Cecie Starr is the most successful author in non-majors biology because of her clear and engaging writing, trend-setting art, and unparalleled media. BIOLOGY TODAY AND TOMORROW, her most concise text, provides a precise, issues-oriented approach and "solves" some of the toughest course challenges: engaging students, linking concepts from chapter to chapter, easily monitoring students' progress and simplifying lecture prep. Show students how biology matters: opening each chapter with engaging essays on hot issues and related online voting, the text highlights the connections between biology and real-life. Online exercises promote critical thinking about issues students will face as consumers, parents and citizens. Link concepts from chapter to chapter: since students have a difficult time linking concepts, the authors created a new "linking" tool. A list at the start of each chapter reminds students of related topics that were explained earlier. Within chapters, a key icon identifies cross-references to relevant sections in earlier chapters. As students work through the text, they see how topics build upon one another. Monitor students' progress with ease: BiologyNow offers diagnostic quizzes with automatically graded results that flow directly into your instructor grade book (iLrn, WebCT or BlackBoard). And, to assess students' progress instantly with in-class quizzes and polls, you can use JoinIn on TurningPoint content and software. Enjoy easier lecture prep: The new PowerLecture tool integrates all electronic chapter assets - art, photos, animations, videos, links to InfoTrac articles, web links, bulleted text slides, and everything else you need into each chapter's lecture slides. This "buffet" of media resources-arranged by chapter section-is at your fingertips.


Maia is the story of an idea, and its development into a working hypothesis, that provides a cybernetic interpretation of how growth is controlled. Growth at the lowest level is controlled by regulating the rate of growth. Access to the output of control mechanisms is provided by perturbing the growing organism, and then filtering out the consequences to growth rate. The output of the growth control mechanism is then accessible for interpretation and modelling. Perturbation experiments have been used to provide interpretations of hormesis, the neutralization of inhibitory load and acquired tolerance to toxic inhibition, and catch-up growth. The account begins with an introduction to cybernetics covering the regulation of growth and population increase in animals and man and describes this new approach to access the control of growth processes. This book is suitable for postgraduate students of biological cybernetics and researchers of biological growth, endocrinology, population ecology and toxicology.


The present paper examines the metadiscourse of court interpreting, with a focus on the evaluative language used in relation to interpreting of expert witness testimony. The study explores interactional resources such as hedges, boosters, attitude markers, self-mentions and engagement markers, employed by participants in the interpreter-mediated South Korean courtroom examinations of three English-speaking expert witnesses. Extracts analysed for this paper, involving a total of four interpreters, are taken from two court cases (four extracts each from a civil case, featuring experienced conference interpreters, and a criminal case, with unskilled interpreters). In courtroom settings, where the interpretation of expert testimony is frequently contested, this study demonstrates metadiscursive representation of stance management during professional communication, which is closely linked with facework and rapport management. The analysis indicates that hedging is far more frequently used than boosters, and that various attitude markers and engagement markers are used in evaluating interpretations and ensuring their accuracy. Legal professionals and interpreters alike display their evaluative, affective and epistemic orientation in the interdisciplinary professional discourse, and personal interaction, of the courtroom examinations analysed here.


The ICF-CY is the first universal classification system of child health and disability. This classification allows tracking child health and development through a common language and shared conceptualization across professional disciplines and countries. In addition, it is also the first unifying framework that attempts to describe the effects of context and environment on child functioning instead of just a medical case. The ICF-CY is an inclusive classification for health and health-related states including disability. It can be used to record the characteristics of developing children for the multiple purposes of public health, such as use in program planning, surveillance, research, and documentation of intervention outcomes in any setting and country. The public health significance is that the ICF-CY provides a framework that can be adapted internationally by caring and dedicated professionals, community workers, government and health agencies, and children with disabilities and their families to advance thinking about how to best help those with disabilities live their life to the fullest and become integral members of their societies. Furthermore, providing a coding framework for worldwide health data can add to a universal database of information about disability that allow for research across nations, medical services, administrations, and time. Therefore, if people lived in environments that were more supportive of them, the Disability-Adjusted Life Years would go down, and productivity would go up. Children with disabilities are human beings. They deserve a good education and health care just like everyone else. With a classification system that sees them only as medical problems and not as people who live in this world, they will never be equals. Future research and implementation efforts with the ICF-CY promise to (1) revolutionize the way stakeholders in health care delivery systems think about and classify disability, (2) improve the quality of health care for individual with disability across the world, (3) generate innovative disability outcome-based research, and (4) influence culturally sensitive global health policy on disability.


Studies by psychologists, sociologists and economists indicate that increases in incomes beyond about US$4,000 are not related to happiness nor significantly with the objective quality-of-life indicators (which increase with scientific and technological breakthroughs at the global level). Yet everyone wants more money. This may be explained by environmental disruption, relative-income effects, inadequate recognition of adaptation effects, and the materialistic bias due to our accumulation instinct and advertising. These factors cause a bias towards private consumption, making public spending, especially on research and environmental protection (with their long-term and global public-good nature) well below optimal. This is made worse by economists' emphasis on the excess burden of taxation, ignoring the negative excess burden on the spending side.


IN NOVEMBER 1898, AS NORTH CAROLINA'S DEMOCRATS COMPLETED their violent campaign against African American Republicans and white Populists, a young Carolinian mischievously asked if white supremacy leaders were happier that the "Democrats won in the election" or that "Chapel Hill beat Virginia" in a football game. In a similarly lighthearted moment, newly elected legislator Henry G. Connor, already at work on the state constitutional amendment that would disenfranchise African Americans, teased his son Robert, a senior at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in Chapel Hill, that university president Edwin A. Alderman "had better be good to you" now that the father was on the winning side. Their joking references to the overlap between the campus and the white supremacy campaign touched on a connection that went well beyond social networks and into the world of ideas. Alderman called Henry Connor's white supremacy leadership "an act of citizenship not less heroic than going to war," and the president worked for months to lure the self-educated Henry Connor to Chapel Hill, first to give a commencement address and then, in an effort that failed, to convince him to accept a new professorship in law and political economy. In the spring of 1899, UNC's University Magazine published an essay titled "The Negro in the South" that used history and anthropology to justify the state's movement on the grounds that Anglo-Saxons were a "predominant race wherever they have gone." At the end of the school year, Robert Connor and his classmates on the school yearbook signaled the interaction between campus and state by dedicating the Hellenian to Frank Winston, an alumnus and trustee who in 1898 had directed the state's white supremacy clubs, helped Henry Connor author the disenfranchisement amendment, and "by loyal service to his State and University ... shown himself to be a statesman and alumnus worthy of our esteem." (1) It was no wonder that a white supremacy legislator claimed, "I owe all that I have in this world to the University and to the Democratic Party." For many white supremacy leaders in North Carolina, their effort to topple the South's strongest biracial political movement was as much a social and intellectual effort as a political one. Despite scholarly portrayals of its roots in crass ambition or personal neuroses, North Carolina's white supremacy was in fact a mandarin moment led by a newly self-conscious group of public intellectuals. These men were participants, if not leading or systematic ones, in a global project, one in which social scientific theories of progress, race, reproduction, and degeneration inspired new waves of statist reform programs across Europe and the United States. Although their ideas were colored by their particular experiences in North Carolina, they were part of a broad current of what sociologist Edward A. Ross called "selectionist" thought. This statist approach to governance celebrated the role of educated leaders in selecting the proper aspects of society to reproduce in order to drive the nation toward progress and away from degeneration. By placing these intellectual networks at the center of the formation and dissemination of North Carolina white supremacy, this article traces the roles of ideas and of the University of North Carolina in the formation of this thinking class. (2) Viewing white supremacy from the realm of campus debates seems peculiar next to the now-iconic images of the campaign drawn by scholars like Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore, Eric Anderson, and Helen G. Edmonds: jostling and then bloodshed on the streets of Wilmington, violent attacks at campaign canvasses in the eastern Second Congressional District (the so-called Black Second), and lurid and invented stories of rape in Josephus Daniels's newspaper, the Raleigh News and Observer. From Edmonds's pathbreaking 1951 The Negro and Fusion Politics in North Carolina, 1894-1901, through works by H. Leon Prather St. …


Introduction: Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) is a polymicrobial infection of the upper genital tract characterised clinically by triad of symptoms and signs: pelvic pain, cervical motion with adnexal tenderness and fever. Conventional treatment is with broad-spectrum antibiotics. The alternative medicine, especially Homoeopathy, is the second choice of therapy as per the WHO. Case reports of PID in the medical literature are scant. We aim to report a case treated with homoeopathic constitutional medicine in a woman suffering from PID. Case Summary: A 29-year-old female presented with the symptoms of white discharge per vagina, constant dull pain in the lower abdomen, low backache, fever and lassitude for 2 weeks. Clinical findings and ultrasound of the whole abdomen suggested PID. Individualised homoeopathic medicine Calcarea carbonica was prescribed in centesimal potency which showed a positive role in the treatment of PID. Causal attribution of changes in her condition to the homoeopathic treatment was depicted by modified Naranjo criteria. Future observational studies and randomised control trials are suggested to ascertain the efficacy of homoeopathy in the cases of PID.


