Jembrana disease virus (JDV) is a lentivirus causing an acute infection with a 17% case fatality rate in Bali cattle in Indonesia. Control of the disease is currently achieved by identification of infected areas and restriction of cattle movement. A detergent-inactivated whole virus tissue-derived vaccine is sometimes employed in affected areas.

This thesis reports initial attempts to produce genetically engineered vaccines to replace the inactivated tissue-derived vaccine, which as it is made from homogenised spleen of infected animals, is expensive to produce and could contain adventitious agents present in the donor animals.

4 potential DNA vaccine constructs were created containing the JDV genes coding for the Tat, capsid (CA), transmembrane (TM) and surface unit (SU) proteins in a commercially available vaccine plasmid. These were assessed for functionality in a range of in vitro and in vivo assays. All proteins were expressed in vitro and administration of 2 of the constructs by a commercial 'gene gun' into the epidermis of mice resulted in antibody production to the appropriate protein. Due to the difficulties of licensing such a DNA vaccine in Indonesia, these vaccines were not progressed further.

A mathematical model was developed to describe the progression of the acute phase of Jembrana disease following experimental infection with JDV. The model divided the disease into 6 phases based on the rates of viral replication and clearance calculated from data on sequential plasma viral RNA load detected by quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction. This allowed statistical comparison of each phase of the disease and comparison of the severity of the disease process in groups of animals. The use of the model overcame the difficulty of comparing the disease in different animals as a consequence of the animal-to-animal variation in the disease process.

The mathematical model was used to identify differences in the pathogenicity of 2 strains of JDV. One strain, JDVTAB caused a more rapid onset of disease in non-vaccinated controls, a significantly higher virus load at the onset of the febrile period and a higher peak viraemia than in animals infected with JDVPUL. This provided the first evidence of variation in pathogenicity of JDV strains.

The measurement of virus load also demonstrated that some JDV infected animals developed a clinical disease that was not typical of that which had been reported previously. When infected with less than 1,000 infectious virus particles, up to 20% of infected animals failed to develop a febrile response. Infection of these animals was confirmed, however, by the detection of a high titre of circulating virus particles in plasma. These atypical infections had not been reported previously.

Application of the mathematical model describing the progression of the disease in individual animals was used to examine the effect of vaccination with the inactivated tissue-derived vaccine on the progression of the disease. Several effects were noted in vaccinated animals that were subsequently infected with JDV: a reduction in the duration of the febrile response, a reduction in the severity of the febrile response in the early phases of the acute disease, and a reduction in virus load in the early and later phases of the disease process.

The effect of vaccination with recombinant Tat, matrix (MA) and CA protein vaccines expressed in a bacterial expression system on subsequent JDV infection was also examined. A vaccine incorporating recombinant Tat and CA vaccine emulsified with Freund's incomplete adjuvant decreased the febrile response particularly in the later stages of the acute disease process, decreased the severity of the leucopenia in the later phases of the acute disease, and decreased the virus load in some but not all phases of the acute disease process. Vaccines administered with Freund's incomplete adjuvant were more efficacious than vaccines administered with QuilA, the latter actually exacerbating the disease process in vaccinated animals.


Abstract:The conflict between external and internal perspectives in private law is both exaggerated and underplayed. Both external and internal perspectives pay too little attention to how the 'micro' level of individual, even bilateral, interaction relates to the 'macro' level of society and the law as a whole. We will show that both perspectives overlook the resources they could employ to explain how the micro and macro are connected; in their different ways, external and internal perspectives do not draw out the connection between local simplicity and generalization. By treating law as a complex system, both perspectives could converge on a picture of private law in which locally simple structures of bilateral rights and duties scale up to produce emergent properties at the level of society.We suggest that functionalists should take seriously the moral norms immanent in private law – these norms are central to the functioning of private law as a system. Without these modular components, private law can be intractably complex. Accordingly, we propose an inclusive functionalism, one that takes these moral norms at face value. These moral norms perform a crucial function of managing the otherwise intractable complexity of the interactions between parties governed by private law. We also propose an inclusive internalism, which is more open to functional considerations involving simplicity. Private law must avoid intractable complexity if it is to function properly, and this calls for a simplicity criterion: internalists should look for moral norms that are both simple and generalizable. Resolving private law's conceptual structure at the middle level focuses debate where it is needed. Important questions about the role of public values and the ultimate grounding of private law remain open and are sharpened by recognizing the role that complexity plays in the way that private law operates as a system.


What's the big deal?The year 2008 saw a paradigm shift in US foreign policy. The US signed the "123" civilian nuclear agreement (referred to as the nuclear deal or simply the deal) with India, a country that is not a nuclear nonproliferation treaty signatory, has nuclear weapons, and until recently was a nuclear pariah. It is extremely surprising that even many scholars of US foreign policy, let alone the public, have given little attention to this rather historic paradigm shift in US policy on civilian nuclear trade. The US government, on the other hand, has passed the new Hyde act, which facilitates the implementation of the civilian nuclear agreement by exempting India from certain requirements of the atomic energy act of 1954.1The deal was signed between Indian and the US government on 1 October 2008 and cleared by the Nuclear Suppliers Group. It gives India access to civilian nuclear technology and is supposed to help the country fulfil its energy requirements. At the same time, India has placed 14 of its 22 nuclear reactors under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards and has agreed to separate its civilian and military reactors, which it has not done before. In return, the US companies hope to get a few of the pending multibillion-dollar reactor-building contracts. The deal was signed with India even though it is not a signatory to either the nonproliferation or the comprehensive test ban treaties. The nuclear deal does not require India to give up its nuclear weapons program, but future nuclear testing by India would, as per US law, lead to the US stopping nuclear commerce with India. Republican Senator Richard Lugar stated that this deal was a good incentive for India to refrain from nuclear testing in the future.2 However, there seems to be some room for contention on this issue. The Indian government has asserted that the nuclear deal theoretically does not constrain it from future testing. Furthermore, according to a Council on Foreign Relations publication, "the US Senate rejected an amendment that would require US nuclear supplies to be cut off if India tests nuclear weapons. The deal does not explicitly impose that condition, though it is part of a 2006 law known as the Hyde Act, which gave the deal preliminary approval."3While it is yet to be seen how the deal is implemented under President Barack Obama's leadership, the analysis presented here is based on the agreement as it exists on paper. The main goal of the article is to address some of the major critiques of the deal, namely that, first, the nuclear deal undermines the nonproliferation treaty and weakens nonproliferation efforts; second, that the deal sets a precedent for other countries like Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan; third, that it allows India to have the biggest nuclear arsenal possible as it frees up its domestic resources of uranium; fourth, that it does not ensure energy security for India and takes away its strategic sovereignty; and fifth, that it will lead to a nuclear arms race in south Asia. The article will review the benefits of the deal and examine who really benefits from it.The main arguments here are that the deal has been the result of the realization that India will never sign the nonproliferation treaty and that sanctions that were imposed on India have not yielded any results; it will lead to a greater transparency in India's nuclear sector, which reduces the risks of proliferation, nuclear accidents, and nuclear meltdowns; it is a part of America's anti-China strategy; it provides India with the opportunity to reduce its energy deficit and does not compromise India's strategic sovereignty; and, finally, it will not significantly escalate tensions between India and Pakistan. There will be recurring tensions between India and Pakistan irrespective of the nuclear deal; intractable issues such as terrorism and the Kashmir dispute will continue to be the major causes of tension between these two countries. …


We describe the development and evaluation of across-modal XML (Extensible Mark-up Language) schema browser. The aim of developing the system is to investigate cross-modal collaboration between users. The browser provides an audio representation of XML schema documents in a way that preserves the structure of documents and supports multi-level navigation. The project has two principle objectives: 1) to overcome the difficulties faced by visually impaired users and sighted people using small screen devices when browsing XML schema files, 2) To explore usability issues when users collaborate using the auditory and visual interfaces of the system. The paper also examines differences between sighted and visually impaired users of the developed auditory interface. The overall results of the usability evaluations demonstrate that both sighted and visually impaired users were able to perform tasks using the audio modality efficiently and accurately, and the same was true of sighted users interactions with the GUI. The use of the system to support collaboration where each user employs a different mode (audio or visual) of the system clearly demonstrated that cross-modal collaboration is effectively supported, enabling users to collaborate and successfully complete a complex shared task.


Despite many studies on pathology and aetiology during the past decades, the molecular mechanism(s) of melanoma development remains largely unknown. Therefore the purpose of this project was to establish a transgenic mouse model able to investigate the molecular mechanism(s) of melanoma aetiology mediated by N-Ras and PTEN genes. To achieve this, an inducible gene switch approach was employed exploiting the Cre/loxP recombinase system. This approach has the advantage of avoiding embryonic lethality and helps to minimise disease(s) in other tissue(s) that may interfere with animal viability. It was envisaged that this inducible system would establish a model that accurately mimic the development of melanoma in humans. A disadvantage being that the tyrosinase-based promoter was only responsive to the inducer when melanocytes were proliferating.

Initially, regulator vectors were created by sub-cloning Cre under the control of a melanocyte-specific promoter either enhanced tyrosinase (EICre) or tyrosinase related protein 2 (Trp2Cre). A Cre responsive, target N-Raslys61 transgene was also cloned, where expression was induced by Cre ablation of 'Stop' cassette (cmv.stop.N-Raslys61) together with a report target transgene (cmv.stop.EGFP) to aid in expression characterisation.

