Background: Proteoglycan is one of the components of the extracellular matrix with various biological activities and has been used as the functional foods to improve knee joint health or skin condition. Objective: To examine the effect of ingestion of salmon (Oncorhynchus keta, Salmonidae) nasal cartilage-derived proteoglycan (sPG) on skin condition, we performed a randomized, double-blind, controlled study in healthy adult volunteers. Methods: Recruited subjects (n=156) were men and women, ages 21-62 years. From this population, we selected 19 subjects based on the exclusion criteria of the guidelines for evaluation of cosmetic functions of Japanese Cosmetic Science Society. Subjects were randomly divided into an sPG group (n=10; mean age, 39.1 years) and a placebo group (n=9; mean age, 39.6 years). The characteristics of the sPG used in this study were assessed by HPLC and electrophoresis analysis. Results: The safety was confirmed by the monitoring of all volunteer subjects for the development of adverse reactions. We found no negative information on the safety of proteoglycan ingestion and no evidence for an interaction between proteoglycan and other functional foods/medicine in several different databases. Viscoelasticity and recovery after deformation as the skin elasticity increased significantly in the sPG group compared to the placebo group (p<0.05). Skin looseness significantly decreased in the sPG group (p<0.05). Moreover, the number of wrinkles, conspicuous or darkened facial pores, and blotches significantly decreased in the sPG group (p<0.05). Measurements of skin conductance showed that sPG improved skin moisture and micrographs of facial corneocytes showed that sPG improved rough skin. Conclusion: Our results suggest the potential of sPG as a food ingredient to improve human skin condition, including skin elasticity, wrinkles, facial pores, blotches, moisture, and smoothness.


The objective of this study was to assess the performance of direct real time RT-PCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 in heated saliva samples, avoiding the RNA isolation step. Oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal swabs together with saliva samples were obtained from 51 patients clinically diagnosed as potentially having COVID-19. Two different methods were compared: 1. RNA was extracted from 500 μl of sample using a MagNA Pure Compact Instrument with an elution volume of 50μl and 2. 700µL of saliva were heat-inactivated at 96°C for 15 minutes, and directly subjected to RT-PCR. One step real time RT-PCR was performed using 5 μl of extracted RNA or directly from 5 μl of heated sample. RT-PCR was performed targeting the SARS-CoV-2 envelope (E) gene region. Diagnostic performance was assessed using the results of the RT-PCR from nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs as the gold standard. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 81.08%, 92.86%, 96.77% and 65.00%, respectively when RNA extraction was included in the protocol with saliva, whereas sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were 83.78%, 92.86%, 68.42% and 96.88%, respectively, for the heat-inactivation protocol. However, when the analysis was performed exclusively on saliva samples with a limited time from the onset of symptoms (<9 days, N=28), these values were 90%, 87.5%, 44% and 98.75% for the heat-inactivation protocol. The study showed that RT-PCR can be performed using saliva in an RNA extraction free protocol, showing good sensitivity and specificity.


The notion of alemmais so familiar in corpus linguistics that it scarcely needs a formal definition. When a wordlist or a text is lemmatised, the process is apparently transparent, so that any observer can understand how the lemma relates to the original set or string of words. We shall argue in this paper that, on the contrary, the concept of lemma is not well defined, and is in need of a clear formal definition. The lemma is a fundamental concept in the processing of texts in at least some languages, a point we shall illustrate with respect to Arabic and Malay. It so happens that English lemmas are not typical of the general category, so that linguists who base their understanding of the lemma on English obtain a distorted view. It is essential to reverse the direction of argument, and to start with a general understanding of the lemma, and to consider English lemmas in the wider context.


Is international law, law? If it is law, then is it superior, equivalent, or inferior to domestic law? Should international law govern domestic legal decisions? If so, to what extent? These questions reveal unresolved disagreement over the proper place and role of international law, especially in the context of contained positivist, domestic legal systems. Generally, a nation's constitution is perceived to be hierarchically superior, even in enforcing internationally recognized human rights. However, not all nations enjoy that luxury. In some nations, where climate change threatens to overwhelm the constitutional rights of their citizens, international action is indispensable to preserving and protecting constitutional rights. This Article presses the following argument: a normative shift in analyzing the impact on domestic constitutional rights of extremely vulnerable countries is quintessential to appreciate and address the scale of rights violation that climate change threatens citizens of some nations if unmitigated through effective international cooperation.

Analyzing the extent to which the constitutional right to environmental protection enshrined in a number of constitutions of foreign countries and US states are threatened by a lack of an international response to climate change, the Article focuses on the domestic and international legal remedies (or lack thereof) available to the individuals, minority groups, and entire populations most threatened by climate-related catastrophe. In particular, the Article thoroughly examines seven constitutional climate-related cases and speculates as to their potential impact in this field. In conclusion, the Article proposes incorporating constitutional rights language in an international document such as the Paris Agreement to illustrate that climate change causes a domestic rule of law problem that absolutely requires international legal intervention.


The effects of absent or low Ca2+ (0.5 mM), verapamil, nifedipine, Na nitroprusside, theophylline, La2+, and ethanol on basal active tension (tone), "off" contractions, and carbachol contractions were studied in opossum lower esophageal sphincter strips. Incubation in Ca2+-free Ringer (0.1 mM EGTA) abolished tone and contractions. Low Ca2+, verapamil, nifedipine, and theophylline depressed tone more rapidly than "off" contractions. Only verapamil and nifedipine depressed carbachol contractions. Na nitroprusside rapidly depressed tone but left contractions unchanged. La3+ at 1 X 10(-3) M behaved like Ca2+-free incubation but produced sustained contractions with muscle stimulation. Ethanol depressed "off" contractions more than tone and did not affect carbachol-induced contractions. These results suggest that tone probably results from inward leak of Ca2+, whereas "off" contractions depend on release of Ca2+ sequestered in the cell by a mechanism not immediately dependent on increased Ca2+ influx. Carbachol may increase Ca2+ influx as well as utilize sequestered Ca2+. Nifedipine and verapamil may act to block both resting and stimulated Ca2+ influx. Na nitroprusside may act by increasing Ca2+ efflux. Ethanol may act by decreasing the availability of sequestered Ca2+ or by inhibiting the function of a mediator responsible for "off" contractions.


There is a large amount of information on the World Wide Web that is at the fingertips of anyone with access to the internet. However, so far this information has primarily been used by people who connect to the web via traditional computer. This is about to change. Recent advances in wireless communication, speech recognition, and speech synthesis technologies have made it possible to access this information from any place, and at any time. In this paper, we discuss voice browsers as compared to current web browsers. Some of the primary techniques of universal accessible design are listed with their relation to voice browsers and some ideas are offered to help authors implementing these considerations when designing web pages. The new voice markup language is briefly discussed.


In our work, a robot can proactively ask for help when necessary, based on its awareness of its sensing and actuation limitations. Approaches in which humans provide help to robots do not necessarily reason about the human availability and accuracy. Instead, we model the availability of humans in the robot's environment and present a planning approach that uses such model to generate the robot navigational plans. In particular, we contribute two separate planners that allow a robot to distinguish actions that it cannot complete autonomously from ones that it can. In the first planner, the robot plans autonomous actions when possible and requests help to complete actions that it could not otherwise complete. Then for actions that it can perform autonomously, we use a POMDP policy that incorporates the human availability model to plan actions that reduce uncertainty or that increase the likelihood of the robot finding an available human to help it reduce its uncertainty. We have shown in prior work that asking people in the environment for help during tasks can reduce task completion time and increase the robot's ability to perform tasks.


This paper reexamines the ability of the Solow-type growth models to explain the pattern of cross-country growth rates. Recent authors, most notably Mankiw, Romer and Weil [1990], have argued that differences in national growth rates are compatible with the view that each country has access to a common, neoclassical aggregate production function. Such models imply that, conditional on population growth and savings rates, disparate economies are converging over time to the same level of per capita output. We argue that cross-country growth is better explained by a model of local versus global convergence. Countries converge locally in the sense that economies with similar initial conditions tend to converge to one another. However, we find little evidence of convergence across economies with substantially different initial conditions as measured by per capita output or literacy rates. Further, the impact of capital formation on aggregate output increases with the level of economic development. These results are consistent with models of multiple equilibria in long run behavior. Our results suggest that the Solow growth model should be supplemented with a theory of aggregate production function differences in order to fully explain international growth patterns.


We investigate how Organisational Learning (OL) can occur through Process Improvement (PI) activities, leading to sustained improvements over time in the context of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). We study PI practices in six engineering-oriented SMEs via interview-based case studies. We draw from a range of literature and use an OL conceptual framework, informed by Crossan et al.'s (1999) 4I framework, as an analytical lens. The OL perspective provides new insights to conceptualize the nature of PI as a multi-level practice in SMEs. Effective PI practices within SMEs are shown to be consistent with OL concepts, enabling firms to translate individually identified improvement opportunities into organisational-level changes that result in sustained benefits. A new conceptual model is presented that explains how SMEs can learn through improvement activities. The key role of management support, both operational and strategic, is highlighted. It is necessary for management to provide sufficient PI opportunities to enable and sustain beneficial learning. Management can provide additional learning opportunities by introducing new business that requires exploratory learning. Without such support, the reduction in improvement opportunities reduces the benefits that can be realised from PI. The findings provide a theoretically underpinned framework to achieve OL in engineering-oriented SMEs deriving from PI activities, highlighting the key mechanisms that enable learning from improvement activities. Further case-based, longitudinal, and survey-based research studies with firms of different types will enhance the generalisability of the findings, allowing the confirmation and extension of the new conceptual model. OL provides a multi-level perspective to understand both how smaller firms are able to undergo systematic improvements and the support required to continually improve.