Background: Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells aremultipotentstem cellsthat can be producedfrom adult cells such as fibroblastsby the induction ofartificial reprogramming.
Since such cells can be differentiated to endoderm, mesodermand ectoderm asembryonic stem (ES) cells, theirpotential utility for the regenerative therapy of various organs is expected. The inner ear is composed of various types of functional cells (hair cells, supporting cells, spiral ganglion, cochlear fibrocytes, striavascularis, etc.), and each cell type. Although the degeneration of these cells leads directly to severe hearing loss, there are few reports concerning thedifferentiation of iPS cells to various types of inner ear cells for regenerative therapy.
Results: In this study, we co-cultured iPS-derived cells with three different regions (spiral ganglion, the organ of Corti with spiral limbus, lateral wall) of the cochlear tissue and tod attempted to induce their differentiation into various types of inner ear cells. The number of positive colonies (Nanogpositive colony) with reporter GFP controlled by Nanogpromotor was counted to assess the undifferentiated level of the cells. In the co-cultured cells with spiral ganglion, many Nanog-positive colonies were observed, and many cells with neurite-like protrusions were observed among the colonies. In the co-culture with the organ of Cortiand spiral limbus (OC/SL), neuron-like cells were observed on the cell layer with tight junction-like adhesions. In the co-culture with the cochlear lateral wall, many cell layers with tight junction-like adhesions were observed, while undifferentiated Nanogpositive colonies were not observed. Conclusion: In this study, we demonstrated that differentiation of iPS cells to cochlear cells was regulated depending on the part of the co-cultured organs. Co-culture with cochlea tissue and the induced pluripotent stem cells may enable regenerative therapy of various types of inner ear cells.


Get an insider's look at the techniques, equipment, and know-how needed to take eye-catching and inspiring sports action photographs with "Digital Sports Photography, Second Edition." Written by an experienced professional sports photographer and featuring firsthand insight and ideas from other industry pros, this book provides the basics of sports photography whether you are just getting started or want to enhance your skills. You'll learn about color management, camera setup, equipment options, shutter speeds, composition, and more to help you attain professional-quality results with a digital camera. You'll also discover what a sports photo editor looks for when selecting images, knowledge you can use to help you take the best possible shots, whether you aspire to be a professional or just want to take great sports photos for fun. The book concentrates on shooting six major sportsbaseball, football, basketball, hockey, soccer, and tenniswhile providing methods and strategies that can be used to photograph any sport, at the amateur, collegiate, or pro level. Filled with fantastic images to illustrate the skills taught, a full-color gallery of images taken by the author, and even a glossary of helpful photography terms, "Digital Sports Photography, Second Edition" provides invaluable information and guidance on the excitingand challenging world of sports photography.


The membrane phospholipid phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2) is an important signaling molecule as substrate for the phospholipase C (PLC)-catalyzed formation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3) and diacylglycerol, and by directly regulating e.g. ion-channels, the cytoskeleton and vesicle trafficking in various types of cells. The present studies provide insights into the regulation of PLC activity and the plasma membrane concentration of PIP2 in individual insulin-secreting cells. Real-time monitoring of plasma membrane PIP2 was performed with evanescent wave microscopy and the PIP2/IP3-binding pleckstrin-homology-domain from PLC-δ1 fused to GFP. It was demonstrated that membrane depolarization and voltage-dependent Ca2+ influx are sufficient to activate PLC. Rise of the glucose concentration triggered Ca2+-dependent activation of PLC. Simultaneous measurements of the cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration ([Ca2+]i) demonstrated that oscillations of [Ca2+]i resulting from periodic influx induced cyclic activation of PLC. Activation of muscarinic receptors caused a biphasic PLC response with an initial peak enhanced by positive feedback by Ca2+ mobilized from intracellular stores, followed by sustained activity depending on store-operated Ca2+-entry. Activation of PLC by Ca2+ mobilized from intracellular stores was part of the Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release mechanism by which glucagon stimulates primary mouse pancreatic β-cells. Experiments in permeabilized cells demonstrated rapid turnover of PIP2 with t1/2 ~ 16s. ATP stimulated concentration-dependent synthesis of plasma membrane PIP2, counteracted by the ADP analogue ADPβS. RT-PCR analysis identified transcripts of 10 different phosphoinositide-kinases. The ATP-stimulated PIP2 formation was mediated by type II and III PI4-kinases as well as by PIP5-kinase Iβ. It is concluded that the PIP2 concentration in the plasma membrane is regulated by the ATP/ADP ratio and that its hydrolysis by PLC is tightly controlled by [Ca2+]i in insulin-secreting cells.


OBJECTIVES--To investigate current practice of screening children from abroad for infections after coming to the United Kingdom, and to make recommendations for future practice. DESIGN--A review of literature and a questionnaire sent to all health authorities and boards in the United Kingdom. SETTING--All health authorities and boards in the United Kingdom. SUBJECTS--167 Health authorities or boards that completed questionnaires (response rate 80%), 59 of which used a screening programme. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE--Response to questionnaire on policies for screening children for infections on their return from overseas. RESULTS--12 Of the 59 authorities screened all children and one screened only those from the West Indian subcontinent. 13 Authorities excluded children from school while awaiting results; 58 screened for tuberculosis and four for diphtheria. CONCLUSIONS--There is a wide variation in screening policies around the country with no national consensus. Screening for diphtheria, typhoid, and salmonellosis is hard to justify and is probably not effective. Screening for tuberculosis, however, is supported by many authorities, is widely practised, and probably is effective. There is a strong case for rationalisation of screening.


Title of dissertation: LONGITUDINAL PREDICTION OF DOMAIN SATISFACTION AND GLOBAL LIFE SATISFACTION: TEST OF A SOCIAL COGNITIVE MODEL Daniel Browne Singley, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005 Dissertation directed by: Professor Robert Lent Counseling and Personnel Services The experience of life satisfaction has been studied at a global level and in specific domains of life such as work, marriage, and academic satisfaction. Global life satisfaction has been described as a predictor of, as well as an outcome of, domainspecific life satisfaction. "Top-down" conceptualizations of well-being indicate that one's level of overall satisfaction is essentially a personality trait, whereas "bottom-up" approaches assert that the experience of satisfaction in different domains of life combine to yield an overall sense of satisfaction. In order to integrate these two approaches, the current study utilized a longitudinal methodology and structural equation modeling to address how personality traits, domain-specific social cognitive variables, and life satisfaction (both general and domain-specific) relate to each other over time. A model of the hypothesized psychological processes involved in goal evaluations, life satisfaction, and positive affect is outlined. Of particular interest was the extent to which social cognitive variables (self-efficacy, social supports, and goal progress) account for unique variance in subsequent life satisfaction and domain-specific life satisfaction after controlling for personality effects (positive affect). In this study, 769 university students completed an online survey of their goals, academic satisfaction, and general life satisfaction at two points in time 8 weeks apart. Based on previous theory and empirical research on domain-specific satisfaction, this integrative model is cognitively-based and posits that if one has positive perceptions (high self-efficacy, resource availability, progress in goal pursuit) regarding one's goals in a particular life domain (e.g., family, work), then one will experience higher levels of satisfaction in that domain. Global life satisfaction and domain-specific satisfaction were hypothesized to have reciprocal effects on each other over time, as were goal progress and goal self-efficacy. Results generally supported the proposed model. The social cognitive variables accounted for significant variance in subsequent global and domain-specific satisfaction even after controlling for the effects of personality. Goaloriented perceptions may, therefore, nurture a sense of satisfaction independent of personality traits. Self-efficacy and goal progress were found to have reciprocal effects, whereas global life satisfaction and domain-specific satisfaction did not. Results and implications for future research are discussed. LONGITUDINAL PREDICTION OF DOMAIN SATISFACTION AND GLOBAL LIFE SATISFACTION: TEST OF A SOCIAL COGNITIVE MODEL by Daniel Browne Singley Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2005 Advisory Committee: Professor Robert W. Lent, Chairperson Professor Paul HangesDean's Representative Professor Mary Ann Hoffman Professor Dennis Kivlighan Professor William E. Sedlacek Dr. Linda Tipton


Referring to the work of the Innsbruck-born and Berlin-based dialectologist Alois Brandl (1855–1940), the paper shows how the opportunities provided by early recording technology made linguists question the notion of dialect as a stable, regionally defined variety of a language. It goes on to argue that since then rapid migration and the new media, with their interactive potential, have joined to further sever the link between territory and dialect and have, in many instances, led to an almost instant globalization of vernacular features which is not yet adequately captured by our existing variationist models. Examples are taken from English-based pidgins and creoles, which were geographically and socially marginal languages in the colonial period, but have gained considerable visibility world-wide in the last few decades. The paper concludes by making the point that globalization does not merely affect the spread and influence of standard varieties of English but that there is today also a large pool of deterritorialized dialect features which make it useful to postulate the existence of a "World Non-Standard English" (WNSE).


