The most general and striking evidence related with brain injury is that of the restoration of function. Recovery of motor and somatosensory functions has shown to commonly occur after stroke, but not all individuals show improvement. Clinical studies have shown the capacity of pharmacological and rehabilitative interventions to accelerate and/or augment recovery after stroke. However, the mechanisms underlying the post-stroke brain functional reorganization, i.e., the brain plasticity, are still not well established. Therefore, therapeutic trials of agents or rehabilitative procedures targeting stroke recovery may benefit from brain mapping studies that may aid to better understand this functional reorganization. Thus the research aimed at the identification of the mechanisms underlying functional recovery should be given high priority, particularly with regard to environmental enrichment, rehabilitation and pharmacological interventions. Prior to investigation of post-stroke functional reorganization, two important conditions have to be gathered: having knowledge of the brain function under normal conditions, i.e., in normal subjects without brain lesions, and having devices adapted to study brain region of interest. This thesis addresses the post-stroke functional reorganization in auditory processing with a cross-sectional study in patients with unilateral hemispheric lesions and a longitudinal study in a patient with a lesion of a right acoustic radiation. Before performing these two studies with patients, normal function of the auditory processing is assessed and appropriate tools are developed. Audition is the key to language processing, the most important communication system in man. Hearing impairments arising from pathology of the brain injury may have detrimental consequences on the quality of the patient life, restricting our ability to interact with others, causing misunderstandings and fatigue, heightening stress and filtering out the myriad of sound experiences that give pleasure and meaning to life. The perception of an auditory scene in everyday acoustic environments involves identifying the content ("what") and the location ("where") of sound. Evidence indicates that sound recognition and sound localization are processed by at least partially independent anatomically distinct networks. In humans, activation studies have suggested existence of a ventral, temporo-frontal, "what" and dorsal, parieto-prefrontal, "where" pathways on the convexities. However, no studies have been able to clearly demonstrate "what" and "where" specialization in early stage auditory areas. This is mainly due to high local interindividual sulcal variability. Indeed, the precise realignment of anatomical landmarks on the supratemporal plane could not be achieved with current registration methods, thus providing less detailed and accurate functional maps. After a short introduction on brain variability, a brief description of auditory cortex structure and function is presented. High variability of the auditory cortex is a major problem when performing activation group studies. For this reason, the interindividual comparison of auditory activations necessitates appropriate method for brain superposition, i.e., brain registration. Two registration approaches are described, voxel-based and feature-based approaches, with demonstrating the benefit of feature-based approaches for interindividual superposition of highly variable cortical structures. Therefore we developed a local landmark-based registration algorithm. This algorithm mainly consisted in semi-automatical extraction of the sulci delimiting Heschl's gyrus and in their realignment, using thin-plate splines, with the corresponding landmarks of the reference brain. We employed this algorithm on "what" and "where" functional data in 18 normal subjects acquired with 1.5 Tesla MR scanner (from [1]) and 15 normal subjects acquired with 3 Tesla MR scanner. Our results have shown that a precise realignment of anatomical structures on the supratemporal plane yielded more detailed functional maps of a group of subjects, which were more consistent with cytoarchitectonically defined auditory areas, than widely used global non-rigid voxel-based registration methods. Moreover, our results demonstrated a specialization of anterior and anterior lateral auditory areas in sound recognition, and caudomedial and posterior auditory areas in sound localization. A first patient study performed on patients with unilateral hemispheric lesion compared "what" and "where" activations on the supratemporal plane between each patient and a group of normal subjects (both acquired with 1.5 Tesla). Our results demonstrated that a unilateral hemispheric lesion, left or right, disturbs auditory processing in both ipsilesional and contralesional hemispheres. This disruption of auditory processing may be an increase or decrease of activation patterns in an area known to be activated for conjoint activations by sound recognition and sound localization. Moreover, our results demonstrated that specialized networks were disturbed in patients with unilateral hemispheric lesions in two different ways: (i) changes in specialized task-related activations, and (ii) increase in specialized task-related networks in the intact hemisphere associated with normal performance in the corresponding task. In a second patient study that is a longitudinal study performed on a patient with a lesion of a right acoustic radiation, we investigated the effect of a unilateral subcortical lesion on the early cortical auditory processing within intact ipsilesional and contralesional hemispheres. Our results demonstrated the contralesional increase in activation of homologous auditory areas in the early stage of recovery, when auditory function was impaired, while at later stage the ipsilesional regions were more activated, as auditory function recovered.


Context Most guidelines for treatment of hypertension including the Joint National Committee-7 recommend a blood pressure (BP) goal of <140/90 mm Hg for hypertensive patients and a more aggressive goal of <130/80 mm Hg for patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), based largely on expert consensus. Objective To evaluate the BP targets in patients with CAD Data Sources PUBMED, EMBASE and CENTRAL Study Selection: Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) of antihypertensive therapy in patients with CAD, enrolling at least 100 patients, with achieved systolic pressure of <=135 mm Hg in the 'intensive BP' group and <=140 mm Hg in the 'standard BP' group with follow-up for at least 1 year and evaluating cardiovascular outcomes. Data Extraction The following efficacy outcomes were extracted- all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, myocardial infarction, stroke, angina pectoris, heart failure and revascularisation. Results We identified 15 RCTs enrolling 66 504 participants with 276 328 patient-years of follow-up. Intensive BP group (≤135 mm Hg) was associated with a 15% decrease in heart failure rate and 10% decrease in stroke rate, driven largely by trials with a more intensive BP group (≤130 mm Hg), with similar outcomes for death and cardiovascular death and was associated with a 105% increase in the risk of hypotension. More intensive BP group (≤130 mm Hg) was also associated with a reduction in myocardial infarction and angina pectoris. The results were similar in a Bayesian random effects model. In addition, lower seemed to be better (based on regression analysis) for the outcomes of myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure and perhaps angina. Conclusions The present body of evidence suggests that in patients with CAD, intensive systolic BP control to ≤135 mm Hg and possibly to ≤130 mm Hg is associated with a modest reduction in stroke and heart failure but at the expense of hypotension. Lower was better, although not consistently so for myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure and perhaps angina. Further trials are needed to prove these findings.


The current tendency to explain everything from election results to the breakdown of the family in terms of media influence attests to the belief that the communicating practices of a culture play decisive roles in the outcomes of human endeavors. In analyzing the nature of these influences and the characteristics of the outcomes, some communications theorists and historians focus on the effects of a medium's form while others attend to its content. Content-analyses most often deal with controversial subjects such as violence, erotica, propaganda or political messages, while effects-analyses focus on the social, psychological or cognitive alterations that result from the use or exposure to a given medium. Examinations of the impact of the printing press, for instance, have led to a wide range of conclusions: from Claude Levi-Strauss's contention that literacy favors despotism, through Jack Goody and Ian Watt's more moderate view that literacy contributes to social stratification, to Eric Havelock's conclusion that literacy has been a democratizing influence in human history. Similarly, examinations of the impact of television have led critics like Neil Postman and Joshua Meyrowitz to claim that this medium has contributed to the deterioration of social institutions, while Jib Fowles and Henry Perkinson hold that television has been a positive force in the growth of human understanding. Yet the thought that communications media deserve scrutiny is hardly a new idea. Four centuries ago a prominent social critic in Elizabethan England, William Shakespeare, embedded in his plays a critique of the effects and uses of print media and literacy, both of which were rapidly reshaping social practices in 16th-century England. My purpose in this essay is to argue that Shakespeare's understanding of communications and the media of his times entitles him to recognition as a formidable media commentator. First, I will illustrate the scope of Shakespeare's presentation of media and literacy issues by presenting a wide range of examples from all the dramatic forms in which Shakespeare wrote and by showing that his concern is sustained for the full span of his career. Second, I will focus specifically on one play (Henry IV, Part II) which functions as a kind of case study of Shakespeare's interest in particular media practices. In this way, I hope to make an updated and concrete contribution to what previous researchers have already identified as Shakespeare's concern with media issues, and thus by way of providing a context for my discussion I will first provide an overview of this scholarship. Some of the most influential contemporary communications theorists have noted Shakespeare's use of media themes. Harold Innis commented on the relationship between the printing press and Shakespeare's plays (Bias 55, Empire 148) and Marshall McLuhan, in his usual sweeping fashion, noted that, "A fairly complete handbook for studying extensions of man could be made up from selections from Shakespeare" (Understanding 3). In fact, McLuhan opens The Gutenberg Galaxy with a description of King Lear as Shakespeare's alarmed response to the impact of print. He says that the play is an "almost scholastic demonstration of the need for a ratio and interplay among the senses as the very constitution of rationality" (13), a delicate balance which had been disrupted by printing. In a similar vein, Walter Ong has discussed at length the impact of print and literacy upon mental functions, observations with particular pertinence to Shakespeare's most literate characters such as Hamlet, Angelo and Romeo. Literary scholars and practitioners of the rehistoricizing enterprise have also directed attention to Shakespeare's treatment of communications issues. Donna Hamilton, for example, situates the plays in the political context of the court patronage system during a time in which, she claims, "writing was understood to be a chief means for reifying authority" (103). …


In 1657 two small bodies of British troops stood opposed to each other in Flanders. One consisted of English, Irish, and Scottish royalists following the fortunes of Charles II., and serving with the Spanish army. The other was composed of 6,000 English soldiers raisedby the Protector to assist the French against the Spaniards, and to secure England a foot-holdon the Continent. The object of this paper is to show how the two forces were raised, of what regiments they consisted, and by what officers they were commanded. The history of the regiments composing these two little armies will be traced up to the Restoration, and it will be shown how the remains of the Cromwellian contingent and the remains of the royalist force were amalgamated to form the garrison which held Dunkirk for England from 1660 to 1662. Finally I shall endeavour to trace the fate which befell the different regiments of that garrison after Charles II, sold Dunkirk to the French.


