The claim of this thesis is that the landscape of the Scottish Highlands has ever posed a challenge to ecclesiastical endeavour over the centuries and has determined the patterns of religiosity that remain largely extant. The landmass under review conforms to a notional Highland line running north-eastwards from Helensburgh in the west of Stonehaven in the east, but does not include the county of Caithness or the Orkney and Shetland Islands. The time-scale of the thesis focuses mainly upon the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

By the twelfth century, the Celtic Church had been fully absorbed into the Church of Rome. At the Calvinist Reformation within Scotland in 1560, Roman Catholicism was proscribed, but due to prevailing factors in the Highlands, mainly connected with the remoteness and inaccessibility of the landscape, the "Old Faith" was never completely eradicated. Of cardinal importance was the ownership of the land, the dearth of a Reformed ministry conversant in the Gaelic language and overlarge parishes that precluded regular contact between congregation and minister and his manse. A serious impediment to Highland Reformed mission was the lack of a translation in Scots-Gaelic vernacular, of the Authorised Bible until 1767 publication of the New Testament in that language.

Following the deposition of James VII in 1690, Prelacy was proscribed and Presbyterianism was declared to be the lawful structure of the Reformed Kirk within Scotland. Nevertheless the structure of the Episcopalian Church survived relatively intact and many of its clergy, retained their pulpits in the Highlands. The key to survival, yet again, had been the protective power of the Highland landowner. From the outset, secession and reunion have characterised the Established Church of Scotland, with the most damaging episode, that of the Disruption in 1843, on the platform of patronage. The emergent Free Church retained a legacy of evangelicalism within the Highlands long after the Free Church (Continuing) has declined south of the notional Highland line. It is stressed that in all its many facets, the Highlands displays no uniform pattern in time, place or will; the region is more profitably examined as a collection of localities, each with its own distinctive character. What can scarcely be denied is that the landscape of the Highlands determined the patterns of religiosity that we can still recognise within its boundaries today.

The thesis develops its several themes both synthetically – through a geographical reading of existing historical works on religion in the Highlands – and empirically – through a detailed archival inquiry into the story of one particular Highland parish, that of Glenmuick, Tullich and Glengairn, in Upper Deeside, Aberdeenshire.


Activist fakes are actions that hack dominant mass media. In order to create hoaxes, tactics as simulation of visual codes, identity theft, rhetorical and ironic language are used. The result is a paradox because by deceiving truth is revealed. However, what's the meaning of truth in this context? With the aim of figure out this issue we consider two cases study, The Yes Men (2009) and Ikastrolla (2013). They are symptomatic of such interventions because they present the main features in common. Whit the goal of do an analysis, a research methodology is designed on the basis of culture analyse and grounded theory tools. We choose concepts coming from other areas to sketch a theory whenever the research moves forward. Truth and power and the relationship between them are the chosen concepts as of Michel Foucault contributions. As key findings of the analysis we have found that deceptions do not have a dialectical relationship between truth and falsity where truth is objectified pre-existing and its representation. Instead they provide visual and discursive complexity with which expose the mechanisms that articulate the truth written in the dominant discourses of power


ABSTRACT. Silene regia Sims (Caryophyllaceae), commonly referred to as royal catchfly, is known to ensnare small insects with its glandular trichomes. This morphological adaptation is primarily thought to deter herbivory, but in many plant species glandular trichomes have been co-opted to secrete digestive enzymes that, when combined with an ability to absorb released nutrients, form the basis of a carnivorous life habit. To determine if S. regia is carnivorous we investigated the following: (1) whether S. regia actively attracts, captures, and retains prey, and/or secretes digestive enzymes to facilitate nutrient absorption; and (2) whether it absorbs and translocates the resultant nutrients. We tested the first requirement of carnivory through field observations, ultraviolet photography, scanning electron microscopy imaging, and a series of experiments designed to examine a capture-induced proteinase response. While S. regia was able to passively ensnare insects and possessed highly specialized morphological structures for doing so, a form of active attractant could not be demonstrated. Furthermore, negative test results for a capture-induced proteinase response suggest S. regia does not actively secrete proteases that would act on captured insects. As the criterion of actively attracting and/or digesting prey is unsupported, we conclude that S. regia is not carnivorous. Instead, we propose the glandular trichomes on the S. regia calyx provide a passive defensive benefit to the flowers and seeds by protecting the very structures that are supporting their development.


"Source criticism" (kallkritik) has become an essential part of the Swedish government's activities against false information, deception campaigns, and propaganda, which are viewed as fundamentally destabilising forces that can potentially undermine the democratic system, the public debate, and political decision-making. The purpose of this article is to explore source criticism as a technology of government focusing on the Swedish Psychological Defence. I analyse the way in which source criticism is brought to bear on Swedish national security policy in the light of Foucauldian theories about modern governmentality and technologies of the self. Source criticism is seen as an example of a contemporary form of government that entails a redistribution of responsibility from the state to the individual, who is provided with certain "technologies of self" to master an unpredictable political environment. With this case study as empirical example, the aim of the article is to contribute to the research on the influence of humanistic knowledge in security and defence policy domains. This prompts further discussion about what happens with the democratic and critical potential of humanistic knowledge as it is enrolled in government operations.