Following an entrepreneurial career is a viable way out of the disconcerting problem of unemployment among the youth aged 15-34 in South Africa. The greatest challenge in resolving this predicament is the creation of more jobs, and entrepreneurship might offer a way towards this aspiration, but potential young entrepreneurs, many of who don't pursue tertiary education after leaving school, don't necessarily have the required education or training in entrepreneurship.
Literature suggests that creativity and flexibility are among the essential skills needed for a successful entrepreneurial career. This research aimed to determine whether active learning in a business simulated set-up at secondary school level would enhance learners' creativity and flexibility competencies. These competencies of a specific group of grade 11 learners were tested before and after they had been exposed to an enriched Business Studies curriculum. Assessments were done quantitatively through a questionnaire based on different given scenarios, as well as qualitatively through observation and interviews.
The findings revealed that this intervention enhanced these learners' entrepreneurial competencies regarding creativity and flexibility considerably. Implications are that real-world exposure in a business simulated set-up, has the potential to give birth to successful entrepreneurial careers and also contribute to an accelerated pace of economic growth and job creation.


We propose Sparse Boosting (the SparseL2Boost algorithm), a variant on boosting with the squared error loss. SparseL2Boost yields sparser solutions than the previously proposed L2Boosting by minimizing some penalized L2-loss functions, the FPE model selection criteria, through small-step gradient descent. Although boosting may give already relatively sparse solutions, for example corresponding to the soft-thresholding estimator in orthogonal linear models, there is sometimes a desire for more sparseness to increase prediction accuracy and ability for better variable selection: such goals can be achieved with SparseL2Boost.

We prove an equivalence of SparseL2Boost to Breiman's nonnegative garrote estimator for orthogonal linear models and demonstrate the generic nature of SparseL2Boost for nonparametric interaction modeling. For an automatic selection of the tuning parameter in SparseL2Boost we propose to employ the gMDL model selection criterion which can also be used for early stopping of L2Boosting. Consequently, we can select between SparseL2Boost and L2Boosting by comparing their gMDL scores.


This study examines the antecedents and outcomes of labor-management cooperation. Data were drawn from 305 branches of a large unionized Australian-based multinational banking organization. The authors find that perceptions of a cooperative labor relations climate were positively influenced by procedural justice, the union's willingness to adopt an integrative approach to bargaining, and management's willingness to share information freely with the union. The findings also indicate that a cooperative labor-management relationship contributed to higher productivity and improved customer service. In addition, organizational commitment was found to have a positive effect on branch-level productivity and customer service, and union loyalty was associated with lower absenteeism.


Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) is an inherited cardiac disease characterized by an unexplained thickening of the heart ventricles. It is the first cause of sudden cardiac death in young adults. No reliable biomarkers for risk assessment have been presented so far, but the electrocardiograms of HCM patients are often abnormal due to structural and electrical abnormalities. The goal of our study was to extract morphological QRS biomarkers in order to discriminate between HCM patients and control patients by analyzing fifty 12-lead Holter recordings (29 HCM - 21 control). Morphological features such as QRS width or slopes from the QRS complex directly and the coefficients of the first four Hermite transform basis were extracted. Classification was then performed using those features in an L1 regularized logistic regression algorithm. Classification between control and HCM patients reached 95.7% of accuracy (sensitivity of 94.96% for HCM and specificity of 96.90%) using only two main features: the percentage of negative regions of the QRS complex with respect to the isoelectric level and the 3rd coefficient of its Hermite fitting showing interesting connections to cardiac electrophysiology.


As observed from the literature, not much effort is made on increasing the content of healthy components of total polyphenols in teas by using post-treatment technologies based on nanoparticles (NPs). In this work, we report a new strategy on the green preparation of Au NPs from bulk Au sheets by employing a thermal reduction method in a solution containing chitosan (Ch) and trisodium citrate. The synthesized Au NPs are innovatively applicable for treating commercial teas at room and elevated temperatures for increasing the contents of their healthy components. Encouragingly, the content of the total polyphenols in the treated teas, including less oxidized oolong tea and fully oxidized black tea, can be significantly increased by ca. 100% and 30%, respectively, compared to corresponding untreated teas. In addition, the ability to scavenge free hydroxyl radicals for oolong tea can be enhanced by ca. 20% after the Au NPs-treatment. These results suggest that this alternative approach based on prepared Au NPs promises the availability of healthier teas.


Reticular chemistry, linking molecular building blocks together by strong bonds to make porous frameworks, is a rapidly expanding field of research, engaging laboratories worldwide. However, as with any emerging field, there exist 'folklores' permeating through the scientific discourse. These folklores do little in the way of advancing the field and, in no uncertain terms, negatively color our scientific pursuits. It is within this context that we seek to bring the folklores out into the open to provide the true realities of reticular chemistry.


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San Jose State University Library, along with all California State University (CSU) libraries, recently migrated to ExLibris' Alma and Primo, going live with our unified CSU library system in 2017. One of our most anticipated Alma features is the ability to export invoices from Alma into the campus PeopleSoft financial systems (ERPs). A team of systems and acquisitions staff from several campuses developed an integration plan that could be adapted for use by all our CSU libraries. Several libraries have now successfully implemented this process, improving their invoice workflow efficiency.

This presentation will highlight our integration process that links Alma Invoicing to PeopleSoft's financial system. We will include technical and organizational considerations, suggested Alma fund and vendor configurations, lessons learned, and future plans for expanded functionality. These guidelines may be adaptable for use in any Alma library.


The present investigation was undertaken with the objective of formulating taste-masked orally-disintegrating films of the bitter levocetirizine dihydrochloride to enhance the convenience and compliance by the elderly or paediatric or bedridden and non-cooperative patients due to its ease of administration. Scope of this study was to explore the film forming properties of various film formers like modified starch, pullulan, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose and polyvinyl alcohol-polyethylene glycol based polymers. Plasticizers like glycerin, propylene glycol, sorbitol and polyethylene glycol 400 were evaluated by studying their effect on folding endurance, peelablity and in vitro disintegration time. Films were prepared by solvent casting method. Drug loaded films, which composed of the selected polymers with the suitable plasticizer showed excellent film forming capacity along with good folding endurance, in vitro disintegration time within 22 s and >95% drug release in 10 min as compared to marketed immediate release tablets, which showed on 30.4% at the end of 10 min The films prepared were 30-40 mg in weight with pleasant taste with bitter active being successfully taste masked by a mixture of sucralose and monoammonium glycerrhizinate producing an extended sweetness profile. Furthermore, the orally disintegrating films were stable for at least 3 mon when stored at 40° and 75% relative humidity. The formulation developed is simple, easy to prepare and economical with great applicability during the emergency cases such as allergic reactions, whenever immediate onset of action is desired.


In this comprehensive book, Lama Surya Das provides a bridge between East and West, past, present and future, making sacred and profound Tibetan teachings clear and easily accessible for anyone who wants to lead a more enlightened and sane life. Utilizing the unique Buddhist guidelines embodied in the Noble Eight Fold Path and the traditional Three Enlightenment Trainings of Virtue, Meditation and Wisdom, he elucidates the tried and true path of spiritual transformation - including key principles such as karma, rebirth and mind-training, as well as the highest, most secret teaching of Tibet, Dzogchen. In this wonderful marriage of the practical and the profound, Lama Surya Das reveals how sacred wisdom can be integrated into our busy lives. He offers a unique approach to the comprehensive wisdom of ancient Tibetan teachings on conscious living and dying and shows that the power of the Buddha is resting within us all. Drawing on Buddhist spirituality and wisdom, this is a view of the world written for Western seekers.


Jack Nicklaus: My Story is Jack Nicklaus's complete and compelling inside, in-depth account of those legendary majors triumphs, along with many other competition highlights - and some lowlights, too - of one of the greatest sports careers of all time. But, because this fascinating man has always been so much more than a professional athlete, his long-awaited autobiography is vastly more than a book about winning and losing. Revealed with the unfailing candor and intensity that are his most distinctive personality traits, here are all of the Jack Nicklauses his legions of admirers, and even some of those close to him, have never known the son, whose eyes still well up at the mention of his father; the husband, deeply aware of how much the strength, resilience, charm, and love of a woman content to remain in the shadows have meant to both his public image and private happiness; the famous father who, every day of his life, really has put his children first; the artist, tirelessly creating highly acclaimed courses so that others can enjoy his beloved game; the businessman, staggeringly successful at times, staggeringly unsuccessful at others; the analyst of the methods and makeups of the golfers who pushed him hardest and, most candidly of his own strengths and weaknesses; the commentator offering deep insights and strong opinions on the whys and wherefores of an occupation that has been extremely rewarding for him, yet one that he still regards as purely a game; and the multimillionaire, jet-plane-owning, world-traveling celebrity who is happiest hanging around home in a pair of shorts, then taking the kids to a family restaurant for dinner.


Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) evolved from the application of stereotactic radiosurgery, which is focused intracranial radiation. SBRT offers high doses of specific radiation with oligofractions (five or less) to a specified target, providing local control to circumscribed tumors while sparing surrounding normal tissue. Commonly treated cancers include tumors of the lung and liver. The challenge with SBRT is to account for organ motion and the achievement of precise targeting. SBRT uses three-dimensional radiation therapy planning, intensity-modulated radiation therapy, as well as image-guided organ motion and gating. SBRT is based on the premise of geometric avoidance, targeting the tumor with the goal of complete avoidance of the surrounding normal tissues and critical organs. An SBRT course of treatment ranges from one to five treatments (hypofractionated) and, therefore, differs from conventional radiation, which is usually a prolonged course ranging from two to six weeks of daily treatment.


