This study examines the perceptions of 41 corporate chief accountants from Bahrain on the issues relating to the relative importance of international accounting topics in Bahrain. The study indicates a significant interest of the respondents in internationalizing the accounting curriculum. The topics which received importance rating of over 80% were: foreign investment and decision making, international accounting standards, financial reporting and disclosure, foreign currency transactions and translation, management information system (MIS) for multinational enterprises (MNEs), and consolidations. Results were also compared to a recent study from United States (US) and significant differences were found to exist in respect of several topics. The reasons for the major differences in the perceptions are explained in this paper, some of which may be attributed to cultural as well as environmental differences. The study also found that there is a strong support for adoption of the International Accounting Standards (IASs) because international markets are becoming increasingly important and there exists major differences in accounting principles among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries themselves. Furthermore, the study also suggests that in view of the similarity in social, economic, and business practices in GCC countries, the highly ranked accounting topics reported in this study should perhaps be incorporated by the accounting departments of universities operating in the GCC region. This will facilitate the process of harmonization of the accounting curriculum in this region.


Scholars have ignored the most important question in one of the most famousconstitutional law cases, obscuring the machinations that spawned the dispute. ThisArticle sheds light on the events that precipitated Marbury v. Madison and alsoexplains when an appointment vests. Thomas Jefferson famously refused to deliver acommission to William J. Marbury, causing the latter to seek a writ of mandamus fromthe Supreme Court. The received wisdom supposes that Jefferson's refusal rested on thegrounds that Marbury had not been appointed a justice of the peace precisely because henever had received a commission. In fact, Jefferson's delivery argument was a post-hocrationalization, having nothing to do with his actions in March of 1801. JohnAdams's midnight appointments incensed Jefferson, leading the new President to treatall of the justice of the peace appointments as nullities. To Jefferson, the failure todeliver commissions to some of those appointees mattered not a whit. What seems tohave been far more significant is his sense that the justices of the peace served at hispleasure. Acting on this belief, he simultaneously removed them all and recess appointedmost of them, save for more than a dozen, including William J. Marbury.This Article also addresses whether William J. Marbury and the other midnight appointeeswho never received their commissions were nonetheless appointed, considering fivetheories of when an appointment vests: when the Senate consents; after consent butbefore commissioning; when commissioning occurs; with the delivery of a commission;and with acceptance of the office. In the course of considering these theories, the Articlediscloses the surprising fact that Thomas Jefferson, as Secretary of State, endorsed thesecond theory, namely that appointments vest before the act of commissioning. Moreover,well before Marbury v. Madison, the Adams Administration likewise concludedthat appointments could vest prior to any commission being issued or delivered. Despitethis convergence, the Article contends that none of the five theories is correct becauseeach reads the Constitution as enshrining a single answer regarding when an appointmentvests. There is no single answer. Rather an appointment vests whenever thePresident determines that it shall. The Constitution grants power to the President toappoint, never precisely specifying when or how an appointment vests. By not specifyingwhen or how appointment is made, the Constitution leaves it to the President todecide the manner in which he appoints. This conclusion derives from a general principleof constitutional law: When the Constitution grants power to an entity but doesnot specify the precise means by which it will be exercised, the grantee may decide themeans of exercising it.


In this paper, the model of Archimedes wave swing (AWS) based wave energy conversion (WEC) system is proposed where a new coordinate transformation for the linear permanent magnet generator between the abc frame of reference and the dq0 frame of reference is proposed and the model of the LPMG in dq0 reference frame suitable for power system dynamic and stability analysis is derived for the first time. Since the output power and the induced voltage both vary, full-scale back-to-back converters are employed to connect the WEC to the power grid in order to maintain a constant active power and terminal voltage at the system side. The controllers for the generator side converter and the grid side converter of the back-to-back converters are also developed. Simulations are performed, when WEC operates under conditions such as no-load, supplying an isolated R-C load and integration with a power system, to simulate the dynamics of the WEC and verify the effectiveness of the model derived and the controllers developed. Comparison between the dynamic responses simulated and those obtained in the field test demonstrates that using the proposed dq0 model, the dynamics of the WEC system can be simulated properly. Using the generator side converter controller, the maximum power can be extracted from the wave while the loss in the LPMG can be minimized. Furthermore, the WEC can keep the output power at the power grid converter side constant and maintain the terminal voltage constant with the grid side converter controller. These are the desired features for the WEC to operate in parallel with the power grid. The effectiveness of the controller proposed is also validated under small disturbance.


In drug testing, the presence of methamphetamine in urine is generally confirmed by a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. Derivatization of the compound to a perfluoroalkylamide, prior to confirmation, typically yields better chromatographic separation. Once methamphetamine is detected, a second GC-MS test is necessary to distinguish positive results from the use of over-the-counter medication, Vicks inhaler, or from use of a prescription drug, selegiline (Deprenyl). R-(-)-Methamphetamine is the urinary product from legitimate use of these medications. The second GC-MS test is to confirm illicit use of (S)-(+)-methamphetamine. In the procedure, the two methamphetamine isomers are changed to the chromatographically separable diastereomers by a chiral derivatizing agent, (S)-(-)-trifluoroacetylprolyl chloride (TPC). But the method has inherent limitations. Racemization of the reagent produces mixed diastereomers even from pure (S)-(+)-methamphetamine. Instead of using TPC, we utilized (R)-(-)-alpha-methoxy-alpha-(trifluoromethyl)phenylacetyl chloride (MTPA) to prepare the amides of diastereomers of methamphetamine. No racemization was observed with this reagent. The method was extended to resolve GC peaks of (R)-(-)- and (S)-(+)-isomers of amphetamine, 3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA), N-methyl-MDA (MDMA), and N-ethyl-MDA (MDEA). Three ions from the drug and two ions from the deuterated internal standard were monitored to characterize and quantitate the drugs. For MDEA, only one ion was used. The quantitation was linear over 25 to 5000 ng/mL for MDEA and 25 to 10,000 ng/mL for all other drugs. Correlation coefficients were > 0.996. Precision calculated as the coefficient of variation at the calibrator concentration of 500 ng/mL was within +/- 11% for all drugs. The method was applied to test 43 urine specimens. In 91% of the methamphetamine-positive specimens, only the (S)-(+)-isomer was detected. In all MDMA-positive specimens, the concentrations of (R)-(-)-isomer were greater than the (S)-(+)-isomer indicating longer retention of (R)-(-)-isomer in the human body. The specimen concentrations (R + S) compared well with that of a non-chiral method that used 4-carboethoxyhexafluorobutyryl chloride as derivatizing agent. But the MTPA method has some advantage. It alone can replace the two GC-MS methods needed to confirm the presence of (S)-(+)-isomers of amphetamine and methamphetamine.


This thesis comprises three papers studying several mathematical models related to geometric Markov processes and random processes with reinforcements. The main goal of these works is to investigate the dynamics as well as the limiting behaviour of the models as time goes to infinity, the existence of invariant measures and limiting distributions, the speed of convergence and other interesting relevant properties.In the introduction, we firstly discuss the background: products of random matrices, asymptotic pseudo-trajectories and Markov chains in a general state space. We then outline motivation and overview of the main results in the papers included in this thesis.In the first paper, we deal with a Markov chain model of convex polygons, which are random consecutive subdivisions of an initial convex polygon. Applying the theory of products of random matrices, we prove the universal convergence of these random convex polygons to a "flat figure". Beside this, we present a discussion about the speed of convergence and the computation of invariant measure in the case of random triangles.In the second paper, we investigate a model of strongly vertex-reinforced jump processes (VRJP). Using the method of stochastic approximation, we show the connection between strongly VRJP and an asymptotic pseudo-trajectory of a vector field in order to study the dynamics of the model. In particular, we prove that strongly VRJP on a complete graph will almost surely have an infinite local time at one vertex, while the local times at all the remaining vertices remain bounded.In the last paper, we consider a class of random walks taking values in simplexes and study the existence of limiting distributions. In some special cases of Markov chain models, we prove that the limiting distributions are Dirichlet. In addition, we introduce a related history-dependent random walk model in [0,1] based on Friedman's urn-type schemes and show that this random walk converges in distribution to the arcsine law (Less)


Spanish–Israeli relations expanded across numerous fields throughout the 1960s despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties. For all practical purposes, Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had a legation in Madrid during the second half of the 1960s, including at least 3 semi-official representatives operating with the full knowledge of Madrid. Clandestinely, a Mossad station worked in liaison with the local intelligence services. Absence of a full-fledged Israeli embassy did not prevent advancing bilateral ties, normalising Jewish affairs in Spain, or preventing both Powers from engaging in official and public occasions or behind the scenes. Systemic pressure, most evident in Madrid's ascension to GATT, and the need to abide with its rules by liberalising trade with Israel did much to advance Spanish–Israeli bilateral ties in the 1960s. A strong systemic external force also brought change in their relations in the 1980s. The diplomatic breakthrough of January 1986 and establishment of full formal diplomatic relations between the Powers was largely the inevitable result of Spain's entry into the European Economic Community.