This article looks at the effect of the tick size changes by the Tokyo Stock Exchange on January 14, 2014, and July 22, 2014, on the TOPIX 100 index stocks. The intended consequence of the change is price improvement and shorter time to execution. The author examines at security level metrics, including the spread, trading volume, number of trades, and the size of trades to establish whether this goal is accomplished. An unintended effect might be the reduction in execution sizes, which would then mean that institutions with large orders would have greater difficulty in sourcing liquidity. He looks at a sample of real orders to see if the execution costs have gone up across the orders since the implementation of this change.


[...]discussion" often wasn't organic in this platform and could become quite repetitive or stilted as students would offer short responses that tended to stymie a conversation before it had even started. In face-to-face classes, I always try to ensure there are opportunities for students to communicate ideas in both verbal discussion and written activities. [...]I wanted to translate over the same practice in my online asynchronous classes. Twitter provides an active forum in which educators share ideas and exchange questions about using Flipgrid in many types of classes, including foreign languages, mathematics, science, English language and literature, social studies, and much more. [...]a 2018 Pew Research Center Study found that 97% of teens interviewed used a social media platform like YouTube, Instagram, or SnapChat.


In this paper, an efficient finite-difference time-domain algorithm (FDTD) is presented for solving Maxwell's equations with rotationally symmetric geometries. The azimuthal symmetry enables us to employ a two-dimensional (2-D) difference lattice by projecting the three-dimensional (3-D) Yee-cell in cylindrical coordinates (r, /spl phi/, z) onto the r-z plane. Extensive numerical results have been derived for various cavity structures and these results have been compared with those available in the literature. Excellent agreement has been observed for all of the cases investigated.


The water quality in rainfall, throughfall, stemflow and litterthrough in the Larix gmelinii plantation at Eastern Mountainous Region in Heilongjiang Province had been studied. The indicator included pH, Do, TURB, TDS, COND, ORP, K, Na, Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Mn and Fe. The results showed that the chemical properties of rainfall had been changed after it passing through forest canopy. PH value of litterthrough was higher than throughfall and stemflow every month, and the stemflow showed significant acidification especially. The trend of Do in the throughfall was the same as rainfall. The COND and TDS of throughfall, stemflow and litterthrough were higher than rainfall every month. The content of K changed significantly and the average of K of five months was in the following order: stemflow>; litterthrough>; throughfall>; rainfall. The contents of Ca and Mg were in the following order: litterthrough>; stemflow>; throughfall. The trend of Zn element in the rainfall was the same as throughfall, stemflow and litterthrough. The net leaching of Zn and Fe in the throughfall was low. The leaching coefficient of throughfall was in the following order: Cu>; K>; Mg>; Mn>; Ca>; Na>; Fe>; Zn. The leaching coefficient of stemflow was in the order of Mn>; Mg>; Fe>; K>; Cu>; Ca>; Na>; Zn. And the leaching coefficient of litterthrough was in the following order: Mg>; K>;Ca>; Cu>; Fe>; Mn>;Na>; Zn.


The article analyses discourse parameters of the phatic genre small talk in the context of interpersonal contacts in the situations of institutional and everyday communication. The article describes small talk communication as part of person-centered and status-centered discourse and phatic communication forms of contact type are investigated. Small talk is viewed as a set of communicative techniques targeted at providing the atmosphere of benevolence and state of good mood which are important for successful continuation of business or development of personal relations. Small talk is one of the main and most universal means of transformation between status-centered to interpersonal relations, that is why the usage of small talk promotes creation of a positive image in social network. Topics and targets of main communication which might follow the initial or precede final phases of communication could be various. However, it is always necessary to show first courtesies towards an acquainted or unacquainted person in formal or informal situation. This type of communication is implemented both in institutional and everyday discourse at different stages of communication, at the same time phatic intention may dominate or become of minor importance. A small talk dialogue as a low informative variant of social interaction is highly motivated and valuable considering the fact that with its help people show the desire to initiate a verbal contact, establish relations and maintain the interpersonal distance in communication of any sort.