A T-bolt was part of the coupling for a bleed air duct of a jet engine on a transport plane. Specifications required that the 4.8 mm diam component be made of AISI type 431 stainless steel and heat treated to 44 HRC. The operating temperature of the duct is 425 to 540 deg C (800 to 1000 deg F), but that of the bolt is lower. The T-bolt broke after three years of service. The expected service life was equal to that of the aircraft. It was found that the bolt broke as a result of SCC. Thermal stresses were induced into the bolt by intermittent operation of the jet engine. Mechanical stresses were induced by tightening of the clamp around the duct, which in effect acted to straighten the bolt. The action of these stresses on the carbides that precipitated in the grain boundaries resulted in fracture of the bolt. Due to the operating temperatures of the duct near the bolt, the material was changed to A-286, which is less susceptible to carbide precipitation. The bolt is strengthened by shot peening and rolling the threads after heat treatment. Avoiding temperatures in the sensitizing range is desirable, but difficult to ensure because of the application.


The FOMC's announcements of Treasury purchase programs and the subsequent or contemporaneous statements by the New York Fed about the programs' operational details provide a sequence of natural experiments with the potential to shed light on the relative importance of the duration risk channel versus the local supply channel for the transmission of supply effects to the term structure of interest rates. Using intraday security-level data on Treasury securities, we conduct five event studies to document the presence of local supply effects and duration risk effects. Further, using our new measures of local supply surprise and duration risk surprise we quantify the average impact of these two supply channels on nominal Treasury yields for each of the five events. Finally, we also try to determine how the importance of these factors has changed over time and relative to the first Large Scale Asset Purchase program in 2008-09. We find that: first, once the pre-announcement market expectations are carefully controlled for, the duration risk and local supply channels together are responsible for a decline in yields averaging about 9 basis points per $100 billion over the course of these announcements; second, these two channels are almost equally important for the transmission mechanism of purchases, as on average each of these channels accounts for about half of the yields decline; third, the efficacy of these two channels does not seem to have declined over time; and fourth, the purchase and sale price reactions to the announcements are quite similar, a result potentially relevant for the unwinding of these programs.


Demand for soybean is increasing nowadays as it provides a high nutrition food at affordable price. To fulfill the demand, an intercropping system of soybean-oil palm may increase the production of soybean. However, shading by the oil palm canopy would reduce the amount of radiation reaching the soil surface. Theoritically, application of reflective mulches may increase the amount of solar radiation intercepted by the shaded plants, hence it gives a positive effect for plant growth. The study aimed to analyze the effect of an increased radiation transmission with reflective mulch on the growth and development of soybean under an intercropping system with 4-year olds oil palm. The experiments were carried out on PT. Perkebunan Nusantara VIII located in Cimarga District, Lebak Regency, from March to June 2018. There were three treatments based on mulch application, namely soil without mulch (R0), soil with black silver plastic mulch (R1), and soil with dry palm oil leaf mulch (R2). The results showed that a canopy of 4-year-olds oil palm transmitted around 42% of an incoming radiation. The use of mulch as radiation reflector has a positive effect on an increased interception of solar radiation and potential productivity. Under R1 and R2 treatments, intercepted radiation was 25% and 15% larger than that of R0. In addition, mulch increased radiation use efficiency (RUE) by 2.3 times under R1 (1.6 g/MJ) and 1.7 times under R2 (1.2 g/MJ). The potency of productivity also increased (1.48 and 1.42 times higher under R1 and R2, respectively). The finding confirmed that mulch application did not affect the plant development in any treatment. Furthermore, we suggest that an intercropping system of soybean and 4-year-olds oil palm may be applied to increase the soybean production in Indonesia.


Background: There is no single noninvasive index that can directly assess diastolic function. Untwist, contributes to diastolic suction, early filling. Speckle tracking imaging (STI), can be used to study the relation between diastolic indices and untwist in patients with diastolic dysfunction.
 Patients and methods: 75 patients with diastolic dysfunction and 25 normal volunteers were selected for this study. According to mitral flow pattern they were classified into Group I (abnormal relaxation), Group II (pseudo-normalized) and group III (stiffness pattern) Using STI, the basal and apical short axis views were imaged. Stored data were processed to get apical and basal rotation, systolic twist, peak systolic twist ratio, diastolic untwist ratio and time to peak twist and untwist ratio.
Results: peak untwisting ratio was significantly higher in Group I Patients that decreased to be normalized and even decreased with progression of diastolic dysfunction from grade II to Group III. There was a highly significant positive and negative correlation with EDV and ESV, respectively. Time to peak untwist ratio non-significantly increased from Group I to III with non significant correlation between untwist ratio and peak E, A, and E/A ratio.
 Conclusion: patients with relaxation abnormality have a higher untwist ratio that decrease gradually with progression from relaxation to stiffness pattern. It may appear as a compensatory mechanism to assure early filling with relaxation abnormality.


Water scarcity is problem being faced worldwide and present in every continent. Close to one-fifth of the world's population has difficulty acquiring safe water, and the problem is worsening as populations continue to grow in poorer countries. As the availability of unimpaired freshwater sources dwindle, water sources, such as the oceans and saline ground waters, must be tapped. However, desalination technologies are very expensive due to a high energy requirement. Forward osmosis (FO) is a process which may be able to replace or become integrated with existing desalination technologies like reverse osmosis. FO relies on an osmotic agent, or draw solution, to drive water from a saline water source by osmosis. The water dilutes the draw solution and a secondary separation process removes solutes and recycles the draw solution. This secondary separation step is key to FO process economics. Recently, a classification of draw solutes, known as switchable polarity solvents (SPSs) have emerged. These solvents become highly miscible with water upon sparging with CO2 and phase separate when stripped with an inert gas. One such SPS is N,N-dimethylcyclohexylamine. This SPS has shown promise in early testing at Idaho National Laboratories. However, because it is a solvent, membranes, which are polymeric, may not be compatible with the solution. This study examines the longevity of conventional osmotic membranes after exposure to relevant SPS solutions. Membrane performance metrics, such as permeance and salt rejection as well as osmotic flux, are presented.


There are several forms of hereditary human hair loss, known collectively as alopecias, which vary in age of onset, severity, and associated ectodermal abnormalities. Genetic conditions affecting hair structure or the hair growth cycle may be isolated or they may occur as part of complex syndromes with associated abnormalities of other ectodermal appendages.

For the present study, seven highly consanguineous families (A-G) with hereditary alopecias have been ascertained from different regions of Pakistan. The pattern of inheritance in all families has been observed as autosomal recessive.

In family A with alopecia and mental retardation syndrome, affected individuals were born with total alopecia and mild to moderate mental retardation. Screening of the human genome led to the identification of a novel locus, APMR2, on chromosome 3q26.2-q26.31. Significant evidence of linkage to this chromosomal region was found with maximum multipoint LOD score of 4.57 with several markers. Haplotype analysis located the APMR2 locus in 9.6 cM (5.6 Mb) region flanked by markers D3Sl564 and D3S2427. One of the candidate genes, TNFSF10, located in the linkage interval was screened in two affected and one normal individual; however, no disease causing mutation was detected.

In family B with alopecia and mental retardation syndrome, affected individuals showed total alopecia with severe mental retardation. Genome scan resulted in localization of a novel locus for alopecia and mental retardation syndrome, APMR3, to chromosome 18q11.2-q12.2. A maximum multipoint LOD score of 4.03 was obtained with several markers. The APMR3 linkage interval spans to a 10.9 cM (12.17 Mb) region flanked by markers D18S866 and D18S811. Nine candidate genes including, DSG1, DSG3, DSG4, DSC1, DSC3, ZNF397, ZNF271, ZNF24, and ZNF396 within linkage interval of APMR3 were screened in two affected and one normal individual. Sequence analysis, however failed to detect any functional variant.

In two consanguineous families (C and D), with localized autosomal recessive hypotrichosis segregating as a single abnormality without associated defects, a novel locus (LAH3) was mapped to chromosome 13q14.11-q21.32. Significant evidence of linkage to this chromosomal region was found with a maximum two-point LOD score of 4.79 and maximum multipoint LOD score of 5.9 with several markers. Due to consanguineous nature in these two families, the gene for LAH3 is probably contained within a 17.35 cM (24.41 Mb) region flanked by markers D13S325 and D13S1231. This linkage interval contains several genes including MED4 gene, which was screened for pathogenic mutation, but failed to identify any functional sequence variant.

In family E, affected individuals exhibited typical features of congenital alopecia. Genome scan was carried out using 396 highly polymorphic microsatellite markers. The linkage data obtained from genome scan and further saturation of the four chromosomal regions failed to define a region harboring a causative gene for congenital alopecia.

Two other families (F and G), demonstrating congenital atrichia and papular lesions, were found to be linked to HR gene on chromosome 8p21.3. Sequence analysis of exon 2 of the HR gene in affected individuals of family F revealed an insertion of 11 bp repeat sequence at nucleotide position 202 [202(InsCTTCCCCCAGG)]. In family G, the entire coding region, as well as the intron-exon boundaries of HR' gene were. sequenced in two affected and one normal individual, but failed to identify functional sequence variant suggesting that the mutation is probably present in the regulatory sequences of the gene.

The work presented in the thesis has been published in the following articles.

