The 2009 Annual Meeting of the North American Academy of Ecumenists, held September 25-27 at Washington (DC) Theological Union, was a most significant one, at which participants addressed "The Ethical Horizon from an Ecumenical Point of View." Ethical issues have recently moved from the background to the foreground of ecumenical concern. Contentious moral issues seem to present an impasse to the movement toward full communion. As Dr. Michael Root notes in his essay which follows, there have been few in-depth discussions of moral method and of personal morality in the dialogues. I am cautious about presuming an impasse before there has been a thorough discussion of moral method and moral issues, l am reluctant to presume that the Holy Spirit will not act in the dialogues we will have with one another. The essays that follow make a strong contribution to the emerging discussion. They provide an in-depth analysis of many dimensions of the moral horizon. They indicate areas for future discussion. Their footnotes provide a wealth of references to other important resources. These introductory comments can only highlight certain elements of these rich presentations. Each article is worth thorough study. Together they offer a tour of the horizon and a catalyst for personal reflection. Root's "Ethics in Ecumenical Dialogues: A Survey and Analysis" is the best survey I have seen. He offers a comprehensive overview of all the dialogues. He shows that ethical matters have been discussed--but that in-depth discussions are infrequent. He begins by surveying "Dialogues that Deal with Ethics in General." He moves on to the "Dialogues that Deal with Specific Ethical Issues." Here he reviews eight issues--from marriage and divorce to the environment--that have been discussed. He then offers his conclusions, including a critique of Life in Christ: Morals, Communion, and the Church, the 1993 International Anglican-Roman Catholic Agreed Statement--which has been the most detailed agreement on morals. He challenges the key contention of the Agreed Statement that there is no "fundamental divergence" in general moral understanding. Root contends that "Commitments to... specific rules, virtues, and practices may be as important, both for moral reasoning and for ecclesial communion, as more general commitments." The seasoned ecumenist Fr. Stanley S. Harakas's essay, "What Orthodox Christian Ethics Can Offer Ecumenism," calls for a "return to the original and primary purpose of the ecumenical movement--ecclesial unity." (2) He questions the turn toward "subjective ethical criteria as a tool of ecumenism." (3) He reminds us about the importance of outreach to others both within and outside the Christian community. He commends the light of our historic faith rooted in scripture and Holy Tradition. Both ethical reflection and norms need to be rooted in the Triune God In "The Ethics of Peacemaking: The Genesis of Called Together to Be Peacemakers--Report of the International Mennonite-Catholic Dialogue (2004)," (4) Drew Christiansen, S.J., offers a participant's extended analysis of the implications of the report. He discusses Catholic and Mennonite reconciliation, shifts in thinking in recent decades, and other important questions. Many Catholics would not be aware of the shift in Catholic thinking toward the primacy of nonviolence--while not endorsing pacifism. One of Christiansen's intriguing references is to points for further study. These are neither convergences nor divergences. I would comment that full communion need not resolve every moral difference. Christian ethicists can study questions in coming decades and centuries. After full communion, church councils may resolve some ethical issues. Dr. Timothy F. Sedgwick's essay, "Exploring the Great Divide: Sex, Ethics, and Ecumenism," offers a clear overview of the state of the question on sexual morality in the Western Christian traditions. …


Robert J. P. Williams was a pioneer in advancing our understanding of the roles of chemical elements, especially the metals, in biology and in biological evolution. During the first half of his career of more than 60 years at Oxford University he studied the thermodynamic stabilities of transition-metal complexes with organic ligands, their redox properties, magnetism and colour, to understand their biological function. In parallel he collaborated with biologists and biophysicists, for example with Bert Vallee, studying zinc in proteins. Williams was the first to describe how proton gradients could be used to drive the formation of the universal biological fuel, ATP (adenosine triphosphate), a fundamental step in biological energetics. From the late 1960s he studied many proteins that use metal ions for catalysis, for electron transfer and cellular regulation. A leading figure in the establishment of the Oxford Enzyme Group, Williams developed high-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to study the mobility and dynamics of many protein structures, leading to a deeper understanding of protein function. He held the Royal Society Napier Research Professorship from 1974 until his retirement in 1991. Subsequently he published several books setting out his understanding of the roles of metal ions in biology, and their wider significance in evolution. Bob Williams's deep insights across many disciplines made him a charismatic teacher. His lateral style of thinking never failed to inspire. His legacy lies in the successful careers of his many students and collaborators worldwide and the vigour of the new discipline of bioinorganic chemistry that he helped to establish.


When the Labour government in Britain took office in 1997 it inherited a growing problem of nursing shortages, which finally hit the headlines in 1998. The shortages have been recurring ever since, particularly during the influenza "crisis" last winter. How has the government fared in dealing with nursing shortages, and has it put the worst behind it?

#### Summary points

Britain has a serious shortage of nurses, as well as problems in recruiting and retaining them

It is not simply that there are too few nurses; some key skills shortages also exist, with increasing demand for more qualified staff in some areas

Much better planning of the workforce is required, and this needs to be more integrated with the planning for other groups in healthcare

A change in the pay system may help, but the creation of better work environments may be part of the solution

The rapid pace of change in the nursing profession has produced a challenge that the NHS needs to address

The roots of the recent nursing shortages lie in the early 1990s. As part of the NHS reforms and the introduction of the internal market, there was a move towards an employer led system to determine intakes to nurse training. The involvement of NHS trusts was to be welcomed, but the narrow focus, varying capacity of local training and education consortiums, and lack of a national overview meant that most trusts underestimated required staffing numbers. The system also underestimated non-NHS demand for nurses, particularly in the rapidly expanding nursing home sector. The effect of this new "planning" system was to reduce markedly the number of student nurses. In 1984 England had more than 75 000 nursing students and pupil nurses. By 1994 that number had more than halved. The register of the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, …


Automobiles' negative impact on human health and welfare includes traffic-related deaths and injuries as well as the deaths and injuries caused by automobiles' contribution to climate change and other global environmental degradation. This paper explores solutions that both enhance vehicle performance and reduce environmental impacts, and focuses on demonstrating the ability of lightweight vehicles to provide such a solution. Some controversy exists around the question of whether lighter and more fuel-efficient vehicles can be as safe as traditional vehicles. Recent research reviewed in this paper indicates that several solutions exist that can both improve efficiency and thereby global safety, and maintain (or even improve) highway safety.


Prolactin-receptor-deficient mice are a good model in which to study the various actions of prolactin. Female homozygous knockout mice are completely infertile and show a lack of mammary development, while hemizogotes are unable to lactate following their first pregnancy. Male and female homozygotes have markedly elevated serum prolactin levels, and in some instances pituitary hyperplasia is present. Maternal behaviour is severely affected in both hemizygous and homozygous animals. Bone formation is reduced in young animals and in adults (males and females). Finally, older males and females show a slight reduction in body weight, which seems to be due to reduced abdominal fat deposition in the knockout animals.


Rebecca Probert, University of Warwick. In Stack v Dowden [2007] UKHL 17, [2007] 1 FLR 1858 the House of Lords held unanimously that if a property was conveyed into or registered in joint names, the presumption would be that equity followed the law, and by a majority that in the context of the family home this presumption was so strong that it could not be rebutted merely by evidence of unequal contributions. As Baroness Hale of Richmond put it, cases in which the joint legal owners are to be taken to have intended that their beneficial interests should be different from their legal interests will be very unusual.

Stack was the first case at this level to focus on the particular circumstances of cohabiting couples. Even if legislation is passed in line with the Law Commissions recent recommendations so as to provide a remedy for cohabiting couples on separation, property law will remain of relevance if it should prove necessary to ascertain their shares during the relationship (eg if there is a dispute with a third party), or on the death of one of the parties, or if the parties fail to satisfy the eligibility criteria. In this article, Rebecca Probert considers the impact of the case on cohabiting, owner-occupier, couples who purchased their property before 1997 and the changes to Land Registry forms, looking at whether a beneficial joint tenancy should be inferred from a legal joint tenancy, and what factors should be taken into account in inferring an intention to share the beneficial interest unequally. For the full article see October [2007] Fam Law.


