In this provocative and original exploration of racial subjugation during slavery and its aftermath, Saidiya Hartman illumines the forms of terror and resistance that shaped black identity. Scenes of Subjection examines the forms of domination that usually go undetected; in particular, the encroachments of power that take place through notions of humanity, enjoyment, protection, rights, and consent. By looking at slave narratives, plantation diaries, popular theater, slave performance, freedmen's primers, and legal cases, Hartman investigates a wide variety of "scenes" ranging from the auction block and minstrel show to the staging of the self-possessed and rights-bearing individual of freedom. While attentive to the performance of power-the terrible spectacles of slaveholders' dominion and the innocent amusements designed to abase and pacify the enslaved-and the entanglements of pleasure and terror in these displays of mastery, Hartman also examines the possibilities for resistance, redress and transformation embodied in black performance and everyday practice. This important study contends that despite the legal abolition of slavery, emergent notions of individual will and responsibility revealed the tragic continuities between slavery and freedom. Bold and persuasively argued, Scenes of Subjection will engage readers in a broad range of historical, literary, and cultural studies.


Industrial x-ray computed tomography (CT) systems are being increasingly used as dimensional measuring machines. However, micron level accuracy is not always achievable, as of yet. The measurement accuracy is influenced by many factors, such as the workpiece properties, x-ray voltage, filter, beam hardening, scattering and calibration methods (Kruth et al 2011 CIRP Ann. Manuf. Technol. 60 821–42, Bartscher et al 2007 CIRP Ann. Manuf. Technol. 56 495–8, De Chiffre et al 2005 CIRP Ann. Manuf. Technol. 54 479–82, Schmitt and Niggemann 2010 Meas. Sci. Technol. 21 054008). Since most of these factors are mutually correlated, it remains challenging to interpret measurement results and to identify the distinct error sources. Since simulations allow isolating the different affecting factors, they form a useful complement to experimental investigations. Dewulf et al (2012 CIRP Ann. Manuf. Technol. 61 495–8) investigated the influence of beam hardening correction parameters on the diameter of a calibrated steel pin in different experimental set-ups. It was clearly shown that an inappropriate beam hardening correction can result in significant dimensional errors. This paper confirms these results using simulations of a pin surrounded by a stepped cylinder: a clear discontinuity in the measured diameter of the inner pin is observed where it enters the surrounding material. The results are expanded with an investigation of the beam hardening effect on the measurement results for both inner and outer diameters of the surrounding stepped cylinder. Accuracy as well as the effect on the uncertainty determination is discussed. The results are compared with simulations using monochromatic beams in order to have a benchmark which excludes beam hardening effects and x-ray scattering. Furthermore, based on the above results, the authors propose a case-dependent calibration artefact for beam hardening correction and edge offset determination. In the final part of the paper, the investigations are expanded with experiments of a new set-up that includes non-cylindrical features; the effectiveness of the proposed calibration artefact is also studied.


Health is a focus reflecting the combined impacts of climate change on the physical environment, ecosystems, the economic environment and society. Long-term changes in the world's climate may affect many requisites of good health - sufficient food, safe and adequate drinking water and secure dwelling. The current large-scale social and environmental changes mean that we must assign a much higher priority to population health in the policy debate on climate change. Climate change will affect human health and well-being through a variety of mechanisms. Climate change can adversely impact on the availability of fresh water supply and the efficiency of local sewerage systems. It is also likely to affect food security. Cereal yields are expected to increase at high and mid latitudes but decrease at lower latitudes. Changes in food production are likely to significantly affect health in Africa. In addition, the distribution and seasonal transmission of several vector-borne infectious diseases (such as malaria and dengue) may be affected by climate change. Altered distribution of some vector species may be among the early signals of climate change. A change in the world climate could increase the frequency and severity of extreme weather events. The impacts on health of natural disasters are considerable - the number of people killed, injured or made homeless from such causes is increasingly alarming. The vulnerability of people living in risk-prone areas is an important contributor to disaster casualties and damage. An increase in heatwaves (and possibly air pollution) will be a problem in urban areas, where excess mortality and morbidity is currently observed during hot weather episodes. We can assume that climate change will affect the most vulnerable in developing countries. These might be socio-economic deprived populations, people who lack access to a health care system, technology and communication, as well as immuno-compromised persons. The health community has, however, difficulties in clearly attributing changes in ranges of diseases or mortality to climatic changes. The main reasons are the gradual process of climate change, the multiple causes of diseases, the many factors that permit human population health to adapt and the lack of retrospective and prospective studies from developing countries. Adaptation is a key response strategy to minimise potential impacts of climate change. A primary objective of adaptation is the reduction, with the least cost, of death, disease, disability and human suffering. The ability to adapt to climate change impacts, and specifically of health, will depend on many factors including existing infrastructure, resources, technology, information and the level of equity in different countries and regions.


We consider the appropriateness of institutionalizing soil quality as a defined parameter in soil science. The soil management research of land grant universities and the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and the mission and goals of state, federal, and private conservation agencies stand to be significantly affected. We feel that a non-advocalive examination of this concept could provide a positive contribution. The definition of soil quality has proven elusive and value laden. There is concern by some that the concept has developed arbitrary policy overtones. Our reservations stem from concerns regarding premature acceptance and institutionalization of an incompletely formulated and largely untested paradigm, potential unintended negative outcomes, promotion of a narrowly defined environmental policy in a context normally associated with value-neutral science, and taxonomic andlor regional bias in establishing the paradigm. To date, soil quality assessments have drawn from a relatively narrow crop production and ecological perspective to positively or negatively weight soil quality assessment factors. Although the soil quality paradigm acknowledges multi-defined soil functions, it has yet to operationally recognize and integrate the simultaneity of diverse and often conflicting functions and soil property requirements. Thus, we are attempting to articulate the concerns of many of our colleagues who are reluctant to endorse redefining the soil science paradigm away from the value-neutral tradition of edaphology and specific problem solving to a paradigm based on variable, and often subjective societal perceptions of environmental holism. Traditionally, it has been the soil science profession's role to perform the science to enable resource management policy and problem solving, not to establish relational-based value systems within the science. We suggest emphasizing quality soil management rather than soil quality management as a professional and scientific goal.


As a newer approach, single crystals of methyl-p-hydroxybenzoate (p-MHB), an efficient organic non-linear optical material, were grown from a melt by employing the Czochralski pulling technique for the first time. A specially designed mini-Czochralski crystal puller and a locally designed muffle furnace having a temperature controlling accuracy of ±0.1 °C were used for the experiment. Different types of seeding mechanisms were employed using: (i) micro tubes, (ii) portion of melt grown crystal boules and (iii) previously grown smaller dimensional single crystals from solution as seeds. Crystal growth conditions were optimized on a trial and error basis and bell shaped single crystal boules were successfully grown. The unit cell parameters of the grown crystals were determined by a powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) study and the internal crystallographic structure was confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) analysis. Comparison of the XRD results with that of the solution grown crystal reveals that no change in the crystal form except small variation in the lattice parameters. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectral analysis reveals the presence of various functional groups in the grown crystals. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis confirms the thermal stability of the grown crystals in the temperature range 30–120 °C. Second harmonic generation (SHG) efficiency of the solution crystals and the melt grown crystals were studied by the Kurtz Perry powder method with a 1064 nm Nd:YAG laser beam as a fundamental source and were found to be nearly equal and about 1.64 and 1.58 times higher, respectively, than that of the inorganic standard potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP).


Increased pornography use has been a feature of contemporary human society, with technological advances allowing for high speed internet and relative ease of access via a multitude of wireless devices. Does increased pornography exposure alter general emotion processing? Research in the area of pornography use is heavily reliant on conscious self-report measures. However, increasing knowledge indicates that attitudes and emotions are extensively processed on a non-conscious level prior to conscious appraisal. Hence, this exploratory study aimed to investigate whether frequency of pornography use has an impact on non-conscious and/or conscious emotion processes. Participants (N = 52) who reported viewing various amounts of pornography were presented with emotion inducing images. Brain Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) were recorded and Startle Reflex Modulation (SRM) was applied to determine non-conscious emotion processes. Explicit valence and arousal ratings for each image presented were also taken to determine conscious emotion effects. Conscious explicit ratings revealed significant differences with respect to "Erotic" and "Pleasant" valence (pleasantness) ratings depending on pornography use. SRM showed effects approaching significance and ERPs showed changes in frontal and parietal regions of the brain in relation to "Unpleasant" and "Violent" emotion picture categories, which did not correlate with differences seen in the explicit ratings. Findings suggest that increased pornography use appears to have an influence on the brain's non-conscious responses to emotion-inducing stimuli which was not shown by explicit self-report.


Underground coal gasification (UCG) is a non-conventional method of extracting gas from coal. The primary advantage of UCG is that it recovers gas from uneconomical or unminable coal, potentially increasing the value of the world's coal reserves by an estimated 70%; for this reason, UCG has been implemented at sites around the world. However, the gaseous, liquid and solid waste streams which accompany UCG are the source of known mutagens and carcinogens, and potential contamination of groundwater has been identified. In the absence of any meaningful data on UCG waste, this study sought to identify the main organic and inorganic chemical and odoriferous properties of UCG wastewater and sludge from a site in Australia, and examined the roles of oxidization, biostimulation and metal sequestration in the treatment of wastewater and sludge generated by the gasification process. Findings suggest that UCG wastewater and sludge emanate a highly objectionable odour and contain significant concentrations of benzene, toluene, a range of petroleum hydrocarbons, and phenols, but relatively low levels of heavy metals and no polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides or polychlorinated biphenyls. Both oxidation and biostimulation destroyed organic contaminant species by >95%, and sequestration reduced inorganic contaminant species by >94%. As this represents one of the first reliable studies to investigate UCG odour, wastewater and sludge, further research is required to better understand and document the environmental and human health effects, if any, of short-term and chronic exposure to these types of wastes.


