The information needed to design, construct and manage a building is nowadays mainly produced, stored and made available in digital form. Information is produced partly in the design process itself. Design and procurement documents refer only to information produced elsewhere as external printed matter or databases (for example, describ-ing building products). An important channel for such external information is provided by specialized information service providers. In order to meet competition from companies' homepages, search machines, internet start-up companies etc, established info-mediaries need to rethink their services as well as their business processes. A key issue is achieving a deep understand-ing of how customers perceive the value of these services and products compared to those of new competition enabled by the internet. A study of new business patterns and networks provides the empirical support for the concepts exam-ined in this paper. Traditionally, value is regarded as something inherent in the product; and which is handed over to the customer. More recently, research argues that value cannot be pre-produced. Value is co-produced by the customer, partly as a result of interactions between the customer and the supplier or the service provider. For services, value is, according to this view, produced and consumed simultaneously. Using this theoretical framework as a basis, the conclusions of the study are that it is not enough for construction infomediaries to produce just digitised versions of their traditional products, e.g. printed standards, and product sheets. They also need to gain a thorough understanding of their customers' busi-ness processes and, instead of producing products (or services), become facilitators of value creation for customers.


Preliminary results are presented from two field experiments which employed a new high‐sampling‐frequency aeolian sand trap together with a single anemometer and wind vane. This system allows simultaneous assessment of wind velocity and sand transport rate every second. Results indicate an almost instantaneous response of transport to wind accelerations which is modified by a short (<6s) memory. The wind velocity/transport relationship is found to be well constrained by a second order polynomial in velocity with a threshold. Transport predictions based on this equation give a high correlation with observation; discrepancies possibly being due to differences in unquantified environmental variables between the two experiments. It is suggested that this approach could be improved to include the effect of other environmental variables, and that useful predictions of transport rate might then be made from existing meteorological databases.


A robust Kalman filter is proposed for the discrete-time system with norm-bounded parametric uncertainties. The uncertainties are described by the energy bound constraint, i.e. the sum quadratic constraint (SQC). It is shown that the SQC can be converted into an indefinite quadratic cost function to be minimised in the Krein space, and it is found that the Krein space Kalman filter is a solution of the minimisation problem. After introducing a Krein space state-space model, which includes the uncertainty, one can easily write a robust version of the Krein space Kalman filter by modifying the measurement matrix and the variance of measurement noises in the original Krein space Kalman filter. Since the resulting robust Kalman filter has the same recursive structure as a conventional Kalman filter, a robust filtering scheme can be readily designed using the proposed method. A numerical example demonstrates that the proposed filter achieves robustness against parameter variation and improvement in performance when compared with a conventional Kalman filter and an existing robust Kalman filter, respectively.


Recent research has suggested that narcissism and self-esteem, though correlated, are qualitatively different. Little research, however, has examined narcissism and self-esteem simultaneously to test their unique contributions. The aims of this study are twofold: to examine the unique contributions of narcissism and self-esteem to romantic relationships, and to test the mediating role of perception discrepancy (PD) in these relationships. One hundred and three pairs of dating couples in Hong Kong were recruited to complete measures of narcissism, self-esteem, relationship satisfaction and PD. Results from actor–partner interdependence modeling (APIM) indicate that narcissism had significant negative associations with both self- and partner-reported relationship satisfaction, whereas the effects of self-esteem were generally positive. In subsequent actor–partner interdependence mediation modeling (APIMeM), in which PD was used as the mediator, narcissism and self-esteem continued to show differential relations to both the outcomes and the mediators. In particular, narcissism had positive actor effects on PD, which further negatively predicted both self- and partner-reported relationship satisfaction. In contrast, the predictive effects of self-esteem were reversed and weaker. Implications of the findings for research and practice are discussed.


Successfully integrating elegance and a close fidelity to the Greek, these new translations aim to provide Greekless students with as close a sense as possible of how the Greeks themselves thought and wrote about the world. Miller's skillful introduction places the works in historical context and briefly describes the different metrical forms represented in the selections. Headnotes to each section highlight the background of the poet whose works follows. Complete with a glossary of names and a select bibliography.


Aim Biologists increasingly recognize the roles of humans in ecosystems. Subsequently, many have argued that biodiversity conservation must be extended to environments that humans have shaped directly. Yet popular biogeographical frameworks such as biomes do not incorporate human land use, limiting their relevance to future conservation planning. 'Anthromes' map global ecological patterns created by sustained direct human interactions with ecosystems. In this paper, we set to understand how current conservation efforts are distributed across anthromes. Location Global. Methods We analysed the global distribution of IUCN protected areas and biodiversity hotspots by anthrome. We related this information to density of native plant species and density of previous ecological studies. Potential conservation opportunities in anthromes were then identified through global analysis and two case studies. Results Protected areas and biodiversity hotspots are not distributed equally across anthromes. Less populated anthromes contain a greater proportion of protected areas. The fewest hotspots are found within densely settled anthromes and wildlands, which occur at the two extremes of human population density. Opportunities for representative protection, prioritization, study and inclusion of native species were not congruent. Main conclusions Researchers and practitioners can use the anthromes framework to analyse the distribution of conservation practices at the global and regional scale. Like biomes, anthromes could also be used to set future conservation priorities. Conservation goals in areas directly shaped by humans need not be less ambitious than those in 'natural areas'.


ABSTRACT Tourism is the most economically important industry to the United States' only island state, Hawaii. With Hawaii's highest spending and largest international tourist segment, Japanese, decreasing significantly (a loss from over 2,000,000 in 1997 to just over 1,000,000 Japanese visitors in 2009), Hawaii needs to prepare to replace the significant decrease of Japanese visitors with a new visitor market. The logical new international visitor target market would be tourists from the fastest growing economy in the world, that being China. The purpose of this study is to explore the differences in attitudinal and behavioral characteristics, and preferences of Chinese tourists in Hawaii according to key sociodemographic variables. The results of this study conclude that sociodemographic variables show significant differences in attitudinal and behavioral characteristics. For example, when comparing the number of times a respondent had visited Hawaii, first-time visitors showed the highest level of preference for a deluxe hotel while second-time visitors showed the highest level of preference for a budget hotel. Those who had visited Hawaii three or more times indicated the highest preference for a first class hotel and also to be more interested in high-end shopping. First-time visitors showed the highest percentage in the lowest category of estimated cost of gifts (US$0–US$300). This indicates that Hawaii tour operators should focus on introducing more discounted shopping to first-time visitors. The results of this study are likely to be beneficial for understanding Chinese tourists and establishing marketing policies to enhance their satisfaction and raise their intention to revisit Hawaii. The findings of this study could be helpful for all stakeholders including local tour operators, the hotels, and Hawaii's tourism officials.


After years of hype accompanied by only desultory growth, the number of e-books available on the Internet has suddenly begun to grow dramatically. Sources of growth include not just traditional book publishers, but also mass digitization by players like Google, library-based digitization such as Making of America and the Million Book Project, and open access initiatives around the world. Libraries will need to manage and provide appropriate access to these books.

The coming of e-books will have implications for most of the systems Ex Libris offers. Ebooks provide a number of challenges different than those of e-journals. The scale is much larger (millions of e-books versus a few tens of thousands of e-journals). Books are "bibliographically" more complex versions, editions, manifestations), which demands more sophisticated discovery and elivery functions. Identifiers, critical in linking applications, are spottier and more complex. And free content is much more common in the e-book world, challenging established workflows and information flows supporting library acquisition, cataloging and access.

The Focus Group discussed the nature of the evolving e-book environment, and analyzed in some depth the issues raised by e-books in four areas: discovery, linking, management, and delivery. It identified new requirements necessary to support e-books within Ex Libris's products and ranked these in terms of their short-term and long-term importance (see Appendix A for full details of the ranking process and results).


The constant and persistent synthesis and abuse of new psychoactive substances have sparked the requirement for rapid, on-site, sensitive analytical protocols for their sensing and quantification. Mephedrone (4-MMC) is currently one of the most popular legal highs among recreational drug abusers and imposes a serious public health problem. In this paper, the electrochemical sensing of two metabolites of 4-MMC, namely, nor-mephedrone (4-methylcathinone, 4-MC) and dihydromephedrone (4-methylephedrine, 4-MMC-R), utilizing screen-printed graphite electrodes is performed. The accessible linear ranges by cyclic voltammetry were found to correspond to 40–300 μg mL–1 for 4-MC in both phosphate buffer solution (PBS, pH 7.0) and spiked diluted human urine, whereas in the case of 4-MMC-R, the linearity ranges are 15–300 μg mL–1 (PBS, pH 3.0) and 25–300 μg mL–1 (spiked diluted human urine). To maximize the assay sensitivity, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) was performed toward the sensing of 4-MC, which exhibited a linear response over the range 10–250 and 10–300 μg mL–1 in PBS pH 7.0 and spiked diluted human urine, respectively. However, 4-MMC-R demonstrated slightly higher sensitivity over the range 5–300 μg mL–1 in both PBS pH 3.0 and spiked diluted human urine. Using DPV, the limits of detection (3σ) were calculated and found to correspond to ca. 3.97 and 3.64 μg mL–1 for 4-MC and 4-MMC-R (PBS, pH 7.0 and 3.0), respectively, and ca. 6.34 and 3.87 μg mL–1 for 4-MC and 4-MMC-R (spiked diluted human urine), respectively. The potential interference of adulterants' metabolites commonly found in NPS street samples was also explored (at both pH 7.0 and 3.0). The electrochemical approach reported herein provides a novel laboratory tool for the identification and quantification of synthetic cathinone metabolites and has potential for the basis of a portable analytical sensor for their fast, cheap, reliable, and accessible determination in the field.


