and 14C ages. Gaussian modelling differentiates Holocene (9.4±0.6 ka), Younger Dryas (12.6±0.9 ka), Oldest Dryas (16.1±0.5 ka), last glacial maximum (LGM; 24.8±0.9 ka) and Würmian maximum ice extent stages (MIE; 40.9±1.1 ka). These data confirm comparable glacier lengths during the LGM and MIE (~300 m difference), in contrast to evidence from the western Pyrenees (≥15 km), reflecting the relative influence of Atlantic and Mediterranean climates. Moreover, Pyrenean glaciers advanced significantly during the LGM, with a local maximum at ~25 ka, driven by growth of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, southward advection of the polar front, and a solar radiation minimum in the Northern Hemisphere. This calibration curve is available online (http://shed.earth) to enable wider application of this method throughout the Pyrenees.


If you develop, test, or manage .NET software, you will find .NET Test Automation Recipes: A Problem-Solution Approach very useful. The book presents practical techniques for writing lightweight software test automation in a .NET environment and covers API testing thoroughly. It also discusses lightweight, custom Windows applicationuser interfaceautomation and teaches you low-level web applicationuser interfaceautomation. Additional material covers SQL stored procedure testing techniques. The examples in this book have been successfully used in seminars and teaching environments where they have proven highly effective forstudents who are learning intermediate-level .NET programming. Youll come away from the book knowing how to write production-quality combination and permutation methods. Table of ContentsAPI Testing Reflection-Based UI Testing Windows-Based UI Testing Test Harness Design Patterns Request-Response Testing Script-Based Web UI Testing Low-Level Web UI Testing Web Services Testing SQL Stored Procedure Testing Combinations and Permutations ADO.NET Testing XML Testing


Abstract Studies of the end-Permian mass extinction have suggested a variety of patterns from a single catastrophic event to multiple phases. But most of these analyses have been based on fossil distributions from single localities. Although single sections may simplify the interpretation of species diversity, they are susceptible to bias from stratigraphic incompleteness and facies control of preservation. Here we use a data set of 1450 species from 18 fossiliferous sections in different paleoenvironmental settings across South China and the northern peri-Gondwanan region, and integrate it with high-precision geochronologic data to evaluate the rapidity of the largest Phanerozoic mass extinction. To reduce the Signor-Lipps effect, we applied constrained optimization (CONOP) to search for an optimal sequence of first and last occurrence datums for all species and generate a composite biodiversity pattern based on multiple sections. This analysis indicates that an abrupt extinction of 62% of species took place within 200 Kyr. The onset of the sudden extinction is around 252.3 Ma, just below Bed 25 at the Meishan section. Taxon turnover and diversification rates suggest a deterioration of the living conditions nearly 1.2 Myr before the sudden extinction. The magnitude of the extinction was such that there was no immediate biotic recovery. Prior suggestions of highly variable, multi-phased extinction patterns reflect the impact of the Signor-Lipps effect and facies-dependent occurrences, and are not supported following appropriate statistical treatment of this larger data set.


CONTEXT
The scapular retraction exercises are widely used among clinicians to balance the activity of the scapular muscles as well as the rotator cuff muscles in different shoulder abduction positions.

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between scapular (middle and upper trapezius) and shoulder muscles (middle deltoid and infraspinatus) activation level differences and acromiohumeral distance changes during shoulder abduction with scapular retraction.

DESIGN
Cross-sectional study.

SETTING
University research laboratory.

PARTICIPANTS
Nineteen asymptomatic individuals were included (mean [SD]: age = 22.4 [1.8] y).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE
The acromiohumeral distance was measured at 0° and 90° shoulder abduction when the scapula was in nonretracted and retracted position with ultrasound imaging. The relationship between muscle activation level changes and acromiohumeral distance difference was analyzed with the Pearson correlation test.

RESULTS
Middle trapezius muscle activity change correlated with acromiohumeral distance difference (r = .55, P = .02) from 0° to 90° shoulder abduction when scapula was retracted. For both nonretracted and retracted scapular positions, no correlations were found between middle deltoid, infraspinatus, and upper trapezius muscle activity changes with acromiohumeral distance differences during shoulder abduction (P > .05).

CONCLUSIONS
Active scapular retraction exercise, especially focusing on the middle trapezius muscle activation, seems to be an effective treatment option to optimize the acromiohumeral distance during shoulder abduction.


[1] The Arctic climate is modulated, in part, by the presence of aerosols that affect the horizontal and vertical distribution of radiant energy passing through the atmosphere. Aerosols affect the surface-atmosphere radiation balance directly through interactions with solar and terrestrial radiation and indirectly through interactions with cloud particles. During summer 2004 forest fires destroyed vast areas of boreal forest in Alaska and western Canada, releasing smoke into the atmosphere. Smoke aerosol passing over instrumented field sites near Barrow, Alaska, was monitored to determine its physical and optical properties and its impact on the surface radiation budget. Empirical determinations of the direct aerosol radiative forcing (DARF) by the smoke were used to corroborate simulations made using the Moderate Resolution Transmittance radiative transfer model, MODTRAN™5. DARF is defined as the change in net shortwave irradiance per unit of aerosol optical depth (AOD). DARF, varying with solar angle and surface type, was evaluated at the surface, at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), and within the intervening layers of the atmosphere. The TOA results are compared with fluxes derived from coincident satellite retrievals made using the Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) radiance data. Smoke tends to reduce the net shortwave irradiance at the surface while increasing it within layers in which it resides. Over the Arctic tundra during summer, a layer of smoke having AOD = 0.5 at 500 nm produces a diurnally averaged DARF of about-40 W m -2 at the surface and-20 W m -2 at TOA, while the layer itself tends to warm at a rate of ≈ K d -1 . The tendency of smoke to cool the surface while heating the layer above may lead to increased atmospheric stability and suppress cloud formation. Radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere is especially sensitive to small changes in surface albedo, evidenced in both the model results and satellite retrievals. TOA net shortwave flux decreases when smoke is present over dark surfaces and tends to increase if the underlying surface is bright. For example, at solar noon during midsummer at Barrow, a layer of smoke having AOD(500) = 0.5 will reduce the net shortwave flux at TOA by ≈30 W m -2 over the ocean while at the same time increasing it by 20 W m -2 over an adjacent area of melting sea ice. For smoke aerosol, the sensitivity of DARF to changing surface albedo (assuming a solar zenith angle of 50°) is about +15 W m -2 AOD -1 for every increase in surface albedo of 0.10. Throughout the Arctic summer, surface and TOA cooling and a tendency toward warming in the intervening atmospheric layers are the dominant radiative impacts of boreal smoke over the ocean and tundra areas, but the radiative forcing at TOA is positive over regions covered by ice or snow. Enhanced differential cooling/heating of ocean, ice, and snow due to the presence of smoke in the atmosphere may affect regional circulation patterns by perturbing diabatic processes. Should the frequency and intensity of boreal fires increase in the future because of global warming, the more persistent presence of smoke in the atmosphere may be manifest as a negative feedback at the surface. In addition, there will likely be indirect radiative impacts of the smoke as it influences cloudiness, which in turn further modulates the Arctic radiation budget.


