PURPOSE
Variability in perimetry increases with the amount of damage, making it difficult for testing algorithms to efficiently converge to the true sensitivity. This study describes a variability-adjusted algorithm (VAA), in which step size increases with variability.

METHODS
Contrasts were transformed to a new scale wherein the SD of frequency-of-seeing curves remains 1 unit for any sensitivity. A Bayesian thresholding procedure based on the existing Zippy Estimation by Sequential Testing (ZEST) algorithm was simulated on this new scale, and results converted back to decibels. The root-mean-squared (RMS) error from true sensitivity based on these simulations was compared against that achieved by ZEST using the same number of presentations. The procedure was repeated after limiting sensitivities to 15 dB or higher, the lower limit of reliable sensitivities using standard white-on-white perimetry in glaucoma, for both algorithms.

RESULTS
When the true sensitivity was 35 dB, with starting estimate also 35 dB, RMS errors of the algorithms were similar, ranging from 1.39 dB to 1.60 dB. When true sensitivity was instead 20 dB, with starting estimate 35 dB, VAA reduced the RMS error from 7.43 dB to 3.66 dB. Limiting sensitivities at 15 dB or higher reduced RMS errors, except when true sensitivity was near 15 dB.

CONCLUSIONS
VAA reduces perimetric variability without increasing test duration in cases in which the starting estimate of sensitivity is too high; for example, due to a small scotoma. Limiting the range of possible sensitivities at 15 dB or higher made algorithms more efficient, unless the true sensitivity was near this limit. This framework provides a new family of test algorithms that may benefit patients.


Carbon (4+2) cycloaddition diels alder reactions have been a subject of research. Varied dienes and dienophiles have been employed to carry out these normal cycloadditions based on the symmetries of ground state orbitals.1,3-indandione also offers an interesting example of diels alder reaction. Imine (4+2) cycloaddition reactions have been investigated where the imine or imminium ions function as dienophiles and provide a powerful tool for the construction of six membered nitrogen heterocycles.
Stepwise radical cation diels alder reactions of aryl vinyl ethers and allied substrates have been carried out by electrocatalysis triggered by an oxidative single electron transfer (SET) process and proceed via unique multiple pathways.


We provide a comparative perspective on the contributions of the special issue with regard to their applied methods and findings. In addition, we discuss problems that arise when using 'wrong' or at least 'incorrect' versions of election manifestos by presenting replications of estimated policy positions of German parties. We show that the latter can result in biased estimates that may affect the outcome of theoretical models. On the basis of those findings, we present the idea of the open access archive polidoc.net to build up a common database for political texts.


Detrital zircon from unconsolidated, Cenozoic sediments from eastern South Africa has been analysed for U–Pb and Lu–Hf isotopes by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Identifiable bedrock sources have made local contributions to the detrital zircon populations, but the dominant zircon components are of regional distribution: late Mesoproterozoic (εHf = –5 to +10), Neoproterozoic to early Palaeozoic (εHf = –10 to +10), and minor late Palaeozoic (εHf ≈ 0). Archaean zircons are scarce even in sediments deposited on exposed Archaean basement or by rivers eroding it. The dominant components cannot be tied to specific first-generation sources in southern Africa or its former Gondwana neighbours. Instead, we see the effect of mixing and remobilization of debris from large parts of the supercontinent in the early Phanerozoic, which was stored in the Karoo basin and other continental cover sequences and shed from there to the present site of deposition. Therefore, data from detrital zircon in these deposits tell us less about the path of detritus from source to sink in a recent sedimentary system than about processes in much earlier erosion–transport–deposition cycles. To facilitate comparison of detrital zircon age distribution patterns, a simple and intuitive method that takes sampling uncertainty explicitly into account is proposed. Supplementary materials: U–Pb and Lu–Hf data, and concordia diagrams and discussion of effects of discordance are available at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/SUP18884.


Social dysfunction is a hallmark of schizophrenia and leads
to significant disability and distress. Decreased positive and increased
negative affect predict poorer social functioning in those with schizophrenia.
Social functioning and affect have traditionally been measured in the
laboratory; yet, these methods are limited. Experience sampling methods (ESM) offer
more immediate, ecologically valid assessments of these constructs. The purpose
of this study was to examine social functioning and affect in schizophrenia
using a novel form of ESM that passively collects audio data. The two primary
hypotheses were: 1) clinical status (schizophrenia versus control) will predict
social functioning, level of positive affect, and level of negative affect; and
2) the relationship between clinical status and affect will be moderated by
context (social versus non-social). Additional
exploratory aims tested the convergent validity between traditional,
laboratory-based assessments of social functioning and this novel ESM.
Data was collected from 38
people with schizophrenia and 36 control participants; Results partially
supported the hypotheses. As expected, laboratory measures of social
functioning revealed that those with schizophrenia performed worse than
controls. ESM measures of social functioning found that the schizophrenia group
interacted with others at the same rate as the control group but did not
exhibit as much social engagement. ESM measures of affect revealed the
schizophrenia group reported more negative affect than controls, but no
differences in positive affect were found. Social context did not moderate the
relationship between clinical status and affect. Lastly, correlations between laboratory
measures and ESM measures of social functioning were significant for the
schizophrenia group but not the control group. Results further our
understanding of social functioning and affect in those with schizophrenia and
yield important implications for future work.


We investigated the physiologic effects of normal saline versus 5% albuminated saline fluid resuscitation on 10-12-day-old piglets infected with group B streptococci for four hours. After intravenously receiving 1 ± 1010 bacteria/kg over 45 minutes, one group was untreated while the two fluid-treated groups received enough intravenous fluid to maintain the baseline cardiac output. An increase in the resistance to venous blood return was the major limitation to cardiac output. The resistance nearly quadrupled in the untreated piglets as shown by a 50% decrease in cardiac output with a nearly doubling of the driving pressure for venous return (mean circulatory pressure was normal and atrial pressures decreased by 70%). In both fluid-treated groups, resistance doubled as shown by an unchanged cardiac output with a doubling of the driving pressure (mean circulatory pressure increased by 50%) and atrial pressures remained at baseline). Blood volume was 9% below control in the untreated group and 13% above control in both fluid-treated groups. Much more crystalloid (155 ml/kg) than colloid (58 ml/kg) was necessary to maintain baseline cardiac output; this resulted in a 36% decrease in the plasma protein oncotic pressure of the former group and a 15% increase in the oncotic pressure of the latter group. Organ edema formation (ileum, pancreas, kidney, adrenal gland, lung) occurred only in the saline-treated animals. We conclude that increased resistance to venous return was the primary cause of shock in our model and that this can be effectively treated by giving enough intravenous fluid to elevate the mean circulatory pressure. However, if the plasma protein oncotic pressure is also lowered (saline group), organ edema results. (Circulation Research 1987;61:659-669)


We propose a method for learning embeddings for few-shot learning that is suitable for use with any number of shots (shot-free). Rather than fixing the class prototypes to be the Euclidean average of sample embeddings, we allow them to live in a higher-dimensional space (embedded class models) and learn the prototypes along with the model parameters. The class representation function is defined implicitly, which allows us to deal with a variable number of shots per class with a simple constant-size architecture. The class embedding encompasses metric learning, that facilitates adding new classes without crowding the class representation space. Despite being general and not tuned to the benchmark, our approach achieves state-of-the-art performance on the standard few-shot benchmark datasets.


Illustrated by case studies from Europe, North America and the Middle East, this book examines how non-market values can be identified, measured and incorporated into planning evaluation methodologies. The traditional means of assessing planning options, benefit-cost analysis, requires that all effects be expressed in monetary terms and this volume offers alternative approaches. It presents strategies for accomplishing the major purposes of planning evaluation - including the provision of an explicit, replicable basis for public assessment - in alternative ways. Growing demand for public involvement and for accountability in decision making requires better means for accommodating a broad range of concerns in planning evaluation. Methodologies examined include effectiveness-cost and multicriteria analysis, and the book explores how these have been applied in practice in developing special-issue plans, complex regional development strategies, and efforts to analyze the environmental justice implications of major infrastructure projects. Use of scenarios and problem structuring methods by stakeholder groups are also explored.