Abstract This article expands the study of the politics of international criminal justice, restoring the crucial but overlooked case of Bangladesh, today the largest population confronting the aftermath of genocide. Bangladesh is one of the most important cases where the prosecution of war criminals was foiled, resulting in a disturbing impunity for one of the bloodiest incidents of the Cold War. Using unexplored declassified Indian government documents from archives in Delhi, this article uses detailed process-tracing to reveal for the first time why India and Bangladesh abandoned their plans to put accused Pakistani war criminals on trial after the 1971 war between India and Pakistan. In the face of Pakistani defiance, the Indian and Bangladeshi governments reluctantly bargained away justice in order to pursue their national security, with peacemaking with Pakistan proving more important than war crimes trials. This episode furthers the general understanding of both the causes and results of impunity for mass atrocities, while extending the study of international justice into Asia. Bangladesh's tragic experience shows the primacy of international security, while also tentatively suggesting that even when amnesty is necessary for peacemaking, it can leave a toxic legacy for future politics.


Cyber Counterproductive Work Behaviors: Measurement, Prediction, and Means for Reduction by Brittany K. Mercado Advisor: Professor Stephan Dilchert Although counterproductive work behaviors (CWB) have received intense attention by both researchers and practitioners over the past few decades, this body of literature has yet to address the many novel avenues for employee counterproductivity resulting from modern technologies. For example, with the current ubiquity of electronic devices and Internet access, employees can conveniently engage in personal tasks while they should be working or even damage organizational data with unprecedented ease. Beyond reputational concerns and productivity losses, firms' reliance on electronic storage of critical information also produces novel security risks. Measures of CWB and, therefore, investigations into the construct do not yet include these contemporary behaviors, despite their notable impact on organizations. This dissertation expands the current construct conceptualization of CWB by investigating a new content domain of behaviors, cyber counterproductive work behaviors (cyber-CWB). Cyber-CWB are counterproductive behaviors that involve utilizing information communication technology. Categories of cyber-CWB include adult Internet use, cybercrime, cybergriping, cyberharassment, cyberloafing, cybersabotage, cybersullying, cybertheft, deception and data falsification, hacking, intellectual property violations, and negligent IT practices. Across three studies, I conceptualize cyber-CWB, develop and validate an effective measure to assess it, examine its nomological network, and explore the potential of multiple interventions (selection, organizational policy, and vi electronic monitoring) to reduce various cyber-CWB. By demonstrating the utility of these various interventions, the present findings guide organizations attempting to reduce the occurrence of these harmful and costly behaviors.


Twisted Network Programming Essentials from O'Reilly is a task-oriented look at this new open source, Python-based technology. The book begins with recommendations for various plug-ins and add-ons to enhance the basic package as installed. It then details Twisted's collection simple network protocols, and helper utilities. The book also includes projects that let you try out the Twisted framework for yourself. For example, you'll find examples of using Twisted to build web services applications using the REST architecture, using XML-RPC, and using SOAP. Written for developers who want to start building applications using Twisted, this comprehensive guide presents examples of the most common tasks you'll face when building network applications. It also helps you understand the key concepts and design patterns used in Twisted applications. Here are just some of the topics discussed in Twisted Network Programming Essentials: Installing Twisted How to make TCP connections How to use Twisted to work with the Web Twisted's authentication framework Usenet and SSH clients and servers Along the way, each lesson is supported by thorough notes and explanations to make absolutely certain you're up to speed with this leading-edge Python technology.


Plantago lanceolata plants were grown under various environmental conditions in association with the mycorrhizal fungi Glomus mosseae, G. caledonium and a fine endophyte either individually or all together. Using a time‐course approach, we investigated the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2), soil warming and drought and their interactions on root length colonized (RLC) by mycorrhizal fungi and extraradical mycorrhizal hyphal (EMH) production. Plant growth responded as would be expected to the environmental manipulations. There was no plant growth‐independent effect of eCO2 on mycorrhizal colonization; however, EMH production was stimulated by eCO2, i.e. there was increased partitioning of below‐ground carbon to the EMH. Soil warming directly stimulated both percent RLC by the Glomus species and EMH density; soil warming did not affect RLC by the fine endophyte. Drought decreased percent RLC for the fine endophyte, but not for the Glomus species. The presence of one mycorrhizal fungus did not affect the response of another to the environmental variables. There was no evidence of any interactive effects of the environmental variables on RLC, but there were significant environmental interactions on EMH production. In particular, the stimulatory effects of eCO2 and soil warming on EMH density were not additive. The results are discussed in terms of the soil carbon cycle, highlighting some crucial gaps in our knowledge. If future environmental changes affect mycorrhizal fungal turnover and respiration, then this could have important implications for the terrestrial carbon cycle.


Spotted bass (Micropterus punctulatus) provide popular recreational fisheries in southeastern U.S. streams. We studied spotted bass population structure and diet from wadeable (< 1 m deep on average, n = 174, 21 sites) and non-wadeable (n = 498, 32 sites) reaches of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin in Mississippi and Louisiana to determine if populations should be managed separately by stream size. Sampling occurred April–November 2009–2012 by hook-and-line angling, boat-mounted electrofishing, and seines. Size structure was similar between stream type and with few quality-sized fish (PSD ≤ 24). Spotted bass relative weight (Wr) was higher in non-wadeable streams (mean Wr = 91) than in wadeable streams (mean Wr = 85). Larger spotted bass (> 200 mm TL) consumed more crayfish and fish, other vertebrates, and multiple types of aquatic and terrestrial insects by number. Crayfish and fish were eaten more frequently in wadeable streams than in non-wadeable streams. Maximum theoretical length (Linf ) was greater for wadeable stream fish (Linf = 399 mm TL) than non-wadeable stream fish (Linf = 356 mm TL), but growth rates were similar between stream types. Sexual maturation rates for both sexes combined were similar with 50% of individuals maturing at 195 mm TL and 202 mm TL in non-wadeable and wadeable streams, respectively. Total annual mortality (A) estimated from weighted catch curves was 16% and 17% for non-wadeable and wadeable stream populations, respectively. Because population structure was similar, we recommend that spotted bass from wadeable and non-wadeable coastal plain streams be managed with consistent regulations.


Abstract Currently, three phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5) inhibitors are available for clinical use in South Africa; sildenafil, vardenafil and tadalafil. The PDE inhibitors are used in males to treat erectile dysfunction. However, sildenafil is also registered for use in the treatment of pulmonary hypertension. Newer studies are investigating the use of these drugs for other conditions, including hypertension, ischaemia or reperfusion injury, myocardial infarction, cardiac hypertrophy, heart failure and other peripheral circulatory conditions, e.g. Raynaud's disease. The article provides a broad overview of the mechanism of action, indications, pharmacokinetics and side-effects of these agents.


In the current study, the aim was to investigate whether tail posture and motion can be an indicator of the emotional state of pigs and if the tail posture of the pig is affected by social breeding value (SBV), coping style and/or housing. Emotional state can be defined in two dimensions: valence and arousal. Two batches of 96 finishing pigs were studied in a one generation selection experiment with a 2x2 set up and were housed in a barren or straw bedded pen. In each pen, 6 pigs (3 male, 3 female) were housed. A back-test was done to determine the coping style of the pigs with two categories; high resister and low resister pigs. When possible, each pen held 3 high resisters and 3 low resisters pigs. Furthermore, half of the pens contained pigs with low SBV and the other half contained high SBV pigs. Tail condition scores were determined weekly. A novel environment test (150 sec) with a small arena was performed at 3.5 weeks of age to test the fearfulness of the pigs. Behaviours and vocalisations were recorded together with the tail posture and motion. Four different tail posture and motion categories were recorded; curled tail, hanging tail, tail between legs and tail wagging. Furthermore, home pen observations were performed to link behaviours to a tail posture or motion.

The most performed tail posture in the novel environment test and the home pen observations was a hanging tail posture (60%), while curled tail was performed 30% of the time and tail between the legs and tail wagging occurred both 5% of the time. A curled tail was linked with active behaviour (high arousal), whilst a hanging tail was linked with inactive behaviour (low arousal). No effect of SBV or coping style was found in the novel environment test on the tail postures and motion. In the home pen observations, low SBV pigs showed more tail between the legs than high SBV pigs (P<0.05). High resisters kept their tail curled more often than low resisters (P<0.01). Also, high resister pigs with a low SBV showed a curled tail more often than the other treatment groups (P<0.05). Tail between the legs occurred more often in barren housed pigs than in enriched housed pigs (P<0.05), which could link this tail posture to a negative emotional state. Housing had an effect on the tail condition score; barren housed pigs without straw had more tail damage than enriched pigs (P<0.0001). Positive correlations were found between eating/drinking and a curled tail, social behaviour and tail between legs, and negative social behaviour and manipulation with a wagging tail (P<0.0001).

To conclude, a curled tail could be linked to a positive emotional state, with high arousal. A hanging tail may be linked to a neutral state, neither positive nor negative. Pigs with their tail between the legs may be associated with a negative emotional state and low to medium arousal. Tail wagging can be associated with a negative emotional state, with high arousal. However, conclusions should be made carefully, because still little is known about the link between emotional states and behaviour. Positive tests could be done to make the link between a positive emotional state and a certain tail posture more clear. Also, tests that elicit a more fearful response than the novel arena test could confirm results from the current study.


