abstract: Pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) is characterized by the accumulation of lipoproteinaceous material in the alveoli. The most common symptoms are dyspnea on exertion and nonproductive cough. Weight loss, fatigue, chest pain, and hemoptysis have also been reported. Chest radiographs typically show bilateral, symmetrical airspace disease with an ill-defined nodular or confluent pattern, which gives a "bat wing" appearance, as is seen in heart failure. Pulmonary function tests usually demonstrate mild restrictive disease. Findings on examination of sputum specimens or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid can suggest the diagnosis; however, open lung biopsy is the diagnostic gold standard. Whole lung lavage remains the standard of care for PAP and is warranted in patients with severe dyspnea and hypoxemia. Subcutaneous human recombinant granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor appears to be a promising alternative to whole lung lavage for symptomatic patients. (J Respir Dis. 2007;28(5):177-184)


After a successful 2-volume issue on discourse analysis (Ponton, Larina 2016, 2017) we are happy to offer the readers of Russian Journal of Linguistics another special issue this time dedicated to a new sociolinguistic topic — commodification of language. We will discuss what language commodification is, focus on its antecedents and methods of study and consider commodification of the Russian language in different countries — Lithuania, India, China, Israel, Spain, Norway, Finland and Bulgaria. All the contributions document the historical moment when Russian became one of the most popular languages in the international service industry within the framework of transnational leisureand shopping tourism. Furthermore, the contributions to this special issue underscore how geopolitical, economic, social, and demographic factors influence processes of commodification and decomodification of the language. Viewed from the economic perspective, these essays draw attention to motivations behind attempts to turn Russian into a 'valuable' communicative resource. Finally, the papers explicitly or implicitly investigate the role of teaching and learning Russian as part of the language commodification, revealing how state and corporate policies promote the learning of Russian and boost individual motivation to acquire proficiency in Russian in order to meet market-driven demand that calls for the linguistic accommodation of Russian-speaking tourists.


Flexible gate-opening metal organic frameworks (GO-MOFs) expand or contract to minimize the overall free energy of the system upon accommodation of an adsorbate. The thermodynamics of the GO process are well described by a number of models, but the kinetics of the process are relatively unexplored. A flexible GO-MOF, RPM3-Zn, exhibits a significant induction period for opening by N2 and Ar at low temperatures, both above and below the GO pressure. A similar induction period is not observed for H2 or O2 at comparable pressures and temperatures, suggesting the rate of opening is strongly influenced by the gas-surface interaction rather than an external stress. The induction period leads to severe mass transfer limitations for adsorption and over-prediction of the gate-opening pressure. After review of a number of existing adsorption rate models, we find that none adequately describe the experimental rate data and similar timescales for diffusion and opening invalidate prior reaction-diffusion models. Statistically, the rate data are best described by a compressed exponential function. The resulting fitted parameters exceed the expectations for adsorption but fall within those expected for phase transition. By treating adsorption as a phase transition, we generalize the Avrami theory of phase transition kinetics to describe adsorption in both rigid and flexible hosts. The generalized theory is consistent with observed experimental trends relating to induction period, temperature, pressure, and gas-substrate interaction.


Testing presumed consent for organ donation in a province or region where residents support the notion could help resolve the debate over whether a national "opt-out" system would improve Canada's chronic organ shortage, an expert says.

"From a national point of view, because consent to organ and tissue donation laws are provincially based, we would welcome having a province take a lead on this to demonstrate whether it is effective," says Dr. Sam Shemie, medical director for organs and tissues donation at Canadian Blood Services (CBS) and a pediatric intensive care physician in the Division of Pediatric Critical Care at Montreal Children's Hospital in Quebec. "If Atlantic Canada decides to pursue this, good on them. It would be an example for the rest of us."

A recent survey indicated that a majority of people in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador would support an "opt-out" approach to organ donation. Such programs presuppose the presumed consent of residents to be organ donors unless they take proactive steps to indicate their objections.

Currently, the converse is true. Canadians can "opt in" to donate after they die by either signing the form on their driver's licence, or through the explicit consent of surviving family. Traditionally, even if a person has signed a donor card, the final decision has typically been left to families, although consideration is being given to adopting the concept of "first person consent," i.e., automatically harvesting organs when a donor card has been signed (www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.061256). As part of its recent plan to create an "integrated inter-provincial organ donation and transplantation system," CBS proposes to craft strategies that would substantially increase organ donation rates (www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.109-4239).

There were 4529 Canadians on the waiting lists for organ transplants in 2010, while 511 people withdrew their names from a waiting list and 247 people died while on a list.

Image courtesy of © 2012 Thinkstock

Although it's long been held that Canadians find an "opt-out" approach somewhat anathema, a Corporate Research Associates Sept. 12 survey of 1200 adults in Atlantic Canada suggests that opinion on the issue is shifting. Some 60% of Nova Scotians support the proposition of presumed consent, as do 56% of people in Newfoundland and Labrador, and 55% of people in New Brunswick (The survey's accuracy was reported at ± 4.9 percentage points, 95 times out of 100).

Although Prince Edward Island residents were not surveyed, the province indicated the findings are cause for a discussion on presumed consent.

PEI, as well as the other Atlantic provinces, "is in the preliminary stages of looking at that," says Dr. Richard Wedge, executive director of medical affairs for Health PEI. "We haven't got any concrete plans at this point to do anything like this. … The people who work on different policies within organ donation and transplantation programs have been discussing this, along with an inter-provincial initiative that's under way to try to improve organ donation in Canada."

CBS and the various provincial agencies responsible for organ donation and transplantation have been discussing approaches to improving organ donation rates in Canada for 20 years, says Shemie. Over the past five years, national public opinion surveys have been evenly split between those who support and oppose presumed consent, he says, adding that if popular opinion is shifting in favour of such a program in a particular region, then it's appropriate for that province to discuss that option.

As part of its new national strategic plan, CBS will advocate for more investment in front-line donation and transplant services, improved training and support for hospital personnel in all departments, and better education for the Canadian public, before considering a controversial approach such as presumed consent, Shemie says. "The conclusion certainly from a national perspective is — not now. Maybe later, but not now. But we would welcome provinces taking the lead. This is the way innovation in health care and health policy occurs. One place tries it and it demonstrates to the rest of the country how controversial it is, what the problems with it are, and what the successes are."

Reaction to presumed consent in Ontario was mixed in the findings of a 2007 survey, says Ronnie Gavsie, president and chief executive officer of the Trillium Gift of Life Network. "It is clear people feel organ donation is a gift — a step that is positive and taken proactively, rather than it being a reactive assumption that someone would be a donor."

Ontario is not prepared to become the province that steps out to test the presumed consent waters, because most residents believe people should register their consent to be donors at beadonor.ca and have the discussion with their families, Gavsie adds.

Countries that have presumed consent policies in place, such as Spain, have "told us categorically that they do not believe their donation rates are a reflection of presumed consent," she says. Gavsie also notes that presumed consent did not increase donation rates in Singapore and that even when such approaches are in place, family consent is typically required and people often deny permission because they do not believe their loved one made an informed decision.

"So there's simply no evidence that we have, even when we look internationally, that presumed consent is the silver bullet," Gavsie says.

According to CBS, Canada's donation rate in 2010 was 13.9 deceased organ donations per million population, a rate which lagged well behind that of the United Kingdom (15.5), the United States (26.1) and Spain (32.1). There were 2153 organ transplants in Canada in 2010, including 1234 kidneys, 443 livers, 167 hearts and 178 lungs, according to the Canadian Organ Replacement Register. There were 4529 Canadians on the waiting lists, 511 people who withdrew their names from a waiting list and 247 people who died while on a list.

Although the United Kingdom recently rejected the presumed consent model as a way of increasing organ donation rates in England, Wales is looking at the option "very seriously," says Shemie.


Development projects like schools and latrines are popular with politicians and voters alike, yet many developing countries are littered with half-finished projects that were abandoned mid-construction. Using an original database of over 14,000 small development projects in Ghana, I estimate that one-third of projects that start are never completed, consuming nearly one-fifth of all local government investment. I develop a theory of project noncompletion as the outcome of a dynamically inconsistent collective choice process among political actors facing commitment problems in contexts of limited resources. I find evidence consistent with key predictions of this theory, but inconsistent with alternative explanations based on corruption or clientelism. I show that fiscal institutions can increase completion rates by mitigating the operational consequences of these collective choice failures. These findings have theoretical and methodological implications for distributive politics, the design of intergovernmental transfers and aid, and the development of state capacity.


Sir John Eccles, internationally recognized for his remarkable and outstanding impact on the neurosciences for more than six decades, died on 2 May 1997 at the age of 94. He performed his research in Oxford, Sydney, Dunedin, Canberra, Chicago and Buffalo from 1927 until 1975 (73)*. His numerous scientific papers and books, arising from pioneering experimental studies of synaptic mechanisms and the organization of neurons in the mammalian central nervous system, continue to have a major influence on brain research. Furthermore, his writings on the mind-brain interaction generated wide interest and debate. Eccles also made his mark as an administrator, particularly at the Australian National University and the Australian Academy of Science, of which he was a Foundation Fellow and the second President.


This paper presents a study of talk-in-interaction using data from a clinical setting involving interlocutors participating in a naming task. The participants are a man with fluent aphasia who has word-finding difficulties and his clinician. The study deals with the ways in which the participants demonstrate to each other how difficulties in performing the naming task are either 'cognitively' based or due to difficulties in speech production. They do so by way of what is known in this particular activity as prompting – semantic and phonological, self- and other-prompting – as well as candidate answers and evaluative accounts in which the participants talk about difficulties in terms of 'recognizing', 'remembering' and 'knowing' words and other cognitive processes.