MRC Group, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Museum Avenue Cardiff CF10 3AX, Wales, UK. Acute pancreatitis is generally initiated by premature trypsinogen activation in pancreatic acinar cells mediated by excessive intracellular calcium release from internal stores. One of the major causes of acute pancreatitis is excessive alcohol intake, but the molecular mechanism of this severe inflammatory disease is not completely understood. We now show that in two-photon permeabilized mouse pancreatic acinar cells even a relatively low ethanol concentration as well as its non-oxidative metabolite palmitoleic acid ethyl ester (POAEE) elicit calcium release from intracellular stores and also induce intracellular trypsinogen activation (1, 2). Reintroducing the calcium sensor calmodulin (at a normal intracellular concentration found in intact cells) to the permeabilized cells dramatically reduced ethanol-induced calcium release and trypsinogen activation. Pre-incubation of cells with a calmodulin activator CALP-3 (100 mkM) abolished the ethanol and POAEE effects in intact and permeabilized cells (1). Both ethanol-elicited and POAEE-induced calcium liberation and trypsin activity were significantly reduced in acinar cells from mice in which type 2 inositol trisphosphate receptors had been knocked out. Double knock out of inositol trisphosphate receptors of both types 2 and 3 further reduced ethanolinduced or POAEE-induced calcium release and trypsinogen activation to very low levels (1, 2). Thus, the calmodulin-sensitive inositol trisphosphate receptor calcium release channels, that are responsible for normal pancreatic stimulus-secretion coupling, also play a major role in the toxic action of ethanol. Calmodulin provides a protective mechanism, regulating the sensitivity of the calcium release process (1). The marked inhibition of ethanol-induced (or POAEE-induced) Ca2+ release and trypsin activation by a calmodulin activator suggests potential therapeutic benefits for treatment of pancreatitis. Gerasimenko J.V et al (2011) Calmodulin protects against alcohol-induced pancreatic trypsinogen activation elicited via Ca2+ release through IP3 receptors. PNAS, 108(14):5873-8


Methods are needed to quantify effects of land use and management practices on nutrient and sediment loads at
the watershed scale. Two methods were used to apply a DRAINMOD-based watershed-scale model (DRAINWAT) to estimate
total nitrogen (N) transport from a poorly drained, forested watershed. In both methods, in-stream retention or losses of N
were calculated with a lumped-parameter model, which assumes that N concentration decreases exponentially with residence
(or travel) time in the canals. In the first method, daily field outflows predicted by DRAINWAT were multiplied by average
N concentrations to calculate daily loads at the field edge. Travel time from the field edge to the watershed outlet was computed
for each field for each day based on daily velocities predicted by DRAINWAT for each section of the canal-stream network.
The second lumped-parameter method was similar but used predicted annual outflow to obtain annual load at the field
edge. The load was transported to the watershed outlet, and the in-stream N loss was determined by using a constant average
velocity (obtained by long-term DRAINWAT simulations), independent of season, for the entire canal-stream network. The
methods were applied on a 2,950 ha coastal forested watershed near Plymouth, North Carolina, to evaluate daily, monthly,
and annual export of nitrogen for a five-year (1996-2000) period. Except for some late spring and hurricane events, predicted
daily flows were in good agreement with measured results for all five years (Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient, E = 0.71 to 0.85).
Estimates of monthly total N load were in much better agreement (E = 0.76) with measured data than were the daily estimates
(E = 0.19). Annual nitrogen load was predicted within 17% of the measured value, on average, and there was no difference
(. = 0.05) between measured and estimated monthly and annual loads. The estimates of annual N loads using travel time with
a daily velocity yielded better results than with the constant average velocity. The estimated delivery ratio (load at the
outlet/load at the field edge) for total N was shown to vary widely among individual fields depending on their location in the
watershed and distance from the outlet. Both of the methods investigated can potentially be used with GIS in predicting
impacts of land management practices on total N loads from poorly drained watersheds.


A mail survey of 1889 pig producers in Great Britain with more than 100 sows or more than 1000 pigs was carried out to investigate their use of antimicrobials and other health-related management practices. The response rate was 25·5 per cent. Antimicrobials were most commonly administered in feed. Depending on the production system, between 60 and 75 per cent of the farms had used antimicrobials in their weaner rations and 20 to 62 per cent had used them in their grower rations. Antimicrobial injections had been used on 59 per cent of the farms. The use of antimicrobials in pigs of different age groups was variously associated with the scale of production, membership of a quality assurance scheme, the use of vaccination and whether the farmer thought the farm environment could be improved. Half the respondents (49 per cent) indicated that they used growth promoters in their weaners, but fewer used these in their growers (45 per cent) and finishers (34 per cent). Although 63 per cent of the farmers felt that the continued use of antimicrobials for disease prevention was justified, only 21 per cent felt that their continued use as growth promoters was justified.


Global and local methods are widely used in international macroeconomics to analyze incomplete-markets models. We study solutions for an endowment economy, an RBC model and a Sudden Stops model with an occasionally binding credit constraint. First-order, second-order, risky steady state and DynareOBC solutions are compared v. fixed-point-iteration global solutions in the time and frequency domains. The solutions differ in key respects, including measures of precautionary savings, cyclical moments, impulse response functions, financial premia and macro responses to credit constraints, and periodograms of consumption, foreign assets and net exports. The global method is easy to implement and faster than local methods for the endowment model. Local methods are faster for the RBC model and the global and DynareOBC solutions are of comparable speed. These findings favor global methods except when prevented by the curse of dimensionality and urge caution when using local methods. Of the latter, first-order solutions are preferable because results are very similar to second-order methods.


Across the world, several millions of people use sign language as their main way of communication with their society, daily they face a lot of obstacles with their families, teachers, neighbours, employers. According to the most recent statistics of World Health Organization, there are 360 million persons in the world with disabling hearing loss i.e. (5.3% of the world's population), around 13 million in the Middle East. Hence, the development of automated systems capable of translating sign languages into words and sentences becomes a necessity. We propose a model to recognize both of static gestures like numbers, letters, ...etc and dynamic gestures which includes movement and motion in performing the signs. Additionally, we propose a segmentation method in order to segment a sequence of continuous signs in real time based on tracking the palm velocity and this is useful in translating not only pre-segmented signs but also continuous sentences. We use an affordable and compact device called Leap Motion controller, which detects and tracks the hands' and fingers' motion and position in an accurate manner. The proposed model applies several machine learning algorithms as Support Vector Machine (SVM), K- Nearest Neighbour (KNN), Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Dynamic Time Wrapping (DTW) depending on two different features sets. This research will increase the chance for the Arabic hearing-impaired and deaf persons to communicate easily using Arabic Sign language(ArSLR).  The proposed model works as an interface between hearing-impaired and normal persons who are not familiar with Arabic sign language, overcomes the gap between them and it is also valuable for social respect. The proposed model is applied on Arabic signs with 38 static gestures (28 letters, numbers (1:10) and 16 static words) and 20 dynamic gestures. Features selection process is maintained and we get two different features sets. For static gestures, KNN model dominates other models for both of palm features set and bone features set with accuracy 99 and 98% respectively. For dynamic gestures, DTW model dominates other models for both palm features set and bone features set with accuracy 97.4% and 96.4% respectively.


ABSTRACT This study presents the first detailed description of the oscillographic structure and spectrographs features of sound emission produced by Z- and E-strain males of Ostrinia nubilalis during their courtship behaviour. Males simultaneously produce ultrasonic and low-frequency sonic sound emissions during their courtship, vibrating their wings at a distance of 1–2 cm from the female. The sound emission shows two characteristic types: a long courtship song is followed by a short precopulation song after a few seconds of silence. The ultrasonic courtship song is composed of pulses repeated in pairs or more typically in long series with an even repetition rate (which showed to be temperature dependent) or in irregular sequences. The precopulation song is a short crescending pulse-series. In both song types the ultrasonic carrier- wave has constant frequency spectrum containing components from 20 kHz to 80 kHz. The low-frequency sound emission has a harmonic frequency spectrum (fundamental frequency between 40–70 Hz). During the precopulation song the low-frequency component shows a characteristic frequency sweep from 80–100 Hz to 70–80 Hz. No significant difference has been noticed comparing the songs of Z- and E-strain males of O. nubilalis. However sound emission is clearly different from that described recently in the closely related O. furnacalis, where pulses are performed in groups forming chirps and no different courtship song and precopulation song has been described. The possible signal function of low-frequency near field sound emission is discussed.


The performance of firms depends not just on the structure of the industries in which they compete but also on their relative positioning within those industries, in terms of operating within particular niches. We propose that demand for these niches depends endogenously on the historical ecology of the products offered: Niches become saturated—reduced in their ability to support products—as a large number of previous offerings allows the audience to satisfy its desire for products of a particular type. Analyzing the survival rates of television series aired in the United States from 1946 to 2003, we found that the survival rates of future entrants fell with the extensiveness of recent offerings in the niche, and that the negative association between crowding and survival also weakened with this saturation


There has been significant discussion in recent times around improving the quality of teaching and learning in higher education (Laycock, 2009; Laurillard & Masterman, 2010; DES, 2010).  The Lisbon Strategy (Commission to the Council and the European Parliament, 2006) has framed much of this discussion at a European level with individual countries, such as Ireland, developing their own-targeted strategies to expand and improve higher education (DES, 2010).  In the case of Ireland, these strategies specifically mention the need for institutions to provide 'excellent teaching' whether in face-to-face or online settings.  Whereas there is a significant body of on-going research conducted around effective teaching in traditional, face-to-face settings in higher education (for example, Bennett & Barp, 2008, Beetham & Sharpe, 2007) there is, in recent times, an emerging need for investigations that focus on new contexts for teaching particularly in online synchronous classrooms. Many institutions have invested substantial time and resources in procuring new technology systems to support on-line teaching and in training staff to operate the many varied functions within these technologies.  However, there is also a need to go beyond mere functionality and to provide deeper pedagogical support to faculty so they can fully realise the instructional potential of these systems (Kim & Bonk, 2006; Lee & Hirumi, 2004).  Technological innovations in the area of online teaching lead to new challenges for teachers and educators as new tools are developed and adopted by their institutions. A question for researchers is the extent to which these tools augment or inhibit existing roles and practices in the classroom and to ask how we can conceptualize learning and teaching in such contexts. The case for considering inquiry learning as the 'telos' or central purpose of classroom practice is presented here. In this way the live on-line classroom is conceived as a communal learning space where teacher and students participate in activities that are enabled, sustained and enriched by the functionality of the technology system.