Abstract : The purpose of this study is to elucidate the pathogenesis of serous carcinoma by identifying the molecular genetic changes and preferentially expressed genes of different histological types of serous neoplasms. We hypothesize that the development of serous carcinoma proceeds along two main pathways: one is rapid progression from ovarian surface epithelium to high-grade serous carcinoma without well-established morphological precursors ("de novo" pathway) and the other is a gradual development from borderline tumors, to non-invasive micropapillary serous carcinomas then to low-grade carcinomas (stepwise pathway). The first pathway results in a high-grade neoplasm (conventional serous carcinoma) and the second leads to the development of a low-grade indolent tumor. Both types of carcinomas and the putative precursor lesions of invasive MPSC are characterized by distinctive molecular genetic alterations and specific gene expression. We identified that mutations in KRAS and BRAF genes characterized the development of low-grade serous carcinomas. Expression of HLA-G molecule and high level of chromosomal instability were confined to high- grade serous carcinomas. This project, designed to test our proposed model of diverse pathways in the pathogenesis of ovarian serous carcinoma, provides an etiologic basis for the other two projects.


Enormous amounts of valuable data have been collected from the rocket and spacecraft missions conducted by NASA and other federal agencies over the past 35 years, as well as from collaborations with groundbased experiments and international space missions. What do we now do with all these perishable data?

Many of the NASA data sets have been archived in the National Space Science Data Center (NSSDC) at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Most of the data sets from spacecraft operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are archived in the National Geophysical Data Center in Boulder, Colo., and other data sets are archived at various regional data centers. Yet there are undoubtedly many data sets that reside with the instrument's principal investigators or associate researchers at various universities, colleges, and aerospace laboratories—data that are not now included in the national archiving effort. Many of these data sets include highly reduced, value-added data, which required significant resources to acquire and reduce.


Research paper and field study of cemeteries in Tyler county, Texas, conducted by Martha Stone for Dr. Terry Jordan's Geography 501 class at North Texas State University. The paper also contains three loose color photographs of the cemeteries.


The quantum states of 3 interacting, spin-polarized electrons in a parabolic quantum dot in a magnetic field are treated by considering the electron system as a vibrating and rotating molecule. Numerical evidence is presented to show that this picture provides a good qualitative description of the ground state. The electron states are approximated by antisymmetrized molecular rotational-vibrational states. This treatment reproduces the known magic numbers of the 3-electron spin-polarized system and gives the ground-state energy in terms of simple analytic formulas. At large angular momentum, the analytic results agree with the results of numerical diagonalizations to better than one part in 104.


This book mainly focuses on how flexible, adaptable and strategic human resource functions will be vital in enabling organizations to tackle emerging challenges head-on. This would eventually lead to an increase in the capacity and capability of HR professionals to effectively support and contribute to the performance and development of the institutions/ organizations. The study reveals basis for recommending the most effective HR practices specifically increasing improvement in operating systems; improved information flows between levels of the systems; reviewing the functional hierarchy of organizations; their Human Resource Management Systems, analyzing HR objectives and diverse functions of HR Departments. Job responsibilities shouldered by HR team in HR activities are supported in the form of Annex. Suggestions and recommendations for further improvements of HR initiatives have also been elaborated at length.


Stem and stem-cell-derived cells have immense potential as a regenerative therapy for various degenerative diseases. DNA is the storehouse of genetic data in all cells, including stem cells, and its integrity is fundamental to its regenerative ability. Stem cells undergo rapid propagation in labs to achieve the necessary numbers for transplantation. Accelerated cell growth leads to the loss of DNA integrity by accumulated metabolites, such as reactive oxygen, carbonyl, and alkylating agents. Transplanting these cells would result in poor engraftment and regeneration of the deteriorating organ. Moreover, transplanting DNA-damaged cells leads to mutations, DNA instability, cellular senescence, and possibly, life-threatening diseases such as cancer. Therefore, there is an immediate need for a quality control method to evaluate the cell's suitability for transplantation. Here, we provide step-by-step protocols for the assessment of the DNA integrity of stem cells prior to cell transplantation.


Serial determinations of serum human placental lactogen (HPL) levels in women with haematocrit values of 28 per cent or less between 18 and 30 weeks gestation have been compared with the controls who had haematocrit values of 35 per cent or more. The women with low haematocrit values were found to have significantly raised HPL levels throughout the period of study. The placenta was significantly heavier in the anaemic group (P < 0.01) but there was no significant difference in birth weights of the infants. It would seem that caution should be exercised in using HPL values as an index of placental function in anaemic women.


This experiment was carrie out to investigate the amount of essential of leaves and fruits of Magnolia sieboldii, Magnolia hypoleuca, Evodia danillii male and female, Phellodendron amurense male and female and Zanthoxylum schinifolium male and emale by Karlsrube set on August, August, September and October in 1994. Essential oil yield was highest in the fruits of Zanthoxylum schinifollium leaves on Augus the amount of essential oil of Magnolia sieboldii and Magnolia hypoleuca leaves was more than the one of Evodia danillii, Phellodendron amurense and Zanthoxylum schnifolium leaves. The amount of essential oil were not diferent between male and female leaves.