Emoji are commonly used in modern text communication. However, as graphics with nuanced details, emoji may be open to interpretation. Emoji also render differently on different viewing platforms (e.g., Apple's iPhone vs. Google's Nexus phone), potentially leading to communication errors. We explore whether emoji renderings or differences across platforms give rise to diverse interpretations of emoji. Through an online survey, we solicit people's interpretations of a sample of the most popular emoji characters, each rendered for multiple platforms. Both in terms of sentiment and semantics, we analyze the variance in interpretation of the emoji, quantifying which emoji are most (and least) likely to be misinterpreted. In cases in which participants rated the same emoji rendering, they disagreed on whether the sentiment was positive, neutral, or negative 25% of the time. When considering renderings across platforms, these disagreements only increase. Overall, we find significant potential for miscommunication, both for individual emoji renderings and for different emoji renderings across platforms.


INTRODUCTION
Oesophageal soft food bolus obstruction (OSFBO) is a surgical emergency. However, no national guidelines exist regarding its management. This paper systematically reviews the literature with respect to the management of OSFBO.

METHODS
Relevant studies included were identified from the the Cochrane Library, the National Center for Biotechnology Information and the US National Library of Medicine resources. A systematic review was performed on 8 November 2010.

RESULTS
This systematic review of the management of OSFBO shows no evidence that any medical intervention is more effective than a 'watch and wait' policy in enabling spontaneous disimpaction. Furthermore, the use of hyoscine butylbromide for OSFBO probably stems from a misquoted textbook. Surgical removal of an OSFBO is effective but not without potential risk. There is some evidence to support surgical intervention within 24 hours to prevent complications deriving from the initial obstruction.

CONCLUSIONS
There is a need for large double-blind, randomised, placebo controlled trials of drugs used in the medical management of OSFBO. Until the results from such trials are available, the treatment of OSFBO will remain based on inconsistent clinical judgement.


A substantial social science literature has demonstrated the power of situational cues on behavior, decisions, choices, attitudes, and emotions. Moreover, recent findings demonstrate that the place where a citizen casts a ballot – Town Hall, a fire station, a school, a church, a library – can itself influence that citizen's vote, by priming particular concepts, values, or ideals that nudge the voter in a particular direction. More important, that effect – what we call the Polling Place Priming Effect or the PPP Effect – nudges voters in a predictable direction – that is, it leads to a systematic, non-random bias in individuals' decision-making. For example, school locations activate pro-education concepts and norms, and thus lead to votes supportive of education, specifically, allocating more tax dollars toward education. Voting in churches activates conservative Christian values, leading to support for conservative candidates who express such values, and activates anti-abortion norms as well.Here we discuss the legal and policy implications of the PPP Effect, focusing on the specific question of the constitutionality of voting in churches. We then connect these findings with similar challenges to voting procedures. We suggest that both the church challenges and these other analogous disputes – and courts' responses to these challenges – fail to fully take into account the unconscious nature of the influence on a citizen's decision-making, and warrant a reconsideration of First Amendment and Equal Protection jurisprudence. Drawing on recent scholarship in the abortion rights context, we articulate a plausible approach to grounding such challenges that does consider that unconscious influence. We then connect our discussion with recent steps toward reducing or altogether eliminating the use of polling places, by addressing its relationship to calls for absentee or convenience voting. We close by broadening our discussion and identifying other legal and policy contexts to which the PPP Effect might be relevant, and suggesting empirical research that might address such possibilities.


Cold environments are common throughout the Galaxy. We are conducting a series of experiments designed to probe the low-temperature limits for growth in selected methanogenic and halophilic Archaea. This paper presents initial results for two mesophiles, a methanogen, Methanosarcina acetivorans, and a halophile, Halobacterium sp. NRC-1, and for two Antarctic cold-adapted Archaea, a methanogen, Methanococcoides burtonii, and a halophile, Halorubrum lacusprofundi. Neither mesophile is active at temperatures below 5 °C, but both cold-adapted microorganisms show significant growth at sub-zero temperatures (−2 °C and −1 °C, respectively), extending previous low-temperature limits for both species by 4–5 °C. At low temperatures, both H. lacusprofundi and M. burtonii form multicellular aggregates, which appear to be embedded in extracellular polymeric substances. This is the first detection of this phenomenon in Antarctic species of Archaea at cold temperatures. The low-temperature limits for both psychrophilic species fall within the temperature range experienced on present-day Mars and could permit survival and growth, particularly in sub-surface environments. We also discuss the results of our experiments in the context of known exoplanet systems, several of which include planets that intersect the Habitable Zone. In most cases, those planets follow orbits with significant eccentricity, leading to substantial temperature excursions. However, a handful of the known gas giant exoplanets could potentially harbour habitable terrestrial moons.


In this paper, a method for the semantic description of modal particles is presented. The method takes into account the context-sensitive meaning of this word class and offers an adequate basis for the purpose of language learning. Modal particles are analysed as grammatical markers of spoken dialogical language use. The model developed here can serve to describe the meaning of German modal particles as well as for contrastive semantic descriptions of particles. The contrastive application is demonstrated using the example of the language pair German-Croatian. First, an overview of the inventory and of the grammatical features of the word class of modal particles in German and of their Croatian equivalents is given. Then, existing methods of determining particle meanings are discussed. On the basis of the scheme for the description of particle meanings proposed by Diewald (1997, 2007), which relates to the Natural Semantic Metalanguage developed by Wierzbicka (e.g. 1996), a new universal model for the description of particle meanings is proposed. This new model is demonstrated with reference to the German modal particles doch, denn and ja and their Croatian equivalents pa, ma und a. Finally, some remarks on the use of the model for the purpose of learning German as a foreign language are made.


Death Metal music with violent themes is characterized by vocalizations with unnaturally low fundamental frequencies and high levels of distortion and roughness. These attributes decrease the signal to noise ratio, rendering linguistic content difficult to understand and leaving the impression of growling, screaming, or other non-linguistic vocalizations associated with aggression and fear. Here, we compared the ability of fans and non-fans of Death Metal to accurately perceive sung words extracted from Death Metal music. We also examined whether music training confers an additional benefit to intelligibility. In a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial design (fans/non-fans, musicians/nonmusicians), four groups of participants (n = 16 per group) were presented with 24 sung words (one per trial), extracted from the popular American Death Metal band Cannibal Corpse. On each trial, participants completed a four-alternative forced-choice word recognition task. Intelligibility (word recognition accuracy) was above chance for all groups and was significantly enhanced for fans (65.88%) relative to non-fans (51.04%). In the fan group, intelligibility between musicians and nonmusicians was statistically similar. In the non-fan group, intelligibility was significantly greater for musicians relative to nonmusicians. Results are discussed in the context of perceptual learning and the benefits of expertise for decoding linguistic information in sub-optimum acoustic conditions.