The purpose of this thesis is to focus in understanding axiological knowledge in knowledge driven societies which survive thanks to the creation of science and technology and new products and services. The considerations of this thesis are critical to organizations and society at large, because as I will show axiological knowledge is key to ensure the survival of human beings in specific survival conditions. Living in a knowledge driven world means the creation of knowledge in organizations is key. Thus axiological knowledge would need to be created to accommodate this need in organizations. Contrary to established beliefs, and although we experience most our behavior as intentional and volitional pertaining to our particular nature, we are constituted, in the form of automatic, evident, "true" interpretations and understandings of the world, through minimal constituent cultural configurations. This axiological knowledge is shaped by collective motivations through the communication of a constituent speech in the form of narratives, stories, myths, rituals and symbols created to ensure survival in specific material conditions. This axiological knowledge provides us with the adequate knowledge to interpret and value the world according to the existing survival conditions. Currently, many approaches aiming to change the axiological conditions, among others, to promote creativity, responsibility, sustainability and ethics in organizations appeal to personal responsibility and goodwill, without consideration of the affect system and the axiological knowledge currently in place. I argue these proposals are unsuccessful because they disregard the latest social sciences research and also because their key assumptions are outdated. These approaches either assume an anthropology of matter and spirit or an anthropology of matter and reason, as well as a mythical epistemology. This thesis is organized as a compendium of four articles structured in two parts dealing with the complexity of the axiological. The first part comprises two articles describing, argumenting and analysing our current axiological world. The second part, introduces and deals with the diverse discursive approaches to managing motivations in management studies, those of narratology, storytelling and rhetorics, and develops linguistic theory to intervene in collectivities by creating axiological knowledge. I argue, that focusing on the axiological knowledge is a pending need that will not be undetected for long in organization studies. The most difficult issue is to avoid current approaches to the axiological and thus to allow for new research to take place. This thesis is a step towards creating the theoretical basis for this research to develop.


By analysing a series of exhibition projects responding to central changes in web technology since its public unveiling (1991), this study identifies a historical trajectory for discussing the evolution of curating on the web. Such evolution highlights how curators have devised exhibition models that operate as platforms for not only displaying art specific to the web, but also for producing and disseminating it in a way that responds to the developments of web technology—and its socio-cultural and economic impact. With the massification of web tools, in fact, these platforms have generated distributed systems of artistic production free from the physical and conceptual limitations of the gallery and museum space. They have not only become spaces for displaying art, but also platforms that nurture its production, different modes of audience engagement and critique the canons of the institutionalised art world. Originating from the desire to reduce the historical fragmentation of this field of work and its partial mapping, this study follows a periodisation that starts from the early internet, with its BBS-enabled platforms such as ARTEX (1980), to introduce the 1990s experimentations with the web browser and the developments of projects like äda'web (1995). It then dives into the Web 2.0 when, with the platformisation of the technology, curators developed an array of approaches for adopting existing web services, as in the instances of CuratingYouTube (2007–present) and #exstrange (2017). Lastly, it outlines the trends of today's web, which saw the birth of projects like the blockchain-enabled cointemporary (2014), to then draw conclusions about the relevance of this historical trajectory in the field of curatorial studies and the production of web-based and digital art.


We surveyed psychology alumni (N = 78) about (a) their preparedness and competency on 54 areas of workforce readiness, (b) changes since graduation on 33 adjectives describing emotional states and personality qualities, and (c) suggestions for universities about how to provide opportunities that enhance workforce success. Among the highest rated qualities expected in the workplace were self-discipline and responsibility, and among the greatest changes in emotional qualities were increased confidence, independence, and maturity. Respondents also provided revealing open-ended suggestions for improving workplace readiness and success. We discuss these results in light of recent, national attention to workforce readiness, the American Psychological Association's (APA) Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major (APA, 2007), and future steps for psychology educators to help current students make the transition to successful alumni.


In true dystopian form, the killing of unarmed Black people by the police has sparked a national narrative about the suffering of police officers. "Blue Lives Matters" has become the rallying call for those offended by the suggestion that we should hold police officers accountable for killing unarmed Black people. According to a December 2016 poll, 61% of Americans believed that there was a "war on police," and 68% of Whites had a favorable view of the police as compared to 40% of Blacks. Lawmakers around the country have been proposing Blue Lives Matters laws that make it a hate crime to kill or assault police officers. This strange twist of events is perverse given the social context. Why should the police be viewed as victims in need of additional protection at precisely the same moment that many have questioned their victimization of Black communities? This Essay considers this question and argues that "Blue Lives Matter" is evidence of the permanence of racism as a juridical and discursive matter in this country.


This article addresses the question of how courts should assess the reasonableness of executive orders. Prior to the New Deal, a unified framework applied to assessment of all executive and legislative decisions, including executive orders. In the 1930s and 40s, a dichotomy began to develop. The Supreme Court created a highly deferential rational basis test to govern its review of legislation's reasonableness. On the other hand, the Court applied a much less deferential arbitrary and capricious test to review the reasonableness of administrative agency rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act. This dichotomy left open the question of what standard should govern judicial review of executive orders. This article addresses this question in the context of statutory executive orders, rather than orders relying on implied or express independent constitutional authority.
It combines a constitutional analysis of separation of powers, due process, and the nondelegation doctrine with an analysis of relevant administrative law. This analysis provides a constitutional framework for understanding how to review executive orders for reasonableness. In the end, this article concludes that the need for "faithful" law execution in light of due process and separation of powers considerations leads to the conclusion that the courts should apply arbitrary and capricious review to executive orders issued pursuant to statutory authority, rather than the rational basis test that applies to legislation.


Conductivity and photoconductivity properties of individual GaAs/AlGaAs core–shell nanowires (NWs) are reported. The NWs were grown by Au-assisted metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy, and then dispersed on a substrate where electrical contacts were defined on the individual NWs by electron beam induced deposition. Under dark conditions, the carrier transport along the NW is found to be limited by Schottky contacts, and influenced by the presence of an oxide layer. Nonetheless, under illumination, the GaAs/AlGaAs core–shell NW shows a significant photocurrent, much higher than the bare GaAs NW. The spatial dependence of the photocurrent within the single core–shell NW, evaluated by a mapping technique, confirms the blocking behavior of the contacts. Moreover, local spectral measurements were performed which allow one to discriminate the contribution of carriers photogenerated in the core and in the shell.


During my PhD,I have been develop an innovative technique to reproduce in vitro the 3D thymic microenvironment, to be used for growth and differentiation of thymocytes, and possible transplantation replacement in conditions of depressed thymic immune regulation. The work has been developed in the laboratory of Tissue Engineering at the University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland, under the tutorship of Prof.Ivan Martin.
Since a number of studies have suggested that the 3D structure of the thymic microenvironment might play a key role in regulating the survival and functional competence of thymocytes, I've focused my effort on the isolation and purification of the extracellular matrix of the mouse thymus. Specifically, based on the assumption that TEC can favour the differentiation of pre-T lymphocytes, I've developed a specific decellularization protocol to obtain the intact, DNA-free extracellular matrix of the adult mouse thymus.
Two different protocols satisfied the main characteristics of a decellularized matrix, according to qualitative and quantitative assays. In particular, the quantity of DNA was less than 10% in absolute value, no positive staining for cells was found and the 3D structure and composition of the ECM were maintained. In addition, I was able to prove that the decellularized matrixes were not cytotoxic for the cells themselves, and were able to increase expression of MHC II antigens compared to control cells grown in standard conditions.
I was able to prove that TECs grow and proliferate up to ten days on top the decellularized matrix.
After a complete characterization of the culture system, these innovative natural scaffolds could be used to improve the standard culture conditions of TEC, to study in vitro the action of different factors on their differentiation genes, and to test the ability of TECs to induce in vitro maturation of seeded T lymphocytes.


