Morphine and related µ-opioid receptor (MOR) agonists remain among the most effective drugs known for acute relief of severe pain. A major problem in treating painful conditions is that tolerance limits the long-term utility of opioid agonists. Considerable effort has been expended on developing an understanding of the molecular and cellular processes that underlie acute MOR signaling, short-term receptor regulation, and the progression of events that lead to tolerance for different MOR agonists. Although great progress has been made in the past decade, many points of contention and controversy cloud the realization of this progress. This review attempts to clarify some confusion by clearly defining terms, such as desensitization and tolerance, and addressing optimal pharmacological analyses for discerning relative importance of these cellular mechanisms. Cellular and molecular mechanisms regulating MOR function by phosphorylation relative to receptor desensitization and endocytosis are comprehensively reviewed, with an emphasis on agonist-biased regulation and areas where knowledge is lacking or controversial. The implications of these mechanisms for understanding the substantial contribution of MOR signaling to opioid tolerance are then considered in detail. While some functional MOR regulatory mechanisms contributing to tolerance are clearly understood, there are large gaps in understanding the molecular processes responsible for loss of MOR function after chronic exposure to opioids. Further elucidation of the cellular mechanisms that are regulated by opioids will be necessary for the successful development of MOR-based approaches to new pain therapeutics that limit the development of tolerance.


We are witnessing a deliberate attack on our values, a deliberate attack on those who wish to promote merit and excellence, a deliberate attack on our heritage and our past. And there are those who gnaw away at our national self-respect, rewriting (our) history as centuries of unrelieved doom, oppression and failure -- as days of hopelessness, not days of hope. (Margaret Thatcher, My Vision, 1975)(1). On March 12 1997, the University of Melbourne's Australia Centre organised a seminar on the issue of `black armband' history, a term first coined by Professor Geoffrey Blainey in his 1993 Latham lecture,(2) and one eagerly taken up by those occasional bedfellows, John Howard and Pauline Hanson, following the election of the Howard government in March 1996.(3) The seminar attracted considerable publicity, due in part to the presence of historian and former Keating speech writer Don Watson. Watson commenced his paper with a mild rebuke. This forum should have happened a couple of years ago when the terms `black armband history' and `guilt industry' first crept into national debates. The history profession should have felt the insult and let it be known. Historians should have recognised it as a pernicious, philistine and politically motivated assault on their profession.(4) While sympathising with Watson's plea for a more pugnacious historical profession, I want to suggest that his representation of the black armband debate is incomplete. In this paper, I advance three arguments which challenge Watson's perspective and question the prevailing conceptions surrounding the current debate.(5) First, the terms `guilt industry' and `black armband', at least in spirit if not word, have been a common feature of political debate in Australia for much longer than the `last couple' of years. We err if we date the debate from Blainey's Latham lecture in 1993. John Howard's attempt to denounce the black armband view of history is merely the most recent manifestation of a conservative offensive on the use of historical revisionism which began in the early 1980s. Second, although Geoffrey Blainey may have coined the phrase `black armband history' in 1993, he was not the first to apply the words `black armband' in the context of Australian history. This was done by Aboriginal Australians through their emphasis on historical dispossession in the years before the bicentennial celebrations. In a manner which bears the bitter irony of much appropriation of Aboriginal culture, Blainey used two words also found in the Aboriginal protest movement, added the word `history', and managed to transform a spirit of mourning and defiance into a brand mark of gloom and disloyalty. Third, and perhaps most crucial, much of the public discussion surrounding John Howard's adoption of the black armband phrase mistakenly focuses on the issue of its historical validity. Don Watson, for example, sees Howard's foray as an attack "on the historical profession".(6) Broadsheet columnists set out to unravel the debate by assessing the work of various historians; searching in vain for the black armband or white blindfold school of Australian history.(7) While there has been a fiercely contested debate within the historical profession over issues of emphasis, perspective, and methodology encouraged by the critical frameworks of the new histories, and associated in particular with the revisionism of particular historians such as Clark, Reynolds, Lake and Burgmann, it is important to distinguish the professional debate from the much broader political debate.(8) The Blainey-Howard assault on black armband history is not so much an attack on the historical profession as a political strategy. It is concerned more with the use of history than the nature of history. A better way of understanding the Government-led campaign against black armband history is to view the phrase `black-armband' as yet another metaphor in the Howard government's armoury of political slogans--another conscript in the cause of defending the mainstream. …


The stratospheric quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO) dominates interannual variability of dynamical variables and trace constituents in the tropical stratosphere and provides a natural experiment to test circulation‐chemistry interactions. This work quantifies the relationships among ozone (O3), reactive nitrogen (NOy), and source gas N2O, and their links to the QBO, based on satellite constituent measurements and meteorological data spanning 2005–2014 (over four QBO cycles). Data include O3, HNO3, and N2O from the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder and an NOx proxy derived from Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imager System NO2 measurements combined with a photochemical box model (= NOx*). Results are compared to simulations from the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model, version 4 incorporating a QBO circulation nudged to assimilated winds. Cross correlations and composites with respect to the QBO phase show coherent 180° out‐of‐phase relationships between NOy and N2O throughout the stratosphere, with the NOx/HNO3 ratio increasing with altitude. The anomalies in NOy species propagate coherently downward with the QBO. Ozone is anticorrelated with reactive nitrogen in the middle stratosphere above ~28 km due to NOx control of ozone catalytic loss cycles. Quantitative comparisons of nitrogen partitioning and O3 sensitivity to NOx show good overall agreement between satellite observations and model results (suggesting closure of the NOy budget), although the model results show larger (up to ~20%) N2O, NOx, and O3 variations near ~35 km compared to observations. These analyses serve to assess the consistency of diverse satellite‐based data sets and also to evaluate nitrogen partitioning and NOx‐dependent ozone chemistry in the global model.


Scanning tunneling microscopy has developed into a powerful tool for the characterization of conductive surfaces, for which the overlap of tip and sample wave functions determines the image contrast. On insulating layers, as the CaO thin film grown on Mo(001) investigated here, direct overlap between initial and final states is not enabled anymore and electrons are transported via hopping through the conduction-band states of the oxide. Carrier transport is accompanied by strong phonon excitations in this case, imprinting an oscillatory signature on the differential conductance spectra of the system. The phonons show a characteristic spatial dependence and become softer around lattice irregularities in the oxide film, such as dislocation lines.


Human enteropathogenic microsporidia (HEM), Cryptosporidium parvum, Cyclospora cayetanesis, and Giardia lamblia are associated with gastrointestinal disease in humans. To date, the mode of transmission and environmental occurrence of HEM (Encephalitozoon intestinalis and Enterocytozoon bieneusi) and Cyclospora cayetanesis have not been fully elucidated due to lack of sensitive and specific environmental screening methods. The present study was undertaken with recently developed methods, to screen various water sources used for public consumption in rural areas around the city of Guatemala. Water concentrates collected in these areas were subjected to community DNA extraction followed by PCR amplification, PCR sequencing and computer database homology comparison (CDHC). All water samples screened in this study had been previously confirmed positive for Giardia spp. by immunofluorescent assay (IFA). Of the 12 water concentrates screened, 6 showed amplification of microsporidial SSU-rDNA and were subsequently confirmed to be Encephalitozoon intestinalis. Five of the samples allowed for amplification of Cyclospora 18S-rDNA; three of these were confirmed to be Cyclospora cayetanesis while two could not be identified because of inadequate sequence information. Thus, this study represents the first confirmed identification of Cyclospora cayetanesis and Encephalitozoon intestinalis in source water used for consumption. The fact that the waters tested may be used for human consumption indicates that these emerging protozoa may be transmitted by ingestion of contaminated water.


Abstract In order to support the licensing application for the ITER facility at Cadarache, a preliminary safety case has been prepared and submitted to the French nuclear safety authorities. This paper provides an overview of technical aspects of this case, which is based on an evolution of the safety approach developed and applied in earlier phases of the ITER project. The basis of the safety of ITER derives from the fundamental safety characteristics of fusion. The potential radiological hazards that arise are related to the tritium fuel and material activated by neutrons. The confinement of these materials is therefore the principal safety function, and it is reliably provided by robust barriers inherent in the design together with filtering and detritiation as a secondary level of confinement provision. A Defense in Depth approach is taken to ensure that off-normal events are minimized in their frequency, and that the consequences of accidents, even though extremely unlikely, are limited. A comprehensive set of analyses of postulated event sequences provides the demonstration that the consequences of enveloping scenarios are well within acceptable limits, and that even for hypothetical events involving two or more independent failures, the public and environmental impacts remain limited. An ALARA approach is taken to minimizing occupational radiation exposure, as well as other potential impacts of normal operation such as routine releases. Other hazards arising from internal and external risks are also considered, with design provisions, for example the Tokamak building is built on seismic isolation pads to minimise the effect of an earthquake.


Studies of early U.S. growth traditionally have emphasized real-sector explanations for an acceleration that by many accounts became detectable between 1815 and 1840. Interestingly, the establishment of the nation's basic financial structure predated by three decades the canals, railroads, and widespread use of water and steam-powered machinery that are thought to have triggered modernization. We argue that this innovative and expanding financial system, by providing debt and equity financing to businesses and governments as new technologies emerged, was central to the nation's early growth and modernization. The analysis includes a set of multivariate time series models that relate measures of banking and equity market activity to measures of investment, imports and business incorporations from 1790 to 1850. The findings offer support for our hypothesis of finance-led' growth in the U.S. case. By implication, the interest today in improving financial systems as a means of fostering sustainable growth is not misplaced.