Electroporation-Based Therapies for Cancer reviews electroporation-based clinical studies in hospitals for various cancer treatments, including melanomas, head and neck cancers, chest wall breast carcinomas, and colorectal cancers, as well as research studies in the lab using cell lines, primary cells, and animals. Cancer kills about one American per minute, amounting to over 500,000 deaths in the United States and millions, worldwide, each year. There is a critical need for safe, effective, and affordable alternative treatment modalities, especially for inoperable, recurring, and chemo-resistant cancers, that do not respond well to current treatment regimen. An electrical-pulse-mediated, enhanced drug delivery technique known as electroporation is one way to effectively treat these patients. This technique is especially suitable for low- and middle-income countries, where lack of infrastructure and resources leads to cancer diagnoses at late stages. This quick, safe, effective, economical, out-patient-based technique is a boon to these patients for palliative and other care with enhanced quality of life. This book features discussions by interdisciplinary authors?including practicing oncological surgeons, medical professionals, and academic and other researchers?of the basics and clinical medical applications of electroporation.Provides novel and recent clinical applications of electrochemotherapy for various cancers, including melanomas, sarcomas, superficial extreme melanoma, chest wall breast carcinoma, and colorectal cancersExtensive study of a number of cell lines, including human breast cancer, lung cancer, cervical cancer, leukemia, and mouse breast cancer using both reversible and irreversible electroporation techniquesIn vitro study of delivery of various commonly prescribed/administered breast cancer chemo and hormone drugs, such as Doxorubicin, Paclitaxel, Bleomycin, and Tamoxifen


Calcium phosphate materials are similar to bone in composition and in having bioactive and osteoconductive properties. Calcium phosphate materials in different forms, as cements, composites, and coatings, are used in many medical and dental applications. This paper reviews the applications of these materials in dentistry. It presents a brief history, dental applications, and methods for improving their mechanical properties. Notable research is highlighted regarding (1) application of calcium phosphate into various fields in dentistry; (2) improving mechanical properties of calcium phosphate; (3) biomimetic process and functionally graded materials. This paper deals with most common types of the calcium phosphate materials such as hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate which are currently used in dental and medical fields.


Here Lies Hugh Glass: A Mountain Man, a Bear, and the Rise of the American Nation. By Jon T. Coleman. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2012. Pp. 252. $28.00.)Reviewed by Robert C. DealJon T. Coleman's Here Lies Hugh Glass: A Mountain Man, a Bear, and the Rise of the American Nation traces, dissects, and deconstructs one of the most enduring stories of survival in the American West. Hugh Glass was mauled by a grizzly bear while part of a commercial hunting expedition in the Rocky Mountains during the summer of 1823. Left for dead by his companions, Glass survived his horrific injuries and managed to crawl and then walk more than two hundred miles over thirty-eight days to confront those who had abandoned him. The incredible saga of Glass's survival and ultimate forbearance in exacting a measure of physical revenge has served as fodder for countless storytellers, writers, poets, and, more recently, filmmakers. Glass has been cast and recast by his many chroniclers as a preeminent example of what Coleman terms environmental Americanism.Although Coleman, a cultural and environmental historian best known for his justly celebrated book Vicious: Wolves and Men in America, never provides a single, neat explanation of what he means by environmental Americanism, readers will certainly recognize the interpretive framework that Coleman complicates and inverts to great effect. Glass is the American frontiersmen whose encounter with the dangers and hardships of the cruel American environment breaks him physically and emotionally so that he can be forged into a new sort of man. Like Frederick Jackson Turner's frontiersmen, he is reborn in the wilderness as the uniquely democratic American prototype, part of the familiar story about the birth of American nationalism and exceptionalism.Here Lies Hugh Glass is not a biography. Glass left behind a single letter and is largely absent from the documents upon which historians normally depend. Even the earliest written accounts based allegedly on Glass's own oral narrative of his survival are second- or third-hand recreations of questionable reliability. The many gaps and holes in the story have, Coleman suggests, proved more boon than hindrance to those who have sought to explain the creation of the American nation through the broken body of Glass. That Glass is a blank slate is clearly part of his appeal to Coleman. Coleman uses the many stories of Hugh Glass to reexamine the myth of the environmental American and then, taking his own turn at resurrecting the hunter's gnawed corpse, offers a new reading. If the old story of the frontier and environmental Americanism in the hands of Turner, James Hall, and numerous Glass interpreters recounts the building of something noble through the elision of uncomfortable issues like race and the softening of the rough types who did the work of the frontier, Coleman returns many of the grubby particulars to the tale.Coleman explains how the stories of people like Glass were used to produce an American nationalism built upon an idealized version of the western experience and the people who lived and worked on the frontier. …


Objective: To identify factors associated to the nutritional status of under five children. Method: The data used in this analysis are from Demographic and Health Survey 2006 conducted in Nepal. Total 5262 cases are included in the present study. A multinomial logistic regression model is used to study the relation between various factors and nutritional status. Results: Increasing body mass index of mothers and wealth index shows decreasing likelihood of malnutrition among children. Rural children show insignificant higher likelihood of different forms of underweight and wasting as compared to urban area. Frequency of listening radio does not show significant association in case of mild and moderate wasting and shown very high unusual odds ratio in case of severe wasting.  Similarly, lower frequency of watching television also does not show significantly higher likeliness of different form of stunting, underweight and wasting. Female children are more likely to be stunted, underweight and wasted as compared to male. Female headed households are more likely to have moderately and mildly stunted children and mixed results are observed for underweight and wasting. The likelihood for all forms of malnutrition is higher among children with smaller than average size at birth as compared to average or bigger size at birth.  Mixed results are observed regarding likelihood of different forms of malnutrition among children with mothers having different educational level. Conclusion: Body mass index of mothers is found significant variable while explaining children's nutritional status. Similarly, Size at birth is significantly associated with nutrition during the childhood. Keywords: Stunting; wasting; under weight; under five children DOI: 10.3126/ajms.v1i1.2927 Asian Journal of Medical Sciences Vol.1(1) 2010 p.6-8


A mesocosm approach was used to investigate the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on a natural plankton community in coastal waters off Norway by manipulating CO2 partial pressure (pCO2). Eight enclosures were deployed in the Raunefjord near Bergen. Treatment levels were ambient (~320 µatm) and elevated pCO2 (~2000 µatm), each in 4 replicate enclosures. The experiment lasted for 53 d in May-June 2015. To assess impacts of OA on the plankton community, phytoplankton and protozooplankton biomass and total seston fatty acid content were analyzed. In both treatments, the plankton community was dominated by the dinoflagellate Ceratium longipes. In the elevated pCO2 treatment, however, biomass of this species as well as that of other dinoflagellates was strongly negatively affected. At the end of the experiment, total dinoflagellate biomass was 4-fold higher in the control group than under elevated pCO2 conditions. In a size comparison of C. longipes, cell size in the high pCO2 treatment was significantly larger. The ratio of polyunsaturated fatty acids to saturated fatty acids of seston decreased at high pCO2. In particular, the concentration of docosahexaenoic acid (C 22:6n3c), essential for development and reproduction of metazoans, was less than half at high pCO2 compared to ambient pCO2. Thus, elevated pCO2 led to a deterioration in the quality and quantity of food in a natural plankton community, with potential consequences for the transfer of matter and energy to higher trophic levels


Abstract Parkinson's disease (PD) (OMIM168600) is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder worldwide with a prevalence of more than 1% in people over 65 years old. The major hallmark of PD brain change is the formation of Lewy bodies, which are mainly composed of a protein called alpha-synuclein (encoded by the SNCA gene), aggregated together with other proteins. Genetic variants of SNCA have been reported to be involved in both familial as well as sporadic cases of PD. Many of these variants result in the over-expression of the encoded protein making it prone to aggregation. This report describes investigation of methylation of the two CpG islands in SNCA in brain samples from PD patients. Fifty three DNA samples were made from cerebellum of PD brains, to add to 268 existing DNA samples. In the first part of the study, confirmation of suspected monogenic PD mutations was carried out using PCR and sequencing. However, no mutation was detected. Possible reasons for the discrepancy between predicted and observed results are discussed. In addition, 250 PD cases were screened for three monogenic mutations in SNCA using commercial service and found that none of these cases have the mutations. In the second part of the study, DNA methylation of two SNCA CpG islands was assessed in seven different brain regions of ten PD cases using bisulfite sequencing. No significant difference was observed in DNA methylation of CpG 1, as well as CpG 2, when compared to the studied brain regions. Genetic and epigenetic studies on PD can help to provide better understanding of the mechanisms underlying the disease and its progression, enhancing our ability to discover and develop better treatment options for the future.


"Grafting from" RAFT polymerization was carried out on lignin using three soybean oil-derived methacrylate monomers toward sustainable biocomposites. These grafted biocomposites showed structure-dependent thermal and mechanical properties. The presence of hydrogen bonding between secondary amides resulted in grafted copolymers with much higher glass transition temperature and different tensile behaviors. Epoxy resins prepared from epoxide-containing grafted polymers exhibited much tougher mechanical properties compared with uncured biocomposites.