The (Mis)application of the Western Concept of "Resilience" to Non-Western Crises: South Sudanese Women as Case Study Stephanie A. Euber This thesis involves an analysis of how the term "resilience" is mobilized and operationalized by groups and organizations that tout human rights as a main concern; I look to the relaying of South Sudanese women's experiences to social justice workers as a case study, aiming to gain perspective from the women's narratives of resilience. The purpose of this research is largely to critically engage with and question the resilience framework often referenced and taken for granted within modern human rights discourse. Qualitative research was conducted via interviews with eight individuals who have experience working with the South Sudanese population. Findings included five major themes: (1) the emphasis on social support and religiosity in South Sudanese culture, (2) a glaring lack of psychosocial services for traumatized refugees, (3) a trend toward pushing education for impact, (4) a leaning toward selfidentifying as "survivor" among South Sudanese women, and (5) the futility of the resilience framework in non-Western contexts such as within South Sudan and the diaspora. I conclude that the resilience framework not only misses the mark when applied to non-Western contexts, such as humanitarian and human rights efforts have erroneously applied it to South Sudanese women and their experiences of conflict-related gender-based violence, but that the application of this framework in this way may even be considered to be a dangerous application. Key Terms: conflict, cultural-sensitivity, epistemological violence, gender-based violence, human rights discourse, resilience, South Sudan, South Sudanese women, trauma


Speech and dialogue are the heart of politics: nearly every political institution in the world involves verbal communication. Yet vast literatures on political communication focus almost exclusively on what words were spoken, entirely ignoring how they were delivered—auditory cues that convey emotion, signal positions, and establish reputation. We develop a model that opens this information to principled statistical inquiry: the model of audio and speech structure (MASS). Our approach models political speech as a stochastic process shaped by fixed and time-varying covariates, including the history of the conversation itself. In an application to Supreme Court oral arguments, we demonstrate how vocal tone signals crucial information—skepticism of legal arguments—that is indecipherable to text models. Results show that justices do not use questioning to strategically manipulate their peers but rather engage sincerely with the presented arguments. Our easy-to-use R package, communication, implements the model and many more tools for audio analysis.


Cave paintings at Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain, fraught with expression thousands of years later; point to an early human desire to form a cultural identity. In the Oxford Companion to World Mythology, David Leeming explores the role of mythology, or myth-logic, in history and determines that the dreams of specific cultures add up to a larger collective story of humanity. Stopping short of attempting to be all-inclusive, this fascinating volume will nonetheless be comprehensive, opening with an introduction exploring the nature and dimensions of myth and proposing a definition as a universal language. Briefly dipping into the ways our understanding of myth has changed from Aristotle and Plato to modern scholars such as Joseph Campbell, the introduction loosely places the concept in its present context and precedes articles on influential mythologists and mythological approaches that appear later in the Companion. The main body of Leeming's work consists of A-Z entries covering all aspects of mythology, including substantial essays on the world's major mythological traditions (Greek, Native American, Indian, Japanese, Sumerian, Egyptian), mythological types and motifs (Descent to the Underworld, the Hero, the Trickster, Creation, the Quest), mythological figures (Odysseus, Zeus, Osiris, Spider Woman, and Inanna) as well as numerous interrelated subjects such as fairy tales and legends. The Companion also locates myth in our lives today, relating it to language patterns, psychology, religion, politics, art, and gender attitudes. Many of the better-known and more significant myths are vividly retold in this volume that will be illustrated with maps, more than 70 black and white images, and eight pages of color highlighting the central role art has often played in the transmission and perpetuation of myth. Following the entries, a rich section of appendices will include family trees of the major pantheons, equivalency charts for the gods of Greece and Rome, Babylon and Sumer, as well as other traditions, an extensive bibliography, and an index.


Literature on distance education and teacher education seems to show that what we do not know about Distance Teacher Trainees 1 ( DTT ) and their learning process involved exceeds what we know about it. As more DTT enroll in distance education programmes globally, distance education providers and institutions will witness trainees coming with different backgrounds and experiences begin to take advantage of this learning opportunities. One important variable in the effectiveness of distance learning is the preference of the distance learner for a particular learning mode. A key to maintaining distance learners participation in learning lies in understanding the Learning Styles Preferences ( LSP ) and the processes involved. This is also true for teacher training. There is much greater variation in the range of LSP and how to address them when preparing distance training materials and courses. The primary purpose of this paper is to propose ways in which individual learning differences should be accommodated when designing instructional learning materials in print for DTTs. Kolb's ( 1984 )model on learning cycle and styles are discussed to provide instructional design guidelines which accommodate each stage of the learning cycles and individual differences between DTT in processing and presenting information and knowledge. In addition, issues on teacher education, distance learning, individual differences, and ways in which the 'differences' can be accommodated when designing learning materials for DTT are also discussed. This paper resonates the idea and belief that if attempts are made to match learning styles of DTTs and andragogy with content to be learned, distance teacher educators ( DTEs )and instructors can develop better instructional materials with greater prospects of success. Getting to know and understand the teacher trainees and their learning process involved must first be addressed to facilitate the diverse needs of the Malaysian teacher trainees.


To promote both quality and economy in the production of applications and their
interactive interfaces, it is desirable to delay their mutual binding. The later the binding,
the more separable the interface from its application. An ideally separated
interface can factor tasks from a range of applications, can provide a level of independence
from hardware I/O devices, and can be responsive to end-user requirements.
Current interface systems base their separation on two different abstractions.
In linguistic architectures, for example User Interface Management Systems in the
Seeheim model, the dialogue or syntax of interaction is abstracted in a separate
notation. In agent architectures like Toolkits, interactive devices, at various levels of
complexity, are abstracted into a class or call hierarchy.
This Thesis identifies an essential feature of the popular notion of direct manipulation:
directness requires that the same object be used both for output and input.
In practice this compromises the separation of both dialogue and devices. In addition,
dialogue cannot usefully be abstracted from its application functionality, while
device abstraction reduces the designer's expressive control by binding presentation
style to application semantics.
This Thesis proposes an alternative separation, based on the abstraction of
the medium of interaction, together with a dedicated user agent which allows direct
manipulation of the medium. This interactive medium is called the surface. The Thesis
proposes two new models for the surface, the first of which has been
implemented as Presenter, the second of which is an ideal design permitting document
quality interfaces.
The major contribution of the Thesis is a precise specification of an architecture
(UMA), whereby a separated surface can preserve directness without binding in
application semantics, and at the same time an application can express its semantics
on the surface without needing to manage all the details of interaction. Thus
UMA partitions interaction into Surface Interaction, and deep interaction. Surface
Interaction factors a large portion of the task of maintaining a highly manipulable
interface, and brings the roles of user and application designer closer.


The concept of immunological tolerance is central to our understanding of type 1 diabetes and the development of strategies for its prediction, prevention, and cure. Tolerance simply refers to the absence of an immune response. Most of us are born with an immune system that develops tolerance to all the other systems of our bodies as well as to the things that we eat. It is the loss of immunological tolerance that leads to autoimmunity. And when that autoimmune response directly or indirectly targets the beta-cell, type 1 diabetes is the result. In the U.S., 1 in 600 of us loses tolerance to pancreatic beta-cells. Interference with T-cell function after the loss of tolerance, as can be achieved with immunosuppressive drugs like cyclosporin, arrests the disease, but the cost in side effects is high. Clearly, stopping the loss of tolerance would be preferable. If we can stop the loss of tolerance, we can prevent the disease. We and many others have investigated both approaches. But what of the people who already have diabetes? For them a separate but related strategy, tolerance induction, is required. Specifically, islet transplantation tolerance induction holds out the promise of being able to cure the disease. This has been the ultimate goal of our laboratory's work for the past two decades.


Background: CoNS species are likely reservoirs of the staphylococcal cassette chromosome mec (SCCmec) in Staphylococcus aureus. S. aureus CC395 is unique as it is capable of exchanging DNA with CoNS via bacteriophages, which are also known to mediate transfer of SCCmec. Objectives: To analyse the structure and putative origin of the SCCmec element in S. aureus CC395. Methods: The only MRSA CC395 strain described in the literature, JS395, was subjected to WGS, and its SCCmec element was compared with those found in CoNS species and other S. aureus strains. Results: JS395 was found to carry an unusually large 88 kb composite SCCmec element. The 33 kb region downstream of orfX harboured a type V SCCmec element and a CRISPR locus, which was most similar to those found in the CoNS species Staphylococcus capitis and Staphylococcus schleiferi. A 55 kb SCC element was identified downstream of the type V SCCmec element and contained a mercury resistance region found in the composite SCC element of some Staphylococcus epidermidis and S. aureus strains, an integrated S. aureus plasmid containing genes for the detoxification of cadmium and arsenic, and a stretch of genes that was partially similar to the type IVg SCCmec element found in a bovine S. aureus strain. Conclusions: The size and complexity of the SCCmec element support the idea that CC395 is highly prone to DNA uptake from CoNS. Thus CC395 may serve as an entry point for SCCmec and SCC structures into S. aureus.