Edward Snowden's disclosure of mass surveillance of the internet has necessitated a re-examining of our relationship with the internet. Rather than a tool that broadens democratic engagement, the internet is increasingly used as a tool to manage and direct citizens, particularly via the mass collection of personal data by both the state and large multi-national corporations. Although online tools are available to protect intellectual privacy and ensure individuals can fully engage in the democratic process, they are subject to the same limitations as other aspects of the digital divide in terms of social, economic and cultural capital. Regarding online intellectual privacy, the evidence suggests there are more efforts by the library profession to protect the rights of the individual in the United States, the home of the NSA, than in the United Kingdom. This paper seeks to investigate the state of this aspect of the digital divide and what is being done to address it.


OF DISSERTATION MEMORYSCAPES: PLACE, MOBILITY, AND MEMORY IN THE POST-DICATORIAL SOUTHERN CONE The urban landscapes of Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay lay bare the markings of these countries' turbulent political and economic pasts, their transition to democracy, and diverse efforts to preserve memory. Claudia Feld's observation that these countries have experienced a memory boom'—not a deficit—in recent years manifests itself as much culturally and politically as it does spatially, through the creation of memorials, memory parks, museums, and memory-related performances and discourses. Along these same lines, narratives of memory recur among artistic and cultural works of the post-dictatorial Southern Cone—not exclusively among memorials and other designated sites of recollection, but along the everyday corridors and causeways of some of South America's most populous cities, and rather unexpectedly, among seemingly generic sites of consumerism and transit. In fact, my reading of literary and cinematic works by Alberto Fuguet, Sergio Chejfec, Ignacio Aguero, and Fabian Bielinsky, and my examination of Uruguay's Punta Carretas Shopping Center, suggests that memory has not been easily corralled into designated sites nor erased through modern spaces and lifestyles; instead, each of the works analyzed in this study reveals that palimpsests of memory can appear often and, in many cases, spontaneously among all angles of the cityscape.


The growth of social media over the last decade has revolutionized the way individuals interact and industries conduct business. Individuals produce data at an unprecedented rate by interacting, sharing, and consuming content through social media. Understanding and processing this new type of data to glean actionable patterns presents challenges and opportunities for interdisciplinary research, novel algorithms, and tool development. Social Media Mining integrates social media, social network analysis, and data mining to provide a convenient and coherent platform for students, practitioners, researchers, and project managers to understand the basics and potentials of social media mining. It introduces the unique problems arising from social media data and presents fundamental concepts, emerging issues, and effective algorithms for network analysis and data mining. Suitable for use in advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate courses as well as professional short courses, the text contains exercises of different degrees of difficulty that improve understanding and help apply concepts, principles, and methods in various scenarios of social media mining.


The aims of this research are as follows:
• To investigate how late Victorian science fiction texts emerged in a period of dynamic epistemological change
• To critique how representations of science were appropriated and naturalised in late Victorian science fiction texts.
• To undertake a intertextual reading of late Victorian science fiction from the theoretical perspectives of contemporary science fiction studies
Although the term 'science fiction' was not coined until the 1920s, Robert Scholes argues that the modern genre began as a result of a scientific perspective on the world which 'gradually impressed itself on writers during the latter part of the nineteenth century' (Scholes, 1975, 15). Using science as a starting point, Scholes states that these writers were able to develop an 'idea of a future different from the present but logically connected to it by developments of present circumstances' (Scholes, 15). The writers considered in this thesis, Samuel Butler, Bulwer Lytton, Richard Jefferies, and
of course, HG Wells, began predicating an ostensibly realist mode of fiction on the new relationships and identities forged between humanity and Victorian scientific notions of progress. Science was consonant with progress, a belief which appeared to be the overriding fallacy of the Victorian age. Scientific knowledge and technological progress were also inextricably linked to notions of moral progress. Although champions of determinism and methodology, such as TH Huxley, were able to articulate these principles of scientific progress for popular consumption, they were partly seeking to professionalize the hitherto undistinguished (and under funded) role of the scientist. However, the newly emerging genre of science fiction was uniquely positioned to negotiate a growing ambivalence toward hitherto unquestioned notions of such progress.
This research will investigate the emergence of science fiction as a distinct literary genre during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, concentrating on how the genre negotiated discourses of popular science in a period of dynamic
epistemological change. I argue that science fiction emerged as a distinct genre during the last quarter of the nineteenth-century. My research investigates how it emerged, what form it took, and why it emerged when it did. I examine how four principal science fiction texts negotiated a period of transition which saw older identities, those forged through class-centred and religious narratives, superseded by new rational values of production and consumption. I argue that as science informed and affected all levels of Victorian society, then concepts of identity also had to change and adapt.
Science fiction literature helped to facilitate this adaptation by placing disparate and estranged scientific characters in unfamiliar (often future) environments in order to reexamine the author's contemporary existence. At best these characters often have to make some compromise between the world they think they know and a new estranged environment which holds a myriad of often unsettling possibilities. As a consequence the protagonist and reader reconfigure their identity to fit an often defamiliarised concept of the natural world wherein humanity's importance is often diminished.


President's anniversary address 1984 From the end of the Caledonian orogeny until the present, northern Scotland has acted as a structural high separating the North Sea and Atlantic basins or their forerunners. The geological history of this positive massif is discussed in relation to that of the adjacent cratonic basins, with the objective of determining the extent to which it adapted to regional tectonic developments and the manner in which its responses were modified by the pre-existing basement structure. From Devonian to early Palaeocene times, the massif was generally low-lying and its behaviour with respect to vertical movements was essentially neutral. The land surface carved in the crystalline basement during the Devonian period was preserved with relatively small modifications and little metamorphic detritus was supplied to the adjacent basins. Tectonic events of major importance in the basins, such as the formation of the North Sea and Hebridean rift systems, produced little change of conditions in the intervening massif. It is inferred that the underlying keel of lithospheric mantle was protected from the effects of lithospheric stretching. The uneventful history of the massif was interrupted by two phases of mafic igneous activity—in late Carboniferous and Palaeocene times—which record responses to regional plate motions. The formation of the Palaeocene igneous province was followed by a unique phase of uplift as a result of which the ancient sub-Devonian land surface was elevated and dissected and abundant crystalline detritus was supplied to the North Sea. The style of these events and the anomalous character of the continental margin off NW Britain may have been determined by the refractory nature of the Precambrian basement which inhibited stretching prior to sea floor spreading.


Face-to-face service, implemented as a fully automatic remote self-service, is a common way to digitalize public and private services. Continually diversifying user groups have repeatedly challenged this strategy and the user-centeredness in the systems design. Interface personalization has been used to improve web services but service production still suffers from complex interaction processes, trust, and security problems. One solution for the problems would be a human-to-human interface-based remote system via the Internet. When designed to utilize audiovisual communication in the online interaction of real people, a kiosk interface remains simple, enables the personalization of the actual customer service with the trust, security, and ease of use ensuing from the need of the service and the individual facilitating the interaction.


Based on the journeys of transformation towards becoming teaching practitioners in the Post Compulsory Education and Training (PCET) sector, this paper discusses ways in which interactions between trainee teachers and established teaching community members may be utilised as opportunities for collaboration and development. Beginning with a brief critical reflection on trainees' accounts of their experiences during placement training, which show trainees experiencing marginalization, blocking and unsolicited interventions at the hands of established community members, I discuss the tensions of being situated temporarily and as novice within an established community of practice. I demonstrate that while situated as occupying roles of both learner and tutor simultaneously, trainees' emergent teaching identities are 'pressed' between conflicting demands and expectations. I argue that such negative experiences may be used positively to support development through a model for practice that I introduce as 'guided reflexivity'. Central to guided reflexivity are shared explorations of possibilities for developing teaching practices through collaborative reflections. These are formulated through mutually challenging but, supportive conversations between established teaching staff and trainee teachers. This approach shifts the sole responsibility for supporting trainees becoming members of, and belonging to, specialist teaching communities from designated mentors; it has the potential for crossing institutional boundaries and creating holistic cultures of collaborative professional development.


Flying robots are rapidly becoming an essential tool in search and rescue missions because they can rapidly gather information from inaccessible or unsafe locations, thus increasing safety and rapidity of interventions. With this aim, we present a pocket sized foldable quadcopter equipped with a camera. The drone is a portable and rugged "flying-eye" that aims to extend or move the field of view of the rescuer for situational awareness and safe reconnaissance. The quadcopter can be packaged for transportation by folding its arms and it self-deploys in a glimpse before usage. Its compliant foldable arms make it rugged, reducing the risk of failure after collisions. The drone is remotely operated and it can stream sound, thermal and visual images in real time to rescuers. The prototype of the foldable quadcopter is experimentally characterized and assessed in preliminary field tests.


We present the engineered collision of two curvilinear propagating optical vortices each embedded in the main lobe of an Airy beam. Two cases are analyzed: the same and opposite unitary topological vortex charge. We observed experimentally that in the first case the main vortices repel each other and remain separated after the collision. In contrast, in the second case an annihilation of the main vortices occurs. Our experimental observations are reinforced by numerical simulations showing that the conservation of topological charge dictates the vortex dynamics.