One of the most influential books in human history, in a revelatory new translation The book that the Chinese have returned to repeatedly for reflection, renewal, and validation of their own views, "The Analects" was compiled by the disciples of Confucius, China s earliest teacher and moral thinker, from his remarks and his conversations with rulers, political operators, and people he happened to meet. It laid the foundation of the Chinese idea of what is moral and what is politically viable, what is a good government and who has integrity. Featuring both the English and Chinese texts, this new translation, by one of the pre-eminent scholars of Confucius, draws on the most recent excavated manuscripts and centuries of scholarship to illuminate the historical context of Confucius teachings, explaining who the many local figures referenced are, and navigating a rich tradition of historical commentaries. The result is a map of Confucian thought that brings us as close as possible to experiencing Confucius as his followers might have 2,500 years ago. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."


Past research has identified many ways in which decisions are influenced by the context of the decision environment. In this dissertation, we use eye-tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the processes and strategies individuals use in different decision contexts. The first two chapters use eye-tracking to extract fine-grained process data that uncover the different strategies that individuals employ in response to changes in the decision environment. Chapter 2 investigates how decision processes change in response to different modes of preference elicitation. We find that preferences for gambles shift between choice and bid elicitation. More importantly, these preference reversals are accompanied by differential attention to gamble attributes (probability of winning versus amount to win), suggesting that these reversals are due to differential weighting of these attributes in the two contexts. Chapter 3useseye-tracking to investigate how decision strategies shift as the number of options and time pressure increases. In response to an increasing number of choice options, all subjects consider only a subset of the options before making a decision, in which the value of a single attribute (the probability of winning) has the largest effect on whether an option is considered. Critically, those experiencing time pressure tended to then use a simpler attributebased strategy to choose amongst the subset of options considered, while those not under time pressure tended to use a compensatory tradeoff-based strategy.Chapter 3 highlights how eye-tracking can be especially useful in detecting subtle changes in decision strategies. In the final study, we use fMRI data and multi-voxel pattern analysis to understand how decision strategies are represented in the brain. Overall, we find that different forms of task complexity recruit similar neural regions across the frontal and parietal cortices, which have previously been implicated as responding in a non-specific manner to general cognitive demands. However, inconsistent with a general or non-specific role in cognitive demand, multi-voxel pattern analysis can distinguish different forms of task complexity in all of these regions. Given that different forms of task complexity evoke different decision strategies, this suggests that fMRI could potentially be used to decode or predict the decision strategies individuals are using. Taken together, this work furthers our understanding of how decision processes changes in response to changes in the task context and suggests important future directions for using eye-tracking and fMRI to identify the processes and strategies individuals use to make a decision. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Psychology First Advisor Joseph W. Kable Subject Categories Cognitive Psychology | Neuroscience and Neurobiology | Psychology This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1156 This dissertation is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1156 ! COGNITIVE AND NEURAL PROCESSES OF CONSTRUCTED PREFERENCES Betty Kim Viechnicki


One of the hallmarks of the Security and Exchange Commision's (SEC's) investigative process is that it is shrouded in secrecy––only the SEC staff, high-level managers of the company being investigated, and outside counsel are typically aware of active investigations. We obtain novel data on all investigations closed by the SEC between 2000 and 2017––data that were heretofore nonpublic––and find that such investigations predict economically material declines in future firm performance. Despite evidence that the vast majority of these investigations are economically material, firms are not required to disclose them, and only 19% of investigations are initially disclosed. We examine whether corporate insiders exploit the undisclosed nature of these investigations for personal gain. Despite the undisclosed and economically material nature of these investigations, we find that insiders are not abstaining from trading. In particular, we find a pronounced spike in insider selling among undisclosed investigations with the most severe negative outcomes; and that abnormal selling activity appears highly opportunistic and earns significant abnormal returns. Our results suggest that SEC investigations are often undisclosed, economically material nonpublic events, and that insiders are trading in conjunction with these events. This paper was accepted by Suraj Srinivasan, accounting.


Neutrophils are armed with both oxidant-dependent and -independent pathways for killing pathogens. Activation of the phagocyte nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase constitutes an emergency response to infectious threat and results in the generation of antimicrobial reactive oxidants. In addition, NADPH oxidase activation in neutrophils is linked to activation of granular proteases and generation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs). NETosis involves the release of nuclear and granular components that can target extracellular pathogens. NETosis is activated during microbial threat and in certain conditions mimicking sepsis, and can result in both augmented host defense and inflammatory injury. In contrast, apoptosis, the physiological form of neutrophil death, not only leads to non-inflammatory cell death but also contributes to alleviate inflammation. Although there are significant gaps in knowledge regarding the specific contribution of NETs to host defense, we speculate that the coordinated activation of NADPH oxidase and NETosis maximizes microbial killing. Work in engineered mice and limited patient experience point to varying susceptibility of bacterial and fungal pathogens to NADPH oxidase versus NET constituents. Since reactive oxidants and NET constituents can injure host tissue, it is important that these pathways be tightly regulated. Recent work supports a role for NETosis in both acute lung injury and in autoimmunity. Knowledge gained about mechanisms that modulate NETosis may lead to novel therapeutic approaches to limit inflammation-associated injury.


Managers of photographic collections in libraries and archives are exploring digital image database systems, but they usually have few sources of technical guidance and analysis available. Correctly digitizing photographs puts high demands on the imaging system and the human operators involved in the task. Pictures are very dense with information, requiring high-quality scanning procedures. In order to provide advice to libraries and archives seeking to digitize photographic collections, it is necessary to thoroughly understand the nature of the various originals and the purposes for digitization. Only with this understanding is it possible to choose adequate image quality for the digitization process. The higher the quality, the more expertise, time, and cost is likely to be involved in generating and delivering the image. Despite all the possibilities for endless copying, distributing, and manipulating of digital images, image quality choices made when the files are first created have the same 'finality' that they have in conventional photography. They will have a profound effect on project cost, the value of the final project to researchers, and the usefulness of the images as preservation surrogates. Image quality requirements therefore have to be established carefully before a digitization project starts.


The process of mucoadhesion has been widely studied using a wide variety of methods, which are influenced by instrumental variables and experiment design, making the comparison between the results of different studies difficult. The aim of this work was to standardize the conditions of the detachment test and the rheological methods of mucoadhesion assessment for semisolids, and introduce a texture profile analysis (TPA) method. A factorial design was developed to suggest standard conditions for performing the detachment force method. To evaluate the method, binary polymeric systems were prepared containing poloxamer 407 and Carbopol 971P®, Carbopol 974P®, or Noveon® Polycarbophil. The mucoadhesion of systems was evaluated, and the reproducibility of these measurements investigated. This detachment force method was demonstrated to be reproduceable, and gave different adhesion when mucin disk or ex vivo oral mucosa was used. The factorial design demonstrated that all evaluated parameters had an effect on measurements of mucoadhesive force, but the same was not observed for the work of adhesion. It was suggested that the work of adhesion is a more appropriate metric for evaluating mucoadhesion. Oscillatory rheology was more capable of investigating adhesive interactions than flow rheology. TPA method was demonstrated to be reproducible and can evaluate the adhesiveness interaction parameter. This investigation demonstrates the need for standardized methods to evaluate mucoadhesion and makes suggestions for a standard study design.


This study examines the impact of the sale of the Greek city of Parga to the Ottoman Turks by the English government in 1819 on the cultural work of Romantic Italian intellectuals and artists. I place Parga at the intersection of cultural, political, and historical discourses, and argue that this event is a prism to chart the major leading forces, tensions, and ideas that coalesced in the formation of Italian cultural nationalism, or Risorgimento the movement that led to the unification of the peninsula in 1861. By extending the boundaries of the Italian national movement to another national cause and, by implication, to the larger European geo-political and geo-cultural space, I also shed light on the transnational aspects of 19 century Italian nationalist culture. In this study, I refer to the different branches of philhellenism in Europe and to the solidification of a hierarchy of European civilizations, which saw Southern Europe as a region impermeable to the progress and advances of Northern modernity and thus unsuited for political freedom and economic independence. Against the background of this complex political and ideological context, the sale of Parga was rapidly transformed into a powerful tool of political propaganda by Italian intellectuals. Writers such as Ugo Foscolo, Giovanni Berchet, and Giacomo Leopardi, and painters such as Francesco Hayez and Cherubino Cornienti, mobilized conceptual oppositions between East/West, North/South, Christianity/Islam, civilization/barbarity to demonstrate the degree of civilization and readiness for freedom of Mediterranean populations, and claim the Italian nation's 'rightful' place in Europe. The Sale of Parga in the Nationalist Imaginary of 19 Century Italy: 1819-1858


Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have attracted a great deal of interest in the development of high-performance engineering composites, due to their exceptional physical, mechanical, electronic and thermal properties. Incorporation of CNTs into polymer has resulted in great improvements in functional properties; however, the enhancement of mechanical properties was insignificant compared with that in micro-sized fiber reinforced polymers. In order to realize the application of composites for structural and multifunctional parts, it is necessary to develop hybrid composites with microand nano-sized reinforcements. CNT reinforced hybrid composites have been studied in several ways: the addition of CNTs to a matrix with various dispersion methods, the growth of CNTs on substrate reinforcements, CNT sprays, etc. In this study, the electrophoresis deposition (EPD) method has been applied to deposit CNTs on a carbon fabric. By applying an electric field between a copper plate and a substrate, the negatively charged CNTs in a suspension move toward a carbon fabric. The controllable parameters in the EPD process are identified as the deposition time, the voltage, the contents of the CNTs, and the distance between the copper plate and the carbon fabric. In order to determine the optimal process conditions, the Taguchi method for the statistical design of experiment (DOE) has been utilized. Since the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of the hybrid composites is associated with the amount and the degree of distribution of the CNTs, it was selected as the response for the analysis of means and signal-tonoise ratio. The ILSS was measured by short-beam test according to ASTM 2344. The composite sample was fabricated by the vacuum-assisted resin transfer molding process. In addition, the distribution of CNTs was examined by Composites: Advances in Manufacture and Characterisation 53 www.witpress.com, ISSN 1755-8336 (on-line) WIT Transactions on State of the Art in Science and Engineering, Vol 88, © 2015 WIT Press doi:10.2495/978-1-78466-167-0/006 scanning electron microscopy. By utilizing the statistical software MINITAB 14 for DOE, the optimal deposition conditions have been determined.