OBJECTIVE
To establish the reference extraction method for determining five components contained in Pueraria labta decoction and detecting the applicability and feasibility of the application of reference extracts according to the quality standard of traditional Chinese medicine.

METHOD
Zorbax C18 chromatographic column (4.6 mm x 250 mm, 5 microm) was used, with methanol-0.02% phosphoric acid (25:75) as the mobile phase and the detection wavelength was set at 250 nm. Self-prepared reference extracts of P. labta was used for determining the content of 3'-hydroxy puerarin, puerarin, 3'-methoxy puerarin, isoflavoues aglycone-8-C-apiose-(1--> 6) glucoside and daidzin and compare with the experimental results obtained with the single reference substance determination method.

RESULT
The reference extraction determination method showed high precision, stability and reproducibility, with coincident determination results with the results obtained with the single reference substance determination method.

CONCLUSION
The reference extraction determination method of P. labta can be used for quality control of P. labta herbs. The study preliminarily proves the feasibility of the application of P. labta in traditional Chinese medicine.


Recognizing the existence of education policies that guide the teaching of Ethics in Nursing, our aim was to know the reality of the initial training of nurses in Portugal. The conceptual framework was accomplished in the consultation and the complete documents' readings (especially the recommendations of the Portuguese Order of Nurses), crossed with foundational conceptions of Nursing Ethics and Philosophy authors, in particular Watson and Mounier. Some of the conclusions of this study relate to the verification that only five establishments comply with the Order of Nurses recommendations regarding the teaching of Ethics and Deontology. There is also a variability of classifications assigned to subjects/courses and program content/curriculum, embedded in them; there is a large discrepancy in the workload assigned to different curriculum areas.


The importance of Feng Menglong's collection of folk love songs extends well beyond its literary value. The collection is valuable for both the history of Chinese literature and anthropological documentation, not to mention the study of Chinese dialects. Indeed, the publication of these songs is an expression of the proud awareness of the local cultural tradition, that is, the 'small tradition', and may also be linked to the tension and political conflict of the Wanli period. The 'subversive' element of the lyrics is clear both in the content and the expository language. From them emerges a picture of the world and humanity which is often turned on its head and goes against common knowledge. Each song starts with a descriptive section, the premise that presents the situation, and moves on to a dialogue or monologue, which allows the protagonist to express his feelings directly.Keywords: Chinese literature; Feng Menglong; folk love songs


Mobile Commerce, or m-Commerce, is about the explosion of applications and services that are becoming accessible from Internet-enabled mobile devices. It involves new technologies, services and business models. It is quite different from traditional e-Commerce. Mobile phones impose very different constraints than desktop computers. But they also open the door to a slew of new applications and services. They follow you wherever you go, making it possible to look for a nearby restaurant, stay in touch with colleagues, or pay for items at a store. As the Internet finds its way into our purses or shirt pockets, the devices we use to access it are becoming more personal too. Already today, mobile phones know the phone numbers of our friends and colleagues. They are starting to track our location. Tomorrow, they will replace our wallets and credit cards. One day, they may very well turn into intelligent assistants capable of anticipating many of our wishes and needs, such as automatically arranging for taxis to come and pick us up after business meetings or providing us with summaries of relevant news and messages left by colleagues. But, for all these changes to happen, key issues of interoperability, usability, security, and privacy still need to be addressed


This paper replicates an earlier project that tested the impact of comparative politics courses on students' levels of intercultural sensitivity. Using a standardized instrument, the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI), I pre- and posttest students taking an on-campus East-Central European politics course taken in the fall semester and an off-campus course on the politics of the Czech Republic headquartered in Prague during the month of January. The first study, conducted during the 2003–2004 academic year, demonstrated that comparative politics courses have a positive significant impact on students' levels of intercultural sensitivity, that there is no difference between on- and off-campus courses in terms of these differences, and that students who take both courses experience higher rates of positive change than students taking only one of the two courses. The results of the replication, conducted during the 2005–2006 academic year, confirm the original findings that link strongly comparative politics and intercultural sensitivity.


The China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) is now in the R&D phase, in which the design of the proton accelerator is an important part. This beam phase and energy measurement system imports the signal from the Drift Tube Linac (DTL) and calculates its phase and energy, which is fed back to tune the beam. The signals received from Fast Current Transformers (FCTs) are modulated pulses of high frequency with a repetition rate of 352.2 MHz for the Accelerator Driven Sub-critical System (ADS) and 324 MHz for CSNS; the leading edge of the signals is hundreds of ps, and the dynamic range of the amplitude varies from 20 mV to 900 mV (peak to peak, before transmission through cables). Therefore, special techniques are required to obtain the phase information. Corresponding simulations and initial tests have been performed, with the result of a phase resolution better than 0.1 degree over 57 dB input signal amplitude range with bandwidth of 367 kHz.