The central London office market has received much attention in the literature. Regarded as a highly liquid and relatively transparent direct commercial real estate market, research has examined, for example, the cyclical nature of the market, market adjustment, the division of the market into submarkets, and the importance of international investment. However, relatively little research has examined spatial patterns of rents and prices. Partly this may reflect limited data for heterogeneous real estate assets. This paper uses transactions data on offices over a long time period and focuses on the main central London office submarkets. Different models are estimated to attempt to capture space and time varying influences on the property market. The results highlight the importance and significance of neighbouring and contiguous influences in real estate pricing. Considering a number of central locations, we find price and distance to be inversely related even across markets which have a high level of accessibility.


Computer -Aided synthesis of sequential functions of VLSI systems, such as microprocessor control units, must include design op timization procedures to yield area-effective circuits. We model se quential functions as deterministic synchronous Finite State Machines (FSM's), and we consider a regular and structured implementation by means of Programmable Logic Arrays (PLA's) and feedback registers. State assignment, i.e., binary encoding of the internal states of the finite state machine, affects substantially the silicon area taken by such an implementation. Several state assignment techniques have been pro posed in the past. However, to the best of our knowledge, no Computer Aided Design tool is in use today for an efficient encoding of control logic. We propose an algorithm for optimal state assignment. Optimal state assignment is based on an innovative strategy: logic minimization of the combinational component of the finite state machine is applied before state encoding. Logic minimization is performed on a symbolic (code independent) description of the finite state machine. The minimal symbolic representation defines the constraints of a new encoding prob lem, whose solutions are the state assignments that allow the implemen tation of the PLA with at most as many product-terms as the cardi nality of the minimal symbolic representation. In this class, an optimal encoding is one of minimal length satisfying these constraints. A heu ristic algorithm constructs a solution to the constrained encoding prob lem. The algorithm has been coded in a computer program, KISS, and tested on several examples of finite state machines. Experimental re suIts have shown that the method is an effective tool for designing finite state machines.


ABSTRACT Ballet training is designed to develop creative, expressive artists. However, an explicit approach to technical instruction may not assist in the development of individual creativity and may encourage counterproductive perfectionistic goals. This paper describes a five-day intervention designed to enhance creativity in thirteen adolescent vocational ballet students at an elite ballet school in Stockholm, Sweden. The intervention focused on implicit learning and sensori-kinetic imagery. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Tests indicated significant increases for creativity perceptions and implicit sources of evaluation, and reductions in perfectionistic cognitions. Case study interviewees, representing the most and least perfectionistic students, reported heightened creativity, enjoyment and, in some cases, a strengthened sense of autonomy and self-regulation. The combination of quantitative and qualitative data forms a convincing case that even a short intervention based on implicit learning strategies and sensori-kinetic imagery can enhance perceptions of creativity and reduce perfectionistic cognitions in ballet class.


The Leidenfrost effect occurs when a liquid or stiff sublimable solid near a hot surface creates enough vapor beneath it to lift itself up and float. In contrast, vaporizable soft solids, e.g., hydrogels, have been shown to exhibit persistent bouncing-the elastic Leidenfrost effect. By carefully lowering hydrogel spheres towards a hot surface, we discover that they are also capable of floating. The bounce-to-float transition is controlled by the approach velocity and temperature, analogously to the "dynamic Leidenfrost effect." For the floating regime, we measure power-law scalings for the gap geometry, which we explain with a model that couples the vaporization rate to the spherical shape. Our results reveal that hydrogels are a promising pathway for controlling floating Leidenfrost objects through shape.


AIM:
this study examined a brief lifestyle self-management intervention, based on self-determination theory, to manage seizure frequency, and its effects on health-related quality of life and resilience in people with epilepsy aged over 18 years.

BACKGROUND:
most people with epilepsy can identify factors that may trigger seizures and may try to avoid these; however, education from clinicians on this varies.

DESIGN:
a cohort study with control design.

METHOD:
sixty participants were purposively sampled and allocated to an intervention or a control group.

RESULTS:
moderate correlations were found, particularly between: resilience and satisfaction with life; medication adherence and psychological quality of life; and psychological quality of life and satisfaction with life. The mean seizure occurrences between the control and intervention groups were 12.71 (SD 24.55) and 6.76 (SD 13.40) respectively after the intervention. While the study was not powered to assess this, the intervention may be most effective regarding medication adherence and physical health quality of life.

CONCLUSION:
the relationship between self-efficacy and seizure management appeared to be strengthened by the programme. This study is the first known to measure resilience in relation to lifestyle self-management for seizure control in people with epilepsy. Relevance to practice: nurses are well placed to work with patients' strengths towards self-efficacy and potentially resilient coping.


We define a new state-space for the coalescing Brownian flow, also known as the Brownian web, on the circle. The elements of this space are families of order-preserving maps of the circle, depending continuously on two time parameters and having a certain weak flow property. The space is equipped with a complete separable metric. A larger state-space, allowing jumps in time, is also introduced, and equipped with a Skorokhod-type metric, also complete and separable. We prove that the coalescing Brownian flow is the weak limit in this larger space of a family of flows which evolve by jumps, each jump arising from a small localized disturbance of the circle. A local version of this result is also obtained, in which the weak limit law is that of the coalescing Brownian flow on the line. Our set-up is well adapted to time-reversal and our weak limit result provides a new proof of time-reversibility of the coalescing Brownian flow. We also identify a martingale associated with the coalescing Brownian flow on the circle and use this to make a direct calculation of the Laplace transform of the time to complete coalescence.


The Tale of Tea is the saga of globalisation. Tea gave birth to paper money, the Opium Wars and Hong Kong, triggered the Anglo-Dutch wars and the American war of independence, shaped the economies and military history of Tang and Song China and moulded Chinese art and culture. Whilst black tea dominates the global market today, such tea is a recent invention. No tea plantations existed in the world's largest black tea producing countries, India, Kenya and Sri Lanka, when the Dutch and the English went to war about tea in the 17th century. This book replaces popular myths about tea with recondite knowledge on the hidden origins and detailed history of today's globalised beverage in its many modern guises.


According to the hygiene hypothesis, infections by agents such as parasites have a protective role against the risk of developing multiple sclerosis (MS). Among parasites, Toxoplasma gondii, an intracellular parasite, showed evidence of a protective effect. This study was undertaken to summarize the available evidence on the association between T. gondii infection and MS.


There is at present, amongst Hegel scholars and in the interpretative discussions of Hegelrsquo;s social and political theories, the flavour of old-style lsquo;apologyrsquo; for his liberal credentials, as though there exists a real need to prove he holds basic liberal views palatable to the hegemonic, contemporary political worldview. Such an approach is no doubt motivated by the need to reconstruct what is left of the modern moral conscience when Hegel has finished discussing the flaws and contradictions of the Kantian model of moral judgement. The main claim made in the following pages is that the critique of lsquo;subjectiversquo; moralities is neither the sole nor even the main reason for the adoption of an immanent doctrine of ethics. This paper will look to Hegelrsquo;s mature theory of action as motivating the critique of transcendentalism rather than merely filling in the hole left when one rejects Kant and it will discuss what the consequences of this approach are for the role of the moral conscience within the political sphere, arguing that Hegelrsquo;s own conditions of free action would not be met unless the subjective moral conscience was operative in the rational state.


Although the diversity of marine molluscs along the Humboldt Current ecosystem is relatively well known, some groups such as opisthobranch sea slugs and snails (Gastropoda, Heterobranchia) have received little attention. Herein, we critically review and update the taxonomical composition of Acteonoidea, Nudi pleura, Euopisthobranchia and marine panpulmonates Sacoglossa and Acochlida from coastal Peruvian waters. Our checklist comprises a total of 56 species belonging to 30 families. The nudibranch species Tritonia sp., Tyrinna nobilis and Diaulula variolata are reported for the first time in the Peruvian coast. We also add new collection localities for 19 species, including Bulla punctulata, Navanax aenigmaticus, Haminoea peruviana, Aplysia juliana, Dolabrifera dolabrifera, Elysia diomedea, Elysia hedgpethi, Doris fontainei, Baptodoris peruviana, Polycera alabe, Felimare agassizii, Doto uva, Dendronotus cf. venustus, Flabellina cynara, Fiona pinnata, Spurilla cf. neapolitana, Phidiana lottini, Bajaeolis bertschi and Glaucus atlanticus. The species Bulla punctulata, H. peruviana, F. cynara and A. juliana, which are usually distributed in the Tropical East Pacific, are now reported also from the Warm Temperate Southeastern Pacific Province. Earlier records of thecosome pteropods and several more or less adequately described Aplysia species still need taxonomic revision. Several benthic Peruvian opisthobranch species assumed to show wide or even circumtropical distributions are likely to be part of species complexes. Integrative approaches including molecular species characterization and intensified field work are necessary to enhance the knowledge on the diversity of opisthobranchs from Peru. Roberto A. Uribe, Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Aplicadas Mención Sistemas Marinos Costeros LAMSEC, Universidad de Antofagasta, Avenida Angamos 601, PO Box 170, Antofagasta, Chile


Objective: This pilot study assessed the prevalence of daytime sleepiness and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) from children to young adults with beta-thalassaemia intermedia. Methods: Patients diagnosed with beta-thalassaemia intermedia and attended the four participating hospitals (Prince of Wales, Tuen Mun, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret) for regular evaluations were recruited. All subjects were examined by a paediatrician and underwent overnight polysomnography (PSG). The subjects were also invited to undergo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the upper airway. Serum haemoglobin and ferritin levels were measured after overnight PSG. A detailed sleep apnoea questionnaire and a Chinese version of the Epworth Sleepiness Scale were completed by parents of subjects under 18 years old or by subjects themselves if they were aged 18 or more. Findings: A total of 19 beta-thalassaemia intermedia patients (15 males and 4 females) aged 3-28 years were enrolled. Their mean age at diagnosis was 3.54 years. Four subjects were found to have OSA using obstructive apnoea hypopnoea index (OAHI) >1 as cut-off. Epworth sleepiness score, haemoglobin and ferritin levels, PSG parameters and sleep related symptoms were similar between subjects with and without OSA. All 4 OSA subjects and 7 non-OSA patients underwent MRI, and no significant differences between their upper airway parameters were noted. Conclusion: Prevalence of OSA maybe higher amongst patients with beta-thalassaemia intermedia but this has to be confirmed by further studies with larger sample size.