This article explores the relationship between the concept of 'organized hypocrisy' and institutional reform in UN peacekeeping. It first demonstrates how the organized hypocrisy in exit strategies arose from the discrepancy between rhetoric, peacekeeping mandates and actions in the field. The analysis then shows how, as a response to organized hypocrisy, peacebuilding replaced the election-based approach of exit strategies from the early 1990s. By evaluating the institutionalization of peacebuilding, the study reveals the hypocritical potential of reform; complex mission mandates, as well as the Peacebuilding Commission, exhibit elements of counter-coupled organized hypocrisy and meta-hypocrisy that remain unresolved.


This article uses Carling's aspiration/ability model and the social anchoring concept proposed by Grzymala-Kazlowska to explain the post-deportation experience of Mexicans deported from the United States of America. I analyze how deported people's aspirations are shaped by US migration policies and by their families, as well as by local community obligations. The data comes from seven years of longitudinal research in a rural community in Oaxaca. I conclude that under the immobility regime produced by the US for the deported Mexicans, their aspirations of remigration evolve into desperation. Often unable to remigrate to the US, they are stuck in a limbo of desperation until they refunnel their aspirations and anchor them in Mexico. At the same time, they resynchronize their life courses with other community members.


Abstract Marine hard-substrate communities are important ecological and evolutionary resources for paleontologists and neontologists, yet their study is handicapped by numerous terms that are used inconsistently. A rationalized nomenclature system is proposed for plants and animals that encrust or bore natural marine hard substrates. The terms describe the identity of the colonizing organism, the nature of the substrate, and the location of the colonist (on the surface or within the substrate). These terms follow simple principles, making them easy to construct and interpret. A new collective term also is introduced: a sclerobiont is any organism (animal or plant) fouling any kind of hard substrate.


Tanapaeva Eesti kunstiajalookirjutuses kirjeldatakse rahvuslikku diskursust eelkoige noukogude režiimile oponeeriva kaitsemehhanismina. Samas on see olnud uks olulisemaid marksonu ka noukogude kultuuripoliitikas. Artiklis kasitletaksegi rahvuslikkuse diskursuse muutumist sulaperioodi noukogude kultuuripoliitikas ning vaadeldakse Hrustsovi ajajargu ametlikuks kunstiks tituleeritud karmi stiili rolli eesti kunsti rahvuslike tunnuste maaratlemisel 1960. aastate esimesel poolel Balti riikide uhiste nn esindusnaituste kontekstis. The article addresses the developments of national discourse in visual arts during the Thaw, exploring the role of Estonian version of the Severe style – an all-union phenomenon retrospectively labeled the "official" art of the Khrushchev period – in defining the national characteristics of Estonian art in the 1960s.  In Estonian post-Socialist art history writings on the Soviet era, the concept national has mostly been introduced as a defense mechanism against the regime, identified in art of the Thaw period first and foremost in reviving the impressionist qualities prominent in local prewar art. Nevertheless, the national question has also been one of the central concerns in Soviet cultural policy, undergoing quite remarkable changes over the time. Being suppressed during the Stalinist years, the clarification and cultivation of national particularities became one of the most important methods of de-Stalinization in visual arts after the 20 th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1956. The critical revisions of the stiff division of cultural creations into "socialist content" and "national form" followed, seeing the national qualities manifesting itself also in substance of art works. This brought along the gradual reassessing of the great part of pre-Soviet artistic heritage. The main aim of the "nativization" or "(re-)nationalization", however, was to reawake contemporary art, having been restrained by rigid restrictions of Stalinist socialist realism dogmas. Additionally, due to Khrushchev's policy of opening up to the world, since the end of 1950s the rivalry with the West provided reason to modernize the visual language of Soviet art, and to mobilize on an anti-abstractionism front to establish a common (international) socialist contemporary artistic language. Consequently, the discussions about "contemporary style", envisaging the qualities like publicist pathos, synthesis, expressiveness, laconism and monumentalism, overflew the cultural media. Around 1960 the new program of Soviet art evolution started to take form, being described as a "dialectic" process of simultaneous blossoming of national cultures and internationalization (drawing together the cultures of Soviet nations). In the visual arts, the characteristics of "contemporary style" related most closely with the attributes of Severe style, especially in the so called thematical pictures (figurative compositions on the "important" subject). Most prominent schools of the style emerged in the end of 1950s-early 1960s in Moscow and Riga, but similar features were quite strongly visible in Estonian art of the era as well. Although since the 1990s the Estonian art history studies have seen the phenomenon as being more foreign than intrinsic to Estonian art, I argue that the local version of "international" Severe style had an impact on the perception of Estonianness in the 1960s. As back then the topic of national particularities was addressed most profoundly in relation to representative exhibitions, especially those providing possibilities of comparing the different national schools, in the article the reception of  joint exhibitions of Baltic art (the 1959 exhibition and conference of Baltic Thematic Painting in Tallinn and the 1960 and 1966 anniversary art exhibitions of 20 and 25 years of Soviet Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia in Moscow) are analyzed. It appears that in the end of 1950s and early 1960s it was Latvian large scale Severe styled thematic paintings that overshadowed the Lithuanian and Estonian art, lacking proper thematic compositions. Estonian art was criticized for being too modest and reserved, even cold. Its intimate format and restrained mood were not considered that much national particularities as shortcomings. However, the mid-1960s brought changes. Inspired by Latvian success, Severe style established itself more strongly in Estonian art as well, providing quite a few thematic compositions (still rather small in size). What's more, the discussions on "contemporary style" found a new format to elaborate – monumental art –, allowing to reinstate the specific qualities of panel painting. Respectively the reception of the 1966 joint exhibition of Baltic art in Moscow was very favourable to Estonian school: its intimate format was now praised for being honest, its ascetism no longer associated with poorness. The school was characterized by a severity, its unique, emotional intellectuality. Accordingly one could claim that it was in large part thanks to the "international" Severe style that the most important features of Estonian art – restraint and reticence – were officially approved and coldness became valued and re-termed severity . The case of Severe style quite well demonstrates how the nationalization of art worked concurrently as a tool of sovetization. As the authoritative assessments had a strong impact on the self-descriptions of the Estonian school, it is rather impossible in retrospect to distinguish the defensive nationality from the soviet national discourse.


The conference devoted to the 110th anniversary of Dr. Viktor Sergeevich Ivlev (1907–1964) and to the 100th anniversary of Dr. Irina Viktorovna Ivleva (1918–1992) "Prospects and directions of aquatic ecology development" was held in Sevastopol, 11–15 October, 2017. The conference was attended by 76 researchers from 31 scientific and educational organizations of Russia, Belarus and Israel. Participants made 57 oral and 24 poster presentations with the results of studies of ecosystems of the World Ocean, the Arctic and Antarctic, the Far East, Siberia, Europe and, of course, the Black Sea region and the Republic of Crimea.


In 2007 the World Bank released the World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development signifying a reinvigorated interest in sub-Saharan Africa"s agricultural crisis (World Bank 2007). As part of the debate, frenzied calls were made for more fertilizer application, better technology and water irrigation in the agricultural sector. Within this debate, communal forms of land tenure were faulted for causing tenure insecurity, inhibiting land collateralization, and frustrating agricultural investment and ultimately agricultural productivity. Using data from Tanzania and Uganda this thesis critiques the terms of this debate and the premises upon which a link is made between communal forms of land tenure and agricultural failure. The major point of departure for this thesis arises from the ways in which historical and political dimensions of the agricultural crisis are absent within current efforts aimed at resolving the agricultural crisis, which have dissolution of communal land tenures at their center. I argue it is through the historical experience of Tanzania and Uganda that there has emerged a social and political institutional apparatus that has led to a pro-export and anti-food crop agricultural regime; an agricultural dualism that has favored export crops over food crops. This agricultural dualism, I show, is an outcome of transformation in social and political relations at national and local levels, themselves outcomes of how nation states are embedded within the larger global economy. In order to demonstrate the ways in which political and social transformation have contributed to this agricultural dualism, I will situate land use and agricultural production historically, making specific reference to how social relations and political power have shaped how land is owned and used in Tanzania and Uganda. In addition, by situating their land tenure and land use historically I will expose the institutional, political and social context that contributes to anti-domestic food crop on one hand and pro-agricultural exports on the other. Ultimately, I transcend the simple and quick technological solutions advocated by modernists and to privilege sociological tools in understanding and resolving the crisis in the agricultural and food systems of Tanzania and Uganda.