Transfer function characteristics of a DC machine are used in this paper to estimate speed and torque in four quadrant operation modes.  Estimation speed and torque control based on a DC machine transfer function is implemented by measuring the DC chopper instantaneous average output voltage and current. MATLAB\SIMULINK is used to implement the DC drive circuit in the forward and reverse motoring and regenerative modes, respectively. The DC drive system is simulated at different speed and load torque values in steady state and dynamic operating conditions. Simulation results demonstrate success of the sensorless and PI controller systems, which gives satisfactory agreements between the estimated, actual and reference speed and torque values.


We report on physical vapor deposition of indium sulfide (In2S3) buffer layers and its application to Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGSe) thin film solar cell. The Indium sulfide buffer layers were evaporated onto CIGSe at various substrate temperatures from room temperature (RT) to 350 °C. The effect of deposition temperature of buffer layers on the solar cell device performance were investigated by analyzing temperature dependent current-voltage (J-V-T), external quantum efficiency (EQE) and Raman spectroscopy. The fabricated device showed the highest power conversion efficiency of 6.56% at substrate temperature of 250 °C, which is due to the decreased interface recombination. However, the roll-over in J-V curves was observed for solar cell device having buffer deposited at substrate temperature larger than 250 °C. From the measurement results, the interface defect and roll-over related degradation were found to have limitation on the performance of solar cell device.


The "Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19)" is caused by "Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)", a newly discovered member of the Coronaviridae family of viruses which is a highly communicable There is no effective medical treatment till date for Coronavirus disease hence prevention is the best way to keep disease away Rasayana proved to be highly efficacious and cost effective for the Prevention and Control of viral infections when vaccines and standard therapies are lacking Rasayana Chikitsa is one of the eight branches of Ashtanga Ayurveda which helps to maintain healthy life style Rasayana improves immunity and performs many vital functions of human body Vyadhikshamatva that is immune mechanism of the body is involved in Prevention of the occurrence of a new disease and it also decreases the virulence and progression of an existing disease In COVID-19 the Respiratory system mainly get affected which is evident from its symptoms like cold, cough and breathlessness Here the drugs help in enhancing immune system and strengthening functions of Respiratory system can be useful For this pur-pose, the Rasayana like Chyavanprasha, Agastya Haritaki, Pippali Rasayana, Guduchi, Yashtimadhu, Haridra, Ashwagandha, Tulsi are used Rasayana work-ing on Respiratory system are best for Prevention of Coronavirus and boosting immune system Rasayana Chikitsa can be effective in the Prevention as well as reducing symptoms of COVID-19


In this paper, strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm (SPEA) for optimal reactive power (VAR) dispatch problem is presented. The optimal VAR dispatch problem is formulated as a nonlinear constrained multiobjective optimization problem where the real power loss and the voltage stability are to be optimized simultaneously. The proposed approach handles the problem as a true multiobjective optimization problem. A hierarchical clustering algorithm is imposed to provide the decision maker with a representative and manageable Pareto-optimal set. Moreover, fuzzy set theory is employed to extract the best compromise solution over the tradeoff curve. The results demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed approach to generate true and well-distributed Pareto-optimal solutions of the multiobjective VAR dispatch problem in one single run. In addition, the effectiveness of the proposed approach and its potential to solve the multiobjective VAR dispatch problem are confirmed.


The objective of this research is to analyze the cost of goods sold calculation for tape (fermented cassava) with traditional costing and time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) approach. The research object is Tape Madu Jaya Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Jember that are engaged in the food industry. This study used a descriptive qualitative approach through literature study. The results show that the calculation of cost of good sold based on the traditional system and TDABC are different due to the charging of overhead costs on each product. Calculations with TDABC provide accurate information. The results can be used to revise the production cost of each product. Keywords— Accounting, SME's


Research suggests that peer injunctive norms (i.e., perceived attitudes) have an indirect effect on youth's behavior. Few studies have explored the underlying mechanism of the relationship between the perceived attitude of gender-specific close friends and hookup behavior. Following the social norm approach and the social learning theory, a person's own hookup attitude and their emotional reaction after a hookup would influence this relationship as mediators. We therefore examined the association between perceived hookup attitudes of students' same-sex/opposite-sex close friends and the number of hookup partners via mediated variables (i.e., own hookup attitude and affect following a recent hookup) in Chinese college students (N = 314) who completed self-report measures at 6-month intervals. The results of a path analysis showed that students' own attitudes toward hookups and negative affect following a hookup significantly mediated the association between perceived hookup attitudes of same-sex close friends and the number of hookup partners over 6 months. These findings indicate that same-sex close friends' injunctive norms were more strongly associated with future hookup behavior, as compared to opposite-sex friends' injunctive norms. To better understand the relationship between peer norms and hookup behavior, both students' hookup attitudes and negative emotional responses should be considered.