Preface. Contributors. 1 The Real-Time and Study-Mode Data Environment in Modern SCADA/EMS ( Sudhir Virmani and Savu C. Savulescu ). 1.1 Introduction. 1.2 SCADA/EMS Architectures. 1.3 Integrating Stability Applications with the SCADA/EMS. 1.4 References. 2 Overview of Key Stability Concepts Applied for Real-Time Operations ( Savu C. Savulescu ). 2.1 Introduction. 2.2 In Search of the Stability Limits. 2.3 Transient and Voltage Stability Limits. 2.4 Steady-State Stability Limits. 2.5 Concluding Remarks. 2.6 References. Annex 1-1. Reactive Power Steady-State Stability Criterion dDELTAQ / dV. 3 LIPA Implementation of Real-Time Stability Monitoring in a CIM Compliant Environment ( Loris Arnold, Janos Hajagos, Susan M. Manessis, and Anie Philip ). 3.1 Introduction. 3.2 Static and Dynamic Security Assessment at LIPA. 3.3 Benchmarking the Real-Time Stability Application. 3.4 Practical Experience and Outlook. 3.5 References. 4 Real-Time Stability Monitoring at the Independent System Operator in Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Dusko Vickovic and Roland Eichler ). 4.1 Introduction. 4.2 Interim Implementation of Real-Time Stability Assessment at NOS BiH. 4.3 Real-Time Stability Assessment in the New SCADA/EMS Environment. 4.4 Conclusions and Recommendations. 4.5 References. Annex 4-1. TSL, TTC, and the Stability Envelope. Annex 4-2. Siemens Implementation of the Continuation Power Flow. 5 Experience with Real-Time Stability Assessment at Transelectrica ( Horia S. Campeanu, Cornel Erbasu, and Cornel Aldea ). 5.1 Introduction. 5.2 Security Assessment Philosophy and Criteria. 5.3 Real-Time Steady-State Stability Assessment and Monitoring. 5.4 Off-Line Stability Tools in Support of System Operations. 5.5 Conclusions and Outlook. 5.6 References. 6 Implementation of Online Dynamic Security Assessment at Southern Company ( Kip Morison, Lei Wang, Fred Howell, James Viikinsalo, and Alan Martin ). 6.1 Introduction. 6.2 DSA Implementation Fundamentals. 6.3 Transient Security Assessment Implementation at Southern Company. 6.4 Conclusions. 6.5 References. Annex 6-1. Further Details of the DSA Software and Hardware Architecture. Description of the Core DSA Software. Online DSA Implementation Using DSATools. 7 Online Security Assessment for the Brazilian System A Detailed Modeling Approach ( Jorge L. Jardim ). 7.1 Introduction. 7.2 Security Criteria and Functions. 7.3 Solution Methods and Architecture. 7.4 Practical Implementation Aspects. 7.5 User Interface And Performance. 7.6 Concluding Remarks. 7.7 Acknowledgments. 7.8 References. 8 Dynamic Network Security Analysis in a Load Dispatch Center ( Guenther Beissler, Olaf Ruhle, and Roland Eichler ). 8.1 Introduction. 8.2 Siemens Approach to Dynamic Security Assessment. 8.3 Case Studies: Challenges, Implementation Approach, and Solution Features. 8.4 References. Annex 8-1. Further Dynamic Simulation Capabilities. Time Frame for Dynamic Simulations. Simulation in the Frequency Domain. Eigenvalue and Modal Analysis. 9 Real-Time Transient Security Assessment in Australia at NEMMCO ( Stephen J. Boroczky ). 9.1 Introduction. 9.2 Transient Security Assessment at NEMMCO. 9.3 Performance and Reliability. 9.4 Experience, Benefits, and Outlook. 9.5 References. 10 Online Voltage Security Assessment in the Hellenic Interconnected System ( Costas Vournas, George Christoforidis, and Thierry Van Cutsem ). 10.1 Introduction. 10.2 The Control Center of HTSO. 10.3 Online VSA in the Hellenic System. 10.4 Use of Online VSA For Arming Load-Shedding Protection. 10.5 Conclusion. 10.6 References. Annex 10-1. Quasi-Steady-State Simulation. Principle of the QSS Approximation. Handling of Frequency in QSS Simulation. QSS Model of the Synchronous Machine and its Regulations. Numerical Integration of the QSS Model. 11 The Real-Time Supervision of Transmission Capacity in the Swedish Grid ( Lars Sandberg and Klas Rouden ). 11.1 Introduction. 11.2 Prior and Current Application Development at SVK. 11.3 Voltage Security Assessment with SPICA. 11.4 Benefiting from the Knowledge of the Current Transmission Capacity. 11.5 Additional SPICA Functionality. 11.6 Summary. Appendix A Dimo's Approach to Steady-State Stability Assessment: Methodology Overview, Numerical Example, and Algorithm Validation ( Roberto D. Molina Mylius, Martin Cassano, and Savu C. Savulescu ). A.1 Methodology Overview. A.2 Numerical Example Independent Testing of Algorithm Implementation. A.3 Benchmarking the Methodology. A.4 Conclusions. A.5 References. Appendix B SIME: A Comprehensive Approach to Transient Stability ( Mania Pavella, Daniel Ruiz-Vega, and Mevludin Glavic ). B.1 Introduction. B.2 Basic Formulation. B.3 Preventive SIME. B.4 Emergency SIME. B.5 Postface. B.6 References. Notation. Abbreviations and Acronyms. Appendix C Detection and Evaluation of Stability Constrained ( Marius Pomarleanu and Savu C. Savulescu ). C.1 Introduction. C.2 Approach. C.3 Conclusions. C.4 References. Index.


As student of law and later as a teacher, I was questioning whether Gadaa System has something to contribute to democratic values and sustainable institutions of governance in contemporary Ethiopian legal system. In particular, in sub-Saharan African countries where democracy and rule of law are proclaimed but not translated into practice, it appears vital to look into alternatives that can fill governance deficits. It is against this backdrop and after series of research processes; field work among the Boran and GujiOromo, that Ethiopia: When the Gadaa Democracy Rules in a Federal State; Bridging Indigenous Institutions of Governance to Modern Democracy came into focus. The main objective of this research is, therefore, to respond to the search of alternative solution to hurdles democratisation process, Africa as a region as well as Ethiopia as a country faces, through African indigenous knowledge of governance, namely the Gadaa System. Accordingly, institutional and fundamental principles analysed in this thesis clearly indicate that indigenous system of governance such as the Gadaa System embraces archaic democratic values that are useful even today. However, bridging two separate institutions and political systems is not without challenges. This study is committed to discerning tensions and compatibility issues. The incompatibilities arise from both political systems; indigenous as well as modern. However, they bear not only tensions but also solutions. Hence, where the challenges that arise from indigenous political system could be resolved by progressive principles of modern political systems; tensions that arise from modern political system are sought to be addressed by embracing legally viable values of the Gadaa System through the instrumentality of federalism and legal pluralism. In sum, three main reasons support the approach of this study: in Africa no system of governance is perfect divorced from its indigenous institutions of governance; indigenous knowledge of governance as a resource that could enhance democratisation in Ethiopia should not be left at peripheries; and an inclusive policy that accommodates diversity and ensures the advancement of human culture appeals.


Importance Recently, the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) updated its staging system for human papillomavirus (HPV)–positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma (OPSCC). The prognostic significance of perineural invasion (PNI) and angiolymphatic invasion (ALI) within this staging system is unknown. Objective To examine the prevalence and prognostic significance of PNI and ALI in HPV-positive OPSCC. Design, Setting, and Participants A retrospective review was performed of all patients with HPV-positive OPSCC treated surgically at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center from January 1, 1980, through December 31, 2015, with at least 1 year of follow-up or death within 1 year. Interventions Surgical treatment of HPV-positive OPSCC. Main Outcomes and Measures The prevalence of PNI and ALI was determined from review of pathologic data, and Kaplan-Meier curves were generated for overall survival and disease-free survival when stratified by the presence of PNI and ALI. Multivariate analysis was performed using a Cox proportional hazards regression model. Results A total of 201 patients met the inclusion criteria (mean [SD] age, 57.4 [9.0] years; 79.6% [3.0%] male, and 20.4% [3.0%] female). Perineural invasion was identified in 32 of 201 primary specimens (15.9%), whereas ALI was identified in 74 of 201 primary specimens (36.8%). Both were significantly associated with increasing T stage. On multivariate analysis, the presence of at least 1 risk factor was significantly associated with overall and disease-free survival (overall hazard ratio, 2.78; 95% CI, 1.15-6.76; disease-free survival hazard ratio, 3.10; 95% CI, 1.17-8.23). Among patients classified as having stage II disease according to the eighth edition of the AJCC manual, the presence of at least 1 risk factor was associated with worse overall survival (hazard ratio, 11.7; 95% CI, 1.2-111.7). Conclusions and Relevance Both PNI and ALI were commonly found in HPV-positive OPSCC, with increasing prevalence as T stage increased. The presence of at least 1 risk factor was associated with worse overall and disease-free survival. Specifically, among patients classified as having stage II disease according to the eighth edition of the AJCC manual, the presence of ALI or PNI may suggest a poorer prognosis.


Background: Germline mutations in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes cause Lynch syndrome colon cancers. Less understood is the risk of colon cancer associated with common polymorphisms in MMR genes and the potential interacting role of lifestyle factors known to damage DNA. Methods: A study was conducted to examine whether MLH1 (-93G>A and Ile219Val) and MSH6 (Gly39Glu) polymorphisms were associated with risk of colon cancer in data from 1609 colon cancer cases and 1972 controls. Genotype data were further stratified by microsatellite instability status, smoking, alcohol, Western diet, alcohol and obesity, to investigate potential heterogeneity. Results: The MSH6 39Glu allele was associated with increased risk of colon cancer among men (Gly/Glu or Glu/Glu vs Gly/Gly, OR 1.27; 95% CI 1.04 to 1.54). Neither MLH1 polymorphism was associated with colon cancer risk overall. When stratified by microsatellite stability status, however, the MLH1 -93A allele was associated with a more than doubling in microsatellite instability (MSI)-positive colon cancer risk (AA vs GG, OR 2.47; 95% CI 1.48 to 4.11); no associations were observed between the MMR polymorphisms examined and MSI-negative colon cancer. Statistically significant interactions were observed between: MLH1 -93G>A and smoking (MSI-negative colon cancer only, p value interaction: 0.005); and MLH1 Ile219Val and Western diet (p value interaction: 0.03). Conclusions: The MSH6 Gly39Glu and MLH1 -93G>A polymorphisms were associated with risk of overall colon and MSI-positive colon cancers, respectively. Risk for colon cancer, stratified by MMR genotype, was further modified by smoking and Western diet.


The changes in modern welfare states engendered by globalization, social needs and environmental issues evoke the question of the social bases of support of the modern welfare state system. Although socially just sustainable society is the main value and the general purpose of social development, the concept of a model for the ideal society accepted by some groups of different ideologies and different levels of development significantly differs. The research on social values in the scientific literature indicates the two social groups, citizens and consumers, having the sharpest contrasts in social value systems. This difference between these groups derives from two distinct ideologies and distinct value systems. By searching for the answer how the differences of these groups impact the perception of social justice values, which is crucial for a long term socio-economic development, the authors developed a theoretical framework, which outlines the structural relationship between the social attributes, principles of justice and individual preferences. Using data from a recent representative populationbased survey on attitudes about social justice, conducted in Lithuania in 2013 (N=1050), the authors of the article tested a number of assumptions and theoretical hypothesis. The findings revealed three different sets of respondents with distinct value preferences and collectivistic attitudes. The authors also found that these groups have significant differences not only in evaluating the factors that determine the income of the people, but also in the trust in government, participation in decision making, etc. The results allowed to distinguish characteristic features and social justice attitudes of the groups and to create the attribute sets. Prepared according to the scientific project financed by LSC SIN-12005 "Guidelines for Forming Social Justice Perception of Citizens and Customers".