Eulachon: Preface to the two following papersThe original versions of these two papers were presented in October 1998 at the 8th International Conference on Hunting and Gathering Societies, in Osaka, Japan. They were written for that occasion independently, for until receipt of the final programme none of the authors was aware that another paper on the Northwest Coast eulachon fishery was scheduled. Indeed, all were surprised that a topic with such a small literature would elicit two papers at a single conference. The papers had been assigned to different sessions, but upon hearing each other's presentation, we felt that they were complementary in several ways and we agreed they would benefit if published as a set.As readers will discover, while the papers share a fish, the perspectives are quite different. Gloria Cranmer Webster's "Dzawadi" deals with a contemporary fishery and is written from the perspective of a Nimpkish Kwakwaka'wakw who has long participated in activities at the place where her family has ancient rights to harvest and process eulachon. Donald Mitchell and Leland Donald's "Sharing Resources on the Northwest Coast: The Case of the Eulachon Fishery" is an ethnohistoric treatment of eulachon fisheries, drawing on historic and ethnographic materials from the entire Northwest Coast. While all three authors are aware the perspectives offered do not exhaust possible views on this small fish, we do feel they give recognition to the importance of eulachon and to the significant relationship, both past and present, between this resource and many Aboriginal peoples on the north Pacific coast of North America.Gloria Cranmer Webster's paper focusses on the fishery at the head of what is now called Knight Inlet. As Dzawadi is one of the fisheries discussed by Donald Mitchell and Leland Donald, interested readers can locate that place on Figure 1 of their paper. The contemporary community of Alert Bay is located on the small crescent-shaped island situated just north of the label "Nimpkish" on that same figure.This paper is about the Aboriginal eulachon fishery of North America's Northwest Coast at a time that can be simply identified as a few generations ago. The manner of the Aboriginal exploitation of this resource raises questions about how aggregations of people form and, at least briefly, continue in the absence of formal political arrangements and raises questions about the concept of property and how access to resources is obtained, controlled and maintained.In hunter-gatherer studies aggregations and their character and purpose have been a major theme. As Richard Lee (1999: 828) has pointed out, all known hunter-gatherers have practised a pattern of concentration and dispersal of people during the course of their annual rounds and this pattern cuts across those differences among hunter-gatherer societies that have led to the distinction between simple and complex foragers. Seasonal assemblies involving people drawn from more than one local group were important on the Northwest Coast and in an earlier study one of us (Mitchell, 1983) reviewed such aggregations in the central portion of the region. Here we look at the entire culture area concentrating on aggregations based on a single very important resource. This enables us to clarify the nature of such assemblies and examine in greater detail what may underlie their characteristics.After a period of relative neglect, anthropological interest in concepts of "property" (or "ownership") has recently begun to return (see, for example, Hann, 1998; Hunt and Gilman, 1998; and Rigsby, 1998). This reappearance is partly fuelled by growing issues surrounding indigenous people's rights to land and resources in a number of countries (Australia and Canada, for example). Legal cases and political issues often involve questions regarding traditional forms of property, tenure, and access to resources. The traditional cultures of the north Pacific coast of North America have been long depicted in the anthropological literature as particularly concerned with notions of property and ownership. …


The article uses an established three-dimensional conceptual framework to systematically review literature and empirical evidence related to the prerequisites, opportunities, and threats of Big Data Analysis for international development. On the one hand, the advent of Big Data delivers the cost-effective prospect to improve decision-making in critical development areas such as health care, employment, economic productivity, crime and security, and natural disaster and resource management. This provides a wealth of opportunities for developing countries. On the other hand, all the well-known caveats of the Big Data debate, such as privacy concerns, interoperability challenges, and the almighty power of imperfect algorithms, are aggravated in developing countries by long-standing development challenges like lacking technological infrastructure and economic and human resource scarcity. This has the potential to result in a new kind of digital divide: a divide in data-based knowledge to inform intelligent decision-making. This shows that the exploration of data-based knowledge to improve development is not automatic and requires tailor-made policy choices that help to foster this emerging paradigm.


We report the presence of elements beyond the iron group in the atmospheres of the cool DO white dwarfs HD 149499 B and HZ 21. Photospheric lines of germanium (Z = 32), arsenic (33), selenium (34), tin (50), tellurium (52), iodine (53), and perhaps bromine (35) are observed in ultraviolet spectra of HD 149499 B obtained with the Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE), the Goddard High Resolution Spectrograph (GHRS), and the International Ultraviolet Explorer. Germanium, arsenic, and tellurium are also observed in FUSE and GHRS spectra of HZ 21. Light elements such as carbon, silicon, phosphorus, and sulfur are present in the atmospheres of both stars. Nitrogen is detected in HZ 21 but not in HD 149499 B. We calculated a grid of synthetic spectra covering the range of effective temperatures, surface gravities, and element abundances appropriate for a detailed line profile analysis. The measured mass fractions of elements heavier than iron reveal overabundances ranging from about a factor of 3 to a factor of 1000 relative to the Sun. The heavy-element enrichment in both stars could be the result of slow neutron capture nucleosynthesis, which would have occurred during the asymptotic giant branch phase of their evolution.


The primary approach for estimating bridge deterioration uses Markov-chain models and regression analysis. Traditional Markov models have problems in estimating the required transition probabilities when a small sample size is used. Often, reliable bridge data have not been taken over large periods, thus large data sets may not be available. This study proposes an important change to the traditional approach by using the Small Data Method to estimate transition probabilities. The results illustrate that the Small Data Method and traditional approach both provide similar estimates; however, the former method provides results that are more conservative. That is, this approach obtained slightly lower than expected bridge condition ratings than when using the traditional approach. Considering that bridges are critical infrastructures, the Small Data Method, which uses more information and provides more conservative estimates, may be more appropriate when the available sample size is small. In addition, regression analysis was used to calculate bridge deterioration. Condition ratings were determined for bridge groups, and the best regression model was selected for each group. The results obtained were very similar to those obtained when using Markov chains; however, it is desirable to use more data for better results.


Shoulder lesions and body condition of sows at weaning have both environmental and genetic causes. The traits can be scored at farm level, and following recording, the traits can be included in the breeding goal and directional selection can be applied. However, to further increase the genetic progress of these traits, it is advantageous to develop indicator traits on the selection candidates (test boars or gilts, not yet exhibiting the phenotype themselves). It has previously been suggested that the scapula morphology and the spine of scapula might be a key factor for the sow to develop shoulder lesions. In this study, we developed 11 novel traits describing the morphology of the shoulder blade based on computed tomography images from scanned test boars. These traits include the area, length, width, height, and volume of the shoulder blade as well as 6 traits obtained from principal component analysis, describing 80% of the variation observed for the scapula spine profile. The analyzed traits have moderate to high heritability (h2 from 0.29 to 0.78, SE = 0.06), low to medium genetic correlations with shoulder lesions (up to 0.4, SE = 0.1), and body condition scoring at weaning (up to 0.25, SE = 0.1). These novel phenotypes can now be recorded automatically and accurately prior to selection of the AI boars. If such recordings are included in multivariate genomic selection models, it is expected to improve the genetic progress of shoulder lesions and body condition score by weaning.


We present here the optical properties of humic-like substances (HULIS) isolated from the fine fraction of biomass-burning aerosol collected in the Amazon basin during the LBA-SMOCC (Large scale Biosphere atmosphere experiment in Amazonia – SMOke aerosols, Clouds, rainfall and Climate) experiment in September 2002. From the isolated HULIS, aerosol particles were generated and their scattering and absorption coefficients measured. The size distribution and mass of the particles were also recorded. The value of the index of refraction was derived from "closure" calculations based on particle size, scattering and absorption measurements. On average, the complex index of refraction at 532 nm of HULIS collected during day and nighttime was 1.65–0.0019i and 1.69–0.0016i, respectively. In addition, the imaginary part of the complex index of refraction was calculated using the measured absorption coefficient of the bulk HULIS. The mass absorption coefficient of the HULIS at 532 nm was found to be quite low (0.031 and 0.029 m 2 g −1 for the day and night samples, respectively). However, due to the high absorption Angstrom exponent (6–7) of HULIS, the specific absorption increases substantially towards shorter wavelengths (~2–3 m 2 g −1 at 300 nm), causing a relatively high (up to 50%) contribution to the light absorption of our Amazonian aerosol at 300 nm. For the relative contribution of HULIS to light absorption in the entire solar spectrum, lower values (6.4–8.6%) are obtained, but those are still not negligible.


This article chronicles the (first) year I spent opposing the constitutionality of Obamacare: Between debates, briefs, op-eds, blogging, testimony, and media, I have spent well over half of my time since the legislation's enactment on attacking Congress's breathtaking assertion of federal power in this context. Braving transportation snafus, snowstorms, and Eliot Spitzer, it's been an interesting ride. And so, weaving legal arguments into first-person narrative, I hope to add a unique perspective to an important debate that goes to the heart of this nation's founding principles. The individual mandate is Obamacare's highest-profile and perhaps most egregious constitutional violation because the Supreme Court has never allowed – Congress has never claimed – the power to require people to engage in economic activity. If it is allowed to stand, then no principled limits on federal power remain. But it doesn't have to be this way; as the various cases wend their way to an eventual date at the Supreme Court, I will be with them, keeping the government honest in court and the debate alive in the public eye.