Every year, millions of people in the world die from cardiovascular diseases. Most of thesevictims show no symptoms of disease for decades as the disease silently progresses, but maysuddenly become afflicted with a myocardial infarction or stroke. At present there is aregrettable lack of important disease markers that could help identify patients at risk withregard to secondary cardiovascular events. Biomarkers for this would of course be extremelyvaluable. If such markers could distinguish between patients with different responses totreatment and overall outcome, that would be of major added value as this potentially couldpave the way for differentiated preventive measures. In this study we show that specificproteins isolated from plasma-derived exosomes are indeed associated with an increased riskfor secondary cardiac events.


AIM
Whole exome sequencing (WES) is a recently developed method for discovering rare mutations associated with hereditary disorders. However, the feasibility and utilization of this method in identifying familial hypertriglyceridemia is not well known. The purpose of the study was to identify the genetic locus that causes hypertriglyceridemia and assess its prevalence in Taiwanese subjects with hypertriglyceridemia.

METHODS
We performed WES among two individuals with hypertriglyceridemia and one control subject in an index family (22 members). Based on the WES findings, we extended the study to genotype 65 unrelated adult index patients with a fasting serum triglyceride level of > 500 mg/dL and 125 normal controls using polymerase chain reaction.

RESULTS
Using WES alignment, variant calling and annotation, 15 presumptive causal variants were initially identified, including 13 cases by the autosomal dominant model and two cases by the autosomal recessive model. Only APOA5 c.553 G > T (rs2075291), resulting in the amino acid mutation Gly185Cys, co-segregated well with hypertriglyceridemia in terms of autosomal recessive inheritance (homozygote TT: mean triglyceride level: 1,071 mg/dL vs non TT (GT and GG): mean triglyceride level: 118 mg/dL; p < 0.001) in the index family. In the unrelated cohorts, the frequency of the TT genotype of rs2075291 was 12.3% in the hypertriglyceridemic group; however, no TT genotype was found in the control group.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results demonstrate that WES is feasible for identifying the genetic locus that causes hypertriglyceridemia. The TT genotype of APOA5 c.553G > T acts as an important indicator of hypertriglyceridemia in patients in Taiwan.


OBJECTIVE To compare the effectiveness of therapeutic, comfort, and athletic shoes with and without viscoelastic insoles. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We compared pressure reduction at ulcer sites under the hallux (n = 10), first metatarsal (n = 10), and lesser metatarsals (n = 12), using extra-depth, athletic, and comfort shoes with and without viscoelastic insoles. A rubber-soled canvas oxford was used to establish baseline pressure values. RESULTS When used in conjunction with a viscoelastic insole, all shoe types reduced mean peak plantar pressure better than their non-insoled counterparts (P < 0.05). Consistently, comfort shoes reduced pressure significantly better than both the cross trainers and extra-depth shoes for ulcers under the first and lesser metatarsals (P < 0.05). For each shoe type, the addition of the viscoelastic insole provided a significant reduction in mean peak pressure (P < 0.05). Compared with stock insoles, viscoelastic insoles reduced pressures an additional 5.4-20.1% at ulcer sites. The same trend was also observed at regions of the foot not associated with an ulceration. CONCLUSIONS When used in conjunction with a viscoelastic insole, both the comfort and athletic cross-trainer shoes studied were as, if not more, effective than commonly prescribed therapeutic shoes in reducing mean peak first and lesser metatarsal pressures. Furthermore, comfort shoes were as effective as therapeutic shoes in reducing pressure under the great toe. Both of these shoe types may be viable options to prevent the development or recurrence of foot ulcers.


This study is concentrating on the transition process in autistic disorder kids. Transition is characterized as shifting between activities and also in an ongoing task. This transformation appears to be very hard to accomplish for many autistic individuals. The tendency towards sameness and resistance towards any alters in the routines leads to tantrum behaviors, such as kicking, shouting, punching, ... The tantrum behaviors that are the outcome of a transition to a non-preferred activity affects the child's learning process and brings a lot of pressure and anxiety for both parents and the ASD individual.The current thesis has focused on obtaining practical ways to facilitate this process and incorporating them into a system design. To fulfill this goal, a precise understanding of the users need was necessary, in addition to choosing the best suitable intervention models and employing them into a design. In the end, a corresponding app, along with a supporting smartwatch, was accomplished through various rounds of usability testing and user studies.


Urban areas have a high sensitivity to extreme temperature events such as heatwaves due to increased absorption and re-radiation of thermal energy from man-made materials as well as anthropogenic heat outputs. Variations in urban form, land use, and surface cover result in spatial variability in temperatures across urban areas, meaning that exposure to extreme events is variable at the sub-city scale. Such variability must be quantified in order to better understand urban temperature interactions and identify areas with the greatest potential exposure to extreme heatwave events. Earth observed data offer a spatially complete and homogenous data source to supplement observations from sparse weather station networks in order to quantify the spatial temperature variability across cities. This article presents an evaluation of the thermal data acquired by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument to quantify the spatial temperature dynamics of London. A total of 81 cloud-free AVHRR scenes from summers between 1996 and 2006 were analysed in association with air temperature measurements from four London weather stations in order to characterize the year-on-year temperature dynamics of London. The data were employed to investigate the viability of using AVHRR scenes to distinguish a heatwave year from background years using the commonly employed urban heat island intensity (UHII) metric. Results show that AVHRR thermal data are highly sensitive to local meteorological and diurnal effects, requiring temporal averaging to the monthly and seasonal scales to provide robust data for a comparison between different years. Resulting UHII scenes highlight the spatial variability of intensity across London. However, comparison of UHII scenes between summers indicates that the UHII metric is a relatively poor means by which to distinguish between a heatwave summer in London and the 75th percentile, median, and 25th percentile summer temperatures of the time series investigated.


For more than 25 years, Amanda Mills has been working with arts organizations across Canada and with artists of all kinds to assist them in achieving financial sanity. She has taught business management at the University of Victoria and has prepared thousands of tax returns for writers, visual artists, choreographers, actors, filmmakers, broadcasters, and creative entrepreneurs. Ten years ago, bringing together her work on trauma, with twenty years of business management, Mills founded Loose Change Financial Therapy – the place where money and feelings meet. Mills has presented Loose Change workshops for social workers, teachers, psychotherapists, artists, anti-poverty activists, sex trade workers, women's groups, and the general public. She has been a guest on major Canadian radio and television broadcasts and profiled in many major Canadian newspapers and periodicals. Mills is also a crisis counselor and co-wrote a bestselling book on recovering from trauma. A tax professional and business manager, she is certified as a financial counselor under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. Mills is also currently completing a certificate in mediation.


The work presents measurements of harmonics and interharmonics from a modern wind turbine over a period of several days, using a conventional power quality monitor. A statistical study has been performed to present the characteristics of the emission during the measurement. A variation of emission has been observed, especially for interharmonics within certain low-frequency bands and for the switching frequency. Multiple relations between voltage and current components have been presented, as well as multiple relations between the emission and the active-power production. Generally, harmonics are independent of the active-power, whereas interharmonics are dependent on it.


C5L2 is an enigmatic serpentine receptor that is co-expressed with the C5a receptor on many cells including polymorphonuclear neutrophils. The apparent absence of coupling of C5L2 with G proteins suggests that this receptor may modulate the biological activity of C5a, perhaps by acting as a decoy receptor. Alternatively, C5L2 may affect C5a function through formation of a heteromeric complex with the C5aR, or it may utilize a G protein-independent signaling pathway. Here we show that in mice bearing a targeted deletion of C5L2, the biological activity of C5a/C5adesArg is enhanced both in vivo and in vitro. The biological role of C5L2 thus appears to be limiting to the pro-inflammatory response to the anaphylatoxin. Accordingly, up-regulation of C5L2 may be of benefit in inflammatory states driven by C5a, including sepsis, asthma, cystic fibrosis, and chronic obstructive lung disease.