The functional activity and gene-switch specificity of these constructs were subsequently confirmed employing co-transfection of regulator and report target into B16 melanoma cells, but to confirm their activity in primary melanocytes, melanocyte culture conditions had to be defined for optimum growth and transfection as there is no optimized commercial medium available for murine melanocyte culture unlike for human melanocyte. In this study therefore, murine primary melanocyte culture method (50/50) has been defined, which exploited keratinocytes for initial melanocytes growth support as a feed layer. The other advantages of this 50/50 medium were that pigmented cells grew without spontaneous transformation and gave the higher transfection efficiency compared to media exploited by other groups. Using primary melanocytes cultured in 50/50 medium, transgene construction and identification of regulator expression were performed by RT-PCR in vitro prior to in vivo analysis thereby avoiding unnecessary breeding.

When concerns had arisen regarding an unexpected lack of melanoma phenotype in vivo particularly in addition of PTEN loss, this culture protocol supplied a successful test of oncogenic potential of N-Raslys61 and PTEN loss in vitro, where N-Raslys61 expression transformed melanocytes and PTEN loss promoted N-Raslys61 to give more aggressive cells. However a functional redundancy was identified, as transformed colonies were not immortalized and eventually senesced, possibly due to their opposing gene functions being on the same signalling pathway; i.e. PTEN fails to provide additional genetic aberrant pathway(s) for the cross-talk with Ras signalling necessary to form malignant tumours.

The in vivo experiments commenced by crossing transgenic expressers of EICre regulator with target cmv.stop.N-Raslys61, to generate bigenic EICre/N-Ras mice. Treatment with Ru486 initially apparently failed to exhibit an abnormal phenotype, despite confirmation of N-Raslys61 expression following hair plucking to initiate the hair cycle and anagen melanocytes proliferation, therefore PTENflx/flx mutation was introduced. Unexpectedly, a similar result was obtained following treatment of EICre/PTENflx/flx/N-Raslys61 and EICre/PTENflx/flx in the test of whether PTEN functional loss promoted N-Raslys61 tumourigenesis. However with time, at 12-15 months (systemic) Ru486 treatment, phenotypes of enlarged eyes and harderian gland adenomas were obtained in N-Raslys61 expressing mice, whilst PTEN loss did not produce additional melanocytic phenotype.

 This confirmation of in vivo activity prompted a more careful analysis of treated mouse skin that discovered the appearance of white hair at treated sites which gave a subtle grey appearance to the coat colour compared to age matched untreated littermates or non-transgenic controls. Subsequent analysis found that melanocyte apoptosis was induced by N-Raslys61 mediated by caspsase-3, and this may explain the lack of melanomas. This new finding implied the existence of a cell defence system to protect mice from oncogenic expression, as a general feature or to overcome specific mutations that have the potential to induce melanoma. Furthermore, the same apoptotic pathway mediated by caspase-3 was mounted against PTEN functional loss. This implied a potential surveillance mechanism to compensate for PTEN function loss and also verified in vivo, the functional redundancy in melanocytes between these two genes observed in vitro, as it may be that until the appropriate anti-apoptotic pathway overcomes this sentinel mechanism, PTEN loss synergism with N-Raslys61 is insufficient for melanoma tumourigenesis.

Due to the lack of melanoma, given the well characterized effects of the microenvironment in melanoma development, this study assessed the consequences of keratinocytes disruption. This was achieved employing a keratinocyte-specific K14Cre regulator transgenic line, expressed in proliferative basal cells, hair follicles and stem cells. In Ru486-treated tetragenic compound K14Cre/EICre/cmv.stop.N-Raslys61/PTENflx/flx mice pigmented papillomas were produced. This identified a melanocyte survival loop generated by microenvironment disruption that enabled anagen melanocytes to escape apoptosis during papillomagenesis. Furthermore, the mechanism involved elevated Kit/SCF expression in papillomas. The co-localisation of Kit and TRP-2 positive melanocytes in papilloma basal layers revealed that a Kit/SCF paracrine survival loop resulted in melanocyte survival. These results clearly demonstrated melanocyte cooperation with its immediate microenvironment consistent with the requirement for proliferative keratinocyte support of primary murine melanocyte cultures. Furthermore, these pigmented papillomas, may represent a model relevant to development of human seborrheic keratoses, which are pigmented benign lesions similar to papilloma, and neither nevi nor melanoma (4-6). These murine data suggest that these lesions may arise where papilloma formation occurs alongside anagen and the Kit/SCF paracrine survival loop creates an environment in papillomas sufficient to incorporate the survival and proliferation of anagen melanocytes, although the further studies are necessary to confirm this.

To date, most transgenic melanoma models employ H-Ras, with only recent development of a relevant N-Ras model where constitutive, but not inducible, N-Raslys61 expression throughout embryogenesis eventually gave a hyperplastic melanocyte phenotype which is consistent with the report of N-Ras mutation common in congenital nevi but less in acquired nevi (9-13). As with H-Ras models, it appears that the CDKN2A locus deficiency is necessary for melanoma aetiology. In this study, unlike CDKN2A, PTEN loss failed to promote N-Ras melanoma tumourigenesis. This is possibly due to regulating the same signalling pathways, creating a functional redundancy, and the same susceptibility to apoptosis from newly identified potential compensatory surveillance systems. These results show the necessity of cross-talk between multiple genetic pathways to achieve malignant tumour formation and also the advantage of an inducible gene-switch approach to identify useful compensatory systems by allowing addition/deletion of many different interesting genes. Taking the insights from this study further, logically the introduction of p16/p19 deficient mice and/or other melanocyte/melanoma development related genes (specifically not on Ras signalling pathway, e.g. MC1R pathways) would provide an up-to-date, superior mouse model able to mimic molecular aetiology of human melanoma to investigate the functions and mechanisms of other genes such as MITF, B-Raf, MC1R etc involved in the development of human melanoma.


In this paper we analyse a new Phillips curve (NPC) model and demonstrate that (i) frictional growth, i.e. the interplay of wage-staggering and money growth, generates a nonvertical NPC in the long-run, and (ii) the Phillips curve (PC) shifts with productivity growth. On this basis we estimate a dynamic system of macrolabour equations to evaluate the slope of the PC and explain the evolution of inflation and unemployment in the US from 1970 to 2006. Since our empirical methodology relies heavily on impulse response functions, it represents a synthesis of the traditional structural modelling and (structural) vector autoregressions (VARs). We find that the PC is downward-sloping with a slope of -3.58 in the long-run. Furthermore, during the stagflating 70s, the productivity slowdown contributed substantially to the increases in both unemployment and inflation, while the monetary expansion was quite ineffective and led mainly to higher inflation. Finally, the monetary expansion and productivity speedup of the roaring 90s were both responsible for the significant lowering of the unemployment rate.


Recent studies of crude oil price formation emphasize the role of interest rates and convenience yield (the adjusted spot-futures spread), confirming that spot prices mean-revert and normally exceed discounted futures. However, these studies don't explain why such "backwardation" is normal. Also, models derived in these studies typically explain only about 1 percent of daily returns, suggesting other factors are important, too. In this paper, I specify a structural oil-market model that links returns to convenience yield, inventory news, and revisions of expected production cost (growth of which is related to backwardation). Although its predictive power is only a marginal improvement, the model fits the data far better. In addition, I find reversion of spot to futures prices only when backwardation is severe. Convenience yield behaves nonlinearly, but price response to convenience yield is also nonlinear. Equivalently, futures are informative about future spot prices only when spot prices substantially exceed futures.


Civics and citizenship education play a significant role in preparing students for active participation in modern democracies. Students in the middle years of schooling, however, do not necessarily appreciate this significance. Consequently, teachers face a challenge as they work with parents to guide young adolescents through the uneasy transition from childhood to adulthood. Of particular interest to middle school teachers are the pedagogies that make civics and citizenship education relevant and meaningful to young people. This article focuses on a transformative pedagogy. After reviewing the needs and characteristics of young adolescents and recent trends in civics and citizenship education, it examines the literature outlining appropriate middle school pedagogies. A number of issues are raised about the implications for school reform if teachers use an active, experimental pedagogy in their approach to civics and citizenship education. Reference is made to recent research that involves conversations with teachers about the epistemological foundations of their practices. The article concludes by arguing that further research is needed on the conversations between teachers and students where the very meaning of 'democracy' is progressively constructed and de-constructed.


There has been a considerable amount of research into the growth of the Pacific island countries; however, there has been no attempt to identify episodes of growth (and non-growth) and to identify and understand the factors behind these episodes. This narrative article examines the growth experiences of the eight small and micro states of the North and South Pacific that are members of the World Bank. The experience of Samoa and Vanuatu supports the idea that economic reform can lead to growth spurts. Overall, the narratives suggest that unless aid leads to changes in institutions and policies, it does not have long-lasting positive growth impacts. As experience in the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands appears to show, substantial aid may raise Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for short periods, but may well have very adverse impacts over the long run.