Summary The uppermost thin layer on the surface of the skin, called the epidermis, is responsible for the barrier function of the skin. The epidermis has a multilayered structure in which each layer consists of keratinocytes (KCs) of different differentiation status. The integrity of KC differentiation is crucial for the function of skin and its loss causes or is accompanied by skin diseases. Intracellular and extracellular Ca2+ is known to play important roles in KC differentiation. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying Ca2+ regulation of KC differentiation are still largely unknown. Store-operated Ca2+ entry (SOCE) is a major Ca2+ influx pathway in most non-excitable cells. SOCE is evoked in response to a fall in Ca2+ concentration in the endoplasmic reticulum. Two proteins have been identified as essential components of SOCE: STIM1, a Ca2+ sensor in the ER, and Orai1, a subunit of Ca2+ channels in the plasma membrane. In this study, we analyzed the contribution of SOCE to KC growth and differentiation using RNAi knockdown of STIM1 and Orai1 in the human keratinocyte cell line, HaCaT. KC differentiation was induced by a switch in extracellular Ca2+ concentration from low (0.03 mM; undifferentiated KCs) to high (1.8 mM; differentiated KCs). This Ca2+ switch triggers phospholipase-C-mediated intracellular Ca2+ signals (Ca2+-switch-induced Ca2+ response), which would probably involve the activation of SOCE. Knockdown of either STIM1 or Orai1 strongly suppressed SOCE and almost completely abolished the Ca2+-switch-induced Ca2+ responses, resulting in impaired expression of keratin1, an early KC differentiation marker. Furthermore, loss of either STIM1 or Orai1 suppressed normal growth of HaCaT cells in low Ca2+ and inhibited the growth arrest in response to a Ca2+ switch. These results demonstrate that SOCE plays multiple crucial roles in KC differentiation and function.


Composer William Denis Browne died at the age of 26 in World War I. The executor of his musical estate, Edward J. Dent, prevented many of his compositions from being performed or published in the years following his death. Because of these unfortunate circumstances, Browne's songs fell into relative obscurity and are now under-represented in both scholarship and performance. However, they are deserving of more attention. Browne composed in several genres during his short lifetime, but his nine extant songs represent more than half of his surviving output. Musicians and scholars should be aware of the existence of these songs and their historical context. This study familiarizes scholars, singers, collaborative pianists, and teachers of voice with his extant songs through documentary research into Browne's life, an introduction to the poets whose texts he chose to set, and a comparative study of each song's musical score, their setting of the texts, and their pedagogic value. This document examines the poems, their poets, and the musical settings of the nine songs Browne composed between 1908 and 1914. For the musical settings, attention is paid to musical forms, harmony, rhythm, vocal articulation, vocal ranges, piano accompaniments, overall effectiveness, and singer accessibility. These songs represent the full range of Browne's compositional abilities in the art song genre. Aspects of Browne's relationships with Edward J. Dent, Rupert Brooke, Edward Marsh, and other important historic figures illuminate the reality in which Browne lived and the circumstances under which he composed this handful of songs. His musical settings blend quality poetry and music. The songs, though small in number, illustrate Browne's maturation into a composer whose songs deserve to be placed at the center of the British art song canon. Knowledge and understanding of his life from his youth until his death allows performers to convey a sensitive and informed expression necessary to bring his songs to life.


Contrary to the central prediction of signaling models, changes in profits do not empirically follow changes in dividends. We show both theoretically and empirically that dividends signal safer, rather than higher, future profits. Using the Campbell (1991) decomposition, we are able to estimate expected cash flows from data on stock returns. Consistent with our model's predictions, cash-flow volatility changes in the opposite direction from that of dividend changes and larger changes in volatility come with larger announcement returns. We find similar results for share repurchases. Crucially, the data supports the prediction - unique to our model - that the cost of the signal is foregone investment opportunities. We conclude that payout policy conveys information about future cash flow volatility. Our methodology can be applied more generally to overcoming empirical problems in testing theories of corporate financing.


In this Policy Brief, Bruegel Senior Fellow Reinhilde Veugelers and Michele Cincera, Professor at ULB, draw our attention to young leading innovators ('yollies'). They explain why the European Union's business research and development deficit, relative to the United States, can be attributed to the EU having fewer yollies, especially those that are less R&D intensive. This paper raises important and timely questions about the EU's innovation policy. The authors argue why policy makers should pay attention to the heterogeneity across young sectors and design sector-specific measures to boost innovation and growth in the EU.


Sodium transport in an isolated amphibian epithelium (skin of Rana temporaria) has been investigated as a function of pH. The evidence is consistent with the view that sodium entry into the epithelium is dependent on an acid grouping, which behaves as a singly ionizable grouping with a pKa of around 5. The activities of three blocking drugs which prevent sodium entry have also been investigated as a function of pH. These were amiloride, triamterene, and N-(N-benzylamidino)-3,5-diamino-6-chloropyrazine carboxamide (benzamil). The variation in affinity of these compounds with pH was predictable from mass action kinetics if it was assumed that the positively charged inhibitors interacted with a negatively charged acid grouping in the mucosal membrane. With the three inhibitors the positive charge is located on a guanidinium (or isosteric) group, suggesting similarities with compounds which block sodium channels in excitable membranes. Tetrodotoxin had only weak blocking activity in this system (K = 103 M-1) compared with amiloride (K = 5 x 106 M-1), triamterene (K = 5 x 105 M-1), and benzamil (5 x 107 M-1). Guanidine had anomalous and unexplained blocking activity in this system, while 2-guanidinobenzimidazole had both stimulating and blocking activity. The former was probably due to the imidazoline ring structure, while the latter was dependent upon the guanidinium moiety.


IR has made important theoretical inroads with concepts such as practices, or artefacts, which transcend the division between material and ideational accounts of social reality. Many scholars have found that these integrated material-ideational approaches also require new methodological tools. This paper proposes Peirce's semeiotics as one way to unpack how practices and artefacts are ideational and simultaneously material. Peircean semeiotics is a semeiotics of materialism, which creates room for material constitution and allows us to analyse practices and artefacts as signs that can partly communicate meaning to an audience directly, without the need for background knowledge or discursive intervention, because they can signify by resembling the object they represent and/or by being causally connected to it. Peircean semeiotics thus provides a way to ground IR's macro-phenomena in visible occurrences. Moreover, given that practices and artefacts are not only signs, but also elements in the material world, and hence subject to material constraints and serving functional purposes, they do not always communicate by intent. Peircean semeiotics thus provides an avenue to analyse unintentional constitutive, yet non-deterministic change. I will illustrate the use of Peircean semeiotics on Branch's analysis of the effects of mapping on the emergence of the territorial state.


The paper presents a novel network on-and-off chip approach for highly efficient and transparent intra-datacenter communications. The implemented FPGA-based network on-chip line card enables hitless adaptation between Ethernet and TSON, which is supported by a flexible network off-chip of AoD, demonstrating end-to-end high performance results.


We analyze effects of noneconomic damages caps and attorney fee limits (AFLs) on the ability of people injured by negligent physicians to retain qualified lawyers to represent them. We employ survey data from 965 plaintiffs' attorneys who reported likelihoods of accepting hypothetical meritorious cases described by scenarios. We estimate how willingness to accept such cases increases with the expected hourly fees associated with them, and the estimates suggest substantial effects and plausible tradeoffs. We conclude that caps and AFLs make it harder to retain counsel in various circumstances, and we present policy simulations elucidating how several factors combine to determine these effects.


I begin in Part II with a brief sketch of the history of stated policies to expel Palestinians from what is now Israel and the Occupied Territories, and then examine recent proposals that have been made and actions that have been taken to implement modern re-articulations of those historic policies. In Part III, I then review the grounds on which international law proscribes mass expulsions of indigenous and occupied peoples. While international law governing this issue is clear in its application and has been overwhelmingly endorsed by the larger international community, international law seems to have little influence on Israel's conduct. For this reason, my primary focus in this Essay will not be to analyze the international law issues, which have been exhaustively discussed elsewhere. I focus instead, in Part IV, on the enforcement of this well-established international law through private law suits. I review both civil adjudication's promise as an enforcement mechanism and the many obstacles that stand in the way of its success. I cannot in the space of this Essay analyze or resolve all obstacles, but I hope to outline the various benefits and limitations of adjudication as a response to human rights violations in this context, and to proffer a checklist of some of the important practical considerations entailed in launching an international civil litigation campaign on behalf of Palestinians.


The potential of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data for retrieving the above-ground and component (e.g., branch, trunk) biomass of mixed-species forests (including woodlands) typical to subtropical Queensland, Australia, was evaluated using a wave scattering model based on that of Durden et al. (1989). The model was parameterized using field data collected for nine forest types, which were selected through combined analysis of 1 : 4000 aerial photographs and light detection and ranging data. The simulated SAR backscatter data demonstrated a good correspondence at most frequencies and polarizations with Airborne SAR data. Analysis of scattering mechanisms revealed dominance of C-band horizontal-vertical (HV) volume scattering and increases with small-branch/foliage biomass, dominance of L- and P-band HH trunk-ground scattering and increases with trunk biomass, and dominance of L-band HV volume (branch) scattering and increases with large-branch biomass. The study concluded that above-ground biomass estimated using empirical relationships with selected SAR channels will be more reliable for forests of similar structural form due to dominance of microwave interaction with particular biomass components and the strength and consistency of relationships between these and the affiliated components that represent the total. In mixed-species forests, retrieval will be compromised by interaction with a greater diversity of structures and variability in relationships between structural components. Although empirical relationships with selected combinations of channels (e.g., L-band HH/HV) might allow retrieval of component and total biomass of forests containing trees of similar form (e.g., as mapped using Landsat sensor data), the use of SAR inversion models was considered a more appropriate route for retrieving the biomass of forests containing a mix of structural forms.