The purpose of this paper is to introduce Jihad in a new light, with a new perspective based on the needs of the current era. Islam is a dynamic religion. 1 The Almighty Allah declared Islam the last revealed religion, and there is no need for any other revelation or prophecy. Only Islam is a religion accepted to the Almighty Allah, as stated in the holy Quran: "Whoever seeks a way other than Islam, it will never be accepted from them, and in the Hereafter they will be among the losers." It was also declared that Islam will be the dominant religion, but unfortunately, Islam is oppressed in the current world. The only reason is that the Muslims forgot the Jihad. Here in this paper, Jihad, according to me, isn't limited to a specific field of Qital (لاتق) only. Muslims need to do jihad in every field and in every walk of life. According to the dynamic quality of Islam, it is the need of today that Muslims be aware of each field of life. There are different types of wars running in the modern world, like educational war, scientific war, political war, and economic war. In this current scenario, the Muslim world has a very low contribution. So in the light of Quranic verse ( ة َّوُق ْنِم


The intersection between religion or faith and relationships and sex education (RSE) is understudied. Yet, worldwide, levels of religiosity remain high, and in parts of inner-city Britain are increasing, even though much of Britain is seeing a decline in religious observance. Using student voices to inform the design of data collection methods and the direction for the study, I investigate the views, wishes and struggles that young people, including young people of faith, face when forming their relationships and sexual identity on their journey through adolescence. I also examine how high-quality relationships and sex education can support that journey. A pragmatic, constructivist, grounded theory methodology was developed and a total of around 460 year ten students from three very different inner-city schools in areas of high religious observance and one rural school in an area of low religious observance were involved in the research. The findings reveal the wish of students to receive effective, relevant, age appropriate, faith- and student-sensitive relationships and sex education. This was seen, by all groups of students, not only those from religious backgrounds, as important for enabling the provision of high quality, equality-based teaching. Student views as to the content and age at which topics should be taught in RSE varied, often, but not always, dependent on the religious or cultural background of students. On average students of high religiosity felt that most topics should be introduced a year later than students of no religious faith. Responding to these findings requires flexibility, understanding and sensitivity on behalf of schools when formulating policy and planning the curriculum concerning relationships and sex education. Overall, this area of education was found to be fraught and contested, so, following a review of the literature and data analysis, models to support those teaching RSE were developed.


Earthquake is one of the most frightening and destructive phenomena of nature. The northeast India region, as well as its adjoining South-Asian neighbours including Myanmar and Bangladesh, is tectonically and seismically most active. The region categorized under the highest level of seismic hazard potential: Zone V, of the seismic zonation map of India, has experienced nearly 22 large (M ≥7.0) and two great earthquakes (M S ∼ 8.7) in the past 130 years. All these earthquakes caused wide-spread damage over the region. In the recent past, with rapid urbanization combined with a significant population rise as compared to those times when these great/large earthquakes occurred, the seismic vulnerability index has increased manifold. The situation demands widespread dissemination of seismic hazard and preparedness information via community engagement and highlighting on potentially tragic consequences of earthquakes by conducting extensive mock drill exercises & earthquake awareness programmes. In this paper, the role and efforts of the statuary bodies in the region, such as National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and CSIR – Northeast Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST) and societal program of Academy of Scientific and Innovative research, to mitigate and minimize seismic hazard by extensive dissemination of earthquake information, via scientific scenario and impact assessment, is holistically compiled.


AIM
To study the effect of ursodeoxycholic acid on vitamin D levels and bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with gallstone disease (GSD).

MATERIALS AND METHODS
BMD assessed by dual-energy X-ray densitometry in 53 patients with gallstone disease, of whom 21 patients received litolitic therapy at a daily dose of 10 mg/kg for 1,5-2 years. The control group consisted of 15 persons matched by sex and age.

RESULTS
Patients with gallstone disease treated with UDCA (ursosan), vitamin D deficiency was found in 5%, and in patient that didn't receive litolitic therapy--in 69% of cases.

CONCLUSION
Ursotherapy in patients with gallstone disease reduces vitamin D deficiency and is an effective measure to prevent osteopenia.


The NSRRC high brightness photo-injector for light source R&D is a 2998 MHz split configuration. Our goal is to produce 1 nC bunch charge from a photo-cathode RF gun with normalized emittance of 1 mm-mrad or less. However, limited by the available power from our klystron, previous studies showed that our linac has to be equipped with focusing solenoid to help emittance control during acceleration. In order to omit the bulky focusing solenoid from the booster linac system, we considered to use two high gradient (~26 MV/m) PWT standing-wave structures to accelerate the beam previous to the linac. Studies showed that this configuration can keep the emittance as low as 1 mm-mrad while also decreasing the energy spread to half of its initial amount. The only drawback is the growth of final beam radius, which can be compensated by using a setting of quadrupole magnets.