Radha Appan Nance College of Business Administration Cleveland State University firstname.lastname@example.com Glenn J. Browne McIntire School of Commerce University of Virginia firstname.lastname@example.com Successful systems development requires that appropriate and accurate information be gathered from people who use or will use the system. One critical issue in information gathering is the recall of relevant information by users and other stakeholders. Prior research has shown that users do not recall all the relevant information they have about the requirements for systems, and we suggest that this problem is exacerbated by current systems development practice, in which the same users are often interviewed multiple times by analysts. A potential theoretical explanation for recall failure in requirements determination is the psychological phenomenon known as Retrieval-Induced Forgetting. Retrieval-Induced Forgetting (RIF) theory and empirical findings show that when people are asked to recall information about a situation multiple times, they are likely to recall the same information on subsequent attempts as they recalled on the first attempt (to the exclusion of other relevant information). Although the RIF phenomenon has been investigated in several contexts, such as eyewitness testimony, there have been no studies that have examined the issue in applied contexts such as systems development, in which prior domain knowledge exists and has been learned over a period of time by users and other stakeholders. In the current study, experimental results showed the presence of RIF in both short-term and longer-term information requirements determination (IRD) contexts, thereby providing a memory-based explanation for missing requirements in IRD. Our results have strong implications for the type and sequencing of requirements elicitation techniques and demonstrate threats to both traditional and iterative development methodologies.


In recent days, vehicles have been equipped with smart devices that offer various multimedia-related applications and services, such as smart driving assistance, traffic congestions, weather forecasting, road safety alarms, and many entertainment and comfort applications. Thus, these smart vehicles produce a large amount of multimedia-related data that require fast and real-time processing. However, due to constrained computing and storage capacities, such huge amounts of multimedia-related data cannot be processed in on-board standalone devices. Thus, multimedia cloud computing (MCC) has emerged as an economical and scalable computing technology that can process multimedia-related data efficiently while providing improved Quality of Service (QoS) to vehicular users from anywhere, at any time and on any device, at reduced costs. However, there are certain challenges, such as fast service response time and resource cost optimization, that can severely affect the performance of the MCC. Therefore, to tackle these issues, in this paper, we propose a dynamic priority-based architecture for the MCC. In the proposed scheme, we divide multimedia processing into four different subphases, while computing resources to each computing server are assigned dynamically, according to the workload, in order to process multimedia tasks according to the multimedia user Quality of Experience (QoE) requirements. The performance of the proposed scheme is evaluated in terms of service response time and resource cost optimization using the CloudSim simulator.


Pt–graphene contacts are fabricated by atomic layer deposition (ALD) on H2 and O2 plasma functionalized graphene. The plasma functionalization of graphene enables the growth of uniform Pt layers on graphene by ALD and improves the Pt–graphene interaction, which results in a reduced Pt–graphene contact resistance. Devices created using a H2 plasma treatment before Pt ALD perform considerably better than the ones created using O2 plasma treatments (Rc = 0.4 ± 0.2 kΩ µm and Rc = 1.2 ± 0.1 kΩ µm, respectively). The lower performance of the O2 plasma treatments is attributed to a less favorable Pt–graphene oxide interaction and the amorphization of graphene due to the O2 plasma interaction. Supporting the latter, density functional theory calculations indicate that the CH groups created by a H2 plasma treatment leave the π‐conjugation (by C‐pz orbitals) of graphene largely intact, resulting in good in‐plane and out‐of‐plane conductivity. The CO groups formed by an O2 plasma treatment however disturb the C‐pz character, deteriorating the in‐plane conduction of graphene, despite the good out‐of‐plane conduction. The results indicate that the treatment of graphene by H2 plasma is a straightforward approach to improve the ALD growth on graphene and reduce the Pt–graphene contact resistance.


The article presents some new ideas about the Roman Iron Age and Migration Period site at Gene in Northern Sweden. The farm is situated in the northernmost fringe of the petty kingdom of Central Norrland. The people who settled at Gene are believed to have played a major role in trade and exchange with coastal groups northwards and inland groups west- and north-westwards. The place names connected to -gene- form a hydronym complex along the River Moalven, all the way up to Lake Vetasjon. At the end of that communication route a cremation grave, without any suprastructure and dated to c. AD 550, has been excavated. It contained high class weapons including a lance, axe, arrowheads, knives and a strike-a-light stone and was located at a site with Sami hearths. The arrow heads may have been forged in the Gene smithy.This type of hydronym complex, with archaeological nodes at each end, is believed also to be found in other smaller river systems north of Gene. Examples of possible similarities are exemplified by the River Abyalven with its cremation grave from the Viking Age at Njallejaur near Arvidsjaur and the late Medieval site Lappviken upstream on the River Byskealven. The smaller forest rivers have not been much discussed in earlier research. They were, however, much less exploited by later agriculture, settlement and water plants compared to the larger mountain rivers. Therefore it may be easier to find the fragile traces of early Scandinavian traders at the mouths of the forest rivers.


Fifty years have passed since the publication of Harry Markowitz's article on portfolio selection, setting forth the ground-breaking concepts that have come to form the foundation of what is now popularly referred to as Modern Portfolio Theory (MPT). In this article the authors briefly explain the theory underlying MPT and using illustrations highlight the application of MPT to the current practice of asset management and portfolio construction. The authors also survey most of the relevant research that has directly or indirectly been either an outcome of MPT or has contributed to the implementation of MPT.


High-viscosity CO2 is of interest to the oil and gas industry in enhanced oil recovery and well-fracturing applications. Dispersing nanoparticles in CO2 is one way of achieving increased viscosity. However, parametric studies on viscosity estimation of CO2 nanofluids is not found in the open literature. A comparison of various interatomic potentials for their accuracy in predicting viscosity is also missing. In this work, we studied Al2O3 nanoparticles in CO2 base fluid. We screened the inter-molecular interaction potential models available for CO2–CO2 interactions and found that the TraPPE-flexible model (with MORSE potential) to be most suitable for conditions used in this work. We estimated the CO2–Al2O3 interaction potential using quantum mechanical simulations. Using this combination for CO2–CO2 and CO2–Al2O3 interactions, we explored the effects of temperature and nanoparticle size on viscosity using molecular dynamics simulations (MD). We predicted that the viscosity would increase with increase in temperature and particle size. We also calculated the base fluid self-diffusion coefficient to investigate the effect of Brownian motion and its contribution to changes in viscosity. We found that it decreases with increase in particle size and temperature, thereby indicating that Brownian motion does not contribute to the increased viscosity. Further, the nanolayer formed at the Al2O3–CO2 interface is studied through density distributions around the nanoparticle; the thickness of this nanolayer is found to increase with nanoparticle diameter. Finally, we examined the structures of CO2 fluid in presence of nanoparticles at different thermodynamic states through radial distribution functions. The current work sheds light on the viscosity enhancement by the addition of nanoparticles; it is hoped that such studies will lead to tools that help tailor fluid properties to specific requirements.


The distinction between an evaluative concept and its possible conceptions plays a prominent role in debates about constitutional interpretation. The main purpose of the paper is to raise some doubts about the linguistic assumptions that are employed in this debate, arguing that the semantic considerations underlying the concept versus conceptions distinction are much more problematic and inconclusive than generally assumed. The ways in which concepts are used in a speech act crucially depend on pragmatic determinants, and those, in turn, depend on the nature of the conversation. The paper shows that the debate about constitutional interpretation is better seen as a moral debate about the nature of the conversation that constitutional regimes should be taken to establish. The linguistic considerations in play depend on this moral issue; by themselves, they do not support any particular interpretative stance.


This study empirically examines the effect of the intellectual capital efficiency on firms' financial performance in selected Bombay Stock Exchange listed and permitted Indian companies. Using Pulic's (1998) value added intellectual coefficient (VAIC™) as the efficiency measure of capital employed and intellectual capital, the authors fit panel models to examine the effect of intellectual capital efficiency on firms' financial performance. The result suggests that the component based intellectual capital models explain better than the composite VAIC models. However comparing across the models, it is observed that the physical capital (VACA) positively influences the firms' ROA, which suggests that the physical capital has no doubt remained a key driving force for competitive business performance for firms' in India. The innovative capital efficiency captures additional information on structural capital which positively influences firms' financial performance. The results extend the understanding of the role of intellectual capital in creating corporate value and building sustainable advantages and financial performance for companies in emerging economies, where different technological advancements may bring different implications for the valuation of intellectual capital.


Abstract Past decades have witnessed a shift in international cooperation toward growing involvement of transnational actors (TNAs), such as nongovernmental organizations, multinational corporations, and philanthropic foundations. This article offers a comprehensive theoretical and empirical account of TNA access to IOs. The analysis builds on a novel data set, covering formal TNA access to 298 organizational bodies from fifty IOs over the time period 1950 to 2010. We identify the most profound patterns in TNA access across time, issue areas, policy functions, and world regions, and statistically test competing explanations of the variation in TNA access. The central results are three-fold. First, the empirical data confirm the existence of a far-reaching institutional transformation of IOs over the past sixty years, pervading all issue areas, policy functions, and world regions. Second, variation in TNA access within and across IOs is mainly explained by a combination of three factors: functional demand for the resources of TNAs, domestic democratic standards in the membership of IOs, and state concerns with national sovereignty. Third, existing research suffers from a selection bias that has led it to overestimate the general importance of a new participatory norm in global governance for the openness of IOs.