We describe the design and the implementation of PAGAI, a new static analyzer working over the LLVM compiler infrastructure, which computes inductive invariants on the numerical variables of the analyzed program. PAGAI implements various state-of-the-art algorithms combining abstract interpretation and decision procedures (SMT-solving), focusing on distinction of paths inside the control flow graph while avoiding systematic exponential enumerations. It is parametric in the abstract domain in use, the iteration algorithm, and the decision procedure. We compared the time and precision of various combinations of analysis algorithms and abstract domains, with extensive experiments both on personal benchmarks and widely available GNU programs.


It has been repeatedly shown that in decisions under time constraints, individuals predominantly use noncompensatory strategies rather than complex compensatory ones. We argue that these findings might be due not to limitations of cognitive capacity but instead to limitations of information search imposed by the commonly used experimental tool Mouselab (Payne et al., 1988). We tested this assumption in three experiments. In the first experiment, information was openly presented, whereas in the second experiment the standard Mouselab program was used under different time limits. The results indicate that individuals are able to compute weighted additive decision strategies extremely quickly if information search is not restricted by the experimental procedure. In a third experiment, these results were replicated using more complex decision tasks, and the major alternative explanations that individuals use more complex heuristics or merely encode the constellation of cues were ruled out. In sum, the findings challenge the fundaments of bounded rationality and highlight the importance of automatic processes in decision making.


Abstract. The Republic of Azerbaijan has suffered from low agricultural productivity caused by soil salinization and erosion, and limited and insufficient soil data are available for economic and political reasons. In this study, soil elemental composition and heavy metal levels were assessed by comparing the results of XRF and ICP-OES analyses for the first time. Leachability assessment and spatial variability analysis were conducted to understand the soil salinization properties, and 632 surface soil samples categorized as agricultural (Ag) or salt-affected (SA) soils from the Mugan Plain were collected and analyzed. Based on our observations, the elemental concentrations of Ca, Fe, Cl and S were high among 20 elements compared with the median values for world soils. Apatite, calcite, gypsum, quartz, olivine, microcline and jarosite were proposed as possible mineral structures. The heavy metal guidelines suggested by the neighboring country of Georgia would be appropriate for assessing heavy metal contamination, and Ni and Pb were the most concerning elements. Leachability assessment confirmed that 99 % of the cationic ions were cationic salts and Na was the most problematic ion. Analysis of the electrical conductivity and sum of leachates showed that the exchange of interlayer cations, dissolution of minerals with low dissolution rates, transformation of metal (hydr)oxides and additional precipitation would be the reasons for this disparity. More leachable salts were accumulated in the lowland area, which is due to water movement and high evaporation. The spatial analysis results confirmed the reciprocal relationship between total Ca and total Fe and between total Fe and DW-leached Fe. This result indicates that less-stable iron complexes are prevalent in SA soils, while stable iron complexes are found in Ag soils. We believe that this approach can provide a foundation for the international study of Azerbaijani soil by sharing soil and salinization data with researchers worldwide and can help to diminish or solve agricultural problems in both Azerbaijan and neighboring countries suffering from soil salinization.


Date of Award 5-2014 Document Type Thesis Degree Name Master of Arts (MA) Legacy Department English Advisor Hankins, Gabriel Committee Member Bushnell , Cameron Committee Member Tissera , Graciela Abstract In this paper I will explore the possibility that Horacio Quiroga's regional treatment of modernist themes is more than a creole adaptation or mimicry of the European maestros, instead placing Quiroga in dialogue with an international framework of contemporary texts that explore conflicting attitudes towards modernity through dark portrayals of science and technology. I focus on Quiroga's 1910 novella El hombre artificial (The Artificial Man), a text with an amalgamation of themes and plot devices that have caused the work itself to be dismissed for being of 'poor quality.' Yet these themes and formal features integrally connect Quiroga's novella to a European social and literary tradition. I will focus my inquiry on the image of the automaton--an artificial or constructed human being that appears throughout Western literature, but becomes especially prevalent in modernist literature. By examining parallel treatments of the automaton by European authors Sigmund Freud and Karel Capek, I will demonstrate that Quiroga belongs to an international conversation which utilizes the automaton to draw attention to the common nature of these concerns and preoccupations evident in both canonical and marginal modernist literature. This comparative study of different portrayals of the automaton will thus complicate attempts to view modernist literature as a unified whole or single narrative. Labeling Quiroga a mere 'predecessor' of Latin American magical realism or imitator of European maestros is to remove him to a sphere separate from European modernism in order to preserve a coherent approach to a heterogeneous topic. We should instead utilize a comparison of these representations of automata to enhance our understanding of a complex, nuanced transnational modernism or modernisms that holds conversations across national borders. Recommended Citation Fetzer, Jacqueline, "A Modernism Against Maestros: Horacio Quiroga and the Transnational Automaton" (2014). All Theses. 1928. https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/1928  Download


An almost incomprehensible amount of data and information is stored on millions and millions of computers worldwide. The computers, interconnected in local, national and international networks, use and share a high number of various software programs. Individuals, corporations, hospitals, communication networks, authorities among others are totally dependent on the reliability and accessibility of the data and information stored, and on the correct and predictable operation of the soft ware programs, the computers and the networks connecting them. Malware types have different objectives and apply different techniques, but they all compromise security in one way or another. To be able to defend against the threat imposed by malware we need to understand both how and why the malware exists. Malware is under constant development, exploiting new vulnerabilities, employing more advanced techniques, and finding new ways to compromise computer security. This document presents the nature of malware today and outlines some analytical techniques used by security experts. Furthermore, a process for analyzing malware samples with the goal of discovering the behaviour of the samples and techniques used by the samples is presented. A flowchart of malware analysis, with tools and procedures, is suggested. The analysis process is shown to be effective and to minimize the time consumption of manual malware analysis. An analysis is performed on two distinct malware samples, disclosing behaviour, location, encryption techniques, and other techniques employed by the samples. It is demonstrated that the two malware samples, both using advanced techniques, have different objectives and varying functionality. Although complex in behaviour, the malware samples show evidence of lacking programming skills with the malware designers, rendering the malware less effective than intended. Both samples are distributed in a packed form. The process of unpacking each of the samples is described together with an outlining of the unpacking process.


Abstract UK Biobank is an intensively characterized prospective study of 500 000 men and women, aged 40 to 69 years when recruited, between 2006 and 2010, from the general population of the United Kingdom. Established as an open-access resource for researchers worldwide to perform health research that is in the public interest, UK Biobank has collected (and continues to collect) a vast amount of data on genetic, physiological, lifestyle, and environmental factors, with prolonged follow-up of heath conditions through linkage to administrative electronic health records. The study has already demonstrated its unique value in enabling research into the determinants of common endocrine and metabolic diseases. The importance of UK Biobank, heralded as a flagship project for UK health research, will only increase over time as the number of incident disease events accrue, and the study is enhanced with additional data from blood assays (such as whole-genome sequencing, metabolomics, and proteomics), wearable technologies (including physical activity and cardiac monitors), and body imaging (magnetic resonance imaging and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry). This unique research resource is likely to transform our understanding of the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of many endocrine and metabolic disorders.


Thirty minutes after inoculation of reovirus type 1 into the intestinal lumen of the mouse, viruses were found adhering to the surface of intestinal M cells but not other epithelial cells. Within 1 hour, viruses were seen in the M cell cytoplasm and were associated with mononuclear cells in the intercellular space adjacent to the M cell. These findings suggest that M cells are the site where reovirus penetrates the intestinal epithelium.


The goal of this paper is to outline the laudable goals and ultimate failure of notice and choice to respect privacy online and suggest an alternative framework to manage and research privacy.  This paper suggests that the online environment is not conducive to rely on explicit agreements to respect privacy. Current privacy concerns online are framed as a temporary market failure resolvable through two options:  (a) ameliorating frictions within the current notice and choice governance structure or (b) shifting from a contract-governed exchange to a focus on implicit, negotiated rules within a long-term relationship. Importantly for firms, examining privacy in practice shifts the firm's responsibility from adequate notice to identifying and managing the cost-benefit analysis within a specific context.


Abstract Attitudes of pre-service teachers about practicing teachers, instructional techniques and science courses given at various grade levels are examined. Although pre-service teachers prepare lessons using techniques advocated by reform efforts to meet course objectives while in a methods course, choices seem to revert back to more traditional strategies. Constructivism proposes that the reason for temporary learning in precollegiate classrooms is because the "new" knowledge has not been successfully locked onto an existing framework. The same reasoning can be used for learning about but not using reform-based teaching techniques by pre-service teachers. Osgood's semantic differential is used to measure attitudes. Introduction Studies in the literature on attitudes of potential science teachers concerning how students learn or how classrooms operate indicate that neither completion of a methods course nor student teaching experiences have any great effect on pre-existing beliefs (Cronin-Jones and Shaw 1992). These authors state that potential teachers "have an organized belief structure regarding teaching when they enter methods instruction" (p.22). Conceptualization of what teaching is and how teachers act forms in elementary school and solidifies in secondary school and college. This conceptualization seems to change little after the decision to become a teacher is made (Mellado 1998). Stigler and Hiebert (1998) make the case for teaching as a cultural activity--something guided by a "cultural script" learned by participating in schooling and play-acting about it. The script is guided by observation of classrooms, by family conversations and viewing TV and movies. In many of the aforementioned situations the teacher is the central figure--a sage, a cajoler, a mother-figure, a drill sergeant or even a clown. Work by Roos, Kocel, and Islam (1995) show that early observation assignments in schools reaffims the pre-service student's commitment to teaching. Reform efforts advocate the use of group learning strategies and group or individual inquiry-guided methods (Weaver 1998). However, these procedures are still not widely used in classrooms. Stigler and Hiebert (1998) suggest that U. S. teachers take their responsibilities seriously and provide detailed guidance and plenty of practice to their students. This feeling of responsibility is reinforced by the contemporary trend of legislated teacher accountability. Teachers plan tightly sequenced lessons so that each step along the way is clearly illustrated. Lecture is the most frequently chosen teaching strategy. Some propensity for traditional lectures and verification labs may be due to anticipated class management problems. Preferred methods are those that keep the class under the teacher's control (Tobin, Tippins, Gallard1994) and conform to what both teacher and student expect in the classroom. Lecture allows teachers to focus interest and limit active interaction between both students and teacher and students and other students. Lecture and note taking also relieve the student of personal responsibility for working instantaneously with new ideas/concepts. These methods take the pressure off young, frail egos and are therefore preferred not only by teachers but also by students. Hildebrand (1999) notes that when teachers attempt to change the "pedagogic contract" -- what students expect to happen in class -- students are uneasy. This uneasiness stems from feelings that the balance of trust between teachers and students is disrupted. Students are not certain how a teacher will judge work done under unfamiliar methods. Procedure Data Gathering Instrument The semantic differential strives to clarify links between attitudes and behavior. The method is an elaboration of the Likert scale and is a multi variate differentiation of concept meanings in terms of a limited number of semantic scales of known factor compositions (Osgood, Suci, and Tannenbaum 1957, p 42). …