The note describes the key challenges facing the health, livelihoods, and mobility of internal and international migrants and their families due to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak. The note presents the policy options available to governments to address these challenges and describes the assistance that the World Bank can offer in areas related to social protection and jobs to support these efforts. The living and working conditions of internal and international migrants make them vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 (Coronavirus). Measures put in place to control disease transmission both within and across countries have resulted in significant disruption in transportation networks and in labor markets that have hit migrant workers hard. The resulting decline in remittances will transmit these negative impacts to the families of migrants. Travel restrictions may lead to labor shortages in critical sectors like agriculture that are dominated by migrant workers. While the specific type of support that should be targeted to migrants depends on location, legal status, and type of migration, most migrants will need access to safety nets in the form of cash or in-kind assistance to support them as they comply with transmission control measures and cope with the impacts of the crisis. Policies to support employment retention and promotion will be particularly important as a complement to these safety nets for internal migrants and migrants returning from abroad. Policies to offset the expected declines in remittances will be important for all migrants and their families. Programs created to respond to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak should be migrant-sensitive to take into account the unique challenges facing migrants.


This D.Phil. thesis is an international comparative study looking at the development and implementation stages of policies tasked to reduce emissions from transport. The substance of policy is all too often the primary focus of research, leaving the settings in which these policies are developed and implemented relatively underexplored. Examining the relationships and interplay that exists between departments responsible for climate change and transport at the sub-national (state) level and those with their local and national counterparts, this research tries to unpick the organisational intricacies that may act as barriers to delivery. State governments have become a promising source of action to reduce emissions from other sectors for which they have legislative responsibility; however, the private road transport sector remains a challenge. This research examines the barriers preventing such progress and whether the lack of collaboration between departments and across levels of government are responsible in part for these challenges. Taking a specific policy intervention designed to reduce transport-related emissions from four case study governments (Bavaria, California, Scotland and South Australia) this research is about organisational structures of government and policy processes. The main hypothesis of the research is that conventional environmental/climate changeand transport-policymaking practices are incompatible – and that this incompatibility is hampered by organisational structures of government. Together these factors render implementation of policies to reduce the climate impact of transport difficult. The hypothesis is guided by four research themes – scale, scope, leadership and process. Each of these themes has a distinct yet important part to play in understanding and comparing the case study contexts, in terms of the crossdepartmental and cross-level interactions occurring within each of the sub-national governments. Each of the subject case study governments have been chosen since they are self-determined 'leaders' on climate change. This research serves to highlight some of the governance issues that need to be overcome or removed for such positive political intent to be realised. It posits that without successfully linking frameworks and interested stakeholders in the process, tangible emissions reductions will be difficult to achieve. The main objective of the research is to investigate the frameworks, interplay and dynamics at the sub-national level of government across departments and between levels of government. The relationship and collaboration with industry is also examined as a supplementary consideration. The second objective is to look at how and whether climate change policy can be more closely integrated with transport policy and the barriers to this integration. This investigation is underpinned by cross-disciplinary governance theory, as well as notions from socio-political governance and applies the concept of institutional interplay in this context between levels of government. It develops the concept of sub-national governance which argues that relationships between levels are distinct and non-hierarchical in terms of policy development and implementation.


The instantaneous photosynthetic rate (Pn), transpiration rate (E), and stomatal conductance (gS) were measured for 33 outdoor-grown Capsicum varieties (varying in species of origin and indigenous habitat) between 29 July and 22 Aug. 2017 using a portable gas exchange meter. Cuvette leaf temperature (Tleaf) and relative humidity (RH) were recorded at that same time. Pn differed from 3.6 to 3.7 for 'Malawi Piquante' and 'Korean Long Green' peppers to 16.3 μmol CO2/m2/s (fixed) for 'Thai Hot' peppers. The gS differed from 0.01 to 0.05 among 13 varieties to 0.28 mmol H2O/m2/s for 'Thai Hot' peppers. E differed from 0.43 to 0.59 among three varieties to 4.14 to 4.20 mmol H2O/m2/s for 'CGN 22091' and 'Peruvian Purple' peppers. Water use efficiency (WUE; Pn/E) varied from 2.92 to 3.43 among three varieties to 5.10 to 7.20 for 16 other varieties. C. annuum derived varieties had higher Pn (9.4 μmol CO2/m2/s fixed) than varieties derived from other species (4.5–8.6 μmol CO2/m2/s fixed). Varieties originating from dry climates had higher Pn (12.5 μmol CO2/m2/s fixed) than those originating from temperate or tropical climates (8.0–8.8 μmol CO2/m2/s fixed). Tleaf (27 to 33 °C) and RH (38% to 39% and 57% to 59%) differed among varieties. Pn was positively correlated with gS, E, and RH and was negatively correlated with WUE. We found that Capsicum Pn, E, and gS varied more than has been previously reported, and our data suggested that Pn, gS, and E data of outdoor-grown peppers should be used only when selecting parents for a breeding program (unless progeny is intended for greenhouse production).


The Correspondence Section serves as a forum for opinion exchange ahoiit subjects of general interest such as dermatologic training, relations between dermatologists and pharmaceutical houses, governmental control of dermatology and medical practice in general, peculiarities of dermatology related to geographic, climatic, or racial factors, the flow of information and publications, as well as other concerns the readership might have. Originality is highly desirable and repetitious contributions or minutiae are discouraged. We wish also to foster submission of hypotheses marked accordingly. These should be based on reality and should stimulate thought. Contributions should conform to the format for correspondence as oudined in, "Notice to Contributors." Manuscripts will undergo standard editorial procedures. Submit all correspondence to Mauricio GoihmnnYahr, M.D., Ph.D., Section Editor, Jet International M-154, P.O. Box 020010, Miami, PL 33 102.


We describe WEST, a WEb browser for Small Terminals, that aims to solve some of the problems associated with accessing web pages on hand-held devices. Through a novel combination of text reduction and focus+context visualization, users can access web pages from a very limited display environment, since the system will provide an overview of the contents of a web page even when it is too large to be displayed in its entirety. To make maximum use of the limited resources available on a typical hand-held terminal, much of the most demanding work is done by a proxy server, allowing the terminal to concentrate on the task of providing responsive user interaction. The system makes use of some interaction concepts reminiscent of those defined in the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), making it possible to utilize the techniques described here for WAP-compliant devices and services that may become available in the near future.


Over the last decade or so, Proceedings B has strengthened its position as one of the major journals publishing high-quality papers in the broad field of biology with some emphasis on organismal and population biology. We aim at publishing papers of interest to a broad spectrum of readers, including those applying such knowledge within management and conservation. The impact factor has had a good positive trend (figure 1a) rising from 2.8 in 1994 to the current value of above 4. This positive development is, at least partly, due to more papers being submitted, enabling us to select intensely and thereby increasing the quality even further: today, we reject approximately 80 per cent of the submitted manuscripts, many of which are very good; hence, we publish only the best of the very good papers submitted to Proceedings B.

Figure 1

(a) The development of the impact factor for Proceedings B over the period 1994–2007. (b) The proportion of articles using 'ecology' as a keyword (filled circles) and 'evolution' as a keyword (open circles). The ...

A major proportion of the papers published in Proceedings B is within the field of evolution (figure 1b), approximately 40 per cent of which are within population biology (i.e. using 'population' or 'populations' as keywords; see legend to figure 1). In the mid-1990s, few papers were on ecology; since then, however, the proportion of papers within the field of ecology has increased to more than 10 per cent (figure 1b); of the ecology papers, approximately half are on population biology.

Figure 1

(a) The development of the impact factor for Proceedings B over the period 1994–2007. (b) The proportion of articles using 'ecology' as a keyword (filled circles) and 'evolution' as a keyword (open circles). The ...

Organismal and population biology insights—ecology, genetics and evolution—are important for proper (sustainable, if you like) management of our natural living resources:

Population ecology—the study of structure and function of populations over space and time—is important; this includes the statistical modelling of long-term data coupled with theory development (including mathematical modelling) and experimental testing of assumed/hypothesized processes.

Genetic structure of populations—the way a species is geographically structured, both at a large and small geographical scale—is important if we are to understand the population biology of a species.

Evolution—both through natural and artificial selection (including harvesting-induced evolution)—of the individuals comprising the populations is, of course, important if we are to understand the ecological dynamics of the populations.

If we biologists are to have an impact on the management of the living natural resources exposed to anthropogenic threats under global change, we need to be more directly involved in the application of such basic knowledge as referred to above; most of all, we need the involvement of our very best biologists, such as those publishing their work in Proceedings B. Without making Proceedings B an applied journal (which it definitely should not become), I would personally like to see more of our best scientists publishing papers in Proceedings B that report the application of the most up-to-date ecological and evolutionary insights to the many threats to our living resources caused by people's ever increasing impact on our biosphere—be it directly (e.g. harvesting) or indirectly (e.g. climate change). Also, if we, as biologists, are to be effective in advising those responsible for managing (and protecting) our living resources, we need to consider the costs and benefits of these resources.

I have been involved with Proceedings B for more than a decade, partly as an author (my first papers in the journal were published in 1995) and partly as a Board Member and an Editor. I hope that the journal will continue to flourish and, thus, continue to publish high-quality papers. It will do so if authors continue to submit good manuscripts: the more good submissions, the easier it is to ensure those selected being important ones (but the more easily we as editors upset the authors of rejected papers). As part of this, I hope Proceedings B will continue to strengthen its position within the broad field of organismal and population biology, and include basic work within these fields that addresses the increasingly important current issues linked to global climate change.

In short, I hope Proceedings B will be a journal which scientists as well as science advisors to governments must read every fortnight.


We formalize a proof of Motzkin's transposition theorem and Farkas' lemma in Isabelle/HOL. Our proof is based on the formalization of the simplex algorithm which, given a set of linear constraints, either returns a satisfying assignment to the problem or detects unsatisfiability. By reusing facts about the simplex algorithm we show that a set of linear constraints is unsatisfiable if and only if there is a linear combination of the constraints which evaluates to a trivially unsatisfiable inequality.