Interest in online 'slacktivism' is high both within and outside academia, and the online sharing of cause-related campaigns is increasing, but research into the extent to which 'slacktivism' applies to the act of sharing online content to 'help' a cause is limited. Slacktivism, as used in much of today's popular discourse, is defined as 'feel-good online activism [with] zero political or social impact' (Morozov, 2009). Here, a survey-based analysis investigates social videos' impacts on U.K. and U.S. viewers. Results show that the stronger viewers' motivations are to share to help a cause, the stronger their motivations are to find out more afterwards. Further, a case study shows that social videos that motivate viewers to share the video 'because it's for a good cause, and I want to help' (cause-related sharing versus, for example, to appear knowledgeable about a subject), can also prompt real-life actions, including donations. These results indicate that cause-related video sharing does have an impact, and therefore is not slacktivism by Morozov's definition. Preliminary analysis suggests that of viewers sharing to 'help' causes, those discriminating in their choice of sharing audience (narrow vs. broad) are more likely to further engage than indiscriminate sharers. Result patterns from U.S. narrowcast sharers differ from those of other groups, indicating that tie strength and cultural differences may play a role in modifying slacktivist behaviors.


Despite its common practice, statistical hypothesis testing presents challenges in interpretation. For instance, in the standard frequentist framework there is no control of the type II error. As a result, the non-rejection of the null hypothesis cannot reasonably be interpreted as its acceptance. We propose that this dilemma can be overcome by using agnostic hypothesis tests, since they can control the type I and II errors simultaneously. In order to make this idea operational, we show how to obtain agnostic hypothesis in typical models. For instance, we show how to build (unbiased) uniformly most powerful agnostic tests and how to obtain agnostic tests from standard p-values. Also, we present conditions such that the above tests can be made logically coherent. Finally, we present examples of consistent agnostic hypothesis tests.


Active genes can be detected by cellular proteins because the active genes have covalent modification of associated chromatin proteins. In particular, triple methylation of lysine 4 of histone H3 (H3K4me3) is associated with all active genes. The modified histone can be recognized by proteins containing a chromodomain, which preferentially binds H3K4me3. A group of four papers in this week's Nature now reveal the PHD (plant homeodomain) domain as another protein domain that specifically recognizes H3K4me3. Wysocka et al. show that the PHD domain in the BPTF protein, a subunit of the nucleosome remodeling factor called NURF, recruits the factor to chromatin containing trimethylated H3. The interaction appears to be functionally important, because inhibition of histone modification (achieved by injection of Xenopus embryos with morpholino oligonucleotides to a factor required for the methylation) or depletion of BPTF caused similar developmental defects. Furthermore, the defects could be rescued by wild-type BPTF, but not by BPTF with a truncation of the PHD domain. Shi et al. also found the PHD domain to be important for recognition of methylated histone H3 in mammalian cells. They report that the tumor suppressor protein ING2 (inhibitor of growth 2) bound preferentially to histone 3 that was di- or trimethylated on lysine 4. ING2, in turn, interacts with a larger histone deacetylase complex containing other associated proteins. The deacetylase modifies nearby histones and may thereby repress transcription. The authors found that, in response to DNA damage, the ING2-containing histone deacetylase complex was recruited to the gene encoding cyclin D (a protein that promotes cell proliferation), and transcription of cyclin D was decreased. Loss of ING2 reduced the sensitivity of cells in culture to DNA damage, and sensitivity could be restored by transfection of the cells with wild-type ING2 but not with a mutant ING2 that failed to bind methylated histone H3. Two other papers detail structural aspects of the interaction of PHD domains with methylated histone H3. Becker discusses the findings in a News and Views piece. J. Wysocka, T. Swigut, H. Xiao, T. A. Milne, S. Y. Kwon, J. Landry, M. Kauer, A. J. Tackett, B. T. Chait, P. Badenhorst, C. Wu, C. D. Allis, A PHD finger of NURF couples histone H3 lysine 4 trimethylation with chromatin remodelling. Nature 442, 86-90 (2006). [Online Journal] X. Shi, T. Hong, K. L. Walter, M. Ewalt, E. Michishita, T. Hung, D. Carney, P. Peña, F. Lan, M. R. Kaadige, N. Lacoste, C. Cayrou, F. Davrazou, A. Saha, B. R. Cairns, D. E. Ayer, T. G. Kutateladze, Y. Shi, J. Côté, K. F. Chua, O. Gozani, ING2 PHD domain links histone H3 lysine 4 methylation to active gene repression. Nature 442, 96-99 (2006). [Online Journal] H. Li, S. Ilin, W. Wang, E. M. Duncan, J. Wysocka, C. D. Allis, D. J. Patel, Molecular basis for site-specific read-out of histone H3K4me3 by the BPTF PHD finger of NURF. Nature 442, 91-95 (2006). [Online Journal] P. V. Peña, F. Davrazou, X. Shi, K. L. Walter, V. V. Verkhusha, O. Gozani, R. Zhao, T. G. Kutateladze, Molecular mechanism of histone H3K4me3 recognition by plant homeodomain of ING2. Nature 442, 100-103 (2006). [Online Journal] P. B. Becker, Gene regulation: A finger on the mark. Nature 442, 31-32 (2006). [Online Journal]


This article argues that Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, the most widely discussed of the Supreme Court's takings trilogy in the 2012-13 term, represents a major, unprincipled break from prior law and casts an unfortunate pall of confusion and uncertainty over takings doctrine, partly reversing the Court's recent, successful effort to make takings doctrine more coherent and predictable. The Court ruled that the relatively heightened standard of judicial review established by the Supreme Court for so-called "development exactions" in Nollan v. California Coastal Commission and Dolan v. City of Tigard applies both (1) when the government denies a development permit after the developer rejects a government demand for an exaction as a condition of project approval, and (2) when a permit condition requires a developer to pay or expend money to mitigate project impacts. In so ruling, the Court rejected the position that claims challenging such government orders should be evaluated under either the Court's relatively forgiving regulatory takings analysis or deferential due process analysis. Justice Elena Kagan wrote a dissent for herself and three other justices, arguing that the case did not involve an actual demand triggering Nollan and Dolan and that the standards established by those cases do not apply to permit conditions requiring the expenditure of money. This article contends that the Koontz decision is one of the worst decisions, if the not the worst decision, in the pantheon of Supreme Court takings cases. In doctrinal terms, the majority opinion flagrantly contradicts or ignores established precedent, fails to acknowledge its departure from prior law, and does not attempt to offer any new, coherent justifications for its novel holdings. As a practical matter, the decision creates a perverse, wasteful incentive for local officials to decline to work cooperatively with developers in designing projects that make business sense and protect the interests of the community. Finally, the decision injects new uncertainty into takings law, setting the stage for future debates over the legitimacy and appropriate scope of intrusive judicial review of local land use decision-making, including whether local governments retain the authority to reject development proposals based on unacceptable project impacts without triggering stringent judicial review.