I. INTRODUCTION([dagger]) A prospective investor in the Americas must pay attention to the realities of corruption in the hemisphere. In many countries, investors wanting to obtain government procurement contracts must confront the practice of paying bribes to obtain contracts. U.S. persons, entities publicly traded in the United States, and entities that have strong moral and ethical standards, cannot pay bribes and often lose business opportunities. Increasingly, proactive stances by investors competing in procurement and by the U.S. government have resulted in the cancellation and reissue of bids, as occurred several years ago in Brazil in the aftermath of exposing illegal payments in the award of a contract. Subsequently, Raytheon succeeded in obtaining a multi-million dollar procurement for comprehensive surveillance and consulting work on the Amazon. In particular, the United States' Foreign Corrupt Practices Act has energized U.S. firms and the U.S. government to pursue a level playing field. Other governments also criminalize the payment of transnational bribes, require accounting and transparency in connection with public procurement, and take steps to strengthen civil society. The problem of developing an effective international anti-transnational bribery regime is substantial. The practice of commercial corruption in procurement has been embedded for centuries. Low salaries for government officials, the need or desire to supplement the modest salaries of officials, the use of clever business practices to mask the receipt of illicit payments, and a fear that leaning on transnational bribery may cause a loss of business, are among the many problems that restrict political will. The development of an international enforcement regime on transnational corruption must also confront the reality of the need to design and construct the requisite mechanisms, institutions, uniform laws, mutual assistance, and alliances. In the Western Hemisphere, efforts to develop enforcement regimes suffer from the absence of a strong enforcement infrastructure. Not surprisingly, although the Inter-American Convention Against Corruption (Inter-American Corruption Convention) was signed in April 1996, its implementation has been comparatively slow. Nevertheless, the political will to combat transnational bribery has emerged and gained momentum dynamically. In particular, on December 17, 1997, the signing of the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions (OECD Anti-Bribery Convention) jump-started the enforcement regime. Major international governmental organizations, such as multilateral development banks, have joined in the enforcement efforts. Equally important, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including Transparency International, are contributing significantly to the initiative. This Article identifies and discusses the efforts to develop an international enforcement regime to prevent and combat transnational bribery. It emphasizes developments in the Western Hemisphere. The Inter-American Corruption Convention is the initial focus. Thereafter, the impact of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention and its implementation efforts are examined. The efforts of international governmental organizations, such as the European Union (EU) and multilateral development banks, are considered. Finally, the Article comments on potential prospects for future development of the anti-transnational corruption enforcement regime in the Western Hemisphere. II. INTER-AMERICAN CORRUPTION CONVENTION The principal mechanism in the Western Hemisphere to develop an enforcement regime against transnational corruption is the Inter-American Corruption Convention. Emerging from the Organization of American State's Working Group on Probity and Public Ethics, and connecting with civil society, the initiative focuses on establishing a legal framework, namely a convention, developing model laws, and forming an alliance with interested international governmental organizations and NGOs. …


htmlabstractThis deliverable is part of WP3: Source Code Quality and Activity Analysis. It provides descriptions and initial prototypes of the tools that are needed for source code activity analysis. It builds upon the Deliverable 3.1 where infra-structure and a domain analysis have been investigated for Source Code Quality Analysis and initial language dependent and independent metrics have been prototyped.
Task 3.2 builds partly on the results of Task 3.1 and partly introduces new infra-structure. This includes:
• the extraction and analysis of the meta data of version control systems (VCS); • the development of selected source code metrics from Task 3.1 over time.
The following initial measurements of VCS meta data were planned and have been executed, in the context of the SVN and GIT version control systems:
• Number of committed changes;
• Size of committed changes (churn);
• Number of committers;
• Activity distribution per committer (over files).
On top of this we explored analysis of the activity in terms of certain language-specific source code metrics from the previous Task 3.1:
• Number of changed, added, deleted methods and classes to experiment with language-specific activities.
• Measurement of evenness of distributions (Gini coefficient) of the metrics developed in Task 3.1, for the purpose of detecting trends and spikes.
The goal of these additional metrics is to start bridging the gap from code and VCS meta data metrics to the analysis requirements of the project partners.
What makes WP3 in OSSMETER special is its integrated infrastructure that provides a homogeneous view on languages, analyses and metrics. We generate metrics using high level (descriptive) code in the Rascal language.
In this deliverable we present:
• A brief summary of motivation and challenges for Task 3.2;
• A streamlined interface between the platform and the Rascal programming language;
• A mapping from an object-oriented VCS deltas model to a functional VCS delta model; • Platform support for managing full working copies and source code diffs;
• A description of the rationale, design and implementation of the above metrics.


In the present article, the author analyses problems of usage of a terminology in mental health care law. Usage of a specific legal terminology in mental health care as a specialized health care is rooted in a psychiatric science. Direct transfer of the terminology from medical sciences and usage of it in legal language can be risky since the medical terms are constantly changing and the change effects both lexical and semantic relation. With every new concept the lexical-semantic the change of new or even non-existent conceptual meanings occurs, caused by new ideals, moral and ethical standards. Appropriate changes should take place in the legal regulation as well. However, often the legislative change of terminology does not occur at the same time and it causes not only inaccuracy but also violation of ethical standards. The usage of the terms in mental health legal regulation is problematic because it is unlike in other health care fields, specifically deals with the rights and protection issues of people with mental and behavioural disorders. The legal regulation is aimed to work accurately and reliably for the best of those individuals. In practice, however, there are cases in which mental health regulation of the legal terms used ambiguously, observed homonymy and synonymy cases. The terms are often used relying on non-developed normative definitions, intuitive notion. Such usage of terms causes legal discrepancies and prevents of achieving the legal regulatory objectives in mental health care. Author of this article provides an analysis of the basic concepts of mental health terminology in the legislation. Firstly, scholar analyzes mental health ant the mental illness concepts and contents. The last part provides content analysis of mental patient concept. Therefore, the content analyses of these concepts are to intend and to disclose the usage of health care terminologies some problematic aspects. The research is relevant and at the theoretical level. For the first time in the Health law doctrine of Lithuania is systematically analyzing the questions of mental health terminology legislation


Objectives
This study aimed to evaluate cognitive and behavioural changes among 9-14-year-old Omani children with obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) after an adenotonsillectomy (AT).

Methods
This naturalistic observational study was conducted at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman, between January 2012 and December 2014. Omani children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy (ATH) underwent overnight polysomnography and those with confirmed OSA were scheduled for an AT. Cognitive and behavioural evaluations were performed using standardised instruments at baseline prior to the procedure and three months afterwards.

Results
A total of 37 children were included in the study, of which 24 (65%) were male and 13 (35%) were female. The mean age of the males was 11.4 ± 1.9 years, while that of the females was 11.1 ± 1.5 years. Following the AT, there was a significant reduction of 56% in mean apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) score (2.36 ± 4.88 versus 5.37 ± 7.17; P <0.01). There was also a significant positive reduction in OSA indices, including oxygen desaturation index (78%), number of desaturations (68%) and number of obstructive apnoea incidents (74%; P <0.01 each). Significant improvements were noted in neurocognitive function, including attention/concentration (42%), verbal fluency (92%), learning/recall (38%), executive function (52%) and general intellectual ability (33%; P <0.01 each). There was a significant decrease of 21% in both mean inattention and hyperactivity scores (P <0.01 each).

Conclusion
These results demonstrate the effectiveness of an AT in improving cognitive function and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder-like symptoms among children with ATH-caused OSA. Such changes can be observed as early as three months after the procedure.


1 The Managed Funds Association (MFA) represents the global alternative investment industry and its investors by advocating for sound industry practices and public policies that foster efficient, transparent, and fair capital markets. MFA, based in Washington, DC, is an advocacy, education, and communications organization established to enable hedge fund and managed futures firms in the alternative investment industry to participate in public policy discourse, share best practices and learn from peers, and communicate the industry's contributions to the global economy. MFA members help pension plans, university endowments, charitable organizations, qualified individuals and other institutional investors to diversify their investments, manage risk, and generate attractive returns. MFA has cultivated a global membership and actively engages with regulators and policy makers in Asia, Europe, the Americas, Australia and many other regions where MFA members are market participants.


Long-term study sites for ecological research exist in a variety of habitats, including forests, deserts, streams, and oceans, providing the observational framework for studying microbial ecological processes over time and space. In this chapter, the authors describe the advantages for microbial ecologists of studies at long-term ecological research sites, the opportunities of various types of research sites and locations available for microbial research and the integration of microbial and ecosystem ecology. The chapter is written from the point of view that studies of the ecology of microbes are a necessary part of gaining a predictive knowledge of ecosystems. There are three types of studies illustrated: correlation between microbial ecology and environmental factors, correlation studies with added data on measurements of a microbial process, and correlation studies that make use of a large-scale and long-term experimental manipulation. Multivariate analysis indicated strong functional differences between meadow and forest soils. Levels of both potential denitrifying enzyme activity (DEA) and potential nitrification were substantially higher in the meadow soils. Denitrifier communities formed distinct groups according to vegetation type and site as evidenced by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) data. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMS) analysis of the binary coded TRFLP data was used to assess the effects of fertilization on the composition of the microbial communities.


The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene shows a complex pattern of expression, with temporal and spatial regulation that is not accounted for by elements in the promoter. One approach to identifying the regulatory elements for CFTR is the mapping of DNase I hypersensitive sites (DHS) within the locus. We previously identified at least 12 clusters of DHS across the CFTR gene and here further evaluate DHS in introns 2, 3, 10, 16, 17a, 18, 20 and 21 to assess their functional importance in regulation of CFTR gene expression. Transient transfections of enhan- cer/reporter constructs containing the DHS regions showed that those in introns 20 and 21 augmented the activity of the CFTR promoter. Structural analysis of the DNA sequence at the DHS suggested that only the one intron 21 might be caused by inherent DNA structures. Cell specificity of the DHS suggested a role for the DHS in introns 2 and 18 in CFTR expression in some pancreatic duct cells. Finally, regulatory elements at the DHS in introns 10 and 18 may contribute to upregulation of CFTR gene transcription by forskolin and mitomycin C, respectively. These data support a model of regulation of expression of the CFTR gene in which multiple elements contribute to tightly co-ordinated expression in vivo.