This policy brief examines patterns of sugary beverage consumption among children and adolescents in California. Using data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), this study found that while sugary beverage consumption decreased among adolescents ages 12-17 between 2011-12 and 2013-14, it increased among children under age 12 between 2009 and 2013-14. The trend among children under age 12 may be attributed to a shift in sugary beverage consumption from soda to sports and energy drinks. Establishing and strengthening policies that focus on reducing consumption of sugary beverages could counter the increasing consumption trend among younger children as well as result in further reductions in consumption among teens.


A computer program is presented which calculates Zoeppritz's displacement amplitude coefficients, displacement potential coefficients, and Knott's energy coefficients for plane harmonic elastic waves of P or SV type incident on a plane interface between two isotropic, homogeneous elastic solids. A discussion of these three basic types of coefficients is included. Results of applying the program to a sample case are presented in the form of a graph of the energy coefficients computed for all possible wave types and over a range of angle of incidence of 0° to 90°.


The most important advantage of an economic order quantity (EOQ) system is its ability to handle the unexpected demand. A model for comparing the inventory costs of purchasing under the EOQ system and the just-in-time (JIT) order purchasing system in existing literature concluded that JIT purchasing was virtually always the preferable inventory ordering system. By expanding the classical EOQ model, taking into account out-of-stock risk, which was not considered by previous researchers, this paper shows that it is possible for an EOQ system to be more cost effective than a JIT system when the out-of-stock risk associated with the JIT purchasing system is high or the annual demand is either too low or too high.


Fruters model is a concept of technopreneurship-based on empowerment, in which technology research results were designed to create high value-added products and implemented as a locomotive of collaborative empowerment; thereby, the impact was widely spread. This model still needs to be inventoried and validated concerning the influenced variables in the business growth process. Model validation accompanied by mapping was required to be applicable to Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) agro-industry based on sustainable social business and existing real cases. This research explained the empowerment model of Yourgood, an SME, which emphasized on empowering the farmers/ breeders in farmers in rural areas, Cipageran, Cimahi, to housewives in urban areas, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. This research reviewed some works of literature discussing the agro-industrial development associated with the empowerment and social business process and gained a unique business model picture with the social business platform as well. Through the mapped business model, there were several advantages such as technology acquisition, independence, capital generation, good investment growth, strengthening of collaboration, and improvement of social impacts that can be replicated on other businesses. This research used analytical-descriptive research method consisting of qualitative analysis with design thinking approach and that of quantitative with the AHP (Analytical Hierarchy Process). Based on the results, the development of the enterprise's process was highly affected by supplying farmers with the score of 0.248 out of 1, being the most valuable for the existence of the enterprise. It was followed by university (0.178), supplying farmers (0.153), business actors (0.128), government (0.100), distributor (0.092), technopreneurship laboratory (0.069), banking (0.033), and NonGovernment Organization (NGO) (0.031). Keywords—Agro-Industry, small medium enterprises (SMEs), empowerment, design thinking, AHP, business model canvas, social business.


Teachers need to address global climate change with students in their classrooms as evidence for consequences from these environmental changes mounts. One way to approach global climate change is through examination of authentic data. Mathematics and science may be integrated by interpreting graphs from the professional literature. This study examined the types of errors 72 preservice elementary teachers made in producing hands-on materials for teaching graph interpretation skills through graphed evidence of global climate change from the literature. The teaching materials consisted of a graph electronically manipulated on a colored background and enhanced with clip art related to the graph's topic that was then printed and mounted on colored cardboard. The graph was accompanied by six graph interpretation statements printed on cards that were to be sorted as true or false. Additionally, a topic-related object was provided for each graph for an initial activity that focused student attention and aroused interest. Four graphs with their accompanying statements and four related objects were combined into one box of materials to be used by a small group of students. Preservice teachers practiced with example sets of materials made by the course instructor and then worked to each create a new, unique set. An appendix of many sets of correct materials is provided in this ERIC document. About half of the teaching materials produced were errorfree. The most common errors preservice teachers made were misuse of vocabulary and over generalizing a graph's information. Other frequent errors included not supplying enough specific information in a statement to allow its verification and misinterpreting a major trend on a graph. These problems can be attributed to preservice teachers' lack of sufficient experience in graph interpretation. Therefore, the authors conclude that the materials-making exercise was beneficial to preservice teachers and the resulting materials (with any errors corrected) can effectively be used with upper elementary and secondary students. [1 Table, 1 Appendix containing 18 graphs accompanied by interpretation statements.]


Background: Nowadays, spiritual intelligence, as a modern approach, has an important role in improving mental health, reducing job stress and improving social functioning. This role is well recognized by organizations, and its improvement has increased staff's better understanding of their jobs and their satisfaction with their jobs in this context, the present is study aimed to investigate the relationship of spiritual intelligence with mental health and job stress among nurses. Methods: This correlation-descriptive study was conducted among all nurses in Imam Khomeini Hospital in Mahabad (n=270), where 160 nurses were randomly selected to answer the questionnaires. Three questionnaires were used for data collection and the reliability and validity of the tools were tested and confirmed. MANOVA was used to analyze the data in SPSS/22. Results: Results showed that spiritual intelligence had a significant relationship with mental health (P = 0.001), spiritual intelligence had a significant relationship with job stress (P= 0.001), and mental health had a significant relationship with job stress (P = 0.001). Conclusion: In sum, attending to and emphasis on spiritual intelligence and its dimensions can fill the hospital with mental health, and reduce job stress among nurses. Therefore, attending to spiritual intelligence and improving it in nurses seems necessary to improve the quality of patient


A narrow (∼7 km wide) fold and thrust belt in west Texas that represents the northernmost extent of a Grenville-age collisional belt along the southern margin of Laurentia (Grenville Front), records a complex history of deformation and associated fluid flow. The Streeruwitz thrust that emplaced ca. 1.35 Ga high-grade metamorphic rocks over ca. 1.25 Ga foreland sedimentary and volcanic rocks postdates polyphase deformation in the footwall and is complexly folded into domes and basins. Four phases of tectonism, recording a changing kinematic setting, affected the area and formed: (1) pre-Streeruwitz ductile polyphase folds (F 1 –F 3 ) and associated foliations (S 1 –S 2 ) consistent with northward tectonic transport; (2) dextral oblique-slip, high-angle, west-northwest–trending faults associated with upright vertical sheath folds (F 4 ); (3) Streeruwitz and related subsidiary imbricate thrusts that truncate F 1 –F 4 folds at a high angle and cause localized folding (F 5 ) consistent with north-northeast to northeastward tectonic transport; and (4) complex southeast- and northwest-trending domes and basins (F 6 ) of the thrusts, resulting from continual Grenville-age transpression. Fluids with an evolving chemistry over time were channelized along the thrusts, metasomatically altering the adjacent rocks. Early siliceous fluids caused replacement of mafic dikes and dolostones that preserve F 1 and S 1 and formation of extensive talc bodies with talc aligned axial planar to F 2 , forming the dominant S 2 fabric. Initial thrusting at depth produced mylonites in both footwall (syn-S 2 ) and hanging-wall rocks that were later brecciated in the final stage of thrusting along the Streeruwitz thrust. Further evolution of fluids along the thrusts is recorded in altered rocks adjacent to thrusts, breccias, and veins, starting with silica- and alkali-rich fluids. Lastly, carbonate-rich fluids replaced footwall rocks and cemented breccias in both the hanging wall and footwall. This study documents a previously unrecognized complex structural, metamorphic, and metasomatic history, and fluid evolution in the foreland. This history, coupled with differences from that in the overriding older metamorphic rocks, requires a new kinematic model for the southern margin of Laurentia. In addition, the disparity in deformation timing and kinematic evolution between west Texas and the central Texas Llano uplift requires active subduction in west Texas after collision in central Texas. We propose that collision of a north-verging continental indenter with southern Laurentia initially occurred in the Llano area (ca. 1150–1120 Ma) and that continued subduction along strike caused clockwise rotation of the indenting continent and collision in west Texas (ca. 1060–980 Ma).


Chitin is a naturally occurring fibre-forming polymer that plays a protective role in many lower eukaryotes similar to that of cellulose in plants. Chemically it is a long-chain unbranched polysaccharide made of N-acetylglucosamine residues linked through β-1,4 covalent bonds; it is the second most abundant organic compound in nature, after cellulose. Taking into account the role played by chitin in different biological structures (i.e. fungal cell walls, insect peritrophic matrix, insect and crustacean cuticles, eggshells from nematodes, cyst wall of protozoa), its metabolism (biosynthesis and degradation) is essential for different morphogenetic events. Absent in vertebrates and plants, chitin participates in host–parasite interactions and represents a parasite-specific target for chemotherapeutic attack and also plays a role in host immune responses. Because of its abundance in nature and its properties, biotechnological applications of chitin derivatives, such as chitosan and chito-oligosaccharides, are currently an expanding area in biomedicine, pharmaceutical and food technology and agro-biosciences.

Key Concepts:

Chitin is a long-chain unbranched polysaccharide made of β-1,4-linked anhydro-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-d-glucose (GlcNAc) which forms crystalline fibrillar structures following association of adjacent chains through hydrogen bonds between the N–H and the CO groups.

Nascent chitin is a growing chitin chain which is being synthesised by the chitin synthase and it represents a good substrate for chitinolytic enzymes.

Microfibrillar chitin is a crystalline structure formed by chains of the polysaccharide which associate through hydrogen bonds between adjacent chains and it is responsible for the physico-chemical properties of the polymer.