This thesis presents the battery thermal management systems (BTMS) modelling of Li-ions batteries and investigates the design and modelling of different passive cooling management solutions from single battery to module level. A simplified one-dimensional transient computational model of a prismatic lithium-ion battery cell is developed using thermal circuit approach in conjunction with the thermal model of the heat pipe. The proposed model is compared to an analytical solution based on variable separation as well as three-dimensional (3D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The three approaches, i.e. the 1D computational model, analytical solution, and 3D CFD simulations, yielded nearly identical results for the thermal behaviours. Therefore the 1D model is considered to be sufficient to predict the temperature distribution of lithium-ion battery thermal management using heat pipes. Moreover, a maximum temperature of 27.6oC was predicted for the design of the heat pipe setup in a distributed configuration, while a maximum temperature of 51.5oC was predicted when forced convection was applied to the same configuration. The higher surface contact of the heat pipes allows a better cooling management compared to forced convection cooling. Accordingly, heat pipes can be used to achieve effective thermal management of a battery pack with confined surface areas. In addition, the thermal management of a cylindrical battery cell by a phase change material (PCM) / compressed expanded natural graphite (CENG) is investigated. The transient thermal behaviour of both the battery and the PCM/CENG is described with a simplified onedimensional model taking into account the physical and phase change properties of the PCM/CENG composite. The 1D analytical/computational model predicted nearly identical results to the three-dimensional simulation results for various cooling strategies. Therefore, the 1D model is sufficient to describe the transient behaviour of the battery cooled by a PCM/CENG composite. Moreover, the maximum temperature reached by the PCM/CENG cooling strategy is much lower than that by the forced convection in the same configuration. In the test case studied, the PCM showed superior transient characteristics to forced convection cooling. The PCM cooling is able to maintain a lower maximum temperature during the melting process and to extend the transient time for temperature rise. Furthermore, the graphite-matrix bulk density is identified as an important parameter for optimising the PCM/CENG cooling strategy. Finally, the lithium-ion battery cooling using a passive cooling material (PCM) / compressed expanded natural graphite (CENG) composite is investigated for the battery module scale. An electrochemistry model (average model) is coupled to the thermal model, with the addition of a one-dimensional model for the solution and solid diffusion using the nodal network method. The analysis of the temperature distribution of the battery module scale has shown that a twodimensional model is sufficient to describe the transient temperature rise. In consequence, a two-dimensional cell-centred finite volume code for unstructured meshes is developed with additions of the electrochemistry and the phase change. This two-dimensional thermal model is used for investigating a new and usual battery module configurations cooled by PCM/CENG at different discharge rates. The comparison of both configurations with a constant source term and heat generation based on the electrochemistry model, showed the superiority of the new design. In this study, comparisons between the predictions from different analytical and computational tools as well as open-source packages were carried out, and close agreements have been observed.


Background: Infertility is a major cause of social and psychological problems among couples, especially in our environment where child bearing is regarded as one of the major reasons for marriage. Studies have shown that fertility among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected women may actually be reduced posing social and psychological disturbance among a group of people that are already burdened with disease. Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and clinical correlates of HIV infection among women with infertility attending a gynecology clinic in northwestern Nigeria. Materials and Methods: It was a cross-sectional descriptive study comprising of women attending the gynecology clinic due to infertility that satisfied the inclusion criteria. The sample size was 250. Ethical clearance was obtained from the health research and ethics committee of the study setting. Clients were recruited consecutively as they presented to the infertility clinic from May 2015 to January 2016 and tested for HIV infection. HIV testing was done in the Department of Medical Microbiology after collecting 5 ml of blood from the clients using sterile syringes. Investigations to determine the cause of infertility were also conducted. Obtained data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science version 20.0. Results: A total of 250 clients were recruited for the study. The age range of respondents was- 17 – 47 years with a mean age of 30.3 years. Hausa was the predominant ethnic group in all respondents (61%). Most of the respondents had secondary education (39%). Only 4% had postgraduate education. Out of the 250 respondents, 21 (8.4%) were found to be positive for HIV infection. Chi-square test showed an association between tuboperitoneal infertility and HIV infection. Conclusion: The prevalence of HIV infection in women with infertility attending our clinic was high and an association was seen between HIV infection and tuboperitoneal infertility.


The aim of this paper is to analyse the structure of the novel Cloud Atlas, by David
Mitchell, from the narratological point of view. We examined the novel's intricate mise-enabyme
structure of narrative embedding which presents a curious dilemma between two
opposing models of embedding and framing: discourse and story. It is argued that the
ambivalent and ontologically unstable narrative structure that connects the six stories prevents
singular epistemological interpretations and presents a markedly postmodern, post-cognitive,
ontologically foregrounded text. The complicated structure of mediation of the stories also
serves to make the reader aware of the ultimate fictionality of the stories.
The paper examines how the stories are connected by a net of metaleptic transgressions,
among which the notion of reincarnation is the most prominent one. It can be concluded that
the novel on the thematic level also deals with ontological ambiguities that prevent a unifying
thematic interpretation. Nevertheless, the six stories that form the novel are thematically
connected by their shared metafictional concerns. Although the human nature is portrayed in
every story as unchangingly predatory, violent and depraved, the novel also posits that no
matter how deeply entrenched the dominant ideological narratives are, there is always room
for another story that can subvert them. Even on the story level, the novel is a story about
stories, which makes it again a metafictional novel. The last part of the paper examines the
explicitness with which the novel exposes its metafictionality by self-consciously and
systematically drawing attention to its status as an artifact in order to pose questions about the
relationship between fiction and reality and how this, in turn, engages the reader to do the
same and question the narratives of the worlds inside and outside the book.


Nitric oxide has an important role in the development of the structure and function of the airways and vessel walls. Fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FENO) is inversely related to the markers and risk factors of atherosclerosis. We aimed to estimate the relative contribution of genes and shared and non-shared environmental influences to variations and covariation of FENO levels and the marker of elasticity function of arteries. Adult Caucasian twin pairs (n = 117) were recruited in Hungary, Italy and in the United States (83 monozygotic and 34 dizygotic pairs; age: 48 ± 16 SD years). FENO was measured by an electrochemical sensor-based device. Pulse wave reflection (aortic augmentation index, Aixao) was determined by an oscillometric method (Arteriograph). A bivariate Cholesky decomposition model was applied to investigate whether the heritabilities of FENO and Aixao were linked. Genetic effects accounted for 58% (95% confidence interval (CI): 42%, 71%) of the variation in FENO with the remaining 42% (95%CI: 29%, 58%) due to non-shared environmental influences. A modest negative correlation was observed between FENO and Aixao (r = −0.17; 95%CI:−0.32,−0.02). FENO showed a significant negative genetic correlation with Aixao (rg = −0.25; 95%CI:−0.46,−0.02). Thus in humans, variations in FENO are explained both by genetic and non-shared environmental effects. Covariance between FENO and Aixao is explained entirely by shared genetic factors. This is consistent with an overlap among the sets of genes involved in the expression of these phenotypes and provides a basis for further genetic studies on cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.


Abstract The model presented identifies the importance of neural regulation of autonomic state as an antecedent substrate for emotional, cognitive, and behavioral regulation. It is proposed that individual differences in neural regulation of autonomic state are related to normal and abnormal development. Establishing nervous system regulation of autonomic state is the infant's initial task of self-regulation. Survival for the high-risk infant is based primarily on physiological self-regulation. Although the methods described focus on the high-risk neonate, the model provides insight into normal development and may be generalized to the study of older children and adults with behavioral and psychological problems. Moreover, the model may contribute to assessment and intervention strategics for normal and abnormal development.


Through a systematic review of 118 peer-reviewed journal articles published between 1961 and 2017, this article provides an integrative picture of the state of the art of the family firm innovation literature. Our aim is to widen existing understanding of innovation in family firms by building a theoretical bridge with studies in the mainstream innovation literature. Specifically, in identifying the main gaps in the literature and providing future research directions, our critical and dynamic picture of family-specific determinants of innovation is intended to advance the debate on innovation in general, and family firms in particular.


Glucocorticoids (GCs) are steroid hormones that regulate the physiology of all tissues and mediate stress responses. Synthetic GCs are commonly prescribed to treat chronic inflam matory conditions including the prevalent skin diseases—psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. GCs act through the GC receptor (GR, NR3C1), a ligand-activated transcription factor belonging to the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. In skin, GC therapeutic efficacy is due to the antiproliferative and anti-inflammatory actions of GR; however, in the long term, these benefits are accompanied by adverse profiles including skin atrophy, increased fragil - ity, dehydration, augmented susceptibility to infections, and delayed wound healing. While the therapeutic actions of GC treatments have been extensively studied, only more recently has the physiological role of GR been addressed in skin. In vivo and in vitro studies in mouse and man have revealed an important function for GR in skin homeostasis. In particular, the characterization of gain- or loss-of-function mouse models has demonstrated relevant roles for GR in skin pathophysiology. The actions of GR are context dependent, and in skin, it regulates different gene subsets and biological processes depending on developmental stage and physiological state. Finally, recent findings emphasize the relevance of local GC biosynthesis and appropriate GR expression in maintaining skin homeostasis.