Facial nerve is the seventh paired cranial nerve. The main trunk of CN VII consists of motor fibers and the intermediate nerve which is a part of CN VII has parasympathetic and sensory fibers. One of the branches of CN VII is the chorda tympani which may play a significant role in responses related to normal Eustachian tube function. Other branches of CN VII, such as the greater petrosal nerve and tympanic branch, have motor fibers that open the Eustachian tube, which connects the tympanic cavity with the nasopharynx. It is located at the base of the cranium and consists of bone and cartilage. To evaluate the Eustachian tube and middle ear function, impedance audiometry (IA) is used. It is specifically used in hearing organ evaluation in children. The impedance audiometry consists of tympanometry, registration of reflex from the stapedius muscle and evaluation of Eustachian tube function. Tympanometry is an examination, evaluating response of the tympanic membrane and related structures of the middle ear on artificially induced pressure changes in the external auditory meatus. The main aim of the article is to evaluate middle ear function in children and adolescents with peripheral facial nerve palsy using results obtained in tympanometry and comparing the values for pressure, amplitude, and tympanometric curve gradient between the side with CV VII palsy (affected side) and the opposite side (healthy side).


The effects of vertical cooling internals on the gas hydrodynamics was studied in gas-liquid system (bubble columns) for column diameters, 15 and 30 cm in the absence and presence of internals (the % occluded area by internals 5, 10, and 20%). The superficial gas velocity was varied in the range 0.8-30 and 0.8-7.6 cm/s for 15 and 30 cm column diameters respectively. The effect of internals on the bubble dynamics in columns was assessed using the electroresistivity probe technique. The overall gas holdup is measured experimentally by bed expansion technique. The experimental results show that the increased in percentage coverage of cross sectional area by internals causes an increase in the overall gas holdup values, gas holdup radial profiles, bubble rise velocity, bubble frequency and reduce average bubble diameters. Correlations have been used for the estimation of the gas holdup in gas-liquid system bubble column. The overall gas holdup can be easily predicted from


The obesity epidemic and excessive consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages have led to proposals of economics-based interventions to promote healthy eating in the United States. Targeted food and beverage taxes and subsidies are prominent examples of such potential intervention strategies. This paper examines the differential effects of taxing sugar-sweetened beverages by calories and by ounces on beverage demand. To properly measure the extent of substitution and complementarity between beverage products, we developed a fully modified distance metric model of differentiated product demand that endogenizes the cross-price effects. We illustrated the proposed methodology in a linear approximate almost ideal demand system, although other flexible demand systems can also be used. In the empirical application using supermarket scanner data, the product-level demand model consists of 178 beverage products with combined market share of over 90%. The novel demand model outperformed the conventional distance metric model in non-nested model comparison tests and in terms of the economic significance of model predictions. In the fully modified model, a calorie-based beverage tax was estimated to cost $1.40 less in compensating variation than an ounce-based tax per 3,500 beverage calories reduced. This difference in welfare cost estimates between two tax strategies is more than three times as much as the difference estimated by the conventional distance metric model. If applied to products purchased from all sources, a 0.04-cent per kcal tax on sugar-sweetened beverages is predicted to reduce annual per capita beverage intake by 5,800 kcal.


Photonic-crystal (PhC)-assisted light extraction is a promising method for ultrahigh efficiency, planar light-emitting diodes (LEDs). However, modeling of such structures is challenging due to the variety of their parameters and the heavy computational burden they represent. We present a thorough theoretical discussion of the optimization of PhC LEDs, which relies both on approximate treatments and on rigorous 3-D calculations. Two material systems (GaAs and GaN) are investigated, leading to quite different optimal regimes. Notably, it appears that besides the properties of the 2-D PhC itself, design of the vertical structure plays a major role in optimization


The flagellar beat frequency of Strigomonas oncopelti was found by cinemicrophotography at temperatures in the range 4-45° C. The thermal dependence is described by an activation enthalpy (Δ H ‡ ) of 15.4 kcal./mole and an activation entropy (Δ S ‡ of -1 e.u. Δ H ‡ is comparable with published data on cilia and glycerol-extracted sperm. Values of Δ S ‡ (-20 e.u.) deduced from the literature suggest a rate-limiting reaction between ions of like charge although the present value does not support this idea.


We report on a pilot study we undertook to investigate if segmental acupuncture treatment, given two minutes prior to a regional inferior dental block (ID) with Prilocaine Hydrochloride, would reduce the onset time of a local anaesthetic. Thirty healthy people, who needed a regional inferior dental block (ID) as part of dental treatment in the lower jaw, were randomly allocated to three groups. They received segmental acupuncture, heterosegmental superficial acupuncture, or standard treatment (regional inferior dental block) without acupuncture. In the segmental acupuncture group, acupuncture was given within the innervation of the trigeminal nerve. The needles were left in for two minutes, followed by a regional inferior dental block (ID). In the second group, acupuncture needles were inserted superficially in extra-segmental points and left in for two minutes without stimulation, followed by the regional inferior dental block. A control group received standard treatment only, of a regional inferior dental block. The concept 'pain free for dental work' was defined as 'patients reporting pins and needles in the lower lip' and measured by a drilling test. Patients who reported no pain during the drilling test were included in the study. The time from administration of the injection to the patients' reporting pins and needles was recorded by an independent dental nurse. All tested patients reported sufficient anaesthesia during the drilling test. In the segmental acupuncture group, anaesthesia was achieved after 62 seconds, compared to the heterosegmental superficial acupuncture group, who took 115 seconds and the control group, who received standard treatment only, and took 119 seconds. The difference between the segmental acupuncture group and the heterosegmental superficial acupuncture group was statistically significant (p<0.015); the difference between the segmental acupuncture group and the control, who received a regional inferior dental block only, was also significant (p<0.032). No significant difference was found between the heterosegmental superficial acupuncture group and the control group who received a regional inferior dental block only (p<0.84). It appears from this pilot study that the onset time of local anaesthesia is reduced if segmentally administered acupuncture is given prior to the regional inferior dental block. However, it needs to be reproduced including objective measurements.


There is an urgent need to train public health professionals at undergraduate level who can face global challenges that are due to longstanding conflicts, increasing number of displaced people, natural disasters, and growing inequalities between and within countries. Future public health professionals will lead activities ranging from national and international community planning, strategic work geared towards integration of migrants and crisis management of refugees, and humanitarian services. Consequently, the need for public health professionals with deep and wide theoretical and practical competencies in global contexts has become most relevant. In response to this need, The Swedish Red Cross University College has created such a programme leading to a Bachelor degree in Public Health Science, specialization Global Health.


This paper concerns the examination of stylistic features of the Italian folktale, presented through the use of figures of speech in a continuous correlation to the whole aesthetic of the genre as realized by the 'law' of repetition. The study, based on the analysis of hundred fifty-six transcribed oral Italian folktales is influenced by the ethnographic approach, which focuses on the story-teller and the folktale's performance, the genre theory and the qualitative stylistic analysis. Emphasis is put on the figures that reveal the repetition of lexical and syntactic patterns of speech. Especially, usual and particular uses of the figure of epanadiplosis are presented, as the accumulative epanadiplosis, the gradable epanadiplosis, the emphatic epanadiplosis. Also, figures of main interest consist epanaphora and its variances and the main sub-categories of epanastrophe as: (a) (synthetic)-generative, b) syntactic and c) cohesive epanastrophe. Last but not least, the figure of tautology is examined. The extended use of the above figures formates an artistic folktale grammar coupled with the analogous rhetorical dynamic. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n1p621


California is banning a class of potent greenhouse gases in foams and certain types of refrigeration equipment by copying a U.S. EPA regulation that a federal court overturned last year. The California Air Resources Board in late March agreed to prohibit hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in vending machines, foams for building construction, small refrigeration systems used in convenience stores, and food equipment such as frozen yogurt dispensers. Issued under state law, the ban will apply to new equipment and foams used in California. This move "preserves the federal limits on the use of these powerful chemicals and refrigerants and provides more certainty to industry," air board chair Mary D. Nichols says. Many industries are invested in the development and use of HFC alternatives that have low potential for global warming, she adds. Last August, a federal court sided with HFC makers Arkema and Mexichem Fluor and struck down a 2015 EPA regulation


This paper explores the process of financialization from a historical perspective during the course of the twentieth century. We identify four phases of financialization: the first from the 1900s to 1933 (early financialization), the second from 1933 to 1940 (transitory phase), the third between 1945 and 1973 (de-financialization), and the fourth period picks up from the early 1970s and leads to the Great Recession (complex financialization). Our findings indicate that the main features of the current phase of financialization were already in place in the first period. We closely examine institutions within these distinct financial regimes and focus on the relative size of the financial sector, the respective regulation regime of each period, the intensity of the shareholder value orientation, as well as the level of financial innovations implemented. Although financialization is a recent term, the process is far from novel. We conclude that its effects can be studied better with reference to economic history.