The fungal cell wall is a supramolecular network outside the plasma membrane, formed by structural polysaccharides, including chitin, and proteins and glycoproteins, that protects the fungal cell and determines morphology, similarly to cuticle (exosqueleton) in insects.

Insect cuticle (exosqueleton) is an extracellular matrix covering the epidermis and trachea, composed mainly by chitin (and proteins), which protects the animal and confers morphology.

The peritrophic membrane (matrix) is an extracellular layer that covers the midgut in most arthropods and it is made of chitin, proteins and proteoglycans, and provides protection to the underlaying digestive cells.

Chitin biosynthesis is a strongly regulated process, both spatially and temporally, as chitin deposition is essential for fungal growth and development (moulting) in arthropods. Chitin synthases are membrane bound enzymes that incorporate the substrate (UDP-N-acetylglucosamine) from the cytosol to the nascent chitin chain that is extruded outside the membrane.

Chitinases are chitin-hydrolysing enzymes that play important roles in the physiology of chitin-containing eukaryotes, and chitinolytic bacteria are active in a scavenging role by degrading massive amounts of chitin in marine and soil biomass, avoiding its accumulation and favouring the utilisation of chitin as a renewable source.

The absence of chitin in vertebrates and plants makes the chitin metabolism a potentially useful parasite-specific target for chemotherapeutic attack. In mammals, chitin regulates immune responses playing a role in inflammation, and allergic diseases. In plants, chitin elicits defence responses, and in leguminous plants, chitin oligosaccharides produced by rhizobia promote plant nodulation.

Owing to their abundance in nature and properties, chitin, chitosan and their derivatives have gained potential interest for a wide range of areas, including biopharmaceutical and biomedical applications.

Keywords:

polysaccharide;
chitosan;
chitinase;
chitin synthetase


Wasn't the information age supposed to make professional work more productive and less tedious, therefore less stressful? Sometimes it just doesn't seem that way. This study was inspired by a national survey of postsecondary faculty produced by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA.1 The UCLA study included a number of personal and attitudinal measures about the faculty life, but professors also provided information about some aspects of their use of technology, including how much stress they perceived it to be causing. Among the most frequently cited causes of stress in faculty life, such as time pressures, teaching load, committee work, lack of a personal life and red tape, also appeared the phrase "keeping up with information technology." More than two-thirds of the sample reported experiencing some or a great deal of stress from keeping up with information technology. In fact, of the 17 "stressor" items in that study, only four emerged as more stressful than "keeping up with information technology." Journalism and mass communication educators arguably encounter technology in their academic lives more frequently than those in many of the disciplines in the UCLA study. How are we coping with the benefits and demands of the ever-changing technology we need for our teaching and research? Specifically, the following research questions emerged: 1) What uses do journalism faculty make of technology in research and teaching? What are their attitudes toward new technology? 2) What levels of stress are journalism faculty experiencing? What types of stress? How prevalent is stress induced by technological change? 3) What are the differences between the way administrators perceive stress in faculty lives and faculty views of stress in their own lives? 4) Are there age or gender differences in the level of "technostress" journalism faculty experience? What other factors or conditions are associated with stress? Faculty Stress and Faculty Adaptation to Technology The concept of faculty stress is familiar to educational sociologists. Thorsen2 and Endres and Wearden3 use a time-honored definition of occupational stress: That which occurs when one perceives that the demands of the environment to clearly exceed one's resources to handle them.4 When a person senses that gap as challenging, it is not stressful. When the gap is thought to be threatening, it is stressful. Gmelch et al.5 would add that stress occurs with "the anticipation of negative consequences for an inadequate response"6 to a perceived demand. Smith et al. point out that many psychologists view stress per se as not necessarily harmful. Performance decreases when stress is low as well as when it is high. An "optimal" level of stress increases performance because of its inherent challenge.7 But too often stress creeps into unacceptably high levels, and this can lead to other problems in the academic life. Lease8 cites studies associating perceived stress with decrease in faculty productivity, increase in tension, decrease in job satisfaction and increase in propensity to leave academe. Austin and Pilat9 would add to that list of results depression, fatigue, poor health, "burnout," family problems and substance abuse. Dillon and Tanner,10 on the other hand, found burnout, the result of prolonged, unabated stress, to exist in only a small portion of journalism and mass communication faculty. According to the HERI study,11 the faculty climate is hardly bleak. That study found that the percentage of postsecondary faculty reporting they were satisfied with their jobs rose from 69% in 1989 to 75% in 1999. The study also noted significant increases (and majorities) in proportions satisfied with the competency of their colleagues, their working conditions and their relations with the administration. Yet some education scholars have found that levels of perceived faculty stress were higher in the 1990s than in previous decades. …


Optical targeting (stimulation or recording) allows distributed parallel access to thousands and even millions of cells and locations at the same time, and within the tissue setting; optical targeting is high-throughput by nature. In this talk, I will discuss and demonstrate the combination of optogenetic stimulation with optical imaging of electrical activity in cardiomyocytes, i.e. the realization of "all-optical electrophysiology" in a high-throughput manner (HTS). Examples will include demonstration of cardiac "wave steering" by light and the use of a new fully-automated all-optical HTS platform (OptoDyCE) for drug screening using patient-derived cardiomyocytes (iPS-CMs). Bio Dr. Emilia Entcheva is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at George Washington University; she recently moved her laboratory to Washington DC, after 15 years as faculty at Stony Brook University. She directs the Cardiac Optogenetics and Optical Imaging Laboratory. Her research group has contributed to the development of new tools for optical mapping of cardiac excitation, computational modeling of cardiac electrophysiology, as well as innovative techniques to engineering cardiac tissue and its functional characterization using lab-on-a-chip platforms. Since 2010, her group has spearheaded efforts in shaping a new field, cardiac optogenetics (the geneticallymediated light sensitization of cardiac cells and tissue), and the development of highlyparallel all-optical cardiac electrophysiology. These developments open new possibilities for mechanistic studies in cardiac arrhythmias using "live tissue simulations" and "wave control" by light; importantly, they offer for the first time the opportunity for highthroughput cardiac cell electrophysiology as a much desired tool in (personalized) cardiotoxicity screening and in drug development.


Susann Köhler and Andrew S. Gross With the following essays, our goal is to bring together scholars from different fields in order to trace the history, politics, beliefs, attitudes, and values of conservative cultures and to explore an obscure, but perhaps still viable common ground of liberalism and conservatism in the United States. The articles also demonstrate the heterogeneity of conservatism. As a loose coalition of anticommunists, libertarians, and traditionalists in the fifties, the movement has incorporated Christian conservatives, nationalists, and foreign policy hawks throughout the second half of the twentieth century. These groups often pursue different political and social agendas that, more often than not, cause inner tension within the movement.


STUDY OBJECTIVES
To analyze the temporal organization of the sleep-wake cycle under food entrainment in the rat.

METHODS
Eighteen male Sprague-Dawley rats were chronically implanted for polysomnographic recording. During the baseline (BL) protocol, rats were recorded under a 12:12 light-dark (LD) schedule in individual isolation chambers with food and water ad libitum. Food entrainment was performed by means of a 4-h food restriction (FR) protocol starting at photic zeitgeber time 5. Eight animals underwent a 3-h phase advance of the FR protocol (A-FR). We compared the mean curves and acrophases of wakefulness, NREM sleep, and REM sleep under photic and food entrainment and after a phase advance in scheduled food delivery. We further evaluated the dynamics of REM sleep homeostasis and the NREM sleep EEG delta wave profile.

RESULTS
A prominent food-anticipatory arousal interval was observed after nine or more days of FR, characterized by increased wakefulness and suppression of REM sleep propensity and dampening of NREM sleep EEG delta activity. REM sleep exhibited a robust nocturnal phase preference under FR that was not explained by a nocturnal REM sleep rebound. The mean curve of sleep-wake states and NREM sleep EEG delta activity remained phase-locked to the timing of meals during the A-FR protocol.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results support the hypothesis that under food entrainment, the sleep-wake cycle is coupled to a food-entrainable oscillator (FEO). Our findings suggest an unexpected interaction between FEO output and NREM sleep EEG delta activity generators.


Abstract Haddad, M, Dridi, A, Chtara, M, Chaouachi, A, Wong, DP, Behm, D, and Chamari, K. Static stretching can impair explosive performance for at least 24 hours. J Strength Cond Res 28(1): 140–146, 2014—The aim of this study was to compare the effects of static vs. dynamic stretching (DS) on explosive performances and repeated sprint ability (RSA) after a 24-hour delay. Sixteen young male soccer players performed 15 minutes of static stretching (SS), DS, or a no-stretch control condition (CC) 24 hours before performing explosive performances and RSA tests. This was a within-subject repeated measures study with SS, DS, and CC being counterbalanced. Stretching protocols included 2 sets of 7 minutes 30 seconds (2 repetitions of 30 seconds with a 15-second passive recovery) for 5 muscle groups (quadriceps, hamstring, calves, adductors, and hip flexors). Twenty-four hours later (without any kind of stretching in warm-up), the players were tested for the 30-m sprint test (with 10- and 20-m lap times), 5 jump test (5JT), and RSA test. Significant differences were observed between CC, SS, and DS with 5JT (F = 9.99, p < 0.00, effect size [ES] = 0.40), 10-m sprint time (F = 46.52, p < 0.00, ES = 0.76), 20-m sprint time (F = 18.44, p < 0.000, ES = 0.55), and 30-m sprint time (F = 34.25, p < 0.000, ES = 0.70). The significantly better performance (p < 0.05) was observed after DS as compared with that after CC and SS in 5JT, and sprint times for 10, 20, and 30 m. In contrast, significantly worse performance (p < 0.05) was observed after SS as compared with that after CC in 5JT, and sprint times for 10, 20, and 30 m. With RSA, no significant difference was observed between different stretching protocols in the total time (F = 1.55, p > 0.05), average time (F = 1.53, p > 0.05), and fastest time (F = 2.30, p > 0.05), except for the decline index (F = 3.54, p < 0.04, ES = 0.19). Therefore, the SS of the lower limbs and hip muscles had a negative effect on explosive performances up to 24 hours poststretching with no major effects on the RSA. Conversely, the DS of the same muscle groups are highly recommended 24 hours before performing sprint and long-jump performances. In conclusion, the positive effects of DS on explosive performances seem to persist for 24 hours.