Religion historically has been a major source of international conflict, and its role as such has been reinforced in recent years. Hans Kung has asserted that the "most fanatical and cruelest political struggles are those that have been colored, inspired, and legitimized by religion." In his famous essay, "Clash of Civilizations," Samuel Huntington went so far as to argue that the great divisions among humankind and the dominating sources of conflict in global politics are based on culture, which is primarily differentiated by religion. Huntington's opinion, however, is an exaggeration of the importance of religion in international conflict. In fact, most assessments of religion in international affairs tend to oversimplify the causal interconnections between religion and conflict and often disregard important alternate variables. While much has been made of religion as a source of international conflict, considerably less attention has been given to religion as a source of international peacemaking. There are two principal varieties of religious peacemaking. The first involves religious and faith-based organizations engaging in peacemaking activities. Probably the most illustrative case of this type of peacemaking was the mediation by the Catholic organization Sant'Egidio that ended the 1992 civil war in Mozambique. The second type of religious peacemaking promotes understanding between religious groups that are in conflict. Inter-faith reconciliation in a post-conflict period also falls in this category. This article will analyze both types of religious peacemaking and will explore country case studies from the Balkans, Africa, and the Middle East. Bosnia and the Promise of Faith-Based NGOs Recognizing that many faith-based nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) have attempted to promote post-conflict reconciliation in Bosnia, the US Institute of Peace commissioned a study measuring the success of these efforts. The guiding research questions were: How effectively can faith-based NGOs advance reconciliation in Bosnia? Can faith-based NGOs be effective agents of inter-faith reconciliation, particularly when they share a religious identity with one party involved in the conflict? Are these NGOs more likely to be agents of reconciliation or contributors to additional division? The research was undertaken over a 15-month period by Branka Peuraca, who studied the work of Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox Christian, Muslim and Jewish organizations (including Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, United Methodist Committee on Relief, Islamic Relief Worldwide, and local NGOs such as Abraham). The number of international and local faith-based organizations operating in Bosnia is impressive, as is the number contributing to ethno-religious reconciliation. Some of the early efforts at reconciliation proved to be ineffective, and in some cases, counterproductive. Some Muslim organizations were even suspected of having ties to Islamic terrorist groups in Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Afghanistan. Despite these few stumbling blocks, the overall assessment was positive. Many faith-based NGOs have made a significant contribution to ethno-religious reconciliation in Bosnia. This has included the formation of Bosnia's Inter-Religious Council, composed of leaders from the four religious communities. NGOs like Catholic Relief Services, World Vision, and the United Methodist Committee on Relief encourage inter-faith collaboration in planning local, educational, and infrastructural projects. In the course of planning and implementing local development projects, ethno-religious enemies end up cooperating with each other. Other projects like the Pontanima Choir, initiated by the Order of Franciscans in Sarajevo, have directly aimed at interpersonal reconciliation. The inter-faith dialogue work in Bosnia organized by Reverend David Steele of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is worthy of mention. …


The Semantic Web is a vision to simplify and improve knowledge reuse on the Web. It is all set to alter the way humans benefit from the web from active interaction to somewhat passive utilization through the proliferation of software agents and in particular personal assistants that can better function and thrive on the Semantic Web than the conventional web. Agents can parse, understand and reason about information available on Semantic Web pages in an attempt to use it to meet users' needs. Such personal assistants will be driven by rules , axioms and the internal model or profile that the agents have inside them for the user. An intrinsic and important pre-requisite for a personal assistant or rather any agent is to manipulate information available on the Semantic Web in the form of ontologies, axioms, and rules written in various semantic markup languages. In this paper, a model architecture for such a personal assistant dealing with real-world semantic markup is described. The agent reasons with semantic markup written in DAML+OIL, using the Java Expert System Shell (JESS) as the reasoning engine. This software assistant views information providers on the Semantic Web as recommender agents that have a limited view of the user's preferences and provides a improved notion of personalization by collaborating with peer personal assistants (what are referred to as buddy agents) within communities that the user has identified as trusted parties to exchange information with. Collaboration is achieved through simple solicitation and recommendation of information with these buddy agents.


A hypothesis is made that areas of Kenosha, Wisconsin experiencing an increase
in the number of Hispanic residents to the point that the area is now predominantly
Hispanic will develop differently from areas where the number of Hispanic residents has
remained small. The housing values of the predominantly Hispanic areas will be lower
than those in other areas of the city, and there will be little new construction to the areas.
The businesses in the areas will consist mostly of small, family owned businesses and
many will have Hispanic affiliation. Housing and businesses will be closely located.
There will be few, possibly no large corporations or office buildings in the areas. The
communities will be very tight-knit and social. The landscape will facilitate community
living, and there will be some common tie in the area," such as a church, school, or
possibly some type of business that encourages a sense of community. The community
will also make some display of their heritage, whether it be through the names of
businesses or through some type of signs or cultural symbols.


Feudal Society is the masterpiece of one of the greatest historians of the century. Marc Bloch's supreme achievement was to recreate the vivid and complex world of Western Europe from the ninth to the thirteenth centuries. For Bloch history was a living organism, and to write of it was an endless process of creative evolution and of growing understanding. The author treats feudalism as a vitalising force in European society. He surveys the social and economic conditions in which feudalism developed; he sees the structures of kinship which underlay the formal relationships of vassal and overlord. For Bloch these relationships are mutual as much as coercive, the product of a dangerous and uncertain world. His insights into the lives of the nobility and the clergy and his deep understanding of the processes at work in medieval Europe, are profound and memorable.


Coastal areas are more vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters. Due to increased weather extremes caused by climate change, the coastal communities fall at high risk of casualties and damages. According to DPSIR (Driver – Pressure – State – Impact –Response) framework, population, fisheries, aquaculture, agriculture and tourism are the main drivers of climate change at coastal Shyamnagar upazila which caused several social, financial, environmental and physical impacts. As most of the people are poor and living below the poverty line, the situation becomes worse during and after any climatic hazards. Natural capital, local economy, water and natural disaster etc. are more vulnerable components at the study area in terms of Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) as people are dependent on natural resources from Sundarban for livelihood. IPCC framework of LVI was also determined for this study. The order of LVI for studied unions are: Gabura (0.027)>Padma Pukur (0.0264)>Munshiganj, Kaikhali, Kashimari (0.0242)>Buri Goalini (0.020)>Atulia (0.0172)>Bhurulia (0.0108)>Ishwaripur (0.0105)>Ramjannagar (0.0102)>Nurnagar and Shyamnagar (0.003). According to the index values, the situation is worse at Gabura and Padma Pukur unions. However, most of the unions are highly vulnerable to climate change impacts in terms of exposure and sensitive components which have also exceeded the adaptive capacity.