It is well known that excessive switching activity during scan testing can cause average power and peak power dissipation during test to be much higher than the normal mode operation. This obviously can cause damage to the circuit under test (CUT). One of the, major testing techniques of sequential circuits is scan testing. In this paper we present an approach to reduce power dissipation by suitably ordering the scan cells and the scan vectors. It is shown here that by carefully selecting the scan order and the vector order we can reduce significantly the number of transitions. Experiments show a reduction in transitions by as much as 25% for ISCAS'89 benchmark circuits.


Hierarchical reversible logic synthesis can find quantum circuits for large combinational functions. The price for a better scalability compared to functional synthesis approaches is the requirement for many additional qubits to store temporary results of the hierarchical input representation. However, implementing a quantum circuit with large number of qubits is a major hurdle. In this paper, we demonstrate and establish how reversible pebble games can be used to reduce the number of stored temporary results, thereby reducing the qubit count. Our proposed algorithm can be constrained with number of qubits, which is aimed to meet. Experimental studies show that the qubit count can be significantly reduced (by up to 63.2%) compared to the state-of-the-art algorithms, at the cost of additional gate count.


The present qualitative action research study was conducted to describe the effects of storytelling and story reading on the improvement of reading comprehension and written production of eighth grade students of a public school located in Venecia neighborhood. Students were reluctant to participate in class due to lack of vocabulary, the monotony of the lessons, and lack of meaningful activities. In the pedagogical intervention, three stories were used, and students were involved in teacher's storytelling and story reading activities. The instruments used for collecting data were students' artifacts, field notes from class observation, transcription of audio recordings, and a survey. For the purpose of data analysis, the grounded theory was used as a means to describe and analyze students' comprehension of the stories told and read and their written production when they responded to story comprehension activities in groups.
Findings suggest that group story reading may have a significant positive effect on learners' reading comprehension. In addition, both storytelling and story reading enhance students' creativity, as well as their English language written production.


This paper demonstrates a method of taking uncertainty into account in an economic study comparing nuclear and coal generation costs. The study compared similarly sized units of 1200 MW with in-service dates in 1987. A Monte Carlo simulation was employed to generate probability distributions for the costs of each of the alternatives. Also, a difference probability curve was generated that suggests the probability of success or failure in choosing one alternative over another. Results indicate that nuclear power has a lower expected cost than coal, but is more uncertain than a coal project. In spite of this uncertainty, the probability that nuclear power will be more costly than coal was shown to be approximately 20% or less, based on the assumptions made. A sensitivity study was also performed that showed the effect that different assumptions with respect to nuclear accidents have on the results. Even with pessimistic assumptions regarding nuclear accidents, it was shown that the decision maker can be approximately 80% confident that the nuclear project will be more economical than coal. 2 figures, 3 tables.


University students who do not declare geography as their major are at risk of poor motivation to learn in an introductory geography class. However, research exploring the role of non-majors' motivation is lacking. This study examines motivational factors impacting non-geography students' engagement and performance. The findings suggest that non-geography majors demonstrate deep engagement when they focus on mastering the content and value geography. Also, when students feel confident of learning geography, they are more likely to demonstrate a high level of achievement. The paper concludes with practical suggestions for enhancing non-geography students' motivation and engagement in an introductory geography class.


A more robust archaeological interpretation can be produced if a multiscalar approach is brought to bear on the study of the past. In Iroquoian Archaeology and Analytic Scale, ten contributors conducting studies of groups around New York State and southern Ontario present contemporary research focused not only on examining the role of scale and how it impacts the field of Iroquoian studies, but also how archaeologists studying other Native Americans can expand their own research. Specifically, the contributors employ a variety of spatial, temporal, and methodological scales to reveal patterns and insights into the cultural interactions that might otherwise be missed by a less multiscalar approach. Furthermore, the diversity of research spans nearly a millennium, from AD 900 to 1800, and encompasses several different topographical settings, including major river flood-plains, upland headwater areas, and terraces along smaller tributaries, yielding a plethora of current findings from the largest of villages to the smallest of seasonal campsites. Laurie E. Miroff and Timothy D. Knapp have organized these essays in roughly chronological fashion and provide an introduction that addresses the importance of a multiscalar analysis. This volume of Iroquoian-specific yet wide-ranging essays will be of interest to anyone specializing in Native American studies in the Northeast. It will also benefit archaeologists who wish to gain a better understanding of how using a multiscalar approach in their own research can be an integral step toward a more dynamic view of the Native American lived experience.


BACKGROUND
Hematopoietic growth factors (HGFs) have been shown to reduce the incidence of neutropenia and fever in patients receiving cancer chemotherapy.

PURPOSE
This cost analysis was designed to determine the conditions in which use of HGFs in patients receiving cancer chemotherapy is cost-effective.