This paper investigates the topic of universal jurisdiction, ie the supranational prosecution and repression - without the necessity of a link between the accused and the prosecuting state - of crimes of such gravity and magnitude as to collide with certain core values accepted by the international community and transcending the peculiarity of national interests. The focus of the chapter is exactly to try and discern the scope of universal jurisdiction, distinguishing between the two different versions of universality theorized by contemporary authors: 'conditional universal jurisdiction,' which requires the presence of the accused in the prosecuting state, and 'absolute universal jurisdiction', according to which the accused does not have to be present in order to make the exercise of universal jurisdiction possible. As a matter of fact, only a handful of states currently possesses national legislation covering the exercise of 'absolute universal jurisdiction', as a confirmation that, notwithstanding the general scholarly consent in recognizing the existence of a universality principle, no agreement actually exists about this principle's content. By means of an historical overview of the most noteworthy examples of implementation of universal jurisdiction, Helena Gluzman displays various arguments against it - e.g. its administrative costs, the local concern connected to its enforcement and the related risk of political manipulations, the criticalities related to the need of granting the accused a due process of law - showing the shortcomings of such jurisdiction with particular regard to its less wellaccepted form (the 'absolute' one), whose theoretical foundations seem to have been historically undermined by the Nuremberg and Eichmann experiences. Prominent exercises of absolute universal jurisdiction, however, also illustrate its practical pitfalls, as the associated political and administrative costs seem to widely outweigh the benefits of universality.


We describe our work using linear discrimination of multi-channel electroencephalography
for single-trial detection of neural signatures of visual recognition events. We demonstrate
the approach as a methodology for relating neural variability to response variability, describing
studies for response accuracy and response latency during visual target detection.
We then show how the approach can be utilized to construct a novel type of brain-computer
interface, which we term cortically-coupled computer vision. In this application, a large
database of images is triaged using the detected neural signatures. We show how 'corticaltriaging'
improves image search over a strictly behavioral response.


Ethnography is never mere description, rather it is a theory of describing that has always been controversial as to the what and how thus inspiring a dynamic intellectual process. The process has been methodologically eclectic and innovative, governed by both consensual and outdated rules. Throughout more than hundred years of Anglo-American ethnography, observation has been combined with a wide variety of theoretical outlooks from structured-functionalist to critical writings.


Intestinal obstruction is a common cause of emergency surgical admission. The most frequent causes are well known and may often be safely treated conservatively in the first instance. The rarer causes of intestinal obstruction require prompt diagnosis and surgery if they are not to progress rapidly to strangulation and gangrene. One such cause is the ileosigmoid knotting, which is associated with a high morbidity and mortality. With increasing travel activity and population migration this condition is now being seen outside its original geographical sites of origin. This article focuses on the aetiology, pathophysiology, clinical features, investigations and the various surgical options for the management of the ileosigmoid knotting. Studies and case reports in English literature were identified by PubMed, ISIS, Embase and CAS searches between the years 1966–2004 using the following free text keywords: ileo‐ sigmoid knotting, ileosigmoid knot(ting), intestinal knot(ting), compound volvulus and double volvulus. All the reference lists were reviewed to retrieve additional articles. Aggressive resuscitation, prompt surgical relief of obstruction, appropriate antibiotics, accurate intra‐operative assessment of the viability of the involved loops of intestine and the use of modern postoperative intensive care will help reduce the mortality and morbidity associated with this life threatening condition.


This study examined the relationship between fiscal federalism, governance and local government finances in Nigeria, focusing on the administration of local governments and other subsidiary issues on revenue generation in the country. It analysed the legal, institutional and procedural mechanisms for administration, as well as assessed the effect of intergovernmental relations on local government under federal system of governance in the country. This is with a view to providing information on revenue allocation and intergovernmental relations as important elements in understanding and addressing the fiscal federalism on local council finance in Nigeria in the context of their divergent governance experiences since the fourth republic.The paper discovered that beyond the function of revenue generation or allocation, fiscal relations influenced governance positively by creating the expediency of transparency and responsiveness in government as well as a corresponding three levels of government has responsibilities and roles to play in the lives of citizenry in order to bring governance to the grassroots. However, the work found evidences of lack of fiscal autonomy and independent of local government as well as delay in local government election has resulted to poor performance of local administration in Nigeria at large. The results also revealed that a very important factor affecting the local government administration in Nigeria still remains the overbearing contribution of about 93% oil revenue to the national income; a situation that, both state and local governments in Nigeria cannot generate up to twenty five percent (25%) of their expenditure and poor tax culture amongst the citizenry. The study concluded among others that effective human resources, improved strategy, and enhanced capacity building, are critical to improved revenue generation and allocation, which in turn could go a long way to alleviating good governance in Nigeria.


This article proposes a view of the Allaikhovskii district (Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)) located in the Russian Arctic as a "laboratory" in which various actors (the state, regional authorities, local communities) have been actively working on the production of food security. Based on both field experience and published literature, I describe a multilayered process of foodscape formation in this region. The unique elements that characterize the foodscape of the district are the nonautomated modes of food production caused by territorial isolation, unsatisfactory infrastructure, the high price of food delivery, and environmental changes. All these factors create fragile foodscape; the life of local residents can be characterized as "being with risk," which inspires certain compensatory measures implemented by different layered actors. The impossibility of creating a consistent and reliable system of subsistence thus reinforces a "laboratory" regime of permanent experiments to maintain food security. The Arctic laboratory is not located in separate place with specialists (as in the case discussed by Bruno Latour) but distributed throughout the actors and their activities connected with their lifestyles in this specific territory.


Tourism studies have understood tourism as a "Western" phenomenon, which tended to neglect the presence of "non-Western" tourists and to over-generalise the application and universality of their theories. By now, tourism has become a global phenomenon with growing numbers of "emergent tourists", especially from China. However, its quantitative importance, the touristic performances of this source market, and especially those of Chinese outbound organized mass tourists in western tourism stages continue to be under-researched. Moreover, the analysis of the Chinese outbound tourism phenomena encompasses mostly economic and business driven-studies and reports, which look for homogeneity instead of plurality of voices.
Drawing from all of the above, the aim of this interdisciplinary research is, therefore, to explore and provide further understanding of the tourism performances of Chinese outbound organized mass tourists on German tourism stages. To achieve this, the research draws on the performance approach in tourism research.
The research is based on a phenomenological approach. Part of the study's field research was conducted largely from 2011 to 2012, both in China and Germany. In China, information was gathered by using open and semi-structured in-depth expert interviews with representatives from the Chinese tourism industry, tourism boards, as well as with tourism academics. In Germany, the ethnographic fieldwork consisted of participant observations, semi-structured interviews and short questionnaires to Chinese outbound tourist members of group package tours organized by Chinese-German travel companies. Furthermore, expert interviews were conducted with German industry representatives, experts and academics in 2013. As far as the analysis of the field research is concerned, the study relies on the GABEK qualitative method of research analysis supported by the WinRelan 32 software.
As part of the discussion, this research argues that the examination of tourism practices and behaviours of Chinese outbound organized mass tourists under the performance metaphor is able to provide further understanding on the previously neglected tourism consumption of "non-Western" tourists. Within the findings, it was possible to identify both modern und post-modern characteristics of the Chinese outbound organized mass market. This concurs with the recent de-differentiation between the typical tourism binaries (everyday-holiday and home-away) found in tourism theory by acknowledging that everyday conventions and habits inform touristic performances of Chinese tourists in Germany. Moreover, the research presents insights that allow to corroborate the future presence of organized mass tourists in the Chinese outbound market, as well as to de-inferiorise and de–homogenise the segment. With regard to German stages, the research highlights the opportunities and challenges Germany´s tourism industry still has ahead of it. Finally, the study presents a number of implications for future practice, which can be useful to plan a long-term strategy for Chinese outbound tourism.


For nine decades, the central tenet of American wildfire policy was to protect natural resources and human communities from damages caused by wildfires. After 34 firefighters lost their lives on the front lines during a 1994 wildland fire in California, state and federal approaches to fire policy were irrevocably altered. Plagued by funding woes, climate change and increased development the US fire season grew longer, with already taxed firefighting personnel and equipment in perilously short supply. A collection of federal, state and community agencies are attempting to stem the tide, although require both social agreement and political action by state and federal government. Long term economic and environmental implications of continued outbreaks are profound, and requires both a dedicated set of on-call firefighters, as well as equipment extensive enough to meet the workload demanded not only by a major wildland fire, albeit that of two or three simultaneously.


The author explores the relationships between science and art that have developed at the Centre for Computational Neuroscience and Robotics (CCNR) of the University of Sussex, which harbours an internationally renowned, leading research group in Artificial Life, Cognitive Science and Evolutionary Robotics. The aim is to establish whether and how interdisciplinary art-science practices at CCNR may lead to novel forms of knowledge production. Using fieldwork material as well as bibliographic and web resources, it showcases a number of initiatives and realizations. It also examines how individual researchers may understand, conceptualize, and justify, their experience and practice at the art-science junction in Artificial Life. This paper derives from the author's PhD research project, of which a main focus has been to investigate interdisciplinary practices in the field of Artificial Life, which cross over the "˜two cultures' divide. Artificial Life art is a predominant case of such interdisciplinarity crossover in the ield of Artiicial Life in general, and in the Sussex research group in particular.


International Conference On Libraries (ICOL) 2007, 31st October - 2nd November 2007 organized by Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) with the coorperation of Librarians Association of Malaysia at Gurney Hotel, Penang.


A first-generation shortleaf pine progeny test was established in 2002 at George O. White State Forest Nursery at Licking, Missouri as part of the Mark Twain National Forest breeding program in a randomized complete block design with 6 blocks and 305 full-sib families. The full-sib families were developed using eight 6-parent disconnected half-diallels plus a singlepair mating design. Variance component predictions were made for height, diameter and volume at age 4 and 6. The influence of additive variance on diameter and height increase from age 4 to 6 and decreased for volume. Estimates of narrow-sense heritability were low for all traits at both ages. A comparison of parental GCAs and family SCAs revealed the genetic model for this population was broadly additive, indicating that tree improvement strategies will will likely achieve greatest gains through selection on GCA in volume and may be able to utilize SCA.