If beaches and water are polluted by wastewater, bathers are at risk for thalassogenic diseases such as diarrhea, skin infection, respiratory tract infection and hepatitis. The coastal water around the Cape Peninsula in South Africa is affected by polluted rivers that flow into the ocean, major shipping routes and wastewater outlets of human settlements. With high tide the water from offshore is brought onto the beach area and towards the coastline. Results: Sea water was collected from the eco-labeled Blue Flag beach, Clifton, Cape Town, during peak season in February and March 2013 at high tide to culture E. coli. The tested water quality was between 104 and 106, indicating that Clifton Blue Flag beach is affected by waste water. Foam and yellowish coloring of sand was associated with elevated E. coli counts. Data of water analysis are only displayed at Blue Flag beaches with a delay of two to three weeks. Conclusions: Swimming on a Blue Flag beach does not exclude time limited waste water pollution. Regular external and independent quality surveillance of Blue Flag beaches is mandatory, besides more rapid measurement and timely display of water analysis. Especially infants and people with HIV and/or Tb infections are at risk for health hazards as they are immune compromised. Swimmers should be aware of the risk they are taking when bathing in polluted water and know the signs of waste water pollution. Due to the high burden of HIV and Tb infection, further large scale studies are needed to evaluate the health effects for bathers besides the economic impact of improved wastewater treatment in South Africa.


ABSTRACT People who use drugs (PWUDs) are at increased risk for several medical conditions, yet they delay seeking medical care and utilize emergency departments (EDs) as their primary source of care. Limited research regarding perceived discrimination and PWUDs' use of health care services exists. This study explores the association between interpersonal and institutional racial/ethnic and drug use discrimination in health care settings and health care utilization among respondents (N = 192) recruited from methadone maintenance treatment programs (36%), HIV primary care clinics (35%), and syringe exchange programs (29%) in New York City (n = 88) and San Francisco (n = 104). The Kaiser Family Foundation Survey of Race, Ethnicity, and Medical Care questionnaire was utilized to assess perceived institutional racial/ethnic and drug use discrimination. Perceived institutional discrimination was examined across race/ethnicity and by regular use of ERs, having a regular doctor, and consistent health insurance. Perceived interpersonal discrimination was examined by race/ethnicity. Perceived interpersonal drug use discrimination was the most common type of discrimination experienced in health care settings. Perceptions of institutional discrimination related to race/ethnicity and drug use among non-Hispanic Whites did not significantly differ from those among non-Hispanic Blacks or Hispanics. A perception of less frequent institutional racial/ethnic and drug use discrimination in health care settings was associated with increased odds of having a regular doctor. Awareness of perceived interpersonal and institutional discrimination in certain populations and the effect on health care service utilization should inform future intervention development to help reduce discrimination and improve health care utilization among PWUDs.


The term evidence-based medicine is overused, abused, and is beginning to ring hollow. It is not that evidence (or at least of what most people in biomedicine think evidence-based medicine should strive to be) is a bad thing. Rather, there is more rhetoric about evidence than there is actual evidence to support the degree of talk.


Application of A Reflective Optical Probe to Measure Solids Fractions in a Circulating Fluidized Bed Steven M. Seachman A novel method of extracting localized solids volume fractions from reflective multi-fiber optical probes was developed. The fiber optic probes were originally designed by Vector Scientific, Inc. to measure local solids velocities. The probe measures reflected light from a particle medium which is converted into a voltage. Development of this new method yields two valuable solid flow parameters from a single probe system. The method involves a formulated model with empirical calibrations and three physical bases. The three physical bases are the Conservation Law, Beer-Lambert's Law, and the reflected light intensity from the particle medium. A novel bed depth calibration procedure is used to find the reflected light contribution from each layer of particles. This calibration is used to find the fixed fraction, kB1 B, of scattered light detected by the probe, and the factor, kB2,B to convert number concentration into a solids volume fraction. The layer-by-layer analysis of the solids fraction avoids the need to directly address the effects of beam divergence and multiple scattering. The probes were used to measure the solids volume fractions and velocities inside the riser of a cold-flow Circulating Fluidized Bed (CFB) operating under several different flow conditions. These experiments were performed with two different batches of glass spheres, with average particle diameters of 64 μm and 180 μm, respectively. The solids fraction measurement method was compared with other solids fraction measurement methods. The fiber optic probe method compared well with other methods including solids sampling and pressure drop measurements, with the exception of near wall measurements using a solids sampling probe. The fiber optic probe gave solids fractions varying from 1.0% to 3.1% near the center and 7.7% and 21.1% at the wall of the riser of the CFBCC, which is consistent with other solids fraction measurement methods. The fiber optic probe was used to make measurements at different angular positions near the solids inlet, in the fully developed region, and near the solids outlet of the CFB riser. The method developed allowed calculation of the solids fraction distribution at these locations. Statistical analyses were performed in order to determine if the velocities or solids fractions were azimuthally dependent. It was found that the angular dependency of solids velocity and solids fractions is functions of elevation and flow conditions.


SciEsp is a tool for scientific writing in Spanish. Its objective is to help students when writing abstracts of scientific texts, such as a thesis or a dissertation. The tool identifies the different components of an abstract structure according to the guidelines of "good writing" proposed by the literature. Each sentence in the abstract is classified to one of six different rhetorical categories (background, gap, purpose, methodology, result, or conclusion), warning the writer of a possible missing component of the "optimal" structure. We manually annotated a corpus of abstracts from computer science theses and dissertations, and use it to train a Naive Bayes classifier that achieves an F1-measure of 0.65. We expect that SciEsp becomes a starting point for further projects in the area of supporting technologies for scientific writing in Spanish.


The transition radiation of charged particle moving in a waveguide with anisotropic magneto dielectric medium is considered. It is assumed that the charged particle moves with constant velocity perpendicular to the axis of a waveguide. The wave equation and the analytical expressions for the transverse-magnetic (TM) filed are obtained. The energy of transition radiation of moving charged particle is calculated. The conditions for the appearance of the Vavilov-Cherenkov radiation are found.


The research considers and appraises issues pertaining to the human relationship with animals, particularly in relation to companion animals, primarily focusing on the nature of their non-verbal communication and mutual gaze. It applies a contemporary visual arts perspective to animal advocacy and to aesthetic and ethical questions implicit in the human-animal relationship. The research is developed from an analysis of the literature, which evaluates interdisciplinary and scholarly perspectives on animals across such fields as philosophy, anthropology, psychology and ethology as well as visual art, predominantly contemporary international and Australian art. It also builds from the context of the researcher's extensive experience and parallel interests in animals, animal advocacy and the arts.

The literature contextualises and defines the parameters and working principles of ethical aesthetics, impartial advocacy, imaginative insight and experiential discipline, which are interlocked with the key principles of reciprocity and participation, proximity, responsibility, empathetic agency, connectedness and continuity, subtlety and restraint that form the conceptual framework and the visual art questions, both of which are fundamental drivers for the research.

Specifically, the research probes the nature of the human-animal interchange and underlying relations, and the continuity evident in this exchange, by means of the reciprocal gaze, through interrogation of the engagement of visual artists with the sensitivities and aesthetics of such interactions. At the macro level, the research seeks to probe how a selection of contemporary Australian artists contextualises and realises the potential of the animal-human gaze in their artwork.

Conversations with these artists together with selections from their work formed the basis for a focal exhibition, Eye to Eye, in which each artist interrogates the nature of the animal-human interaction, principally focusing on the animal-human mutual gaze. The works also connect through their conceptual bases of the animal-human interface within the consideration of ethics and aesthetics as well as by their use of digital technologies.

Against the backdrop of Eye to Eye and the resultant analysis of works which explore reciprocity of gaze between the animal and human as evidence of the animal-human relationship, the micro level research focused on artistic work deliberately designed to re-align animal-human interactive looking and mutual gaze and, in doing so, to establish a more harmonious balance between the two. A critical phase in the methodology of the research is the prototype phase from which the resolution, scope and direction for the focus, media and methods are established for artistic practice. The public outcomes of this research are the exhibitions entitled Face to Face and Interrogating Gaze which comprise a group of installations, together with a series of wall works focusing on companion animals and their humans. This research questions the moral and physical boundaries of our relationship with animals, and, in redressing the balance between the two, recognises and celebrates the sentience of the reciprocal gaze.