1. Wali A, Ansar M, Khan MN, Ahmad W. Atrichia with papular lesions resulting from a novel insertion mutation in the human hairless gene. Clinical and Experimental Dermatology 31(5): 695-698,2006.

2. Wali A, John P, Gul A, Lee K, Chishti MS, A1i G, Hassan MJ, Leal SM, Ahmad W. A novel locus for alopecia with mental retardation syndrome (APMR2) maps to chromosome 3q26.2-q26.31. Clinical Genetics 70(3): 233-239, 2006.

3. Wali A, Ali G, John P, Lee K, Chishti MS, Leal SM, Ahmad W. Mapping of a Gene for Alopecia with Mental Retardation Syndrome (APMR3) on Chromosome 18q11.2-q12.2. Annals of Human Genetics 71(5): 570-577,2007.

4. Wali A, Chishti MS, Ayub M, Yasinzai M, Kafaitullah, Ali G, John P, Ahmad W. Localization of a novel autosomal recessive hypotrichosis locus (LAH3) to chromosome 13q14.11-q21.32. Clinical Genetics 72(1): 23-29,2007.


In the paper we analyse the notion of 'black swan' as popularised by Taleb (2007). We propose that in the context of the futures' imagination, a black swan can be defined as hybrid that integrates local knowledge with multiple temporal scales, combining past, present and future tenses. As empirical material, we analyse the short stories from a writing contest held by the Finnish Parliament's Committee for the Future. The material contains 132 short stories. The analysis gives intriguing insights into how Finnish people – from different locales, of different ages and with differing educational and professional backgrounds – imagine dif-


This presentation is based on our and our co-instructors' (Steve Zaffron, Kari Granger, and Jeri Echeverria) work over the last eleven years developing our course entitled "Being A Leader and the Effective Exercise of Leadership". This presentation was given at the University of California, Berkeley Zellerbach Hall on 13 May 2015. Over 1600 people attended the sold-out event. We also gave the presentation to sold-out audiences at the University of Chicago Mandel Hall (3 May 2015 - over 800 participants), and at New York University Skirball Center (5 November 2013 - over 800 participants). The course is designed to leave participants actually being leaders and exercising leadership effectively, and to contribute to creating a new science of leadership. The course is founded on what we term an ontological / phenomenological model of human nature. What we presented on these three occasions was designed to leave the participants with a sense of the unique design of the course, and what makes it possible to deliver on the outrageous promise of this one semester course: "You will leave this course being a leader and exercising leadership effectively as your natural self-expression." While we obviously could not in one evening deliver the values of the course itself, we were committed to delivering useful "take-aways" for the participants. The ontological / phenomenological approach is uniquely effective in providing actionable access to being a leader and to exercising leadership effectively as one's natural self-expression. An epistemological mastery of a subject leaves you knowing. An ontological mastery of a subject leaves you being and acting naturally. This course leaves participants being a leader and exercising leadership effectively as their natural self-expression. We also focus on those ontological factors that constrain and shape one's freedom to be, and one's perceptions, emotions, creative imagination, thinking, planning, and actions when being a leader and exercising leadership. When one is not in the grip of what we term an "ontological constraint", one's way of being and acting results naturally in one's personal best in any leadership situation. Our chapter in the Harvard "Handbook for Teaching Leadership" describing and explaining the course can be downloaded at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1681682. The five pre-course readings can be downloaded at the following URLs: Readings 1 and 2 can be downloaded at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2416455 . Reading 3: "Integrity: Without It Nothing Works" (an interview that serves as an introductory summary of our new model of integrity) can be downloaded at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1511274 . Reading 4: "Integrity: A Positive Model that Incorporates the Normative Phenomena of Morality, Ethics and Legality -- Abridged" can be downloaded at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1542759 . Reading 5: "Introductory Reading For Being a Leader and the Effective Exercise of Leadership: An Ontological/Phenomenological Model" can be downloaded at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1585976. The complete over 1,000 page "Slide-Deck Textbook" used in the Dubai (UAE) course during Jan. 6-9 and 11-13, 2015 can be downloaded at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1263835. Landmark contributed the net proceeds from the "Creating Leaders" events in New York, Chicago and Berkeley to the non-profit Erhard-Jensen Ontological / Phenomenological Initiative for the development of a new science of leadership. Mr. Erhard and Professor Jensen's time for these three events, as well as their time for research, development and teaching of their course described above is on a pro bono basis.


Prior literature suggests that the market underreacts to the positive correlation in a typical firm's seasonal earnings changes, which leads to a post-earnings-announcement drift (PEAD) in prices. We examine the market reaction for a distinct set of firms whose seasonal earnings changes are uncorrelated and show that the market incorrectly assumes that the earnings changes of these firms are positively correlated. We also document that positive (negative) seasonal earnings changes in the current quarter are associated with negative (positive) abnormal returns in the following quarter. Thus, we observe a reversal of abnormal returns, consistent with a systematic overreaction to earnings, rather than the previously documented PEAD. Additional analysis indicates that financial analysts similarly overestimate the autocorrelation of these firms, although to a lesser extent. We also find that the magnitude of overestimation and the subsequent price reversal are inversely related to the richness of the information environment. Our results challenge the notion that investors recognize but consistently underestimate earnings correlation and provide a new perspective on the inability of prices to fully reflect the implications of current earnings for future earnings.


Deep reinforcement learning applied to vision-based problems like Atari games maps pixels directly to actions; internally, the deep neural network bears the responsibility of both extracting useful information and making decisions based on it. By separating image processing from decision-making, one could better understand the complexity of each task, as well as potentially find smaller policy representations that are easier for humans to understand and may generalize better. To this end, we propose a new method for learning policies and compact state representations separately but simultaneously for policy approximation in reinforcement learning. State representations are generated by an encoder based on two novel algorithms: Increasing Dictionary Vector Quantization makes the encoder capable of growing its dictionary size over time, to address new observations; and Direct Residuals Sparse Coding encodes observations by aiming for highest information inclusion. We test our system on a selection of Atari games using tiny neural networks of only 6 to 18 neurons (depending on the game's controls). These are still capable of achieving results comparable---and occasionally superior---to state-of-the-art techniques which use two orders of magnitude more neurons.


Learning from few examples is considered a very challenging task where transfer learning proved to be beneficial. Such a learning framework exploits previous experiences and knowledge to compensate for the lack of training data in a novel domain. Knowledge representation plays a vital role in the type and performance of transfer learning approaches, as well as its robustness against negative transfer effect. This aspect is usually not considered in most of the proposed transfer learning methodologies, where the focus is either on the transfer type or on the representation. In this work, we study the use of various high-level semantics in transfer metric learning. We propose a generic transfer metric learning framework, and analyze the effect of different semantic similarity spaces on transfer type and efficiency against negative transfer. Furthermore, we introduce a hierarchical knowledge representation model based on the embedded structure in the attribute semantic space. The evaluation of the framework on challenging transfer settings in the context of action similarity demonstrates the effectiveness of our approach.


Payments for environmental services (PES) have become a popular approach to address environmental degradation. However, evidence on its effectiveness is scarce and rather mixed. PES is not a panacea, but there are many cases where PES can be a promising tool. Yet, poor PES design translates into poor performance of the instrument. PES design is a complex task; the devil is in the detail of a number of PES design features. The purpose of this paper is to provide guidance in dealing with this complexity through a comprehensive review of PES design that is accessible to both academics and practitioners. Practitioner guidelines on deciding whether PES is the best approach and for selecting among alternative design features are presented. PES design has to start from a careful understanding of the specific ecological and socio-economic context. We now know a lot about which design features are best suited to which context. It is time to put these insights into practice.


Entity resolution (ER) aims to identify data records referring to the same real-world entity. Due to the heterogeneity of entity attributes and the diversity of similarity measures, one main challenge of ER is how to select appropriate similarity measures for different attributes. Previous ER methods usually employ heuristic similarity selection algorithms, which are highly specialized to specific ER problems and are hard to be generalized to other situations. Furthermore, previous studies usually perform similarity learning and similarity selection independently, which often result in error propagation and are hard to be optimized globally. To resolve the above problems, this paper proposes an end-to-end multi-perspective entity matching model, which can adaptively select optimal similarity measures for heterogenous attributes by jointly learning and selecting similarity measures in an end-to-end way. Experiments on two real-world datasets show that our method significantly outperforms previous ER methods.