The coordination of the cell cycle of the donor nucleus and the recipient cytoplasm is thought to be one of the major essential factors needed for successful development of cloned embryos and offspring from somatic cell populations. Cell cycle synchronization protocols used for somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) vary in preference among groups, with the confluence inhibition by contact appearing to be one of the most widely used methods today. However, the relationship between the level of cell confluence in a culture dish at or near the plateau phase of growth and blastocyst yield following cloning by SCNT still needs to be better characterized. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of 3 distinct cell culture confluences before nuclear transfer and embryo aggregation on in vitro development of clone bovine embryos. In vitro-matured bovine COC were used for the production of clone embryos by handmade cloning, according to our established procedures (Ribeiro et al. 2009 Cloning Stem Cells 11). Oocytes were manually bisected following cumulus and zona removal. After selection of hemi-cytoplasts by DNA staining, 1 (50%) or 2 (100%) enucleated hemi-cytoplasts were paired with an adult Nelore skin somatic cell and then electrofused (15 V AC pre-pulse for 5 s, followed by a double 1.2 kV cm-1 DC pulse for 20 μs). Cells were selected from 1 out of 3 distinct culture confluences: (1) 70 to 80%; (2) 80 to 90%; and (3) >90%; assessed by morphological evaluation before the SCNT procedure. Reconstructed clone embryos and groups of zona-intact oocytes (parthenote controls) were activated in ionomycin and 6-DMAP. Clone embryos (100%) and hemi-embryos (50%) reconstructed from the 3 groups underwent IVC in the well of the well (WOW) system for 7 days, allocating 1 embryo (1 × 100%) or aggregating two hemi-embryos (2 × 50%) per WOW. After 11 replications, cleavage (Day 2) and blastocyst (Day 7) rates, on a per WOW basis, were compared using the chi-square test. Results are summarized in Table 1. Cleavage rates were similar for all groups. The aggregation scheme did not appear to have influenced, either positively or negatively, the developmental outcome to the blastocyst stage. However, blastocyst rates increased nonlinearly (7.0, 17.5, and 29.4%) with the increase in cell confluence. A highly confluent cell culture has already been shown to have a greater proportion of cells in G0/G1 than cycling cells at the log phase (>91% v. 59%; Sun et al. 2008 Zygote 16, 111-116). However, blastocyst development in this study was lower than anticipated for cells in the early plateau phase (70 to 80%), when predicting such development based on the expected G0/G1 proportion in that cell population. Table 1.In vitro development of bovine cloned embryos from distinct cell culture confluences and aggregation scheme This study was supported by FAPESP and CAPES/Brazil.


This is finally, an authorized libretto to this modern day classic! "Rent" won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as four Tony Awards, including Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score for Jonathan Larson. The story of Mark, Roger, Maureen, Tom Collins, Angel, Mimi, JoAnne, and their friends on the Lower East Side of New York City will live on, along with the affirmation that there is 'no day but today.' This title includes 16 color photographs of productions of "Rent" from around the world, plus an introduction ("Rent Is Real") by Victoria Leacock Hoffman.


The use of mRNA vaccines in pregnancy is now generally considered safe for protection against COVID-19 in countries such as New Zealand, USA, and Australia. However, the influential CDCsponsored article by Shimabukuro et al. (2021) used to support this idea, on closer inspection, provides little assurance, particularly for those exposed in early pregnancy. The study presents falsely reassuring statistics related to the risk of spontaneous abortion in early pregnancy, since the majority of women in the calculation were exposed to the mRNA product after the outcome period was defined (20 weeks' gestation). In this article, we draw attention to these errors and recalculate the risk of this outcome based on the cohort that was exposed to the vaccine before 20 weeks' gestation. Our re-analysis indicates a cumulative incidence of spontaneous abortion 7 to 8 times higher than the original authors' results (p < 0.001) and the typical average for pregnancy loss during this time period. In light of these findings, key policy decisions have been made using unreliable and questionable data. We conclude that the claims made using these data on the safety of exposure of women in early pregnancy to mRNA-based vaccines to prevent COVID-19 are unwarranted and recommend that those policy decisions be revisited. Copyright © The Authors — Published Under the Creative Commons License Share/Alike (see https://creative commons.org/licenses/) Correspondence: firstname.lastname@example.com


Cities increasingly use artistic and cultural activities to promote active citizenship and social cohesion. We suggest that city-sponsored cultural and artistic practices in Sweden are finding a new discursive context in migration. In this article, we look at two artistic and cultural institutions in Malmö, Sweden: Arena 305 and Drömmarnas hus. We develop a typology of governmentalisation based on the work of Nicholas Rose and Peter Miller, which allows us to describe the governing activity of Arena 305 and Drömmarnas hus. What becomes visible is the discrepancy between the moral form of the political rationalities and the technologies of government: even though institutions may harbour ideals and principles of inclusion, they are perfectly capable of sustaining activities that brighten the very boundaries they set out to challenge.


Thermally sprayed 316L stainless steel coatings are commonly used on metallic structures due to their corrosion and wear resistance when compared to carbon steel. Cold Gas Spray (CGS) is a convenient thermal spray process to deposit 316L coatings, producing thick and very dense coatings, with almost no deleterious changes on the feedstock properties to the coating condition. The powder characteristics have influence on the microstructure of the coating, such as porosity and oxide contents, which alter its corrosion and wear behavior. CGS is an efficient technique to reduce the problems associated with material melting commonly found in other conventional thermal spray methods. In this work, different 316L powders, produced by different manufacturers, were deposited by CGS, applying the same equipment and parameters, with the objective to evaluate the relation between the powders' characteristics and coating properties. Their microstructure, adherence, hardness, as well as the performance on corrosion and wear testing were evaluated. The water atomized powders presented in general better results than gas atomized powders.


To determine the development of Ascaris suum after a primary and a secondary infection, 18 calves were inoculated with 2,000,000 infective eggs and examined from 18 hours to 13 days postinfection. At 18 hours larvae were recovered from the wall of the abomasum, duodenum and jejunum. They were found in small intestine lymph nodes on the third day, in the liver at five days and were most abundant in the lungs on days 7 and 9. The pattern of recovery of larvae from the lung between days 5 and 13 postinfection was similar after a primary or a secondary infection. Slower growth of larvae following a secondary infection was the only evidence of resistance to A. suum. There were no pathological changes observed in the alimentary canal. White foci were found on the surface of the liver as early as the third day. The rapid decline in the number of A. suum in the lungs after the ninth day was considered to be related to immobilization or death of larvae soon after the reaction to them commences.


In recent years, considerable progress has been made in understanding the vasculitic diseases, largely due to the introduction of effective treatments for diseases that were once uniformly fatal, the conduct of structured clinical studies, and advances in immunology and molecular biology. Despite these achievements, the vasculitic diseases continue to be associated with morbidity and mortality from chronic organ damage, relapses, and the side effects of treatment. Investigations into the mechanisms of vascular inflammation may lead to a better comprehension of the pathogenesis of vasculitic diseases and to treatment that is more effective and less toxic. These areas of promising research, together with current knowledge about the vasculitic diseases, are extensively examined in this new edition, which is designed to provide a comprehensive overview of the science and clinical consequences of vascular inflammation in health and disease.


The Politics of Envy is a fit and proper sequel to the author's previous book, "The Politics of Plunder. "But beyond the previous collection, Doug Bandow herein offers a theoretical rationale for the current malaise in central government in the United States. He sees the core problem as the immense increase in government spending combined with regulatory machinery that extends to every area of life--from the uses of private property, occupational choices, to issues of employment, trade, and taxation. Bandow sees these centrifugal forces as gaining ground over personal virtue and freedom without much regard to party labels. Indeed, he is at pains to point out that spending and regulation rose particularly dramatically during the previous Bush Administration; and shows few signs of abetting during the current Clinton Administration. But the work emphasizes not simply federal government initiatives to curb freedom of choice, but how this extends to sociological and ideological trends in which extremists pit the values of liberty and virtue against each other. While the book covers familiar ground; issues of abortion, environment, collective security and national defense, international debt, health and welfare, it does so with a unified theory of a morally centered approach to political questions of the times. Written with his customary verve, the book beckons to become a benchmark of libertarian thought--one that will appeal to people for whom questions of political morality remain unsettled as well as unsettling.


Low productivity in agriculture is a major cause of poverty and food insecurity in Africa. One explanation for low productivity is the widespread presence of low-quality inputs on local markets ("lemon technologies"), which causes uncertainty among farmers and erodes incentives for adoption. We report the results from a field experiment in Tanzania to study the impact of improved maize seeds in a context where we exogenously vary seed quality and uncertainty about seed type. The analysis is at the level of experimental plots owned and managed by farmers (not the entire farm). While improved seed positively affects harvests and reduces the probability of crop failure among fully-informed farmers, these benefits are attenuated significantly when farmers are uncertain about the seed type they receive. The main channel linking uncertainty to lower harvest levels is the re-allocation of labor—a complementary input. The presence of lemon inputs on the market for modern inputs impedes learning about the profitability of these inputs and increases the yield gap by slowing down adoption in subsequent periods.


In this paper we discuss verification and validation of simulation models. Four different approaches to deciding model validity are described; two different paradigms that relate verification and validation to the model development process are presented; various validation techniques are defined; conceptual model validity, model verification, operational validity, and data validity are discussed; a way to document results is given; a recommended procedure for model validation is presented; and model accreditation is briefly discussed.


The corneal stroma is an unusual connective tissue in that it is transparent to visible light and that it can swell to many times its original weight when placed in salt solution with a consequent loss in transparency with swelling. The stroma consists of lamellae of parallel collagen fibrils, of uniform diameter, embedded in a ground substance. It also contains glycosaminoglycans which are negatively charged at physiological pH. The organisation of the collagen fibrils and their relationship to the glycosaminoglycans are important when considering both the transparency and the ability to swell of the fresh tissue and the reason for the loss in transparency on swelling.