The quality of education that students receive in public schools is becoming an increasing concern for parents, taxpayers, politicians, and business leaders. These stakeholders are asking for greater accountability as measured by actual results rather than by input and process variables. In response, researchers have recently measured the effects of numerous teacher variables on student knowledge and skills. This paper reviews the literature on teacher education, certification, and hiring, showing that there are great differences in the effectiveness of teachers in public schools. Better teachers are not necessarily those with more education and more experience, the two traditional variables used when determining salaries. The paper recommends new policies that will potentially enhance the impact that teachers and school administrators have on the academic achievement of public school students.


Despite common roots, litigation practice in the various European countries can be remarkably different. Attempts to create a common European code of civil procedure or at least to harmonize procedural law in Europe have been greeted with little enthusiasm and have stalled for a number of reasons. Three procedural scholars from Belgium and the Netherlands have thus decided to edit a series of books that describe and analyze in some detail individual parts of the litigation law in the various European countries in order to provide the necessary comparative groundwork from which to build a more harmonized European law of procedure. This is the general report in the third book in this series, focusing on the recognition and enforcement of judgments. The report compiles and analyzes the information provided by individual contributors from eighteen European countries, including two non-EU states. The focus is on the recognition and enforcement outside of the framework of the Brussels Convention, now the Brussels Regulation, and the parallel Lugano Convention. Thus, our chapter deals with the recognition and enforcement of judgments that emanate from non-member states of the Conventions and with the recognition of judgments in subject matters that are not covered by the Conventions, such as family law and succession. Thus, both the book and our chapter should be of interest not only to Europeans but to all non-Europeans interested in a more detailed account of recognition law in Europe. We cover in some depth the sources of recognition law, recognizable judgments, recognition requirements, and, briefly, recognition procedure. We identify similarities, trends, regional specialties and differences in recognition laws, but we also realize that, due to a number of discretionary rules, there is perhaps a bigger gap between the written law and the law as applied by the courts in recognition law than in other parts of the law of procedure, at least in civil law countries. Thus, while we made some interesting discoveries with regard to actual practice, we also conclude that further comparative research is needed in this area.


This article provides an overview of how the Reserve Bank (the Bank) conducts liquidity management. It describes the two areas of liquidity management conducted by the Bank - what the Bank does to maintain a stable and sufficient supply of system liquidity and what it does to ensure individual banks have access to liquidity to meet daily transactional obligations through the payments and settlement system. It also explains how the Bank supports its monetary policy implementation by managing the level of liquidity in the banking system so as to avoid large fluctuations in short-term interest rates.


Objectives A generalisable simulation model is described; intended for use by managers, clinicians, planners and policy makers to understand the effects of UK waiting time targets for hospital care that have been a feature of the English NHS for some years. It is important that their development, use and emulation elsewhere is based on evidence and the model shows the effects of such targets and the actions taken to achieve them. Methods Using UK Health Episode Statistics, Patient Administration Systems and local data, the simulation model can be configured to fit the activities of many UK general hospitals. The simulations capture changes made in the hospital and their effect on waiting time performance and side effects such as cancellations. Results The paper includes a demonstration of the use of the simulation model to investigate the activity of a UK district general hospital over a two and half year period. This shows that its success in reducing patient waiting times was based on a multi-facetted approach that is much superior to individual initiatives. Conclusions Building a whole hospital model of waiting time performance is feasible and offers benefits to users in understanding the effects of changes in hospitals that are large, complex and highly congested systems. This is essential if target-based policies are to be based on evidence so that side effects can be minimised.


In an experiment at the Agricultural Research Station, Temora, New South Wales, Merino breeding ewes with their lambs grazed continuously from 1966 to 1970 at three stocking rates, 5, 7.5 and 10 ewes ha-1, on annual Trifolium subterraneum clover pasture topdressed every autumn with superphosphate fertilizer at nil, 94 or 188 kg ha-1. Stocking rate had an effect on ewe body weight in autumn each year and in winter and spring of the last year but it had no effect no wool production per ewe. Apart from the dry year, stocking rate had no effect on lamb performance. Superphosphate had little effect on ewe body weight and none on wool production but there were more lambs on the fertilized treatments than on the unfertilized pastures in 1967 when rainfall was low. Fertilizer encouraged barley grass dominance whereas the pasture not topdressed grew more clover and produced more burr. With no topdressing, available soil phosphate declined steadily over the five years to less than half the initial level. The results indicate that in a spring lambing, Merino ewe enterprise in the southern New South Wales wheat belt, where clover-ley farming is the general practice, annual pasture topdressing is no longer necessary after approximately 1000 kg ha-1 superphosphate has been applied to the soil and the fertilizer is continued through the cropping phase.


With the help of this unique book, all the fascinating properties of iron and other metals can be creatively explored. 52 color plates and 717 b/w photos and drawings present the ideas and examples visually. After a short history of ironwork, the author discusses the ironworking shop, forge and tools, including anvils, vises, hammers, tongs, punches, centrifugal blowers and machine tools. She presents information on building, lighting, and maintaining a fire. Forging procedures are explicitly shown: drawing out, flattening, bending, upsetting, twisting, splitting, punching and drifting, hot cutting on a hardy, and joining and finishing techniques.


Abstract While environmental issues attract growing interest all over the world Russia has kept aside from this trend for a long time. Its participation in international environmental cooperation has always been determined primarily by the external policy's objectives. In Soviet times, participation in global environmental initiatives was a channel of collaboration with the West. In the 1990s, it was a means of integration into the international community and one of the major areas of cooperation with the US. In the 2000s, Russia used the environmental agenda for gaining trade-offs from Western partners along with attraction of foreign investment. At present, the understanding of possibilities to reap benefits from the country's natural capital is strengthening among Russian political and business elites. As a result, Russia's involvement in international environmental cooperation may stir up in the near future.


Abstract Background: Children with congenital heart disease (CHD) require lifelong cardiology follow-up. Many experience gaps in care around the age of transition to adult-oriented care with associated comorbidity. We describe the impact of a clinic-based intervention on follow-up rates in this high-risk population. Methods: Patients ≥11 years seen in a paediatric outpatient CHD Transition Clinic completed self-assessment questionnaires, underwent focused teaching, and were followed on a clinic registry with assessment of care continuation. The cohort "lost to follow-up" rate, defined as absence from care at least 6 months beyond the recommended timeframe, was compared with a control group. Secondary outcomes included questionnaire scores and adult cardiology referral trends. Results: Over 26 months, 53 participants completed an initial Transition Clinic visit; 43% (23/53) underwent a second visit. Median participant age was 18.0 years (interquartile range 16.0, 22.0). The cohort's "lost to follow-up" rate was 7.3%, which was significantly lower than the control rate (25.9%, p < 0.01). Multivariable regression analyses demonstrated clinic participation as the only factor independently associated with follow-up rates (p = 0.048). Transition readiness was associated with older age (p = 0.01) but not sex, univentricular heart, interventional history, or surgical complexity. One-third of adult participants transferred to adult care. Conclusions: A CHD Transition Clinic intervention can improve follow-up rates in adolescents and young adults. Age is an important factor in transition readiness, and retention of adults in paediatric care appears multi-factorial. We postulate that serial assessments of self-management, focused education, and registry utilisation may improve patient outcomes by reducing lapses in care.