Background/Context There is a pressing need to consider how citizens should live together, especially in societies that are increasingly ethnically and politically diverse. Even though multicultural education is constructed very differently and serves very different purposes in different national contexts, relatively little attention has been paid to how education systems of countries such as China, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates give greater emphasis to the concepts of harmony and social cohesion. Purpose/Objective This study explores some of the ways in which multicultural education is defined and conceptualized in East Asian countries. This paper draws on the case study of Singapore to interrogate the concept of harmony, investigate the implications of the state incorporating this concept as an educational goal for the public education system, and examine teachers' understandings of multicultural education. Research Design The study adhered to the qualitative case study design. The data consisted primarily of semistructured individual interviews with 24 Singapore secondary social studies teachers, as well as relevant curricular and political documents such as the national Social Studies curriculum, political speeches, and official government publications. Guided by the literature, the interviewers asked questions to surface the participants' understandings of the definition, purposes, and practices of multicultural education. Subsequently, the interviewers used follow-up questions to probe further and elicit additional description of how the teachers arrived at these understandings. The data analysis, shaped largely by the constant comparative method, was data-driven and inductive. Conclusions/Recommendations By illustrating some of the affordances and constraints of incorporating harmony as an educational goal, this study offers multicultural education scholars and teacher educators an opportunity to better understand some of the ways in which multicultural education is conceptualized in East Asian countries with strong Confucian traditions. The findings from this study suggest that a focus on harmony as an educational goal may help facilitate a move away from programs that emphasize the development of individual students' social and political competencies towards programs and policies designed to promote communal trust and social cohesion. Finally, this study illustrates some of the challenges teachers face when balancing the goals of building trust and harmony within society and interrogating entrenched interests, institutional inequality, and unequal power relations.


In the past few years, the AHR has published five "Conversations," each on a subject of interest to a wide range of historians: "On Transnational History" (2006), "Religious Identities and Violence" (2007), "Environmental Historians and Environmental Crisis" (2008), "Historians and the Study of Material Culture" (2009), and "Historical Perspectives on the Circulation of Information" (2011). For each the process has been the same: the Editor convenes a group of scholars with an interest in the topic who, via e-mail over the course of several months, conduct a conversation, which is then lightly edited and footnoted, finally appearing in the December issue. The goal has been to provide readers with a wide-ranging consideration of a topic at a high level of expertise, in which the participants are recruited across several fields and periods. It is the sort of publishing project that this journal is uniquely positioned to undertake.

This year's topic is "The Historical Study of Emotions." Given the expanding range of new methodological and disciplinary forays among historians in recent years, it may be too much to proclaim that we are witnessing an "Emotional Turn." (Indeed, one conclusion that might be drawn from the June 2012 AHR Forum on "Historiographic 'Turns' in Critical Perspective" is that the very concept of "turns" may have outlived its intellectual usefulness.) But it cannot be denied that the study of emotions has become a thriving pursuit among historians from many different areas and periods. Not only does its emergence as a legitimate subfield foster the interrogation of descriptors—love, hate, resentment, passions, pity, happiness, and the like—that historians are more often likely to use uncritically if at all; it also allows for the crossing of the boundaries between private and public, the personal and collective, that often constrain our work. To be sure, a major problem with the study of emotions is how we can access the emotional lives of people in past times: is it possible to go beyond emotional expressions—usually conveyed in language—and attain some assurance that these are indicative of actual emotional states? This is only one of the questions confronted in the course of this wide-ranging conversation.

Joining the Editor in this conversation are Nicole Eustace, a historian of early America; Eugenia Lean, who studies modern Chinese history, literature, and culture; Julie Livingston, a historian who works in Africa; Jan Plamper, a specialist in Soviet and Russian history; William M. Reddy, who has written widely on modern European as well as comparative history; and Barbara H. Rosenwein, whose research has ranged across the religious, social, and intellectual history of the Middle Ages.


Interview with Carl Horton, an operating room nurse and Vietnam Army veteran. In the interview, Horton describes his experiences while serving as an Army nurse during the Vietnam War. He goes in depth about his assignments, which include Yokohama, Japan and Dong Tam and Can Tho with the 3rd Surgical Hospital. Horton also discusses living accommodations, hospital facilities, American relations with the South Vietnamese military personnel and civilians, "short time" and out-processing, leisure time, and recreational activities. He also discusses the adjustments that he had to make after the war was over and his continuing work with the Veterans Administration.


This paper addresses the issue of the role of agriculture in multifunctional rural development in Italy. Italy is characterised by high heterogeneity in terms of territorial composition, rural areas and the role of agriculture. The paper reviews the main multifunctionality concerns in Italy, by discussing rural development issues and policies and addressing the role of agriculture in such a context. The further development of agriculture and related future issues are then discussed, both in terms of dominant themes and most relevant policy design issues.


In Africa, there have been successes in cassava research in terms of the development of production technologies, particularly improved varieties with high yield potential. The study addresses the question of whether and to what extent adoption of improved cassava varieties has led to rural poverty reduction in four African countries, namely Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and Zambia. Data for the study come from a household survey conducted in the above-mentioned countries through a multinational-CGIAR support to agricultural research for development of strategic crops (SARD-SC) project in Africa. Given the observational nature of the data, a parametric approach (endogenous switching regression model) is applied. The results indicate that the model detects selectivity bias. Accounting for the bias, we find that adoption of cassava technology has resulted in an approximately 10 percentage point reduction in the poverty rate. Given an adoption rate of 34 per cent and a 10 percentage point reduction in the poverty rate, an estimated 24,309 households (equivalent to 194,469 individuals) have managed to move out of poverty in these four countries as a result of adoption of the technology. We also find that adoption of the technology has benefitted non-poor and female-headed households, relative to poor and male-headed households. The results present important evidence in favour of promoting cassava technology in a targeted fashion as part of an effective poverty reduction and sustained agricultural growth strategy in Africa. Considering the large realised and even more pronounced potential impacts of the adoption of cassava technology on poverty reduction, it is vital that regional and global development organisations should continue supporting the existing cassava improvement programme to sustain the technology development efforts in the continent.


The cross-border area between Croatia and Montenegro has similar development preconditions: large potential for tourism development and rich natural and cultural heritage. Both have experience in EU funded cross-border cooperation (CBC) programmes. The importance of the sustainable development aspect and is formally included into various national strategic documents, but implementation of such vague strategic documents is often problematic and sustainability aspects need to be examined on programme and project level. The current Integrated Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) Cross-border Cooperation Programme Croatia-Montenegro 2007-2013 is the basis for our research and sustainability evaluation. As recognised in the Cross-border Cooperation (CBC) Programme, one of the main challenges of the cross-border area besides the impact of globalization on the regional economy and developing competitive economy based on knowledge etc., are also environmental challenges. The Programme's strategic orientation to sustainable development encompasses economic development, human resources development, social justice and environmental protection. The overall objective focuses on the development of the cross-border region through cooperation and networks following the guidelines and regulations provided by the European Commission (EC) through the IPA Implementing Regulation. Specific objectives focus on development of SMEs, tourism, trade, environment, culture and sport. The long-term opportunities for the programming area are: competitive regional economies based on high quality service sector in tourism; efficient protection of the environment; natural and cultural heritage; and sustainable use of nature resources; as well as high quality public and social services necessary for community development. At project level, environmental issues were only to a very limited degree included and addressed in the application package through evaluation of financial, institutional, policy level and environmental sustainability aspects. Since the CBC Programme is implemented through projects, our questions are the following: What is the structural impact of the proposed actions and do they lead to improved legislation, codes of conduct, and methods? Is there an environmental impact? To which extent is guidance on sustainability issues provided and what is needed for improved implementation? How are participatory approaches during project planning and implementation used?


Purpose of review The management of atrial fibrillation has seen marked changes in recent years. This is the result of better knowledge of the pathophysiology and risks factors for atrial fibrillation, better stratification for thromboembolic and bleeding risks, changing practices in anticoagulation management, and the development of new antiarrhythmic drugs. This article focuses on these new issues, with particular attention to their relevance in the perioperative period. Recent findings Improved understanding of the interaction between predisposing factors and the pathophysiological mechanisms of atrial fibrillation is changing management strategies. Preoperative identification of patients at risk for postoperative atrial fibrillation (POAF) is important so that measures such as ß-blockade may be introduced to prevent its occurrence. When POAF does occur, cardioversion is preferred in unstable patients and amiodarone is the most commonly used drug. Owing to the transient nature of POAF and excessive bleeding risk immediately postsurgery, anticoagulation should be used with caution in these patients. The perioperative management of patients on chronic oral anticoagulants is guided by weighing the risk of thromboembolic complications against the risk surgical bleeding. Risk stratification scoring systems and published guidelines facilitate decision-making. New oral anticoagulants offer potentially improved safety profiles over traditional agents; however, their optimal management in the perioperative period remains unknown. Summary Better knowledge of the pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation and improved awareness of the risks associated with this frequent arrhythmia are continuing to improve the management of patients with chronic atrial fibrillation and new-onset atrial fibrillation in the perioperative period. As with most complex disease processes, treatment decisions must be individualized for each patient and clinical context.