Experiments were undertaken to study changes in the stroma which take place on swelling as a function of the pH and~he ionic strength of the bathing solution. Initially, the total water content per unit dry weight is studied as a function of the bathing solution and the time of dwelling. Low-angle x-ray diffraction techniques are used to monitor the centre-to-centre distance between the collagen fibrils (the interfilament spacing) as a function of hydration as well as the reflections due to the packing of the tropocollagen molecules from which the fibrils are formed. Thirdly, the fixed charge concentration due to the polyelectrolytes in the stroma is calculated from microelectrode measurements of the potential difference which exists between the stroma and the bathing solution. Fourthly; the absorbance of the stroma to visible light is measured as a function of hydration in various solutions.

The results of these four different techniques indicate the importance of the fixed charge on the corneal macromolecules. This fixed charge must give rise to an unequal distribution of permeant ions between the stroma and the bathing solution which leads to a Donnan, osmotic, pressure. This Donnan pressure appears to be the main cause of swelling. Measurement of the fixed charge from the potential difference which also arises from the unequal distribution of permeant ions, shows similar behaviour with pH and ionic strength to that estimated from the swelling results. This dependence is also similar to the behaviour expected from polyelectrolyte gel theory. The value of the interfilament spacing, for a given hydration, is shown to depend on the pH of the bathing solution so that more fluid goes into the lattice of fibrils with some solutions that with others. The water not going into the lattice may be in the form of 'lakes' as suggested by Benedek (1971). The reflections from the packing of tropocollagen molecules along the fibrils are unusual in that, although they index on a repeat of around 66nm, the first order reflection is absent. The Patterson function from such a x-ray pattern is calculated and compared with that from scleral collagen which shows the first order reflections. Finally, the transmission of light by the stroma is shown to decrease linearly with increasing hydration, the rate of decrease being dependent on the pH of the bathing solution. Correlations between the rate of loss of transmission and the rate of swelling as well as between the percentage water in 'lakes' with the transmission of the stroma are discussed.


When three babies became infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) at Cambridge9s Rosie Hospital at the same time, a researcher wanted to know if their cases were isolated incidents or part of a bigger outbreak. He didn9t realize that the study would help discover an asymptomatic MRSA carrier working in the hospital—and eventually stop the outbreak in its tracks. His study, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, is the latest in the burgeoning field dubbed genomic epidemiology, which uses full-genome sequencing of microbes to trace the path that a pathogen took—and, increasingly, to help stop transmission.


The Software Engineering community has been trying to get fast and accurate software estimations for many years. Most of the proposed methods require historical information and/or experts' judgment. Because of that, the current methods are not suitable for novice developers or persons who do not know the company development capability. In order to help overcome such need, this paper proposes a software estimation method named CEBON (Collaborative Estimation Based On Negotiation). The method is applicable to small/medium- size projects (1-6 months). It focuses on supporting estimation of Web information systems in scenarios where historical data is not available. The CEBON method has been used to estimate eight real projects. The obtained results were compared with the real projects execution, which were carried out by novice developers in Chile. The comparison indicates the method is able to deliver quite accurate results. In addition, a survey applied to the involved developers shows they feel comfortable using the estimation method. The article also describes a collaborative software application supporting the CEBON process and a preliminary evaluation of both the estimation method and the supporting tool.


Introduction
Most observations of spirochetes come from cultivated microbes or rich animal systems.  This is because of the small size of these bacteria and the technical difficulties associated with resolving them in complex environmental samples.  This movie shows bacteria from a soil sample swimming amongst soil particles and other soil microbes.
Spirochetes are usually only observed after culture in vitro or from animal environments like guts (5).  However, they are widely distributed in nature and presumably play an important role as free living microbes in environments such as soil.  For example, analysis of soil communities show spirochetes contribute approximately 1% of diversity (6), a large amount for such a complex ecosystem.
Spirochetes are near the limits of optical microscopy (with some dimensions of approximately 1 µm) and so are hard to see, especially when the environmental context of samples is preserved, including soil particles and large protozoa.  Bulky samples must contain many planes of foci, allowing the very small spirochetes to swim out of view with ease.  This movie shows spirochetes in the context of their fellow microbes and their natural soil environment.

Methods
Water from a temporary puddle was collected using a Pasteur pipette to draw material from the surface of submerged mud, then transported to the laboratory in an Eppendorf tube.  Methyl cellulose (Protoslo; Carolina Biological Supply Company, Burlington, NC) was used to reduce the motion of microbes and increase ease of observation (1).  Approximately 50 µl of water was mixed with 1% methyl cellulose on a microscope slide and then a cover slip was applied.  The slide was examined using conventional bright-field microscopy.  When spirochetes were located, their motion was recorded using a Pupil Cam attachment (Ken-A-Vision, Kansas City, MO) and then replayed using slow motion.
Discussion
Spirochetes are well known as pathogens such as Treponema pallidum (syphilis) (7), Treponema pertenue (yaws) (2), Leptospira sp. (leptospirosis) (8), Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease) (4), and Borrelia recurrentis (relapsing fever) (3).  However, few biologists appreciate that spirochetes are widespread in nature and play a significant role in benevolent ecological processes.
References
1.  Aufderheide, K. J.  2007.  An overview of techniques for immobilizing and viewing living cells.  Micron 39(2):71–76.
2.  Backhouse, J. L., B. J. Hudson,
P. A.
Hamilton, and
S. I.
Nesteroff.  1998.  Failure of penicillin treatment of yaws on Karkar Island, Papua New Guinea.  Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 59(3):388–392.
3.  Cutler, S. J., A. Abdissa, and J. F. Trape.  2009.  New concepts for the old challenge of African relapsing fever borreliosis.  Clin. Microbiol. Infect. 15
:400–406.
4.  Gasser, R., E. Reisinger, B. Eber, R. Pokan, G. Seinost, J. Bergloff, R. Horwarth, B. Sedaj, and W. Klein.  1995.  Cases of Lyme borreliosis resistant to conventional treatment: improved symptoms with cephalosporin plus specific beta-lactamase inhibition.  Microb. Drug Resist. 1(4):341–344.
5.  Harwood, C. S., and E. Canale-Parola.  1984.  Ecology of spirochetes.  Ann. Rev. Microbiol. 38:161–192.
6. Hill, J. E.,
R. P.
Seipp, M. Betts, L. Hawkins, A. G. van Kessel, W. L. Crosby, and S. M. Hemmingsen.  Extensive profiling of a complex microbial community by high-throughput sequencing.  Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68:3055–3066.
7.  Radolf, J. D., and
D. C.
Desrosiers.  2009.  Treponema pallidum, the stealth pathogen, changes, but how?  Mol. Microbiol. 72
:1081–1086.
8.  Sohan, L., B. Shyamal, T. S. Kumar, M. Malini, K. Ravi, V. Venkatesh, M. Veena, and S. Lal.  2008.  Studies on Leptospirosis outbreaks in Peddamandem Mandal of Chittoor district, Andhra Pradesh.  J. Communic. Dis. 40(2):127–132.


This study aimed to find correlations between blood glucose and urea levels and the duration of postpartum period (PPP), number of services per conception (S/C), open period (OP), conception rate (CR) to first service, and the overall CR in 80 multiparous cross-bred dairy cows. The two metabolites were measured 1, 4, 7, 10, and 13 weeks postpartum. The CR to first service and overall CR were 13.8% and 42.8%, respectively. Based on S/C, three groups were identified: Group 1 (G-1) (n = 11) consisting of cows that conceived from first service; G-2 (n = 46) representing cows that needed two inseminations to conceive; and G-3 (n = 23) consisting of repeat breeders (RB). G-1 represented 13.8%, with PPP and OP shorter than cows in G-2 and in G-3, and had blood glucose levels 17.5% and 27.9% higher than levels in G-2 and in G-3, respectively. Until the 7th week postpartum, blood levels of urea were higher in G-1 and lower in G-3. However, in the 10th and 13th weeks postpartum, results were reversed. The PPP, S/C, and OP were negatively correlated with blood glucose over the study period and with blood urea at the first seven weeks postpartum. However, these traits were positively correlated with blood urea measured at 10 and 13 weeks postpartum. It can be concluded that, from this study, maintaining high blood glucose until the 13th week postpartum, high blood urea during the first 7 weeks postpartum, and low blood urea during the 10th and 13th weeks postpartum were associated with good fertility in dairy cows. Keywords : Fertility, first service non-return cows, postpartum period, repeat breeders


PURPOSE
Minority oversamples of African Americans and Hispanics have been a key feature of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) design from its origins in 1992. The objective of this article was to assess the quality of the HRS with respect to the recruitment and retention of minority respondents.

DESIGN AND METHODS
To evaluate minority recruitment efforts, we examine baseline response rates for the early baby boom cohort that was added in the 2004 wave and the representativeness of this cohort with regard to demographic, socioeconomic, and health characteristics. To evaluate retention, we focus on minority differentials in 2008 interview, nonresponse and mortality outcomes for the full HRS sample. We also examine minority differentials in participation in supplemental components of the HRS.

RESULTS
Minority response rates at baseline and in longitudinal follow-ups for the main HRS interview have been equal to or better than that of majority Whites. Conversely, response rates to some specific supplemental components have been lower for minority sample members.

IMPLICATIONS
The oversample strategies that the HRS has employed have been successful at identifying and recruiting minority participants at response rates very comparable with that of Whites and others. Minority differentials in participation in supplemental components have been overcome to some extent through interviewer training and targeted follow-up strategies. The HRS experience suggests that well-trained interviewers can overcome most if not all of whatever race and ethnic differentials exist in willingness to participate in surveys, including those involving biological data collection.