Combined three-dimensional, haptic-enabled, virtual reality (3D HE VR) systems allow students to actively engage and explore various science concepts by leveraging user-friendly and immersive interfaces. Successful implementation of these learning tools in science classrooms hinges upon teachers' perceptions of the technology's potential as a viable pedagogical tool. Prior studies using the Technology Acceptance (TA) Model (TAM) suggest pre-service teachers have greater TA compared to in-service teachers. This study sought to explore how 3D HE VR designed to diminish Ease of Use (EOU) issues, influenced TA (through reported preferences) between pre-service and in-service science teachers. Five pre-service and five in-service teachers reported Perceived Utility (PU) and EOU upon using a 3D HE VR system (zSpace) to learn science concepts. Quantitative data were collected from preand post-test content assessments. Qualitative data were collected and transcribed from field notes and interviews. Both teacher groups evidenced learning gains and reported EOU using zSpace. However, preference for the technology compared to traditional methods varied between teacher groups. Sampled pre-service teachers held a significant preference for hands-on activities for instruction whereas in-service teachers reported greater TA, citing its potential to increase student interest in science and opportunity for personalized learning. This research suggests that when perceived EOU is mitigated, PU may more readily mediate TA among in-service teachers as they can envision the use of 3D HE VR technology use in teaching practices. Further exploration is needed to leverage in-service teachers' classroom experience to implement novel forms of technology into their science instruction. Hite, Jones, Childers, Chesnutt, Corin & Pereyra 2 Electronic Journal of Science Education ejse.southwestern.edu


It is essential to standardize the definitions and approaches to quantifying various irrigation performance measures. The ASCE Task Committee on Defining Irrigation Efficiency and Uniformity provides a comprehensive examination of various performance indices such as irrigation efficiency, application efficiency, irrigation sagacity, distribution uniformity, and others. Consistency is provided among different irrigation methods and different scales. Clarification of common points of confusion is provided, and methods are proposed whereby the accuracy of numerical values of the performance indicators can be assessed. This issue has two companion papers that provide more detailed information on statistical distribution uniformity and the accuracy of irrigation efficiency estimates.


Data on body composition in conjunction with reference centiles are helpful in identifying the severity of growth and nutritional disorders in infancy and for evaluating the adequacy of treatment given during this important period of rapid growth. Total body fat (TBF) and fat-free mass (FFM) were estimated from total body electrical conductivity (TBEC) measurements in 423 healthy term Caucasian infants, aged 14-379 days. Cross sectional age, weight, and length related centile standards are presented for TBF and FFM. Centiles were calculated using Altman's method, based on polynomial regression and modelling of the residual variation. The TBF percentage steeply increased during the first half year of life, and slowly declined beyond this age. Various simple TBEC derived anthropometric prediction equations for TBF and FFM are available to be used in conjunction with these standards. Regression equations for the P50 and the residual SD, depending on age, weight, or length, are provided for constructing centile charts and calculating standard deviation scores.


Critics of current tying doctrine argue that metering ties can increase consumer welfare and total welfare without increasing output and that they generally increase both welfare measures. Contrary to those claims, we prove that metering ties always lower both consumer welfare and total welfare unless they increase capital good output. We further show that under market conditions we argue are realistic (which include a lognormal distribution of usage rates that are independently distributed from per-usage valuations), metering ties always harm consumer welfare, even when output increases. Whether metering ties raise or lower total welfare depends on the dispersion of desired usage, the cost structure, and the dissipation of profits caused by metering. For realistic cost values, metering ties will reduce total welfare if the dispersion in desired usage of the metered good is below 0.62. (For comparison, 0.74 is the dispersion of income in the United States.) If 5% of metering profits are dissipated, metering will reduce total welfare for all cost levels unless the dispersion in desired usage exceeds 150% of the dispersion of income in the United States (JEL Codes: C72, K21, L12, L40, L41, L42)


Comprising more than seven hundred articles totalling more than one million words, the Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment is a unique and comprehensive reference work on the entire range of philosophic and social changes wrought by the Enlightenment. It is available in both print and as an e-reference text from Oxford's Digital Reference Shelf. The Enlightenment is here defined as the 'long eighteenth century', from the rise of Descarte's disciples in 1670 to the Restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in France in 1815, including themes central to the ongoing history of Europe and the United States. These include increasing secularisation and a critical attitude toward inherited authority, the extension of scientific method beyond the physical sciences to law and economics, a broadened commitment to the ethical criterion of utility, an expansion of the dimensions of human life deemed subject to reform and human control, a disdain for sectarian religious strife and for its diversely perceived causes, and an elevation of the theme of 'toleration' among the concerns of the Western conscience. The four volumes draw together the resources of a select group of editors, advisers, and contributors and provides fresh perspectives on recent scholarship in such areas as gender history and the history of popular culture. Clearly written and well balanced this reference work offers students, scholars, and other readers an up-to-date reference tool that, for the first time, places the entire range of Enlightenment studies into an authoritative encyclopedic format. This work brings together the people and places that played a role in the Enlightenment, explains the movement's concepts and themes, and describes its impact on areas as diverse as politics, religion, science, philosophy, society, and art. This definitive work presents and assesses the subject in many thematic and geographical areas, including: BLTransnational communication, including such topics as the diffusion of texts, the Republic of Letters, languages and translation, censorship and press freedom, and the Grand Tour. BLThe Enlightenment in Iberian, Ibero-American, Scandinavian, Jewish, Russian, and Eastern European culture. BLMaterial culture, especially the 'history of the book', and the resonance of the Enlightenment in more popular culture. BLThe impact of world exploration and contact on eighteenth-century life and letters. BL'Secondary' and 'provincial' centres of intellectual and cultural activity, such as Milan, Saint Petersburg, and Philadelphia. BLThe history of Enlightenment studies, including recent theoretical and methodological approaches, and the scope of current interpretations and debates. These dramatic developments inform the more than one hundred articles that comprise the encyclopedia and are reflected in the work's synoptic outline, which covers such conceptual categories as biographies, cities, concepts, education, major schools of thought, and nations and states. Intended for the non-specialist as well as the specialist, with both wide-ranging and up-to-date coverage, the encyclopedia will prove a powerful reference tool for undergraduates, graduate students, advanced scholars, and general readers alike. An extensive system of cross-references, a synoptic outline of contents, and a comprehensive topical index provide easy access to networks of related articles. Each entry is signed by the contributor and the work is illustrated with photographs, line drawings, and maps. Authoritative, comprehensive, and accessible, the Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment is an invaluable and indispensable addition to personal, public, academic, and research libraries.


Background: This study investigates the presence of interleukin (IL)-33 and osteoprotegerin (OPG) in saliva and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples of patients with chronic periodontitis and whether or not they are correlated with diabetes mellitus. Methods: Sixty subjects were included in this study: 20 chronic periodontitis patients (CP), 20 diabetic chronic periodontitis patients (CPDM) and 20 systemically and periodontally healthy subjects. GCF and saliva samples were collected from all participants. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits were used for assaying IL-33 and OPG levels. Analysis of variance was used to compare means of the CP and CP-DM groups with the control. Correlation analyses were performed to find the value of Spearman's correlation. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to determine the cut-off values of the markers to differentiate between the groups. Areas under the ROC curve (AUCs) were compared using z-statistic. Results: IL-33, in both GCF and saliva, was significantly higher in the CP and CP-DM groups compared to the control, and significantly higher in the CP-DM group compared to the CP group in saliva. On the other hand, the level of OPG in GCF and saliva was significantly lower in the CP and CP-DM groups compared to the control, but was of no significance when comparing the CP-DM and CP groups. Conclusion: IL-33 seems to play a role in the pathogenesis of periodontal disease, while OPG may have a protective function. Diabetes may affect and influence the expression of IL-33. Thus, they could be utilized as diagnostic biomarkers for chronic periodontitis either in saliva or GCF.


FAULT-TOLERANT computing has been defined as "the ability to execute specified algorithms correctly regardless of hardware failures, total system flaws, or program fallacies" [1]. To the extent that a system falls short of meeting the requirements of this definition, it can be labeled a partially fault-tolerant system [2]. Thus the definition of fault-tolerant computing provides a standard against which to measure all systems having a degree of fault tolerance. In particular, one can classify systems according to: 1), the amount of manual intervention required in performing three basic functions, and 2) the class of faults covered by three basic functions involved in fault tolerance: system validation, fault diagnosis, and fault masking or recovery. The word "fault" here is used to inclusively describe "failures, flaws, and fallacies" in the original definition. The first function is involved in the design and production of the system hardware and software, while the last two functions are embodied in the system itself. Likewise, the first function is directed to handling faults arising from design and production errors, whereas the last two functions are aimed at faults due to random hardware failures.


The discovery of the radiation properties of black holes prompted the search for a natural candidate quantum ground state for a massless scalar field theory on Schwarzschild spacetime, here considered in the Eddington-Finkelstein representation. Among the several available proposals in the literature, an important physical role is played by the so-called Unruh state which is supposed to be appropriate to capture the physics of a black hole formed by spherically symmetric collapsing matter. Within this respect, we shall consider a massless Klein-Gordon field and we shall rigorously and globally construct such state, that is on the algebra of Weyl observables localised in the union of the static external region, the future event horizon and the non-static black hole region. Eventually, out of a careful use of microlocal techniques, we prove that the built state fulfils, where defined, the so-called Hadamard condition; hence, it is perturbatively stable, in other words realizing the natural candidate with which one could study purely quantum phenomena such as the role of the back reaction of Hawking's radiation. From a geometrical point of view, we shall make a profitable use of a bulk-to-boundary reconstruction technique which carefully exploits the Killing horizon structure as well as the conformal asymptotic behaviour of the underlying background. From an analytical point of view, our tools will range from Hormander's theorem on propagation of singularities, results on the role of passive states, and a detailed use of the recently discovered peeling behaviour of the solutions of the wave equation in Schwarzschild spacetime.