Recently, a gentleman who has attended a talk I had given asked a familiar question about comics. He wondered if I had heard of the adaptations of classic fiction that he had read and enjoyed in his youth. He argued that they had opened him up to the possibility of reading classics, which, he said, he would never have willingly done otherwise, and that it had led to a lifetime of enthusiastic reading across genres and canons. The same gentleman said that whilst these comics were seen by teachers in his era as 'cheating', by which he meant enabling students to avoid reading the full text of books that were part of the curriculum, he thought that they would offer a good plot summary and get key ideas across well. His hope was that they were still available, although he feared that they would be rather dated. Many readers will already have recognised that the texts under discussion are the Classic Illustrated series, which began in the 1940s http://www.classicsillustrated.co.uk. What I'm going to outline here are a number of the different approaches taken by various creators and publishers who have created comic or manga versions of a range of texts. In doing so I hope to show that whilst the memory of the Classic Illustrated series, ably summed up by the gentleman above, is dominant, there are actually a range of ways of thinking about creating and working with such texts. I'm also going to make a few suggestions about ways of using these texts in schools.


This work has been a study of systems, mostly of sulfa-drugs, showing polymorphic behaviour. Using different means as solid state NMR, X-ray analysis, and theoretical calculations, we have seen how it is possible to understand results obtained from the different techniques, proving how the study of polymorphic systems needs cooperative advice from the different techniques that are able to detect polymorphic differences. Within the sulfa-drugs I have been mostly concentrating on sulfanilamide, studying (^13)C and (^15)N solid state NMR spectra of the different polymorphs. The NMR parameters that have been most interesting to study, have been the relaxation times that have revealed complicated motion of the molecule despite it being a small molecule. In order to obtain detailed information from (^15)N spectra it has been necessary to enrich the samples and this has enabled a study of the shielding tensors of the nitrogens in the molecule. (^13)C spectra were also recorded of systems studied sulfathiazole solvates that proved to show some of the same solid state effects in the NMR spectra as sulfanilamide. Shielding calculations have proved to be still limited in order to obtain reliable information on the shielding of both and (^13)C (^15)N nuclei but considering hydrogen-bonded molecules, as opposed to isolated molecules, seemed to have improved the calculations quite a lot, so that some idea of intermolecular effects could be deducted. Exact positions of the hydrogen has proved to be essential as well in order to improve the calculations. Finally a case study for the REDOR pulse sequence has been carried out. Different attempts to understand the effects influencing this particular experiment have been carried out on 20% and 99% doubly enriched glycine, as well as on a particular sample, doubly enriched BRL55834, but the internuclear distances measured with this technique still displayed some uncertainties that made results not thoroughly reliable.


The primary purpose of this study was to determine if a model existed that significantly increased the researcher's ability to accurately explain the enrollment status of high-achieving freshmen based on the influence of selected demographic and academic characteristics.

Since World War II, the need for students to obtain an outstanding postsecondary education in order to compete for the best positions in today's job market has become increasingly important. Thus, the need exists for higher education institutions to offer competitive academic programs that will attract top students and faculty. Since the number of graduating high school students is predicted to decline during the next decade, competition for students is fierce among institutions as enrollment managers strive to enroll outstanding students.

This study's population was defined as all high-achieving freshmen (ACT ≥ 28 and academic GPA ≥ 3.0) who were admitted to one selected research-extensive university for the fall 2005 semester. There were 13 independent variables that were collected from the admissions and student aid databases and then transferred to a computerized, recording form, which served as the research instrument.

Using stepwise multiple discriminant analysis, the researcher identified a substantively and statistically significant model that increased the researcher's ability to accurately explain the enrollment status of high-achieving freshman. The model correctly classified 65.0% of the cases, which was a 30.1% improvement over chance that was obtained on these subjects using this model. The variable that had the greatest impact on enrollment was whether or not the student's parent graduated from the institution. Other variables that contributed significantly were: student's residency status, college entrance examination score (ACT), gender, offer of admission to the Honors College, academic high school GPA, whether or not the student's race was Hispanic, and whether the student graduated from a public or private high school.

The researcher recommended additional studies that would increase the percentage of correctly classified students by integrating these variables with others that could further explain future freshman classes. Variables suggested were: the institution's image, student's academic major, high school counselor influence, student's relationship with enrollment management offices, communication with students, and the campus visit program.


Gastrointestinal tract (GIT) symptoms commonly affect endurance athletes. Although a number of risk factors for the development of GIT symptoms during exercise have been proposed, scientific evidence in support of these factors is limited. In this review article, the risk factors associated with the development of GIT symptoms during exercise will be critically reviewed.
An extensive literature review was conducted using an evidence-based approach. Using selective keywords (gastrointestinal tract symptoms, exercise, risk factors, athletes, triathletes) a search was undertaken using the PubMed database to identify all research publications that relate to the development of GIT symptoms during exercise.
There is strong evidence from a limited number of studies to support significant dehydration (body weight loss >4% during or after exercise) as a risk factor for GIT symptoms during exercise. However, more research studies are still needed to support this finding. There is some, but limited scientific evidence, to support the following as risk factors for GIT symptoms during exercise: female gender, younger age, high intensity exercise, vertical impact sport and medication use. Poor conditioning, dietary factors and previous abdominal surgery are risk factors for GIT symptoms that are not well supported and evidence is considered weak in these areas.
Therefore, further research studies of greater power, such as case control and prospective cohort studies are needed in order to evaluate risk factors adequately. Subject selection needs to be random and subjects should not be self-selected. Data needs to be collected in an objective manner not relying on subject recall. Measurement parameters also need to be standardised. In conclusion, there is very little evidence-based research to support the majority of the currently suggested risk factors for GIT symptoms in endurance athletes and further research is essential.


In the thesis, models of quantum systems characterized by discrete time dynamics are presented and applied to different problems. More specifically, aspects of excitation transport, quantum state transfer and thermalization are investigated mainly within the framework of quantum cellular automata (QCA), which are discrete time evolution quantum systems defined on a regular lattice of, in this case, qubits. The peculiarities of QCA, together with the restriction to the first excitation sector of the Hilbert space, make it possible to define a transport dynamics on a one dimensional lattice that encompasses all classical Markov chains, as well as maps where quantum coherence between sites can build up over time. This allows for the possibility to make a direct comparison between a fully classical dynamics and a dynamics affected by quantum effects, which is of relevance both in the field of quantum biology, especially regarding the transport of electronic excitations in photosynthetic systems, and in quantum computing when dealing with the transport of an unknown quantum state. In a quantum thermodynamics context, instead, QCA can serve the purpose to validate arguments of tipicality that have been brought forward in recent years in order to demonstrate the thermalization of closed quantum systems (i.e. the tendency of any small subsystems to evolve towards the maximally mixed state). Numerical results concerning this issue are presented. Finally, a modelization of scattering-like processes, where the scattering consists of random unitary interactions between an environment and part of a quantum bipartite system is discussed. Relevant properties of the resulting state such as its mean purity and the correlations between the interacting and the "sheltered" part of the system can be analitically evaluated, and their fluctuations bounded.


Sara Benson, Copyright Librarian for the University of Illinois Library, provided a dynamic, interactive train-the-trainers session. The presentation was based on a chapter she wrote for a forthcoming book to be published by the Association of College and Research Libraries.  Benson reviewed basic information about copyright, including what is required to secure a copyright, what is protected, and what is not.  She also addressed the specific issues involved in joint authorship and work-for-hire situations.  Throughout the presentation Benson reminded the audience that authors should be encouraged to pay close attention to publishing agreements and to take an active role in negotiating the retention of appropriate author rights.  After completing her presentation, Benson engaged the audience in reviewing actual author agreements and role-playing the negotiation of an author agreement between an author and publisher.  The session concluded with a question-and-answer period that engendered lively discussions on other copyright issues and related scholarly communication topics.


Insect growth regulators (IGRs) are insecticides that mimic insect-produced hormones that regulate the developmental process. They generally have little or no mammalian toxicity, and are considered reducedrisk insecticides that are often exempt from tolerance requirements of regulatory agencies. Although IGRs have been available for more than 30 years, there is increased interest and application for stored-product pest control. Insect growth regulators can be used for direct application to stored grains, and worldwide perhaps the most common IGR used for this purpose is methoprene. Within the last few years, there has been new research showing that this IGR is very effective against Rhyzopertha dominica (Coleoptera: Bostrichidae), one of the most destructive pests of stored grain worldwide. However, one of the limitations of IGRs is that they generally do not kill adult insects. Recent studies show that the addition of methoprene to diatomaceous earth (DE), a natural product, or a contact insecticide will give complete control of this species on stored grains. Another application of IGRs is as surface treatments to flooring structures of mills, warehouses, and processing plants. Hydroprene (Gentrol) is particularly effective against late-instars of Plodia interpunctella (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), Tribolium castaneum and T. confusum (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae). Other IGRs that are effective against these insects when used as surface treatments are methoprene and pyriproxyfen. The final category where IGRs can be used in pest management programs is as aerosol spray treatments. In the United States, there are a number of facilities that have integrated methoprene aerosols into their control programs. The use of IGRs can easily be integrated into pest management strategies to control stored-product insects in bulk grain and in milling, processing, and storage facilities.