The signals that a cell receives from its environment can be altered if cells acquire new receptors on their cell surface. In fact, cells appear to be able to acquire receptors that they themselves are not programmed to express through incorporation of membrane-derived microparticles released from other cells. In particular, during inflammatory responses, platelet-derived microparticles (PMPs) are released that can transfer molecules to cells in the blood vessel walls or to cells in the blood, like neutrophils. Salanova et al. discovered that the integrin glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GPIIb/IIIa), which recognizes various adhesion proteins and thus contributes to platelet aggregation, can be transferred in PMPs to circulating neutrophils. After treatment of whole human blood with adenosine diphosphate to activate platelets, the authors used flow cytometry and fluorescence microscopy to show that neutrophils, which originally showed little evidence of GPIIb/IIIa on their cell surface, acquired small patches on the cell surface that contained the integrin. These receptors appeared to be transferred by PMPs, because they were also present when PMPs were isolated and then applied to purified neutrophils. Neutrophils activate the transcription factor NF-κB when they receive integrin signals together with stimulation by cytokines. Salanova et al. observed that neutrophils treated with the cytokine GM-CSF (granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor) that had also acquired GPIIb/IIIa from PMPs activated NF-κB in response to antibodies that stimulated GPIIb/IIIa or the native integrin CD18. Blocking activation of either one of the integrins inhibited activation of NF-κB. Similarly treated cells that didn't acquire PMPs did not activate NF-κB in response to activation of either integrin. Fluorescence microscopy indicated that the two integrins were localized together on the cell surface of the neutrophils. Thus, transferred GPIIb/IIIa appears to act together with native integrins of the neutrophil. Inflammation is thought to contribute to the deleterious effects of vascular injury, and inhibition of such responses may be of therapeutic value. In this regard, Salanova et al. showed that inhibitors of GPIIb/IIIa already in use clinically to limit platelet aggregation prevented activation of NF-κB in neutrophils that had acquired GPIIb/IIIa and were exposed to GM-CSF and fibronectin (an integrin ligand). B. Salanova, M. Choi, S. Rolle, M. Wellner, F. C. Luft, R. Kettritz, β2-integrins and acquired glycoprotein IIb/IIIa (GPIIb/IIIa) receptors cooperate in NF-κB activation of human neutrophils. J. Biol Chem. 282, 27960-27969 (2007). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Higher education is entering a phase of dramatic change and innovation. Mainstream media often present massive open online courses (MOOCs) as both a reflection of the need for universities to undergo a metamorphosis and as a means of forcing a new perspective on digital teaching and learning practices (i.e., Lewin, 2013; Pappano, 2012). However, university faculty caution that there is not enough research evidence to support widespread adoption. Two significant challenges around the role of MOOCs in higher education are prevalent. First, the discussion on MOOCs to-date has occurred mainly in mainstream media and trade publications. Although some peer-reviewed articles on MOOCs currently exist (e.g., Fini, 2009; Kop, 2011), the amount of available research is generally limited. One of the goals of this special issue is to attempt to address this lack of peer reviewed literature. Second, the vast research available in online and distance education has been largely ignored by mainstream media and MOOC providers. Paying greater attention to what is already known about learning in online and virtual spaces, how the role of educators and learners is transformed in these contexts, and how social networks extend a learning network will enable mainstream MOOC providers and their partners to make evidencebased decisions in favor of educational reform. Thus, a second goal of this special issue is to highlight this research and provide an historical context for online and distance learning not currently evident in the mainstream media treatment of MOOCs.


In this paper the usefulness of equations of motion expressed in terms of generalized velocity components (GVC)is considered. Based on these equations, a PD-type controller for a rigid serial manipulator is proposed. The GVC differ from well-known quasi-velocities because they contain both kinematics and dynamics parameters of the system. Introducing GVC allows us to obtain two first-order differential equations instead of one second-order equation. As a consequence, the controller in terms of GVC is decoupled. Additionally, some interesting features are observable if the GVC controller is used. They arise from the fact that some quantities can be determined for each joint or for each link individually.


Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) are highly suitable materials for the fabrication of flexible photonic elements due to their ability for directional actuation induced by external stimuli. 3D laser printing (3DLP) is a well-established method to realize complex photonic architectures. In this paper, we present the technological adaptations necessary to combine the actuation-controlled flexibility of LCE with the design options inherent to 3DLP to realize a platform for tunable photonics. The role of birefringence of the LCE in the 3DLP fabrication is addressed and theoretically modelled. We demonstrate how LCEs can be used both as a flexible substrate for arrays of rigid photonic elements and as a material for tunable photonic structures itself. Flexible coupling of two optical whispering gallery mode cavities and full spectral tunability of a single cavity are presented as exemplary applications.


When using handplanes, tearout is a typical problem. Two methods to prevent tearout are high cutting angles and chipbreakers set very close to the cutting edge. In previous work it was found that a cutting angle of 60° is equivalent to a chipbreaker setting of 0.1 mm behind the edge when the chipbreaker edge is beveled at 45°. Likewise an angle of 55° is equal to a 0.2 mm setting of the chipbreaker. To compare the two methods a planing machine is used with force transducers to measure the cutting force Fc and the force perpendicular to the wood surface, the normal force Fn. Fc proved to be 30% higher for the plane setups with a high cutting angle, compared to the equivalent chipbreaker settings. Fn is normally negative, pulling the edge into the wood in a standard 45° plane without the chipbreaker. When setting the chipbreaker close to the edge this negative force is slightly reduced, but in high angle planes this is reduced much more and tends towards 0 around a 60° cutting angle, under the circumstances of this experiment. A second experiment has been conducted to measure the forces after a planing distance of 100 meters. The rate of change of Fc is about equal for both methods. The rate of change of Fn is twice as fast for planes with a high cutting angle and low clearance angle. The conclusion is that the plane with a chipbreaker is technically more advanced then the plane with a high cutting angle. A hypothesis about how the two methods prevent tearout is proposed in this article too.


On the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Children and Family Justice Center at Northwestern University Law School, a center that holds among its core values that children are human beings and that all children matter, this short commentary reflects on lessons juvenile courts teach us about family values and the disconnection between our expectations of and aspirations for rich and poor families and their children. This dichotomy of expectations undergirds the myth of separation: that children can be fully and existentially separated from their parents; and that we must excise children from parents to improve children's lives. The separation myth works to the detriment of all children, but particularly to children under the jurisdiction of juvenile courts who are more vulnerable to family disruption in a system that devalues kinship and ignores socioeconomic solutions. Against the kin-suspicious culture of juvenile courts, this commentary juxtaposes research in adoption that illustrates the importance of birth kin to children and their adoptive parents.


Introduction Because of the great potential of vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors (anti-VEGF) for retinal exudative diseases, an increased number of patients receives this treatment. However, during this treatment, patients are subjected to frequent invasive intravitreal injections, and the effects on reversing the process of vision loss are uncertain, which may have negative consequences for patients' mental health. One in three patients experience at least mild symptoms of depression/anxiety. To support patients in dealing with these symptoms, an e-mental health intervention (called E-PsEYE) has been developed. E-PsEYE is based on cognitive–behavioural therapy (CBT) and contains nine modules. A stepped-care model with three steps will be used to deliver the intervention: (1) providing information and psychoeducation, (2) when symptoms of depression/anxiety persist, guided CBT is offered and supported by social workers from low vision rehabilitation services and (3) when symptoms still persist, patients are referred to their general practitioner. Methods and analysis An economic evaluation from a healthcare and societal perspective will be conducted alongside a multicentre randomised controlled trial in two parallel groups to evaluate whether E-PsEYE is cost-effective in comparison with usual care. Participants (n=174) will be 50 years or older, have retinal exudative diseases, receive anti-VEGF treatment and have mild symptoms of depression/anxiety (assessed prior to randomisation). Main outcome measures are: depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety) and quality-adjusted life-years (determined with the Health Utility Index-3 and the EuroQol-5 dimensions). Five measurements take place: at baseline and after 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. Ethics and dissemination The study has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the VU University Medical Centre Amsterdam. It will provide new and essential information on the cost-effectiveness of an innovative intervention for a vulnerable population. Outcomes will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. Trial registration http://www.trialregister.nl, identifier: NTR6337.


Phytoplankton photosynthesis strongly relies on the operation of carbon‐concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) to accumulate CO2 around their carboxylating enzyme ribulose‐1,5‐bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO). Earlier evolved phytoplankton groups were shown to exhibit higher CCM activities to compensate for their RuBisCO with low CO2 specificities. Here, we tested whether earlier evolved phytoplankton groups also exhibit a higher CCM plasticity. To this end, we collected data from literature and applied a Bayesian linear meta‐analytic model. Our results show that with elevated pCO2, photosynthetic CO2 affinities decreased strongest and most consistent for the earlier evolved groups, i.e., cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates, while CO2‐dependent changes in affinities for haptophytes and diatoms were smaller and less consistent. In addition, responses of maximum photosynthetic rates toward elevated pCO2 were generally small and inconsistent across species. Our results demonstrate that phytoplankton groups with an earlier origin possess a high CCM plasticity, whereas more recently evolved groups do not, which likely results from evolved differences in the CO2 specificity of RuBisCO.


The origin of Broad Absorption Line Quasars (BAL QSOs) is still an open issue. Accounting for ~20% of the QSO population, these objects present broad absorption lines in their optical spectra generated from outflows with velocities up to 0.2 c.
Nowadays, the hypotheses about their nature are principally related to orientation or evolutionary scenarios. In the first one, absorption lines are produced by outflows originated by the accretion disk, basically present in
all QSOs, but seen only when they intercept the line of sight. In the second hypothesis, BAL QSOs would be young or recently re-fueled QSOs, still ejecting their dust cocoon. In this case orientation would not play a role, since the absorption features would be produced by spherically ejected matter.
In this work we present the results of a multi-frequency study of a
Radio-Loud BAL QSO sample, and a comparison sample of Radio-Loud non-BAL QSOs. We performed observations from radio to Near-Infrared, aiming at collecting useful informations about the orientation, the age, and the morphologies of these objects. Various techniques have been applied, including local and continental radio interferometry, single dish observations and spectroscopy.
The comparison with the non-BAL QSO sample allows us to
conclude that no particular orientation is present in BAL QSOs.
Moreover, various morphologies and ages can be found, analogously to "normal" QSOs. Thus, the solution to this astrophysical problem seems not to reside in a peculiarity of the BAL QSO subclass with respect to non-BAL QSOs, since both the studied models do not completely explain the observed characteristics.
Further experiments with future instrumentation will allow us to underline useful differences and test the physical conditions in BAL QSOs.