By the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, Congress enacted what it called the Collection Due Process (hereinafter, CDP) provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, sections 6320 and 6330. These provisions allow taxpayers to request hearings at the IRS Appeals Office level either shortly before or shortly after the IRS takes either of two potentially devastating collection actions: levy or filing a notice of federal tax lien. In such hearings, the hearing officer must evaluate the appropriateness of collection actions, and taxpayers can propose collection alternatives - such as an offer in compromise, an installment agreement, or being placed into currently not collectible status. In the hearings, taxpayers may also request relief from joint and several liability on joint returns and, in certain circumstances, even raise challenges to the underlying tax liability. The IRS has staffed CDP hearings to date with Settlement Officers and, to a lesser extent, Appeals Officers. Elsewhere, the author has argued that the IRS made a big mistake in using Settlement Officers, both for policy reasons and because Congress did not statutorily authorize anyone but Appeals Officers to hold the hearings. In this article, he points out what he believes to be even a bigger error: The unconstitutionality of anyone holding CDP hearings who has not been properly appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate. The current system violates the Constitution's Appointments Clause (Art. II, 2, cl. 2), since the position of CDP hearing officer (however named) is now one established by law and exercising significant authority pursuant to the laws of the United States. Thus, any such hearing officer is an Officer of the United States who must be appointed under the Clause to render a legally binding ruling. This article explains how CDP notices of determination are issued and compares CDP hearing officers to other government employees who have been required to be appointed under the Clause. It also explains the likely consequence for taxpayers who already have received CDP notices in the event that the argument is held to be correct. Finally, this article sets forth suggestions for a prospective statutory fix of the Appointments Clause problem that dovetails with the position expressed elsewhere by the author that Settlement Officers should not be allowed to hold CDP hearings in any event.


In this work we study the response of phytoplankton and potentially harmful species to river inflows in a coastal area of eastern Mediterranean, within the context of environmental status assessment suggested by the European Commission's Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC) and Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC). The spatio-temporal distribution of phytoplankton communities and biomass (as chlorophyll a), potentially harmful species, nutrient levels, dissolved oxygen, salinity and temperature were studied. A marginal good to moderate physicochemical status was assigned in the delta of Spercheios river that outflows in Maliakos Gulf. Silicates and nitrates were indicated as proxies of freshwater influence in Maliakos Gulf, whereas ammonium, nitrites and phosphates as proxies of pollutants from non-point sources. Phytoplankton biomass and abundances reached high levels throughout Maliakos Gulf inter-seasonally. High silicates favored the dominance of Diatoms. The potentially harmful species were blooming frequently, with higher levels in the estuary, and they were associated with low salinity, showing the riverine influence on them. Pseudo-nitzschia was the most frequent potentially harmful genus with an interesting strong linkage with low silicates and nitrates. Maliakos Gulf demonstrated an overall mesotrophic condition and failed to achieve good ecological status.


This paper studies counter response in litigation spending. The game theoretic structure of adversarial process generally dictates that one party "strategically complements"—"advancing" in response to her opponent's advance, "retreating" in response to his retreat—while the other "strategically substitutes"—advancing on her retreating opponent, retreating from his advance. Which party plays which role depends on how litigation is structured. The question therefore arises: should litigation be designed to induce the plaintiff to complement and the defendant to substitute, or vice versa? The paper argues that the answer depends on whether and whose primary activity incentives are being set by the particular evidentiary contest in question. Specifically, litigation should generally be structured so that the "incentive target" complements while her adversary substitutes. In some cases the defendant will be the incentive target. In other cases, the plaintiff. This principle is applied to allocating the burden of proof. Burdening a party makes her the substituter and her opponent the complementer. Accordingly, the burden of proving the target's primary activity behavior should lie with the target's adversary. This helps to justify a regularity in the law's assignment of proof burdens—one largely incomprehensible under conventional analyses.


Accept no substitutes: Wolfgang Tillmans could well be the coolest photographer on the planet. Always imitated, never bettered, he's the lens-meister of the zeitgeist, the photo-journo who went artside, a man in constant demand, moving effortlessly from magazine to fashion shoot to gallery retrospective. He creates identities, he's the brand name of hip. From "Ray Gun" to "i-D", his images feel iconic before they're out of the fluid. I'll be your mirror, he whispers, and the Gen X-kids find themselves reflected in his always open pictures. From the portraits that made him famous, through the still lives and landscapes (undermining the genres with every shot), Tillmans' work is high color, dirty realist heaven. Finding the still point in the information overload, the sexuality in the machine, and the image in the image saturation, Tillmans gives us the brief epiphanies we might just remember as our own. "Taschen's 3" Wolfgang Tillmans books packaged together as a special set: "Tillmans", "Tillmans Burg", and "Truth Study Centre".


Prior investigations of filamentous fungi in our group have resulted in the isolation of several new and biologically active natural products.[1-3] Continuing these investigations, we have now analyzed the metabolites from a fungal isolate of Aspergillus sydowii (MSX19583) that was obtained from spruce litter collected in 1984 in Colorado, USA. The extracts from solid-substrate fermentation cultures exhibited cytotoxic activity against MDA-MB-435 (human melanoma) cells and were therefore pursued for further analysis. Chemical separation of the CH3CN/CH3OH extract afforded a new diketopiperazine dimer (1) in addition to three known compounds including cyclo-(L-phenylalaninyl-L-tryptophanyl),[2, 4, 5] S-sydonic acid (3), and S-sydonol (4) (Fig. 1).[6]


A mouse cDNA clone previously isolated from an F9 teratocarcinoma cell library and shown to confer N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I (GlcNAc-TI) activity on Lec1 Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell transfectants [Kumar, R., Yang,J., Larsen,R.D. and Stanley,P. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad Sci. USA, 87, 9948-9952] has been sequenced. The nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences are highly homologous to previously described human and rabbit GlcNAc-TI cDNAs. A 1250 bp portion of the mouse cDNA encoding all but the first 34 amino acids of the deduced protein sequence was inducibly expressed in Escherichia coli and gave rise to a prominent fusion protein of mol. wt approximately 45 kDa whose presence correlated with high levels of GlcNAc-TI activity in cell lysates. Probes generated from the cDNA were used to show that the GlcNAc-TI gene is present in a single copy in mammals and that a homologous gene was not detectable (under low-stringency hybridization conditions) in DNA from yeast, sea urchin, Drosophila or Chaenorhaditis elegans. Genomic DNA clones that hybridized to probes generated from the GlcNAc-TI cDNA were isolated from a mouse liver library. Restriction analyses, Southern hybridization and DNA sequence analyses of subcloned genomic DNA fragments and a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) product provided evidence that the coding and 3' untranslated regions of the cDNA reside in a single exon. However, the mouse GlcNAc-TI gene (Mgat-1) includes at least one additional exon 5' of the coding region. Southern analyses of DNA from mouse-human somatic cell hybrids and in situ hybridization were used to locate the human GlcNAc-TI gene (MGAT-1) between positions q31.2 and q31.3 on chromosome 5, a region of chromosome 5 that is syntenic with a region of mouse chromosome 11. Northern analyses of adult mouse tissues revealed two GlcNAc-TI gene transcripts that are differentially expressed in different tissues.


Parameter-transfer is a well-known and versatile approach for meta-learning, with applications including few-shot learning, federated learning, and reinforcement learning. However, parameter-transfer algorithms often require sharing models that have been trained on the samples from specific tasks, thus leaving the task-owners susceptible to breaches of privacy. We conduct the first formal study of privacy in this setting and formalize the notion of task-global differential privacy as a practical relaxation of more commonly studied threat models. We then propose a new differentially private algorithm for gradient-based parameter transfer that not only satisfies this privacy requirement but also retains provable transfer learning guarantees in convex settings. Empirically, we apply our analysis to the problems of federated learning with personalization and few-shot classification, showing that allowing the relaxation to task-global privacy from the more commonly studied notion of local privacy leads to dramatically increased performance in recurrent neural language modeling and image classification.


This paper aims at the study of the effect of various interactions between the sewing variables on the sewing thread strength properties during use. The work has been carried out with the concept in mind that the interactions of the sewing parameters during sewing process are influential for the resultant seam quality. The analysis of the crucial factors affecting the 100% cotton sewing thread strength in the straight, loop and knot configurations, as the sewing threads are converted into the seams, with the help of looping and knotting processes had been done. The study had revealed that the interaction of Fabric GSM with sewing speed had affected the unraveled cotton sewing threads from the seams to the highest extent among all others interactions.