Trafficking was a matter for international human rights law long before it became an issue of migration or of transnational organized crime. However human rights law has not, on balance, been especially useful to victims of trafficking. Rarely are even the most clear-cut and uncontested provisions (e.g. those relating to slavery, debt bondage, forced marriage and forced labor) advanced in relation to a situation of trafficking. When such connections are made, their purpose is often rhetorical and, even when presented by legal scholars, conspicuously lacking in legal justification. While many examples could be cited, one of the most significant relates to the human rights treaty-bodies: the key enforcement mechanisms of the international human rights system. Despite this issue being raised with increasing frequency in the context of human rights treaty-body work, none of the relevant committees has managed to tie trafficking to a violation of a specific right in a specific treaty. Perhaps this is because trafficking is just too complicated. Perhaps it is because the norms themselves are devoid of sufficient content to support their application to real life. Perhaps the situation is aggravated by the fact that traffickers are generally bad people and bad organisations, not bad governments.The primary purpose of this Chapter is to flesh out several of the strongest and clearest human rights norms that could be applied to trafficking by the international human rights system, international and regional tribunals and national criminal justice agencies. These norms include the prohibition on slavery and the slave trade; the prohibition on forced labor; and the prohibition on debt bondage. The underlying rationale for this approach lies in the fact that even the most promising recent international legal developments do not appear to have made the process of prosecuting traffickers and protecting victims much easier. It may be time to go back to basics: to take out of cold storage our oldest, strongest and most widely accepted laws to determine whether (and, if so, to what extent) they can be used against this especially persistent and virulent criminal phenomenon.


The present study aims to investigate the predictive effects of metacognitive awareness of prospective primary school teachers and their motivation to learn science subjects on their academic achievement in the 'Science and Technology Laboratory Applications' course. A total of 108 (72 females, 36 males) prospective primary school teachers participated in the study. The sample of the study consists of second-grade prospective primary school teachers attending the 'Primary School Teaching' department of a public university in the academic year of 2017-2018.  The study was carried out with relational screening model, one of the descriptive research methods. As the data collection tools, metacognitive awareness scale, motivation scale for science learning, and the average grades of the prospective teachers from the science course were used.  To determine the relationship between the prospective primary school teachers' academic achievements in their science courses and their metacognitive awareness and motivation for science learning, the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient was used. Besides, multiple regression analysis was used to determine the extent to which the sub-factors of metacognitive awareness and motivation of prospective teachers accounted for the variance in their academic achievement.  The study concludes the importance of the sub-factors predicting academic achievement as follows: knowledge of cognition, the motivation for research, the motivation for participation, the motivation for collaborative work, and motivation for performance. Furthermore, it has been determined that all factors accounted for 37% of the variance on academic achievement.


Background and purpose: Cannabis is taken as self-medication by patients with inflammatory bowel disease for symptomatic relief. Cannabinoid receptor agonists decrease inflammation in animal models of colitis, but their effects on the disturbed motility is not known. (-)-Cannabidiol (CBD) has been shown to interact with D9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in behavioural studies, but it remains to be established if these cannabinoids interact in vivo in inflammatory disorders. Therefore the effects of CBD and THC alone and in combination were investigated in a model of colitis. Experimental approach: The 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulphonic acid (TNBS) model of acute colitis in rats was used to assess damage, inflammation (myeloperoxidase activity) and in vitro colonic motility. Sulphasalazine was used as an active control drug. Key results: Sulphasalazine, THC and CBD proved beneficial in this model of colitis with the dose–response relationship for the phytocannabinoids showing a bell-shaped pattern on the majority of parameters (optimal THC and CBD dose, 10 mg·kg-1). THC was the most effective drug. The effects of these phytocannabinoids were additive, and CBD increased some effects of an ineffective THC dose to the level of an effective one. THC alone and in combination with CBD protected cholinergic nerves whereas sulphasalazine did not. Conclusions and implications: In this model of colitis, THC and CBD not only reduced inflammation but also lowered the occurrence of functional disturbances. Moreover the combination of CBD and THC could be beneficial therapeutically, via additive or potentiating effects. British Journal of Pharmacology (2010) 160, 712–723; doi:10.1111/j.1476-5381.2010.00791.x This article is part of a themed issue on Cannabinoids. To view the editorial for this themed issue visit http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1476-5381.2010.00831.x


The polypyrrole (PPy) film was used for the selective extraction of trace levels of chloride, nitrite, and nitrate ions by solid phase micro-extraction (SPME). PPy film was electrochemically prepared from aqueous solutions of pyrrole and LiClO4 under N2 atmosphere at constant potential of +0.80 V (versus Ag/AgCl). The anion uptake and release properties of the PPy film electrodes were examined under both open circuit and controlled potential conditions for prospective applications in electrochemically controlled solid-phase microextraction (EC-SPME). Applied positive and negative potentials facilitated the extraction and desorption of anions, respectively. Ions were desorbed into sample aliquot and were determined by ion chromatography (IC). The effect of uptake/release parameters, potential, time, pH of the uptake solution, on EC-SPME of anions was investigated. The method was validated using a standard reference material and tested for the determination of the ions in water samples. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008


Without standards, the world as we know it would not be possible. International and supra-cultural standards and norms have been a key factor in engineering, as well as in the development of industrial societies. Despite the obvious successes in electronic and mechanical design, other technological areas present difficulties for the application of standards. In the field of biotechnology and synthetic biology – which aims at studying living things from an engineering perspective – standards are desirable, but whether they can be widely adopted remains to be proved. This monograph reviews the sociological and scientific aspects of standardisation and delves into the more problematic facets of universal standardisation, especially in the biological field. Are standards possible in synthetic biology at all? What are the limitations to the universal use of modular and interchangeable parts in a cellular context? Could it be that the biological world resists standardisation, similarly to the field of software engineering, where these attempts have not progressed? And should some kind of standard be applicable in synthetic biology, what qualities might be required in an environment of open science and responsible research and innovation?


Prior studies have found that parents' perceptions of control over their lives and their social support may both be important for parenting behaviors. Yet, few studies have examined their unique and interacting influence on parenting behaviors during early adolescence. This longitudinal study of rural parents in two-parent families (N = 636) investigated (a) whether perceived control and social support when their youth were in sixth grade were independently or interactively associated with changes in parenting behaviors (discipline, standard setting) and parent-child warmth and hostility 6 months later and (b) if these linkages differed by parent gender. We also investigated the interactive links between perceived control, social support, and parenting. Specifically, we tested if parents' perceived control moderated the linkages between social support and parenting and if these linkages differed by parent gender. Greater perceived control predicted more increases in parents' consistent discipline and standard setting, whereas greater social support predicted increases in parent-child warmth and decreases in parent-child hostility. Parental perceived control moderated the effect of social support on parental warmth: For mothers only, social support was significantly linked to parent-child warmth only when mothers had low (but not high) perceived self-control. The discussion focuses on reasons why perceived control and social support may have associations with different aspects of parenting and why these might differ for mothers and fathers.


When assessing a wall assembly's ability to manage rainwater and control rain penetration, the two key climatic elements to consider are wind speed and rainfall intensity. However, of significance to rain penetration is the effect of wind-driven rain on the building cladding — that is wind coincident with rainfall. When water is present at openings in the cladding, water is driven into the layers of the assembly by the action of wind. Paths providing a direct line from openings in the cladding to inside the assembly offer particularly vulnerable points for water entry. Performance testing helps determine the location of vulnerable locations in a wall assembly and the test loads at which penetration occurs, and it possibly relates the amount of entry to specific details and simulated climate effects. Undertaking watertightness performance tests requires knowledge of extremes in wind-driven rain or specifically the occurrence and level of extreme rainfall events for locations of interest. A review of climate information on wind-driven rain is provided, and its relevance to assessing the watertightness performance of walls, windows, and wall-window interfaces is discussed. Values of rainfall intensity, duration, and frequency or occurrence are given, emphasizing the level of significance of these variables to different North American climates.


All businesses have access to an extensive pool of knowledge, whether this is their understanding of customers' needs and the business environment or the skills and experience of employees. This has led to the use of different methodologies and strategies that are based on the type of evaluation required in the work. Accordingly, these research aims tie together the concept of knowledge management (KM), decision support system (DSS) and efficiency as a way of creation of continuable competitive advantage for the firms. A conceptual model is extracted from the literature review, developed and supported by knowledge experiences of senior workers. An initial study with consolidating firms that are effective in the industrial sector of the world was a lead to validating the study model and smoothing the progress of achieving investigation of the adopted relationships by the study. Collecting data was completed via interviews with managers and knowledge workers of the firms in addition to use of the survey questionnaire which was distributed to random samples from these firms. The research characterized a strong correlation between KM, DSS, and its types. Additionally, it characterized high correlation between DSS and efficiency. Therefore, the knowledge obtained in the current study could be updated for subsequent future steps in more development to the relationships among the same variables or other variables with KM.