Abstract— We have investigated the kinematics of the separation of iron globules from chondrules during chondrule formation. A simple model, which assumes that the system has no angular momentum, was used to calculate the energy of a system with an iron globule and a chondrule. The energies of three different states were calculated: 1) a melted iron globule fully embedded in a melted chondrule, 2) a melted iron globule on the surface of a melted chondrule, and 3) a melted iron globule being separated from a melted chondrule. We also calculated the lowest energy shape for a melted iron globule on the surface of a melted chondrule, and compared our result with the shapes of four natural samples of chondrules and iron globules in thin sections. The shapes were calculated using an assumed value for the interface energy between the four couples of melted chondrules and the iron globules, and agree well with the natural shapes of chondrules and iron globules. The results of our calculations show that the iron globules of these four samples would be strongly bound to the surface of the melted chondrule during chondrule formation, and separation would be difficult, if the iron globules had been on the surface of precursors of these chondrules. Our results also show that if these iron globules were initially inside and transported to the surface of the melted chondrule, most of them would be ejected from the inside to outside because of surface tension forces, as long as the energy losses due to viscous dissipation when the globules pass through the surface of melted chondrules were sufficiently small.


This paper discusses the living nature of the ring opening metathesis polymerisation (ROMP) of alkoxy and alkyl substituted [2.2] paracyclophane-1,9-dienes (M1 and M2), initiated with Grubbs' second and third generation catalysts (G2 and G3). The active ruthenium carbene chain ends present during the ROMP of these monomers have been identified by in situ1H and 31P NMR spectroscopy and the relative kinetics of the initiation and propagation reactions in the polymerisation determined for both G2 and G3 complexes. The apparent rate constants for initiation of both M1 and M2 using G3 are at least one order of magnitude larger than those determined for polymerisation using G2 and this leads to lower dispersity (Đm) polymers using the G3 catalyst as initiator. Complexation of the ruthenium centre in the active chain end by the oxygen of the alkoxy substituents in M1 is observed in the NMR spectra of the reaction and this leads to significantly slower rates of propagation than those observed for the alkyl derivative M2 using both G2 and G3 complexes. Although the polymerisation requires longer to reach full conversion for monomer M1 the slower propagation generally results in better control of the polymer molecular weight (lower Đm) as the ratio of apparent rate constants for initiation and propagation are larger than those determined for the ROMP of M2.


Neural networks and Gaussian processes are complementary in their strengths and weaknesses. Having a better understanding of their relationship comes with the promise to make each method benefit from the strengths of the other. In this work, we establish an equivalence between the forward passes of neural networks and (deep) sparse Gaussian process models. The theory we develop is based on interpreting activation functions as interdomain inducing features through a rigorous analysis of the interplay between activation functions and kernels. This results in models that can either be seen as neural networks with improved uncertainty prediction or deep Gaussian processes with increased prediction accuracy. These claims are supported by experimental results on regression and classification datasets.


Vocabulary growth is an important element for language learning but it requires repeated and varied exposure to the new words and their usage in different context. However preparing suitable learning content for effective language learning remains a challenging and time-consuming task. This paper reports the experience of designing and developing a m-Learning platform (named LingoSnacks) for semi-automatic preparation of content for language learning using Natural Language Processing (NLP) services. LingoSnacks Authoring Tools provide an environment of assisted authoring of learning content and delivering it to the learner in gamelike interactive learning activities. Empirical testing results from teachers who used LingoSnacks indicate that the participants were able to ease their lessons preparation tasks. Also the resulting learning packages helped learners in vocabulary acquisition as the number of new vocabulary that they can recognize, recall and retain was significantly higher that participants who just used conventional lessons in a classroom. KeywordsMobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL); LingoSnacks; Content Authoring for MALL; NLP for Language Learning


A distributed algorithm comprises a collection of sequential-code entities, which are spread over different computers connected to a network. The process of designing a distributed algorithm is influenced by the assumptions we make on the computational environment. The model which makes no assumptions (and therefore can fit any real distributed system) is the asynchronous system model. In the asynchronous model there is no bound on message delays, clock drift or the time needed by a process to execute a step. The advantage of using the asynchronous model is that any algorithm designed under its assumptions preserves its correctness (safety) in any other system model. It has been argued that asynchronous algorithms cannot be used for time critical applications. One of the goals of this thesis is to clarify this point, by proving that designing algorithms under the asynchronous system model does not lead to loss of efficiency. The performance of distributed algorithms may be roughly approximated in terms of the number of messages exchanged during the execution or the number of communication steps, but the most precise performance metric is the termination time (i.e., the time needed for the algorithm to finish). The termination time of a distributed algorithm cannot be precisely measured if computation begins and ends on different processors because the clocks are not synchronized. Another difficulty with the performance measures approach is that results are usually biased by unpredictable network and stations loads, or by scheduling delays, not related to the studied algorithm. The approach taken in this thesis for evaluating the performance of distributed algorithms is based on modelling and simulation. One of the main difficulties and the interest of performance modelling is that results do not always conform to intuition. When an algorithm reaches a given complexity, it is difficult to predict the impact of modifying the input parameters on the termination time of the algorithm. Analytical methods can be applied successfully if the interactions and the interdependencies between the software layers of the algorithm under investigation are not too complex or can be simplified adequately without falsifying relevant system's characteristics. Discrete event simulation covers especially those cases which cannot be tackled by analytical methods. By simulation it is possible to evaluate the termination time of an algorithm with pretty good accuracy. The main purpose of this thesis is to provide a flexible framework for studying the performance of asynchronous distributed algorithms. Several important asynchronous algorithms are con- sidered in the thesis, in order to show the applicability and the interest of our framework. We consider algorithms related to fault-tolerance. Providing fault-tolerance in asynchronous distributed systems is closely related to solving agreement problems. All the agreement problems are related to the consensus problem, and agreement protocols can be built using a generic consensus service. This is the reason why we have focused on studying the behaviour and the performance of a consensus algorithm proposed by Chandra and Toueg. Simulation is used to study the behaviour of the algorithm under different input conditions (with or without crash failure) and to choose optimum values for the system parameters (time-outs). We show that there is an inevitable trade-off to make between obtaining (1) fast reaction to process crash, and (2) good performance in runs without crashes. Moreover, we provide the statistical guarantee that consensus will finish before a certain time with a given probability. This result can be used in soft real-time systems that can tolerate infrequent timing failures. The second class of algorithms studied within our framework are replication protocols. These are high-level protocols, built on top of the consensus algorithm. To achieve fault-tolerance in systems subject to failures, services are replicated on different sites and specific communication protocols are used to maintain consistency between replicas. Two replication strategies are usually considered: the primary-backup replication technique and the active replication technique. We compare the performance of the two replication techniques in two scenarios: failure free run and the worst case with the crash of one replica.


sex-adjusted Cox proportional-hazards the analysis euthyroid participants by thyroid-stimulating 0.4–4.0 mIU/L). included cholesterol, stratified age and sex and performed sensitivity participants with abnormal FT4 values (reference range of 0.85–1.95 ng/ dL) and including only witnessed SCDs as outcome. Absolute risks were calculated in a competing risk model by taking death by other into We included 10 318 participants with 261 incident SCDs follow-up, 9.1 were SCD normal range of thyroid function ng/dL FT4; 95% confidence interval, 1.31–3.97). Stratification by age or sex and sensitivity analyses did not change the risk estimates substantially. The absolute 10-year risk of SCD increased in euthyroid participants from 1% to 4% with increasing FT4 levels. CONCLUSiONS: Higher FT4 levels are associated with an increased risk of SCD, even in euthyroid participants.


This book analyzes various digital transformation processes in journalism and news media. By investigating how these processes stimulate innovation, the authors identify new business and communication models, as well as digital strategies for a new environment of global information flows. The book will help journalists and practitioners working in news media to identify best practices and discover new types of information flows in a rapidly changing news media landscape.... Download ebook, read file pdf Media Management, Media Convergence and Globalization


This paper aims to deduce episodes of the cultural biography of the inscribed bronze double axe from the sacred cave at Arkalochori in central Crete by focusing on its materiality and by examining the context of both its production and the reception of its undeciphered inscription. A discussion of the technicalities involved in the making of its fifteen signs and new evidence stemming from the recent restoration of the axe helps to review its inscription. It is also suggested that the symbolic reception of the double axe may be decoded through examining its performative capacities and considering the possibility of its final use in display and deposition rites taking place in the cave. It is argued that metalsmiths were definitely among the social agents participating in the deposition, possibly because of an obligation to return to the earth a portion of the objects produced from the raw materials generated by it. Part of the prestige metal votives deposited in the cave may also be the result of the competition of local elites or a social class with military associations, manifesting in ostentatious display and distinction.