Background and objective The increasing prevalence of childhood obesity has led to interest in its prevention, particularly through school-based and family-based interventions in the early years. Most evidence reviews, to date, have focused on individual behaviour change rather than the 'obesogenic environment'. Objective This paper reviews the evidence on the influence of the food environment on overweight and obesity in children up to 8 years. Data sources Electronic databases (including MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Controlled Trials Register (CCTR), DARE, CINAHL and Psycho-Info) and reference lists of original studies and reviews were searched for all papers published up to 31 August 2011. Study selection Study designs included were either population-based intervention studies or a longitudinal study. Studies were included if the majority of the children studied were under 9 years, if they related to diet and if they focused on prevention rather than treatment in clinical settings. Data extraction Data included in the tables were characteristics of participants, aim, and key outcome results. Quality assessment of the selected studies was carried out to identify potential bias and an evidence ranking exercise carried out to prioritise areas for future public health interventions. Data synthesis Thirty-five studies (twenty-five intervention studies and ten longitudinal studies) were selected for the review. There was moderately strong evidence to support interventions on food promotion, large portion sizes and sugar-sweetened soft drinks. Conclusions Reducing food promotion to young children, increasing the availability of smaller portions and providing alternatives to sugar-sweetened soft drinks should be considered in obesity prevention programmes aimed at younger children. These environment-level interventions would support individual and family-level behaviour change.


Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the perceptions of patients undergoing orthodontic treatment, for the perceptions and possible adverse effects after using toothpaste based on Brazilian Red Propolis (BRP). Materials and Methods: This is a longitudinal clinical study. 40 participants used a toothpaste BRP three times a day for a total of four weeks. After 4 weeks, the end of the study, participants completed a questionnaire with a scale ranging from 0 to 10 for parameters such as taste, nausea, cleanliness, ease, irritation, odor and sense of taste change. Results: The taste, cleaning ability, ease and odor had high scores. There were no reports as to the possible adverse events such as irritation and change in taste. One participant reported the occurrence of nausea after brushing, indicating score 1. Conclusion: The use for 4 weeks of the BRP toothpaste did not cause adverse effects and had a good acceptance by the users. Key words: Antibiotics, Bacteremia, Intravenous, Oral Surgery, Impacted, Third Molar, Biofilm, Natural Products, Propolis, Toothpaste.


Organizations often outsource software testing activities to optimize software testing and verify developed software by independent experts. Related benefits include expectations for higher software quality and anticipated commercial benefits, but have not been empirically evaluated yet. To close this gap, we hypothesize independent software testing to positively impact software quality and test our hypothesis in a controlled human experiment. We investigate the functional quality of six functionally identical systems developed in software projects by six teams of five students each. Of these six teams, three tested their software themselves, while the others used independent testing teams. On system-testing level, we compare the fulfillment of predefined software functions by applying function point analysis. The results show that independent software testing has a positive impact on software quality. Using t-tests, we show functional completeness of software tested by independent testers to be significantly higher (16%) than the functional completeness of software tested by software developers themselves. Our work provides insights into decision-making on software test outsourcing. While the expected higher quality of the products is corroborated by the experiment, there is a need for further research studies. With our experiment, we raise practitioners' awareness to consciously deal with independent software testing.


The main aim of the present study was to map of Urmia Lake water surface diminishing rates over a long-term period, and demonstrating the most recent surface of emerged salty alluvial plains. For this purpose, Landsat TM, ETM+ and OLI imageries, observing from 1984 to 2015, were progressively processed to generate most of the thematic models in tempo-spatial context. All multi-date satellite data were subset and progressively preprocessed by ERDAS software based on the accurate topographical maps and the precise referenced Ground Control Points. Two classification projects were then implemented in this research based on preprocessed satellite imageries. Primary, by applying an ISOData function all Urmia Lake time series images have been classified to extract water surface classes. Subsequently, the 2015 year images have been segmented to derive remaining water surfaces and other landcover maps, particularly salty surfaces, by applying an object-oriented method in eCognition software. Revealed models demonstrate several longterm meaningful persuaded fluctuations and considerable periodical changes on the Urmia Lake water surfaces, mostly observed during the last decade. These great variations have occurred as the result of 15 meters decrease in height of water in the lake and about at least 70 percent deceasing on water capacity.


Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is capable of spreading within a host by two different transmission modes: cell-free and cell-to-cell. Although viral dissemination and diffusion of viral particles facilitates the infection of distant cells, direct cell-to-cell transmission to uninfected neighboring cells is thought to shield the virus from immune recognition. However, the contribution of each of these transmission mechanisms to HCV spread is unknown. To dissect the contribution of these different transmission modes to HCV spread, we measured HCV lifecycle kinetics and used an in vitro spread assay to monitor HCV spread kinetics after low multiplicity of infection in the absence and presence of a neutralizing antibody that blocks cell-free spread. By analyzing these data with a spatially-explicit mathematical model that describes viral spread on a single-cell level, we quantified the contribution of cell-free and cell-to-cell spread to the overall infection dynamics and show that both transmission modes act synergistically to enhance the spread of infection. Thus, the simultaneous occurrence of both transmission modes likely represents an advantage for HCV that may contribute to the efficient establishment of chronic infection. Notably, the relative contribution of each viral transmission mode appeared to vary dependent on different experimental conditions and suggests that viral spread is optimized according to the environment. Together, our analyses provide insight into the transmission dynamics of HCV and reveal how different transmission modes impact each other. Importance Hepatitis C Virus can spread within a host by diffusing viral particles or direct cell-to-cell transfer of viral material between infected and uninfected cells. To which extend these cell-free and cell-to-cell transmission modes contribute to HCV spread, establishment of chronicity and antiviral escape is still unknown. By combining in vitro experimental HCV spread data with a multi-scale mathematical model we have disentangled the contribution and interplay of cell-free and cell-to-cell transmission modes during HCV infection. Our analysis revealed synergistic effects between the two transmission modes, with the relative contribution of each transmission mode varying dependent on the experimental conditions. This highlights the adaptability of the virus and suggests that transmission modes might be optimized dependent on the environment, which could contribute to viral persistence.


The purpose of this article is to review diagnosis-related group (DRG) systems by introducing the concept of disease groupings, describing the country-specific DRGs based on the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), and comparing country-specific disease classification systems and coding processes related to disease grouping. We discuss our findings with regard to the implications for disease groupings that may result from the upcoming adoption of ICD-11. This article is especially relevant for those working in health services who are involved in multicountry collaborations and require an understanding of the different DRGs used internationally, or who are preparing for the transition to ICD-11.


Traditionally, zero crossings of the second derivative provide edge features for the classification of blurred waveforms. The accuracy of these edge features deteriorates in the case of severely blurred images. In this paper, a new feature is presented that is more resistant to the blurring process, the image, and waveform peaks. In addition, an estimate of the standard deviation /spl sigma/ of the blurring kernel is used to perform minor deblurring of the waveform. Statistical pattern recognition is used to classify the peaks as bar code characters. The noise tolerance of this recognition algorithm is increased by using an adaptive, histogram-based technique to remove the noise. In a bar code environment that requires a misclassification rate of less than one in a million, the recognition algorithm showed a 43% performance improvement over current commercial bar code reading equipment. >


Purpose To determine the relationship between iris surface features and acute primary angle closure (APAC) in eyes with angle closure. Design Case-control study involving Asian patients diagnosed with previous APAC, primary angle closure suspect (PACS), primary angle closure (PAC) and primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) at an eye centre in Singapore between August 2012 and January 2015. Methods Participants underwent ophthalmic examination and digital slit-lamp iris photography. Iris surface features were graded based on crypts, furrows and colour. Fellow eyes of APAC were compared with PACS and PAC/PACG eyes with regard to their iris surface features. Main outcome measure Occurrence of APAC. Results A total of 309 patients (71 APAC, 139 PACS, 47 PAC and 52 PACG) were included (mean age: 67.7±7.2 years and 36.6% male). Compared with PACS, higher crypt grade was significantly associated with lower odds of APAC (OR=0.58 for one grade higher in crypt grade; p=0.027, adjusted for age, gender, ethnicity and pupil diameter). The results remained similar when compared with PAC/PACG group (OR=0.58 for one grade higher in crypt grade; p=0.043). We did not observe any significant associations between iris furrows or colour with presence of APAC. Conclusions Our study comprising Asian eyes with angle closure suggests that the presence of a higher crypt grading may be protective for APAC. As such, assessing iris surface architecture for crypts could be a new measure for risk stratification of developing APAC in eyes with angle closure.


BACKGROUND
Women with stress urinary incontinence and concomitant obstructive (voiding) lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) represent a challenging patient population. Furthermore, their diagnosis and management remain incompletely studied and controversial. We evaluated the outcomes of midurethral sling procedures in women with severe obstructive LUTS.