Dovepress 1 S t u dy P R O t O c O l open access to scientific and medical research Open Access Full text Article Background: With an ageing population and increasing demands on health and social care services, there is growing importance attached to the management of long-term conditions, including maximizing the cost-effectiveness of treatments. In line with this, there is increasing emphasis on the need to keep people both active and participating in daily life. Consequently, it is essential that well developed and validated instruments that can meaningfully assess levels of participation and activity are widely available. Current measures, however, are largely focused on disability and rehabilitation, and there is no measure of activity or participation for generic use that fully meets the standards set by regulatory bodies such as the US Food and Drug Administration. Here we detail a protocol for the development and validation of a new patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for assessment of participation and activity in people experiencing a variety of health conditions, ie, the Oxford Participation and Activities Questionnaire (Ox-PAQ). The stages incorporated in its development are entirely in line with current regulations and represent best practice in the development of PROMs. Methods: Development of the Ox-PAQ is theoretically grounded in the World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health. The project incorporates a new strategy of engaging with stakeholders from the outset in an attempt to identify those characteristics of PROMs considered most important to a range of potential users. Items will be generated through interviews with patients from a range of conditions. Pretesting of the instrument will be via cognitive interviews and focus groups. A postal survey will be conducted, with data subject to factor and Rasch analysis in order to identify appropriate dimensions and redundant items. Reliability will be assessed by Cronbach's alpha and item-total correlations. A second, large-scale postal survey will follow, with the Ox-PAQ being administered in conjunction with generic measures of health status to further test the validity of the measure. The Ox-PAQ will again be administered at 2 weeks to assess test-retest reliability and at 3 months to assess responsiveness. Conclusion: The development of the Ox-PAQ is a timely one. With increasing emphasis being placed on the importance of keeping people active and participating in daily life, the instrument has the potential for significant uptake. Its primary use is intended to be in …


Antiretroviral therapy has increased life expectancy for HIV infected patients; however, this population is developing chronic illnesses associated with aging. Liver disease is a major cause of non-AIDS mortality, characterized by progressive fibrosis. Infection with HIV and with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) promotes liver fibrogenesis. Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP1), inhibits fibrosis regression and is profibrogenic. Association between TIMP1 and liver disease progression in an aging population of HIV/HCV co-infected, HIV mono-infected, HCV mono-infected, and healthy groups from the Miami Adult Studies on HIV (MASH) cohort in Miami, Florida, was investigated.

 Serum TIMP1 levels were determined by ELISA. A non-invasive estimate of liver fibrosis, FIB-4 score was calculated. Liver fibrosis was defined as FIB-4: Low <1.45, intermediate 1.45 < = FIB-4 < = 3.25, High >3.25. ANOVA with Tukey's test assessed the mean differences of FIB-4 score and TIMP1 level between groups, TIMP1 levels between 3 FIB-4 categories, and the effect of age on FIB-4 and TIMP1. Linear regression predicted the association of FIB-4 score and TIMP-1 level.

 Mean age of the cohort was 54.3 ± 8.1 years with no difference between groups. Mean FIB-4 for HIV/HCV co-infected group was the highest among the 4 groups (P < 0.05). Mean TIMP1 for HIV/HCV co-infected group was also the highest among the 4 groups (P < 0.05). FIB-4 and TIMP1 were associated and remained so (β = 0.01, SE = 0.002, P < 0.001) after adjusting for age. Mean TIMP1 for the high FIB-4 category was the highest among the 3 FIB-4 categories (P < 0.05). There was a direct effect of TIMP1 levels on FIB-4 category (P < 0.001). After adjusting for HIV/HCV co-infection (P < 0.001), HIV infection (P < 0.0001), HCV infection (P < 0.002), non-infection (P < 0.001) and age, the relationship between TIMP1 and FIB-4 remained significant. The adjusted TIMP1 mean for HIV/HCV co-infected group was significantly higher compared to HIV infected (P < 0.0001), HCV infected (P < 0.002), and healthy groups (P < 0.0001), regardless of age.

 Age is a significant factor of liver diseases progression. Our findings of the highest levels of TIMP1 in HIV/HCV co-infected group, which had the highest liver fibrosis regardless of age, supports the role of TIMP1 as a regulator in the progression of hepatic fibrosis.

 National Institutes on Drug Abuse #5UO1DA040381.


A great opportunity exists to fuse information from populations of privately-held sensors to create useful sensing applications. For example, GPS devices, embedded in cellphones and automobiles, might one day be employed as distributed networks of velocity sensors for traffic monitoring and routing. Unfortunately, privacy and resource considerations limit access to such data streams. We describe principles of community sensing that offer mechanisms for sharing data from privately held sensors. The methods take into account the likely availability of sensors, the context-sensitive value of sensor information, based on models of phenomena and demand, and sensor owners' preferences about privacy and resource usage. We present efficient and well-characterized approximations of optimal sensing policies. We provide details on key principles of community sensing and highlight their use within a case study for road traffic monitoring.


Trade agreements increasingly contain provisions concerning 'behind-the-border' barriers to trade, often beyond current World Trade Organization (WTO) commitments (Dur, Baccini and Elsig 2014). Today's preferential trade agreements (PTAs) may include, for instance, rules regarding 'technical' barriers to trade that go beyond the WTO's Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement), accelerating the replacement of differing national product safety standards with common international standards and thus reducing the trade-inhibiting effect of regulatory measures (Buthe and Mattli 2011; World Trade Organization 2012). Today's PTAs may also go beyond WTO rules in prohibiting preferences for domestic producers in government procurement (Arrowsmith and Anderson 2011; Dawar and Evenett 2011), although here the effectiveness of the PTA provisions is in question (Rickard, Chapter 11 in this volume). PTA provisions concerning trade in services (Trebilcock and Howse 2005: 349ff.), restrictions on the use of trade remedies and anti-dumping (Bown 2011; Bown and Wu 2014) and provisions concerning the treatment of foreign investment (Buthe and Milner 2014; United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 2006) have similarly attracted substantial attention, as they often go beyond the rules in the multilateral trade regime. All of these measures involve governments committing to adopt – or to refrain from – particular policies. The stated objective of such commitments usually is to eliminate or at least reduce the trade-distorting effects of domestic policies (Bhagwati and Hudec 1996), though linking particular policy choices to trade might also serve other purposes. Linkage may, for instance, increase the bargaining space for 'getting to yes' on trade liberalisation (see Axelrod and Keohane 1986; Davis 2004) or reduce the bargaining space, arguably with the intent of retaining a higher level of protectionism (e.g. Salazar-Xirinachs 2000). PTA commitments on behind-the-border measures may also be adopted to 'lock in' policies by making it politically and economically more costly for the current government or its successors to depart from the policy choices specified in the trade agreement (Buthe and Milner 2008; Mansfield and Milner 2012; Moe 2005).


In this paper, we investigate whether the recent financial turmoil which arose in the United States has contaminated the Middle East and North African countries (MENA). In contrast to Lagoard-Segot and Lucey (2009), we try to identify the existence of pure contagion (Masson, 1999) rather than shift-contagion (Rigobon, 2003). Then, we explicitly define financial "contagion" in accordance with Eichengreen et al. (1996) and we extend the Cerra and Saxena (2002) methodology by using a Markov-Switching EGARCH model introduced by Henry (2009) in order to identify contaminated MENA stock markets. Our results provide evidence of a persistence of recession characterised by low mean/high variance regimes which coincides with the third phases of the subprime crisis. In addition, there is evidence of mean and volatility contagion in MENA stock markets caused by the US stock market.


Most prior studies of skill-based preventive interventions for couples compare changes in problem-solving behaviors made by treated couples with those made by control couples. Unexpected findings in these studies highlight the need to examine within-group variability in behavior change among treated couples, alternative behavioral domains, including dyadic support and coping, and partners' intended and actual use of strategies taught in the interventions. A 24-month longitudinal study of 109 couples participating in an 18-hour intervention designed to enhance communication and dyadic coping revealed that marital outcomes are enhanced to the extent that (a) wives increase their positive problem-solving behavior and husbands decrease their negative problem-solving behavior over the course of the intervention, and (b) wives and husbands increase their positive dyadic coping behaviors, and husbands decrease their negative dyadic coping behaviors. Moreover, greater postintervention use of strategies taught in the intervention program produced better outcomes, and wives' improvements in positive and negative dyadic coping strengthened associations between strategy use and relationship satisfaction. Discussion emphasizes the importance of devising interventions that target key interpersonal processes and that motivate participants to display newly acquired behaviors.


Weight-losing patients with advanced cancer often fail to gain weight with conventional nutritional support. This suboptimal response might be explained, in part, by an increased metabolic response to feeding. It has been suggested that eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) can modify beneficially the metabolic response to cancer. The aim of the present study was to examine the metabolic response to feeding in cancer and the effects of an EPA-enriched oral food supplement on this response. A total of 16 weight-losing, non-diabetic patients with unresectable pancreatic adenocarcinoma and six healthy, weight-stable controls were studied by indirect calorimetry in the fasting and fed states. Body composition was estimated by bioimpedence analysis. Cancer patients were then given a fish-oil-enriched nutritional supplement providing 2 g of EPA and 2550 kJ daily, and underwent repeat metabolic study after 3 weeks of such supplementation. At baseline, resting energy expenditure whether expressed per kg body weight, lean body mass or body cell mass was significantly greater in the cancer patients compared with controls. Fat oxidation was significantly higher in the fasting state in cancer patients [median 1.26 g.kg(-1).min(-1) (interquartile range 0.95-1.38)] than in controls [0.76 g.kg(-1). min(-1) (0.62-0.92); P<0.05]. Over the 4 h feeding period, changes in insulin and glucose concentrations in cancer patients suggested relative glucose intolerance. In response to oral meal feeding, the percentage change in the area under the curve of energy expenditure was significantly lower in the cancer patients [median 7.9% (interquartile range 3.4-9.0)] than in controls [12.6% (9.9-15.1); P<0.01]. After 3 weeks of the EPA-enriched supplement, the body weight of the cancer patients had increased and the energy expenditure in response to feeding had risen significantly [9.6% (6. 3-12.4)], such that it was no different from baseline healthy control values. Similarly, fasting fat oxidation fell to 1.02 g. kg(-1).min(-1) (0.8-1.18), again no longer significantly different from baseline healthy control values. While weight-losing patients with advanced pancreatic cancer have an increased resting energy expenditure and increased fat oxidation, the energy cost of feeding is, in fact, reduced. Provision of a fish-oil-enriched nutritional supplement results in some normalization of the metabolic response in both the fasted and fed states, in association with an improvement in nutritional status.