Interfacial polymerization is one of the main techniques for producing composite nanofiltration (NF) membranes. In this study, five NF membranes were produced through interfacial polymerization under different conditions of reactions, namely varying reaction time, as well as monomer concentrations. The membranes were then imaged using atomic force microscope (AFM). AFM images provided information of the average pore size, pore size distribution, and surface roughness. For some of the membranes, discrete pore sizes were visible. Increasing the reaction time resulted in decreasing water permeabilities but based on AFM imaging the pore size was of similar value. Increasing the monomer concentration also resulted in decreasing water permeabilities. However, based on AFM imaging the pore size differs considerably. Additional permeation experiments were also carried out using NaCl and Na2SO4 solutions with membranes identified as NF. By fitting the rejection data using a model such as the Donnan-steric-pore model, the variation in effective charge density of the membranes was also determined. The ability to tailor composite NF membranes with the right properties will significantly improve membrane performance. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 96: 605–612, 2005


Abstract Introducing neptunium into the nuclear fuel cycle has been proposed in the past as a way to impede the diversion or the direct use of plutonium to fabricate a nuclear explosive device. This paper aims to technically analyze the industrial consequences should this proposal be implemented. Two scenarios are considered: (a) adding neptunium to fresh uranium oxide (UOX) fuel before irradiation in a light water reactor (LWR) and (b) separating neptunium together with plutonium from used UOX fuel and using this combined oxide to fabricate mixed oxide (MOX) fuel before subsequent irradiation in an LWR. In both cases, assembly calculations for a pressurized water reactor using fresh fuel doped with neptunium are presented for a wide range of neptunium proportions. The consequences on the core and fuel performance and the fuel cycle are analyzed. The analysis shows that while irradiating neptunium-doped UOX fuel can offer significant proliferation-resistance benefits because of the increased quantity of the plutonium isotope 238Pu in the discharged fuel, it entails heavy industrial penalties even at 1% Np content. The use of neptunium with MOX fuel is limited to 0.5% in order to maintain a negative void coefficient. At this proportion, it offers minimal increase in 238Pu content, and it is unlikely that detectability through gamma-ray emissions of the resulting plutonium-neptunium oxide mixture is increased. The fact that neptunium itself may pose a proliferation risk must be carefully weighed in any decision to use neptunium as a tool to increase proliferation resistance.


The molecular chaperone, heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90), acts as an intermediate in the signaling cascades leading to activation of endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). In this study, we examine the participation of this pathway in nitric oxide (NO)-dependent vasodilation in the rat mesentery in vitro. In normal animals, immunoprecipitation of eNOS from intact mesentery coimmunoprecipitates Hsp90 and, additionally, both eNOS and Hsp90 colocalize to the endothelial lining of mesenteric vessels. In the perfused mesenteric vasculature of normal animals, geldanamycin (GA), a specific inhibitor of Hsp90 signaling, attenuates ACh-dependent vasodilation but does not affect vasodilation in response to sodium nitroprusside. Next, studies were performed in animals with experimental portal hypertension induced by portal vein ligation (PVL). In PVL animals, NOS catalytic activity is markedly enhanced in mesenteric tissue and the perfused mesentery is hyporesponsive to the vasoconstrictor methoxamine (MTX). GA significantly potentiates MTX-induced vasoconstriction after PVL, thereby partially reversing the hyporeactivity to this agent exhibited in the mesenteric vasculature after PVL. These studies suggest that Hsp90 can act as a signaling mediator of NO-dependent responses in the mesenteric circulation and indicate that the excessive NO production observed in portal hypertension is mediated in part through Hsp90 signaling.


The effectiveness of hedging volatile input prices for biodiesel producers is examined over one- to eight-week time horizons. Results reveal that hedging break-even soybean costs with soybean oil futures offers significant reductions in input price risk. The degree of risk reduction is dependent upon type of hedge, naive or risk-minimizing, and upon time horizon. In contrast, cross-hedging break-even poultry fat costs with soybean oil futures failed to reduce input price risk.


We analyze financial market data in order to produce an ex-ante assessment of the economic consequences of war with Iraq. The novel feature of our analysis derives from the existence of a market for Saddam Securities,' a new future traded on an online betting exchange that pays only if Saddam Hussein is ousted. A variety of tests suggest that this future's price provides a plausible estimate of the probability of war. The spot oil price has moved closely with the Saddam Security, suggesting that war raises oil prices by around $10 per barrel. Futures prices imply that markets expect these large immediate disruptions to dissipate quickly, with prices returning to pre-war levels within about a year and a half. Evidence on the long-run effects is fragile, and while prices are probably expected to fall a little as a result of war, any oil dividend' will be minimal. We find large effects in equity markets: and war lowers the value of U.S. equities by around 15 percent. This effect is concentrated in the consumer discretionary sector, airlines and IT; the prospect of war bolsters the gold and energy sectors. Analyzing option prices, we find that the large estimated average effects of war reflect the market pricing in a range of different scenarios - a 70 percent probability that it will lead to market declines of 0 to 15 percent, a 20 percent chance of 15 to 30 percent declines, and a 10 percent risk of a fall in excess of 30 percent. Across countries, the most extreme effects are on the stock markets of Turkey, Israel, and several European nations. Countries that are highly enmeshed in the world economy, or net oil importers, are most likely to experience adverse effects from war.


The essential role of ruminal microflora in ruminant nutrition provides the potential for improvement in animal production via altering the numbers or activities of specific classes of microorganisms. Successful alterations will be facilitated by an understanding of the microbial ecology of the rumen based on its mechanistic underpinnings. Demonstrated improvements in ruminal fermentation can be traced to their consonance with well-established principles of microbial ecology (niche occupancy, selective pressure, adaptation, and interactions) and the thermodynamics and kinetics of substrate utilization. Application of these principles to several proposed alterations of the ruminal bacterial population allows a prediction of their relative feasibility. Improving fiber digestion, decreasing protein degradation, and detoxifying feed components that are present in low concentrations will be difficult to achieve in the rumen and are best approached by altering the feed, either genetically or with postharvest treatment. By contrast, the detoxification of feed components present in high concentration, and redirection of electron disposal away from methanogenesis, are more productive targets for microbiologi-


Computational chemistry is a standard tool to understand chemical phenomena at the electronic and molecular levels, and is a rapidly growing branch of chemistry. In this thesis, three distinct computational chemistry projects about dispersion interaction between small molecules and models of nanotubes are investigated: (1) An accurate benchmark description of the interactions between carbon dioxide and polyheterocyclic aromatic compounds containing nitrogen; (2) Evaluation of DFT-D variants suitable for nanotube adhesion forces; (3) Description of the interactions between carbon dioxide and polyheterocyclic aromatic compounds containing nitrogen via local methods. Chapter 1 presents a brief introduction to these subjects. Chapter 2 explains the methodologies used in this work. Chapter 3 presents the performance of a large variety of modern density functional theory approaches for the adsorption of carbon dioxide on molecular models of pyridinic N-doped graphene. The benchmark interaction energies were established at the complete-basis-set limit MP2 level plus a CCSD(T) coupled-cluster correction in a moderate but carefully selected basis set. Using a set of 96 benchmark CCSD(T)-level interaction energies as a reference, the performance of various DFT+D variants was examined. It turns out that several schemes such as B2PLYP-D3 and M05-2X-D3 exhibit average errors on the entire benchmark data set in the 5–10% range. The top DFT+D variants were then used to investigate the energy profile for a carbon dioxide transition through model Ndoped graphene pores. The results obtained from these methods indicated that the largest, N4H4 pore allows for a barrierless CO2 transition to the other side of a graphene sheet. In Chapter 4, three sets of benchmark CCSD(T)/CBS data, all involving a coronene molecule (flat or curved away from the adsorbate), interacting with 1 methane, 2 carbon dioxide, and 3 ethylene are combined to determine the performance of various DFT approaches for


The effects of poverty on students' education have been well documented and a positive correlation can be seen between these effects and their academic success. What is unclear, however, are the exceptions to this correlation. How do students from low-socioeconomic status (SES) families succeed despite the seemingly insurmountable odds they face? The literature from a wide variety of longitudinal—and interview-based studies from the past three decades suggests that character traits such as persistence, determination, and curiosity are key to their success. Schools with a majority student body from low-SES homes have found success in meeting and exceeding state standards through fostering an encouraging atmosphere and incorporating these necessary character traits throughout their curriculum. Mentorship in developing these traits is what makes all the difference in both the individual students' lives and in the school setting. Thus, in order to sustain the development of academically successful students, it is imperative that students not only believe that they can succeed, but that they are given avenues and resources through which they can succeed.


BACKGROUND The great majority of parents have positive and nurturing relationships with their children. 1 In fact, findings from research show that parents and their adolescent children generally have close emotional ties. 2-3 These findings run counter to anecdotal portrayals of parents as clueless and unconnected, especially when it comes to relating to their adolescent children. 4 Recently released parentreported data from the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH), which has a very large, nationally representative sample, provide a window into parent-child relationships by children's specific ages. Child Trends drew on these data to look at three markers of these relationships for parents living with children between the ages of 6 and 17: parent-child closeness, the degree to which parents share ideas and talk about things that really matter with their children, and parents' acquaintance with their children's friends. Our analyses show that although some declines are seen in these areas as children get older, high parental involvement and positive parent-child interactions endure throughout childhood into the teenage years for most adolescents.