In the quiet halls of the natural history museum, there are some creatures still alive with stories, whose personalities refuse to be relegated to the dusty corners of an exhibit. The fame of these beasts during their lifetimes has given them an iconic status in death. More than just museum specimens, these animals have attained a second life as historical and cultural records. This collection of essays from a broad array of contributors, including anthropologists, curators, fine artists, geographers, historians, and journalists comprises short "biographies" of a number of famous taxidermized animals. Each essay traces the life, death, and museum "afterlife" of a specific creature, illuminating the overlooked role of the dead beast in the modern human-animal encounter through practices as disparate as hunting and zookeeping. The contributors offer fresh examinations of the many levels at which humans engage with other animals, especially those that function as both natural and cultural phenomena, including Queen Charlotte's pet zebra, Maharajah the elephant, and Balto the sled dog, among others. Readers curious about the enduring fascination with animals who have attained these strange afterlives will be drawn to the individual narratives within each essay, while learning more about the scientific, cultural, and museological contexts of each subject. Ranging from autobiographical to analytical, the contributors' varying styles make this delightful book a true menagerie. "Contributors" Samuel J. M. M. Alberti, Royal College of Surgeons * Sophie Everest, University of Manchester * Kate Foster * Michelle Henning, University of the West of England, Bristol * Hayden Lorimer, University of Glasgow * Garry Marvin, Roehampton University, London * Henry Nicholls * Hannah Paddon * Merle Patchett * Christopher Plumb, University of Manchester * Rachel Poliquin * Jeanne Robinson, Glasgow Museums * Mike Rutherford, University of the West Indies * Richard C. Sabin, Natural History Museum * Richard Sutcliffe, Glasgow Museums * Geoffrey N. Swinney, University of Edinburgh"


INTRODUCTION
The objective of this study was to examine the barriers that influence access to and use of mental health services by Black youths in Alberta.

METHODS
We used a youth-led participatory action research (PAR) methodology within a youth empowerment model situated within intersectionality theory to understand access to health care for both Canadian-born and immigrant Black youth in Alberta. The research project was co-led by an advisory committee consisting of 10 youths who provided advice and tangible support to the research. Seven members of the advisory committee also collected data, co-facilitated conversation cafés, analyzed data and helped in the dissemination activities. We conducted in-depth individual interviews and held four conversation café-style focus groups with a total of 129 youth. During the conversation cafés, the youths took the lead in identifying issues of concern and in explaining the impact of these issues on their lives. Through rigorous data coding and thematic analysis as well as reflexivity and member checking we ensured our empirical findings were trustworthy.

RESULTS
Our findings highlight key barriers that can limit access to and utilization of mental health services by Black youth, including a lack of cultural inclusion and safety, a lack of knowledge/information on mental health services, the cost of mental health services, geographical barriers, stigma and judgmentalism, and limits of resilience.

CONCLUSION
Findings confirm diverse/intersecting barriers that collectively perpetuate disproportional access to and uptake of mental health services by Black youths. The results of this study suggest health policy and practice stakeholders should consider the following recommendations to break down barriers: diversify the mental health service workforce; increase the availability and quality of mental health services in Black-dominated neighbourhoods; and embed anti-racist practices and intercultural competencies in mental health service delivery.


The noncovalent binding and spectroscopic properties of several near-infrared tricarbocyanine dyes with respect to sonicated calf-thymus DNA are reported. The dyes investigated were diethylthiatricarbocyanine iodide (DTTCI), diethyloxatricarbocyanine iodide (DOTCI), and 1,1',3,3,3',3'-hexamethylindotricarbocyanine iodide (HITCI), which are cationic and possess absorption maxima at 772, 695, and 750 nm, respectively, in DMSO. In buffered aqueous solutions, these dyes demonstrated extensive ground-state aggregation in aqueous solvents when compared to DMSO. In the presence of double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), the fluorescence emission spectra revealed enhancement ratios of bound-to-free dye ranging from 4.5 for DOTCI to 128 for DTTCI. Spectrophotometric titrations and Scatchard analyses of the dye-dsDNA complexes yielded nonlinear plots, suggestive of possible multiple binding sites on the DNA. Viscometric titrations of the complexes showed increased solution viscosities for DTTCI, consistent with an unraveling and lengthening of the dsDNA upon complexation. Fluorescence lifetime data of the dye-dsDNA complexes showed longer lifetimes exhibited by these dyes in the presence of the dsDNA compared with those in solutions with no DNA.


ABSTRACT This paper focuses on the effect of merger on university efficiency. In a first stage analysis, efficiency scores of English universities are derived for a 17-year period using the frontier estimation method data envelopment analysis. A second stage analysis explores the effect of merger and other factors on efficiency. We find that mean efficiency for the sector has varied from around 60% to 70%, but that the efficiency levels of the vast majority of individual higher education institutions (HEIs) are not significantly different from each other. Merged HEIs have an efficiency which is around five percentage points higher post-merger than non-merging HEIs holding all else constant; but we find that the efficiency impact of merger does not last long (not more than a year) after the merger. The transitory nature of the efficiency gain is an important finding which should be noted by politicians and managers considering a policy of merger.


Phase sensitive soft-x-ray microscopy methods enable the study of specimens for which phase effects are a prevalent contrast mechanism. One way to detect these phase effects is to optically implement the radial Hilbert transform by using spiral zone plates (SZPs), which results in the isotropic measurement of the amplitude and phase gradient in a sample. Soft-x-ray microscopy using an SZP as a single element objective lens was demonstrated through the imaging of a 1 microm circular aperture at a wavelength of 2.73 nm(454 eV). A regular zone plate, a charge 1 SZP, and a charge 2 SZP were fabricated using electron beam lithography and were used as the imaging optic in the microscopy setup. The charge 1 and charge 2 SZP images exhibited isotropic edge enhancement as a result of radial Hilbert filtering.


This report – Green Carbon, Black Trade – by UNEP and INTERPOL focuses on illegal logging and its impacts on the lives and livelihoods of often some of the poorest people in the world set aside the environmental damage. It underlines how criminals are combining old fashioned methods such as bribes with high tech methods such as computer hacking of government web sites to obtain transportation and other permits. The report spotlights the increasingly sophisticated tactics being deployed to launder illegal logs through a web of palm oil plantations, road networks and saw mills.


The presence and impacts of non‐indigenous species (NIS) in marine areas of high conservation or World Heritage significance have rarely been examined. Case studies worldwide suggest that the potential exists for the introduction of NIS to significantly impact conservation values in regions conserved for the uniqueness and diversity of native assemblages. In this study, a preliminary investigation was conducted to provide information essential for managing marine introductions in the Shark Bay World Heritage Property. A focused fouling plate survey sampled a total of 112 encrusting taxa, of which 10 (11.2%) were classified as introduced and 10 others as cryptogenic. Eight introduced bryozoans: Aetea anguina (Linnaeus, 1758), Bugula neritina (Linnaeus, 1758), Bugula stolonifera Ryland, 1960, Conopeum seurati (Canu, 1928), Savignyella lafontii (Audouin, 1826), Schizoporella errata (Waters, 1878), Watersipora subtorquata (d'Orbigny, 1842) and Zoobotryon verticellatum della Chiaje, 1828; one tunicate, Styela plicata Lesueur, 1823; and an introduced hydroid, Obelia dichotoma (Linnaeus, 1758) were frequent, and in some cases dominant, components of encrusting communities. Of the 20 most frequently occurring species detected in the Bay, four were introduced and of the 20 species with highest average percent cover per plate, six were introduced. At one site, space occupation by NIS averaged 71.6% ± 7.4 of plate live cover. Space occupation by an individual NIS was as high as 62.4% of plate area (mean 7.82% ± 1.8). NIS were detected at sites lacking commercial traffic and ballast water discharge and isolated by distance and physical environment, suggesting that hull fouling of recreational craft may be the most important vector in the region. Seventy‐five percent of NIS detected in Shark Bay are established in Australian ports to the south of Shark Bay, while 33% are established to the north, tentatively implicating temperate affinity NIS and the movement of vessels from Australian ports south of Shark Bay as a greater risk to the region.


Early Christian Greek and Latin Literature: A Literary History. By Claudio Moreschini and Enrico Norelli. Translated by Matthew J. O'Connell. 2 vols. (Peabody Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. 2005. Pp. xxiv, 455; xxvi, 734. $99.95.) Two questions are especially raised by this weighty but finely translated survey. First, what does one mean by "Christian Literature"? second, what should one make of the new subtitle, "A Literary History"? (The original title, Storia delta letteratura, is equally problematic; and comparable difficulty arises with titles like Histoire litteraire or Literaturgeschichte.) The authors suggest (1, xi) that "literatures" are defined by their languages, whereas Christian literature is defined by its content. They admit that the languages used have their own histories and therefore their own effects; but they would not divide Christian literature in the first instance according to language. One should note at once the authors' deliberate omission of material in Syriac and other languages of the Oriens christianus. It is true that the earliest Christian texts have to be placed within the context of (predominantly Greek) Hellenistic culture, which they modified by their particular approach to sacred texts and sacred rituals, to the Hebrew Bible, and the sacramental life. Yet the impact of languages further east, not to mention Hebrew itself and Aramaic, had become apparent by the second century at the latest, and continued to grow in importance. It also has to be borne in mind that several elements of early Christian literature survive only in their "eastern" translations and recensions-which raises the immediate question of whether the survivals mirror accurately the originals. In short, it is no longer acceptable to fly the Greek-and-Latin flag and still lay claim to an inclusive "Christianity." I also think an opportunity was lost when the authors turned to the Latin tradition, in which "the importance of the Bible . . . was utterly decisive" (I, 318). Here a new thread could have been identified and pursued; but that does not happen, and in particular there is never an attempt to set down in one place a comparison between the Greek biblical tradition, so conscious (with time) of both the Hebrew and the Septuagint texts, and the Latin tradition, based essentiaEy (until Jerome) on a translation or translations. How odd, also, to confine to a chapter on "The First Christian Literature of the West" the observation that Christians "tried to find in the Bible elements that could be matched to standards by which secular texts were usually judged" (1, 323)-hardly a peculiarity of the West. A real attempt is, however, made to define a literary history. "Literary forms and genres were adapted to the needs of the new faith," and "literary history focuses on the development of literary forms in relation to the development of institutions and ideas" (I, xiii). In other words, needs, institutions, and ideas have a certain priority, an explanatory force in relation to the texts themselves (even though the needs are betrayed to us only in texts). These are brave avowals, but the temptation to rest content with textual forms alone is never quite resisted. "In literature," the authors declare, "it is not possible to reach the same certainty-or probability-as in the interpretation of historical or economic facts" (whatever they are, I, 317), which is to overlook their earlier suggestion that the two have to go hand in hand: if one lacks security, then so does the other. When we come, in the second volume, to the period after Constantine,we find amore explicit emphasis on "rhetoric," which encourages or demands "a reading that includes formal structures as part of the linkage of literature with its times"-which must consist in part, one assumes, in "needs, institutions, and ideas." "In late antiquity," we learn, "reality and rhetoric were closely connected in an indissoluble symbiosis" (II, 9). …