Abstract The origin and formation of soil clay minerals, namely micas, vermiculites, smectites, chlorites and interlayered minerals, interstratified minerals and kaolin minerals, are broadly reviewed in the context of research over the past half century. In particular, the pioneer overviews of Millot, Pedro and Duchaufour in France and of Jackson in the USA, are considered in the light of selected examples from the huge volume of work that has since taken place on this topic. It is concluded that these early overviews may still be regarded as being generally valid, although it may be that too much emphasis has been placed upon transformation mechanisms and not enough upon neoformation processes. This review also highlights some of the many problems pertaining to the origin and formation of soil clays that remain to be resolved.


In 1982, one year after graduating from Brooklyn College, Gloria Naylor (b. 1950) made her debut on the literary scene with The Women of Brewster Place. The novel was critically acclaimed, filmed as a made-for-television movie, and turned into a television miniseries. Naylor's output now includes five novels, an edited collection of short stories, two theater projects, and a series of articles, essays, notes, and an unpublished work that combines fiction and nonfiction. Conversations with Gloria Naylor collects her interviews and shows her to be one of the most talented novelists to emerge in the past twenty years. The fourteen interviews that are included range from 1983, soon after the publication of her first novel, to 2000, following the publication of The Men of Brewster Place. Altogether they shed light on Naylor in all her wit, wisdom, and candor. She is the first among the current generation of African American women novelists to have made a study of her literary predecessors. Interviews with her are compelling in their revelation of the evolutionary journey of a self-professed introvert and dreamer who is as indebted to the English classics as she is to blues, jazz, or Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. An indispensable resource for a study of Naylor's life and art, Conversations with Gloria Naylor offers rare insight into works that are in the vanguard of contemporary American literature. Maxine Lavon Montgomery, is an associate professor of English at Florida State University and the author of The Apocalypse in African-American Fiction. Her work has been published in African-American Review, College Language Association Journal, the Literary Griot, and Obsidian II: African-American Literature in Review.


1. The functional properties of tibialis anterior muscles of normal adult (C57BL/10) and age-matched dystrophin-deficient (C57BL/10 mdx) mice have been investigated in situ. Comparisons were made between tibialis anterior muscle strength, rates of force development and relaxation, force-frequency responses and fatiguability. Subjecting mdx and C57 muscles to a regimen of eccentric exercise allowed the hypothesis to be tested that dystrophin-deficient muscles are more susceptible to exercise-induced muscle damage. 2. mdx muscles were, on average, 30% stronger than C57 muscles and almost 80% heavier, but both had similar muscle lengths. Thus, although mdx muscles were stronger in absolute terms, their estimated force per unit cross-sectional area was significantly less than that of C57 muscles. 3. The force-frequency relationships of C57 and mdx muscles differed in that whilst, at 40 Hz, the former developed 70% of the force developed at 100 Hz, the latter developed only 55% of the maximal force. Twitch force was normal in mdx muscles, but contraction time was shortened, and the consequent reduction in fusion frequency probably explains the force-frequency differences observed between the two groups. 4. mdx muscles were less fatiguable than normal muscles when stimulated repeatedly at a frequency of 40 Hz. It is possible that the lower relative force at 40 Hz in mdx muscles entailed a lower energy demand and thus a slower rate of fatigue than seen in normal muscles. 5. Eccentrically exercised C57 muscles showed a large loss of maximal force for up to 12 days after exercise. Maximal force loss occurred 3 days after exercise (55% of non-exercised tibialis anterior muscle), which also corresponded with the period of greatest fibre necrosis. C57 muscles showed a significantly reduced 40 Hz/100 Hz force-frequency ratio at 1 and 3 days after exercise. This was primarily due to a reduced twitch amplitude rather than to a change in the time course of the twitch. It is unlikely, therefore, that the altered contractile characteristics of mdx muscle were a result of the presence of damaged but otherwise normal fibres. 6. C57 and mdx tibialis anterior muscles displayed similar degrees of force loss after exercise. Furthermore, the rate of recovery after the nadir of force loss was very similar for the two groups. By 12 days after exercise, force recovered to 76% and 80% of control in C57 and mdx muscles, respectively. Our findings do not support the hypothesis that dystrophin-deficient muscle is more susceptible to exercise-induced muscle damage.


It is desired to reduce the time spent at all stages of the building process. Communication between and within disciplines is a significant time consumer in structural engineering today. As the same person is often responsible for both analysis and design of a structure, linking the tools for these tasks could reduce the time spent significantly. Today, the same item is often modelled twice or more with different software, and the goal for this thesis is to make this process more efficient. In this work, an extension to Tekla Structures with a link to BuildSoft?s PowerConnect is implemented to enable connection analysis. Strength is determined in PowerConnect by the component method, according to Eurocode 3. The thesis includes a state of the art study of links between tools for analysis and design of steel connections, the planning and implementation of a link between Tekla Structures and PowerConnect, along with a description of the finished solution and how it works. Tekla?s Open API has been utilised using C# and XML in Microsoft Visual Studio 2012. At this stage the extension is limited to cover a bolted moment end plate connection between H- and I-profiled cross-sections. Support for other types of connections and cross-sections may be included in further work.


Second-language varieties of English in the South Pacific have received scant attention, until now. This monograph offers the first book-length analysis of the sociolinguistics and morphosyntax of three representatives of South Pacific L2 English in comparison – two of which have never been described linguistically. The book describes the spread of English, its current status and use in the three island states and compares the most frequent and salient morphosyntactic features to corresponding structures in Asian and African Englishes and the Oceanic substrate languages. As part of a larger theoretical discussion on the multiple factors that determine the evolution and dynamics of L2 varieties in general, Mufwene's feature pool model is extended to a new model that integrates cognitive aspects of language acquisition and use, typological aspects of the languages/varieties involved and socio-cultural motivations of language use. The book also examines the role of New Zealand English as a potential epicentre in the South Pacific and considers ethical and methodological issues of linguistic field research.


Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a major cause of mortality in industrialised countries and an emerging public health challenge in developing countries as the burden of non-communicable chronic disease—specifically cardiovascular disease—increases. Although efforts aimed at risk stratification and prevention are key, OHCA is often the first clinical manifestation of heart disease, making prevention only part of a comprehensive solution.

As a consequence, there is a need for effective treatment in the form of resuscitation. What are the public health implications of improving survival from ventricular fibrillation OHCA? Current international estimates are that there are ~12 treated ventricular fibrillation arrests per hundred thousand persons of population.1 Extrapolated to North America, Europe and Australia, this incidence translates to nearly 150 000 such arrests each year. Estimates of incidence are less certain for Asia, Africa, Central and South America, but undoubtedly ventricular fibrillation OHCA collectively strikes hundreds of thousands of lives each year in these geographies as well.

Survival is variable across communities. Aggregate estimates for survival among mature, resourced emergency response systems range from 15% to 30% for ventricular fibrillation OHCA and yet there are examples of survival consistently exceeding 50% in particular systems or circumstances, indicating a real opportunity to advance survival and in turn improve public health if we could achieve consistent best practices across systems.1 Importantly, if resuscitation is successful and an OHCA victim survives to be discharged from the hospital, the survivor experiences on average an excellent prognosis that rivals age-matched counterpart without OHCA. Most survivors return home, resume work and enjoy a satisfactory quality of life.2 Hence, strategies that can increase survival following OHCA have important personal and societal benefits.

High-yield strategies to improve resuscitation should derive from our understanding of the pathophysiology of OHCA. Scientific investigation has provided for important discovery that has defined effective …


For courses in Political and Social Statistics Using the popular SPSS software to de-mystify statistics Using SPSS for Windows and Macintosh guides students through basic SPSS techniques, using step-by-step descriptions and explaining in detail how to avoid common pitfalls in the study of statistics. Authors Samuel Green and Neil Salkind provide extensive substantive information about each statistical technique, including a brief discussion of the technique, examples of how the statistic is applied, a sample data set that can be analyzed with the statistic, a discussion of the analysis results, practice exercises, and more. The Eighth Edition has been updated for SPSS version 23 (Windows/Mac), and now offers added accessibility and increased problem solving. NOTE: This ISBN is for a Pearson Books a la Carte edition: a convenient, three-hole-punched, loose-leaf text. In addition to the flexibility offered by this format, Books a la Carte editions offer students great value, as they cost significantly less than a bound textbook.


In this paper, the authors explore the conditions under which a double-diffusive interface may become unstable. Focus is placed on the case of a cold, freshwater layer above a warm, salty layer [i.e., the diffusive convection (DC) regime]. The ''diffusive interface'' between these layers will develop gravitationally unstable boundary layers due to the more rapid diffusion of heat (the destabilizing component) relative to salt. Previous studies have assumed that a purely convective-type instability of these boundary layers is what drives convection in this system and that this may be parameterized by a boundary layer Rayleigh number. The authors test this theory by conducting both a linear stability analysis and direct numerical simulations of a diffusive interface. Their linear stability analysis reveals that the transition to instability always occurs as an oscillating diffusive convection mode and at boundary layer Rayleigh numbers much smaller than previously thought. However, these findings are based on making a quasi-steady assumption for the growth of the interfaces by molecular diffusion. When diffusing interfaces are modeled (using direct numerical simulations), the authors observe that the time dependence is significant in determining the instability of the boundary layers and that the breakdown is due to a purely convective-type instability. Their findings therefore demonstrate that the relevant instability in a DC staircase is purely convective.