METHODS
We performed a post hoc analysis of women who were part of an institutional review board-approved study of midurethral sling surgery. Preoperatively and at 4-6 weeks postoperatively, patients completed the American Urological Association Symptom Score (AUASS) questionnaire. A postvoid residual urine test was obtained preoperatively, at the time of the voiding trial, and 4-6 weeks postoperatively. Three groups of patients with severe LUTS were then defined: Group A (AUASS ≥20), Group B (voiding subscale ≥12), and Group C (urodynamic obstruction). Patients could be included in more than one group. AUASS was again obtained at a medium-term follow-up of 31.6 months.

RESULTS
Of 106 women completing follow-up, 30, 23, and 11 subjects met the criteria for groups A, B, and C, respectively. All had statistically significant improvements in storage and voiding subscales, as well as their stress urinary incontinence. No subject presented with retention or voiding dysfunction at follow-up. These improvements continued at medium-term follow-up with the exception of Group C that failed to demonstrate persistence of statistical improvement in AUASS subscales.

CONCLUSION
Patients with stress urinary incontinence and severe voiding LUTS can be treated safely with midurethral sling procedures. In both the short and medium term, these symptoms improve dramatically in the majority of patients.


The population growth of a city from time to time experiences rapid development. This situation leads to socio-economic and cultural changes and have an impact on their interactions with other cities and the surrounding area. The rise of economic growth in big cities has made the pace of city development faster, making housing demand higher. That way, land use is increasingly competitive. The problem then creates a slum area. The challenges and obstacles that will be faced in the effort to deal with slums are the unavailability of accurate data and information in each region, which can inform the slums that can be adequately handled. For this reason, the purpose of this research is to �ind out the governance of urban slums. The research used is descriptive qualitative and uses AHP Method. The results of the study reveal several slum typologies such as the concept of rigid environmental structuring, lack of drinking water supplies, etc. The research also discusses government practices, as well as prevention of slum areas in urban areas. This research concludes the need for accurate database and information in each region to deal with slum areas in the city, as well as accurate information about handling the slums.


İnan İzci* This opinion piece aims to underline the potential importance of the European Union accession process for local authorities in Turkey. The EU accession process can be a window of opportunity for local politics in Turkey regardless of whether membership materializes. In other words, the EU integration process can be leveraged to consolidate local democracy and development in Turkey. Among many, Turkish local authorities are the primary actors in the position to take advantage of this opportunity and will receive great paybacks provided that they have a coherent and consistent policy.


As emphasized by the severe complications of diabetes, the maintenance of normal concentrations of glucose in the blood is a critical physiological function. Despite considerable attention, however, the regulatory mechanisms that accomplish such homeostasis are not particularly well understood. Koo et al. provide new insight through studies on a transcriptional coactivator known as TORC2 (for transducer of regulated CREB activity 2). [CREB is a transcription factor that is stimulated by the intracellular signaling molecule cAMP (adenosine 3′,5′-monophosphate).] Their findings indicate that TORC2 controls transcription of genes encoding enzymes that function in gluconeogenesis (synthesis of glucose from other metabolites) in the liver. Expression of such genes is enhanced under conditions in which an animal is fasting and blood glucose concentrations might otherwise be depleted. Such regulation, at the level of the whole organism, is mediated by hormones like glucagon and insulin. Activity of TORC2 is controlled by its phosphorylation, which determines whether TORC2 becomes localized in the nucleus. In livers of fasting mice, TORC2 became dephosphorylated and was translocated to the nucleus. Indeed, in mice in which TORC2 was depleted in hepatocytes by RNA interference, fasting caused abnormally low concentrations of glucose in the circulation. This systemic regulation of glucose is augmented by mechanisms that monitor cellular energy status. In this case, low cellular concentrations of adenosine triphosphate (indicative of low energy reserves) cause activation of the protein kinase AMPK (adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase), which inhibits the energy-intensive process of gluconeogenesis. Koo et al. find that this system also feeds into control of gluconeogenesis through TORC2. AMPK phosphorylated TORC2 in vitro, and stimuli that activated AMPK in cultured primary hepatocytes increased phosphorylation of TORC2 and inhibited its entry into the nucleus. Thus, TORC2 appears to represent a point of conversion of regulatory signals monitoring systemic and cellular energy status. As such, the authors propose, TORC2 may be a useful target for therapeutic intervention in metabolic disorders. S.-H. Koo, L. Flechner, L. Qi, X. Zhang, R. A. Screaton, S. Jeffries, S. Hedrick, W. Xu, F. Boussouar, P. Brindle, H. Takemori, M. Montminy, The CREB coactivator TORC2 is a key regulator of fasting glucose metabolism. Nature 437, 1109-1111 (2005). [PubMed]


Environmental epidemiological studies have consistently reported associations between ambient particulate matter (PM) concentrations and everyday mortality/morbidity. Many urban dwellers in Asia live in high-rise apartment buildings; thus, the pollutant concentrations of their immediate outdoor environments are affected by the vertical distribution of pollutants in the atmosphere. The vertical distributions of pollutants provide unique information about their sources and dynamic transport in urban areas, as well as their relationship to people's exposure at ground level, while the vertical distributions of pollutants have rarely been considered in exposure assessment. In the current study, PM concentrations (with aerodynamic diameters less than 1.0 μm (PM1), 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and 10 μm (PM10)), nanoparticles, black carbon (BC), and particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (p-PAHs) were measured at different residential heights—6 m, 16 m, and 27 m—at Feng Chia University near a popular night market in Western Taiwan. PM2.5 data were further adopted for health risk estimations. In winter, the magnitude of PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 concentrations were 16 m > 6 m > 27 m; nanoparticle concentrations were 6 m > 27 m > 16 m; and BC and p-PAHs concentrations were 27 m > 16 m > 6 m. In summer, PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 concentrations ranged from 6 m > 16 m > 27 m; nanoparticle concentrations were 6 m > 16 m; and BC and p-PAHs concentrations were from 27 m > 16 m. PM and constituents concentrations during winter were significantly higher in the nighttime than those in daytime, and levels of PM1, PM2.5, and PM10 increased rapidly on 6 m and 16 m heights (but did not increase at 27 m) after 5 pm, whereas these trends became less significant in summer. Health risk analysis for PM2.5 concentrations showed a decrease in lung cancer mortality rate and an extended lifespan for residents living at 27 m. Overall, the current study investigated the vertical profile of particulate matters and analyzed health impacts of PM2.5 at different residential heights in urban area of Taiwan. As the distributions of PM and the constituents varied at different residential heights, exposure and risk assessment of particle concentrations with multiple sizes and various components at broader vertical heights should be further investigated.


Proton Pumping in Cotychrome c Oxidase by Jianxun Lu Advisor: Professor Marilyn Gunner Cytochrome c oxidase (CcO) is a large trans-membrane protein, which is the final enzyme in the respiratory electron transport chain in mitochondria or aerobic bacteria. It implements proton pumping through the mitochondrial membrane against the electrochemical gradient, by utilizing the chemical energy released by reducing O2 to water. The active site of the chemical reaction is called the Binuclear Center (BNC) that is made up of heme a3, CuB, a Tyrosine residue and their ligands. The protein is reduced four times by electron from cytochromes c to reduce O2 and to generate four different BNC redox states step by step. In each reduction step a proton is delivered to the BNC and another proton is pumped across the protein to increase the trans-membrane proton gradient. In CcO, the pumped proton is firstly located in the proton loading site (PLS), and then is released out of the protein. In these processes, a high conserved Glutamate residue, plays an essential role on the proton translocation either to the BNC or the PLS. In this thesis, Multi-Conformational Continuum Electrostatics (MCCE) and Molecular Dynamics (MD) are combined to study the proton affinity (pKa) of the high conserved Glutamate residue and the identity of the PLS. This Glutamate residue is located in a hydrophobic cavity in the protein, and the simulations show that the hydration of the cavity is controlled by the protonation state of the propionic acid of heme a3, a group on the proton outlet pathway. The changes in hydration and electrostatic interactions lower the proton affinity by at least 5 kcal/mol. The identity of the residues in the PLS is another open question in CcO research, and various groups above the BNC have been considered as candidates. We designed a new model for the simulation via separating the catalytic cycle into smaller substates and monitoring


Lifelong learning through the four major stages of people's development (Schuller and Watson 2009) embodies the need for integrated, connected-up approaches to development. I will reference briefly three examples in action of connected-up approaches to development from South Africa which are examples of national, regional and institutional approaches to lifelong learning. They are: the National Qualifications Framework, the Learning Cape, and the University of Western Cape. I will start with highlighting the social purposes of lifelong learning and the socio-economic and political context, both of which frame the discussion.


1. The relation between the urinary excretion of inorganic phosphate and sodium was studied in anaesthetized dogs subjected to acute unilateral increases of ureteral back-pressure while receiving infusions of iso-osmotic sodium chloride. Under these circumstances modest increases of ureteral back-pressure, +14 to +23 cmH 2 O, were associated with relatively small changes of glomerular filtration rate from control values (−12.7 to +8.2%). 2. Increased ureteral back-pressure caused closely proportionate decreases of urinary phosphate and sodium excretion regardless of whether glomerular filtration rate increased, decreased or remained unchanged. When glomerular filtration rate increased or remained stable, the decreases of phosphate and sodium excretion were attributable to closely proportionate increases of tubular reabsorption of sodium and of phosphate. The increased tubular reabsorption of phosphate may be causally related to the increased tubular reabsorption of sodium.