The implications and future directions of the research offer possibilities within four key areas. First, the research provides a solid conceptual and practical base and impetus for further and ongoing development of personal art practice addressing the nexus of animal-human relations, particularly within the consideration of animal sentience, animal advocacy, ethics and aesthetics. Second, the research opens up opportunities for curatorial work particularly within the genre of contemporary visual art and animals and animal-human relations. Third, given the dearth of publications within the field of Australian contemporary art and animals, potential publication and/or publication collaboration on contemporary art and animals present a viable option to address the deficiency. Finally, within the emerging interdisciplinary area of animal studies, the sphere of the animal and animal-human relations and contemporary art offers significant potential for further scholarly research.


Olympus, long-time creator of quality dictation devices has recently launched an Android App for dictation. So too did Philips. If you were inclined to say "yes, that is a great idea," pause for a second and consider that Olympus has between two and five thousand downloads while Philips has over 10 thousand. This might sound a considerable number but compared with popular apps, these numbers are outright embarrassing - to add further insult to these numbers, are the countless masses of trusty dictaphones that are still being used globally.


Graffiti is a problem in many areas in South Africa. Not only can graffiti be a visual nuisance it may also lead to the general degradation of an area and increasing crime levels (JQ Wilson and GL Kelling 'Broken windows: The police and neighbourhood safety' (1982) March Atlantic Monthly 29). See in general WG Skogan Disorder and Decline: Crime and the Spiral of Decay in American Neighbourhoods (1990). Pursuant to this, it has been suggested that crime levels (especially violent crimes) can be reduced by monitoring, preventing and prosecuting minor crimes (GL Kelling and RP Corbett 'This works: Preventing and reducing crime' (2003) 32 Civic Bulletin 1).
Considering South Africa's significant crime rates, if punishing minor crimes such as graffiti, could assist in lowering the incidence of serious crimes, then it is something South African law officials should pursue. However, prosecuting graffiti crimes is not as simple as it would seem. Indeed, the law seems not to offer a clear solution for the prosecution of graffiti. This comment seeks to explore the confusing legislative position regarding graffiti in South Africa.


Values like freedom and equality may have become buzz-words used by politicians and activists as an argument for any cause. Nevertheless, they still continue to be an essential part of the social psychology of social change because values can both motivate and mobilize. This thesis proposes that the motivational potential of values often arises from their perceived violation by others. Furthermore, it investigates how the fit between violated values and group identities motivates collective action (Chapter 1). Chapter 2 demonstrates that perceived value violations can provide meaning to vague group identities and fuel collective action in the contexts of incidental disadvantages which lack clear solutions and common goals. Furthermore, Chapter 3 and Chapter 4 investigate the effects of communicating values to those in and outside of the core activists group and show that values can bind, but also blind members of the disadvantaged group. In other words, values can help define who we are and what we stand for. However, values can also isolate those who share them and make them intolerant even to those who share their disadvantage, but not the ideological background. As a whole, the main theoretical contributions of this thesis lie in illuminating and specifying the role of values in the process of politicization, and in addressing the consistently overlooked question of politicization of those members of a disadvantaged group who fall outside of the movement's core support group (Chapter 5).


She was the most complicated woman I can think of ...Very calculating, dutiful, courageous, purposeful, and all built upon a bedrock of humour and love of fun and a bitter sarcasm with a vein of simple coarseness of thought and simple inherited Protestantism.' This new biography of Lady Gregory (1852-1932) removes her from the shadow of the more famous Yeats (she wrote almost entirely the great Abbey Theatre hit Cathleen ni Houlihan, but let Yeats take the credit), and uncovers for the first time the full life of this key figure of the Irish Literary Revival. A founder of the now world-famous Abbey Theatre, she had a profound influence on Yeats and other writers including Henry James and Anthony Trollope. She herself wrote 42 plays, as well as a biography, essays, stories, poems, and an autobiography. Married to a man twice her age, she had an extra-marital affair with the poet and anti-Imperialist Wilfrid Scawen Blunt and at 60, a brief romance with the New York lawyer and art patron John Quinn. Placing Gregory securely into the Ireland of her time, the author shows how Lady Gregory's Nationalism in politics and literature fundamentally shaped her life and work.


Abstract: In order to provide Bromelia growers with lacking information about optimal levels of supplementary light and nutrient EC, two consecutive greenhouse experiments were conducted by Wageningen UR Glasshouse Horticulture in Bleiswijk (The Netherlands). In the first experiment a light intensity gradient (17-155 µmol m-2 s-1 PAR ) was installed in the length direction of two 144 m2 greenhouses. In the width direction four mineral nutrition levels were supplied (EC of 0.6, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 dS m-1) to three plant species: Guzmania, Vriesea and Neoregelia (a CAM Bromelia). Each greenhouse had a different (supplementary) photoperiod: 12 or 16 hours. It was concluded that the optimum intensity of supplementary light was 43 µmol m-2 s-1 PAR for Vriesea, and 80 µmol•m-2 s-1 PAR for Guzmania and Neoregelia applied during 12 hours. The corresponding optimum EC of the nutrient solution was 1.5. At higher light levels, longer photoperiod, or the same light levels but nutrition with a lower EC, signs of light damage appeared (chlorotic leaves, reduced plant diameter, red spots on leaves). Neoregelia was tolerant to the 16 hour photoperiod. These optima were validated and compared to a non-lighted control by means of a second experiment with 10 cultivars of 4 different genera grown at a EC of 1.5 dS m-1 under three light levels: 43 µmol m-2 s-1 PAR (applied to all Vriesea and Guzmania 'Hilda'), 80 µmol m-2 s-1 PAR (applied to Aechmea, Tillandsia, Guzmania 'Rana' and Guzmania 'Tempo') and no supplementary light (as reference for all varieties). Compared to the reference, the use of supplementary light enhanced plant growth and ornamental quality and it shortened the time to commercial development stage for most studied cultivars, with the exception of Vriesea 'Miranda' and Vriesea 'Stream'.


This chapter describes the changing dynamics of regionalism and alliance-making in the Middle East, processes that are closely related to and reflect states' foreign and domestic policy choices. The Middle East is not a region without regionalism at the societal or interstate level. There have been multiple forces for cooperation, particularly in the Arab world, based upon common identity, interests and beliefs; multiple alliances that intersect the Arab and non-Arab world; and evidence of cooperation in both broader and narrower regional settings like the Gulf. Global as well as regional trends and influences also push the Middle East into new arenas of cooperation. However, outcomes are mixed: an array of factors including regime insecurity, local rivalries, and external influence inhibit attempts at regional cooperation. Events since the Arab Spring have presented opportunities but also further challenges for Arab regional institutions as new divides and regional alignments emerge.


Copyright law has long been reluctant to protect cultural genres and their components. This is normally justified through familiar principles, such as lack of originality, failure to prove infringement or the principle regarding non-protection of ideas. This article argues that none of these explanations provides a comprehensive answer to copyright's treatment of cultural genres. Relying on Genre theory, Network theory and Semiotic analysis the article offers a network perspective on the intersection of genres and copyright. It argues that genres have important communicative function and constitute necessary tools in human interaction. It proposes to call these communicative attributes "network value", and demonstrates that network value constitutes a substantive theoretical justification for limiting copyright in cultural genres and their components. It further argues that network value analysis has both explanatory and normative consequences. It explains the narrower copyright protection afforded to genres and their components, and sheds light on other related copyright puzzles. In addition, it can provide clearer guidelines in designing the scope of copyright law and its application to cultural works. Part I briefly describes the limited protection afforded to cultural genres and the prevailing justifications under current law. Part II substantiates the theoretical basis of the network perspective, and its application to the intersection of copyright and cultural genres. Part III briefly explores several potential implications of the network analysis, focusing particularly on the Scenes-a-Faire doctrine and the issue of television formats. Some concluding remarks follow.