In this essay I examine the relation between religious non-realism and religious pluralism. Religious pluralism is celebrated by it's adherents, to be benevolent and tolerant towards other religions truth claims and practices. Religious non-realism is also, by its adherents, praised for its including way to look upon truth claims and differing opinions about reality. When it comes to questions like what there is and what is not, does God exist or does he not etc. the religious non-realist is prone to less dogmatism and definite answers than metaphysical realists. Or at least so does the non-realists themselves like to think. What I examine in this essay is whether religious non-realism pragmatically implies religious pluralism, or if a non-realist judiciously can dismiss religious pluralism and instead adopt a form of confessional view of a specifik religion. Religious exclusivism, like the one Alvin Plantinga defends, rejects the possibility of x being both true and false. If a religious claim is taken to be true then incompatible claims have to be considered false according to this view. This fits poorly whith religious non-realism since the latter does not embrace a correspondance theory of truth. Religious pluralism is strongly criticized, among others for leaving "God" or other religious entities empty and whithout characteristics or content. This, because if God is litterally indescribable and unreachable, we would have no reason to believe that God has the chatacteristics we think he has. If religious pluralism cannot answer to the criticism, and if non-realism can not help pluralism evade the problems, then we are in need of a religious inclusivism that does not depend on metaphysical realism. I propose, what I have called, a pragmatic non-realistic inclusivism as an answer to the problem. This is a non-realistic theory that evades metaphysical realism and reductionism of religion, but nevertheless can prefere one religion before others. Not because one religion is concidered to have metaphysical and objective truth while others do not, but because one could prefere a specific religious language and consider that religion to be the most adequate response to human life


Virtual machines, besides the interpreter and just-in-time compiler optimization facilities, also include a set of primitive operations that the client language can use. Some of these are essential and cannot be performed in any other way. Others are optional: they can be expressed in the client language but are often implemented in the virtual machine to improve performance when the just-in-time compiler is unable to do so (start-up performance, speculative optimizations not implemented or not mature enough, etc.). In a hybrid runtime, where code is executed by an interpreter and a just-in-time compiler, the implementor can choose to implement optional primitives in the client language, in the virtual machine implementation language (typically C or C++), or on top of the just-in-time compiler backend. This raises the question of the maintenance and performance trade-offs of the different alternatives. As a case study, we implemented the String comparison optional primitive in each case. This paper describes the different implementations, discusses the maintenance cost of each of them and evaluates for different string sizes the execution time in Cog, a Smalltalk virtual machine.


In France and Belgium, ther has been a trade of non-timber forest products from Central Africa for nearly 30 years. Traded products come chiefly, by order of importance, from Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are many (45 in total, of which 13 come from native species), but the more regularly imported are saka-saka or cassava leaves (Manihot esculenta), ndole (Vernonia sp), fumbua or koko (Gnetum africanum and G. buchholzianum), safou or bush butter (Dacryodes edulis), many spices and condiments such as njansan (Ricinodendron heudelotii), wild mango (Irvingia gabonensis), pebe (Monodora myristica), and two stimulants: kola nut (Cola acuminata and C. nitida) and bitter kola (Garcinia kola). These products are imported mainly by air, and are largely intended for nationals of Central African countries living in Paris, Brussels, several other French and Belgian cities, and recently in England, Germany and Switzerland. Others, often in small quantities, go to African restaurants and the market of 'bio' products. Initiated by the first students and trainees from Central Africa in France and Belgium, this trade was originally carried out exclusively by European grocers specialising in general food products. European, North African, Central African and Asian grocers now carry it out. They all run shops specialising in the sale of products to African and West Indian customers. They charge prices sometimes eightfold the prices prevailing in Central African markets, which paradoxically does not slow down the demand for ethnical and biological products, and health or dietetic foods among young French, Belgian and European consumers. This paper describes the organisation and operation of the non-timber forest products market (selling points, actors, distribution networks, prices, bottlenecks, etc.) and its potential for development. It also formulates recommendations to release constraints to its dynamics, and suggests access paths for use by actors in Central Africa.


Abstract:Inequalities seem ubiquitous, despite the spread of electoral democracy and what were, until recently, positive rates of economic growth. These seemingly mismatched trends should not surprise us. The advance of democracy entails a decrease in political inequality but does not guarantee decreases in inequalities of other sorts. Economic (and other) inequalities have historically followed their own dynamic, independent of whether electoral democracy exists. The same generalization holds for electoral democracy and poverty. Collective action challenges mean that rising economic inequalities will not be easily reversed. This may harm the quality of contemporary democracies, but is unlikely to cause massive collapse.


Fragmented IP traffic is a poorly understood component of the overall mix of traffic on the Internet. Many assertions about the nature and extent of fragmented traffic are anecdotal rather than empirical. In this paper we examine the causes and attributes of measured fragment traffic, in particular, the effects of NFS, streaming media, networked video games, tunneled traffic, and the prevalence of packet fragmentation due to improperly configured machines.To understand the prevalence, causes, and effects of fragmented IP traffic, we have collected and analyzed seven multiday traces from four sources. These sources include a university commodity access link, two highly aggregated commercial exchange points, and a local NAP. Although there is no practical method of ascertaining whether any data provide a representative sample of all Internet traffic, we include data sources that cover several different types of WANs with traffic from commercial entities, educational and research institutions, and large government facilities.The dominant causes of fragmentation are streaming media and tunneled traffic. Although rumored to be the main impetus for IP packet fragmentation, NFS is not among the top ten causes.


Introduction At the present time, the world is confronted with a variety of crises: various frictions caused by economical globalism, widespread destruction of the environment in universal proportions despite advances in science, and unbelievable life situations for children in advanced countries. We would like to present this paper in light of these issues. In this paper, we would like to review how we should address these difficult problems from a philosophical background by focusing on various tragedies in periods of "paradigm shift." As you know, the concept of "paradigm shift" 1 as defined by Thomas S. Kuhn is related to a change of view of the world that religious thinkers and philosophers developed. When we reflect how their view of the world has been exerting a great influence on diverse movements in this age, we hope this paper's topic will present a new perspective for consideration. Paradigm in this instance refers to a certain world order and the common recognition by humans. Therefore "paradigm shift," which is the key word in this paper, represents a shift from a certain order caused by a period of chaos. Throughout human history, periods of chaos have caused paradigm shifts, and the world cannot avoid confronting various tragedies in relation to these periods of chaos. The human species has been evolving through the overcoming of tragedies caused by paradigm shift. In the age of colonization under the great powers of the west (Europe) and with the cold war between the world's superpowers there was a paradigm that the world was controlled by military power. At this present time we are experiencing a shifting period induced by the chaos caused by the breakdown of the paradigm that the world is dominated by military power and find a new paradigm fueled by information technology and globalization. Therefore, we believe that the various conflicts and tragedies of the present come from a paradigm shift. With these facts as our basis, we would like to take a look at some ideas for saving the world from its present tragedies. In the first section, we will consider the unavoidable tragedies caused by the three kinds of conflicts that we are confronted with: the education problem, the differential society, and the conflict between globalism and fundamentalism. In addition, we will argue that there is the theory of meritocracy which Michael Young coined on the basis of tragedies as the problem. Meritocracy means the existence of the human itself and the nature of a scientific civilization. Within these contents, we examine how humans should address the above problems without yielding to the unavoidable and the negative function of meritocracy. In the next section, we will examine a paradigm shift in ancient China. The characteristic projects in the Sui Dynasty (581-618) represent the contradiction and the confusion between the quest for construction of the new paradigm, a nation with a law system based on the philosophies of Confucianism and Chinese legalism ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]), and the remainder from the old paradigm, based on military supremacy. We will take a look at the Buddhist monk Shan-tao (613-681) who lived during this tragic time in China, as a model for saving the world from these tragedies. In the third section, we will argue how the Luling nation that the Sui tried to achieve influenced ancient Japan. In addition to this, we will consider the large impact of paradigm shift that the thoughts of Shan-tao brought about in medieval Japan and the thoughts of Shinran (1173-1262) which were created amidst the tragedies of this age; the view of a world for the True Buddha-land ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] shinbutsudo) and the Land of the Transformation Body ([TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] keshindo). In the fourth section, we will deliberate the common nature existing in both confronting tragedies presented in the first section and the tragedies of paradigm shift in ancient China and point out how meritocracy is included in its foundation. …


Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are the number one production system for therapeutic proteins. A pre-requirement for their use in industrial production of biopharmaceuticals is to be clonal, thus originating from a single cell in order to be phenotypically and genomically identical. In the present study it was evaluated whether standard procedures, such as the generation of a recombinant cell line in combination with selection for a specific and stable phenotype (expression of the recombinant product) or subcloning have any impact on karyotype stability or homogeneity in CHO cells. Analyses used were the distribution of chromosome counts per cell as well as chromosome painting to identify specific karyotype patterns within a population. Results indicate that subclones both of the host and the recombinant cell line are of comparable heterogeneity and (in)stability as the original pool. In contrast, the rigorous selection for a stably expressing phenotype generated cell lines with fewer variation and more stable karyotypes, both at the level of the sorted pool and derivative subclones. We conclude that the process of subcloning itself does not contribute to an improved karyotypic homogeneity of a population, while the selection for a specific cell property inherently can provide evolutionary pressure that may lead to improved chromosomal stability as well as to a more homogenous population.