Neurons sequester and degrade VEGF to prevent abnormal angiogenesis in the developing retina. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key regulator of angiogenesis. The distribution and activity of VEGF, which typically promotes angiogenic growth and vessel branching, is modulated by multiple mechanisms, including RNA splicing, interactions with the extracellular matrix, processing by proteases, and sequestration by soluble decoy receptors. Furthermore, the composition and abundance of receptors on VEGF-receiving cells influence the cellular response (see Domigan and Iruela-Arispe). During development of the retina in rodents, vascularization occurs on the inner surface but does not penetrate the neuronal layers. Okabe et al. found that the VEGF receptor VEGFR2 was more abundant in neuronal cells than in endothelial cells in developing mouse retinae. Neuronal-specific knockout of Vegfr2 in retinae of mice (Vegfr2Δneuro mice) did not affect neuronal development, but caused vessels to branch vertically into the neuronal layers. VEGF was endocytosed and degraded in retinal neurons of wild-type mice, but not Vegfr2Δneuro mice. Compared to wild-type mice, the abundance of extracellular VEGF was increased in Vegfr2Δneuro mice and in mice with neuronal-specific knockout of genes encoding proteins important for endocytosis (Dnm1;Dnm2Δneuro mice). Moreover, neuronal-specific knockout of Vegfa prevented vertical branching of vessels into the neuronal layers of retinae of Vegfr2Δneuro and Dnm1;Dnm2Δneuro mice. Thus, neurons bind and sequester VEGF and thereby, help to refine the spatiotemporal distribution of VEGF that guides angiogenic branching in the developing retina. K. Okabe, S. Kobayashi, T. Yamada, T. Kurihara, I. Tai-Nagara, T. Miyamoto, Y. -s. Mukouyama, T. N. Sato, T. Suda, M. Ema, Y. Kubota, Neurons limit angiogenesis by titrating VEGF in retina. Cell 159, 584–596 (2014). [Online Journal] C. K. Domigan, M. L. Iruela-Arispe, Stealing VEGF from thy neighbor. Cell 159, 473–474 (2014). [Online Journal]


The productivity of oil wells is determined by the hydrocarbon reserves of deposits, and the qualitative condition of the bottomhole formation zone and its permeability. Known various intensification technologies of well productivity are: thermal, gas and physicochemical methods. The authors of this research developed and tested energy accumulating substances based on aluminum Rau-85, at the same time combining both physical and chemical methods of layer stimulation. Developed alloys and composites have significant advantages over known compositions. Under laboratory conditions, experiments were carried out to test the influence of aluminum alloys on the composition and properties of reservoir fluids (oil, water) Kumkol's field. The studies were conducted at atmospheric pressure and at a process temperature of 20oC. Experimentally, it was shown that the oxidation of the Rau-85 by water-oil emulsion at the temperature of 20oC is characterized by an inductive period (3–4 minutes) with a further self-heating of up to 65oC and releasing of heat and gases. Collected gases were analyzed by a chromatograph GC-1000 Chromos. The gas composition contains a considerable amount of hydrogen, methane, butane, oxygen and CO2. The content of other gases is negligible. Analysis of the physicochemical properties of the oil obtained after processing by Rau-85 shows that in comparison with the untreated oil density they increased from 0.809 to 0.812 g/cm 3 , and the kinematic viscosity decreased from 9.66 to 7.99 mm 2 /s. Yield of light fractions of up to 180oC increased by 4%. Fractions were analyzed according to ASTM D 5292-99 NMR spectrometer BrukerAVANC 3-400. It is shown that the content of aromatic hydrocarbons in the fraction of up to 120oC increased, and the fraction above 180oC decreased. The


Recent years have seen the rapid emergence of a new type of program aimed at seeding startup companies. These programs, often referred to as accelerators, differ from previously known seed-stage institutions such as incubators and angel groups. While proliferation of such accelerators is evident, evidence on efficacy and role of these programs is scant. Nonetheless, local governments and founders of such programs often cite the motivation for their establishment and funding as the desire to transform their local economies through the establishment of a startup technology cluster in their region. In this paper, we attempt to assess the impact that such programs can have on the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the regions in which they are established, by exploring the effects of accelerators on the availability and provision of seed and early stage venture capital funding in the local region.


Branding is in the midst of those marketing gadget which are presumed to be used for only large-size companies or organizations. Our study is an endeavor to confiscate this distinction among large and small enterprises and proving it with the help of branding models and theoretical literature depending on our empirical findings. The aim of this research report is to stimulate the significance of this pivotal tool of business among the small enterprises so that it can also be supportive in smoothing the progress of their businesses as well from its benefits. In order to reach the purpose of our study, we have used the qualitative research approach and used the telephonic interview based data collection technique in this regard. The study is conducted by a case-study at VITAL TEA, a tea company located in Pakistan. Vital tea is the company which has not been considering branding as the best suited tool to grow in the small markets as the general small companies' perception described above. The study has come up with the results that either you can't apply the full fledge branding model in a small size company but still being a small company they can apply the branding models up to their capacity of resources like time, funds, trained personnel etc. Moreover, we have found that the proper implementation of branding activities needs, planning, awareness and proper training to the company's personnel's if the small companies really want to get the competitive edge over competitor companies. Finally, we have answered all our research questions along with the recommendations to our sample company (The Vital Tea).


The protease caspase-8 functions in signaling from death-inducing receptors on the cell surface, but analysis of humans lacking the enzyme suggests that it must also play a role in signaling from antigen and Fc receptors on cells in the immune system. Su et al. show that activation of nuclear factor κB (NF-κB, a key player in immune responses) is defective in cells lacking caspase-8. Antigen or Fc receptors stimulate NF-κB through a process mediated by a molecular complex that contains numerous signaling proteins, and caspase-8 physically interacts with adaptor proteins that aid in the formation of these signaling clusters. When it signals cell death, caspase-8 undergoes autoproteolysis that generates a fragment with strong protease activity. After activation of antigen receptors, however, catalytic activity of caspase-8 was still required for signaling, but the enzyme remained intact, perhaps in a conformation with a more moderate proteolytic activity. These results help explain the range of physiological effects seen in patients after the loss of this single protein-degrading enzyme. H. Su, N. Bidère, L. Zheng, A. Cubre, K. Sakai, J. Dale, L. Salmena, R. Hakem, S. Straus, M. Lenardo, Requirement for caspase-8 in NF-κB activation by antigen receptor. Science 307, 1465-1468 (2005). [Abstract] [Full Text]


Technical communicators like to perceive themselves as go-betweens who use language to bring tech objects closer to the general public. Still, is technical communication (abbr. TC throughout the article) really a two-sided coin that bridges the gap between the humanities and science, the "two cultures" in Charles Percy Snow's terms? The aim of this paper is twofold: testing the assumption that makes technical communicators middlemen between the two cultures, and to do so, defining the features of the language of TC by general linguistic standards. A sharp analysis of the language of technical communication provides many interesting clues to define its identity. First, a short history of technical communication since World War II helps us understand how the language of technical communication changed with economic, social and political contexts. Second, we sketch a definition of human language in order to set an accurate theoretical frame and to define the features of the language of technical communication. Third, the discussion of a series of tests completes the qualitative analyses of the first two parts. It provides evidence to support the conclusion of this paper.


The objective of this thesis is to increase the understanding of land motion, using statistical analysis of the available three-dimensional (3-D) time series from Continuously operated Global Positioning System stations (CGPS). A primary goal has been to search for new procedures and determine a spectrum of univariate CGPS time series. A new program package has been developed for adjustment and spectral analysis of the CGPS time series for possible future studies. This will take into account the possibility of weighting and managing, non-stationary and time series with missing data. The least squares spectrum and its relation to covariance and correlation functions are explained in detail. Different estimation methods of such functions that are used to visualise temporal correlations have been tested. A challenge of the work has been the handling data jumps revealed in the numerical investigations, that vitally affect the estimation of correlation functions and spectra.The work has also included numerical analyses of two independently pre-processed data sets from a Norwegian and a European network of CGPS. The spectral analysis has shown large contributions of annual cycles for most series. In addition semi-annual and three-month cycles have been found. After the removal of these effects, the resulting spectra estimated from the residual series of CGPS time series shows similarities with Markov-processes that are closely related to white noise processes. The detection of a Chandler-like period is more surprising because this period should have been corrected for in the pre-processing stage of CGPS time series. A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been implemented to determine the spatial pattern of CGPS data. So far this has not been performed either for a network of Norwegian CGPS stations or for a network covering the whole of Europe. The results from both analyses confirm that the first mode obtained up to 50 percent of the overall variance in all station series. In addition to a high inter-station correlation, only slightly decreasing as a function of distance, this implies at least one common effect for the entire network. The spatial and partially temporal pattern for the first three modes in CGPS data show similarity with corresponding modes extracted from predictions of atmospheric loading of surface displacements. These relations have been further investigated for the purpose of deriving possible model relations. Numerical investigations using the derived models to correct the CGPS data for the atmospheric loading effect have shown a possible sample variance reduction of up to 10 percent for the vertical component of CGPS data.


Chiral primary amines are important intermediates in the synthesis of pharmaceutical compounds. Fungal reductive aminases (RedAms) are NADPH-dependent dehydrogenases that catalyse reductive amination of a range of ketones with short-chain primary amines supplied in an equimolar ratio to give corresponding secondary amines. Herein we describe structural and biochemical characterisation as well as synthetic applications of two RedAms from Neosartorya spp. (NfRedAm and NfisRedAm) that display a distinctive activity amongst fungal RedAms, namely a superior ability to use ammonia as the amine partner. Using these enzymes, we demonstrate the synthesis of a broad range of primary amines, with conversions up to >97% and excellent enantiomeric excess. Temperature dependent studies showed that these homologues also possess greater thermal stability compared to other enzymes within this family. Their synthetic applicability is further demonstrated by the production of several primary and secondary amines with turnover numbers (TN) up to 14 000 as well as continous flow reactions, obtaining chiral amines such as (R)-2-aminohexane in space time yields up to 8.1 g L−1 h−1. The remarkable features of NfRedAm and NfisRedAm highlight their potential for wider synthetic application as well as expanding the biocatalytic toolbox available for chiral amine synthesis.