Glucose transport across the plasma membrane is mediated by a family of glucose transporter proteins (GLUTs), several of which have been identified in mammalian, avian, and, more recently, in fish species. Here, we report on the cloning of a salmon GLUT from adipose tissue with a high sequence homology to mammalian GLUT4 that has been named okGLUT4. Kinetic analysis of glucose transport following expression in Xenopus laevis oocytes demonstrated a 7.6 +/- 1.4 mM K(m) for 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) transport measured under zero-trans conditions and 14.4 +/- 1.5 mM by equilibrium exchange of 3-O-methylglucose. Transport of 2-DG by okGLUT4-injected oocytes was stereospecific and was competed by D-glucose, D-mannose, and, to a lesser extent, D-galactose and D-fructose. In addition, 2-DG uptake was inhibited by cytochalasin B and ethylidene glucose. Moreover, insulin stimulated glucose uptake in Xenopus oocytes expressing okGLUT4 and in isolated trout adipocytes, which contain the native form of okGLUT4. Despite differences in protein motifs important for insulin-stimulated translocation of mammalian GLUT4, okGLUT4 was able to translocate to the plasma membrane from intracellular localization sites in response to insulin when expressed in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. These data demonstrate that okGLUT4 is a structural and functional fish homolog of mammalian GLUT4 but with a lower affinity for glucose, which could in part explain the lower ability of fish to clear a glucose load.


This book contains the life story of Anne Frank, from her early happy childhood in Frankfurt, growing up in Amsterdam, her two years in hiding and the last few months of her life in the concentration camps. Narrated in six clearly written chapters, this biography for children answers the many detailed questions about Anne that readers of the Diary often have, and includes interesting anecdotes from friends who survived her. There is an Historical Note at the beginning of the book and a map of Europe, so that children will be able to understand the situation at the time, and an Introduction by Anne Frank's cousin, Buddy Elias.


H.264 is the latest HDTV video compression standard, which provides a significant improvement in coding efficiency at the cost of huge computation complexity. Provided that discrete cosine transform coefficient(DCT) blocks can be quantized to all zeros, the process of transform and quantization on this all-zero block(AZB) can be skipped, which will reduce significant redundant computations. In this paper, a theoretical analysis is performed for the sufficient condition for AZB detection. As a result, two partial sum of absolute differences (SAD) based 4×4 AZB detection algorithm are derived. Furthermore, a quantization parameter (QP) oriented 8×8 AZB detection algorithm is proposed according to the AZB's statistical analysis. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithms outperform the previous methods in all cases and achieve major improvement of computation reduction in the range from 12.16% to 42.68% for 4×4 transform, from 4.86% to 73.55% for 8×8 transform. The computation reduction increases as the QP increases.


HIV-associated sensory neuropathy (HIV-SN) is a disabling complication of HIV disease and antiretroviral therapies (ART). Since stavudine was removed from recommended treatment schedules, the prevalence of HIV-SN has declined and associated risk factors have changed. With stavudine, rs1799964*C (TNF-1031) associated with HIV-SN in Caucasians and Indonesians but not in South Africans. Here, we investigate associations between HIV-SN and rs1799964*C and 12 other polymorphisms spanning TNF and seven neighboring genes (the TNF-block) in Indonesians (n = 202; 34/168 cases) and South Africans (n = 75; 29/75 cases) treated without stavudine. Haplotypes were derived using fastPHASE and haplotype networks built with PopART. There were no associations with rs1799964*C in either population. However, rs9281523*C in intron 10 of BAT1 (alternatively DDX39B) independently associated with HIV-SN in Indonesians after correcting for lower CD4 T-cell counts and >500 copies of HIV RNA/mL (model p = 0.0011, Pseudo R2 = 0.09). rs4947324*T (between NFKBIL1 and LTA) independently associated with reduced risk of HIV-SN and shared haplotype 1 (containing no minor alleles) associated with increased risk of HIV-SN after correcting for greater body weight, a history of tuberculosis and nadir CD4 T-cell counts (model: p = 0.0003, Pseudo R2 = 0.22). These results confirm TNF-block genotypes influence susceptibility of HIV-SN. However, critical genotypes differ between ethnicities and with stavudine use.


Rescaled mutations have been seen to have the potential to significantly improve the performance of evolution strategies in the presence of noise. However, to make use of that potential, the rescaling factor that determines the ratio of the lengths of the trial and search steps needs to be set appropriately. Good settings depend on a multitude of parameters and may vary over time. In this paper, an adaptive approach to generating rescaling factors is proposed. In experiments involving fitness-proportionate noise on several ellipsoidal test functions is it seen that robust and nearly optimal performance is achieved across a range of noise strengths.


Housing affordability is a complex issue that relates the supply and consumption costs of housing to the ability of the household to pay for housing costs. The regulation and policy framework sets the direction for mitigating the negative impacts of housing affordability. This dissertation investigates whether the future direction created by current regulation and policy is appropriate, and whether it will ultimately lead to progress in housing affordability in Roma, as well as in the wider context.

Roma is a regional town within Queensland's Surat Basin resource province. Significant growth of the Coal Seam Gas industry in the region is predicted, which will have ramifications on future availability and affordability of appropriate housing. A detailed analysis of the relevant literature, regulation and policy governing housing provision in Roma has yielded gaps and areas of conflict within the regulation and policy framework. Using Roma as a case study, the disparities in regulation and policy have been examined in depth to gauge what impact the conflicting elements will have on housing affordability. The significance of the areas of conflict within the framework has wider regional and state wide implications that will need to be addressed by regulators.

This dissertation has shown that the volume, complexity and lack of coordination between the various elements of regulation and policy detract from the execution of the regulation and policy framework. As a consequence, regulation and policy roadmaps have been produced to enable the relationships between components within the regulation and policy framework to be visualised. The roadmaps assist with the interpretation of the future direction of regulation and policy, and show where changes can be incorporated into the framework to achieve the desired outcome.

The major recommendation resulting from this dissertation is to ensure the principles of supply and demand in the housing market are balanced. This will involve the provision of additional residential land to be developed at higher density than currently exist in Roma. In conjunction, the methods of measuring housing affordability must be amended, along with accurate and realistic predictions of housing demand to constantly ensure that the regulation and policy framework is relevant, and the supply of land is sufficient.


Despite tremendous advances in critical care, multiple-organ failure continues to be a significant problem. However, in recent years, far fewer patients with multiple-organ failure die early, but many experience ongoing immune dysregulation and are developing persistent inflammation, immunosuppression, and catabolism syndrome (PICS). Most PICS patients are discharged to nonhome destinations, fail to rehabilitate, and succumb to indolent death. From a nutrition perspective, patients with PICS experience persistent inflammation-induced cachexia despite evidenced-based recommended intensive care unit nutrition support. Recent basic and translational research indicates that prolonged expansion of myeloid-derived suppressor cells plays a central role in the pathogenesis of PICS. Myeloid-derived suppressor cells express arginase 1, which depletes arginine, causing immunosuppression and impaired wound healing. This is the rationale for arginine supplementation in PICS. Other nutrition support recommendations for PICS are based on inferences made from other patient populations who experience similar persistent inflammation-induced cachexia. These include patients with established cancers, major burns, and sarcopenia. These patients experience anabolic resistance, but studies show that this can be overcome by providing higher levels of protein and certain specific amino acids. Nutrition support guidelines recommend provision of >1.5 g/kg/d of protein and indicate that higher levels may be needed. Protein composition is also important. There is good evidence that leucine can promote anabolism in patients with cancer and sarcopenia. Finally, anabolic interventions-including intensive insulin, oxandrolone, propranolol, and resistance exercise-have proven to be effective in patients with major burns and are likely relevant in combating PICS cachexia.


Within the context of agent-to-agent purchase negotiations, a problem that has received little attention is that of identifying negotiation opponents in situations where the consequences of conflict and the ability to access resources dynamically vary. Such dynamism poses a number of problems that make it difficult to automate the identification of appropriate opponents. To that end, this paper describes a motivation-based opponent selection mechanism used by a buyer-agent to evaluate and select between an already identified set of seller-agents. Sellers are evaluated in terms of the amount of conflict they are expected to bring to a negotiation and the expected amount of cost a negotiation with them entail. The mechanism allows trade-offs to be made between conflict and cost minimization, and experimental results show the effectiveness of the approach.


Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) populations in Jasper (JNP) and Banff National Parks (BNP) have declined since the 1970s, coincident with reduced fire activity in both parks, relative to historic levels. Some researchers have suggested that long periods without fire may cause habitat deterioration for woodland caribou, primarily by reducing available lichen forage. We examined winter habitat selection by woodland caribou at coarse and fine scales based on GPS-derived telemetry data and used models that included stand origin (decade), topography, and several stand structure variables that are related to time since fire, to explore relationships among caribou, lichen, and fire history. Based on the relationships illustrated by the models, we assessed how fire management could be applied to caribou conservation in JNP and BNP. At a coarse scale, caribou selected old forest (> 75 years) in landscapes that have likely experienced less frequent wildfire. While the abundance of Cladonia spp. influenced caribou use at fine scales, a preference for areas with older trees within stands was also significant. We conclude that short-term habitat protection for woodland caribou in JNP and BNP likely requires fire exclusion from caribou range.