In the AWGN multiple-access channel with binary phase-shift keying modulation, the k/sup th/ user error probability for a given demodulator vanishes exponentially with the noise level as -n/sub k/ SNR/sub k/2, where n/sub k/ is the asymptotic multiuser efficiency (AME), and SNR/sub k/ is the received signal-to-background-noise ratio. Thus, the asymptotic multiuser efficiency is an attenuation of the error rate exponent for isolated transmission and maximum a posteriori demodulation, and provides a simple yet precise means of comparing multiuser receivers for sufficiently low noise levels. To date, this parameter is only known for the following receivers in the 2-user, asynchronous AWGN channel: the maximum likelihood sequence detector, the decorrelating detector, the linear MMSE detector, and the conventional detector. In this talk the asymptotic multiuser efficiencies for a class of detectors for the 2-user, asynchronous AWGN channel will be presented. This class may be loosely described as receivers which estimate and subtract multiple-access interference (MAI) by using tentative data decisions, and includes the two stage detectors with both conventional or decorrelated tentative decisions. The asymptotic multiuser efficiencies for this class of detectors clearly indicate regions for which a given user should avoid updating tentative decisions and suggest combinations of the above receivers to improve single-user performance. This technique applies to the AME of soft tentative decision strategies as well, and we demonstrate that the near-far resistance of two-stage detectors may be markedly improved using soft decision nonlinearities. Below we present an outline of the approach for conventional tentative decisions.


Times change, and when they do, the law must as well. Much of the most important employment discrimination case law was established in the 1970s during an era when discrimination was both overt and pervasive. Moving forward forty years, discrimination has receded dramatically and is no longer seen as a default explanation for workplace decisions or statistical imbalances in a workforce. At the same time, the discrimination that remains is more complex, more subtle in nature and more difficult to identify. This article explores how the Supreme Court has navigated the declining but more complex nature of employment discrimination. In a series of recent cases, including the landmark sex discrimination case of Wal-Mart v. Dukes, the Supreme Court has embarked on a judicial updating of the foundation of employment discrimination law with the Court quietly announcing that the old case law no longer fits contemporary claims of discrimination. In other words, what counted as discrimination in the 1970s no longer does today. Despite the criticism the Court has received for its decisions, I conclude that the Court was right to shed its old doctrine as the inferences of discrimination that were permissible during an earlier era fail to account for our changed social conditions. The real problem with the Court's recent updating of the doctrine is not the shedding of the old but what it has left in its place – the Supreme Court has failed to adapt its doctrine to capture the complexities of modern discrimination, thus leaving a substantial gap between what the law defines as discrimination and what we know about the difficulties of uncovering subtle discrimination. This article also critiques the recent academic emphasis on "implicit bias" and instead offers some suggestions for moving forward in a way that might better adapt the legal doctrine to the complexities of modern discrimination. This includes the use of testers to document workplace discrimination, more emphasis on educating courts and jurors regarding the nature of subtle discrimination (not implicit bias) and the role employer self-interests might play in bringing greater diversity to the workplace.


A recurrent theme in research on socially distributed cognition is to establish the claim that the cognitive phenomenon of transactive memory is grounded in a specific mode of organization: mechanistic compositional organization. My topic is the confluence of transactive remembering or transactive memory systems (TMSs) and mechanistic compositional organization. In relation to this confluence, the paper scrutinizes the claim that the kind of organization grounding TMSs and/or tokens of transactive remembering takes the specific form of mechanistic compositional organization – at least as the latter is usually construed. It is argued (i) that the usual account of mechanistic compositional organization is based on a synchronic composition function, and (ii) that the organization of TMSs and/or transactive remembering is not well understood by way of synchronic composition. The positive account pursued is that TMSs and/or transactive remembering are better understood as grounded in a diachronic composition function.


In this article I intend to treat the problem of contradictions on which the main character from the novel Pădurea spânzuraților, Apostol Bologa, develops. I also took into consideration the trigger of all these antonymic attitudes, the light, treating the element both in terms of literary approach as well as in terms of representation of the limit situations. Apostol's convultions, though innermost, have a high degree of universality, becoming the exponent of an entire generation. The central idea of this article aimed at highlighting this protagonist's struggle to regain balance, despite the mixture of heterogeneous elements between soul and thought. Bologa's consciousness enters a new process of defining, through which he regains the primordial primary balance, of the beginnings. Keywords: contradiction, conflict, light, obsession, universality


This article deals with the issue of cultural translation in a postapartheid text through the analysis of language, setting and discourse to highlight cultural transition in a society where socio-political mutations elicit new literary codes and symbols. The discussion is developed around concepts such as gender and ethnic identity or citizenship in a geographical environment where multi- and transcultural identities are endlessly being contested. The concept of translation is explored to show how Moele's text represents cultural transition within a postapartheid urban context by analysing the authorial transposition of everyday experience into the textual fabric. The article also examines how the narrative voice negotiates across the current multicultural divide in order to highlight cultural change both in South African literature and in society as a whole. This article addresses in the discussion the controversial debate raised by Michael Titlestad's (2007) review of the book published in the "Sunday times" on 25 March in which the critic evinces a negative reception of the book. This is used as a point of departure in order to explore a wide range of possibilities that fiction can offer by means of textual representation of the daily experience of black people in a postapartheid urban context.


Carica papaya is a well-liked and economically important fruit with outstanding nutritional and medicinal values. Its susceptibility to abiotic stress which affects the growth and harvest, causes significant yield loss to farmers. In recent years, significant progress has been made to understand the genes that play critical roles in abiotic stress response, especially some transcription factor (TF) encoding genes. Among all TFs, WRKY TF gene family is one of the best-studied TFs involved in various stress responses. To date, only limited information on functionally characterised WRKY TFs is available for C. papaya. The aim of this study was to produce a recombinant construct harbouring WRKY gene in pGEM®-T Easy cloning vector. The presence of a DNA band of the expected size of 465 bp on agarose gel electrophoresis indicated that WRKY gene was successfully amplified from all treated samples. DNA sequencing analysis revealed that the amplified sequence isolated from the treated samples were closely related to Carica papaya species with 97% similarity. Following transformation, 4 out of 5 colonies that were randomly selected showed the WRKY gene had been successfully inserted into pGEM®-T Easy vector and transformed into E. coli. In future, the WRKY gene from pGEMT-WRKY recombinant construct will be cloned into Fauziah Abu Bakar, Pavitra Paramalingam and Kamariah Hasan 48 Pertanika J. Sci. & Technol. 28 (S2): 47 57 (2020) the plant expression vector pCAMBIA 1304 prior to transformation in the plant. The success of demonstrating the WRKY gene towards the response in abiotic stress will enable us to produce stress tolerant transgenic crops under unfavourable conditions via genetic engineering for sustained growth.


Green fluorescent protein (GFP) and its variants that emit light of different wavelengths have been used by Mochizuki et al. to develop a fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) method to detect the activation state of small guanosine triphosphatases (GTPases). A chimeric fusion protein consisting of either the Ras or Rap1 GTPase fused to the yellow emitting form of GFP (YFP) and the Ras-binding domain fused to the cyan-emitting form of GFP (CFP) undergo FRET when the GTPase half of the protein is activated. When cells transfected with either of these reporters were activated with growth factors (epidermal growth factor or nerve growth factor, depending on the cell type), the distribution of active Ras or Rap1 could be monitored by FRET. Ras was activated at the plasma membrane and the active form spread inward, whereas Rap1 was activated at the perinuclear region and activity spread outward. Treatment of cells with an inhibitor of endocytosis showed that activation of Rap1 required the endocytosis of active receptors, whereas Ras did not. The potential applications of these proteins and the use of this method to study questions related to cell signaling are addressed by Bos. N. Mochizuki, S. Yamashita, K. Kurokawa, Y. Ohba, T. Nagai, A. Miyawaki, M. Matsuda, Spatio-termporal images of growth-factor-induced activation of Ras and Rap1. Nature 411, 1065-1068 (2001). [Online Journal] J. L. Bos, Glowing switches. Nature 411, 1006-1007 (2001). [Online Journal]


The main result of this paper establishes an infinite dimensional version of the finite-dimensional handle straightening result of Kirby-Siebenmann. In order to do this a procedure is developed for doing surgery on infinite-dimensional manifolds. These results are used elsewhere to prove that every compact Hubert cube manifold can be triangulated and to establish the topological invariance of Whitehead torsion.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the association between worry and problem-solving skills and beliefs (confidence and perceived control) in primary school children.

METHOD
Children (8-11 years) were screened using the Penn State Worry Questionnaire for Children. High (N= 27) and low (N= 30) scorers completed measures of anxiety, problem-solving skills (generating alternative solutions to problems, planfulness, and effectiveness of solutions) and problem-solving beliefs (confidence and perceived control).

RESULTS
High and low worry groups differed significantly on measures of anxiety and problem-solving beliefs (confidence and control) but not on problem-solving skills.

CONCLUSIONS
Consistent with findings with adults, worry in children was associated with cognitive distortions, not skills deficits. Interventions for worried children may benefit from a focus on increasing positive problem-solving beliefs.


At its best, strategic planning for an export strategy combines learning from the past, exploring the future and coping with unpredictability. This handbook explains how the Commonwealth Secretariat helps countries develop national export strategies with a clear purpose, strategies that are actionoriented, and which recognise the interrelationship between technological, economic, social, political and cultural aspects of society. It will be useful for all government economic planners, particularly in developing countries, who are concerned to learn from experience in developing and implementing national export strategies as part of the drive for national economic development.