The growth of laptops, personal digital assistant (PDA) and 802.11/Wi-Fi wireless networking have made mobile ad-hoc network (MANET) and machine-to-machine (M2M) popular research topics recently. With more attention on M2M and MANETs lately, the security issues become more important and urgent for managing and deploying in such networks. The flexible deployment nature and the lack of fixed infrastructure make MANETs suffer from varieties of security attacks. In this paper, we show how an adversary can utilize a colluding attack in MANET by injecting malicious nodes in the network, while hiding their identities from other legitimate nodes. We will name this attack as the Colluding Injected Attack (CIA). These injected nodes will work together to generate a severe attack in the network, which aims to create a collision at an arbitrary node, which in turn will result in making the attacked node unable to receive or relay any packet. As a result this node could be wrongly reported as having a malicious behavior by any other node in the same neighborhood, or it might be reported as unreachable if it is a destination node. Our simulation results show that the existence of an adversary that launching the colluding injected attack (CIA) will mislead the decision of previous attack detection schemes.


Abstract Mg-silicate minerals (e.g., stevensite, kerolite, talc, sepiolite) play an important role in the construction of facies models in lacustrine and peri-marine environments because they are sensitive to changes in solution chemistry. However, the response of Mg-silicate mineralogy to changing aqueous chemistry is only broadly understood because the mechanisms underpinning the coprecipitation of Mg2+ and SiO2(aq) from surface water, and subsequent Mg-silicate crystallization, are unclear. Here we describe the results of experiments designed to systematically examine the effects of pH, Mg/Si and salinity of the parent solution on the nature of initially precipitated products. Structural interrogation of the products with X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermal analysis (TGA/DTA) allow comparison of synthetic products with naturally occurring crystalline counterparts. In general, Mg2+ and SiO2(aq) co-precipitation and nucleation of Mg-silicate layer structures first involves the rapid formation of 2:1 layers with trioctahedral occupancy and a mean coherent X-ray scattering domain between 1-2 unit cells with respect to the c axis. Well defined but diffuse hk reflections indicate two-dimensional growth, turbostratic stacking and highly variable interlayer hydration. Diffuse reflectance FTIR shows numerous structural similarities with stevensite, kerolite and sepiolite. However, TGA/DTA analysis indicates the presence of variable kerolite/stevensite interstratification not readily detectable through XRD analyses, as well as a significant degree of surface and interlayer hydration (e.g. 15-20 wt.%). We observe a number of clear trends in the products with respect to solution chemistry. For example, at low salinity, kerolite-like products dominate at high Mg/Si and high pH, whereas sepiolite-like products are formed at lower pH and lower Mg/Si. At high salinity and high Mg/Si, stevensite-like products are favoured at high pH and kerolite-like products dominate at lower pH, whereas a decrease in Mg/Si of the solution leads to sepiolite-like products at low pH and only stevensite-like products at high pH. Higher pH leads to an increase in octahedral vacancies which favour stevensite-like products; this may result from a higher rate of two-dimensional tetrahedral sheet expansion relative to the octahedral sheet, as inferred from studies of silica oligomerization and brucite growth kinetics. Together, our results indicate that the neoformation of Mg-rich silicates from solution may often begin with the rapid nucleation of hydrated 2:1 layers. Subsequent dehydration leads to progressive layer stacking order and could occur in response to wetting/drying cycles, prolonged exposure to high salinity solutions, or burial and heating. The surface and interlayer water associated with these products is undoubtedly an important source of diagenetic water in Mg-silicate-bearing successions, and the chemistry of this water upon later diagenesis should be a focus of future investigation.


Abstract The Neutral Theory of Molecular Evolution is considered the most powerful theory to understand the evolutionary behavior of proteins. One of the main predictions of this theory is that essential proteins should evolve slower than dispensable ones owing to increased selective constraints. Comparison of genomes of different species, however, has revealed only small differences between the rates of evolution of essential and nonessential proteins. In some analyses, these differences vanish once confounding factors are controlled for, whereas in other cases essentiality seems to have an independent, albeit small, effect. It has been argued that comparing relatively distant genomes may entail a number of limitations. For instance, many of the genes that are dispensable in controlled lab conditions may be essential in some of the conditions faced in nature. Moreover, essentiality can change during evolution, and rates of protein evolution are simultaneously shaped by a variety of factors, whose individual effects are difficult to isolate. Here, we conducted two parallel mutation accumulation experiments in Escherichia coli, during 5,500–5,750 generations, and compared the genomes at different points of the experiments. Our approach (a short-term experiment, under highly controlled conditions) enabled us to overcome many of the limitations of previous studies. We observed that essential proteins evolved substantially slower than nonessential ones during our experiments. Strikingly, rates of protein evolution were only moderately affected by expression level and protein length.


Signals from ten explosions were used to examine earthquake location uncertainty in Taiwan. Location errors for explosion sites determined using a relocation process were expressed in terms of statistical measurements for standard errors in the depth (ERZ), the epicenter (ERH), the root-mean-square of the travel time residuals (RMS), and the station coverage gap (GAP). In general, for this study, major factors in location errors resulted from the poor coverage of seismic stations (e.g., a large value of GAP). Using the relationship between location errors and parameters from the explosion location assessment, uncertainties for earthquake locations in the Taiwan region for a total of 384064 events from 1991 to 2011 were evaluated. Offshore regions in southwestern and northeastern Taiwan had larger location errors. For the inland locales, location errors in longitude, latitude, and depth were approximately 3.1 ± 2.7, 1.3 ± 1.6, and 4.6 ± 3.9 km, respectively. The uncertainties estimated from this study could offer a good reference for other related studies.


Objective: ADHD is a childhood-onset psychiatric condition that often continues into adulthood. Stimulant medications are the mainstay of treatment; however, additional approaches are frequently desired. In recent years, mindfulness meditation has been proposed to improve attention, reduce stress, and improve mood. This study tests the feasibility of an 8-week mindfulness training program for adults and adolescents with ADHD. Method: Twenty-four adults and eight adolescents with ADHD enrolled in a feasibility study of an 8-week mindfulness training program. Results: The majority of participants completed the training and reported high satisfaction with the training. Pre—post improvements in self-reported ADHD symptoms and test performance on tasks measuring attention and cognitive inhibition were noted. Improvements in anxiety and depressive symptoms were also observed. Conclusion: Mindfulness training is a feasible intervention in a subset of ADHD adults and adolescents and may improve behavioral and neurocognitive impairments. A controlled clinical study is warranted. (J. of Att. Dis. 2008; 11(6) 737-746)


Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are a valued research method in evidence-based practice in medical and clinical settings because they are associated with a particular ontological and epistemological perspective that is situated within a positivist world view. It assumes that environments and variables can be controlled to establish cause-effect relationships. However, current theories of learning suggest that knowledge is socially constructed, and that learning occurs in open systems that cannot be controlled and manipulated as would be required in a RCT. They recognise the importance and influence of context on learning, which positivist research paradigms specifically aim to counter. We argue that RCTs are inappropriate in education research because they force one to take up ontological and epistemological positions in a technical rationalist framework, which is at odds with current learning theory.


The mandatory NIH public-access policy, which became effective on April 7, 2008, requires the NIH-funded principal investigators (PIs) to self-archive to the National Library
of Medicine subject repository PubMed Central a manuscript's electronic version immediately upon publication, which will then be available to the public free of cost the latest after a twelve-month embargo period. The Public Library of Science (PLoS), a non-profit open-access publisher in health sciences, publishes seven journals in the health sciences field (PLoS ONE, PLoS Biology, PLoS Medicine, PLoS Computational Biology, PLoS Genetics, PLoS Pathogenes and PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases) and submits to PubMed Central all the published articles, irrespective of the funder of the research results. The PIs who had published in one of the PLoS journals were chosen based on the journals' established high impact factor immediately after their creation. The PIs' motivation to publish in one of the seven PLoS journals was unknown. Whether the NIH public-access policy has affected the PIs' publishing decisions was also unknown.
 A random sample of NIH-funded PIs, who had published in one of the PLoS journals between the years 2005- 2009, was selected from the RePORTER database. During the period March-May 2011, forty-two PIs were interviewed using SkypeTM software, and a semi-structured open-ended interview protocol was followed. The participants were divided into two groups; the pre-mandate PIs, who had published in one of the seven PLoS journals during the period 2005-2007 and the post-mandate, who had published in the PLoS journals the during period 2008-2009. The publishing habits of these two groups were compared, in order to reach an understanding about their publishing decisions.
 Based on the findings, the NIH-funded PIs choose the PLoS journals due to their high impact factor, fast publication speed, fair peer-review system and the articles' open-access availability. Although the PIs agree with the premise that publicly funded research must be distributed for-free to everyone who has funded it, the steps required to comply with the policy were perceived to be time consuming. Since conformity with the policy is essential, the participants' goal is to ensure that the manuscripts will appear to PubMed Central, which either can be self-archived by the PIs, by an administrative assistant or by the journal.
 The NIH public-access policy did not cause either an increase in the PIs' open-access awareness or a change in their publishing habits. The open-access advocates were supporters of the immediate free access to scientific information before the policy and provided their manuscripts free-of-cost before the policy's mandate. The non-open-access advocates choose their publications based on quality criteria such as the journal's prestige, impact factor, speed of publication and the attracted audience, while the article's open-access availability is considered to be a plus. Furthermore, since a large number of journals comply with the NIH-policy, the participants did not have to change their publishing habits.