Over the past few years, scholars, legislators, and politicians have come to recognize that our current state of "mass incarceration" is the result of serious dysfunction in our criminal justice system. As a consequence, there has been significant attention to the causes of mass incarceration. These include the war on drugs and political decisions based on a "law and order" perspective. Congressional and state legislative enactments increased the financing of the expansion of police powers and provided for severely punitive sentencing statutes, thereby giving prosecutors uniquely powerful weapons in securing guilty pleas. All of this occurred as crime rates dropped.
Where were the lawyers when our criminal justice system was evolving into a system of mass incarceration? Surprisingly, in looking for the causes and cures for the mass incarceration state, very little, if any, attention has been paid to the role of the most powerful actor in the criminal justice system: the prosecutor. It is the prosecutor who exercises virtually unreviewable discretion in seeking charges, determining bail, negotiating a resolution, and fixing the sentence. Now, however, there is data that identifies aggressive prosecutorial charging practices as the major cause of the explosion in our prison population. That is, over the past twenty years prosecutors have brought felony charges in more cases than ever before, resulting in a dramatic increase in prison admissions. If prosecutorial charging practices have been a major cause of the universally recognized mass incarceration problem, what should be done? How does the role of the prosecutor need to change to prevent a continuation, or a worsening, of our mass incarceration problem?
This Article examines the recognized role of the prosecutor as a "minister of justice," and makes a range of suggested changes to the prosecution function. These include re-calibrating the minister of justice and advocacy role balance in recognition of the current mass incarceration crisis; enacting measures to ensure independence from law enforcement in the charging function; collecting currently non-existent, objective data that breaks down and memorializes available information on each decision to charge as well as its consequences; and drafting written charging procedures and policies based on the collection of that data-driven information.


Fine-grained 3D segmentation is an important task in 3D object understanding, especially in applications such as intelligent manufacturing or parts analysis for 3D objects. However, many challenges involved in such problem are yet to be solved, such as i) interpreting the complex structures located in different regions for 3D objects; ii) capturing fine-grained structures with sufficient topology correctness. Current deep learning and graph machine learning methods fail to tackle such challenges and thus provide inferior performance in fine-grained 3D analysis. In this work, methods in topological data analysis are incorporated with geometric deep learning model for the task of fine-grained segmentation for 3D objects. We propose a novel neural network model called Persistent Homology based Graph Convolution Network (PHGCN), which i) integrates persistent homology into graph convolution network to capture multi-scale structural information that can accurately represent complex structures for 3D objects; ii) applies a novel Persistence Diagram Loss (ℒPD) that provides sufficient topology correctness for segmentation over the fine-grained structures. Extensive experiments on fine-grained 3D segmentation validate the effectiveness of the proposed PHGCN model and show significant improvements over current state-of-the-art methods.


The birth and death of planets may be affected by mass outflows from their parent stars during the T-Tauri or post-main-sequence phases of stellar evolution. These outflows are often modelled to be isotropic, but this assumption is not realistic for fast rotators, bipolar jets and supernovae. Here we derive the general equations of motion for the time evolution of a single planet, brown dwarf, comet or asteroid perturbed by anisotropic mass loss in terms of a complete set of planetary orbital elements, the ejecta velocity, and the parent star's co-latitude and longitude. We restrict our application of these equations to 1) rapidly rotating giant stars, and 2) arbitrarily-directed jet outflows. We conclude that the isotropic mass-loss assumption can safely be used to model planetary motion during giant branch phases of stellar evolution within distances of hundreds of au. In fact, latitudinal mass loss variations anisotropically affect planetary motion only if the mass loss is asymmetric about the stellar equator. Also, we demonstrate how constant-velocity, asymmetric bipolar outflows in young systems incite orbital inclination changes. Consequently, this phenomenon readily tilts exoplanetary orbits external to a nascent disc on the order of degrees.


OBJECTIVE: To educate the obstetrics community regarding postpartum labral tears, an avoidable and treatable potential complication of pregnancy in the postpartum period. METHODS: From 2009 to 2011, 10 women presented to the second author's office with persistent hip pain that had begun during pregnancy or during delivery. These 10 postpartum women presented with signs and symptoms of labral tears, which were subsequently confirmed with arthroscopy and surgically repaired. RESULTS: Each patient experienced relief of symptoms within 4 months after the procedure. All patients were satisfied with surgery, and all patients had improvement in modified Harris hip score. The average preoperative modified Harris hip score was 53.1 and the average postoperative modified Harris hip score was 84.3 (P<.001). CONCLUSION: An acetabular labral tear should be considered part of the differential diagnosis for hip pain in postpartum women. Additionally, freeing the distal lower extremity to externally rotate during labor may prevent an acute labral tear. When nonoperative management fails, surgery may lead to positive outcomes. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: II


The current idea of A¬social capitalA® as driver of development and social change is not so much an illusion as a delusion. A justification for this emerges once power, class, conflict and context are explicitly brought to bear upon the social capital paradigm. This paper studies social capital in Colombia beginning with its initial definition proposed by Pierre Bourdieu in the early 1980s, with emphasis upon a contextualised reproduction and exercise of elite power. In this light, the real as opposed to the delusionary social capital can explain a great deal of the social and economic evolution of the country. For Colombia has been captured by the A¬social capitalA® of national elites, drug dealers and multinational firms, ably abetted by the US government. It has launched a campaign of systematic violence against its citizenry under the paper-thin ideology of development and the war against drugs and terrorism in order to accrue profits from evictions and land expropriation.


We revisit the subject exploring maps from the space of 4-spinors to 3+1 space-time that commute with the Lorentz transformation. All known mappings have a natural embedding in a higher five dimensional spacetime, and can be succinctly expressed as products of quaternions, or split-quaternions, depending on the signature of the embedding 5D spacetime. It is in this sense that we may view the geometry of 4-spinors as being related to the `square root' of five dimensional spacetime. In particular, a point in 5D spacetime may be identified with a corresponding 4-spinor that is uniquely determined up to a quaternionic - or split-quaternionic - phase.


This paper proposes using OAI-ORE as the basis for a new method to represent and manage the description of archival collections. This strategy adapts traditional archival description methods for the contemporary reality of digital collections and takes advantage of the power of OAI-ORE to allow for a multitude of non-linear relationships, providing richer and more powerful access and description. A schema for representing finding aids in OAI-ORE would facilitate more sophisticated methods for modeling archival collection descriptions.


The COVID-19 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that struck in late 2019 and early 2020 is a serious threat to human health. Since there are no approved drugs that satisfactorily treat this condition, all efforts at drug design and/or clinical trials are warranted and reasonable. Drug repurposing is a well-known strategy that seeks to deploy existing licensed drugs for newer indications and that provides the quickest possible transition from the bench to the bedside to meet therapeutic needs. At present, several existing licensed drugs such as chloroquine, hydroxychloroquine, methylprednisolone, dexamethasone, and remdesivir have been used because of their potential efficacy in inhibiting COVID-19. Recently, antibiotics such as tetracyclines and macrolides have been reported to be effective against COVID-19. A combination of tetracyclines and macrolides may be a potential treatment for COVID-19 because there are some differences in the mechanism of action of tetracyclines and macrolides.


The forced oscillations due to a point forcing effect in an infinite or contained, inviscid, incompressible, rotating, stratified fluid are investigated taking into account the density variation in the inertia terms in the linearized equations of motion. The solutions are obtained in closed form using generalized Fourier transforms. Solutions are presented for a medium bounded by a finite cylinder when the oscillatory forcing effect is acting at a point on the axis of the cylinder. In both the unbounded and bounded case, there exist characteristic cones emanating from the point of application of the force on which either the pressure or its derivatives are discontinuous. The perfect resonance existing at certain frequencies in an unbounded or bounded homogeneous fluid is avoided in the case of a confined stratified fluid.


The plane of polarization of two or more wavelengths can be rotated by a predetermined amount through the use of two or more identical half-wave plates in series, the axes of which are oriented at predetermined angles with respect to the incident plane of polarization. For two wavelengths a rotation of 90° may be accomplished by the use of two plates with their slow axes at angles of 22.5°+δ and 67.5°−δ, respectively. For three wavelengths a 90° rotation is obtained by using three plates at angles of 11.25°+δ, 45°, and 78.75°−δ respectively. The quantity δ is a small angle usually less than 1° which determines the spectral range of achromatization. Identical half-wave plates are easily obtained by cutting a single splitting of mica or a plane parallel sheet of other birefringent material. The wavelength for which the plates have half-wave retardation is not critical. Rather than having a smaller angular aperture than the single half-wave plate, the three-element achromatic rotator has a larger angular aperture. The use of the stereographic projection of the Poincare sphere for graphical solution of polarized light problems is discussed briefly.


SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY TRENDS RELATED TO GAY/STRAIGHTALLIANCE ADVISORS" EXPERIENCES IN SCHOOLS by Emily Cook Graybill Social justice within education increasingly has been emphasized over the past decade (Kraft, 2007; Oakes et al., 2000; Riester et al., 2002). Little is known about the demographic trends and the advocacy experiences of school-based social justice advocates such as Gay/Straight Alliance (GSA) advisors despite the established importance of teachers engaging in social justice advocacy within schools. Data were collected from a national sample (N = 262) of GSA advisors to further the understanding of the demographic characteristics and the experiences of these social justice advocates and to investigate the relationships between these variables. An ethnographic survey (Schensul, Schensul, & LeCompte, 1999) was utilized for data collection in which the language and experiences reported by GSA advisors (Graybill et al., 2009; Watson et al., 2010) were incorporated. Using an ecological model established in a previous study with GSA advisors (Watson et al., 2010), the individual-, school-, and sociocultural-level characteristics that affect advisors were examined. The results suggested that this sample of GSA advisors was a demographically homogenous group with 67.3% female, 85.7% White, 72.2% who voted Democrat, and 77.1% who were educated at the Master"s level or higher. Exploratory factor analysis identified two dimensions (i.e., Barriers, Facilitators) by which the advisors appeared to define their experiences when advocating for LGBT youth. Hierarchical regression analyses suggested that at the individual level, experiencing negative personal and professional consequences to advocating and the level of self-perceived preparedness to advocate based on prior training contributed to the variability in the advisors" experiences with social justice advocacy. At the sociocultural level, advisors in rural schools reported more barriers and fewer facilitators to advocating. Overall, all seven predictors entered, including those at the individual (i.e., experiencing negative personal or professional consequences to advocating, level of selfperceived preparedness to advocate), school (i.e., school resources, school size), and sociocultural levels (i.e., region of the country, community type), accounted for 33.0% (p < .05) of the variance in the Barriers and 10.6% (p < .05) of the variance in the Facilitators to advocating for LGBT youth in schools. SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY TRENDS RELATED TO GAY/STRAIGHTALLIANCE ADVISORS" EXPERIENCES IN SCHOOLS by Emily Cook Graybill