I argue that there is only one true anaphor in natural language, which takes many shapes. Building on the idea that some pronouns are constructed and others are ''natural-born'' with features, as suggested by Kratzer (2009), I suggest that all nonlocally anteceded bound variable pronouns that are traditionally bound (c-commanded) are the spell-out of a special, but universally available, dependent form, D-bound. The language-specific spell-out of D-bound in phase-internal contexts is responsible for Principle A effects, but not every language imposes phase-internal morphology for binding (thus, Principle A effects are not universal). This approach resolves morphological paradoxes that arise in ellipsis contexts when distance-bound antecedent forms behave as locally bound and vice versa. Finally, the distribution of Principle B and C effects is shown to be a consequence of the distribution of D-bound—the preferred form for anaphoric relations wherever it is available.


Meromorphic minimal surfaces are defined in this paper, and some of their differential-geometric properties are noted. The first fundamental theorem of Nevanlinna for meromorphic functions of a complex variable is extended so as to apply to these surfaces, as is the Ahlfors-Shimizu spherical version of this theorem. For these results, the classical proximity and enumerative functions of complex-variable theory are generalized, and a new visibility function is introduced. Convexity properties of some of these functions are established. For plane meromorphic maps, the visibility function vanishes at all points on the plane but is positive at all other points of space. In general, in the present development, the sum of the enumerative function and the visibility function corresponds to the enumerative function in the classical theory.


Despite the widespread use of Agrobacterium tumefaciens to transfer genes into plant systems, host responses to this plant pathogen are not well understood. The present study shows that disarmed strains of Agrobacterium induce distinct host responses when infiltrated into leaves of Nicotiana tabacum. The responses are limited to the infiltrated zone and consist of i) induction of pathogenesis-related (PR) gene PR-1 expression and resistance to subsequent infection with tobacco mosaic virus, ii) chlorosis and loss of chloroplast rRNAs, and iii) inhibition of leaf expansion. Induction of the latter two sets of responses depends on the age of the leaf and is most apparent in young leaves. Strains with or without binary vectors induce all the responses, showing that DNA transfer is neither required nor inhibitory. A. tumefaciens cured of the tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmid is slightly defective for induction of the three responses, showing that Ti plasmid-encoded factors produced by the disarmed strains contribute only slightly. However, T-DNA-encoded factors alter at least one of the host responses, because infiltration with the oncogenic strain C58 induced more pronounced chlorosis than the disarmed control. Auxin is one of the T-DNA products responsible for disease induction by oncogenic A. tumefaciens. We found that C58-infiltrated zones-but not those infiltrated with the disarmed control-have increased levels of miR393, a microRNA that represses auxin signaling and contributes to antibacterial resistance.


"Journeys of deception". Possible worlds and narrative unreliability in Hans-Ulrich Treichel's Der Papst, den ich gekannt habe (2007)
This article investigates how possible world elements and focalization interact in Hans-Ulrich Treichel's Der Papst, den ich gekannt habe (2007). Andre Hille (2007) describes the book as "a kind of strolling through the world and the memories of the main figure". The end of the book reveals that the main character is in a psychiatric institution. The reader therefore poses the question whether the travels are only taking place in the confused mind of the narrator? Are they "journeys of deception"? What is really "true" and what is mere illusion, i.e. "invented" or "fiction"? Samuel Moser (2007) writes in the Neue Zurcher Zeitung that in the end one does not know at all where "madness" and "reality" begin and end in this book. Treichel's book presents a relationship of tension between "reality" and "fiction". Although fictions are "irrealities" or "illusions" they do, in fact, reveal knowledge or insights with regard to the real world - especially with regard to individual ambitions and uncertainties that characterize the journeys of the main character.


PURPOSE: To compare the psychometric properties of checklists, global rating scales preceded by a checklist, and global rating scales alone in assessing surgery residents' performances on an OSCE-like technical skills examination. METHOD: In 1996, 53 general surgery residents with one to six years of postgraduate training participated in a performance-based examination of technical skills consisting of eight 15-minute stations (bench-model simulations of operative procedures in general surgery). Two qualified surgeons marked at each station, one using a task-specific checklist (C) and a subsequent global rating scale (Gc), the other using a global rating scale only (G). RESULTS: Interstation reliabilities measured by Cronbach's alpha were .79 for C, .89 for Gc, and .85 for G. A series of multiple regressions predicting level of training from test scores revealed an R2 of .584 for C alone, which increased to .711 when Gc was entered after (p < .001), and increased to .704 when G was entered after C (p < .001). However, R2 for Gc alone was .711, and for G alone was .704, neither of which changed when C was entered into the prediction (p > .10). The R2 for Gc and G predicting level of training (.725) was not significantly greater than that of either Gc or G alone. A very similar pattern of results was seen when C, Gc, and G were used to predict independent evaluations of the operative outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Global rating scales scored by experts showed higher inter-station reliability, better construct validity, and better concurrent validity than did checklists. Further, the presence of the checklists did not improve the reliability or validity of the global rating scale over that of the global rating scale alone. These results suggest that global rating scales administered by experts are a more appropriate summative measure when assessing candidates on performance-based examinations.


A human observer can effortlessly identify visible portions of geometric objects present in the environment. However, computations of visible portions of objects from a viewpoint involving thousands of objects is a time-consuming task even for high-speed computers. To solve such visibility problems, efficient algorithms have been designed. This book presents some of these visibility algorithms in two dimensions. Specifically, basic algorithms for point visibility, weak visibility, shortest paths, visibility graphs, link paths, and visibility queries are all discussed. Several geometric properties are also established through lemmas and theorems. With over 300 figures and hundreds of exercises, this book is ideal for graduate students and researchers in the field of computational geometry. It will also be useful as a reference for researchers working in algorithms, robotics, computer graphics, and geometric graph theory, and some algorithms from the book can be used in a first course in computational geometry.


The central objects of secure multiparty computation are the "multiparty functions" (or functionalities) that it seeks to securely realize. In this chapter we survey a set of results that constitute a Cryptographic Complexity Theory. This theory classifies and compares multiparty functions according to their secure computability and reducibility to each other. The basic questions studied, under various notions of security and reducibility, include: • Which functionalities are securely realizable (or are "trivial" – i.e., can be reduced to any functionality)? • Which functionalities are "complete" – i.e., those to which any functionality can be reduced? • More generally, which functionalities are reducible to which? Outside of triviality and completeness, this question is relatively less explored. Reductions yield relative measures of complexity among various functionalities. In the informationtheoretic setting, absolute complexity measures have also been considered. In particular, we discuss results regarding which functions have t-private protocols (in which security is required against a passive adversary corrupting t out of n players) and how this set changes as t increases from 1 to n. We treat separately the results on two-party functionalities, for which the cryptographic complexity is much better understood. In particular, we present unified combinatorial characterizations of completeness and triviality for secure function evaluation using notions of isomorphism and the common information functionality (called the kernel) of a given functionality. Beyond completeness and triviality, we also discuss results on general reducibility, and, in the computationally bounded setting, the connection between these reductions and computational hardness assumptions. We briefly discuss results on reactive functionalities, which are much less studied than non-reactive (secure function evaluation) functionalities. Finally, we conclude with a selection of open problems. ∗Department of Computer Science, University of California, Los Angeles. firstname.lastname@example.com. †Department of Computer Science, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, email@example.com. Supported by NSF grants CNS 07-47027 and CNS 12-28856. ‡Department of Computer Science, University of Montana. email@example.com. Supported by NSF grant CCF-1149647