Abstract Objective: To conduct a process evaluation of a respiratory culture diagnostic stewardship intervention. Design: Mixed-methods study. Setting: Tertiary-care pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Participants: Critical care, infectious diseases, and pulmonary attending physicians and fellows; PICU nurse practitioners and hospitalist physicians; pediatric residents; and PICU nurses and respiratory therapists. Methods: This mixed-methods study was conducted concurrently with a diagnostic stewardship intervention to reduce the inappropriate collection of respiratory cultures in mechanically ventilated children. We quantified baseline respiratory culture utilization and indications for ordering using quantitative methods. Semistructured interviews informed by these data and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) were then performed, recorded, transcribed, and coded to identify salient themes. Finally, themes identified in these interviews were used to create a cross-sectional survey. Results: The number of cultures collected per day of service varied between attending physicians (range, 2.2–27 cultures per 100 days). In total, 14 interviews were performed, and 87 clinicians completed the survey (response rate, 47%) and 77 nurses or respiratory therapists completed the survey (response rate, 17%). Clinicians varied in their stated practices regarding culture ordering, and these differences both clustered by specialty and were associated with perceived utility of the respiratory culture. Furthermore, group "default" practices, fear, and hierarchy were drivers of culture orders. Barriers to standardization included fear of a missed diagnosis and tension between practice standardization and individual decision making. Conclusions: We identified significant variation in utilization and perceptions of respiratory cultures as well as several key barriers to implementation of this diagnostic test stewardship intervention.


A problem that faces many countries including the United States is how to finance retirement consumption as the population ages. Proposals for switching to a saving-for-retirement system that do not rely on high payroll taxes have been challenged on the grounds that welfare would fall for some groups such as retirees or the working poor. We show how to devise a transition path from the current U.S. system to a saving-for-retirement system that increases the welfare of all current and future generations, with estimates of future gains higher than those found in typically used macroeconomic models. The gains are large because there is more productive capital than commonly assumed. Furthermore, the gains are amplified if we lower capital income taxes in addition to payroll taxes, because the value of business equity increases relative to the capital stock. Our quantitative results depend importantly on accounting for differences between actual government tax revenues and what revenues would be if all income were taxed at the incomeweighted average marginal tax rates used in our analysis.


The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence and patterns of alcohol use among U.S. Hispanic/Latino adults of diverse backgrounds. The population-based Hispanic Community Health Study/ Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) enrolled a cohort of Hispanic/Latino adults (N = 16,415) ages 18–74 years at time of recruitment, from four US metropolitan areas between 2008–11. Drinking patterns and socio-demographics questionnaires were administered as part of the baseline examination. The relationship between age, sex, socio-demographics, acculturation, current alcohol use, and alcohol risk disorder, defined by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) [no risk (i.e., never drinker), low risk (i.e., women<7 drinks/week; men<14 drinks/week), and at-risk (i.e., women>7 drinks/week; men>14 drinks/week)] were assessed in unadjusted and adjusted multinomial logistic regression analyses. Men reported a higher prevalence than women of at-risk drinking. For women, increased odds of at-risk alcohol use was associated with: a younger age, greater education, full-time employment, and acculturation after adjustment. For men, having a lower income (vs. higher income) or a higher income (vs. not reported) and being employed fulltime (vs. retired) was associated with at-risk alcohol use. For both men and women, there were variations in odds of at-risk drinking across Hispanic/Latino heritage backgrounds, after adjustment. Exact values, odds ratios and p-values are reported within the text. Common factors across sex associated with at-risk drinking included being of Mexican background and being employed full-time. Intervention strategies should consider diversity within the Hispanic/Latino community when designing alcohol abuse prevention programs.


The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the strength and structure of the magnetized medium surrounding radio galaxies via observations of the Faraday effect. This study is based on an analysis of the polarization properties of
radio galaxies selected to have a range of morphologies (elongated tails, or lobes with small axial ratios)
and to be located in a variety of environments (from rich cluster core to small group).
The targets include famous objects like M84 and M87.
A key aspect of this work is the combination of accurate radio imaging with high-quality X-ray data for the gas surrounding the sources. Although the focus of this thesis is primarily observational, I developed analytical models and performed two- and three-dimensional
numerical simulations of magnetic fields. The steps of the thesis are: (a) to analyze new and archival observations of
Faraday rotation measure (RM) across radio galaxies and (b) to interpret these and existing RM images using sophisticated two and three-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations. The approach has been to select a few bright,
very extended and highly polarized
radio galaxies. This is essential to have high signal-to-noise in polarization over large enough areas to allow computation of spatial statistics such as the structure function (and hence the power spectrum)
of rotation measure, which requires a large number of independent measurements.
New and archival Very Large Array observations of the target sources have been analyzed in combination with high-quality X-ray data from the
Chandra, XMM-Newton and ROSAT satellites.
The work has been carried out by making use of:
1) Analytical predictions of the RM structure functions to quantify the RM statistics and to constrain the power spectra of the RM and magnetic field.
2) Two-dimensional Monte Carlo simulations to address the effect of an incomplete sampling of RM distribution and so to determine errors for the power spectra.
3) Methods to combine measurements of RM and depolarization in order to constrain the magnetic-field power spectrum on small scales.
4) Three-dimensional models of the group/cluster environments, including different magnetic field power spectra and gas density distributions.

This thesis has shown that the magnetized medium surrounding radio galaxies
appears more complicated than was apparent from earlier work. Three distinct types of magnetic-field structure are identified: an isotropic component with large-scale fluctuations, plausibly associated with the intergalactic medium not affected by the presence of a radio source; a well-ordered field draped around the
front ends of the radio lobes and a field with small-scale fluctuations in rims of compressed gas surrounding the inner lobes, perhaps associated with a mixing
layer.


In order to simplify and meaningfully categorize large sets of protein sequence data, it is commonplace to cluster proteins based on the similarity of those sequences. However, it quickly becomes clear that the sequence flexibility allowed a given protein varies significantly among different protein families. The degree to which sequences are conserved not only differs for each protein family, but also is affected by the phylogenetic divergence of the source organisms. Clustering techniques that use similarity thresholds for protein families do not always allow for these variations and thus cannot be confidently used for applications such as automated annotation and phylogenetic profiling. In this work, we applied a spectral bipartitioning technique to all proteins from 53 archaeal genomes. Comparisons between different taxonomic levels allowed us to study the effects of phylogenetic distances on cluster structure. Likewise, by associating functional annotations and phenotypic metadata with each protein, we could compare our protein similarity clusters with both protein function and associated phenotype. Our clusters can be analyzed graphically and interactively online.


(No paper) Traditionally simulation models have been used for multi-reservoir operation studies. More recently deterministic optimization models have been used to identify promising alternatives to existing operating policies. This paper discusses the use of a network flow optimization model to represent California's inter-tied water supply and demand system. The physical infrastructure is represented by an interconnected system of arcs and nodes. Storage nodes represent either surface or groundwater storage. Junction nodes provide for the interconnection of arcs representing stream, channel or groundwater low. Agricultural demand is aggregated into 26 major regions. A time series of surface and groundwater inflows have been developed at the system boundaries. These flows represent historic flows adjusted for land use changes in the upstream basin and projected operation of any upstream reservoirs. The development of a set of input criteria is discussed. These include establishing initial and final storage conditions and constraints on groundwater extraction and recharge. The model base run corresponds to the allocation of water under the existing system of water rights and long-term supply contracts subject to meeting existing environmental standards and physical capacity constraints. Results are compared with more complex simulation models developed by California's Department of Water Resources and the US Bureau of Reclamation.


The concepts of topological insulators in condensed matter physics have been harnessed in elastic metamaterials to obtain quasi-lossless and omnidirectional guiding of elastic waves. Initial studies concerning topological wave propagation in elastic metamaterials focused on localizing waves in 1D or 2D mechanical structures. More recent investigations involving topological metamaterials have uncovered methodologies to achieve unprecedented control of elastic waves in 3D structures. However, a 3D topological metamaterial that can be tuned online to expand functionalities and respond to external conditions has yet to be developed. To advance the state of the art, this research proposes a tunable 3D elastic metamaterial that enables the reconfiguration of a topological waveguide through the switching of metastable states. Through careful design of internal bistable elements in the metastable unit cell, a switching methodology is developed to obtain topologically distinct lattices and a full topological bandgap. Analysis of the dispersion relation for a supercell reveals the presence of a topological surface state at the interface of topologically distinct lattices. Full-scale finite element simulations illustrate topological wave propagation in a 3D structure with a path that can be tailored on-demand. The research outcomes presented in this paper could be beneficial to potential applications requiring programmable and robust energy transport in 3D mechanical structures and serve as an inspiration for further work in adaptive 3D topological metamaterials.


This book presents radiology of the shoulder in a unique didactic concept, with careful organization of material under headings, using margin comments that summarize the most important information. The book begins with a chapter on the basic anatomy of the shoulder joint, and shows examples of various projections of standard radiographs, and what these reveal. Arthrography, ultrasound, CT and MRI are included in all parts of the book. Following this introductory chapter on image technique and interpretation, the individual pathologic chapters cover such topics as trauma, degenerative changes, tumors, inflammation and more. A concise and clearly organized representation of contents in this text allows quick orientation and assimilation of the most important aspects of shoulder imaging.


The biochemical analysis of urine is an important inspection and diagnosis method in hospitals. The conventional method of urine analysis covers mainly colorimetric visual appraisement and automation detection, in which the colorimetric visual appraisement technique has been superseded basically, and the automation detection method is adopted in hospital; moreover, the price of urine biochemical analyzer on market is around twenty thousand RMB yuan (Y), which is hard to enter into ordinary families. It is known that computer vision system is not subject to the physiological and psychological influence of person, its appraisement standard is objective and steady. Therefore, according to the color theory, we have established a computer vision system, which can carry through collection, management, display, and appraisement of color difference between the color of standard threshold value and the color of urine test paper after reaction with urine liquid, and then the level of an illness can be judged accurately. In this paper, we introduce the Urine Test Biochemical Analysis method, which is new and can be popularized in families. Experimental result shows that this test method is easy-to-use and cost-effective. It can realize the monitoring of a whole course and can find extensive applications.