Obscene, libidinous, loathsome, lascivious. Those were just some of the ways critics described the nineteenth-century weeklies that covered and publicized New York City's extensive sexual underworld. Publications like the "Flash" and the "Whip" - distinguished by a captivating brew of lowbrow humor and titillating gossip about prostitutes, theater denizens, and sporting events - were not the sort generally bound in leather for future reference, and despite their popularity with an enthusiastic readership, they quickly receded into almost complete obscurity. Recently, though, two sizable collections of these papers have resurfaced, and in "The Flash Press" three renowned scholars provide a landmark study of their significance, as well as a wide selection of their ribald articles and illustrations.Including short tales of urban life, editorials on prostitution, and moralizing rants against homosexuality, these selections epitomize a distinct form of urban journalism. Here, in addition to providing a thorough overview of this colorful reportage, its editors, and its audience, the authors examine nineteenth-century ideas of sexuality and freedom that mixed Tom Paine's republicanism with elements of the Marquis de Sade's sexual ideology. They also trace the evolution of censorship and obscenity law, showing how a string of legal battles ultimately led to the demise of the flash papers: editors were hauled into court, sentenced to jail for criminal obscenity and libel, and eventually pushed out of business - but not before they forever changed the debate over public sexuality and freedom of expression in America's most important city.


The paper aims to present a constitutive constructivist interpretation of the Palestinian refugee question by examining the speeches and other public documents. The proponent questions the perennial inadequacy of mainstream theories particularly realism, thus its purpose is to present an alternative theoretical framework, and with the help of a method to deeply understand the problem. The constitutive version of constructivism differs from the conventional strand because it gives importance to the potency of the use of language. This will be undertaken through the verbs-incontext- system (VICS) method of content analysis. Consequently, the findings are not as good as we would hope for because based on the calculative verbs that were gathered using VICS, it gave us a negative and even pejorative interpretation whether all of the agreements and public statements were done in the spirit of pacta sunt servanda. However, there are glitches in the evaluated statements stating some plethoric and unbinding declarations. Most, if not all, were unilaterally declared based on their perspectives and insinuate some argumentative issues particularly on the right of the refugees to return to their homeland or acquire their lost properties.


Abstract Finding ecologically and economically effective ways to establish matrix species is often critical for restoration success. Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata subsp. wyomingensis) historically dominated large areas of western North America, but has been extirpated from many areas by large wildfires; its re-establishment in these areas often requires active management. We evaluated the performance (survival, health) and economic costs of container and bare-root stock based on operational plantings of more than 1.5 million seedlings across 2 200 ha, and compared our plantings with 30 other plantings in which sagebrush survival was tracked for up to 5 yr. Plantings occurred between 2001 and 2007, and included 12 combinations of stock type, planting amendment, and planting year. We monitored 10 500 plants for up to 8 yr after planting. Survival to Year 3 averaged 21% and was higher for container stock (30%) than bare-root stock (17%). Survival did not differ among container-stock plantings, whereas survival of bare-root stock was sometimes enhanced by a hydrogel dip before planting, but not by mycorrhizal amendments. Most mortality occurred during the first year after planting; this period is the greatest barrier to establishment of sagebrush stock. The proportion of healthy stock in Year 1 was positively related to subsequent survival to Year 3. Costs were minimized, and survival maximized, by planting container stock or bare-root stock with a hydrogel dip. Our results indicate that outplanting is an ecologically and economically effective way of establishing Wyoming big sagebrush. However, statistical analyses were limited by the fact that data about initial variables (stock quality, site conditions, weather) were often unrecorded and by the lack of a replicated experimental design. Sharing consistent data and using an experimental approach would help land managers and restoration practitioners maximize the success of outplanting efforts.


We investigate the effect of an external shear flow on the buoyant instabilities inherent in the directional solidification of a dendritic mushy layer. In the presence of an external shear flow, perturbations of the mush–liquid interface lead to perturbed flow in the bulk fluid that create pressure variations along the mush–liquid interface. These pressure variations drive flow in the mushy layer. A numerical analysis of the stability of the system provides the critical porous-medium Rayleigh number as a function of both the external flow speed and the wavenumber of the interfacial perturbations. In the limit of zero external flow we recover the so-called boundary and mushy layer modes of buoyancy-driven convection first established by Worster (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 237, 1992b, p. 649). We find that the application of an external flow can significantly reduce the stability of both the boundary and mushy layer modes. The resultant forced mushy layer mode gives rise to the formation of channels of reduced solid fraction perpendicular to the applied flow that are distinct from the planform found in the absence of an external flow. The stability of the system is examined as a function of the principal thermodynamic and dynamic parameters, and the results are applied to the solidification of sea ice in the presence of vigorous oceanic flow.


ABSTRACT Ophiosphaerella agrostis, the causal agent of dead spot of creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera), can produce prodigious numbers of pseudothecia and ascospores throughout the summer. The environmental conditions and seasonal timings associated with O. agrostis ascospore release are unknown. The objectives of this research were to (i) determine the influence of light and relative humidity on ascospore release in a controlled environment, (ii) document the seasonal and daily discharge patterns of ascospores in the field, and (iii) elucidate environmental conditions that promote ascospore release under field conditions. In a growth chamber, a sharp decrease (100 to approximately 50%; 25 degrees C) in relative humidity resulted in a rapid (1- to 3-h) discharge of ascospores, regardless of whether pseudothecia were incubated in constant light or dark. In the field, daily ascospore release increased between 1900 and 2300 h and again between 0700 and 1000 h local time. The release of ascospores occurred primarily during the early morning hours when relative humidity was decreasing and the canopy began to dry, or during evening hours when relative humidity was low and dew began to form. Few ascospores were released between 1100 and 1800 h when the bentgrass canopy was dry. The release of ascospores also was triggered by precipitation. Of the ascospores collected during precipitation events, 87% occurred within 10 h of the beginning of each event.


Long term average erosion rates were determined by measuring in situ concentrations of the cosmogenic radionuclide 10Be in the Blue Ridge of central Virginia. The time scale of the erosion rate measurements is on the order of 104-105 years. Several landscape variables were also investigated to determine which processes control erosion. Curvature and slope measurements taken at sample locations using ArcGIS showed slight correlations with erosion rate. Higher erosion rates had low slope values of <5% and curvature values that converged near 1.2. Location of the sample site was taken into consideration because many sites only had bare bedrock outcrops just off of their summits. Whether the sample was collected from a ridgeline or from a side slope had no effect on erosion rates. A slight negative correlation was observed between erosion rate and elevation from sea level throughout Shenandoah National Park, such that higher erosion rates were found at lower elevations. For sampling sites taken down the side of an individual peak no correlation was found between elevation and erosion rate. The dominant erosional processes present at the summits do not seem to have a significant effect on the erosion rates. Areas dominated by episodic events had lower erosion rates than sites dominated by grain-by-grain erosion. In contrast to previous studies, erosion rates found here were most heavily influenced by rock type. The metasandstone sampled had the lowest average erosion rate while the shale had the highest erosion rate average. The mean summit erosion rate for 20 bare bedrock samples is 9.72 m/My, but individual measurements varied from 2.46 to 41.00 m//My. Nearby long term fluvial incision rates are at least an order of magnitude larger than the summits erosion rates, indicating that the landscape is in disequilibrium, more specifically that the relief in the central Appalachians is increasing. The increase in relief is likely due to either high frequency climate changes during the late Cenozoic era or the local change in the Blue Ridge drainage network during the late Miocene epoch.


Traditionally, repairs have been defined as the traces of metalinguistic activities present in oral exchanges that reveal that the speaker(s) are trying to solve language problems which might affect the normal flow of communication (Duranti 1977, Griggs 1997, Levelt 1983, van Lier 1988). However, while most of these studies have highlighted the importance of repairs as tools to gain, expand or reinforce knowledge about the target language, they have not reflected how social identities determine its nature and shape the learners' discourse. We will examine conversational interactions between pairs of adult learners of Spanish as a second language engaged in a role-play activity, acted out for the class. Such activities require learners to determine who they will be, where they will be and who they will be talking to from the perspective of the role-play, but at the same time they must continue to deal with who they are, where they are and who their audience is in the real world. We use conversational analysis and interactional sociolinguistics to analyse their repairs in these two simultaneous conversational contexts.