4HL HE70 is a multi-part 4-H curriculum by Joy Jordan, Hyun-Jeong Lee, Susan Williams, and Jessica Kochert. A series of six lessons targeted to 5th grade youth covers hazardous household products, mold, lead, radon, air pollution, and asthma triggers. Each lesson is mapped to relevant Sunshine State Standards. Published by the UF Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, July 2007.


Search-based planning is widely used for mobile robot motion planning because of its guarantees of optimality and completeness. In continuous state-spaces, however, most existing approaches have significant limitations in terms of optimality and completeness because of the underlying grid used. We propose an approach that eliminates the dependency on grids by using more general equivalence classes to quickly find an initial solution and instead of pruning states that fall within an equivalence class and have higher cost, we use an inflated heuristic to lower the priority of these states in the search. In further iterations, we reduce the inflated heuristic in a principled way, thus providing fast solutions with provable suboptimality bounds that can be improved as time allows. The proposed approach produces smooth paths with the resolution dictated by the action set. Finer action sets produce higher resolution paths that are more computationally intensive to calculate and coarser action sets produce lower resolution paths that are faster to compute. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first algorithm that is able to plan in continuous state-spaces with provable guarantees on completeness and bounds on suboptimality for a given action set. Experimental results on 3D (x,y,theta) path planning show that, on average, this approach is able to find paths in less than two seconds that are within 2% of the optimal path cost in worlds of up to 1000x1000 m with a minimum step size of one meter.


The primary source for young children's vocabulary development is parentchild interaction. How parent-child interaction influences vocabulary depends on the child's functioning and the family context. Although research shows the effect of the family context on vocabulary (e.g., reading activities at home, parental education), the role of a child's functioning has received less attention. Children's executive functioning (EF) influences how linguistic input is processed and their social functioning (SF) is important for maintaining social interaction. The aim of the present study was to investigate the additional contributions of children's EF and SF to vocabulary. EF, SF and family contextual factors were measured in 223 Dutch preschool children. EF and SF strongly predicted children's vocabulary in addition to their age, linguistic diversity at home and parental education. EF and SF are therefore important factors to take into account when investigating vocabulary and vocabulary interventions in preschool children.


Background: In the past 3 years, average length of stay in the emergency department has increased by 20–30%. It was found that one of the most important factor causing this was increased number of X-rays done. At an average one x-ray adds 4–5 hours to disposition time. An observational study was done to find out reasons for the low compliance with usage of Ottawa ankle rules. Methods: Initially observational study was done where 100 physicians were observed while they examine ankle and foot sprain cases for requesting x-ray. This was done without their knowledge. Then a questionnaire was distributed among 100 Emergency doctors to determine the factors that lead to non-compliance with use of Ottawa rules as screening tool for requesting x-ray. Result: In the initial observational study done on 100 cases we found that, only 20 patients presenting with symptoms of ankle /foot injury had bony injury ruled out by Ottawa rules and in 11 out of these, Ottawa rule was not done appropriately. The questionnaire was completed by 100 physicians. The result showed that 64% of physicians were afraid of the liability of missing fracture. 56% were not comfortable because of difficulty in follow up. 24% expressed that increased number of patients with limited time to assess patient thoroughly put a pressure to do X-ray. 48% were not aware of Ottawa rules. 32% mentioned that lack of emergency follow-up clinics for those with persistent symptoms compel them to request x-rays than to decide clinically. Conclusion: A proper follow-up system for patients discharged after screening will reduce the fear of liability of missing fractures. This will reduce the number of x-rays and length of stay in ED.


Background. The risk of suicidal tendencies in HIV-infected persons appears high and may parallel the increasing prevalence of suicidal behaviour in South Africa. Objective. To construct a brief suicide risk screening scale (SRSS) as a self-administered instrument to screen for suicidal ideation in recently diagnosed HIV-infected persons. Methods. An SRSS was developed, drawing 14 items from two established screening tests, and assessed using a sample of 150 HIV-infected consenting adults identified at a voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) clinic at an academic district level hospital in Durban, South Africa. Participants returned three weeks after their initial assessment for a re-assessment. Results. The internal consistency of the SRSS was good (Cronbach's alpha, 0.87), and its sensitivity (81%) was higher than its specificity (47%). The findings suggest that, despite certain limitations, the SRSS may be a valuable screening tool for suicidal ideation at VCT clinics. Conclusion. Screening for suicide risk and possible suicidal behaviour in HIV-positive persons may form a routine aspect of comprehensive patient care at VCT clinics to assist with effective prevention and treatment.


Lauren Maffeo is a research analyst who joined the global technology sector in 2012. She started her career as a freelance journalist covering tech news for The Next Web and The Guardian. She has also worked with CEOs of pre-seed to profitable SaaS startups on media strategy. Lauren joined GetApp, a Gartner company, as a content editor in 2016. She covers the impact of emerging tech like AI on small and midsize business owners.
 Lauren has been cited by sources including Forbes, Fox Business, DevOps Digest, The Atlantic, and Inc.com. In 2017, Lauren was named to The Drum's 50 Under 30 list of women worth watching in digital. She holds an M.Sc. from The London School of Economics and a certificate in Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy from MIT's Sloan School of Management.


A fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) scheme is envisioned as being a key cryptographic tool in building a secure and reliable cloud computing environment, as it allows arbitrarily evaluation of a ciphertext without revealing the plaintext. However, existing FHE implementations remain impractical due to their very high time and resource costs. Of the proposed schemes that can perform FHE to date, a scheme known as FHE over the integers has the advantage of comparatively simpler theory, as well as the employment of a much shorter public key making its implementation somewhat more practical than other competing schemes. To the author's knowledge, this paper presents the first hardware implementations of encryption primitives for FHE over the integers using FPGA technology. First of all, a super-size hardware multiplier architecture utilising the Integer-FFT multiplication algorithm is proposed, and a super-size hardware Barrett modular reduction module is designed incorporating the proposed multiplier. Next, two encryption primitives that are used in two schemes of FHE over the integers are designed employing the proposed super-size multiplier and modular reduction modules. Finally, the proposed designs are implemented and verified on the Xilinx Virtex-7 FPGA platform. Experimental results show that the speed improvement factors of up to 44.72 and 54.42 are available for the two FHE encryption schemes implemented in FPGA when compared to the corresponding software implementations. Meanwhile, the performance analysis shows that further improvement is speed of these FHE encryption primitives may still be possible.


Greater levels of lower-body stiffness have been associated with improved outcomes for a number of physical performance variables involving rapid stretch-shorten cycles. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between several measures of lower-body stiffness and physical performance variables typically evident during team sports in female athletes. Eighteen female athletes were assessed for quasi-static stiffness (myometry) for several isolated muscles in lying and standing positions. The muscles included the medial gastrocnemius (MedGast), lateral gastrocnemius, soleus, and Achilles tendon. Dynamic stiffness during unilateral hopping was also assessed. Participants were separated into relatively stiff and compliant groups for each variable. A number of significant differences in performance were evident between stiff and compliant subjects. When considering the quasi-static stiffness of the MedGast in lying and standing positions, relatively stiff participants recorded significantly superior results during agility, bounding, sprinting, and jumping activities. Stiffness as assessed by hopping did not discriminate between performance ability in any test. Relationships highlighted by MedGast results were supported by further significant differences in eccentric utilisation ratio and drop jump results between stiff and compliant groups for the lateral gastrocnemius and soleus in lying and standing positions. Higher levels of lower-body stiffness appear to be advantageous for females when performing rapid and (or) repeated stretch-shorten cycle movements, including sprinting, bounding, and jumping. Further, the stiffness of the MedGast is of particular importance during the performance of these activities. It is important for practitioners working with athletes in sports that rely upon these activities for success to consider stiffness assessment and modification.


The rich archival record of Denmark's nineteenth-century African colonial undertakings, and particularly the work of the natural historian and colonial administrator Peter Thonning of the Guinea Commission, opens fresh perspectives on the broader history and geography of European colonialism.


When most people think of hazardous waste trading, they think of egregious dumping by U.S. and European firms on poor countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. But over 80 percent of the waste trade takes place between industrialized nations and is legal by domestic and international standards. In Waste Trading among Rich Nations, Kate O'Neill asks why some industrialized nations voluntarily import such wastes in the absence of pressing economic need. She focuses on Britain as an importer and Germany as an exporter and also looks at France, Australia, and Japan.According to O'Neill, most important in determining whether an industrialized democracy imports waste are two aspects of its regulatory system. The first is the structure of the regulatory process--how powers and responsibilities are allocated among different agencies and levels of government--and the structure of the hazardous waste disposal industry. The second is what O'Neill calls the "style" of environmental regulation, in particular access to the policy process and mode of implementation.Hazardous waste management is in crisis in most industrialized countries and is becoming increasingly controversial in international negotiations. O'Neill not only examines waste trading empirically but also develops a theoretical model of comparative regulation that can be used to establish links between domestic and international environmental politics.