Internet makes the physical world seems borderless. With Internet people could communicate, gather various information and doing business transactions in just few clicks away. People could buy commodity-like products and digital products simply from Internet, and get these products sent to their homes or them online. This era is called the E-Commerce era. A lot of conferences and seminars were held pertaining to the e-commerce but only a few brought up matters about e-commerce in the Islamic perspective. To fulfill this gap, the paper will highlight the framework of Islamic E-commerce stressing the key success factors to ensure the successful and the challenges that the Muslims would be facing. Keyword:


What sort of person was the young naturalist who developed an evolutionary idea so logical, so dangerous, that it has dominated biological science for a century and a half? How did the quiet and shy Charles Darwin produce his theory of natural selection when many before him had started down the same path but failed? This book is the first to inquire into the range of influences and ideas, the mentors and rivals, and the formal and informal education that shaped Charles Darwin and prepared him for his remarkable career of scientific achievement. Keith Thomson concentrates on Darwin's early life as a schoolboy, a medical student at Edinburgh, a theology student at Cambridge, and a naturalist aboard the Beagle on its famous five-year voyage. Closely analyzing Darwin's Autobiography and scientific notebooks, the author draws a fully human portrait of Darwin for the first time: a vastly erudite and powerfully ambitious individual, self-absorbed but lacking self-confidence, hampered as much as helped by family, and sustained by a passion for philosophy and logic. Thomson's account of the birth and maturing of Darwin's brilliant theory is fascinating for the way it reveals both his genius as a scientist and the human foibles and weaknesses with which he mightily struggled.


In 1956 the Suez Crisis finally shattered the old myths of the British Empire and paved the way for the tumultuous changes of the decades to come. In NEVER HAD IT SO GOOD, Dominic Sandbrook takes a fresh look at the dramatic story of affluence and decline between 1956 and 1963. Arguing that historians have until now been besotted by the supposed cultural revolution of the Sixties, Sandbrook re-examines the myths of this controversial period and paints a more complicated picture of a society caught between conservatism and change. He explores the growth of a modern consumer society, the impact of immigration, the invention of modern pop music and the British retreat from empire. He tells the story of the colourful characters of the period, like Harold Macmillan, Kingsley Amis and Paul McCartney, and brings to life the experience of the first post-imperial generation, from the Notting Hill riots to the first Beatles hits, from the Profumo scandal to the cult of James Bond. In this strikingly impressive debut, he combines academic verve and insight with colourful, dramatic writing to produce a classic, ground-breaking work that will change forever how we think about the Sixties.


While there is growing recognition of the role of emulation in the policy process in general and in policy transfer in particular there are only limited efforts to model it in a systematic way. This paper takes this challenge through a temporal analysis of the role of contagion in the diffusion of liberalization across countries and sectors. It offers a formal model where one's preferences, strategies and payoffs are dependent on others and where political and policy outcomes are the result of imitation and contagious behaviour. The model is examined against the advance of reforms in seventeen Latin America and their stagnation in seventeen Mediterranean countries. The empirical research cover eight indicators for electricity reforms (commercialisation, legislation, regulatory agency, independence of regulatory agency, IPPs, vertical and horizontal divestiture, privatisation of generation and privatisation of distribution) and eight indicators for telecommunications (commercialisation, legislation, regulatory agency, independence of regulatory agency, competition in international telecoms, privatisation of cellular market, privatisation of incumbent, competition in local loop). On the basis of these indicators a general grade for the effectiveness of the reforms is developed and is given to each country in each of the two sectors. The comparative method is than applied in order to examine within-region and cross-region variations and commonalities in order to shed some light on the obstacles for the advance and effectiveness of reforms.


First published in 1999, The Edge of Reason is the sequel to Helen Fielding's number one best-selling Bridget Jones's Diary. It has been turned into a film starring Renee Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant. Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason is followed by Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy. The Wilderness Years are over! But not for long. At the end of Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget hiccuped off into the sunset with man-of-her-dreams Mark Darcy. Now, in The Edge of Reason, she discovers what it is like when you have the man of your dreams actually in your flat and he hasn't done the washing-up, not just the whole of this week, but ever. Lurching through a morass of self-help-book theories and mad advice from Jude and Shazzer, struggling with a boyfriend-stealing ex-friend with thighs like a baby giraffe, an 8ft hole in the living-room wall, a mother obsessed with boiled-egg peelers, and a builder obsessed with large reservoir fish, Bridget embarks on a spiritual epiphany, which takes her from the cappuccino queues of Notting Hill to the palm- and magic-mushroom-kissed shores of ...Bridget is back. V.g.


We registered 170 relapses in 1392 children with nephroblastoma in the SIOP/GPOH trials. The study aimed to evaluate prognostic factors for outcome in relapsed patients. Age, gender, initial stage, metastatic disease, local stage, histology, time to relapse and tumour volume were analysed for their prognostic relevance. Overall survival after relapse was 48% (median follow-up 5 years). Relapses were local in 28%, metastatic in 57% and combined in 15%. The median age of the cohort was 4.5 years whereas patients in complete continuous remission were significantly younger (3.1 years, p=0.001). Patients with initial stage I and II showed a significantly better prognosis than children with stage III (57 vs. 31%, p=0.008). Patients with high-risk tumours had a much poorer prognosis than those with intermediate and low-risk tumours (58 vs. 31%, p=0.003). Children with recurrence within 6 months after diagnosis had a poorer outcome than children relapsing later on (54 vs. 22%, p=0.0001). The tumour volume initially and after preoperative chemotherapy did not have any influence on outcome. Patients with isolated distant metastasis had a significantly better outcome than those with local and combined relapses (p=0.001). In conclusion, factors for poor prognosis after relapse are early relapse, local stage III, high-risk histology and combined relapse.


For Lake Marken in the Netherlands, high suspended sediment concentrations result in reduced ecological values and prevent goals and standards from being met (Water Framework Directive, Natura 2000). A practical measure to improve the ecology that is currently studied is the construction of sheltered areas in the North West part of Lake Marken. For implementation of this measure, a strategy is being followed that combines in depth system knowledge with stakeholder aspects. In the present paper we will show which knowledge of the underlying physical and ecological processes was needed and how it was applied in the strategy. We used a coupled silt model for Lake Marken to study effects of the structures on hydrodynamics, waves,
and sediment. Results of the silt model simulations were interpreted with in depth ecological
expert knowledge to assess the ecological impact of the structures. Effects of the considered
sheltered areas on transparency and wave- and siltdynamics are limited compared to the scale
of the lake. However, these changes give local opportunities for ecology. Its effectiveness may
be enhanced by local un-deepening.


This discussion paper arises from the first year of a PhD study into household car ownership decisions. It begins by summarising explanations for the past (aggregate) increases in car ownership, reviewing research from the fields of economics, urban and transport planning, and social psychology. Car ownership trends have been examined in terms of consumer behaviour; changing land use patterns; changing social norms and the life-course.
Though there are convincing explanations for past increases in car ownership at the aggregate level, the paper goes on to draw together evidence suggesting that there are significant and perhaps counter-intuitive underlying variations. Previous analysis of the British Household Panel Survey by Dargay and Hanly has revealed that there are only a slightly larger number of households increasing car ownership (8.2 per cent) than there are households reducing car ownership (7.6 per cent) each year. Similarly, at the local level, a comparison for this present paper, of the 1991 and 2001 censuses reveals that car ownership levels per capita were either maintained or reduced in 8.6 per cent (688) of the electoral wards in England. Indeed, a significant minority – 6.2 million households in Great Britain, either choose, or are constrained to continue living without a car.
This underlying variation in (changing) car ownership levels has important implications for transport policy, and the paper concludes by posing a series of questions which may benefit from further research. While it seems that car ownership levels naturally tend to increase, are there (predictable) conditions under which the demand for privately owned cars might be reduced? If so, do these relate to macro or micro-level factors, to spatial planning or the transport system, or to the physical or the social environment? The paper explores such questions.


This paper introduces the development of scenario planning for sustainable tourism, from the 1970s to the present day. It outlines the links between scenario planning and forecasting, its role as a business-planning tool generally, and its use in tourism for destination planning and advocacy. The prominent role of models is shown and the evolution from the first generation of forecast-focused models of the 1980s to the new generation of complex, integrative, hierarchical, dynamic and even adaptive models of today is discussed. The paper introduces a series of new scenario planning papers that cover a range of subjects including theorising scenario analysis, counterfactual scenario planning, green economy support systems, climate change scenarios (for ski and coastal tourism), destination environmental footprint scenario tools and transition management as a tool for scenario building.


A little known mechanism instituted to improve judicial accountability and speed up the work of the federal judiciary has led to unintended consequences, many of them unfortunate. Federal district court judges are subject to a requirement known as the Six Month List. By law, every judge's backlog (cases older than three years and motions pending more than six months) is made public twice a year. Since judges have life tenure and fixed salaries, a mere reporting requirement might not influence their behavior. But it does. Using the complete record of all federal civil cases between 1980 and 2017 and a hand-coded sample of summary judgment resolutions, we demonstrate that the List leads judges to close substantially more cases and decide more motions in the week immediately before it is compiled. While average motion processing time is shortened by 10 to 40 days, duration is actually lengthened for some motions (those for which the deadline is least pressing). Moreover, we find suggestive evidence that the List has substantive consequences: in an effort to comply with the List, judges may be making more errors. Theory suggests that giving judges an incentive for faster case processing is probably a mistake. But since this incentive is Congressionally mandated, we offer an alternative mechanism that will limit distortions until Congress acts to relieve the federal courts of this unnecessary burden.