BACKGROUND
Peritumoral edema (PTE) in skull base meningiomas correlates to the absence of an arachnoid plane and difference in outcome. In vestibular schwannomas (VS), PTE and its significance for microsurgery and outcome have never been systematically evaluated.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate whether PTE correlates with tumor characteristics, the presence of an arachnoid plane, and outcome.

METHODS
A retrospective study of the institutional database. PTE was evaluated on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance images. Preoperative patient data and intraoperative tumor features (presence of tumor pseudocapsule, vascularity, degree of adhesion/invasion of the arachnoid) were noted. Outcome measures were completeness of removal, neurological outcome, and complication rate. These parameters in patients with PTE (group A) were correlated to those in matched series without edema (group B).

RESULTS
Thirty patients presented with PTE (5%). The mean VS size was 3.4 cm. No major differences in the degree of adhesion or presence of an arachnoid plane were found. VS with PTE were more frequently hypervascular (26.7% in group A vs 6.7% in group B). The presence of PTE in VS was not related to surgical radicality. VS with PTE had worse early postoperative facial nerve function, but at 12 months, there was no major difference. VS with PTE were prone to cause postoperative hemorrhages in the tumor bed.

CONCLUSION
PTE in VS does not correlate with the degree of tumor adhesion and the presence of an arachnoid dissection plane. The radicality of tumor removal and long-term functional outcome in patients with and without PTE was similar. VS with PTE are more vascular and prone to cause postoperative hemorrhages. Therefore, meticulous hemostasis is advisable.


Caenorhabditis elegans mitochondria have two elongation factor (EF)-Tu species, denoted EF-Tu1 and EF-Tu2. Recombinant nematode EF-Ts purified from Escherichia coli bound both of these molecules and also stimulated the translational activity of EF-Tu, indicating that the nematode EF-Ts homolog is a functional EF-Ts protein of mitochondria. Complexes formed by the interaction of nematode EF-Ts with EF-Tu1 and EF-Tu2 could be detected by native gel electrophoresis and purified by gel filtration. Although the nematode mitochondrial (mt) EF-Tu molecules are extremely unstable and easily form aggregates, native gel electrophoresis and gel filtration analysis revealed that EF-Tu.EF-Ts complexes are significantly more soluble. This indicates that nematode EF-Ts can be used to stabilize homologous EF-Tu molecules for experimental purposes. The EF-Ts bound to two eubacterial EF-Tu species (E.coli and Thermus thermophilus). Although the EF-Ts did not bind to bovine mt EF-Tu, it could bind to a chimeric nematode-bovine EF-Tu molecule containing domains 1 and 2 from bovine mt EF-Tu. Thus, the nematode EF-Ts appears to have a broad specificity for EF-Tu molecules from different species.


Pancreatobiliary cancers have among the highest mortality rates of any cancer type. Discovering the full spectrum of molecular genetic alterations may suggest new avenues for therapy. To catalogue genomic alterations, we carried out array-based genomic profiling of 31 exocrine pancreatic cancers and 6 distal bile duct cancers, expanded as xenografts to enrich the tumor cell fraction. We identified numerous focal DNA amplifications and deletions, including in 19% of pancreatobiliary cases gain at cytoband 18q11.2, a locus uncommonly amplified in other tumor types. The smallest shared amplification at 18q11.2 included GATA6, a transcriptional regulator previously linked to normal pancreas development. When amplified, GATA6 was overexpressed at both the mRNA and protein levels, and strong immunostaining was observed in 25 of 54 (46%) primary pancreatic cancers compared to 0 of 33 normal pancreas specimens surveyed. GATA6 expression in xenografts was associated with specific microarray gene-expression patterns, enriched for GATA binding sites and mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation activity. siRNA mediated knockdown of GATA6 in pancreatic cancer cell lines with amplification led to reduced cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, and colony formation. Our findings indicate that GATA6 amplification and overexpression contribute to the oncogenic phenotypes of pancreatic cancer cells, and identify GATA6 as a candidate lineage-specific oncogene in pancreatobiliary cancer, with implications for novel treatment strategies.


Uncertainties for 1 kHz capacitance calibrations have been decreased at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The improvements are based on frequencydependence characterization from 1592 Hz to 1 kHz. The relevant measurements and the traceability procedures from the calculable capacitor to the customer calibration are described.


Significance The sensory presence of gods and spirits is central to many of the religions that have shaped human history—in fact, many people of faith report having experienced such events. But these experiences are poorly understood by social scientists and rarely studied empirically. We present a multiple-discipline, multiple-methods program of research involving thousands of people from diverse cultures and religions which demonstrates that two key factors—cultural models of the mind and personal orientations toward the mind—explain why some people are more likely than others to report vivid experiences of gods and spirits. These results demonstrate the power of culture, in combination with individual differences, to shape something as basic as what feels real to the senses. Hearing the voice of God, feeling the presence of the dead, being possessed by a demonic spirit—such events are among the most remarkable human sensory experiences. They change lives and in turn shape history. Why do some people report experiencing such events while others do not? We argue that experiences of spiritual presence are facilitated by cultural models that represent the mind as "porous," or permeable to the world, and by an immersive orientation toward inner life that allows a person to become "absorbed" in experiences. In four studies with over 2,000 participants from many religious traditions in the United States, Ghana, Thailand, China, and Vanuatu, porosity and absorption played distinct roles in determining which people, in which cultural settings, were most likely to report vivid sensory experiences of what they took to be gods and spirits.


Years ago a sanitary process system could be developed at the corporate and/or plant level by the engineering and operations staff and a few key vendors.Today most engineering departments in the beverage industry have been drastically reduced in size or completely eliminated making it impossible for a company to complete a process system without outside help. Therefore, it is imperative for the end user to work closely with a recognized process equipment supplier to develop a system not limited to a line of equipment but utilizing complete process system engineering capabilities. This is especially true today as line sizes have increased in size and scope making it near impossible to design and build it in a small fabricating shop.Prior to discussions with the process equipment supplier, the end user will have defined his or her final objectives.Paper published with permission.Compilation Copyright © 2018 ASME


Dietrich Kuchemann's The Aerodynamic Design of Aircraft is as relevant and as forward looking today as it was when it was first published in 1978. It comprises the philosophy and life's work of a unique and visionary intellect. Based upon material taught in a course at Imperial College London, the insight and intuition conveyed by this text are timeless. With its republication, Kuchemann's influence will extend to the next generation of aerospace industry students and practitioners and the vehicles they will produce. Kuchemann establishes three classes of aircraft based on the character of flow involved. Each class is suitable for a distinct cruise speed regime: classical and swept aircraft for subsonic and transonic cruise, slender-wing aircraft for supersonic cruise, and wave-rider aircraft for hypersonic cruise. Unlike most engineering texts, which focus on a set of tools, Kuchemann's approach is to focus on the problem and its solution - what kind of flow is best for a given class of aircraft and how to achieve it. With this approach, Kuchemann fully embraces the true inverse nature of design; rather than answer "what flow given the shape," he strives to answer "what flow given the purpose" and then "what shape given the flow."


At the macroscopic scale, the process of brittle fracture, leading to the formation of a macroscopic fault, involves several stages of fracture development. The usual sequence of events consists of the following stages: load-parallel tensile fracture, load-normal shear fracture, inclined shear fracture, strength failure, second order fracture and faulting. The first two stages can be defined quantitatively in terms of an elastic flaw concept which is based on the elastic stress distribution existing around the flaw prior to the appearance of the first fracture. The appropriate theories are developed through a stress model which, in departure from other brittle fracture theories, involves the stress gradient along the fracture path. Experimental results are introduced to demonstrate the general validity of the stress gradient model. The initiation of the first inclined shear fracture seems to be contingent on the existence of a quasi-cataclastic state produced by the earlier sets of load-parallel tensile and load-normal shear fractures. Because the original elastic stress distribution, including the stress anomaly around the flaw, is destroyed before the initiation of the inclined shear fracture, later events of fracture cannot be interpreted in terms of the elastic flaw model• Probably a Coulomb-type mechanism, similar to the one involved in the failure of cohesionless, granular materials, controls the initiation and propagation of inclined shear fractures as well as the development of maximum resistance.


Background : Health service-based nurse education roles (NERs) are well positioned to support the integration of theory and practice in Australian nursing. Despite this they are widely viewed as both poorly described and undervalued. Objective: To establish role parameters, typical activity profiles and views and attitudes about their roles, professional practices & linkages, among a sample of regional Australian nurses in NERs. Methods : Design: Participatory action research baseline inquiry. Participants: Nurse educators (NEs) and clinical nurse educators (CNEs) of the Northern New South Wales Local Health District. Mixed method baseline survey (n = 38, 84% response rate) and focus group study (3 groups, n = 33 participants in total). Results : Most survey participants were active in writing education programme material for Registered Nurses (RNs). Two thirds of survey respondents reported responsibility for medical staff training. CNEs were called upon to provide clinical relief (prompted by high patient acuity, sick leave and meal breaks) to the wards and units significantly more frequently than NEs. Activity logging indicated wide-ranging role domain diversity. Providing education and supporting clinical staff were the most prominent role domains for both NEs and CNEs. Dissatisfaction with aspects of NER was high – no role domain attracted higher than 60% overall satisfaction from this representative sample. Most participants were not research-active and many indicated the need for improvements in their linkages to the nursing academy. Focus group discussion suggested a group who were spread thinly, answerable to multiple governance tiers and intellectually under-supported. No consistent guiding educational philosophy was discernible in relation to participants' own teaching activity. Conclusions : Principle issues related to the diversity of operational and professional responsibility tied to multiple impacting governance structures. Stable and purposeful linkages to nursing faculties/academia were also lacking.