The data show large and persistent deviations of real exchange rates from purchasing power parity. Recent work has shown that to a large extent these movements are driven by deviations from the law of one price for traded goods. In the data, real and nominal exchange rates are about 6 times as volatile as relative price levels and they both are highly persistent, with serial correlations of 0.85 and 0.83, respectively. This paper develops a sticky price model with price discriminating monopolists, which produces deviations from the law of one price for traded goods. Our benchmark model, which has prices set for one quarter at a time and a unit consumption elasticity of money demand, does not come close to reproducing these observations. A model which has producers setting prices for 6 quarters at a time and a consumption elasticity of money demand of 0.27 does much better. In it real and nominal exchange rates are about 3 times as volatile as relative price levels and exchange rates are persistent, with serial correlations of 0.65 and 0.66, respectively.


© Diana Mitlin and David Satterthwaite, 2004. All rights reserved. With the rapid growth in urban poverty in Africa, Asia and Latin America, most cities now have 30 to 60 per cent of their population living in shanty towns. The civil and political rights of these people are either ignored or constantly contravened. They face multiple deprivations, including hunger, long hours working for inadequate incomes; illness, injury and premature deaths that arise from dangerous living conditions and inadequate water supplies, sanitation and healthcare. Many face the constant threat of eviction and other forms of violence. None of these problems can be addressed without local changes, and Empowering Squatter Citizen contends that urban poverty is underpinned by the failure of national governments and aid agencies to support local processes. It makes the case for redirecting support to local organizations, whether governmental, non-governmental or grassroots.. The book includes case studies of innovative government organizations (in Thailand, Mexico, Philippines and Nicaragua) and community-driven processes (in India, South Africa, Pakistan and Brazil), which illustrate more effective approaches to urban poverty reduction. Such approaches include strengthening the organizations of the poor and homeless so that they are accountable to their members, are able to develop their own solutions and have more capacity to negotiate with the institutions that are meant to deliver infrastructure, services, credit and land for housing. Such support for local processes is crucial for meeting the Millennium Development Goals in urban areas.


A cross-sectional study was conducted in the pastoral areas of Afar, Somali and Oromia regions of Ethiopia between October 2008 and May 2009 to determine the antibody prevalence and to identify risk factors for brucellosis in camels (Camelus dromedorius). Sera were collected from 1100 camels and 86 herds. Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) was used to screen all serum samples and positive samples were subjected to confirmation by complement fixation test (CFT). Twenty six of these (2.36%) tested positive using the Rose Bengal plate test and 21 (1.91%) tested positive by the complement fixation test. The true seroprevalence of camel brucellosis as adjusted to the RBPT and CFT sensitivities and specificities was 5.71%. The highest prevalence (3.16%) was reported in Afar however the difference was not significant (p>0.05) among regions. Age and sex were not found to be significant in the occurrence of brucellosis. Univariable logistic regression model showed that adult camels in the age group of 4-6years had significant impact on camel seropositivity to brucellosis (P<0.05, odds ratio (OR), 4.56; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.38-15.04). Herd size recorded significant association with seropositivity of brucellosis (P<0.05, medium herds OR, 5.51; 95%CI, 1.80-16.91 and large herds OR, 1.85; 95%CI, 0.46-7.48). The authors recommend the implementation of well-organized disease control and prevention methods to mitigate the economic losses and public health hazard caused by the disease.


To evaluate the safety and efficacy of long-term glatiramer acetate (GA) therapy, 46 patients with relapsing—remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) were treated for up to 22 years in an ongoing, open-label study. Kurtzke expanded disability status scale (EDSS) was measured every six months, relapses were reported at occurrence and patients self-reported adverse events (AEs). At GA initiation, disease durations ranged from 0—20 years (median 6.0 years) and at data cut-off (October 2004), GA therapy duration ranged from 1—22 years (median 12.0 years). Mean EDSS score increased 0.9 ± 1.9 from the pretreatment score (3.0 ± 1.8; P = 0.076). Only 10/28 (36%) patients with baseline EDSS <4.0 had a last observed value ≥ 4.0 and 8/34 (24%) with entry EDSS < 6.0 reached EDSS ≥ 6.0. A majority (57%) maintained improved or unchanged EDSS scores. Annualized relapse rate decreased to 0.1 ± 0.2 from 2.9 ± 1.4 prestudy (P < 0.0001). Of the 18 remaining patients in October 2004 (average disease duration 23 years), 17% with baseline EDSS scores < 4.0 reached EDSS ≥ 4.0 and 28% with baseline scores < 6.0 reached EDSS ≥ 6.0. Adverse events were similar to those reported in short-term clinical trials. This study shows a low rate of relapses and EDSS progression in RRMS patients on GA for up to 22 years. Multiple Sclerosis 2008; 14: 494—499. http://msj.sagepub.com


BACKGROUND
Assessment of ischemic but potentially viable myocardium plays an important role in the planning of coronary revascularization. Until now SPECT, PET, and MRI have been used to identify viable myocardium. Computed tomography (CT) is increasingly used to diagnose coronary atherosclerosis.

OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the feasibility of CT enhancement as a viability marker by investigating myocardial contrast distribution over time in pigs with experimentally induced antero-septal myocardial infarctions.

METHODS
Twelve pigs were subjected to 60 min of balloon occlusion of the left anterior descending artery, followed by removal of the balloon and reperfusion. Four pigs died due to refractory ventricular fibrillation. After 6 weeks, dynamic cardiac CT was performed assessing both wall motion and contrast attenuation. Measurements of attenuation values in Hounsfield units (HU) in the infarct zone and the normal lateral wall were performed at 20 s, and 1, 3, 5, 8 and 12 min after contrast injection.

RESULTS
We found highly significant differences in attenuation values between the two zones at all-time points except t =1 min (ANOVA P=0.85). The normal myocardium showed higher uptake- and washout-rates of contrast than the infarct zone (84±15 vs. 58±8 at 20 s, P=0.0001 and 27±12 vs. 81±13 at 12 min, P=0.0001). Specifically, the ratio between early (20 s) and late (12 min) uptake is a valid marker of viable myocardium. In all animals this ration was above one in the normal zone and below one in the infarct zone.

CONCLUSIONS
Delayed infarct related uptake and washout of contrast shows promise for future clinical application of CT in a combined assessment of coronary atherosclerosis and myocardial viability.


Chvatal--Gomory cutting planes (CG-cuts for short) are a fundamental tool in integer programming. Given any single CG-cut, one can derive an entire family of CG-cuts, by "iterating" its multiplier vector modulo one. This leads naturally to two questions: first, which iterates correspond to the strongest cuts, and, second, can we find such strong cuts efficiently? We answer the first question empirically, by showing that one specific approach for selecting the iterate tends to perform much better than several others. The approach essentially consists of solving a nonlinear optimization problem over a special lattice associated with the CG-cut. We then provide a partial answer to the second question, by presenting a polynomial-time algorithm that yields an iterate that is strong in a certain well-defined sense. The algorithm is based on results from the algorithmic geometry of numbers.


Objective: To assess the efficacy of video-assisted minimally invasive surgical vs. catheter ablation for the long-standing persistent AF. Methods: We performed a retrospective comparative analysis in a series of 166 long-standing persistent AF patients treated between 2006 and 2009 with either video-assisted minimally invasive ablation (83 patients), or catheter ablations (83 patients). The catheter group was screened using a pair-matched case-control methodology in order to select appropriate statistical comparison candidates out of 169 long-standing persistent AF patients which were potentially suitable for surgery, but have been treated with catheter approaches in order to balance major prognostic factors between the two groups. Follow-up for all patients ranged from 1 to 3.6 years. Results: No patient died postoperatively. One patient suffered from stroke in the surgical group but recovered before discharge. Freedom from AF was obtained in 59.0% and 74.7% during follow-up in the catheter group and the surgical group respectively (P=0.047). Patients in the catheter group had a significantly higher rate of recurrent arrhythmia (P=0.011, hazard ratio: 0.555, 95% CI: 0.354 to 0.872) compared with the surgically treated group. The freedom from antiarrhythmic drugs was 44.6% in the catheter group and 61.4% in the surgical group (P=0.043). Conclusions: The video-assisted minimally invasive ablation was safe and effective, and had an optimistic success rate for patients with long-standing persistent AF.


Background There is a complex causal framework for one-month to five-year-old child mortality. Hence, the improvement of this health indicator would also be quite gradual. This study was carried out to evaluate potential risk factors for death among children aged 1–59 months. Method A nested case-control study was conducted in rural areas of Shahroud, in the central region of Iran. We selected 65 child deaths from the 2000–2008 birth cohort of 10 912 living newborns. A risk set sampling method was used to select controls (Case-Control ratio 1:2) who matched the cases in terms of age. The data were analysed using univariate and multivariate conditional logistic regression methods. Results Significant associations with mortality were seen for: breastfeeding (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.79 to 0.93, p<0.001), number of child cares (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.83 to 0.98, p=0.017) and low birth weight (OR 7.38, 95% CI 1.38 to 39.58, p=0.020). Conclusion Incomplete breast feeding duration, insufficient number of child cares and low birth weight are important risk factors for 1–59 month child mortality in Iran. It appears that complex and multiple factors are involved in mortality of under-5-year-old children, so combined efforts will need to be applied to improve child health.