Travertine deposits have long been considered as powerful tools for investigating neotectonics and reconstructing palaeoseismic events. We document, for the first time, the effects of overpressured hydrothermal fluids injected within travertine deposits. We also describe tectofacies interpreted as a consequence of coseismic events. Calcite veins, banded or massive, associated with hydrofracture and fluid-escape features, promoted hydrothermal eruptions and lithoclast formation in latest Quaternary travertine exposed in two quarries near Rapolano Terme (Northern Apennines, Italy). The isotopic composition of the calcite veins confirms the hydrothermal origin of the parent fluids and their rapid ascent, as indicated by the estimated palaeo-temperatures (43–50°C). Integration of U–Th ages obtained for the calcite veins with palaeoseismic evidence from a local archaeological site built at the top of one of the analysed travertine deposits suggests that hydrofracture and fluid-escape structures were associated with five main seismic events that occurred from the latest Pleistocene to the fourth century AD. In sum, the travertine tectofacies have a key role in better constraining the seismotectonic setting of a region and thus offer a powerful tool for the evaluation of seismic hazard for areas characterized by low seismicity and travertine deposition.


While the Yemen seems to be stumbling from one disaster into the next, it is good to see how some of the best experts in Yemeni studies continue their work in ways that will be useful in the country's future. The present volume is not only bound to become recognized soon as the magnum opus by Brinkley Messick, professor of  anthropology and Middle Eastern, South Asian and African studies at Columbia University and one of the world's leading experts in Yemeni studies today. More importantly still, Sharī'a Scripts features all the qualities required for a true academic milestone in Yemen-related scholarship for decades to come, with potential ramifications for the historical and legal anthropology of the Middle East at large. This volume is based on half a lifetime of analytical and comparative studies that began during the author's first fieldwork period in the central and southern highlands of northern Yemen during the 1970s. Messick meticulously examines the structures of jurisprudence (the "library" in his terms) with the methodologies and techniques of textual scholarship, while relating it to the "archive" of records concerning everyday interactions in legal life as embedded within the practical interplay of fields between orality and scriptural statements.
To download full review, click on PDF.


A method for the retrieval of aerosol optical and microphysical properties from in situ light-scattering measurements is presented and the results are compared with existing measurement techniques. The Generalized Retrieval of Aerosol and Surface Properties (GRASP) is applied to airborne and laboratory measurements made by a novel polar nephelometer. This instrument, the Polarized Imaging Nephelometer (PI-Neph), is capable of making high-accuracy field measurements of phase function and degree of linear polarization, at three visible wavelengths, over a wide angular range of 3 to 177°. The resulting retrieval produces particle size distributions (PSDs) that agree, within experimental error, with measurements made by commercial optical particle counters (OPCs). Additionally, the retrieved real part of the refractive index is generally found to be within the predicted error of 0.02 from the expected values for three species of humidified salt particles, with a refractive index that is well established. The airborne measurements used in this work were made aboard the NASA DC-8 aircraft during the Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) field campaign, and the inversion of this data represents the first aerosol retrievals of airborne polar nephelometer data. The results provide confidence in the real refractive index product, as well as in the retrieval's ability to accurately determine PSD, without assumptions about refractive index that are required by the majority of OPCs.


Pipelines passing through hilly-terrain potentially have numerous rock dents. Some of them require further in-ditch investigation. However, in-ditch experience revealed elastic rebounding and re-rounding due to internal pressure that could cause cracking on dent outside surface when rock is removed even after following the commonly used pressure reduction by industry. Such OD-surface cracking in rock dent could pose safety issues to excavation crew and immediate integrity threat due to gas release. A preliminary research was performed to determine the required safe dig pressure level for rock dent excavation and address if there is a gap between the common industry practice for pressure reduction. This research could assist pipeline operators with setting a safe dig pressure level for rock dent excavation.
 The research consists of four components. First, detail review of rock dents cracking experience during excavation has been performed and identified relevant parameters that contributed to OD-cracking. Then, performed several rock dent case studies with different dent depths, indenter sizes, internal pressures and developed criterion for OD cracking using Finite Element Analysis. Thirdly, a decision chart was developed for safe rock dent excavation and presented. Finally, full-scale denting tests with internal pressure was conducted to corroborate the safe dig pressure criterion and compared against FEA results. In this paper, all above components are presented with summary of findings and recommendations for future research.


This well focused and perceptive analysis of a phenomenon in our popular culture--the new respectability of the comic book form--argues that the comics medium has a productive tradition of telling true stories with grace and economy. It details vividly the outburst of underground comics in the late 1960s and '70s, whose cadre of artistically gifted creators were committed to writing comic books for adults, an audience they made aware that comic books can offer narratives of great power and technical sophistication. In this study Joseph Witek examines the rise of the comic book to a position of importance in modern culture and assesses its ideological and historical implications. Jack Jackson, Art Spiegelman, and Harvey Pekar are among the creators whom Witek credits for the emergence of the comic book as a serious artistic medium. As American codes of ethics, aesthetics, and semiotics have evolved, so too has the comic book as a mode for presenting the weightier matters of history. It is safe to claim that comic books are not just for kids anymore.


Acid lime ( Citrus aurantifolia Swingle) is an important commercial fruit crop, cultivated from terai to high hill landscapes of Nepal. However, production and productivity is very low due to various reasons including infestations by various diseases and pests, lack of diseases and pests resistant and high yielding varieties. In this context, determination of genetic variation at molecular level is fundamental to citrus breeders for the development of elite cultivars with desirable traits. In the present study, Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker technique has been employed to assess genetic diversity in 60 acid lime landraces representing different agro-ecological zones of eastern Nepal. Nine selected arbitrary primers generated 79 RAPD fragments of which 75 were polymorphic (94.94%). Phenogram was constructed by NTSYSPC ver. 2.21i using UPGMA cluster analysis based on Jaccard's similarity coefficient to deduce overall genetic diversity and relationships of the acidlime genotypes under study. Sixty acid lime landraces formed seven clusters and similarity value ranged from 38% to 98% with an average of 72%. Genetic variation at different agro-ecological zones was assessed using Popgene ver. 1.32 and found 47% to 69.6% polymorphism. Shannon's index and Nei's gene diversity showed highest level of acid lime diversity in Terai zone (PPB, 69.62%; H, 0.213; I, 0.325) followed by mid-hill zone (PPB, 67.09%; H, 0.208; I, 0.317). The results obtained will be useful to citrus breeders for elite cultivar development. The RAPD-PCR technique is found to be the rapid and effective tool for genetic diversity assessment in acid lime landraces of Nepal. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijasbt.v2i3.10950 Int J Appl Sci Biotechnol, Vol. 2(3): 315-327


In many Asian languages, the same ancient letter/symbol is used for heart and mind. For the last couple of millennia, physicians and scientists across different civilizations have posited close links between the brain and heart, even arguing that the site of intelligence and emotions is in one of these two organs. Through an integrative empirical approach in modern biology/physiology and behavioral sciences, much has since been learned to confirm the anatomical and functional links between the brain and the heart. Arguably, the ultimate applicability of this knowledge will advance our health and improve disease treatment.

Modern medicine is characterized by a high degree of specialization, and the heart-brain connection is typically considered from the point of view of a particular medical specialty. Hence, focusing on the brain, for example, in neurology, cardiovascular involvement is critical in certain pathologies such as stroke and vascular dementia. In cardiology, on the other hand, the influence of the brain becomes clearly apparent in "the broken heart syndrome" (also known as acute stress cardiomyopathy). However, recent epidemiological studies point to new associations that typically present as co-occurring pathologies of both the brain and the heart. A case in point is the association between depression and coronary heart disease. Such co-occurrences have stimulated research into possible novel mechanisms that could be targeted to treat these complex cardiovascular/brain disorders.

At least three scenarios could be at play in these illnesses: (i) the primary pathological mechanism in the nervous system triggers a cardiovascular pathology by disrupting physiological links between the two systems (hence, the term "psychogenic"cardiovascular disease), (ii) the primary pathological mechanism in the cardiovascular system triggers a nervous system dysfunction (e.g., atherosclerosis leading to ischemic conditions causes subsequent cognitive impairment), and (iii) the primary pathology is in a biological mechanism that is normally operative in both the nervous and the cardiovascular systems, thus causing the co-occurrence of pathologies (i.e., the co-occurring pathologies share a pathobiological mechanism but do not necessarily cause each other).

To be successful, research in co-occurring cardiovascular and brain disorders needs contributions from multiple medical specialties, including psychiatry, neurology, medicine, and cardiology. It should encompass clinical and basic research as well as the development of therapeutic approaches. The purpose of Cardiovascular Psychiatry and Neurology is to provide a platform for the latest research and for timely and expert reviews and comments in the emerging field of cardiovascular psychiatry and neurology. Although the term cardiovascular psychiatry and neurology is introduced here for the first time, retrieving publications from PubMed using either cardiovascular psychiatry or cardiovascular neurology generates relevant information (oftentimes because the terms psychiatry or neurology appear in the tile of a journal publishing the work). A quick survey of PubMed for the publication period from 1940 to 2008 (Table 1) revealed, not surprisingly, that the number of items per search term has increased dramatically over the years. Whereas the term cardiovascular showed a sharp increase in the early sixties, both neurology and psychiatry "exploded" in the early nineties. Even though the term cardiovascular psychiatry appeared earlier than cardiovascular neurology, the later term has become more prevalent since the early sixties (Table 1). Normalizing the data, that is, by expressing cardiovascular psychiatry as a percentage of corresponding psychiatry and cardiovascular neurology as a percentage of the corresponding neurology (Figure 1), showed that cardiovascular neurology rose sharply in the early sixties and has remained at about 5% of all neurology-related items. On the other hand, cardiovascular psychiatry had been below 1% of all psychiatry-related items until the early eighties, but has gradually increased. Possibly, the ischemia-related brain disorders have contributed to the relatively high presence of cardiovascular neurology and the relatively recent revelation of an unsuspected association of cardiovascular disorders with mood disorders might have contributed to the increase in cardiovascular psychiatry. The journal Cardiovascular Psychiatry and Neurology was created to provide for the first time a unified forum to consider the physiological and pathological interactions between the nervous and the cardiovascular systems. The journal aims to stimulate the development of relevant interdisciplinary and collaborative biomedical research and to foster multidisciplinary efforts in advancing medical practices.