American literature has an established history of interrogating subjective experience and what it means to be a person. As a result, American writers have a produced a pattern of thought that expresses a fascination with both the possibilities and devastating consequences that attend to competing visions of the self. This dissertation explores various attempts to theorize and tolerate experiences of "double consciousness"—a term introduced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and made famous by W. E. B. Du Bois. Examining how Emerson conceptualizes double consciousness as an ideal state of being introduces a theory of consciousness that reveals the difficulties associated with merging different iterations of the self to achieve this ideal state. Emily Dickinson translates this theory of consciousness into a condition suffered by subjects. Her meditations reveal that, while double consciousness may be something for which to strive, this condition comes with painful ramifications for individuated subjects. While Dickinson internalizes double consciousness as an experience felt by subjects, Henry James externalizes this condition to explore its effects not only on the individual subject, but also the ramifications of double consciousness on others with whom the subject forms social relationships. These meditations demonstrate how the experience of double consciousness not only devastates individuals, but also the systems of life in which they participate. Robert Penn Warren, on the other hand, strategically attempts to ameliorate the difficulties produced by states of double consciousness through the use of narrative technology and temporality so that an individual may achieve this state without necessarily suffering from it. "Self-Knowledge and 'the end of man': The Paradox of Double Consciousness in American Literature" thus produces an intellectual history that transcends period and genre demarcations to nuance traditional renderings of a subject's ability to merge multiple and competing versions of self-hood. INDEX WORDS: Double consciousness, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Emily Dickinson, Henry James, Robert Penn Warren SELF-KNOWLEDGE AND "THE END OF MAN": THE PARADOX OF DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS IN AMERICAN LITERATURE


Chance Neutrality is the thesis that, conditional on some proposition being true (or being false), its chance of being true should be a matter of practical indifference. The aim of this article is to examine whether Chance Neutrality is a requirement of rationality. We prove that given Chance Neutrality, the Principal Principle entails a thesis called Linearity; the centerpiece of von Neumann and Morgenstern's expected utility theory. With this in mind, we argue that the Principal Principle is a requirement of practical rationality but that Linearity is not and, hence, that Chance Neutrality is not rationally required.


The study found that Transfund's Project Evaluation Manual (PEM) does not currently provide many analysis tools relating to risk and reliability. Although qualitative assessment of the hazards facing the existing road network is often done at a strategic level, quantitative evaluation of projects designed to improve the reliability of the existing road network could be provided in the PEM. Link reliability should be considered when the project is located on or affects the reliability of a strategic link, if there are two or fewer alternative routes and the project costs or benefits exceed a specified minimal level. Draft procedures for incorporating the effects of link reliability into project evaluation are provided and it is suggested that they be trialled on relevant current or future projects. Areas requiring further research are identified and some methods for establishing failure rates of various hazards are also provided for guidance. This report develops project evaluation procedures to incorporate risk assessment of road link reliabilities. The current Transfund evaluation procedures and recent work in this area are reviewed and suggested directions discussed. Simple link reliability theory is then developed, as well as typical examples of how this theory could be applied. The application of this theory within a project evaluation context is also considered. (a)


The extensive reforms and liberalization of financial services in emerging markets worldwide call for cutting-edge strategies to capture the benefits of new investment opportunities. In Open Doors, a volume of papers from the third annual Financial Markets and Development conference, multidisciplinary financial sector experts analyze current economic and political trends and prescribe practical advice to the financial development community. The book addresses the key issues of concern regarding the emerging markets, including the trends, motivations, and scope of FDI in finance; policy options that will best capture the opportunities of foreign entry; and the role of foreign institutions in e-finance innovation. The authors focus on specific topics such as foreign participation in emerging market banking systems and securities industries, WTO policies and enforcement, the role of foreign banks, liberalization of insurance markets, the need for capital markets, and the policy, regulatory, and legal issues associated with e-finance. For policymakers and financial practitioners affected by the WTO's Financial Services Agreement, this timely book should be of particular interest. Contributors include Donald Mathieson (International Money Fund), Pierre Sauve (Trade Directorate, OECD), George J. Vojta (formerly with Bankers Trust and Citibank), Harold D. Skipper (J. Mack Robinson College of Business, Georgia State University), Benn Steil (Council on Foreign Relations), Morris Goldstein and Edward M. Graham (Institute for International Economics), Nicolas Lardy (Brookings Institution), Phillip Turner (Bank of International Settlements), and Robert Ledig (Fried, Frank, Shriver & Jacobson).


The article focuses on the comparison of the data acquired during the researches that were conducted in the same schools in 1999 and 2009. The research results highlighted tendencies of change in adolescents' attitudes towards values (7th–9th formers). It was established that adolescents tend to acknowledge spiritual values prioritising moral values such as dignity, honesty and sensitivity. These values received highest evaluations both in real and virtual situations. The honesty received the most stable evaluation, whereas acknowledgement of dignity showed the biggest increase, especially in evaluation of respect (38 %). On the other hand, evaluation of sensitivity, especially that of sympathy, showed a downward tendency (12 %).The smallest number of adolescents acknowledge altruism (the highest acknowledgment decreased by 10–12 % in the virtual situation) and faith (a fall of 8–11 % was observed in both real and virtual situations). However, a sense of spiritual unity in the microenvironment (as well as its expression) remains of high importance among one third of adolescents and, thus, creates a more favourable perspective. A change in teenagers' attitudes towards sensitivity to beauty was observed: a sense of humour is evaluated highest and an upward tendency was observed (10 %), whereas a fall in evaluation of admiration (6–14 %) was identified. Similar tendencies are observed in attitudes towards cleverness: the respondents highly acknowledge the purport of life several times as rare as intellectuality, though the ratings of the latter also showed a downward trend (7–11 %). The same evaluation is characteristic of a number of values such as responsibility, when assuming of responsibility for own actions, fulfilment of duties were evaluated several times lower than non-compliance with negligence; solidarity, when acknowledgement of tolerance increased, whereas that of balancing of interests decreased; creativity, when in real situations it is practically eliminated in real situations (pointed out by 1–5 % of the respondents).Adolescents' attitudes towards spiritual values only partially meet challenges of time and a downward tendency in acknowledgement of a big number of spiritual values pose educational problems that ask for immediate solutions.


Indigenous peoples must adapt to a number of losses and damages from climate change impacts that threaten to harm their cultural and political self-determination. Industrial settler states, such as the U.S. or Canada, have responsibilities to indigenous peoples to address loss and damage that flow from how their industrial activities have factored into anthropogenic climate change. This essay describes two kinds of responsibility, impending and pending. Impending responsibility requires settler states to live up to the ramifications of developmental paths that they continue to pursue and that are at odds with indigenous cultural and political self- determination. Yet concepts of impending responsibility can tend to propose solutions that remain silent on the underlying political relations between indigenous peoples and settler states that threaten the viability of such solutions. Pending responsibility demands that settler states acknowledge that today's political relations with indigenous peoples descend from structures of settler colonialism designed to limit indigenous adaptation to environmental change. Pending responsibility requires settler states to engage in a long needed process of political reconciliation with indigenous peoples that would radically restructure such political relations in ways that are flexible enough to facilitate styles of indigenous adaptation that accord with indigenous cultural and political self-determination.


OBJECTIVE: Estrogen levels in menopausal women decrease intestinal ability to absorb calcium which caused low calcium levels in the blood and increase bone resorption by osteoclasts. Both causes the increase of bone turnover and as risk factors that increase osteoporosis prevalence in the women population during the menopausal transition. The research aims to compare the effect of high-dose calcium supplementation with control tablet supplementation's effect on bone turnover in menopausal transition.
METHOD: This study was a randomized clinical trial to determine the effect of consuming high calcium tablets [1200 mg/day] administered in divided doses morning and night compared to consuming low-calcium tablets [60 mg/day] to the change in chemical markers of women bone turnover at the menopausal period for 16 weeks. It was conducted at Clinic, Asri Medical Center Yogyakarta 01 January to 31 December 2013. Comparison of Osteocalcin [OC] and C-telopeptide [CTx] as bone marker levels was performed at weeks 0,2,8, and 16. Post-action was calculated statistically with ANOVA and the mean result comparison to the subject was analyzed with Tukey-Kramer.
RESULT: The result showed that Osteocalcin [OC] and C-telopeptide [CTx] decreased for 16 weeks of supplementation in the research subjects group, decreased to 10% on week 2, 18% on week 8, and 32% on week 16. There were no differences between groups in the age characteristics, body mass index [BMI], Bone Mineral Density [BMD] and calcium intake.
CONCLUSION: Supplementation of high-dose calcium tablets is reducing women's bone turnover during menopausal transition.