This paper analyses the importance of embedding the importance of commercialisation of University's research in the Engineering education in Malaysia. By conducting courses or program about this commercialization aspects by the engineering faculty, the commercialization process for the university will be sustained in future. The literature so far reviewed shows that engineering education processes have been extensively studied to study the best mechanism and model for engineering education in Malaysia. Aiming to contribute to such literature, we look at the current practice of Engineering Faculties under the Malaysian Research Universities in order to see to what extent aspects of commercialization of university's research are incorporated in their syllabus. We found that the aspect of the commercialization of university's innovation are less exposed to engineering students in Malaysia. This paper suggests that it is vital to incorporate the commercialization of university's research aspects into the engineering syllabus to develop the culture of entrepreneurship among engineering students which eventually assists the university to commercialize its'research.


A cognitive radio (CR) node is a radio device capable of operating (transmitting and receiving) over multiple channels. As a result, a network consisting of one or more CR nodes can adapt to varying channel availability in its geographical region by dynamically changing the channel (or channels) that nodes use for communication. We investigate the problem of neighbour discovery in a network consisting of one or more CR nodes when nodes have multiple receivers but only a single transmitter. Neighbour discovery, in turn, can be used to solve other important communication problems such as broadcasting and gossiping in an efficient manner. We present a TDMA-based deterministic distributed algorithm for neighbour discovery whose time-complexity is M ⌈ N r ⌉ +O(max(M,N) log r), where M is the maximum number of channels on which a node can operate, N denotes the size of the space used to assign identifiers to nodes, and r is the number of receivers at a node (with 1≤ r≤ min(M,N)).


Active corporate executives are a popular source of independent directors. Although their knowledge, expertise, and network can bring value to firms on whose boards they sit, independent executive directors may be more likely to be distracted than other directors due to their outside executive roles. Using newly constructed data linking independent directors to their employers, we identify periods when employers' poor performance may distract them from board service. We find that firms with distracted independent executive directors have lower performance and value, higher CEO compensation, reduced CEO turnover–performance sensitivity, lower earnings quality, and lower M&A performance. These adverse effects are mainly driven by distracted directors who sit on relevant committees, and are stronger for small boards.


Over sixty percent of investigated languages name a color category by which speakers combine desaturation and complexity. The category engulfs the grey core of the Munsell color solid to emerge on the least saturated but blended areas of the solid's surface, commonly brown, lavender, beige, and pale. But people vary in their construction of the category, emphasizing either its desaturation or its complexity. Many reinforce its composition with recognition of dark, light, or blue. A few who favor complexity include very complex colors that are also highly saturated, such as purple, while they still recognize desaturation and include grey as well. The category shows distinct patterns between languages, whence it undergoes various trajectories of development.Many such categories are of basic status, in spite of their variability. Yet individuals elect not to use them more often than they disregard their basic categories of hue or brightness; apprehending color in terms of its desaturation and complexity is an option that crosscuts the alternatives while not precluding them. Statistical differences in the frequency and constitution of the category appear between NewWorld and OldWorld languages. Interlocking models of sensation, perception, and cognition allow clearer understanding of this widely recurrent behavior. Their application here provides opportunity to assess the merits of each. Issues regarding the perceptual model underscore one case in which vision researchers and color ethnographers might pool resources to improve knowledge.


The goal of an intelligent transportation system is to increase safety, convenience and efficiency in driving. Besides these obvious advantages, the integration of intelligent features and autonomous functionalities on vehicles will lead to major economic benefits from reduced fuel consumption to efficient exploitation of the road network. While giving this information to the driver can be useful, there is also the possibility of overloading the driver with too much information. Existing vehicles already have some mechanisms to take certain actions if the driver fails to act. Future vehicles will need more complex decision making modules which receive the raw data from all available sources, process this data and inform the driver about the existing or impending situations and suggest, or even take actions. Intelligent vehicles can take advantage of using different sources of data to provide more reliable and more accurate information about driving situations and build a safer driving environment. I have identified five general sources of data which is available for intelligent vehicles: the vehicle itself, cameras on the vehicle, communication between the vehicle and other vehicles, communications between vehicles and roadside units and the driver information. But facing this huge amount of data requires a decision making module to collect this data and provide the best reaction based on the situation. In this thesis, I present a data fusion approach for decision making in vehicles in which a decision making module collects data from the available sources of information and analyses this data and provides the driver with helpful information such as traffic congestion, emergency messages, etc. The proposed approach uses agents to collect the data and the agents cooperate using a black board method to provide the necessary data for the decision making system. The Decision making system benefits from this data and provides the intelligent vehicle applications with the best action(s) to be taken. Overall, the results show that using this data fusion approach for making decision in vehicles shows great potential for improving performance of vehicular systems by reducing travel ii time and wait time and providing more accurate information about the surrounding environment for vehicles. In addition, the safety of vehicles will increase since the vehicles will be informed about the hazard situations.


Although juvenile drug courts (JDCs) have now been in operation for 17 years, there is still no definitive appraisal as to this model's cost effectiveness and in particular, no detailed cost analysis of a JDC program following the 16 strategies until this one. The cost data presented in this paper build on the process and outcome evaluations performed on the Clackamas County Juvenile Drug Court (CCJDC). The criminal justice costs incurred by participants in drug court are compared with the costs incurred by eligible non-participants.

CCJDC participants had far more positive outcomes than those who did not participate in the program. In the two years after drug court entry, CCJDC participants cost the taxpayers $961 less per participant than similar individuals who did not attend the drug court program.


SiCOI (SiC on insulator) composite substrates obtained by the Smart-Cuttrade process are alternative possible substrates for epitaxial growth of wide band gap (WBG) materials such as GaN and GaN alloys. Similar to bonded SOI structure, the SiCOI structures basically comprises a thin film of single SiC crystal bonded onto a substrate such as, for instance, silicon substrate. Additionally to the well known insulation properties, SiCOI substrates have been proven to be adapted to the growth of high quality GaN layer. This first study has proven compatibility of SiCOI structure for single layer GaN MBE growth. We present here last results of AlGaN/GaN HEMT structure grown by MBE with NH3 as nitrogen precursor onto SiCOI (on silicon) structure realised by Smart Cuttrade. First of all, complete SiCOI structure realisation will be described and typical physical characterization results will be presented for this kind of substrate. Then, will be detailed MBE epitaxy set-up and growth parameters for HEMT structure, including specific buffer layer stack description. Finally, physical and electrical characterisation results for epi-layers and HEMT structure will be presented. Those results show strong compatibility of SiCOI structure for MBE epitaxy of GaN based HEMT structure and demonstrate the interest of Smart Cuttrade approach to build composite substrates, like SiCOI, for hetero-epitaxy application


The struggle against apartheid was fought on many fronts. Internationally, the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) across a number of countries engaged in a range of activities that highlighted the atrocities of the Pretoria regime and the plight of the majority in South Africa. An important site of struggle against apartheid was in the sports sphere. Ireland and the Irish AAM played a significant role in this regard. The AAMs in Australia, Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, and the United States, among others, recorded victories against apartheid through demonstrations, boycotts, and the ban on participation of South African teams in international tours, tournaments, and events. A number of scholars have highlighted the role of the international AAM and its campaigns against apartheid sport. To date, historical studies of the anti-apartheid struggle and South African sport have primarily focused on Britain and New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, the United States. Irish sporting contacts with South Africa extend back over a century. Thus, focusing on the case study of Irish AAM activism against segregated sport further adds to the literature on the sports boycott and the struggle against apartheid. This article draws on Jacob Dlamini's notion of "moral agents" in understanding players', teams', and sports associations' decisions to continue to play with apartheid, despite international opposition. Drawing from archives in Ireland and South Africa, this article adds new details to the struggle against apartheid rugby in South African sport between 1964 and 1989.


Purpose: The therapeutic potential of combining the prototype tumor vascular-disrupting agent combretastatin A-4 3-O-phosphate (CA-4-P) with systemic nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition was investigated preclinically. Experimental Design: Vascular response (uptake of 125I-labeled iodoantipyrine; laser Doppler flowmetry) and tumor response (histologic necrosis; cytotoxicity and growth delay) were determined. Results: Inducible NOS selective inhibitors had no effect on blood flow in the P22 rat sarcoma. In contrast, the non–isoform-specific NOS inhibitor Nω-nitro- l-arginine (l-NNA; 1 and 10 mg/kg i.v. or chronic 0.1 or 0.3 mg/mL in drinking water) decreased the P22 blood flow rate selectively down to 36% of control at 1 hour but did not induce tumor necrosis at 24 hours. CA-4-P, at clinically relevant doses, decreased the P22 blood flow rate down to 6% of control at 1 hour for 3 mg/kg but with no necrosis induction. However, l-NNA administration enhanced both CA-4-P–induced tumor vascular resistance at 1 hour (chronic l-NNA administration) and necrosis at 24 hours, with 45% or 80% necrosis for 3 and 10 mg/kg CA-4-P, respectively. Bolus l-NNA given 3 hours after CA-4-P was the most effective cytotoxic schedule in the CaNT mouse mammary carcinoma, implicating a particular enhancement by l-NNA of the downstream consequences of CA-4-P treatment. Repeated dosing of l-NNA with CA-4-P produced enhanced growth delay over either treatment alone in P22, CaNT, and spontaneous T138 mouse mammary tumors, which represented a true therapeutic enhancement. Conclusions: The combination of NOS inhibition with CA-4-P is a promising approach for targeting tumor vasculature, with relevance for similar vascular-disrupting agents in development.