Figure 1

The proportions of retrieved PubMed terms Cardiovascular Psychiatry versus Psychiatry and Cardiovascular Neurology versus Neurology. The PubMed search was performed as described in Table 1. The percentages of items found for Cardiovascular Psychiatry ...

Table 1

A number of PubMed items retrieved on January 13, 2009. The terms indicated in the table were searched (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed) for the indicated publication dates (years). No systematic checking was performed for the actual ...

Hari Manev


Conditional Simple Temporal Network (CSTN) is a constraint-based graph-formalism for conditional temporal planning. It offers a more flexible formalism than the equivalent CSTP model of Tsamardinos, Vidal and Pollack, from which it was derived mainly as a sound formalization. Three notions of consistency arise for CSTNs and CSTPs: weak, strong, and dynamic. Dynamic consistency is the most interesting notion, but it is also the most challenging and it was conjectured to be hard to assess. Tsamardinos, Vidal and Pollack gave a doubly-exponential time algorithm for deciding whether a CSTN is dynamically-consistent and to produce, in the positive case, a dynamic execution strategy of exponential size. In the present work we offer a proof that deciding whether a CSTN is dynamically-consistent is coNP-hard and provide the first singly-exponential time algorithm for this problem, also producing a dynamic execution strategy whenever the input CSTN is dynamically-consistent. The algorithm is based on a novel connection with Mean Payoff Games, a family of two-player infinite games played on finite graphs, well known for having applications in model-checking and formal verification. The presentation of such connection is mediated by the Hyper Temporal Network model, a tractable generalization of Simple Temporal Networks whose consistency checking is equivalent to determining Mean Payoff Games. In order to analyse the algorithm we introduce a refined notion of dynamic-consistency, named ε-dynamic-consistency, and present a sharp lower bounding analysis on the critical value of the reaction time where the CSTN transits from being, to not being, dynamically-consistent. The proof technique introduced in this analysis of the reaction time is applicable more generally when dealing with linear difference constraints which include strict inequalities.


In order to read proficiently we must be able to tackle printed words that have not been explicitly taught. The process of rearranging previously learned linguistic units into novel patterns is referred to as recombinative generalisation. In the case of reading, sub-word units (e.g., onsets and rimes, phonemes, syllables) of known words are recombined to form new words that can be pronounced by reference to letter–sound correspondences. Matching-to-sample (MTS) procedures have proven to be effective in promoting recombinative generalisation. The aim of the current thesis was to further develop a MTS training protocol to facilitate recombinative generalisation. Additionally, this research aimed to extend the use of such MTS procedures by exploring ways in which the training protocol could be applied to help support recognition of the wide assortment of words encountered by beginning readers of English (e.g., monosyllabic and disyllabic words, consonant blend words, regular and exception words).
Seven experiments were undertaken with literate adult participants to thoroughly test the effectiveness of the new MTS training protocol. A novel (invented) script was constructed for use with the adult participants. The findings from these experiments are reported in the first part of the thesis.
To begin the research with the adults, modifications were made to MTS procedures developed by Mueller, Olmi, and Saunders (2000) and Keaveney (2005). The adapted MTS training protocol included conditional discrimination training, explicit symmetry training, and mixed symmetry testing for onset and rime sound–symbol relations. Experiment 1 was designed to test the efficacy of the revised protocol. All participants successfully completed the new training procedures and could accurately identify the novel recombined onset–rime and onset–rime–rime test words. To isolate the key training components within the protocol necessary for recombinative generalisation to occur, each of the training components was removed separately from the procedure in Experiment 2. The data from Experiment 2 clearly demonstrated how vital conditional discrimination training is to facilitating the recombinative generalisation effect.
For Experiment 3, a new across-unit recombinative generalisation test was incorporated within the protocol. Recognition of recombined words composed from untrained onsets and rimes (derived from the explicitly taught onsets and rimes) was examined. In a bid to improve performance on the across-unit test, an intermediate across-unit test was added to the protocol in Experiment 4. Overall, the data from Experiments 3 and 4 indicated that the MTS protocol did appear to be effective in promoting across-unit recombinative generalisation. Likewise, in Experiment 5, the protocol was found to be effective in facilitating recognition of words containing consonant blends.
In Experiment 6, variations were made to the grain size of the training unit employed to train the sound–symbol relations. Participants completed training with onsets and rimes, phonemes, or syllables (i.e., whole CVC words). The size of the training unit employed was found to have a significant effect on accuracy in recognising the recombined test words. Although there was no difference in the recombinative generalisation performance of onset and rime and phoneme trained participants, both groups of participants identified significantly more recombined words than the syllable trained participants. The final adult experiment was designed to examine if the protocol could be used to facilitate recognition of regular (rime consistent) and exception (rime inconsistent) words. One of the main findings to emerge from this experiment was that MTS training at only one grain size (i.e., onsets and rimes or phonemes or syllables) appeared to be insufficient to enable participants to tackle both the regular and exception words.
For the second part of the thesis, the protocol was used as a remedial tool within a classroom setting with seven children with mild learning disabilities. The aim of this phase of the research was to see if the protocol could help improve the children's word recognition and naming skills for actual words.
Baseline reading assessments were undertaken prior to the start of training to measure key reading related skills such as phonological awareness and letter–sound knowledge. A subsequent study was conducted to determine if there was an optimal sized training unit for each child (e.g., onsets and rimes, phonemes, or syllables) that appeared to best facilitate recombinative generalisation. All of the children demonstrated gains in word naming and recognition following completion of the MTS training procedures, most notably, following onset and rime training.
To try and strengthen the effectiveness of the procedure, a stimulus equivalence training component, in which the children learned to relate printed words, spoken words, and corresponding pictures, was incorporated into the protocol. The stimulus equivalence component was used in a novel way to train recognition of regular and exception words. Again, encouraging results were obtained, with all of the children showing gains in their ability to read aloud and recognise trained and untrained (recombined) words.
Implications of both the adult and child research are discussed in the final chapter of the thesis. There is a particular focus on how there is much to be potentially gained from integrating behavioural methods with cognitive theories of reading when the aim is to develop effective aids to teach components of reading.


We provide a recent account of the diffusion of electronic business in the U.S. economy using new data from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. We document the extent of the diffusion in three main sectors of the economy: retail, services, and manufacturing. For manufacturing, we also analyze plants' patterns of adoption of several Internet-based processes. We conclude with a look at the future of the Internet's diffusion and a prospect for further data collection by the U.S. Census Bureau.


Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) remains one of the most challenging conditions to manage in neonatology and neonatal surgery. Despite significant advances in antenatal detection, antenatal therapy, neonatal intensive care and neonatal surgery, there is a significant mortality rate due to the combination of pulmonary hypoplasia, cardiac dysfunction and pulmonary hypertension. One of the major deficiencies in the literature has been a lack of high quality, multicentre data with a complete population denominator to accurately reflect the prognosis of this condition. Such studies would aid parental counselling, guide therapy and provide benchmarking data for clinicians and centres. The paper by Long et al 1 is a valuable contribution to the current evidence base, but we must be cautious in interpreting the presented data as true population outcomes.

This paper is a prospective study of a cohort of infants who presented to paediatric surgical units in the UK and Ireland with diaphragmatic defects over an 18-month period during 2009–2010. The authors used robust methodology of case ascertainment, supported by the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, where local clinicians returned cards on a monthly basis. The data describe 219 live-born infants with an antenatal detection rate of 61%. This reflects 134 antenatally diagnosed CDH cases in 18 months. For the first 12 months of this study, the UK Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS) was conducting a study for pregnancies affected by CDH. Although these data have not yet been published, they identified 179 pregnancies in this period (https://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/research/ukoss-cdh-174). Before discussing the outcome of postnatal surgical management, we should question why only approximately 50% of antenatally diagnosed cases have presented to surgical units postnatally to be included in the presented paper. Possible explanations include terminations of pregnancy and antenatally diagnosed newborns not reaching surgical centres.

Modern management of CDH starts …


We have previously demonstrated that keratinocyte-specific forkhead box O1 (FOXO1) deletion interferes with keratinocyte migration in normal skin wounds. However it has an opposite effect in diabetic skin wounds, significantly improving the healing response. In addition we found that skin epithelium regulates connective tissue healing mediated by FOXO1, which is strongly associated with wound angiogenesis in our microarray results. However, a role for keratinocytes in this complex process has yet to be investigated. To this end, we investigated possible involvement of gingival keratinocytes in connective tissue healing under both normal and diabetic conditions. We found that keratinocyte-specific FOXO1 deletion interfered with normal gingival connective tissue healing by decreasing granulation tissue formation and angiogenesis, which were mediated by vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A). In particular this is the first evidence that avascular epithelium regulates angiogenesis involving the VEGF-A secretion mediated by FOXO1. Furthermore, we investigated the possible role of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) during wound healing using the lineage tracing in transgenic mice. But we did not find any keratinocyte-specific reporter activity in the connective tissue indicating that there was no apparent trans-differentiation of keratinocytes into typical fibroblasts or myofibroblasts during wound healing. These results establish an important role of epithelial cells in accelerating wound angiogenesis and connective tissue healing through a FOXO1-dependent mechanism. Degree Type Thesis Degree Name DScD (Doctor of Science in Dentistry) Primary Advisor Dana T. Graves, DDS, DMSc