This research start from a question, is there opportunity for woman to be chief executive, if its coorelated with the prohibition to women's leadership according to Islamic law?. Beside, how to understand claim from people about equality of man and woman in every things. Result of this research can be concluded that there is khilafiyah (different opinions) in determine of law of the womanas achief executive. Ulama classic didn't permite woman as chief executive by understanding texs al-Qur'an verses, hadis and ijmak. Meanwhile, ulama contemporer permited woman to be a leader by understanding verses of Qur'an and hadis  by understanding contexs; looking social  conditions, histories and facts which been. The writer  conclude  by combine  both of opinions (understanding text and context) by applying the texs of verses before, but those verses can be understood by contextual. Kata Kunci: Demokrasi, Kepemimpinan, Islam, gender, perempuan


Although hypoferremia inhibits the growth of extracellular bacteria, it stimulates the growth of the intracellular pathogen Salmonella. Reduction of serum iron (hypoferremia) is a common host defense mechanism for limiting the growth of extracellular bacteria during infection (see Lokken et al.). The peptide hormone hepcidin is produced in the liver and promotes hypoferremia by simulating degradation of the iron channel ferroportin, thus reducing both the uptake of dietary iron and the release of iron into the bloodstream by the macrophages that recycle red blood cells. As the serum concentration of iron decreases, iron accumulates in hepatic and splenic macrophages. Kim et al. report that the intracellular pathogen Salmonella enterica var. Typhimurium (S. typhimurium) exploits this system to proliferate in macrophages. S. typhimurium infection causes the host to produce the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6), which activates Janus kinase–signal transducer and activator of transcription (JAK-STAT) signaling downstream of the IL-6 receptor. Experiments using various knockout mice, in vivo overexpression methods, and rat primary hepatocytes demonstrated that IL-6 induced by infection with S. typhimurium activated the transcription factor STAT3 in hepatocytes. Activated STAT3 directly stimulated the expression of the gene encoding the estrogen-related receptor γ (ERRγ), which, in turn, directly stimulated transcription of the gene encoding hepcidin. Injecting mice with the ERRγ inverse agonist GSK5182 before and during infection with an antibiotic-resistant strain of S. typhimurium resulted in reduced iron concentrations and bacterial numbers in the liver, decreased serum hypoferremia, and increased survival. This study not only adds iron homeostasis to the list of metabolic processes influenced by ERRγ but also suggests that preventing or reversing the iron accumulation that occurs in macrophages because of IL-6–induced hypoferremia might be a way to treat infection by S. typhimurium and other intracellular pathogens. D.-K. Kim, J.-H. Jeong, J.-M. Lee, K. S. Kim, S.-H. Park, Y. D. Kim, M. Koh, M. Shin, Y. S. Jung, H.-S. Kim, T.-H. Lee, B.-C. Oh, J. I. Kim, H. T. Park, W.-I. Jeong, C.-H. Lee, S. B. Park, J.-J. Min, S.-I. Jung, S.-Y. Choi, H. E. Choy, H.-S. Choi, Inverse agonist of estrogen-related receptor γ controls Salmonella typhimurium infection by modulating host iron homeostasis. Nat. Med. 20, 419–424 (2014).[PubMed] K. L. Lokken, R. M. Tsolis, A. J Bäumler, Hypoferremia of infection: A double-edged sword? Nat. Med. 20, 335–337 (2014). [PubMed]


Coniferous forests represent canopies with a high heterogeneity in the horizontal and as well in the vertical dimension. Consequently the interaction of incident radiation is dominated by the complex 3-D canopy structure and architecture. Radiative transfer approaches based on coupled leaf and canopy radiative transfer models (RTM) still allow the simulation of the multidirectional canopy reflectance as a function of leaf optical properties, canopy structure and viewing geometry as well as the retrieval of biophysical and biochemical canopy variables. High-resolution imaging spectrometry supported by light detection and ranging (LIDAR) data and the complex 3-D radiative transfer model FLIGHT (North, 1996) are employed to assess the influence of canopy heterogeneity and structure on canopy reflection. Exhaustive ground measurements of biochemical and biophysical parameters combined with the geometry of single trees derived from LIDAR data provide the possibility of a realistic scene parameterization of a boreal forest in Switzerland.


Process-oriented IT management has gained more and more significance due to the need to specify and control IT infrastructures and services. An indicator for this circumstance is the success of the IT infrastructure library and the enhanced Telecom Operations Map. A process-oriented view allows administrators to specify management tasks and to decompose complex tasks into process chains and hierarchies. Policy based management is a promising candidate for implementation of processes, as it delivers a powerful concept for the implementation of management tasks. Policies are well suited for large scale systems, as the distributed execution in heterogeneous environments is one of the important features of policy architectures. We introduce patterns for the automated generation of policies from process specifications. To achieve the translation between process and policy specification, we leverage common characteristics of processes and policies and define mappings that serve as generic translation patterns. The use of these patterns allows automated translation of process definitions to policies. The approach enables high-level, intuitive management specification, while taking a step towards augmented automation and integration at the operational level. We derive requirements imposed by the translation, and present ProPolis, a policy language incorporating those requirements.


This interdisciplinary thesis offers an account of the sense of touch, from the point of view of the artist. The analysis is concerned with the tactile aspects of art production, and pays particular attention to the physical characteristics of the materials used to generate artworks. Taking my own studio based art practice as its point of departure, this thesis is further interweaved with anthropological, art historical and technical approaches to the analysis of material culture, including art.

This thesis is an exercise in research creation. It consists of two sections: one written and one drawn. The series of drawings served simultaneously as research, and to articulate touch.

Throughout my research, I have encountered contradictory attitudes towards touch and materials: while there is an increasing attention given to the senses, tactility, and materiality in the social sciences, art history, and the discourse of artists, concrete material characteristics and technical processes of art making are treated as secondary. Priority is given to theoretical, social, and otherwise abstract notions.

I attend throughout my thesis to the material and sensual qualities of art works, by for example focusing on the size, thickness and weight of books; the sonic qualities of words; the inclusion of tools (used in the production of the work) as part of the work; and, artists who seek to accentuate or cure neuroses.
This thesis is otherwise informed by a perspective which seeks to overcome the classical separation of the material and the abstract. This perspective developed from the works of Gilbert Simondon and Martin Holbraad. Their work both helped to frame the research, and furthered my conceptualisation of Conceptual art as manipulable.

Conceptual art is said to be dematerialized art, prioritising thinking, with an end result that need not be an object. This suggests a lack of interest in the sensate on the part of Conceptual artists. However, my encounters seek re-materialise and re-sensualise Conceptual art, by attending to material and techniques.

The encounters with matter recounted in this thesis are informed by an autoethnography of my studio practice, which sensitised me to the relationship between bodily postures and the art making. The autoethnography explored the consequences that comfort, or discomfort can have on art making, as well as the variable results from the speed of the drawing hand, the quality of the paper, ink, and pen. These findings were used as a basis for the in-depth analyses of other artwork in the thesis.

The original question that led the undertaking of this interdisciplinary research, an interest with manipulating materials, became a method of comprehending art objects.


During the past 15 years, Ecuador has become the Western Hemisphere's leading producer and exporter of shrimp. Growth has come about largely through mariculture development. About 8,000 metric tons (MT) of shrimp have been captured off the Ecuadorian coast each year since the late 1970s. Meanwhile, pond output has increased several-fold, from less than 5,000 MT in 1979 to over 100,000 MT 12 years later (Table 1). Mariculture has expanded largely at the expense of renewable natural resources. Mangrove swamps, characterized by extremely high biological productivity and, therefore, a critical element of coastal ecosystems, have been displaced. In addition, shrimp postlarvae (PL) collection has at times been excessive and wastewater emissions from some enterprises harm the environment. Mariculture also suffers from water pollution from agricultural, urban, and industrial sources. This paper first describes the extent and consequences of coastal ecosystem disturbance; then presents a causal analysis of environmental problems. Policies contributing to depletive management of wetlands and related resources are similar to policies stimulating tropical deforestation. The tenurial regime rewards those who convert coastal ecosystems into shrimp ponds, just as frontier property arrangements encourage agricultural colonists to convert natural ecosystems into farmland (Southgate 1990). In addition, mariculture's geographic expansion, like agriculture's, has been accelerated by inadequate spending on education, research, and extension (Southgate 1991). If this policy regime remains unchanged, continued deterioration of Ecuador's coastal ecosystems is inevitable.


When reform occurs in prison systems, prisoner insecurity increases. One reason for this is disorganization. The disruption to informal governance structures, distributions of power and mechanisms for establishing trust causes conflicts. This paper argues that a key mechanism linking disorganization to conflict and violence is information flow. Incomplete information in interpersonal interaction marks prison settings. Informal institutions for producing certainty for both staff and prisoners emerge to overcome this. Such institutions are handicapped by reform directed at reducing informal prisoner controls. In such cases, violence becomes an information-generating activity and can substitute for reputation. The paper examines this proposition as it applies to prisoners and staff through a critical case study of radical prison reform in the South Caucasus country of post-Soviet Georgia.


Today's competitive markets require organisations to react proactively to changes in their environment if financial and legal consequences are to be avoided. Since business processes are elementary parts of modern organisations they are also required to efficiently adapt to these changes in quick and flexible ways. This requirement demands a more dynamic handling of business processes, i.e. treating business processes as run-time artefacts rather than design-time artefacts. One general approach to address this problem is provided by the community of email@example.com, which promotes methodologies concerned with self-adaptive systems where models reflect the system's current state at any point in time and allow immediate reasoning and adaptation mechanisms. However, in contrast to common self-adaptive systems the domain of business processes features two additional challenges: (i) a bigger than usual abstraction gap between the business process models and the actual run-time information of the enterprise system and (ii) the possibility of run-time deviations from the planned models. Developing an understanding of such processes is a crucial necessity in order to optimise business processes and dynamically adapt to changing demands. This thesis explores the potential of adopting and enhancing principles and mechanisms from the email@example.com domain to the business process domain for the purpose of run-time reasoning, i.e. investigating the potential role of Descriptive Business Process Models at Run-time (DBPMRTs) in the business process management domain. The DBPMRT is a model describing the enterprise system at run-time and thus enabling higher-level reasoning on the as-is state. Along with the specification of the DBPMRT, algorithms and an overall framework are proposed to establish and maintain a causal link from the enterprise system to the DBPMRT at run-time. Furthermore, it is shown that proactive higher-level reasoning on a DBPMRT in the form of performance prediction allows for more accurate results. By taking these steps the thesis addresses general challenges of business process management, e.g. dealing with frequently changing processes and shortening the business process life cycle. At the same time this thesis contributes to research in firstname.lastname@example.com by providing a complex real-world use case as well as a reference approach for dealing with volatile firstname.lastname@example.com of a higher abstraction level.