Cellular adaptation to hypoxia involves downregulation of energy-consuming processes such as macromolecular synthesis, and leads to tumor aggressiveness and resistance to therapies for many solid cancers. To delineate mechanisms underlying this process, I carried out a transcriptome-wide study to measure hypoxia-mediated changes in gene expression and alternative splicing in in vivo and in vitro models of hypoxic head and neck carcinoma (HNC) cells. These data represent the first nucleotide-resolution study of the hypoxic transcriptome of HNC cells in vivo and in vitro. This investigation uncovered a global downregulation of genes known to regulate RNA processing, including a significant number of genes involved in splicing catalysis. Exon-level analyses classified >1,000 mRNAs to be affected by alternative splicing, and led to the discovery of a unique retained intron in the master regulator of translation initiation, EIF2B5. In this dissertation, I will describe a previously uncharacterized mechanism by which a hypoxia-mediated retained intron in EIF2B5 leads to a truncated isoform that opposes full-length eIF2Bε to inhibit translation. A functional investigation of this hypoxia-induced isoform confirmed that expression of the truncated 65kDa isoform of eIF2Bε confers a survival advantage to HNC cells under conditions of hypoxia. Moreover, expression of this isoform was observed in solid tumors of patients with HNC in a stage-dependent manner. Additional work to uncover -cis and -trans regulators of EIF2B5 splicing identified several factors that influence intron retention in EIF2B5: a weak splice site with an alternate splice site at the retained intron, hypoxia-induced expression of the splicing factor SRSF3, and increased binding of total and phospho-Ser2 RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) specifically at the intron retained under hypoxia. Altogether, these data reveal differential splicing as a previously uncharacterized mode of translational control under hypoxia and are supported by a model in which hypoxia-induced changes to co-transcriptional processing lead to selective retention of an intron containing a premature-termination codon in EIF2B5. Degree Type Dissertation Degree Name Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Graduate Group Cell & Molecular Biology First Advisor Constantinos Koumenis


Verifying about eligibility of targeted site is necessary for execute Afforestation and Reforestation Clean Development Mechanism (A/R CDM) project which is followed by system of Kyoto protocol. The site have to be identified by which could not be in conformity with definition of forest. This study tried to propose a technology of classify for site selection of A/R CDM. We chose several parts of Yangpyeng as study area and applied LiDAR data and remotely sensed imagery for considering about tree height, degree of crown closure, and land area which 3 factors for identify forest. LiDAR data was used for offset the shortage of remotely sensed imagery that cannot perfectly determine the forest definition due to absence of 3-dimentional information, but can be obtained from LiDAR. Considering tree height, degree of crown closure, and land area simultaneously by moving window, classified fields to forest and non forest based on pixel size. As a result, 124.06 ha for suitable to doing plantation and approximately 357.02 ha are in negative. Technology that applied for analyzing will provide fundamental methodology not only site selection for A/R CDM, but will be utilized in other Kyoto protocol.


(8-L-[14C] phenylalanine) angiotensin I is metabolized in one passage through blood-free lungs. Approximately 20 percent of the radioactivity emerges as angiotensin 11, the remainder as lower homologs. Radioactivity is not retained by the lungs but has the same volume of distribution and mean transit time as blue dextran, a compound unlikely to leave the intravascular space. Plasma membrane fractions of lung are capable of converting angiotensin I to angiotensin II. These data, taken together, indicate the circulating angiotensin I is metabolized by enzymes of the luminal surface of pulmonary endothelial cells.


Building Intelligent Information Systems Software shows scientists and engineers how to build applications that model complex information, data, and knowledge without the need for coding. Traditional software development takes time and leads to inflexible, complicated applications that almost, but dont exactly, meet the intended needs. Requirements can change, sometimes mid-development, and adapting existing systems can be difficult. Individual solutions can be incompatible, leading to information silos and inefficiency throughout an organization. This book offers a solution the Information Unit Model, an innovative architecture for translating domain knowledge into applications. By encapsulating the complexities of computing, the Unit Model allows engineers to focus on business or experimental needs. Author Tom Feigenbaum, inventor of the Unit Modeler, demonstrates this innovative software architecture for rapid application design and development. His approach promotes repurposing pre-existing tools and libraries, and collaborating across the cloud, to promote information sharing and efficient development practices. Each concept is illustrated with examples including file management, data management, and 3D visualization. Turn your domain knowledge into applications without heavy coding Design and develop information systems applications in a fraction of the time of traditional methodsLeverage previously-built components to jump start new projectsIncludes access to a trial version of the Information Unit Modeler tool for rapid application development


An undergraduate capstone design project team consisting of candidates for the BS degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering and faculty designed a wastewater treatment facility for a coffee processing mill in rural Nicaragua.  The team visited Nicaragua to interview the client community, survey the actual site, and hold discussions with local development agencies, agricultural cooperatives, and potential contractors.  Three alternative designs were developed, and the community chose one involving a settling basin and a series of three infiltration pits. The treatment system is expected to meet MARENA discharge standards for pH, turbidity, and chemical oxygen demand (COD) of discharge wastewater.  The project team further secured sufficient funding from Tetra Tech, an environmental consulting firm, to build the coffee mill and the water treatment facility.  On a subsequent visit, the mill and treatment facility were seen to be well constructed and functional.  Several important lessons regarding international service learning design projects were learned: the need for a large cost overrun buffer; the utility of having contributors on-site during both important decision making stages and construction; the value of working with local organizations to facilitate remote work projects;  the possibility of private sponsorship and partnership for charitable projects;  and the need to work with the community to design and select appropriate technologies.


In their editorial "Breast Milk: An Optimal Food," Pronczuk et al. (2004) stated that "in most cases, mothers can and should be reassured that breast milk is by far the best food to give to their babies," despite the evidence that "a myriad of potential chemical contaminants … can be detected in breast milk," mainly because a) levels of environmental contaminants, as determined by subsequent surveys, continue to decrease; b) exposure through breast milk may be less important than exposure in utero; and c) there is little evidence that exposure through breast milk is associated with damage.

We believe that there is probably a fourth good reason in support of their recommendation. There is in fact some evidence that breast-feeding may counteract some of the negative effects of exposure to environmental contaminants in utero.

For example, Boersma and Lanting (2000) showed that at 6 years of age cognitive development is affected by prenatal exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins. Breast-fed children, however, when compared to formula-fed children, had an advantage in terms of quality of movements, fluency, and cognitive development tests at 18 and 42 months of age and at 6 years of age, despite a higher PCB exposure from breast milk.

Ribas-Fito et al. (2003), studying a birth cohort of 92 mother–infant pairs highly exposed to organochlorine compounds, found that prenatal exposure was associated with a delay in mental and psychomotor development at 13 months of age and that long-term breast-feeding counterbalanced this damage because it was associated with better performance on both the mental and motor scales compared to short-term or no breast-feeding.

Vreugdenhil et al. (2004) found that children who were breast-fed for at least 16 weeks did not show the delays in development of the central nervous system that are present in children breast-fed for 6–16 weeks or formula-fed, despite a similar prenatal exposure to PCBs.

This evidence is not conclusive (scientific evidence rarely is), but we believe that it should not be omitted in an article on environmental contaminants and breast-feeding.


A high absorption coefficient and narrow absorption bands in squaraine (SQ) dyes have resulted in rapidly growing interest in them as a donor material in photovoltaic devices. The exciton dissociation process in organic systems proceeds via a multistep mechanism where the electron–hole pairs (charge transfer states) involved in the current generation process determine the recombination losses and subsequently limit the overall performance of organic solar cells. In this work, these basic electronic processes are investigated by magneto-photocurrent measurements (MPC, the photocurrent change induced by the external magnetic field) of SQ:PC60BM bulk-heterojunction solar cells with varying electron acceptor concentrations under magnetic fields up to 9 T and at different temperatures. Under a weak external magnetic field, the change in photocurrent is due to electron and hole (e–h) pairs that experience a modulating hyperfine interaction associated with nuclear (mainly proton) magnetic moment, while in strong magnetic fields the photocurrent is affected by the Δg mechanism with spin dephasing due to different Lande factors of the electron and hole entities (Δg ≈ 10−3). To consistently interpret the amplitudes and lineshapes of the MPC signals at various temperatures, charge carrier hopping in a disordered environment competing with the magnetic dipole spin precession is proposed. The requirements for efficient small-molecular weight organic:fullerene bulk-heterojunction solar cells are briefly discussed.


We investigate the interaction of Ti atoms with thin films made of 3,4,9,10 perylenetetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA) molecules by means of self-consistent electronic structure calculations within a generalized gradient approximated density-functional theory framework. Following experimental suggestions, we model the thin films in terms of the bulk crystallographic structure of PTCDA. We fully optimize the atomic PTCDA structures in the presence of Ti impurities by local minimizations of the electronic total energy. We find that the Ti atoms react with the anhydride groups of PTCDA and form additional bridge-type bonds with the surrounding molecules. This process is accompanied by an electronic charge transfer from the metal atoms to the organic molecules, which provides a consistent interpretation of the experimentally observed C 1s core-level shifts upon metal deposition. As a consequence of the chemical reaction, electronic states are induced in the gap above the highest occupied molecular orbital level of the organic semiconductor, in good agreement with photoemisssion studies.


Abstract:Half a century after the first work on the Romanian Roms written by M. Kogălniceanu (1837) at the suggestion of the father of modern geography, Alexander von Humboldt, similarly, at the suggestion of a foreign scholar, the father of Romani dialectology, Franz Miklosich, a graduate of the Faculty of Theology, University of Leipzig, and Ph.D. of the same university, Barbu Constantinescu, started to learn Romani and became the first Romanian scholar in the emergent field. He was an acknowledged educationist, the first exponent of Herbatianism in Romania, and worked in many educational pioneering projects, such as the establishment of the first kindergarten, as well as the reformation of the pedagogical and theological systems of education. In the field of Romani studies, unfortunately, he could not publish all his projected work, and posterity forgot his huge effort of travelling in all counties of Wallachia and Moldavia in search of Romani settlements. He published in Bucharest, in 1877 and 1878, a dozen songs and tales in Romani of his own translation, which were duly acknowledged (e.g. by F.H. Groome in his 1899 anthology of Gypsy folk songs). However, his work, comprising hundreds of documents, was not included in a collection, though it is partially preserved in some unedited manuscripts at the Romanian Academy Library in Bucharest, which are described here for the first time, in sections § 2.1–6. The article describes the intellectual legacy left by Barbu Constantinescu in the field of Romani studies.