Stephen A. Mitchell. Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages. Philadelphia: u Pennsylvania p, 2011. Pp. 384. This excellent book aims to rectify a lacuna in the study of Nordic witchcraft beliefs. As the author notes, the periods before and after the Middle Ages (c. 1100-1525) have received ample scholarly attention, but this is the first comprehensive examination of "the responses in the legal, literary and popular cultures of the Nordic Middle Ages to the belief that there existed people capable of manipulating the world through magical practices" (ix). This is no small undertaking. The Nordic region was and is extraordinarily varied with a wide range of cultures and subcultures. Moreover, medieval cultures in the region were highly dynamic, and although this point has often been missed, the period was one of enormous cultural development and change. Not least, the topic of magic and witchcraft could touch every sphere of life, from religion to law, politics to food production, love to warfare, and every social class. To do the subject matter justice requires both a deep understanding of the history and social structures of the region and period and an ability to work with a huge and complex corpus of source materials. Mitchell is exceptionally well suited to the task. The book is structured into six main chapters. The first, "Witchcraft and the Past," provides a good example of the care with which Mitchell approaches his source materials through the wonderful concept of the "data midden": Interpreting bygone cultures clearly requires access to "data," the information-laden detrirus that history capriciously bequeaths. Having collected it, scholars grandly organize these materials into what we trust are sensible taxonomies and refer to the results with all-too-obvious high hopes as "databases" and the like. In seeking meaningful patterns in what are more realistically called "data middens," mounds of serendipitously preserved intelligence, what images of witchcraft and magic precipitate out? (16) The chapter also includes a brief but pithy survey of medieval Nordic political history and a discussion of the issue of syncretism, which inevitably surfaces in any treatment of medieval beliefs or practices not obviously traceable to normative Christian texts. Here and throughout, Mitchell avoids reductionist thought and reminds the reader of the necessity of looking at surviving materials in context, of the incompleteness of the data available, and, nonetheless, of the great interest of those materials that do survive. The second chapter, "Magic and Witchcraft in Daily Life," draws on sources including law codes, the famous rune staves from medieval Bergen, a wide range of Icelandic sagas and poetry, the miracle narratives collected as part of the promotion of the cult of St. Katarina of Vadstena (d. 1381), and the Revelaciones of St. Birgitta (mother of the above), to discuss the use of magic in various aspects of daily life. These include the healing of people and livestock, the promotion or prevention of "love" in its various aspects, curses of various kinds, prophecy, and the control of weather. Although the source materials are largely textual, Mitchell underscores the importance of the actual performance in the production of magic (73). Chapter 3, "Narrating Magic, Sorcery, and Witchcraft," contains--easily--enough material for several book-length studies. This detailed survey of depictions of witchcraft, sorcery, and related practices in medieval Nordic written narrative begins with a discussion of how such narratives ought to be regarded. Are they statements of what medieval Scandinavians thought about these subjects? Or were they intended to shape how their audiences thought? Or are they some kind of mediating alternative (75)? Mitchell agrees with Pernille Hermann's view that medieval Icelandic literature should be regarded both as preservation of the past and creation of a past and also with Jenny Jochens's position that Icelandic sagas comprise mainly thirteenth- and fourteenth-century uses of the past to express contemporary perspectives. …


Inhalation of ambient and workplace particulate air pollution is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. One proposed mechanism for this association is that pulmonary inflammation induces a hepatic acute phase response, which increases risk of cardiovascular disease. Induction of the acute phase response is intimately linked to risk of cardiovascular disease as shown in both epidemiological and animal studies. Indeed, blood levels of acute phase proteins, such as C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A, are independent predictors of risk of cardiovascular disease in prospective epidemiological studies. In this review, we present and review emerging evidence that inhalation of particles (e.g., air diesel exhaust particles and nanoparticles) induces a pulmonary acute phase response, and propose that this induction constitutes the causal link between particle inhalation and risk of cardiovascular disease. Increased levels of acute phase mRNA and proteins in lung tissues, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and plasma clearly indicate pulmonary acute phase response following pulmonary deposition of different kinds of particles including diesel exhaust particles, nanoparticles, and carbon nanotubes. The pulmonary acute phase response is dose-dependent and long lasting. Conversely, the hepatic acute phase response is reduced relative to lung or entirely absent. We also provide evidence that pulmonary inflammation, as measured by neutrophil influx, is a predictor of the acute phase response and that the total surface area of deposited particles correlates with the pulmonary acute phase response. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to occupational exposure to nanoparticles. How to cite this article: WIREs Nanomed Nanobiotechnol 2014, 6:517–531. doi: 10.1002/wnan.1279


By being tattooed, people are able to express who they are, display what they have overcome and state how they see themselves within their social worlds (Anderson, 2014). As the tattooed female body can be seen as a subversive act against normative hegemonic social constructions of femininity (Atkinson, 2002), tattoos on the bodies of women are often framed negatively, out of traditional representations of what it means to be a feminine woman. This research explores the ways in which tattooed women portray themselves and their identities through their bodies, and the ways in which tattoos can often be mis/interpreted by others. In addition, the consideration for how placement and style of a tattoo can come to embody or rebel against traditional notions of femininity. Using semi-structured interviews, ten women of various ages, gained through convenience sampling, were invited to discuss topics relating to femininity, their tattoos and their identities. The focus of the analysis considered the individual lived experiences of the women, and centred on what factors formed their experiences. The conclusions drawn from the research highlight the importance of the consideration of women's lived experiences of tattoos, rather than generalising to stereotypical societal representations and constructions of tattooed women.


Interferometric detection of gravitational waves at a level of astrophysical interest is expected to require measurement of optical phase differences of < or = 10(-10) rad. A fundamental limit to the phase sensing is the statistics of photon detection--Poisson statistics for light in a coherent state. We have built a laboratory-scale interferometer to achieve and investigate the phase detection sensitivity required for the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory. With 70 W of circulating power, we have obtained a phase sensitivity of 1.28 x 10(-10) rad/square root(Hz) at frequencies above 600 Hz, limited by quantum noise. Below 600 Hz, excess noise above the quantum limit is seen, and we present our investigations into the sources of this excess. Compared with the results of previous such experiments, the phase sensitivity over the full 100-Hz-10-kHz band of interest has been improved by factors of up to 100, with a factor-of-2.5 improvement in the quantum-limited level.


This paper embeds a model of lawmaking in an equilibrium framework in which the demand for trials is rationed by court delay. The lawmaking process depends on a combination of selective litigation, judicial bias, and precedent. The steady state equilibrium of the model determines both the length of delay and the distribution of legal rules. Comparative statics show that an increase in the supply of trials reduces delay but may or may not increase the proportion of efficient rules. An increase in the fraction of judges biased in favor of the efficient rule, however, will likely improve efficiency on both counts.


Game-design novices increasingly hope to use game-like expression as a way to express content such as opinions and educational material. Existing game-design toolkits such as Game Maker ease the programming burden, bringing the design of small games within the technical reach of low-budget, non-expert groups. The design process itself remains a roadblock, however: It is not at all obvious how to present topics such as political viewpoints or bike safety in a way that makes use of the unique qualities of the interactive game medium. There are no tools to assist in that aspect of the game design process, and as a result virtually all expressive games come from a small number of game studios founded by experts in designing such games. We propose a game-design assistant that acts in a mixed-initiative fashion, helping the author understand the content of her design-in-progress, providing suggestions or automating the process where possible, and even offering the possibility for parts of the game to be dynamically generated at runtime in response to player interaction. We describe a prototype system that interactively helps authors define spaces of games in terms of common-sense constraints on their real-world references, provides support for them to understand and iteratively refine such spaces, and realizes specific games from the spaces as playable mobile-phone games in response to user input.


With growing water scarcity worldwide, reclaimed wastewater is an increasingly attractive option for meeting household water demand, especially in urban areas. However, reluctance by households to use treated wastewater persists. In this article, we discuss the 'yuck factor,' health risk concerns, and cost considerations, which are key obstacles to wastewater reuse by households. We then summarize successful and unsuccessful case studies of wastewater reuse around the world. Reasons for the success (or failure) of each case study draws upon unique contextual, historical, and cultural circumstances. Direct potable reuse—where purified wastewater is added to the potable water supply directly—is rare; most successful projects are nonpotable wastewater reuse schemes—where purified water is placed into an environmental buffer before entering a drinking water distribution system. Our review of experiences around the world suggests approaches for improving public acceptability of wastewater reuse schemes. The literature also suggests that there is an urgent need to collect more wastewater treatment and reuse data, to research ways of better assessing and reducing health risk associated with emerging pollutants in reclaimed wastewater, and to better price both drinking water and recycled wastewater. WIREs Water 2015, 2:199–214. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1074


We describe a case in which a 67-year-old man was diagnosed with a metastatic recurrence of p16-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma after presenting with a medial orbital mass in the region of the nasolacrimal apparatus. A review of the literature revealed that metastasis to the orbit from any malignancy is an uncommon occurrence, and no cases of p16-positive oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma have previously been reported. Our case highlights the importance of maintaining a high index of suspicion during surveillance visits with such patients.


This 'Foreword' should serve as a preface also since I happen to be one of the
authors of this Bulletin. Some personal reference, therefore is unavoidable.
My association with investigations relating to breeding habits and development
of fishes goes back to a period of about three and a half decades and despite exigencies
of service and vicissitudes of official career it had been possible to maintain contact
with the subject more or less uninterruptedly. At the time of initiation of work in this
field the scattered and sketchy nature of the relevant literature became evident and the
need for bringing them together and reviewing them was keenly felt. An attempt was
made in this direction resulting in the account entitled "Breeding habits and development
of Indian freshwater and brackishwater fishes" which was published by me in 1946 in
two parts in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society. This, I should say,
was well received and soon after, with the change of assignment to fisheries research
after a decade of service as an entomologist, it became possible for me to carry on
work on the life-histories of fishes as a routine rather than as a hobby. With the
literature collected till then two fairly comprehensive bibliographies entitled "Bibliography
of breeding habits and development of fishes of inland waters of India" and
"Bibliography of breeding habits and development of estuarine and marine fishes of
India" were published in 1950 and 1951 respectively in the Journal of the Zoological
Society of India. Incidentally it may be stated that these were the first bibliographies to
be published in fisheries and marine sciences in the Indian Region and could be said to
have paved the way for others.