The recent trend in the fiber optic cable industry from grease filled cables to dry (grease-free) cables led to research indicating that sufficient levels of coupling between the ribbon stack and the remainder of the cable are necessary to control excess ribbon length (ERL) or slack in the cable. Under certain loading conditions, inadequate levels of coupling can lead to local accumulation of ERL and excessive signal attenuation. Water blocking greases used in the industry provided a high level of coupling; however, the cable industry desires to move toward the dry cable technology. This paper describes an application of finite element analysis (FEA) used to evaluate the structural interaction between cable ribbon and cable jacket for duct and aerial installation during multiple load cycles. The nonlinear behavior of the friction interfaces and the significant stiffness difference of the ribbons in tension and compression are considered in the evaluation. Finite element results compare closely with the measured ribbon displacements achieved in practical ribbon coupling tests for a variety of cables.


We address bootstrapping secure multicast in enterprise and public-safety settings. Our work is motivated by the fact that secure multicast has important applications in such settings, and that the application setting significantly influences the design of security systems and protocols. This document presents and analyzes two designs for the composition of the authentication protocol, Kerberos, and the key transport protocol, Multimedia Internet KEYing (MIKEY). The two designs are denoted to be KM1 and KM2. The main aspect in which the objective impacts the design is the assumption of an additional trusted third party (called a Key Server) that is the final arbiter on whether a principal is authorized to receive a key. Secure composition can be a challenge, and therefore the designs were kept to be simple so they have intuitive appeal. Notwithstanding this, it was recognized that even simple, seemingly secure protocols can have flaws. Two main security properties of interest called safety and availability were articulated. A rigorous analysis of KM1 and KM2 was conducted using Protocol Composition Logic (PCL), a symbolic approach to analyzing security protocols, to show that the designs have those properties. The value of the analysis is demonstrated by a possible weakness in KM1 that was discovered which lead to the design of KM2. A prototype of KM1 and KM2 was implemented starting with the publicly available reference implementation of Kerberos, and an open-source implementation of MIKEY. This document also discusses the experience from the implementation, and present empirical results which demonstrate the inherent trade-off between security and performance in the design of KM1 and KM2.


Corn grain is one of the major foods of the world. Grains in general provide about 80 percent of the world food calories. Today there is a per capita shortage of grains and other foods, exacerbating the serious global malnourishment problem. The World Health Organization reports that 3.7 billion people are malnourished today--nearly 60 percent of the world population. This is the largest number of malnourished ever in history. In addition to food shortages, there are shortages of cropland and freshwater as well as fossil fuel--particularly oil--shortages. The oil shortage in the United States has prompted politicians and others to propose the use of corn and other food crops as sources of fuel, especially for ethanol production. As a result, nearly 9 billion gallons of ethanol is produced in the United States, using about 33 percent of US corn grain. This 9 billion gallons of ethanol represents only 1.3 percent of total oil consumption in the United States. But the numbers are telling: if all US corn were to be converted into ethanol, it would provide the nation with only 4 percent of total oil consumption. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Given these facts, one asks, why is corn grain being converted into fuel while nearly 60 percent of the world population goes hungry? In particular why is US$6 to US$7 billion being spent to subsidize and encourage corn ethanol production? Unfortunately, the United States continues to produce corn ethanol because politicians find it politically useful, though the fuel is far from environmentally sustainable and a viable source for energy independence, as it uses up more energy to produce than it provides. Corn Ethanol In the United States, ethanol from corn constitutes 99 percent of all biofuels. To produce corn ethanol, corn is finely ground and approximately 15 liters of water is added to 2.7 kg of ground corn. After fermentation, to obtain a liter of 95 percent ethanol from the mixture of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent water, 1 liter of ethanol must be extracted from approximately 10 liters of the ethanol/water mixture. To be mixed with gasoline, the 95 percent ethanol must be further processed to remove more water, requiring additional fossil energy inputs to achieve 99.5 percent pure ethanol. Thus, 22 pounds of corn grain is required to produce 1 gallon of ethanol. To fill the fuel tank of a SUV vehicle with corn ethanol requires a total of 660 pounds of corn or food. This is enough corn to feed two people in a developing country for an entire year. Furthermore, to produce corn ethanol, 46 percent more fossil energy is required to produce a liter of ethanol than than is yielded. Oil therefore must be imported to produce ethanol. As a result, the cost to produce 1 liter of corn ethanol is US$1.05 per liter or US$3.95 per gallon. The corn grain itself accounts for most of the economic and energy inputs to produce the ethanol. For example, it requires approximately 7,090 liters of fossil energy equivalents to produce 3,330 liters of ethanol. Then US President George W. Bush proposed harvesting cellulosic biomass and converting it into ethanol, suggesting that the United States could produce 36 billion gallons of ethanol through this method by 2020. However, while he proposed producing 23 gallons of ethanol per ton of cellulosic biomass, this figure was more than optimistic: our studies shows that it requires 3.3 gallons of oil to produce 1 gallon of ethanol from cellulosic biomass. What Bush also neglected to report was that the total amount of biomass, including 100 percent of all agricultural crops, forest growth, and grass growth each year, totals 2 billion tons (Table 1). Therefore, in order to harvest 1.6 billion tons of cellulosic biomass each year, producers would have to harvest 80 percent of total biomass each year, a clearly unsustainable and infeasible enterprise. Corn Ethanol Production Environmental Impacts The environmental impacts of producing corn ethanol are enormous. …


The transport of dangerous materials (road, fluvial, pipeline...) increases the risk of accidental releases into streams. The consequences of these accidents can be very serious, both for the stream's environment and for people's lives if the pollution reaches water treatment plants, irrigation water pumping... To limit the consequences of these accidents, it is necessary to use a decision support model that predicts pollutant concentrations in a stream. This work focuses on laboratory model pollution simulations in order to validate the dispersion model that gives a concentration of chemical miscible product versus time or distance from the downstream releasing point. The channel model initial dimensions (34 cm of width, 14 m of length and 16 cm of depth) can be varied with experimental conditions and scaling requirements. The current velocity can vary up to 20 cm/s. The flow characteristics are turbulent and fluvial. These characteristics can be modified to extend the representativeness of the river model to different types of rivers, channels or streams. A specific sampling system is developed to take 144 samples across the section. The mixing length and the dispersion coefficient are evaluated by using a Uranine tracer and samples are analyzed by sphectophotometry UV-Vis. Finally, the dispersion model is validated and modified for one dynamic configuration of the channel model. The predictions are excellent with a correlation coefficient between observed and predicted data equal to unity.


This article explores the representation of the Irish servant Judy Plum in L.M. Montgomery's Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat . Taking into account her speech patterns, aptitude in storytelling, and inclination towards superstition, Aoife Emily Hart considers the possibility that Judy constitutes yet another variation on the trope of the stage Irishman, a type of ethnic caricature prevalent in the nineteenth century. Probing the tensions, gaps, and contradictions in the portrayal of Judy in the two novels, Hart considers a more intriguing possibility, that there is a self-styled and subversive quality to Judy's performance of Irishness in Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat , a self-stylization that involves varying degrees of oppression and privilege in terms of gender, ethnicity, and class. Rather than pathetic and marginalized as she nears death at the end of Mistress Pat, Hart concludes, Judy represents a defiant and resilient alternative to the ethos of utilitarian modernity that prevails at Silver Bush.


In this paper, we reduce the logspace shortest path problem to biconnected graphs; in particular, we present a logspace shortest path algorithm for general graphs which uses a logspace shortest path oracle for biconnected graphs. We also present a linear time logspace shortest path algorithm for graphs with bounded vertex degree and biconnected component size, which does not rely on an oracle. The asymptotic time-space product of this algorithm is the best possible among all shortest path algorithms.


Community gardens are places where people connect, share, and engage their social and ecological communities. The purpose of this research was to document and communicate participants' experiences of community-building through community gardening in Kenora, Ontario, Canada. The primary method used was Photovoice, whereby a group of twelve participants shared photos and stories of their garden communities in a series of workshops. Follow-up interviews were used to get participant feedback on the photovoice process and fill gaps in the data, while participant observation was used to triangulate data. Results suggest a uniquely relational perspective of community gardening, the significance of sharing and learning in the garden, as well as success with and barriers to social capital and ecological citizenship among gardeners. Of particular importance, future garden initiatives in Kenora will likely require a combination of institutional and grass-roots efforts to facilitate intergenerational bonding, connecting across community gardens, building gardens in accessible locations, and addressing colonial and racial barriers to collaboration.


Slow Learner is a compilation of early stories written between 1959 and 1964, before Pynchon achieved recognition as a prominent writer for his 1963 novel, V and containing a revelatory essay on his early influences and writing. The collection consists of five short stories: 'The Small Rain', 'Lowlands', 'Entropy', 'Under the Rose', and 'The Secret Integration', as well as an introduction written by Pynchon himself for the 1984 publication. The five stories were originally published individually in various literary magazines but in 1984, after Pynchon had achieved greater recognition, Slow Learner was published to collect and copyright the stories into one volume. The introduction also offers a rare insight into Pynchon's own views on his work and influences.