Background Acute tryptophan depletion (ATD) results in a transient lowering of mood in patients recovered from depression and in healthy volunteers with a family history of affective disorders. The personality trait of neuroticism is strongly associated with depression. Aims To assess whether neuroticism predicts mood change in response to ATD in healthy volunteers. Method Healthy volunteers who scored at the top and bottom fifth percentiles of neuroticism scores (17 and 15 respectively) were selected. In a double-blind, crossover study they received a tryptophan-free or a control drink. Mood and cognition were assessed. Results Neuroticism did not predict the amount of mood change following ATD but did moderate performance on the verbal fluency test. A family history of affective disorder (n=5) predicted mood change but not cognitive function following ATD. Conclusions Neuroticism moderates aspects of cognitive function, but in this study it was not strongly related with mood change via serotonin.


Abstract Objective Little is known about the influences of maternal and infant correlates on maternal feeding beliefs and practices in the first 2 years of life, despite its important role in early obesogenic eating behaviours and weight gain. Design Cross-sectional study using demographic data of mothers and infants obtained at 26–28 weeks of gestation, and postnatally from birth to 15 months, respectively. The Infant Feeding Questionnaire was administered at 15 months postpartum. The associations between maternal and infant characteristics with seven maternal feeding beliefs and practices subscales were evaluated using multivariate linear regression analysis. Setting Data obtained from the Singapore GUSTO (Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcomes) mother–offspring birth cohort. Subjects Mothers and infants (n 1237). Results Among other maternal correlates such as age, education, BMI, income and milk feeding practices, ethnicity was a consistent factor associated with six subscales, including concern about infant overeating/undereating and weight status, concern and awareness about infants' hunger and satiety cues, social interaction during feeding and feeding an infant on schedule. Similarly, among infant correlates such as gender and birth order, infant body size gain (reflected by BMI Z-score change from 0 to 15 months) was significantly associated with all subscales except feeding an infant on schedule. Overall, maternal correlates had greater influence on all subscales compared with infant correlates except for the maternal concern about infant undereating or becoming underweight subscale. Conclusions The present study highlights that maternal feeding beliefs and practices can be influenced by both maternal correlates and infant correlates at 15 months of age.


Phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) is a family of around 20 cyclic AMP (cAMP) hydrolysing enzymes. Expression of each isoform is regulated in a tissue and developmental specific manner. Such regulation suggests as yet undefined functions for each isoform. Understanding these functions will highlight likely therapeutic targets. I have employed various methods to identify possible functional roles for various PDE4 isoforms. PDE4B4 is a novel enzyme cloned from a rat brain cDNA library. By characterising the biochemical properties of this isoform in comparison to known, previously characterised members of the PDE4B family, I highlighted similarities and differences within this subfamily. Recombinant PDE4B4 was characterised in a COS-1 cell, temporary expression system. I demonstrated that PDE4B4 has a molecular weight lying between PDE4B1 and PDE4B2, is largely cytosolic, has a relatively low Km cAMP and is highly sensitive to inhibition by rolipram. As it has a UCR1 region it conforms to long form structure and is activated by PKA. It has an extreme N-terminal region homologous to PDE4D3 and behaves in a similar way in response to PKA phosphorylation. Development of macrophages from monocytes involves differential expression of various biochemical mediators. I developed a cell line model using the U937 pro-monocytic cell line and compared it against ex-vivo monocytes cultured in plastic. Using this model I identifies developmental changes in PDE4 isoform expression. PDE4A activity increased dramatically which was due in part to novel expression of PDE4A10. PDE4D isoform expression was entirely lost with no immunologically detectable enzyme present in macrophage like cells. PDE4B2 expression more than doubled in the mature cell. Loss of PDE4D and gain of PDE4B2 represents a shift from long to short form PDE4 dominance. I demonstrated a resultant switch in PDE4 response to extracellular signal related kinase (ERK) activation. Thus in monocytic cells EGF resulted in a decrease in total PDE4 activity, while in macrophage like cells PDE4 activity increased. To demonstrate a role for PDE4 in regulating macrophage function I stimulated the RAW 264.7-macrophage cell line with LPS in the presence of rolipram. I demonstrated a PGE2 dependent increase in iNOS expression and a PGE2 independent increase in COX2 expression. Such differential effects, suggests a compartmentalisation of rolipram's action. Inhibition of TNF? production was not dependent on PGE2 production. I then found that LPS activates PDE4 in an ERK dependent manner, but inhibits PDE3, highlighting further compartmentalisation of cAMP regulation. PDE4 activation was in part due to ERK dependent activation of the short form PDE4B2, downstream of LPS stimulation of RAW cells. Such activation may be associated with physical interaction between members of the ERK signalling cascade and PDE4B2. Next I demonstrated that crosstalk between ERK signalling and cAMP occurs in the opposite direction as rolipram leads to an early and elevated activation of ERK 1/2 in LPS stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages. In an attempt to explain this effect I used rap 1 activation and PKA phosphorylation mutants, transfected into RAW cells to interfere with normal inflammatory signalling. No significant changes were observed in these studies. Finally I attempted to develop HIV-tat, PDE4 N-terminal, fusion proteins to inhibit individual PDE4 isoforms. I used primers encoding the HIV-tat peptide and PDE4 sequence to produce a cDNA fusion. This was cloned into a GST-expression vector and transformed into E-coli. Recombinant protein was expressed and purified using sepharose beads. Various problems were encountered in the course of this project, including the development of appropriate cloning primers and the production of proteins in inclusion bodies. The strategies employed to resolve these difficulties are discussed. Two further experiments are discussed. Firstly rolipram was found not to affect tritiated thymidine incorporation into proliferating HEK cells. This work argues against a role for PDE4 in regulating cell cycle in these cells. I also attempted to characterise PDE4 activity from the induced sputum of normal subjects. While PDE4 activity was found to survive the isolation process the intra-subject variability meant that useful interpretation of fluctuations based on therapeutic intervention would be impossible. In conclusion I have characterised a new member of the PDE4B family. It shares many characteristics with other members of the sub-family and long form PDE4 enzymes in general. I have shown upregulation of PDE4A10 and PDE4B2 in the maturation of macrophages and the loss of long form PDE4D3 and PDE4D5. This was found to have biochemical significance. PDE4B2 was shown to be important in the regulation of LPS activation of RAW cells and ERK/PDE4 crosstalk was found to occur in both directions. Rolipram was demonstrated to influence the behaviour of stimulated macrophages in a compartmentalised fashion, while LPS was found to activate PDE4 and inhibit PDE3. Finally I was unsuccessful in the development of a novel strategy for inhibiting individual PDE4 isoforms, by developing an HIV-tat fusion protein.


OBJECTIVE: To review the current literature concerning the effectivity and cost-effectiveness of screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). DESIGN: Systematic review. METHOD: A review of literature of evaluations of effectivity via meta-analyses and economic evaluations. Results: The short-term meta-analyses showed that screening for AAA leads to a significant reduction of AAA-related mortality. The average absolute risk reduction (ARR) was 0.12%. The long-term meta-analysis also showed a significant reduction of overall mortality. The ARR was in this case almost 1%. The five economic evaluations all resulted in cost-effectiveness ratios below euro 20,000 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY), a used threshold level in the Netherlands. CONCLUSION: Based on the available literature, screening for AAA has appeared to be both effective and cost-effective. However, the economic evaluations did not always take into account the peri- and post-operative mortality and morbidity. Economic evaluations are only useful if all possible outcomes are included in the model. Therefore a good model analysis should be made for the Dutch situation, after which a decision may be taken on a possible pilot study and the optimal design thereof


The layouts of the buildings we live in shape our everyday lives. In office environments, building spaces affect employees' communication, which is crucial for productivity and innovation. However, accurate measurement of how spatial layouts affect interactions is a major challenge and traditional techniques may not give an objective view. We measure the impact of building spaces on social interactions using wearable sensing devices. We study a single organization that moved between two different buildings, affording a unique opportunity to examine how space alone can affect interactions. The analysis is based on two large scale deployments of wireless sensing technologies: short-range, lightweight RFID tags capable of detecting face-to-face interactions. We analyze the traces to study the impact of the building change on social behavior, which represents a first example of using ubiquitous sensing technology to study how the physical design of two workplaces combines with organizational structure to shape contact patterns.