Neural network based approaches to data-to-text natural language generation (NLG) have gained popularity in recent years, with the goal of generating a natural language prompt that accurately realizes an input meaning representation. To facilitate the training of neural network models, researchers created large datasets of paired utterances and their meaning representations. However, the creation of such datasets is an arduous task and they mostly consist of simple meaning representations composed of slot and value tokens to be realized. These representations do not include any contextual information that an NLG system can use when trying to generalize, such as domain information and descriptions of slots and values. In this paper, we present the novel task of Schema-Guided Natural Language Generation (SG-NLG). Here, the goal is still to generate a natural language prompt, but in SG-NLG, the input MRs are paired with rich schemata providing contextual information. To generate a dataset for SG-NLG we re-purpose an existing dataset for another task: dialog state tracking, which includes a large and rich schema spanning multiple different attributes, including information about the domain, user intent, and slot descriptions. We train different state-of-the-art models for neural natural language generation on this dataset and show that in many cases, including rich schema information allows our models to produce higher quality outputs both in terms of semantics and diversity. We also conduct experiments comparing model performance on seen versus unseen domains, and present a human evaluation demonstrating high ratings for overall output quality.


The next major space-borne observatory, the James Webb Space Telescope, will be a 6.6M field-biased, obscured, three-mirror anastigmat (TMA). Over the used field of view, the performance of TMA telescopes is dominated by 3(rd) order misalignment aberrations. Here it is shown that two dominant 3(rd) order misalignment aberrations arise for any TMA telescope. One aberration, field constant 3(rd) order coma is a well known misalignment aberration commonly seen in two-mirror Ritchey Chretien telescopes. The second aberration, field-asymmetric, field-linear, 3(rd) order astigmatism is a new and unique image orientation dependence with field derived here for the first time using nodal aberration theory.


This study sought a high resolution and high‐throughput method to identify and characterize proteins from marine particulate organic matter (POM) using proteomic approaches. The results showed that only a limited number of discrete protein spots were distinguished using two‐dimensional electrophoresis (2‐DE). Most protein spots were faint and small in 2‐DE gels, with a heavy unresolved smeared staining background, indicating 2‐DE was not a good high resolution method to separate particulate proteins for identification and characterization. The shotgun proteomic approach combining one‐dimensional electrophoresis and capillary liquid chromatography‐ tandem mass spectrometry as well as the NCBI protein database search was successfully applied to identify and characterize particulate proteins. Using this approach, 737 proteins matching one or more peptides were detected in a POM sample collected from the 41 m water layer in the basin area of the western South China Sea. Of these, 184 were identified as high‐confidence proteins matching two or more peptides, including photosynthetic proteins, transporters, molecular chaperones, and porins. In addition to these proteins with known functions, a significant number of novel proteins (accounting for ~30% of the proteins identified) were also detected. The identification of a large number of high‐confidence proteins in the POM sample demonstrated that the shotgun proteomic approach is reliable and feasible for the study of particulate proteins and will provide a powerful tool to comprehensively investigate the nature and dynamics of POM in the ocean.


Abstract. Radio occultation (RO) data are increasingly used in climate research. Accurate phase (change) measurements of Global Positioning System (GPS) signals are the basis for the retrieval of near-vertical profiles of bending angle, microwave refractivity, density, pressure, and temperature. If temperature is calculated from observed refractivity with the assumption that water vapor is zero, the product is called "dry temperature", which is commonly used to study earth's atmosphere, e.g., when analyzing temperature trends due to global warming. Dry temperature is a useful quantity, since it does not need additional background information in its retrieval. However, it can only be safely used as proxy for physical temperature, where moisture is negligible. The altitude region above which water vapor does not play a dominant role anymore, depends primarily on latitude and season. In this study we first investigated the influence of water vapor on dry temperature RO profiles. Hence, we analyzed the maximum altitude down to which monthly mean dry temperature profiles can be regarded as being equivalent to physical temperature. This was done by examining dry temperature to physical temperature differences of monthly mean analysis fields from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), studied from 2006 until 2010. We introduced cutoff criteria, where maximum temperature differences of −0.1, −0.05, and −0.02 K were allowed (dry temperature is always lower than physical temperature), and computed the corresponding altitudes. As an example, a temperature difference of −0.05 K in the tropics was found at an altitude of about 14 km, while at higher northern latitudes in winter it was found at an altitude of about 9–10 km, in summer at about 11 km. Furthermore, regarding climate change, we expect an increase of absolute humidity in the atmosphere. This possible trend in water vapor could yield a wrongly interpreted dry temperature trend. As a consequence, we performed a model study, investigating the increase in height of the transition region between moist and dry air. We used data from the fifth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5), analyzing again monthly mean dry temperature to physical temperature differences, now from the years 2006 to 2050. We used the highest emission scenario RCP8.5 (representative concentration pathway), studying all available models of the CMIP5 project, analyzing one internal run per model, with the goal to identify the altitude region where trends in dry temperature can be safely regarded as reflecting trends in physical temperature. From all models we therefore choose a selection of models ("max 8" CMIP5 models), which showed the largest trend differences. As a result, our trend study suggests that the lower boundary of the region where dry temperature is essentially equal to physical temperature rises about 150 m decade−1.


Fluid inclusions in Sn-bearing pegmatites of the Sierra de San Luis, Argentina. In the Sierra de San Luis, Argentina, Sn-enriched granitic pegmatites represent the extremes of fractional crystallization of Ordovician, syn-kinematic, meta- to peraluminous S-type granites. The pegmatites are concordantly emplaced in quartz-mica schist with N-S general strike and vertical dip. The metamorphic grade varies from green-schist facies to lower-amphibolite facies. Contacts between pegmatite and country rock are sharp and parallel to the metamorphic foliation, suggesting a late-kinematic emplacement. Microthermometric measurements of fluid inclusions in quartz reveal an early complex CO2-H2O-NaCl fluid. Inclusions are distributed in groups or in intragranular trails, and are interpreted as primary or pseudosecondary. The salinity is generally 0-7 wt% NaCl-eq., but rare high-salinity inclusions (29-32 wt% NaCl-eq.) were possibly originated in a magmatic stage. Homogenization temperatures (into liquid or vapor, occasionally critical) range from 227 to 346°C. The fluid inclusion pressures at the homogenization points (minimal trapping pressures) vary between 1500 and 2700 bars. A low salinity aqueous fluid was trapped in secondary inclusions with homogenization temperatures (into liquid) of 210-264°C, and densities of 0.76-0.85 g/cm 3 . At lower temperature (103 a 183°C), a late fracturing originated secondary fluid inclusions, which contain low salinity water (0-5wt% NaCl-eq.). The wide variation in cavity morphology, the large variation of CO 2 proportion and the total homogenization temperatures indicate immiscibility of an early complex fluid, with fluid inclusions reaching up to 100% of CO 2 due to the leakage of the aqueous fluid, induced by deformation of the country rock. Occasionally, a recrystallization event trapped part of the aqueous fluid.


Acquired angioedema with C1-inhibitor esterase deficiency is a rare disorder manifested by recurrent episodes of nonpruritic edema without hives. Symptoms are similar to those in hereditary angioedema due to C1-inhibitor esterase deficiency, but occur after the age of 40, and the family history is negative. The edema episodes appear randomly and are localized to the subcutaneous and/or submucosal tissue of the gastrointestinal and/or respiratory tract. The upper respiratory tract edema can lead to death by asphyxiation, so the early and correct diagnosis, as well as proper treatment are essential.


Among the many ways to describe and predict the behaviour of a nucleus, we find the nuclear equation of state (EoS). This expression aims to account for the properties of nuclear matter from common run-off-the-mill nuclei, such as those found in nature, to neutron stars and nuclei far from stability synthesized in laboratories.
Around the density nuclear matter would assume if it were infinite and constituted in equal parts by neutrons and protons, the nuclear equation of state can be expanded in a Taylor series: the first terms of this series define the behaviour of the equation of state. Of particular interest is the second order term, known as the symmetry energy. Because it is not experimentally accessible, though, a direct measurement cannot be performed and other observables have to be individuated.
One of these observables is the dipole polarizability, indicated with αD of the nucleus; this quantity correlates with the thickness of the neutron skin that forms around nuclei with a marked excess of neutrons and, thus, has the potential to put a constraint on the first order coefficient of symmetry energy's Taylor series expansion around the saturation density. This term is known as the "slope" and indicated with the letter L.
The dipole polarizability can be obtained by integrating the strength of the nuclear response on all energies; this integral, though, is weighted by the energy: the response at lower energies plays, proportionally, a bigger role than that at higher ones. The aim of this work is to obtain a strength distribution for a neutron-rich isotope of Tin, 132Sn, and thus measure the dipole polarizability.
To accomplish this, the data acquired at the GSI facility by the R3B collaboration, in Darm- stadt, have been used and a novel method for profiling the strength of the dipole response of a nucleus from a noisy spectrum has been demonstrated to be promising and, furthermore, it is expected to be portable to other isotopes and experiments where a gamma array detector is used.


We sometimes unintentionally distance ourselves from the people we respect. In a relationship between two individuals of perceived unequal status, what are the behaviors or factors of the person of lower status that distance him or her from the person he or she respects? Impression management is the process by which people control their impressions others form of them (Leary & Kowalski, 1990), and can be a useful theory in explaining this phenomenon; however, it does not explain the entire story. This is one possible instance in which we have high impression motivation but refrain from impression management behavior. This project aims to shed light on the nature and causes of refrainment from impression management behavior despite high impression motivation by exploring the factors that cause people to distance themselves from the people that they respect and perceive to have higher status and power. This research focuses on the distancing factors surrounding the person of the lower status. Data has been collected through one-on-one interviews with people from different backgrounds at different stages of career in diverse organizational contexts.