To meet the objectives of a study, several species of raptors had to be trapped on a 9,880-hectare study area of heterogenous habitat types. Bal-chatri, mist net, Swedish Goshawk, and automatic bow-net traps (and combinations of these traps) were used in several general habitat situations. Mist nets combined with a baited bal-chatri or tethered bait were most successful in capturing birds, and the bal-chatris alone and mist nets alone were next most effective. Trapping was found to be most productive in deciduous upland habitats where an opening in the canopy or break in the understory occurred. Trapping along a woodlot-field edge was also effective. Strigiformes were most often trapped just before sunrise or just after sunset, while falconiformes were most often captured in the late morning and late afternoon. Trapping was least efficient from December to February. A different trap type from that i•sed in the initial capture is often most effective for recapturing raptors. Maintenance of healthy bait animals and frequent trap checks are emphasized.


Abstract The Neoproterozoic Macaúbas Group records accumulation in the precursor basin of the Araçuaí orogen, located on the eastern margin of the São Francisco craton (SE Brazil). The Macaúbas basin evolved from a late Tonian continental rift to a passive margin that lasted at least until c. 660 Ma. It was orogenically inverted during the late Neoproterozoic Brasiliano event. The Macaúbas Group includes the pre-glacial Matão, Duas Barras and Rio Peixe Bravo formations, the glaciogenic Serra do Catuni, Nova Aurora and Lower Chapada Acauã formations, and the post-glacial Upper Chapada Acauã and Ribeirão da Folha formations. In the central sector of the Araçuaí orogen, the oldest glaciogenic unit of the group, the Serra do Catuni Formation, overlies the sandstone-conglomerate package of the Duas Barras Formation. The Serra do Catuni Formation consists of massive diamictite with minor sandstone and rare pelite, deposited mostly in a proximal glaciomarine environment. This unit passes upward and eastward into the Lower Chapada Acauã Formation, a thick succession of stratified diamictite, graded sandstone, pelite, transitional basalt and rare carbonate. This distal glaciomarine unit is covered by the diamictite-free Upper Chapada Acauã Formation, which passes eastward into the Ribeirão da Folha Formation, which includes fine-grained turbidite, pelite and ocean-floor rocks. In the northern sector of the Araçuaí orogen, the sandstone-pelite succession of the pre-glacial Rio Peixe Bravo Formation is covered by the Nova Aurora Formation, the glaciomarine unit rich in diamictite and Fe-rich diamictite, with minor graded sandstone and rare pelite. The Nova Aurora Formation is covered by the sandstone-pelite package of the Upper Chapada Acauã Formation. The pre-glacial and glaciogenic successions record the continental rift to transitional stages of the Macaúbas basin. The post-glacial succession represents proximal and distal passive margin to ocean floor environments. The Serra do Catuni Formation seems to be a proximal glaciomarine equivalent of the Jequitaí glacio-terrestrial deposits located on the São Francisco craton.


There are three main types of painkiller: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), paracetamol and opioids. Each works in a different way. Most people only need to take painkillers for a few days or weeks at most, but some people need to take them for a long time. You can buy some painkillers from pharmacies; this includes some NSAIDs, paracetamol and some weak opioids (codeine or dihydrocodeine). If you buy painkillers that contain weak opioids and you need to take them for more than three days you must discuss this with your pharmacist or doctor.


Open source, open content and open access are set to fundamentally alter the conditions of knowledge production and distribution. Open source, open content and open access are also the most tangible result of the shift towards e-science and digital networking. Yet, widespread misperceptions exist about the impact of this shift on knowledge distribution and scientific publishing. It is argued, on the one hand, that for the academy there principally is no digital dilemma surrounding copyright and there is no contradiction between open science and the knowledge-based economy if profits are made from non-exclusive rights. On the other hand, pressure for the 'digital doubling' of research articles in open access repositories (the 'green road') is misguided and the current model of open access publishing (the 'gold road') has not much future outside biomedicine. Commercial publishers must understand that business models based on the transfer of copyright have not much future either. Digital technology and its economics favour the severance of distribution from certification. What is required of universities and governments, scholars and publishers, is to clear the way for digital innovations in knowledge distribution and scholarly publishing by enabling the emergence of a competitive market that is based on non-exclusive rights. This requires no change in the law but merely an end to the praxis of copyright transfer and exclusive licensing. The best way forward for research organisations, universities and scientists is the adoption of standard copyright licences that reserve some rights, namely Attribution and No Derivative Works, but otherwise will allow for the unlimited reproduction, dissemination and re-use of the research article, commercial uses included.


Dialuminiummacrocycles based on bisglyoximato moieties were prepared and their coordination chemistry with Fe(II) and Pd(II) was investigated. The bridging aluminium centers were supported by several types of tetradentate diphenoxide diamine ligands. The nature of the ancillary ligands bound to aluminium was found to affect the overall geometry and symmetry of the metallomacrocycles. Enantiopure, chiral diphenoxide ligands based on the (R,R)-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane backbone afforded cleanly one metallomacrocycle isomer. The size and electronic properties of remote substituents on aluminium-bound ligands affected the binding mode and electronic properties of the central iron. A structurally characterized iron complex shows trigonal prismatic coordination mode, with phenoxide bridges between iron and aluminium. Increasing the size of the phenoxide substituents led to square bipyramidal coordination at iron. Employing p-NO(2)- instead of p-tBu-substituted phenoxide as supporting ligands for aluminium caused a 0.27 V positive shift of the Fe(III)/Fe(II) reduction potential. These results indicate that the present synthetic approach can be applied to a variety of metallomacrocycles based on bisglyoximato motifs to affect the chemistry at the central metal.


With expanding global trade, the challenge of protecting consumers from unsafe food, pharmaceuticals, and consumer products has grown increasingly salient, necessitating the development of new policy ideas and analysis. This chapter introduces the book, Import Safety: Regulatory Governance in the Global Economy, a multidisciplinary project analyzing import safety problems and an array of innovative solutions to these problems. The challenge of protecting the public from unsafe imports arises from the sheer volume of global trade as well as the complexity of products being traded and the vast number of inputs each product contains. It is further compounded by the fact that as products move across jurisdictional boundaries regulators face a host of legal, cultural, and practical obstacles. We argue that import safety problems require rethinking domestic regulation, whether through improving the targeting of traditional government inspections, building stronger public-private partnerships, or making changes in products liability standards. International cooperation will also be needed but will be even more challenging. At every step in the supply chain, regulators face questions of what level of safety to aim for, what form of regulatory standards to adopt, and how compliance with such standards should be monitored and enforced – and yet different countries tend to answer these questions differently. This chapter not only raises the key questions regulators and the public confront in tackling a vexing global challenge, but it also previews Import Safety's analysis of institutional capacity and a range of potential regulatory responses that can harness market actors to drive improvements in product safety.


Due to wind turbine is in class of complex nonlinear system so the precise model of this plant is not accessible, therefore it can be categorized as an uncertain model. So, controlling of this system is a demanding topic. Many of schemes which presented for controlling of wind turbines investigate these systems in a good weather condition. However, many turbines work in severe weather condition. In this study, wind turbine is suggested in cold weather, and in ice on turbine blades which they are considered as uncertainties in the model. A robust controller is designed for the wind turbine, to control the pitch angle.


Abstract Olympic equestrian sport has to date evolved through three distinct phases of development. The genesis of equestrian sport in the modern Olympics began in 1900 and was predominantly shaped by military influences until 1948. Pre-1900 equestrian sport existed in various forms around the world primarily to develop and practice skills of hunting and warfare. At this time, equestrian sport lacked governance and internationally standardized rules. This paper's aim is to explore the influence of the military on the first phase of equestrian sport development in the Olympic Games between 1900 and 1948 with regards to their format and rules. Through thematic analysis of the narratives evident in the literature, we highlight influential military developments/changes that occurred outside the confines of sport, and place the sociocultural development of equestrianism within this framework. This reconstructive approach has enabled us to highlight the relevance of the military influence on the development of equestrian sport. Through the identification and analysis of perceptions of Olympic equestrianism, which are centred upon the Eurocentric, military-influenced development of the sport, the paper also discusses implicit and explicit references to, and the relevance of, masculinity elitism and social class, along with issues of amateurism and professionalism.


With the tremendous growth of the Internet, World Wide Web has become a huge source of hyperlinked information contained in hypertext documents. Search engines use web crawlers to collect these documents from web for the purpose of storage and indexing. An incremental crawler visits the web for updating its collection. There is a need to regulate the frequency of the crawler to visit web sites and provide latest information to the user. In this paper a novel approach to manage the revisiting frequency of an incremental crawler based on the users search history is being proposed.


We fabricate polymer compounds from titania-doped polyethylene and characterize their linear optical properties by terahertz time domain spectroscopy. We show that the high concentration of dopants not only enhances the refractive index of the composite material, but it also can dramatically raise its absorption coefficient. We demonstrate that the optimal design of photonic bandgap fibers based on lossy composites depends on finding a compromise between the high-refractive-index (hRI) contrast and corresponding material losses. Finally, fabrication and transmission measurements for the hRI contrast hollow-core Bragg fiber are reported and compared with simulations.