SUMMARY 1. Small or sparse populations can experience Allee effects if egg fertilisation is reduced because of a shortage of sperm. 2. Freshwater mussels are spermcasters that often occur as sparse, patchy populations. Previous studies suggested that sperm shortage limits these populations unless facultative hermaphroditism and selffertilisation occur at low density. We conducted experiments in ponds to examine fertilisation in the mussel, Lampsilis straminea, in response to flow, presence of and distance from males, male density, and the presence of upstream females that could compete for sperm with downstream females. 3. Self-fertilisation in the absence of males did not occur in either experiment. Female fertilisation success was uniformly high in most treatments and was not related to flow or distance from males (1–25 m). Fertilisation success was significantly lower at low male density (0.02 m 2 , compared with 0.16 m 2 ) but remained relatively high even in most low male density treatments. The proportion of females that became gravid was higher in the presence of upstream females, but fecundity was significantly lower when upstream females were present; these conflicting results made it difficult to assess the role of competition among females for sperm. 4. Overall, high fertilisation success occurred at densities three orders of magnitude lower than previously proposed thresholds for mussels. Sperm dispersal and acquisition and egg fertilisation appear to be complex processes associated with adaptations for spermcasting. These adaptations are likely to facilitate persistence at low population density and buffer mussels from reproductive Allee effects.


During development, some neurons undergo cell death if they are deprived of growth factors. Signals that contribute to such growth factor-dependent survival are mediated, at least in part, by activation of mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs), but the crucial target of the MAPKs has been unknown. Bonni et al. report that the protein kinase Rsk2 (a member of the pp90 ribosomal protein S6 kinase family), which is phosphorylated and activated by MAPKs, may mediate the effects on cell survival in cerebellar granule neurons exposed to brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Rsk2 appears to have two ways of influencing cell survival: It phosphorylates and thus suppresses the effects of BAD, a protein that promotes apoptosis. Rsk2 also phosphorylates and activates the transcription factor CREB (cAMP response element binding protein). Activation of CREB may in turn enhance expression of Bcl2, a protein that promotes cell survival. Nebreda and Gavin discuss these findings and those from a pair of reports that define another role of Rsks in the control of the cell cycle. Before fertilization, most vertebrate eggs are at metaphase of meiosis II. Cytostatic factor (CSF) is the name given to an enzymatic activity present in such eggs, which, when injected into dividing embryos, causes mitotic arrest in metaphase. Such "CSF arrest" can be initiated by the protein kinase Mos, which activates the sequential activation of MAPK kinase MEK and the p42 MAPK. The critical target of p42 MAPK has now been identified as the protein kinase p90 Rsk. Bhatt and Ferrell show that depletion of Rsk from Xenopus egg extracts prevents mitotic arrest in response to activated Mos. Gross et al. demonstrate that activation of Rsk requires its phosphorylation by p42 MAPK and the 3-phosphatidylinositol-dependent kinase-1 (PDK-1). They also constructed a constitutively active form of Rsk that caused metaphase arrest when infected into blastomeres of two-cell Xenopus embryos. Activation of Rsk is thus necessary and sufficient to cause CSF arrest. Bonni, A., Brunet, A., West, A.E., Datta, S.R., Takasu, M.A., and Greenberg, M.A. (1999) Cell survival promoted by the Ras-MAPK signaling pathway by transcription-dependent and -independent mechanisms. Science 286: 1358-1362. [Abstract] [Full Text] Bhatt, R.R. and Ferrell Jr., J.E. (1999) The protein Kinase p90 Rsk as an essential mediator of cytostatic factor activity. Science 286: 1362-1365. [Abstract] [Full Text] Gross, S.D., Schwab, M.S., Lewellyn, A.L., and Maller, J.L. (1999) Induction of metaphase arrest in cleaving Xenopus embryos by the protein kinase p90Rsk. Science 286: 1365-1367. [Abstract] [Full Text] Nebreda, A.R. and Gavin, A.-C. (1999) Cell survival demands some Rsk. Science 286: 1309-1310. [Summary] [Full Text]


You held off on moving to Mac OS X until your bread-and-butter applications made the jump, and now you're thinking of moving up to Tiger. This book is especially geared toward designers who've become comfortable working under Mac OS X and are ready now to make the Tiger transition. Designer and prepress pro Jeff Gamet focuses on the Mac OS X Tiger features that matter most to illustrators, designers, and other graphic professionals. He explains not only how things work in Mac OS X Tiger, but how Tiger enables users to work efficiently and effectively. In chapters devoted to fonts, printing, PDF, color management, networking, the Mac's built-in design tools, and much more, readers will learn how to: i� * Solve the nitty-gritty issues designers confront daily * Improve production workflow and avoid common problems * Optimize, maintain, and secure your network, whether you work in a complex office environment or a small graphics studio


A reference work for professionals who are under pressure to provide advice to clients on how EC law effects their business and how to avoid the pitfalls and take advantage of the extended market in any European transaction. Twenty-six chapters cover aspects of EC shipping law in detail and the author takes a commercial as well as a legal perspective throughout. Chapters included cover EC marine environmental law and marine insurance law - freedom of establishment and freedom to provide shipping services in the EC. This second edition has been completely revised to include recent developments, and features extensive appendices on council decisions, resolutions and recommendations.


Given the urbanization that has taken place adjacent to PTIA it is likely that the Piedmont Triad International Airport's (PTIA) KGSO Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) weather station has been impacted by an urban heat island (UHI) effect. This local-scale phenomenon has influenced and will continue to influence meteorological observations at the PTIA weather station. This research will construct a raster data model to locate sites without contamination of an UHI. The new weather station site will be a suitable alternative to PTIA. To determine if an UHI is impacting PTIA, the average monthly minimum and maximum temperatures were analyzed using three separate statistical procedures. First, a deviation test was used to find any decoupling of average monthly minimum from average monthly maximum temperatures. Second, a Student's t-Test checked for significant difference for any decouplings found using the deviation statistic. Lastly, a correlation statistic is applied to test if a positive correlation exists between average monthly minimum temperatures with a running total of commercial/industrial land-use in close proximity to each airport. The above procedures determined that KGSO has been influenced by an urban heat island effect. The second part of this study employed a raster data model to locate `ideal' sites for KGSO, using criteria set by the World Meteorological Organization (Appendix F). In particular factors analyzed were land-use, elevation, slope, hallows, water, and impervious surface. The raster date model can be used to find ideal alternatives for other heat island influenced weather stations.


At the Taitao Peninsula, in southern Chile (46.5°S), an active mid-ocean ridge is being subducted under the South American continent. Continental crust south of the current triple junction has experienced subduction of three ridge segments since the mid-Miocene. A series of Mid-Late Tertiary sedimentary basins lies inboard of the triple junction: the Cosmelli basin lies in the region which has experienced the earlier ridge subduction events. Within the Cosmelli basin fill, abrupt facies dislocations give clear evidence of marked base level changes. Four sequence boundaries are delineated, with an upward increase in degree of facies dislocation, which is believed to reflect increasing magnitudes of base level fall. The lower part of the basin fill is folded and then thrust eastward as a series of imbricate slices, while the overlying, greater thickness of fluvial sediments is only gently tilted westwards. This geometry indicates that the early basin fill was deforming due to contractional tectonics while the later basin fill was being deposited; these processes controlled accommodation space and thus stratigraphic architecture during much of the basin life. This complex basin history, plus the presence of basaltic sheet intrusions may reflect the underlying slab history as successive ridge segments were subducted.


In natural history collections throughout Europe, there are many old lion specimens of unknown origin. If these specimens can be shown to have originated from now-extinct populations their value would significantly increase, as would the value of the collections. Recently, a 200-year old mounted skeleton in the Zoological Museum Amsterdam has been identified as the extinct Cape lion Panthera leo melanochaita (Smith, 1842), based primarily on morphological information inferred from a painting of this specimen while it was still alive. To test this hypothesis, we used ancient DNA (aDNA) techniques to extract and sequence mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from this specimen, and compared the genetic results with previously published lion mtDNA sequences. Our results show that the specimen is not a Cape lion, but that it instead possesses the mtDNA haplotype of the Asiatic lions P. l. persica (Meyer, 1826) from India. This Indian origin hypothesis is further supported by an investigation of its cranial morphology. As the amount of genetic information available for lions increases, in particular data from across their historic distribution, the potential for aDNA techniques to identify the origins of previously unassigned museum specimens continues to grow.