Free trade agreements (FTAs) and bilateral investment treaties (BITs) typically contain investment clauses designed to attract direct foreign investment and protect the interests of foreign investors. In addition to defining foreign investment that are entitled to protection, investment clauses typically allow for investor-state dispute resolution, which allows a foreign investor to launch arbitral proceedings directly against the offending government before a private panel of trade lawyers. This paper focuses first on a pro-investor draft investment chapter in an ongoing regional trade negotiation – the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) – and second on the first investor-state arbitral claim ever by a patent-holding pharmaceutical company under a U.S. free trade agreement, the Eli Lilly v. Canada case. The analysis of the draft TPP chapter shows that it expands protection for drug companies' "expectations of profit" beyond those contained in the TPP's proposed Intellectual Property Chapter and risks opening up many patent-affecting decisions and polices of Member States to pharmaceutical investors' claims. As an example of that danger, Eli Lilly is currently challenging a well-established patent rule in Canada, the "promise" doctrine, whereby a medicine or any other product's "utility," and thus patentability, must be demonstrated or soundly predicted at the time of filing a patent. Eli Lilly, frustrated by the invalidation of its patent on an attention-deficit-disorder drug, makes a number of specific investment chapter claims under NAFTA, including that the Canadian ruling involved a violation of a minimum standard of treatment, indirect expropriation, and discrimination in violation of national treatment norms. A recurrent, indeed dominant feature of Eli Lilly's investor claim, is that its reasonable expectations of profits may be drawn not just from preexisting Canadian laws and practices, but rather from higher external standards such as utility rules and disclosure norms codified in U.S. and E.U. law. Under the logic of Eli Lilly's investor-state claim, foreign investors' expectations have now become unbound. Even the doctrine of legitimate expectations, which is itself a huge stretch of operative minimum standard of treatment principles, is no longer tethered to operative due process (minimum standard of treatment) or to promises of regulatory coherence (indirect expropriation) or to equal treatment compared to domestic firms (national treatment). Instead Eli Lilly hitches its investment expectation to the best deal on IP it has achieved anywhere else. Moreover, it suggests that its expectations tolerate movement on IP policy in only one direction – upward. Any reversal of IP maximalization would dilute the gleam in its eye – unlimited profits on the horizon.


The structure of the Eocene Ainsa basin is dominated by kilometre-scale thrusts and folds that have trends at c. 70° to that of the main Pyrenean structures. Late uplift and erosion provide excellent exposure of this fold-and-thrust system and its growth strata. Field observations integrated with 2D seismic and well data support the 3D reconstructions presented in this paper. Structural reconstructions of pre- and syn-growth geometries contribute substantial improvements to the understanding of the structure of the area and provide a unique insight into the timing of Pyrenean structures. This study demonstrates that oblique features in the Ainsa basin can be grouped into two main systems: the La Fueba thrust system, an oblique-lateral ramp to one of the main Pyrenean thrusts, and the kilometre-scale folds of the Sobrabe system, a set of anticlines that grew as part of a relaying system of folds. In this study we propose a chronology of deformation based on the geometry of the basin fill, which has been used to frame the general tectonosedimentary evolution of the Ainsa basin. The relative timing of structures indicates that the La Fueba structures predate the Sobrarbe structures, which originated as orogen-parallel structures, and obliquity developed during the growth of these structures through clockwise vertical-axis rotation.


I. INTRODUCTIONOn August 21, 1911, the Mona Lisa was stolen.1 An amateur painter was copying the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, and when he returned the next day to continue working, the enigmatic portrait had vanished.2 After a few hours of frantic searching, the most famous museum in the world was forced to admit that the most famous painting in the world had been stolen from within its own walls.3 The Mona Lisa was a national treasure for France, where the painting has resided for four centuries, gracing the halls of Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV and the walls of Napoleon's bedroom.4 It was one of Leonardo da Vinci's masterpieces-an object of pride for all Italians. But more than that, the Mona Lisa was a global icon, one of the crown jewels in the art collection of humanity.After two dismal years of searching, the Mona Lisa's captor contacted the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, looking to sell.5 The curators of the Uffizi recognized the painting as the original, and the thief, Vincenzo Peruggia, was arrested.6 Peruggia had worked at the Louvre as a glazier,7 and believed that France had no rightful claim to the portrait.8 He wrote to the Uffizi, "[The Mona Lisa] seems to belong to Italy since its painter was an Italian. My dream is to give back this masterpiece to the land from which it came and to the country that inspired it."9 The portrait was returned to France, but Peruggia was hailed as a national hero and served less than a year in jail.10Although the Mona Lisa was eventually discovered and returned, this is an infrequent outcome in most cases, as many works of art disappear and are never seen again.11 Furthermore, many stolen objects are nowhere near as well known as the Mona Lisa, resulting in "legal" sales to unbeknownst purchasers.12 Peruggia's stated motive for his grand heist, however, presents a question that plagues the international community-to whom does artwork belong? To the country of origin which asserts a sovereign right to plundered intellectual and cultural property created within its confines? To the good-faith purchaser (whether a museum or an individual) who merely wants to supplement his collection? Or to the global community as a whole?The answer to this question evades the international community, but not for lack of effort. The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) held a convention in 1970 on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property (UNESCO Convention). 13 The UNESCO Convention lays out ambitious plans and methods as models that countries should adopt to facilitate both the reclamation of art stolen from a certain country as well as the regulation of the art market and museum acquisition.14 Although the UNESCO Convention has admirable intentions, its aspirations are much too lofty to ever be realized. The UNESCO Convention was not ratified by the entire international community and it is not self-executing,15 and its lack of enforcement has proved to be its downfall.16The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT)17 recognized the deficiencies of the UNESCO Convention and presented its Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects (UNIDROIT Convention), open to signature in 1995.18 The UNIDROIT Convention was intended as a complement to the UNESCO Convention, hoping to address the shortcomings that led to ineffective restitution and reclamation efforts.19 Although the UNIDROIT Convention remedies certain aspects of the UNESCO Convention, it contains its own shortcomings as well. Both the UNESCO Convention and the UNIDROIT Convention are merely presentations of ideals that multiple coun tries share. The UNESCO Convention is not self-executing, leaving implementation to individual countries with no consequences for lack of compliance,20 and the self-executing nature of the UNIDROIT Convention is undermined by the small number of signatories nations. …


With the recent focus on sustainability, firms making adjustments to their production or distribution capacity levels often have the option of investing in newer technologies with lower carbon footprints and/or energy consumption. These more sustainable technologies typically require a higher up-front investment but have lower operating fuel or energy costs. What complicates this decision is the fact that the projected dollar savings from the more sustainable technologies fluctuate considerably due to uncertainty in fuel prices, and the total capacity may not be utilized at 100% because of fluctuations in the demand for the product. We consider the firm's capacity adjustments over time given a portfolio of technology options when the demand and the fuel costs are stochastic and possibly dependent. Our model also allows for usage-based capacity deterioration. We provide the analytical structure of the optimal policy, which assigns different control limits for investing, staying put, and disinvesting in the capacities of the competing technology choices for each realization of demand and fuel costs at each period. We also present an application of our model to the problem of designing a delivery truck fleet for a beverage distributor.


Bezalel Porten and Ada Yardeni's third volume of Textbook of Aramaic Documents (TAD:3) provides a highly regarded edition of the Aramaic Ahiqar narrative and proverbs that has implications for how scholars of wisdom literature incorporate Ahiqar into discussions of personified Wisdom. The most intriguing result of the new arrangement centers on the two lines of what was traditionally called Saying 13 (TAD:3 lines C1.1.79 and C1.1.189). The two lines of Saying 13 have been crucial for the view that personified Wisdom is in Ahiqar. The unity of the saying has been disrupted, and it seems clear that the respective lines have very different meanings. Based on this evidence, it is my contention that personified Wisdom cannot be found in Ahiqar. I argue, therefore, that Ahiqar no longer has a place in discussions of personified Wisdom and that the relationship between Ahiqar and the biblical wisdom literature must be re assessed in light of this new evidence.


Bacteria may be innately resistant to antibiotics or acquire antimicrobial resistance through a variety of mediums. Under certain conditions, bacteria develop cross-resistance, a reduction in susceptibility to many antibiotics they have never been exposed to before. Most frequently, chemical similarities between antibiotics cause cross-resistance since bacterial defenses are counteractive to a specific molecule. However, cross-resistance to many chemically different antibiotics can occur when bacteria mutate to develop non-specific defenses. This study investigated a subject who had received prolonged azithromycin therapy for a neuropsychiatric condition related to chronic Group A Streptococcus infection. Given the possibility of cross-resistance, we hypothesized that, after prolonged azithromycin therapy, any bacteria collected from the subject would be resistant to structurally analogous antibiotics. We also hypothesized that, if bacteria from the subject had developed metabolic mutations, resistance to functionally analogous antibiotics would be present. From a series of antibiotic susceptibility tests, we concluded that the subject bacteria were resistant to erythromycin, a structural analog of azithromycin, but exhibited standard sensitivity to functional antibiotic analogs. The results of our study will help identify the risks associated with prolonged antibiotic therapy for a variety of conditions.