Given the inherently hidden nature of tax evasion, research on tax compliance can be challenging. By drawing on the 'slippery slope' framework, which suggests that the tax climate in a society can vary on a continuum between antagonistic and synergistic, we test a new tool in tax compliance research by comparing two areas that differ in terms of tax compliance but share the same language: Italy and the Canton of Ticino (Switzerland). After retrieving 3554 tax-related articles published between 2010 and 2016 from national newspapers with the highest circulation in the two considered countries, we performed a lexicographical analysis using the software T-LAB. The results show that the Italian and Swiss national presses depict their respective tax systems and tax authorities in very different ways. An antagonistic tax climate (coercive power of authorities and distrust in the tax system) appears to prevail in Italy, while a synergistic tax climate (legitimate power of authorities and trust in the tax system) prevails in the Canton of Ticino. The tool appears to be effective not only in detecting the tax climate of a country but also in monitoring changes over time, thus allowing policymakers to fine-tune their fiscal policies accordingly. The results also offer insights into the effects of the vicious cycle between the tax climate of a country and the way the press depicts it in terms of tax behaviour.


This document defines an IMAP4 extension, which gives an IMAP client
the ability to quickly resynchronize any previously opened mailbox as
part of the SELECT command, without the need for server-side state or
additional client round-trips. This extension also introduces a new
response that allows for a more compact representation of a list of
expunged messages (and always includes the Unique Identifiers (UIDs)
expunged). [STANDARDS-TRACK]


Standards and practices can differ dramatically throughout the world's financial markets, and shareowners must know their rights in the markets where they invest. Shareowner Rights across the Markets is designed to provide shareowners a clear understanding of their rights, current practices, recent developments, and legal and regulatory frameworks in 28 jurisdictions around the world.


In recent months, a plethora of states have turned their legislative attention to protecting employee privacy in the workplace, focusing specifically on passing state laws that protect the "social media privacy" of individuals in their states. Indeed, discussions of workplace privacy are everywhere nowadays: Media stories condemn employers' efforts to monitor their employees' email, Internet and telephone usage. Employees rage about perceived invasions of their privacy. Politicians heatedly debate how to limit employers' prying conduct, passing laws designed to reign in certain types of monitoring by employers. At the same time, employers also find themselves perplexed, as they grapple with how they can gather the information that they need to make important business decisions within an environment that views such efforts with disdain. In a world where technological advancements have made it easier than ever to collect massive amounts of information about those in the workforce and where employers feel an increasing need to collect such information, looming questions continue to exist regarding the proper scope and limits of employees' privacy.This article represents one effort to answer these questions while taking the employers' perspective into account, explaining both the motivations behind and justifications for employers' efforts to "snoop" into their employees' private lives. The article describes the means through which employers gather information about their employees, including through some recent, rather novel approaches to collecting such data. In addition, this article discusses the financial, legal and practical concerns that motivate employers to snoop in the first place, arguing that employers engage in this conduct for what frequently amount to very legitimate reasons. More significantly, this article places substantial responsibility for employer snooping with the courts themselves, highlighting particular decisions and doctrines that not only permit, but in fact encourage, employers to engage in these efforts to monitor employees. At bottom, this paper attempts to put the "problem" of employer snooping into a broader context. While employers certainly should not have access to every aspect of their prospective and current employees' private lives, and while abuses of the boundaries undoubtedly exist, much of the snooping behavior for which employers have been condemned represents more than just senseless meddling, but rather is part of a sound business plan designed to protect employers, employees and the public at large.


Background: An annual report published by the Ministry of Oman stated the diabetes mellitus (DM) prevalence of 15.7% among the patients attending a nutritional clinic. This estimate is higher than the prevalence rate of 12.3% that was reported in the national survey done in 2008. The Omani population having sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (DR) ranges from 14.5% to 42.2%. Many factors can lead to the burden of DR, such as nonawareness or nonserious approach toward eye care. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study included 232 participants through a convenient sampling technique. It used a semi-structured interview method to secure the participant responses for evaluating their DR-related knowledge. Statistical Analysis Used: The significance of the association for knowledge among the different study variables was analyzed by applying the Chi-square test and Fisher exact test. One-way analysis of variance was used to compare the knowledge level between participants with different sociodemographic backgrounds. Results: 91.4% of the study population with nonmedical background are aware of ocular complication of diabetes. Condition-linked knowledge adequacy was associated with gender (P < 0.013), personal (P < 0.00) or family history (P < 0.017) of diabetes, and area of residence (P < 0.012). Only 0.61% of the general population had excellent knowledge about DR, whereas 58.28% of the study participants had a poor, and 22.09% had very poor knowledge about the condition. Conclusions: Majority of the study participants are aware of ocular complications due to DM. However, variations were observed for the condition-related knowledge level, its prevention, diagnostic treatment, and managerial options in case of visual impairment.


AbstractEl Nino is widely recognized as a source of global climate variability. However, because of limited ocean observations during the early part of the twentieth century, little is known about El Nino events prior to the 1950s. An ocean model, driven with surface boundary conditions from a recently completed atmospheric reanalysis of the first half of the twentieth century, is used to provide the first comprehensive description of the structure and evolution of the 1918/19 El Nino. In contrast with previous descriptions, the modeled El Nino is one of the strongest of the twentieth century, comparable in intensity to the prominent events of 1982/83 and 1997/98.


We collected 705 isolates of enterococci (1 per patient) from cultures of a variety of anatomic sites from patients at eight tertiary-care hospitals in six geographic regions of the United States. A total of 632 (90%) Enterococcus faecalis, 58 (8%) E. faecium, 5 E. gallinarum, 4 E. avium, 3 E. casseliflavus, 1 E. raffinosus, and 1 E. hirae isolate and 1 biochemical variant of E. faecalis were identified; 606 (86%) of these isolates were associated with clinical infections. The most common sites of isolation were the urinary tract (402 [57%]), nonsurgical wounds (94 [13%]), the bloodstream (74 [10%]), and surgical wounds (62 [9%]). High-level resistance to gentamicin or streptomycin or both was detected in 265 (38%) of the isolates. We identified two E. faecalis isolates resistant to vancomycin (MICs, 32 and 128 micrograms/ml) and 11 beta-lactamase-producing E. faecalis isolates. E. faecium isolates were significantly more resistant than E. faecalis isolates to penicillin, ampicillin, piperacillin, imipenem, and ciprofloxacin (P less than 0.001). The MICs for the 15 non-E. faecalis, non-E. faecium enterococci indicated variable resistance to ciprofloxacin and the penicillins. Antimicrobial susceptibility patterns vary among species of enterococci, and these organisms, while commonly resistant to high-level aminoglycosides, can also acquire resistance to vancomycin or the ability to produce beta-lactamase. Because of these diverse antimicrobial resistance mechanisms, successful treatment and control of enterococcal infections with current antimicrobial agents are becoming increasingly difficult.


CONTEXT
Whether Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and sleeve gastrectomy (SG) differentially affect postprandial gastrointestinal hormones and β-cell function in type 2 diabetes remains unclear.

OBJECTIVE
To compare gastrointestinal hormones and β-cell function assessed by an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) 5 weeks and 1 year after surgery hypothesizing higher GLP-1 levels and greater β-cell response to glucose after RYGB than after SG.

DESIGN, SETTING, PATIENTS, AND INTERVENTIONS
Randomized, triple blind, single-center trial at a tertiary care center in Norway. Primary outcomes; diabetes remission and IVGTT derived β-cell function. Participants with obesity and type 2 diabetes allocated (1:1) to RYGB or SG.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Gastrointestinal hormone profiles and insulin secretion [β-cell glucose sensitivity (β-GS)] derived from 180 minutes OGTTs.

RESULTS
106 patients (67% women), mean (SD) age 48 (10) years. Diabetes remission rates at 1-year were higher after RYGB than after SG, 77% versus 48%, p = 0.002. Incremental area under the curve (iAUC0-180) glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) and β-GS increased more after RYGB than after SG, 1-year between-group difference 1173 pmol/l*min (95% CI 569 to 1776), p = 0.0010, and 0.45 pmol/kg/min/mmol (95% CI 0.15 to 0.75), p = 0.0032, respectively. Post-surgery, fasting and postprandial ghrelin levels were higher and decremental AUC0-180 ghrelin, iAUC0-180 glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, and iAUC0-60 glucagon were greater after RYGB than after SG. Diabetes remission at 1 year was associated with higher β-GS and higher GLP-1 secretion.

CONCLUSIONS
RYGB was associated with greater improvement in β-cell function and higher postprandial GLP-1 levels than SG.


The hepatopulmonary syndrome (HPS) occurs in a subgroup of patients with cirrhosis and results from intrapulmonary vasodilatation, which may cause significant hypoxemia. Liver transplantation has emerged as a therapeutic option for patients with HPS based on retrospective case series and reports. However, morbidity and mortality appear to be increased after transplantation for HPS, and no prospective studies evaluating clinical features that may predict poor surgical outcome are available. Therefore, we prospectively evaluated the utility of the degree of hypoxemia, the arterial oxygen response to 100% oxygen administration, and the macroaggregated albumin (MAA) scan quantification of intrapulmonary shunting as predictors for outcome after liver transplantation. Our cohort consisted of 24 patients with cirrhosis and HPS who underwent liver transplantation over a 5‐year period at 2 transplant centers who were followed at least 1 year after transplantation. All patients underwent preoperative evaluation for HPS with standardized methods. Seven patients (29%) died postoperatively, 5 of cardiorespiratory complications. All deaths occurred within 10 weeks after transplantation. A preoperative arterial oxygen tension (PaO2) of ≤ 50 mm Hg alone or in combination with a MAA shunt fraction ≥ 20% were the strongest predictors of postoperative mortality. In conclusion, we found that mortality is increased after liver transplantation for HPS, particularly in patients with more severe hypoxemia and significant intrapulmonary shunting. Preoperative testing for the severity of HPS can be used to stratify patients according to the risk for postoperative mortality.