In healthy individuals, the α7 and α4β2 nAChRs are concentrated in regions of the brain involved with learning, cognition and memory, which are relevant to diseases such as Alzheimer's disease. Hence, these receptors have become significant from a pharmacological and drug discovery perspective. The tetrahydroquinoline compound 4BP-TQS has been reported to act as a potent allosteric agonist on the α7 nAChR. The natural product desformylflustrabromine is able to act as a positive allosteric modulator (PAM) on the α4β2 nAChR. This thesis describes the development of synthetic routes directed towards 4BP-TQS and desformyflustrabromine analogues, and their pharmacological effects on α7 and α4β2 nAChRs. In the first half of the project a total of 51 analogues of 4BP-TQS were synthesized by performing a multicomponent reaction (MCR) between a substituted benzaldehyde, an aniline and an activated alkene. The pharmacological properties of these compounds were then studied by our collaborators in UCL pharmacology. These compounds exhibited interesting and wide ranging pharmacological properties with individual compounds acting as either allosteric agonists, antagonists, type I or type II positive allosteric modulators or allosteric antagonists of 4BP-TQS. The second part of the project involved the development of new chemistry directed towards the synthesis of desformylflustrabromine analogues. Initial work focused on the investigation of a novel Pd-catalysed allylation procedure for introducing an allyl group at the C-2 position of indole. Although the desired transformation was not successfully achieved, a novel regioselective Pd-catalysed C-3 diallylation of substituted indoles was discovered. The diallylated products were shown to be versatile intermediates which could undergo a variety of different reactions. By subjecting the diallylated products to ring-closing metathesis, a series of spirocyclic alkaloid-like structures were obtained in excellent yields. It was also demonstrated that the diallylated products could be desymmetrized using a proline-catalysed Mannich reactions to give enantioenriched products.


The distribution of colours in an image has proven to be very useful for object recognition. Building on Swain's colour indexing (1991), colour distributions are now an integral part of many recognition schemes. This is not to say that colour alone suffices but rather that colour is one important cue that aids recognition. In this paper we look at colour distribution based recognition from a rather novel image processing perspective. Specifically we view the distribution of colours in an image as an image and so recast colour distribution matching as a problem of image comparison. Two results are reported here. First that, by compressing images we can improve matching efficiency (recognize objects more quickly). Second, that the degree of compression (and so speedup) that is possible depends on the colour space on top of which the distribution images are built. The more uniform opponent colour encoding can be compressed more effectively compared with conventional rg-chromaticity encoding. We explain this in the following way: image processing is based on the assumption that all image locations are equal so, to treat colour space as an image, each colour location should also be equally likely. This is in fact approximately the case for the opponent chromaticity space. To validate our approach we repeated Swain's object recognition experiments. We show that the distribution of colours in an image (which Swain encoded with 4096 numbers) represented by 8 numbers (the projection coefficients onto an 8-dimensional principal component basis) suffices to achieve the same (almost perfect) recognition rate. Our method delivers a 500-fold speed up in indexing without loss of accuracy. This result scales to a second larger database of 140 images.


This study aims at determining the m-Readiness of a Province for m-Government from a context of its Provincial Government (PG), the underprivileged citizens of the region and the mobile fluency thereof. In answering the research question, i.e., "What is the extent of readiness of the government and that of the underprivileged citizens for introduction of m-Government within the region under study", literature was reviewed and existing models synthesised, and from that, a conceptual model was presented which acted as a reference point. The research process used a quantitative method and utilised a stratified random sampling method in determining and adequately representing the populations under study, namely, underprivileged citizens and IT managers and specialists from the PG's office. Descriptive statistics were adopted in analysing the collected data used in answering the research questions and findings presented. The findings show that the Province is m-Ready for m-Government services, from the studied contexts of the PG, underprivileged citizens and mobile fluency. The reference model, that is, the Provincial Mobile Readiness Measurement Model (PMRMM), was developed from a perspective of the Province under study, therefore, its theoretical generalizability to other Provinces has to be first studied before being implemented. Secondly, the study only looked at three segments of the government service delivery value chain, which are the Government-to-Citizen (G2C), Government-to-Employee (G2E) and Governmentto-Government (G2G). The contributions of the study are twofold, firstly as a practical decision-making guide regarding introduction of m-Government and secondly, it adds to the conceptual understanding of government readiness for introduction of government services via ICT mobile platforms.


What kind of research on teaching is of most worth? To what extent should researchers in this field be conducting highly functional investigations that attempt to identify the key elements of accomplished teaching or the most important components of teacher preparation programs or experiences? Should we be asking whether teacher education programs significantly improve the likelihood that someone will teach effectively? Should we instead be conducting inquiries that explore the rich complexities of teaching, learning, schooling, and development and the contexts that support them? What genres of research are worth undertaking? The tacit dialogue between the present articles by Wilson, Floden, and Ferrini-Mundy (2002 [this issue]) and by Florio-Ruane (2002 [this issue]) is nostalgically familiar. We designed the Institute for Research on Teaching (IRT) in 1975 on the basis of our critique of the then-prevailing prototype of process-product research on teaching. We considered process-product research on teaching behavioristic, simplistic, and unduly dependent on standardized achievement tests as indicators of product. Indeed, the leaders of process-product research, such as Nate Gage (1978) and Barak Rosenshine (Rosenshine & Stevens, 1986), complained that their critics were unnecessarily "complexifying" the phenomenon of teaching, whereas the hall-mark of scientific progress was increased sim plification, not complication. Moreover, if research on teaching were to have the desired impact on policy makers, it needed to be both simple and clearly connected to easily under stood indicators of student achievement. Finally, there was a moral message in the process-product tradition. Our bottom-line obligation as teachers was to the students and their learning. To study teaching without reference to students was unethical self-indulgence. These two articles stimulated me to reflect on my history of work as an active scholar on teaching and teacher education. I thought about the nearly four decades of research in which I had been actively involved. And I began to wonder how, if at all, it added up. I concluded that we may be asking the wrong questions and focusing on the wrong units of analysis. That is, individual studies rarely can be adjudged as valuable or trivial per se. Instead, we need to think about extended programs of scholarship, in which a variety of types of research are pursued, to maximize the value to be gained from studies of teaching. I want to tell a story of more than 30 years of research, of a series of research programs that cumulated into a meaningful knowledge base, an enduring policy initiative, and the spinning off of a number of significant lines of research. I begin with my work on medical problem solving in the 1960s and 1970s, followed by the research on teaching as information processing that characterized the IRT programs. A set of studies on the development of teacher knowledge, with special reference to pedagogical content knowledge, followed that work, which transitioned into the Teacher Assessment Project conducted on behalf of the then-infant National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. The board's own validation studies of board certification were conducted in the year 2000, and a new program of Carnegie Foundation studies of teacher education is currently underway. This sequence will help to illustrate my conception of the value of general programs of research that alternate freely 1161457 JTEXXX10.1177/00224871231161457Journal of Teacher EducationShulman research-article2023


One difficulty when identifying alternative splicing (AS) events in plants is distinguishing functional AS from splicing noise. One way to add confidence to the validity of a splice isoform is to observe that it is conserved across evolutionarily related species. We use a high throughput method to identify junction-based conserved AS events from RNA-Seq data across nine plant species, including five grass monocots (maize, sorghum, rice, Brachpodium, and foxtail millet), plus two nongrass monocots (banana and African oil palm), the eudicot Arabidopsis, and the basal angiosperm Amborella. In total, 9804 AS events were found to be conserved between two or more species studied. In grasses containing large regions of conserved synteny, the frequency of conserved AS events is twice that observed for genes outside of conserved synteny blocks. In plant-specific RS and RS2Z subfamilies of the serine/arginine (SR) splice-factor proteins, we observe both conservation and divergence of AS events after the whole genome duplication in maize. In addition, plant-specific RS and RS2Z splice-factor subfamilies are highly connected with R2R3-MYB in STRING functional protein association networks built using genes exhibiting conserved AS. Furthermore, we discovered that functional protein association networks constructed around genes harboring conserved AS events are enriched for phosphatases, kinases, and ubiquitylation genes, which suggests that AS may participate in regulating signaling pathways. These data lay the foundation for identifying and studying conserved AS events in the monocots, particularly across grass species, and this conserved AS resource identifies an additional layer between genotype to phenotype that may impact future crop improvement efforts.