This is a protocol for a scoping review that aims to determine how guideline authors using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) approach have addressed previously identified challenges related to public health. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews will be followed. We will search and screen titles of guidelines for all languages published in 2013–2021 in: the GIN library, BIGG database, Epistemonikos GRADE guidelines repository, GRADEpro Database, MAGICapp, NICE and WHO websites. Two reviewers will independently screen full texts of the documents identified. The following information will be extracted: methods used for identifying different stakeholders and incorporating their perspectives; methods for identification and prioritization of non-health outcomes; methods for determining thresholds for decision-making; methods for incorporating and grading evidence from non-randomized studies; methods for addressing concerns with conditional recommendations in public health; methods for reaching consensus; additional methodological concerns; and any modifications made to GRADE. A combination of directed content analysis and descriptive statistics will be used for data analysis, and the findings presented narratively in a tabular and graphical form. In this protocol, we present the pilot results from 13 identified eligible guidelines issued between January and August 2021. We will publish the full review results when they become available.


Fix a finite set of points in Euclidean $n$-space $\euc^n$, thought of as a point-cloud sampling of a certain domain $D\subset\euc^n$. The Rips complex is a combinatorial simplicial complex based on proximity of neighbors that serves as an easily-computed but high-dimensional approximation to the homotopy type of $D$. There is a natural ``shadow'' projection map from the Rips complex to $\euc^n$ that has as its image a more accurate $n$-dimensional approximation to the homotopy type of $D$.
We demonstrate that this projection map is 1-connected for the planar case $n=2$. That is, for planar domains, the Rips complex accurately captures connectivity and fundamental group data. This implies that the fundamental group of a Rips complex for a planar point set is a free group. We show that, in contrast, introducing even a small amount of uncertainty in proximity detection leads to `quasi'-Rips complexes with nearly arbitrary fundamental groups. This topological noise can be mitigated by examining a pair of quasi-Rips complexes and using ideas from persistent topology. Finally, we show that the projection map does not preserve higher-order topological data for planar sets, nor does it preserve fundamental group data for point sets in dimension larger than three.


Theory and intuition tell us that the imposition of stringent environmental policies by a given country will reduce its net exports of commodities produced using pollution-intensive industries. It is therefore surprising that many empirical studies of international commodity trade have failed to find evidence of this effect. This study offers a new, highly focused test of the pollution haven hypothesis, by investigating the link between international factor trade in coal and urban air concentrations of SO2. I find statistically significant evidence that countries with poor air quality do have higher net factor exports of coal; however, the magnitude of the impact is small, casting doubt on the economic significance of the pollution haven effect as a guide to policy.


The role of the crystalline phase of Mo3VOx in the catalytic oxidation of allyl alcohol over four kinds of crystalline (orthorhombic, trigonal, tetragonal, amorphous) Mo3VOx catalysts was investigated to determine the active sites for the reactions. Tetragonal Mo3VOx was found less active for the formation of acrylic acid from allyl alcohol, although acrolein was obtained selectively at higher temperature. For orthorhombic and trigonal Mo3VOx catalyst, allyl alcohol converted to acrolein and propanal competitively at the mouth of the heptagonal channel over the a–b plane of the rod‐type crystalline particles, and these aldehydes were oxidized consecutively to acrylic acid. Acrylic acid was formed effectively at increased reaction temperature over orthorhombic, trigonal and amorphous Mo3VOx catalysts, and the maximum yields of acrylic acid were 73 % for the orthorhombic Mo3VOx catalyst and 72 % for the trigonal Mo3VOx catalyst at 350 °C.


We formulate and study analytically and computationally two families of piecewise linear degree one circle maps. These families offer the rare advantage of being non-trivial but essentially solvable models for the phenomenon of mode locking and the quasiperiodic transition to chaos. For instance, for these families, we obtain complete solutions to several questions still largely unanswered for families of smooth circle maps. Our main results describe (1) the sets of maps in these families having some prescribed rotation interval; (2) the boundaries between zero and positive topological entropy and between zero length and non-zero length rotation interval; and (3) the structure and bifurcations of the attractors in one of these families. We discuss the interpretation of these maps as low-order spline approximations to the classic "sine-circle" map and examine more generally the implications of our results for the case of smooth circle maps. We also mention a possible connection to recent experiments on models of a driven Josephson junction. (c) 1996 American Institute of Physics.


BACKGROUND
Recurrent idiopathic epistaxis (nosebleeds) in children is repeated nasal bleeding in patients up to the age of 16 for which no specific cause has been identified. Although nosebleeds are very common in children, and most cases are self-limiting or settle with simple measures (such as pinching the nose), more severe recurrent cases can require treatment from a healthcare professional. However, there is no consensus on the effectiveness of the different clinical interventions currently used in managing this condition.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the effects of different interventions for the management of recurrent idiopathic epistaxis in children.

SEARCH STRATEGY
We searched the Cochrane ENT Group Specialised Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library Issue 3, 2003), MEDLINE (January 1966 to August 2003), EMBASE (January 1980 to August 2003), CINAHL (January 1982 to August 2003), and reference lists of relevant articles.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We identified all randomised controlled trials (with or without blinding) in which any surgical or medical intervention for the treatment of recurrent idiopathic epistaxis in children was evaluated in comparison with either no treatment, a placebo, or another intervention, and in which the frequency and severity of episodes of nasal bleeding following treatment was stated or calculable. The full text articles of all the retrieved trials of possible relevance were reviewed by the two reviewers and the inclusion criteria applied independently.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Trials were graded for methodological quality using the Cochrane approach. Data extraction was performed in a standardised manner by one reviewer and rechecked by the other, and where necessary investigators were contacted to obtain missing information. A meta-analysis was not undertaken because of the heterogeneity of the treatments, procedures and quality of the included trials. A narrative overview of the results is therefore presented.

MAIN RESULTS
Three studies - two randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and one controlled clinical trial (CCT) - involving 256 participants satisfied the inclusion criteria. One RCT compared Naseptin antiseptic cream with no treatment, the second RCT compared Vaseline(R) petroleum jelly with no treatment, and the CCT compared Naseptin antiseptic cream with silver nitrate cautery. Overall, results were inconclusive, with no statistically significant difference found between the compared treatments. No serious adverse effects were reported from any of the interventions, although children receiving silver nitrate cautery reported that it was a painful experience (despite the use of local anaesthetic).

REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS
The optimal management of children with recurrent idiopathic epistaxis is unknown. High quality randomised controlled trials comparing interventions either with placebo or no treatment, and with a follow-up period of at least a year, are needed to assess the relative merits of the various treatments currently in use.


Textile Metaphors for AnatomyBackground- Cross disciplinary, cross institution collaboration between a medical educator and a materials artist. We present 4 different discourses of the body which we identify as – • The Aesthetic• The Erotic• The Scientific• The Symbolic. By 'Scientific', we mean the rationalist approach, and include the medical body. By 'symbolic', we mean the body as possession ('My Body') and the body as identity ('Myself'). We acknowledge the concepts of the male and the medical gaze, but prefer the term discourse since, in our thinking and practice, the recipient of the gaze is an active rather than a passive partner in the development of meaning.Overlap between the erotic and the aesthetic body is well recognized and documented. However, other overlaps seem to us to have been less well recognized, and lead to the occurrence of cultural dissonance. The introduction will included vignettes, recorded by ethnographic field techniques (all used by permission). These will identify and illustrate clear overlap between the symbolic meaning of the body to the individual and the medico-scientific meaning, leading to the expression of resentment and possible of erotic elements.The focus of the presentation is on the neglected overlap between the scientific and the aesthetic through the realization of medical and anatomical phenomena in 2D and 3 D material forms. In teaching medical students, the co-authors of this research, have been exploring aesthetic approaches to conveying factual information. One example we will show is a transparent silk gown with multiple zippers, developed by the artist co-author, which conveys major sites of operations. We will show how the gown, as we have used it in specialist medical and in public environments, adopts a set of symbolic meanings, a cultural noise, alongside the literal and factual content. The symbolic significance, in this case, relates to the body through anonymity, through violation and through exposure.There are hidden aspects of the body that are not well known to the public. Three examples that are focus of our current research are Dermatomes, Langer Lines and Blashko Lines. These can be represented by body painting and body projection. We will illustrate the operation of body projection and propose that this (projecting underlying structures onto the surface of the body) has an aesthetic impact that viewing the structures themselves (projected, for instance, on to a flat screen) lacks. The presentation will show how such body painting can overcome embarrassment about the body, which we propose is due to the aesthetic experience defusing the symbolic body (for both the painter and the painted). Furthermore, our mapping of Dermatomes, Langer Lines and Blaschko Lines on disparate body morphologies through body painting, and in 3D reconstruction, has identified critical anaomalies and inconsistencies in the leading medical textbook representations of these important phenomena. This research emerges from Flex + Ply a Welcome Trust Funded Arts Award to explore textile metaphors for anatomy. The Current work will culminate in an exhibition in 2010. Flex+Ply Research Assistant: Aoife Ludlow