Under certain conditions, the polarization state of infrared light emitted by metal changes when the metal is strained. During cutting, metal is severely strained. Assessing both strain and strain rate is of interest to the metal cutting research community. Over large areas, Digital Image Correlation (DIC) performed on high-speed video can provide approximate values for the average strain and strain rate. However, small areas such as the shear zone are difficult to image with enough resolution to perform DIC. If the thermal radiation emitted by these small areas is polarized, there is the potential to provide valuable information to the metal cutting community. This paper is an initial investigation into that possibility, as well as the use of the polarization information for uncertainty analysis, reflection detection, and region of interest classification. A rotating polarizer is used that triggers a thermal spectrum camera to acquire images at specific polarization angles. When cutting, the metal is constantly moving and the material imaged is different from one moment to the next. At each angle of the polarizer, a sufficiently long integration time is used so the material is severely motion blurred, resulting in an image which estimates the typical intensity for that angle. By comparing the typical intensities, and assuming the light is linearly polarized, the polarization state may be estimated.


Southeast Asia is home to the ten ASEAN nations of Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Collectively they comprise a huge market of over half a billion people, with a total land area of 4.5 million square kilometers, a combined domestic product in excess of US$1.1 trillion and total trade of over US$1.4 trillion. It is the most dynamic and fastest growing region in the world but also has some of the world's most distinctive cultures and business systems. It offers tremendous opportunities for investors and businesses. But to succeed you need to be familiar with the unique business environment including political and business systems, cultural idiosyncrasies, management practices, social structures, legal frameworks, government priorities, potential competition, establishing relationships and selecting partners, and dealing with corruption and other ethical pitfalls. The book will apply a framework to understand each country along these dimensions. This book is a practical and comprehensive guide to succeeding in ASEAN countries. It allows for a deeper understanding of the business environment of these diverse economies. You will be better able to evaluate the risk factors and make meaningful decisions.


The effects of attitude as it relates to engineering students' learning in engineering drawing was looked into in this study. All the engineering students from the four engineering departments of Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria were considered as the study population. However the participants were a total of 152 engineering students. The research instrument was a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was structured using close-ended Likert 5-point attitude scale format for it's relatively easy to design, high degree of reliability and validity in using Likert technique. The data obtained was analysed using frequency, percentage, mean score and standard deviation techniques on Standard Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) 16.0, software. The analysed data showed that the students have positive attitude to engineering drawing as a subject and teaching methodology. They were unsure about classroom environment and background information but obviously negative about the instructional and educational items.


A method for estimating the decrease in crack-initiation toughness, from a reference plane strain value, due to positive straining along the crack front of a circumferential flaw in a reactor pressure vessel is presented in this study. This method relates crack initiation under generalized plane strain conditions with material failure at points within a distance of a few crack-tip-opening displacements ahead of a crack front, and involves the formulation of a micromechanical crack-initiation model. While this study is intended to address concerns regarding the effects of positive out-of- plane straining on ductile crack initiation, the approach adopted in this work can be extended in a straightforward fashion to examine conditions of macroscopic cleavage crack initiation. Provided single- parameter dominance of near-tip fields exists in the flawed structure, results from this study could be used to examine the appropriateness of applying plane strain fracture toughness to the evaluation of circumferential flaws, in particular to those in ring-forged vessels which have no longitudinal welds. In addition, results from this study could also be applied toward the analysis of the effects of thermal streaming on the fracture resistance of circumferentially oriented flaws in a pressure vessel. 37 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab.


The vast majority of federal criminal defendants resolve their cases by plea bargaining, with minimal judicial input or oversight. This presents significant issues concerning transparency, fairness, and effective sentencing. Federal prosecutors strongly influence sentences by the charges they select. The parties bargain informally outside of court and strike a deal. But defendants often plead guilty without a realistic understanding of their likely sentencing exposure. Instead, they plead guilty based on their best guess as to how judges will resolve certain issues and their own fear that they could get an unspecified but severe post-trial sentence. The judge is often reluctant to reject the parties' deal, partly because the judge may have little information about the case, and partly because the judge lacks the resources for courtroom-clogging jury trials. What is needed is a public, court-supervised, advocacy procedure early in the case to guide the parties in considering key sentencing issues and fashioning a just and reasonable sentence based on the judge's feedback. This article explores a proposed procedure that would do just that. Early in the case, and upon the defendant's request, the parties would litigate a pre-plea motion procedure similar to sentencing proceedings. As part of those proceedings, a pre-plea, presentence report would be prepared with input from the parties. The motion would educate the judge about the case and enable the judge to issue two indicated sentences: one for if the defendant pleaded guilty as charged, and another for if the defendant were convicted at trial. This increased judicial participation through a regularized, advocacy procedure would allow judges to help frame the parties' discussion of sentencing issues and likely sentencing consequences earlier in the case, all without involving the judge in the parties' plea discussions. Several benefits would flow from this: the plea bargaining process would become more transparent, resulting in increased public accountability; the defense attorney would have greater incentives to properly investigate and present key issues; and the defendant could make a more informed decision about whether and on what terms to plead guilty. In short, plea bargaining is here to stay, but criminal justice would be greatly improved by bringing more of the plea bargaining process back into the courtroom where the judge could help frame the key issues for the parties.


Cross-national environmental pollution can be understood as a limitation to national welfare caused by actors beyond the jurisdiction of a state. Both, the international environmental structure as well as domestic variables may account for the variation found across states with respect to international environmental regulation. The author wishes to explain why the European member states of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) subscribe to or refrain from the international regulation of the Long Range Transport of Air Pollutants (LRTAP), which is commonly called "acid rain."

This study focuses on the question: Is there an international environmental structure (like international emission/deposition patterns) for sulfuric acidification in Europe which might influence the extent of international environmental regulation? Three perspectives on the international environmental structure are presented: 1. The deposition perspective: Each country is treated as a unit which receives pollutants from other countries. 2. The international trade perspective: Each country is analyzed as a participant in unwanted international "trade" of environmental pollutants. 3. The emission perspective: Each country is viewed as a unit which threatens other nations via exported emissions. The author used the results generated by the Regional Acidification and INformation Simulation model (RAINS) of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) to test hypotheses related to each of these perspectives.

The analyses demonstrate that Central Europe is in a disadvantageous position from a deposition perspective. Furthermore, some East European countries are strongly externalizing their environmental problems because they are net exporters of pollutants; from an emission perspective it can be show that some East European countries are likely to be exposed to diplomatic pressure since their exported emissions pose substantial threats abroad. In conclusion, states find themselves in grossly unequal positions with respect to internationally caused sulfuric acidification. The paper concludes with a theoretical interpretation of the findings and points to options for future research.


The way that the media reports and comments on key events in the fragmented global climate governance landscape is one important route to strengthening public accountability of such governance. Editorials and other opinion pieces provide key contributions to the public sphere, but have been almost entirely neglected in media research on climate change. Another understudied aspect in such research is the reporting on the fragmentation of global climate governance across numerous forums. This article provides an exploratory approach to address these two research gaps. It presents a quantitative analysis of how often leading newspapers in seven countries (Finland, India, Laos, Norway, South Africa, UK and USA) wrote about 18 meetings in six different global climate governance forums between 2004–2009 and whether they provided commentaries about them. The study shows that media coverage (articles and opinion pieces) is limited or absent for many meetings that are not attended by heads of state, are the launch of a new process or do not have the convening power of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The pattern of coverage differs significantly among individual newspapers and there is no clear distinction between developed and developing country newspapers. The article concludes that overall news coverage, and editorial commentary in particular, of global climate meetings in the selected newspapers is too low and too patchy to significantly support domestic publics to hold their own (and indirectly other) governments accountable with regard to fragmented global climate governance. Policy relevance This study is instructive for the media and civil society, who should both act as accountholders of governments with regard to how they act in global climate governance and its implementation. Reporting and commentaries need to reflect the overarching process, not only sporadic coverage of high-level meetings, but also critical analysis of what is achieved. They should also take a broader scope in terms of the kinds of meetings and processes in global governance that they cover. Civil society should encourage the media to increase coverage along these lines, e.g. by adequate monitoring of government actions (or lack thereof) and share this with the media.


A BSTRACT . Melon ( Cucumis melo ) is one of the most important horticultural crops in Brazil. A set of 40 melon landraces representing a northeastern Brazilian variation was agronomically evaluated with 13 morphological traits and molecularly with 13 simple sequence repeat markers and compared with a set of 21 reference accessions of diverse taxonomic and geographic origins. Brazilian accessions were highly variable for seed, flowering time, fruit, and yield- related traits. However, most of them shared a monoecious sex type, a climacteric ripening behavior, and fruit that were low to medium in sugar with a high acid content, characteristics in accordance with those of Asian melons belonging to Momordica, Flexuosus, and Chate, and Far-Eastern Makuwa and Chinensis melon groups. Molecular analysis confirmed the genetic similarity of the Brazilian landraces to reference accessions from India, the Far East, and the Middle East belonging to those botanical groups. Momordica, Makuwa, and Chinensis melons are rarely found as landraces outside of this area thus suggesting that these landraces were introduced into Brazil from these regions. Our molecular results also support a high genetic diversity in the Brazilian collection [polymorphism information content (PIC) = 0.43], which is only slightly lower than that of the references (PIC = 0.59) that include most of the main horticultural groups of the two C. melo subspecies. This study shows that in Brazil, there is currently a large variability of this species maintained in the form of landraces, which are a potentially useful resource for breeding melons.