It is common knowledge that movements are based on ideologies that are considered to be the foundation of their methodologies and policies. Often, these ideologies are disseminated in letters, books or other publications that present them in the form of texts that are available to the public and become sources of information about these movements. The Jamā'at Al-Tablīgh is one of the movements that plays an important role in the sphere of Islamic Da'wah (mission). This movement adopts some techniques of Da'wah; one of the most important among them being Targhīb, which expounds the merits and benefits of virtuous deeds. This research studies one of the most popular books of the movement, titled in Urdu Tablīghī Nisāb, which uses this sort of technique. It was written by the famous H adīth scholar and the general supervisor of the movement, Shaykh Muhammad Zakariyyā Kāndahlawī. The first publication of the book in Urdu was in (1374 H./1955 CE.). It has been translated into several different languages, and this reflects the importance of the book. The thesis falls into six chapters, including the introduction as chapter one and the conclusion as chapter six. Chapter two talks about the definition of weak Ahadīth and its different types, criteria used to determine weak Ahādīth, different trends among the scholars regarding weak Ahādīth, the consequences of using and publicizing weak and fabricated Ahādīth. Chapter three deals with the biography of the author of the Tablīghī Nisāb, while chapter four focuses on the book itself, by specifying the original name of it and looking at the different editions and translations, and compares the original Urdu with the Arabic and English versions. The chapter also discusses the methodology of the author in his book. Chapter five is a critical study of the Ahādīth of the Tablīghī Nisāb, whether found in the main text of the book or in the commentary to verify the Ahādīth in terms of their authenticity or weakness.


As Knowledge Management applications, E-learning platforms have been used in many organizations. Universities as knowledge management appliers and early adopters of Elearning platforms as knowledge-sharing channels, making education independent of time and location, created new opportunities for students to become active and collaborative participants of their learning. In this respect, learning management systems offered tools and modules to facilitate knowledge construction, knowledge gathering and sharing among its participants. This study examined the critical factors of usability evaluation of the learning management system Moodle as part of students' blended learning in a computer literacy course at a funded University in Turkey. The model based on Nielsen's 10 heuristics and was tested with data from 236 students. Descriptive statistics showed that students generally agreed with the system and did not face problems when working with it. The study used structural equation modeling (SEM) for data analysis and found eight factors to be significant in the research model after an exploratory factor analysis.


The intrinsic interaction of a robotic system that includes two 6-degree-of-freedom cable-driven platforms sharing a common workspace might result in cable interferences for random trajectories. This paper presents and analyzes computational methods for geometrically determining and managing these interferences for any trajectory constrained with variable loads. The algorithms considered determine which cable can be released from an active actuation state while allowing control in a minimal tension state, thereby ensuring that both platforms stay in a controllable workspace. The process of managing cable interferences constitutes a challenge as one must take into account the inherent limitations of the workspace, which not only include the possibility of interference itself, but also the geometry of the cable-driven locomotion interface (CDLI), its dynamics, the nonideal behavior of real cables, and the requirement that both platforms must be completely constrained at any time. As releasing a cable from an active actuation state might generate tension discontinuities in the other cables, this paper also proposes collision prediction schemes that are only applied to redundant actuators in order to reduce or completely eliminate such discontinuities. Finally, a simulation of a CDLI embedded as a peripheral in a virtual environment, in which the load applied on each platform comes from the wrench measured under the foot for a natural gait walking, is thoroughly analyzed.


Introduction:

Permafrost soils are believed to hold approximately 50% of the global soil carbon pool (Tarnocai et al. 2009), mostly as partic-ulate organic carbon (POC). In the Arctic coastal lowlands of Eurasia and North America ground ice can occupy a large pro-portion of the soil volume. Calculations of permafrost organic C stocks usually substract the ground ice content (Zimov et al. 2006; Tarnocai et al. 2009) and therefore disregard the organic carbon, especially the amount of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) contained in massive ground ice bodies such as ice wedges and buried glacier ice. Although these numbers might be small compared to the POC stocks in peat and mineral soils, DOC is chemically labile and may directly enter local food webs. Due to its liability DOC is quickly mineralized and returned to the atmosphere when released due to permafrost degradation.
Here, we present the first results of a permafrost study on DOC in ground ice. We report DOC contents from different massive ground ice types, put them into context of the Arctic organic carbon pools and fluxes, and evaluate their contribution to the Arctic carbon budget against the background of in-creasing permafrost degradation and enhancing coastal erosion in the future.


Information about heat release can be used to discuss the flame dynamics and stability behavior of turbulent combustion systems. The most common experimental approach to determine heat release fluctuations is the recording of OH*-chemiluminescence. Since there is a strong dependence of chemiluminescence on strain rate and mixture gradients, spatial information must be judged with care. As already shown in previous work, Laser Interferometric Vibrometry (LIV) directly detects the line-of-sight values of density fluctuations along the laser beam axis. Neglecting friction, losses of thermal radiation and conduction and assuming only small fluctuations of pressure in the reaction zone, heat release fluctuations can be calculated directly from density fluctuations. With available LIV techniques only pointwise scanning was feasible, resulting in time-consuming traversing of the flame to cover the whole flame field. A new camera-based full-field-LIV-system, developed at Technische Universität Dresden, is capable to simultaneously determine spatial information of heat release within the whole field with only one measurement, lasting a few minutes. This leads to a dramatical reduction of measurement time and furthermore reduces experimental efforts. Since the system is able to measure the complete flame at once, it is also possible to get information about the transient behavior of the combustion process. In this work the full-field-LIV system was applied for the first time on a swirl stabilized, lean and premixed methane flame. The results of this newly developed technique were checked against those of a commercially available single-beam LIV-system. Finally, the flame transfer function (FTF) was recorded with full-field-LIV and OH*-chemiluminescence and compared against each other.


Mechanisms of cAMP signal transduction have been thoroughly investigated for more than 40 years. From the binding of hormonal ligands to their receptors on the outer surface of the plasma membrane to the cytoplasmic activation of effectors, the ensuing cAMP signaling cascades and the nuclear gene regulatory functions, coupled with the structural elucidation of the cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) and in vivo functional characterizations of each of the components of PKA by homologous recombination gene targeting, our understanding of cAMP-mediated signal transduction has reached its pinnacle. Despite this trove of knowledge, some recent findings have emerged that suggest hitherto novel and alternative mechanisms of cAMP action that could increase the signaling bandwidth of cAMP and PKA in cell growth and transcriptional regulation. This article attempts to review some of these novel and unconventional mechanisms of cAMP and PKA signaling, and to generate further enthusiasm in investigating and validating these new frontiers of the cAMP signal transduction pathway.


Long distance migration has evolved in many organisms moving through different media and using various modes of locomotion and transport. Migration continues to evolve or become suppressed as shown by ongoing dynamic and rapid changes of migration patterns. This great evolutionary flexibility may seem surprising for such a complex attribute as migration. Even if migration in most cases has evolved basically as a strategy to maximise fitness in a seasonal environment, its occurrence and extent depend on a multitude of factors. We give a brief overview of different factors (e.g. physical, geographical, historical, ecological) likely to facilitate and/or constrain the evolution of long distance migration and discuss how they are likely to affect migration. The basic driving forces for migration are ecological and biogeographic factors like seasonality, spatiotemporal distributions of resources, habitats, predation and competition. The benefit of increased resource availability will be balanced by costs associated with the migratory process in terms of time (incl. losses of prior occupancy advantages), energy and mortality (incl. increased exposure to parasites). Furthermore, migration requires genetic instructions (allowing substantial room for learning in some of the traits) about timing, duration and distance of migration as well as about behavioural and physiological adaptations (fuelling, organ flexibility, locomotion, use of environmental transport etc) and control of orientation and navigation. To what degree these costs and requirements put constraints on migration often depends on body size according to different scaling relationships. From this expos it is clear that research on migration warrants a multitude of techniques and approaches for a complete as possible understanding of a very complex evolutionary syndrome. In addition, we also present examples of migratory distances in a variety of taxons. In recent years new techniques, especially satellite radio telemetry, provide new information of unprecedented accuracy about journeys of individual animals, allowing re-evaluation of migration, locomotion and navigation theories. (Less)


Background: Cellular and animal studies suggest that hypercholesterolemia contributes to Alzheimer disease (AD). However, the relationship between cholesterol and dementia at the population level is less clear and may vary over the lifespan. Methods: The Prospective Population Study of Women, consisting of 1,462 women without dementia aged 38–60 years, was initiated in 1968–1969 in Gothenburg, Sweden. Follow-ups were conducted in 1974–1975, 1980–1981, 1992–1993, and 2000–2001. All-cause dementia was diagnosed according to DSM-III-R criteria and AD according to National Institute of Neurological and Communicative Disorders and Stroke, Alzheimer's Disease, and Related Disorders Association criteria. Cox proportional hazards regression examined baseline, time-dependent, and change in cholesterol levels in relation to incident dementia and AD among all participants. Analyses were repeated among participants who survived to the age of 70 years or older and participated in the 2000–2001 examination.