Constitutional efficiency, as opposed to the term "efficiency," used without the modifying adjective, applies the criterion for judgment to the operation of an institution over a whole sequence or series of separated instances rather than to the operation in a particular circumstance (Buchanan 2004). The notion here is related closely to the whole discussion about the efficiency or efficacy of rules as opposed to discretionary actions. Whereas the operation of a rule may almost always be improved upon in a particular circumstance, the relevant question is whether or not a rule might generate better results over a whole sequence of events than the exercise of event-by-event discretion. We can think of an institution, such as the European Central Bank, as a rule in this sense, as an existing framework for monetary action, even if, within this framework, the specific actions are themselves emergent from discretionary decisions of the bank rather than from a rule, as such. To ask, then, whether or not the ECB is constitutionally efficient is to ask whether or not this institution, as it exists, can be predicted to generate results over a whole sequence of separate events and circumstances that are superior to those that might be expected to emerge under alternative institutional arrangements. Two Distinct Steps There are two distinct steps in any such evaluative inquiry, and these steps have not always been kept separated in discussion. First, there is the question concerning whether or not the ECB might be expected to generate a series of results that are superior to any that might have been produced had some alternative institutional structure been put in place. In other words, when the initial set of arrangements were being established, was the ECB the best structure? Second, there is the quite different question concerning whether or not, as it now exists in place, the predicted operation of the ECB is superior to an alternative set of monetary arrangements for the European Union. As posed in this way, it should be evident that an affirmative answer to the second question need not imply an affirmative answer to the first question. The Initial Choice My own position has long been to the effect that the EU missed out on a great opportunity to set up something akin to Hayek's competitive currency regime, even if limited to issue authority by separate national central banks. This arrangement would have been less dramatic to the public and, more important, would have placed restrictions on discretionary authority that do not now exist. But I emphasize that this is a response to the first question posed rather than the second. We start from the here and the now, from that which exists. The Choice among Existing Institutions The ECB and the euro are institutional realities. They exist. The relevant question then becomes the second one that I posed. Are these institutions superior to alternatives that might be put in place? And here my answer is positive. That is to say, the ECB does pass muster as being "constitutionally efficient" in this sense. I am, in a sense, saying that, in this case, "whatever is, is efficient." But note that this judgment does not emerge from either of the two standard arguments--either the Hayekian resort to evolutionary survival or the modern Chicago extension of rational contracting. The euro and the ECB did not emerge from a long evolutionary process; nor do these institutions define an equilibrium attained from contractual agreement among affected parties. Instead, these institutions were quite explicitly "laid on," imposed as it were, by those who served in roles as constitutional agents for the emerging EU. To argue that these institutions are constitutionally efficient must invoke both the costs of transition to any alternative set of arrangements and the relative efficacy predicted from the operation over time. …


Arthrogryposis by definition has multiple congenital contractures. All types of arthrogryposis have decreased in utero fetal movement. Because so many things are involved in normal fetal movement, there are many causes and processes that can go awry. In this era of molecular genetics, we have tried to place the known mutated genes seen in genetic forms of arthrogryposis into biological processes or cellular functions as defined by gene ontology. We hope this leads to better identification of all interacting pathways and processes involved in the development of fetal movement in order to improve diagnosis of the genetic forms of arthrogryposis, to lead to the development of molecular therapies, and to help better define the natural history of various types of arthrogryposis.


Floating-point numbers are limited both in range and in precision, yet they are widely used as a way to implement computations on real numbers. Thus arithmetic operations introduce small errors which might be amplified during subsequent computations and cause inaccuracies. As such, proving the correctness of a floating-point algorithm usually entails verifying that the computed results are still close enough to some ideal values, despite the method error and the round-off errors. The traditional way to tackle such a verification is to perform an error analysis, possibly using automated tools.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the low-level functions found in mathematical libraries, the floating-point code is usually so contrived that this approach falls short. Indeed, just knowing the code is no longer sufficient to verify it, one also has to know the mathematical reasons that led to choosing this code in the first place. This excludes any hope of full automation, yet automated tools are sorely needed, if only because performing a pen-and-paper proof of such functions is long, tedious, and error-prone.
This talk will show some issues specific to the verification of the floating-point functions of a mathematical library, and some methods for solving them automatically. These methods will be exemplified using Gappa, a tool dedicated to proving the logical formulas that arise during the verification of small yet complicated floating-point algorithms. This tool is based on interval arithmetic, expression rewriting, and theorem saturation. For increased confidence, the tool also generates formal proofs which can be verified by the Coq proof assistant.


In this article we focus on the emergence of biological individuality by association, trying to formulate some theoretical conditions to think about the process of collective individualization. The starting point of our analysis is the notion of "major evolutionary transition." A major evolutionary transition is the result of the integration of a multiplicity of initially independent biological entities that, by managing to organize their interactions, become a collective of components having an identity oriented towards a common goal. When biological organisms (sometimes belonging to different lineages) are concerned, a major transition corresponds to a phenomenon of fusion between them. We shall argue that the emergence of a new biological level of individuality implies the establishment of constitutive relationships between individuals that change their status as autonomous entities. As a result, the emergence of a new type of entity in the living world implies that individuals enter into relationships that intrinsically transform them, a transformation sufficient for a "whole" to become a "part" that forms another "whole", that is, a new level of organismality.


We have presented evidence that a mouse monoclonal antibody 1,227, which was previously shown to recognize a determinant on the light chains beta 1 and beta 2 of human Ia antigens, also recognizes a determinant on the invariant chain (1) associated with these molecules. Ia-specific proteins were resolved by two-dimensional (2D) PAGE and electrophoretically transferred onto nitrocellulose filters. The presence of a determinant shared between beta 1, beta 2 and I was established using "Western blotting" technique. In addition, we demonstrated that 1,227 can immunoprecipitate isolated beta 1, beta 2, and the invariant chain proteins following their separate elution from SDS-PAGE.


We investigate bifurcations of nonlinear modes in parity-time (PT-) symmetric discrete systems. We consider a general class of nonlinearities allowing for existence of the nonlinear modes and address situations when the underlying linear problem is characterized by the presence of degenerate eigenvalues or exceptional-point singularity. In each of the cases we construct formal expansions for small-amplitude nonlinear modes. We also report a class of nonlinearities allowing for a system to admit one or several integrals of motion, which turn out to be determined by the pseudo-Hermiticity of the nonlinearity.


Background Transcription factors play a key role in lineage commitment and differentiation of stem cells into distinct mature cells. In hematopoiesis, they regulate lineage-specific gene expression in a stage-specific manner through various physical and functional interactions with regulatory proteins that are simultanously recruited and activated to ensure timely gene expression. The transcription factor CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα) is such a factor and is essential for the development of granulocytic/monocytic cells. The activity of C/EBPα is regulated on several levels including gene expression, alternative translation, protein interactions and posttranslational modifications, such as phosphorylation. In particular, the phosphorylation of serine 248 of the transactivation domain has been shown to be of crucial importance for granulocytic differentiation of 32Dcl3 cells in vitro. Methodology/Principal Findings Here, we use mouse genetics to investigate the significance of C/EBPα serine 248 in vivo through the construction and analysis of Cebpa S248A/S248A knock-in mice. Surprisingly, 8-week old Cebpa S248A/S248A mice display normal steady-state hematopoiesis including unaltered development of mature myeloid cells. However, over time some of the animals develop a hematopoietic disorder with accumulation of multipotent, megakaryocytic and erythroid progenitor cells and a mild impairment of differentiation along the granulocytic-monocytic lineage. Furthermore, BM cells from Cebpa S248A/S248A animals display a competitive advantage compared to wild type cells in a transplantation assay. Conclusions/Significance Taken together, our data shows that the substitution of C/EBPα serine 248 to alanine favors the selection of the megakaryocytic/erythroid lineage over the monocytic/granulocytic compartment in old mice and suggests that S248 phosphorylation may be required to maintain proper hematopoietic homeostasis in response to changes in the wiring of cellular signalling networks. More broadly, the marked differences between the phenotype of the S248A variant in vivo and in vitro highlight the need to exert caution when extending in vitro phenotypes to the more appropriate in vivo context.


This paper provides an economic justification for the exemption from liability for omissions in torts and for the exceptions to this exemption. It interprets the differential treatment of acts and omissions under tort law as a proxy for a more fundamental distinction between harms caused by multiple injurers, where each one can single-handedly prevent the harm (either by acting or failing to act), and harms caused by a single injurer (either by acting or failing to act). Since the overall cost to which a group of injurers is exposed is constant, attributing liability to many injurers reduces the part each has to pay and, consequently, reduces each one's incentives to take precautions. Broad exemption from liability for omissions is a way of carving a simple, practical rule to distinguish between the typical cases in which an agent can be easily selected and provided with sufficient incentives (typically, cases of acts) and cases in which there is a serious problem of dilution of liability (typically, cases of omissions). The exceptions to the rule exempting from liability for omissions are explained in terms of efficiency. The imposition of liability for omissions depends on the ability to identify a salient agent, i.e., to single out one or few liable agents and differentiate their role(s) from that of others. Tort law designs three types of "salience rules." It either creates salience directly (by attributing liability to a single agent), or it can exploit salience created "naturally," or it can induce injurers to create salience voluntarily.