This thesis examines the career of restoration architect G. Edwin Brumbaugh in order to map the evolution of his ideologies, methodology, and professional practice, and to determine the degree to which his career affected the professionalization of restoration architecture during the twentieth century. Working primarily in Philadelphia and the surrounding area, Brumbaugh was well known among those interested in early American architecture and was widely regarded as one of the leading practitioners in the Mid-Atlantic states, in addition to being nationally recognized for his expertise and accomplishments. Brumbaugh was deeply interested in the vernacular architecture of southeastern Pennsylvania, specifically that of the Pennsylvania Germans. His spiritual connection to seventeenth and eighteenth century architecture, along with his insistence upon accurate and careful restoration based in sound historical, archaeological, and architectural investigations set him apart from his contemporaries. His independent practice, active for much of the twentieth century, was prolific, completing hundreds of public and private restorations. Brumbaugh also designed residential commissions in the colonial revival, and remained a proponent of this style for the length of his career. His career is discussed using three case studies: Ephrata Cloister, the William Brinton 1704 House, and Germantown Market Square. Comments A thesis in Historic Preservation Presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Master of Science in Historic Preservation 2008. Advisor: John D. Milner This thesis or dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/hp_theses/117 ARCHITECTURE TELLS THE STORY: G. EDWIN BRUMBAUGH AND HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE FIELD OF RESTORATION ARCHITECTURE


ABSTRACT The monophyly of Oviraptoridae, a group of theropod dinosaurs, which share a uniquely bizarre morphology, has never been called into question due in large part to their unusual complex of characters. Despite a vivid recent history of discovery and broad public appeal the nature of their morphological diversity has not been explored extensively. Many previous descriptions of oviraptorid taxa are lost in the obscurity of hard-to-find journals, and many lack illustrations of what are now recognized as phylogenetically important characters. The primary goal of this paper is to provide a relatively comprehensive descriptive morphology and illustrations for one member of Oviraptoridae, namely Khaan mckennai, with an emphasis on characters that can be used to establish a phylogenetic hypothesis for the taxon and group as a whole. K. mckennai is a small-bodied, crestless oviraptorid that is known from pristine material that has been collected from the Late Cretaceous sediments of Mongolia. Similar to other oviraptorids, it shares a wide number of features in common with extant birds. However, when these characters are put in the context of Oviraptorosauria, including relatively new, more basal forms like Incisivosaurus gauthieri and Caudipteryx zoui, character states such as extreme pneumatization of the skull or the reduction in the number of caudal vertebrae are found to be either homoplastic for the two groups or plesiomorphic for a more inclusive clade.


The reversed-phase preparative HPLC purification of the methanol extracts of the seeds of two Turkish endemic species Centaurea bornmuelleri and Centaurea huber-morathii afforded several dibenzylbutyrolactone-type lignans and flavonoids. The lignans arctiin, matairesinol and matairesinoside, and the flavonoid, afzalin, were found in both species. While arctigenin and astragalin were only present in C. bornmuelleri, kaempferol was isolated from huber-morathii. A plant sterol, stigmast-4-en-3β-ol, was also isolated from the dichloromethane extract of C. bornmuelleri. The structures of the isolated compounds were determined by spectroscopic means. The chemotaxonomic significance of these compounds within the genus Centaurea has been discussed.


Abstract. This paper addresses various characteristic features associated with the hydration of the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) in association with the boreal monsoonal convective activity occurring over three different tropical regions viz. Asian region, American region and African region. Analysis of water vapor mixing ratio (WVMR) data obtained from AURA MLS (v3.3), ISCCP D1 cloud top pressure data and outgoing long-wave radiation data (OLR) from NOAA reanalysis has brought out two significant results. Firstly, high altitude clouds and high WVMR regions are mostly associated with the low OLR region. Convection over Asian region is very deep and spread over a large geographical area as compared to African or American region. Magnitude of WVMR in the pressure range of 261.0–146.8 hPa is observed to be higher over the Asian region, whereas, close to the tropopause level (~ 100 hPa) it is comparable or more over the American region as compared to Asian and African regions. Secondly, the vertical ascent rate of water vapour obtained from AURA MLS data suggest that convection associated transport might have dominated up to 146.8–121.2 hPa in addition to slow large scale diabatic transport, which appears to be prominent above the pressure range of 100–82.5 hPa. Within the pressure levels of 121.2 to 82.5 hPa, the influence of convective transport appears to be gradually decreasing. However, there are other possible processes like ice sublimation or cirrus jumping which could contribute to the hydration of the tropical lower stratosphere. Present analysis has, thus, brought out the significance of convection in water vapour transport and distribution in the tropical UTLS. Another interesting feature which is observed is the anomalous increase in temperature during boreal winters (November–April) over all three convective regions. Such phenomenon is only observed within the pressure range of 100.0–261.0 hPa; however it is relatively weaker for levels > 177.8 hPa.


The reduction in visibility in x-ray grating interferometry based on the Talbot effect is formulated by the autocorrelation function of spatial fluctuations of a wavefront due to unresolved micron-size structures in samples. The experimental results for microspheres and melamine sponge were successfully explained by this formula with three parameters characterizing the wavefront fluctuations: variance, correlation length, and the Hurst exponent. The ultra-small-angle x-ray scattering of these samples was measured, and the scattering profiles were consistent with the formulation. Furthermore, we discuss the relation between the three parameters and the features of the micron-sized structures. The visibility-reduction contrast observed by x-ray grating interferometry can thus be understood in relation to the structural parameters of the microstructures.


Adolescence is the period of physical and emotional development from childhood to adulthood. As an adolescent develops they struggle with many issues including developing independence from their parents, embracing peer culture, an increase in the importance of body image and the development of sexual, vocational, and moral identity. The diagnosis and treatment for cancer can interfere with the adolescent meeting these goals, and subsequently cause the experience of adolescence to be more difficult. The aim of this study was to identify how adolescents with cancer cope with their situation. The objectives were to determine the resources adolescents utilise to cope with their experience, and the coping strategies adolescents use to cope with their experience. A thorough literature review identified that there had previously been only limited research with adolescents with cancer. In particular there had been very few qualitative studies investigating the specific coping strategies used by adolescents with cancer, with no such research being undertaken in Queensland. This study was conducted under the epistemological stance of constructionism. Meaning was constructed for this study of adolescents with cancer through the use of grounded theory methods, and secondary analysis of data. Interviews were collected by the researcher for a project at the Royal Children's Hospital. Using grounded theory methods, seven of the interviews were analysed. In the process of developing a central category, Schatzman's Dimensional Matrix was used to assign codes into context, processes, consequences, and conditions, under the central category of 'conquering the cancer experience'. The experience of diagnosis and treatment for cancer was difficult for these adolescents, however they ultimately coped and became stronger as a result of their experience. The key findings of this study identified that adolescents were able to cope with their experience.;These finding were discussed in relation to factors which enhanced their coping, factors which influenced their ability to cope and how the experience changed the adolescent. Recommendations were also made with the aim of improving the experience of adolescents undergoing treatment for cancer in Queensland. Through the implementation of the recommendations of this study, hopefully the journey of adolescents with cancer can be made easier.