In this master thesis project, a concept design of bio-inspired swimming robot is developed for marine aquaculture applications. According to the requirements from the marine aquaculture industry, the manta ray is selected as the biological prototype of the concept design based on the investigation of aquatic creatures with different swimming locomotion. With a thorough study of manta rays, two methodologies of designing a manta ray like swimming robot are generalized. Corresponding with the methodologies, the swimming robot design mainly focuses on the structure design and propulsion mechanism design. The concept design is verified by comparing the 3D animation with the videos of real fish at the last.


Ionomeric polymer transducers have received considerable attention in the past ten years due to their ability to generate large bending strain and moderate stress at low applied voltages. Bending transducers made of an ionomeric polymer membrane sandwiched between two flexible electrodes deform through the expansion of one electrode and contraction of the opposite electrode due to cation displacement. This is similar to a bimorph type actuation. In this study we report actuation through the thickness of the membrane, leading to the potential of a new actuation mechanism for ionomeric polymer materials. Several experiments are performed to compare the bending actuation with the extensional actuation capability. The direct assembly method previously developed by the authors is used to fabricate ionic polymer transducers with controlled electrode dimensions and morphology. Electrodes with varying thickness are used to alter thickness of the active material. In the first experiment, the actuators are cut in beam shape and are allowed to bend in cantilever configuration. In the second configuration, bending is constrained by sandwiching the membranes between two solid metal plates and force is measured across the thickness of the actuator. A bimorph model is used to assess the effect of electrode thickness on the strain. An electromechanical coupling model presented by Leo et al. [1] determined the strain in the active areas as a function of the charge. This model is presented with a linear and a quadratic term that produces a 1st harmonic response for a sine wave actuation input. The quadratic term in the strain generates a zero net bending moment for ionic polymer transducers with symmetric electrodes. The linear term is also canceled in extensional actuation for symmetric electrodes. Experimental results demonstrates strain on the order of 110 μstrain in the thickness direction compared to 1700 μstrain peak to peak on the external fibers for the same transducer when it is allowed to bend under +/−2V potential at 0.5 Hz.Copyright © 2005 by ASME


Abstract In case of a pressurized water reactor's severe accident with core meltdown and vessel failure, corium would spread on the concrete basemat of the plant. The high temperature of the corium pool maintained by the residual power would lead to the erosion of the concrete walls and potentially to the bypass of the containment. The ablation velocity of concrete is governed by the heat flux between the corium pool and the concrete wall, and its calculation is of particular significance to predict whether and when the basemat would fail in such a situation. From a hydrodynamic point of view, this issue is related to heat transfer between a volumetric heated bubbling pool and a porous wall with gas injection. Several experimental studies have been performed in the past, and many correlations have been proposed to address this issue. The main purpose of this paper is to assess these correlations from comparisons against the available experimental data. After a review of these data, the different correlations are presented. Attention focuses here on the correlations generally used in molten core-concrete interaction study: The Kutateladze-Malenkov, Konsetov, and BALI correlations. Deckwer's correlation is also included in this review. The comparisons between the results of these correlations and the experimental data are then discussed.


The structural variation of monoclinic C2/m alkali feldspars has been analysed, based on 50 previously-determined structures and 10 new structure refinements including three determinations of the structure of an Or90 orthoclase at temperatures of 600 K, 900 K and 1075 K. The influence of temperature, composition and state of Al,Si order on the overall average tetrahedral bond lengths of these structures is statistically insignificant. Analysis of the structures in terms of the tilts of the tetrahedra shows that the tilts evolve uniformly with unit-cell volume irrespective of whether the volume is changed by temperature or exchange of the extra-framework cation. There is a small but systematic decrease in the distortion of the T1 tetrahedron with increasing unit-cell volume. Comparisons of the refined structures with the results of geometric modelling show that volume changes are driven by exchange of the extra-framework cation, or by an increase in its thermal vibrations upon heating. The extreme anisotropy of the changes in the unit-cell parameters of monoclinic feldspars is not due to anisotropic interaction of the extra-framework cation with the anions of the framework, but due to the tilting of the tetrahedra controlled in part by O-O interactions. The anisotropy and tilting is not significantly modified by either Al,Si ordering or the distortions of the tetrahedra provided that the latter remain constant. The monoclinic feldspars show a slightly reduced anisotropy of strains as the unit-cell volume increases as a result of a decrease in the angular distortion of the T1 tetrahedron. The general conclusion is drawn that the pattern of anisotropy of the elastic properties (thermal expansion, compressibility, elastic compliances) and the cell-parameter changes of a tetrahedral framework structure with changing extra-framework species are intrinsic to the topology of the framework. The relative insensitivity of the anisotropy of the strains induced by volume changes to distortions of the tetrahedra also means that framework models which incorporate regular tetrahedra can be safely used to predict anisotropy, provided that the tetrahedral distortions do not change. If, as in the monoclinic feldspars, such a model does not reproduce exactly the observed anisotropy of the real structures, then this immediately indicates that there is a significant change in the distortion of the framework tetrahedra.


Berger and colleagues recently proposed a continuum model of how somatic mutations cause tumors to grow, thus supplementing the established binary models, such as oncogene activation and "two hits" at tumor suppressor loci. In the basic continuum model, decreases or increases in gene function, short of full inactivation or activation, impact linearly on cancer development. An extension, called the fail-safe model, envisaged an optimum level of gene derangement for tumor growth, but proposed that the cell gained protection from tumorigenesis because additional mutations caused excessive derangement. Most of the evidence in support of the continuum model came from Pten mutant mice rather than humans. In this article, we assess the validity and applicability of the continuum and fail-safe models. We suggest that the latter is of limited use: In part, it restates the existing "just right" of optimum intermediate gene derangement in tumorigenesis, and in part it is inherently implausible that a cell should avoid becoming cancerous only when it is some way down the road to that state. In contrast, the basic continuum model is a very useful addition to the other genetic models of tumorigenesis, especially in certain scenarios. Fittingly for a quantitative model, we propose that the continuum model is most likely to apply where multiple, cancer-promoting mutations have relatively small, additive effects, either through the well-established case of additive germline predisposition alleles or in a largely hypothetical situation where cancers may have acquired several somatic "mini-driver" mutations, each with weaker effects than classical tumor suppressors or fully activated oncogenes.


Comparing the Relative Impact of Parentand Coach-Initiated Motivational Climates on Young Athletes' Self-Esteem, Performance Anxiety, and Achievement Goal Orientation. Frank J. Schwebel Chair of Supervisory Committee: Professor Ronald E. Smith Department of Psychology Sport-related motivational climate research has been primarily focused on the impact of coaches, whereas parental influence has been a secondary focus. This study focused on 543 youth athletes (ages 9-16) on 82 teams in recreational community center basketball leagues. The impact of the motivational climates created both by parents and by coaches on post-season athlete outcomes of anxiety, self-esteem, and achievement goal orientation was examined. A newly developed adaptation of the Perceptions of Success Questionnaire, the Parent-Attributed Standards for Success Scale (PASSS) was used to measure athletes' perceptions of mastery and ego-oriented parental success criteria, the central component of parental motivational climate. A multi-level regression analysis revealed that perceived parent success standards were a significant predictor of youth outcomes over and above coach motivational climate. We discuss why we think this occurred and suggest future directions for further research on the subject matter as well as possible interventions that can be used to increase positive parent motivational styles. COACH AND PARENT MOTIVATIONAL CLIMATES 1


Tetra-primer amplification refractory mutation system PCR (T-ARMS-PCR) offers fast detection and extreme simplicity at a negligible cost for SNP genotyping. SIRT2, the family member (sirtuins, SIRT1-7) with the greatest homology to the silent information regulator 2 (Sir2), is the most abundantly expressed sirtuins in adipocytes and has been implicated in promoting fatty acid oxidation (FAO) by deacetylating various substrates. In the current study, we have successfully genotyped a new identified bovine SIRT2 SNP g.4140A > G by T-ARMS-PCR method and validated the accuracy by PCR-RFLP assay using 1255 animals representing the five main Chinese breeds. The concordance between the two different methods was 98.8%. Individuals with discordant genotypes were retyped by direct DNA sequencing. 40% of the discrepancies could be attributed to incomplete digestion in the PCR-RFLP assay. 60% of discordant genotypes resulted from allele failure in the T-ARMS-PCR assay. Chi-square test shows that the frequencies of SNP g.4140A > G are in Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in all the samples (P > 0.05), which suggested that the five populations are almost a dynamic equilibrium even in artificial selection. Association analysis showed that the g.4140A > G polymorphism is significantly related to 24 months-old body weight in Nanyang cattle. Our results provide direct evidence that T-ARMS-PCR is a rapid, reliable, and cost-effective method for SNP genotyping and g.4140A > G polymorphism in bovine SIRT2 is associated with growth efficiency traits. These findings may be used for marker-assisted selection and management in feedlot cattle.


This chapter investigates the evolving representation of gay and lesbian identities in three non-fiction books: Male Homosexuality (1992), Defiant Desire (1994), and Tommy Boys (2005). This study tracks how the representations of gay and lesbian identities change as political and public discourses about homosexual issues progress (or not) in a post-apartheid South Africa. The study reveals how the representations of homosexual identities evolve from the limiting but important exploration of white middle class urban males to an exploration of black working class lesbians and gay men, white working class gay men and white middle class lesbians from different geographical regions in South Africa and Africa.