This study identified the number of learning projects undertaken by thirty-eight retired educators and examined the extent to which these experiences were associated with the body weight and the exercise patterns of the subjects. A list of 1091 names of retired educators was obtained and 400 names were randomly selected to receive a brief survey seeking responses to demographic, personal and miscellaneous questions relating to their efforts to continue to pursue learning. Interviews were arranged with thirty-eight subjects who met established criteria. The 19 8 3 Metropolitan Height and Weight Tables were used to estimate weight characteristics and a probe sheet was designed to identify the number of hours spent exercising in activities vigorous enough to increase heart beat. In-depth interviews were conducted by the investigator using the questions from Tough's Interview Schedule for Studying Some Basic Characteristics of Learning Projects, and the probe sheet designed by the investigator. The interviews focused on the efforts to continue learning during the past twelve months and on the participation in vigorous exercise during the past twelve months. Findings were analyzed by computing t-tests for independent means and the Pearson product moment method of correlation. Comparisons of the results from this study were made with the results from two previous studies, "The Older Adult and Learning," by Roger Hiemstra, ancj "A Comparative Study of Professionally Related Learning Projects of Secondary School Teachers," by N. E. Kelly. The results of this study indicate that much learning is continued past retirement and that all learning is not focused on self; some relate to the needs of the community and of churches. The data supports Hiemstra's premise that health related obstacles diminish learning activity. The Theory that older adults pursue less learning than young adults was not supported by this study.


The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure allow a trial court to dismiss a case prior to discovery if the plaintiff can prove no set of facts that would entitle her to judgment on the merits. Courts applying this rule are expected to be lenient, assuming all the complaint's allegations to be true and drawing every inference in the light most favorable to the plaintiff. If the complaint pleads sufficient facts that a court could plausibly infer that the defendant is responsible for the alleged harm, the court should deny a motion to dismiss, even where recovery seems unlikely. Only where plaintiffs make allegations that could not plausibly support an ultimate judgment should a court throw a case out of court. This black-letter rule is simple enough, but things get complicated when it intersects with the rational basis test courts use when judging the merits of many constitutional cases. Indeed, courts have often expressed "perplexity" and "confusion" about the clash of the pro-plaintiff 12(b)(6) standard and the pro-defendant rational basis standard. Because plaintiffs in rational basis cases face the difficult task of proving that the challenged law is positively irrational, some courts have been tempted to shortcut such cases by dismissing them prior to any fact-finding, on the theory that plaintiffs cannot possibly introduce evidence sufficient to disprove every conceivable basis for the laws they challenge. Fortunately, some often-overlooked cases provide a resolution to this "dilemma." The perplexity courts have expressed is caused by exaggerated language in some decisions that inaccurately describe the rational basis test in extreme and formalistic terms. Contrary to what these cases suggest, that test is only an evidentiary presumption, not a conclusive presumption or a rule of law, and it does not impose on plaintiffs the logically impossible burden of proving an infinite set of negatives or overcoming "fanciful conjecture[s]." Courts resolving motions to dismiss in rational basis cases should address the 12(b)(6) motion like any other such motion: if it appears on the face of complaint that the plaintiff could, if given the opportunity, prove that the challenged law is not rationally related to a legitimate government interest, Rule 12(b)(6) entitles them to gather and introduce evidence to do so. This article begins in Part I with an overview of the rational basis test, and specifically with the source of all the confusion: two competing understandings of rational basis, which I call the "formalist" and the "realist" views. The formalist view holds that so long as a hypothetical legislature might have supposed a statute would promote a valid governmental objective, the actual facts of the matter are irrelevant to the constitutional questions. The realist view, by contrast, holds that rational basis is an evidentiary presumption, admittedly a strong one, but one which is rebuttable by the introduction of sufficient evidence. In Part II, I describe how, from the earliest days of the rational basis test's application, the Supreme Court has held it to be an evidentiary presumption only and has allowed plaintiffs to introduce evidence to prove a challenged law unconstitutional — even reversing lower courts that ruled otherwise. Indeed, it has ruled in favor of plaintiffs on the merits. Part III discusses the standards applied in 12(b)(6) motions, and the confusion that some courts have expressed when deciding whether to dismiss rational basis cases at the pleading stage. Part IV describes the leading recent decision addressing the interplay of the rational basis standard and the motion to dismiss. I conclude with the argument that plaintiffs whose complaints make clear, specific, factual allegations supporting the contention that a challenged law is not rationally related to a legitimate government interest ought to have their day in court.


This country study evaluates the experience of the South African economy with respect to growth, poverty and inequality trends since the advent of democracy in 1994. The post-apartheid government took a definite turn toward greater spending on social security, while job creation and a narrowing of the gap between the so-called first and second economies – the latter defined as the informal part of the economy that is also largely removed from formal sector activities – enjoyed priority in its economic strategy. Despite this focus on uplifting the poor it remains unclear as to what extent government has been successful. Some controversy exists around whether relatively fewer South Africans are poor ten years after the democratic government came into power. There seems to be greater consensus among analysts that inequality has increased. This study attempts to shed some light on these issues, drawing on recent South African literature and data.


Background High incidence of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears among female basketball players requires a proper understanding of the risk factors in order to reduce the number of these severe events. Objective It was hypothesized that athletes involved in professional level of basketball and more than 10 hours of training per week at young age are exposed to greater risk of ACL rupture due to overtraining. Design Non-experimental correlation retrospective study was performed. Setting In order to collect data Serbian female basketball players, from both domestic and European professional teams, were contacted. Patients (or Participants) A total of 108 female basketball players were included in the study (age 26.26±6.8). Interventions (or Assessment of Risk Factors) The questionnaire regarding the involvement in a professional level of basketball and hours/week of training at younger age was administrated to participants. The logistic regression method was used in order to calculate the odds ratio confidence interval (O. R.). Main Outcome Measurements The athletes exposed to high intensity and frequency of training had grater odds of getting ACL rupture. Results 43 out of 108 athletes reported ACL injury at the age of 18.25±3.12. Those involved in professional level of basketball had an odds of ACL injury about 9.25 times greater than those who competed only for their age group (OR 9.2503; p=0.0001). The ones exposed to more than 10 hours of training per week had an odds of ACL injury about 7.54 greater than those with less training hours (O R 7.5374; p=0.0002). Conclusions Playing basketball at a professional level at younger age can lead to overtraining and consequently an increased incidence of ACL ruptures in female basketball players. Accordingly, intensity and frequency of training must be adapted to both chronological and biological age of young athletes in order to prevent this serious injury.


Farmers' willingness to taking risky decisions has important economic implications. However, while such attitudes have been previously examined, the relationship between farmers' risk attitudes and locations has not attrac ted research attention. This study examined the relationship between rice farmers' risk attitudes and locations, as well as the correlation between farmers' risk attitudes and past investment decisions (adoption of improved rice technology). The study utilized survey and experimental data collected across the four agricultural zones in Ogun State Nigeria. The data were descriptively analysed using frequency tables, histogram, principal component and correlation analyses. The results showed that most sampled farmers avoid taking risky prospects, with those located in the rural agricultural zones tend to avoid risk taking than their counterparts in other locations. More importantly, rice farmers' risk attitudes negatively correlated with adoption decisions. This correlation evidently confirmed spatial relationship in risk attitudes and farmers' pattern of adoption. Similar patterns of adoption and risk attitudes suggest spatial heterogeneity which have consequences on farmers' investment decisions, income and wealth accumulation.


Istanbul Airport, opened in the recent period, has brought a lot of questions in line with creating economic contribution to Turkey. As a result of numerous literature reviews, developments in air transport might be thought to have a positive impact on the economy of the country by accelerating exports. This issue has been the main source of motivation for the determination of export demand by air. In order to determine the model of export demand by air 20 countries, to which Turkey mainly exports, were identified and data regarding to these exports between the years 2000-2017 is collected. As the explanatory variables for panel data modeling, the Real Gross Domestic Product, The Relative Price Index and The Population of these 20 countries were included in the model. In order to determine the consistent model, firstly the correlation between the units was tested and it was concluded that the model structure was homogeneous. In the following stages, Fixed Effects Model and Random Effects Models were developed for homogeneous panel structure and the most relevant model was determined. After testing the assumptions of the appropriate model, necessary corrective actions were taken and the model was interpreted economically. As a result, while the independent variables are fixed, it is determined that the increase in real GDP of the country exported by air will increase the amount of exports by air, the increase in the population of the exporting country will increase the amount of exports by air, and the relative prices of the exporting country will decrease the amount of exports by air.


Organisations, both public and private, are experiencing unprecedented paces of change, calling for a continuous reevaluation of their operating models and other strategies to withstand those changes and benefit from them for sustained performance. New approaches that bring on board the modern strategic management techniques are necessary for the government to attain improved performance and the overall service quality. Effective human resource practices have been touted to be an effective management tool in changing a bureaucratic public sector to a more responsive as well as an innovative administration. This paper assessed the effect of human resource practices on service delivery in Kakamega County, Kenya. The accessible population comprised 381 respondents drawn from all the county ministries. A correlation survey research design and stratified random sampling technique was used to establish the units of study. Questionnaires were used to obtain information from the respondents, after which it was analysed through descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 and data presented in the form of percentages, frequencies and tables. The study established that there is a positive and significant relation between human resource management practices and the service delivery in Kakamega County at 1% significance level (r=0.806, p=0.000)). Following the hypothesis testing using regression analysis, the study rejected the null hypothesis and concluded that human resource practices greatly affected the service delivery in Kakamega County. The study recommended that more resources be invested in improving its human capital since the study found out that human resource management techniques are crucial in the service delivery processes.