Sentiment analysis tends to use automated approaches to mine the sentiment information expressed in text, such as reviews, blogs and forum discussions. As most traditional approaches for sentiment analysis are based on supervised learning models and need many labeled corpora as their training data which are not always easily obtained, various unsupervised models based on Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) have been proposed for sentiment classification. In this paper, we propose a novel probabilistic modeling framework based on LDA, called Dependency-Topic-Affects-Sentiment-LDA (DTAS) model, which drops the "bag of words" assumption and assumes that the topics of sentences in a document form a Markov chain, and the sentiment of one sentence is affected by its corresponding topic and its previous sentence's topic. We applied DTAS to reviews of books and hotels. The experiment results of sentiment classification shows that DTAS outperforms other unsupervised generative models and gets high and stable accuracy.


This article argues in favour of a new direction in service research: in situ methodology. It problematizes previous ways of conducting service research and envisages a more profound theoretical and empirical understanding. It outlines three basic arguments as a scientific rationale, discussing ontological, epistemological, and methodological matters. It is highlights the need to develop more creative methods that allow proximity to the phenomenon and the involved actors with the capacity to grasp the multi-faceted reality.


Network survivability endeavors to ensure the uninterrupted provisioning of services by the network operators in case of a disaster event. Studies and news reports show that network failures caused by physical attacks and natural disasters have significant impacts on the optical networks. Such network failures may lead to a section of a network to cease to function, resulting in non-availability of services and may increase the congestion within the rest of the network. Therefore, fault tolerant and disaster-resilient optical networks have grasped the attention of the research community and have been a critical concern in network studies during the last decade. Several studies on protection and restoration techniques have been conducted to address the network component failures. This study reviews related previous research studies to critically discuss the issues regarding protection, restoration, cascading failures, disaster-based failures, and congestion-aware routing. We have also focused on the problem of simultaneous cascading failures (which may disturb the data traffic within a layer or disrupt the services at upper layers) along with their mitigating techniques, and disaster-aware network survivability. Since traffic floods and network congestion are pertinent problems, they have therefore been discussed in a separate section. In the end, we have highlighted some open issues in the disaster-resilient network survivability for research challenges and discussed them along with their possible solutions.


Abstract Genetically modified crops expressing insecticidal proteins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) have dramatically increased in acreage since their introduction in the mid-1990's. Although the insecticidal mechanisms of Bt target specific pests, concerns persist regarding direct and indirect effects on non-target organisms. In the field, spiders may be exposed to Bt toxins via multiple routes, including phytophagy and pollenivory, consumption of Bt-containing prey, and soil exudates in the detrital food web. Beyond direct toxicity, Bt crops may also have indirect impacts, including pleiotropic and prey-mediated effects. Here, we comprehensively review the literature and use meta-analyses to reveal that foliar spider abundance is unaffected by Bt corn and eggplant, while cotton and rice revealed minor negative effects and there were positive effects from potato. Moreover, the soil-dwelling community of spiders was unaffected by Bt corn and cotton, while positively impacted in potato. However, Bt crops had higher populations of both foliar and epigeal spiders than insecticide-treated non-Bt crops. The current risk-assessment literature has several caveats that could limit interpretations of the data, including lack of taxonomic resolution and sampling methods that bias the results in favor of certain spiders. These families responded differently to Bt crops, and spider responses to insecticides are species- and toxin-specific, thus highlighting the need for greater taxonomic resolution. Bt crops have become a prominent, and increasingly dominant, part of the agricultural landscape; understanding their interactions with spiders, a diverse and integral component of agroecosystems, is therefore essential.


A general review of stochastic processes is given in the introduction; definitions, properties and a rough classification are presented together with the position and scope of the author's work as it fits into the general scheme. The first section presents a brief summary of the pertinent analytical properties of continuous stochastic processes and their probability-theoretic foundations which are used in the sequel. The remaining two sections (II and III), comprising the body of the work, are the author's contribution to the theory. It turns out that a very inclusive class of continuous stochastic processes are characterized by a fundamental partial differential equation and its adjoint (the Fokker-Planck equations). The coefficients appearing in those equations assimilate, in a most concise way, all the salient properties of the process, freed from boundary value considerations. The writer's work consists in characterizing the processes through these coefficients without recourse to solving the partial differential equations. First, a class of coefficients leading to a unique, continuous process is presented, and several facts are proven to show why this class is restricted. Then, in terms of the coefficients, the unconditional statistics are deduced, these being the mean, variance and covariance. The most general class of coefficients leading to the Gaussian distribution is deduced, and a complete characterization of these processes is presented. By specializing the coefficients, all the known stochastic processes may be readily studied, and some examples of these are presented; viz. the Einstein process, Bachelier process, Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process, etc. The calculations are effectively reduced down to ordinary first order differential equations, and in addition to giving a comprehensive characterization, the derivations are materially simplified over the solution to the original partial differential equations. In the last section the properties of the integral process are presented. After an expository section on the definition, meaning, and importance of the integral process, a particular example is carried through starting from basic definition. This illustrates the fundamental properties, and an inherent paradox. Next the basic coefficients of the integral process are studied in terms of the original coefficients, and the integral process is uniquely characterized. It is shown that the integral process, with a slight modification, is a continuous Markoff process. The elementary statistics of the integral process are deduced: means, variances, and covariances, in terms of the original coefficients. It is shown that an integral process is never temporally homogeneous in a non-degenerate process. Finally, in terms of the original class of admissible coefficients, the statistics of the integral process are explicitly presented, and the integral process of all known continuous processes are specified.


Reverse osmosis (RO) has successfully emerged as a broadly-used commercial water purification technology in recent decades. Nevertheless, RO membrane elements, the core component of this purification process, are frequently subjected to premature degradation and performance deterioration, adversely impacting RO plant operation & maintenance. Membrane autopsy is a well-proven yet under-valued procedure for effectively assessing the condition of membranes and determining the root-cause of performance loss. This paper aims to provide a general methodology utilized commercially to perform membrane autopsy and employ three case studies to explicitly demonstrate the value addition to operators and end-users when applying membrane autopsy in (1) failure analysis and trouble-shooting, (2) operation optimization and routine monitoring, and (3) asset management and maintenance enhancement.


This article examines a form of securities class action that is growing increasingly popular in U.S. courts: the foreign cubed action, brought against a foreign issuer on behalf of a class that includes foreign investors who purchased securities on a foreign exchange. These cases are becoming an important part of the regulatory landscape (as evidenced by recent high-profile lawsuits involving issuers such as Vivendi, Bayer and Royal Ahold), and they create the potential for particularly severe conflict with other countries on the question of how best to regulate global economic activity. Yet they point out quite clearly that the traditional conduct and effects tests for subject-matter jurisdiction are inadequate to the task of delimiting the reach of U.S. securities laws in the global capital markets. The article draws on a study of almost 50 foreign cubed claims. It analyzes the arguments made by foreign investors seeking to justify the application of U.S. law to their claims - arguments that base an expansive theory of regulatory jurisdiction on the interconnections among the world's capital markets. It then turns to judicial disposition of such claims, examining the various stages of litigation (including class certification) at which courts confront jurisdictional questions and identifying a series of assumptions that courts make in attempting to draw jurisdictional lines. It then uses those assumptions to predict how courts will respond to multinational class actions in the continued absence of legislative guidance regarding subject-matter jurisdiction under the securities laws.


This paper examines the financing decision within the framework of the behavioral corporate finance. It empirically analyzes the role of psychological factors related to the managers' overconfidence and optimism in explaining the financing choices of a panel of 160 US industrial companies listed over the period from 2009 to 2015. Our findings confirm the positive and significant impact of managers' overconfidence and optimism on the leverage of their firms. Our tests also highlight the negative and significant impact of the market mispricing perceived by the manager on the debt level of his firm, supporting its market timing behavior. A non-less interesting final result concerns the positive impact of managers' overconfidence on their pecking order preferences, thus rejecting the theoretical hypothesis under which the managers' overconfidence leads to a reverse pecking order preference over the financing sources.


The most deconstructed archetypal forms are vortexes, toroids, solitons, gyres, and singularities. The most fundamental archetype of process is the Field. To claim the wave is unphysical and the particle is physical is a dated idea of the relation between mind and body. The quantum vacuum is a dynamic massless scalar field. Scalars are just active information; a hologram is pure information. Entanglement is a property of nonlocal quantum information exchange. The central spiral vortex crossover point (all adjoining toroidal fractal involved fields) is what physicists call a "twistor" or a "wormhole". The underlying structure of the torus is the Vector Equilibrium, or "VE". Buckminster Fuller called it the blueprint by which nature forms energy into matter. In a vortex "outer" coexists with "inner" in a dimensional morphing contorsion-continuum. This vortex energy modality of the fractal universes -- this fractal -- repeats in every manifestation, including the Earth (the Body), the Psyche, the Soul, the Spirit that are manifested in the 4 Elements of Earth / Water / Air / Fire and their Torus-Vortex interactions.  Fuller's search for a geometry of vectors led him to the isotropic vector matrix. Vectors produce conceptual structural models of energy events. Scalar space is "multi-" rather than "three-dimensional." Vectors are directed in every possible direction, while deliberately maintaining equivalent lengths and angles. This equivalence is necessarily determined by the symmetry of space. Vector Equilibrium is the "zerophase" of energetic manifestation.