METHODS
We used a standard model based on decision theory; the model assumes that all patients experiencing neutropenia and fever will be hospitalized and treated with intravenous antibiotics. Data from a prospective, randomized clinical trial of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor in small-cell lung cancer treated with combination chemotherapy were used to determine baseline probabilities for control hospitalization risk and survival; proportional hospitalization risk with prophylactic HGF; and median durations of hospitalization and prophylactic HGF use. The model was analyzed by one-way and multivariate sensitivity analyses, with estimation of threshold values at which the expected cost is the same for either of two treatment options. One or more of the specific costs and durations and the probability for each group of threshold curves were varied in a sensitivity analysis that generated variable thresholds. Use of Monte Carlo analysis based on the available distributions of the main variables provided 90% confidence limits and an inference method for comparing decision options.

RESULTS
The expected excess cost per treatment cycle, based on hospitalization for neutropenic fever and/or HGF administration, was $5500 for no HGF, $4750 for prophylactic HGF, and $6875 for therapeutic HGF. Sensitivity analysis provided the following thresholds for no HGF versus prophylactic HGF: control risk of hospitalization, 0.40; risk of hospitalization with HGF as a proportion of control, 0.64; total daily cost of hospitalization, $727; total daily cost of HGF, $344; duration of hospitalization, 7.3 days; and duration of HGF use, 11.0 days. Multivariate analysis revealed that conditions favoring the use of HGF on a cost basis become greater (a) as risk of hospitalization, total daily hospital cost, and duration of hospitalization increase and (b) as the proportional risk of hospitalization with HGF, daily cost of HGF, and duration of HGF treatment decrease.

CONCLUSIONS
The major determinants of total excess cost were the control risk of hospitalization, the proportional reduction in risk with HGF, and the average daily hospital cost.

IMPLICATIONS
Use of HGFs should be based on the risk of hospitalization for neutropenic fever and consideration of the patient population and institutional costs.


This book presents interdisciplinary advances in theory and practice pertaining to rural sustainability and sets forth an action research agenda and policy prescriptions to support rural sustainability with special emphasis on the Accession Countries to the EU. The book will address four themes. The first theme describes recent developments in tools and approaches to linking science, policy and management for biodiversity conservation improvement and their role in the transition to rural sustainability. The second is on challenges for biodiversity conservation in rural areas in Europe and North America as EU enlargement comes to be a reality. The third covers comparing and contrasting case study applications in biodiversity conservation from NATO and NATO partner countries. The last identifies new opportunities for re-structuring science, policy and management to improve biodiversity conservation in rural areas in the context of an enlarged European Union.


Amphetamine (AMPH) poses a serious hazard to public health. Defining the molecular targets of AMPH is essential to developing treatments for psychostimulant abuse. AMPH elicits its behavioral effects primarily by increasing extracellular dopamine (DA) levels through the reversal of the DA transporter (DAT) cycle and, as a consequence, altering DA signaling. In Caenorhabditis elegans, an excess of synaptic DA results in a loss of motility in water, termed swimming-induced paralysis (SWIP). Here we demonstrate that AMPH produces SWIP in a time- and dose-dependent manner in wild-type (wt) animals but has a reduced ability to generate SWIP in DAT knock out worms (dat-1). To determine whether D1-like and/or D2-like receptors are involved in AMPH-induced SWIP, we performed experiments in DOP-1 and DOP-4, and DOP-2, and DOP-3 receptor knockout animals, respectively. AMPH administration resulted in a reduced ability to induce SWIP in animals lacking DOP-3, DOP-4, and DOP-2 receptors. In contrast, in worms lacking DOP-1 receptors, AMPH-induced SWIP occurred at wt levels. Using microamperometry on C. elegans DA neurons, we determined that in contrast to wt cells, AMPH failed to promote DA efflux in dat-1 DA neurons. These data suggest that DA efflux is critical to sustaining SWIP behavior by signaling through DOP-3, DOP-4, and DOP-2. In a double mutant lacking both DAT-1 and DOP-1 expression, we found no ability of AMPH to induce SWIP or DA efflux. This result supports the paradigm that DA efflux through C. elegans DAT is required for AMPH-induced behaviors and does not require DOP-1 signaling.


BACKGROUND
Impetigo is a common contagious superficial bacterial skin infection. Treatment of localized lesions can be achieved through topical antibiotics. Oral antibiotics are reserved for extensive disease. Increasing antimicrobial resistance to existing therapies have raised concerns. Antimicrobial stewardship, achieved through the responsible use of antibiotics, is an important measure to re-duce bacterial resistance. This review highlights treatment options for impetigo and shares consensus statements to help guide the management of impetigo in the pediatric population.

OBJECTIVE
An expert panel of dermatologists and pediatricians convened in February 2019 to establish evidence-based consensus on the management of impetigo in the pediatric patient population.

METHODS
The consensus was created in accordance with the Appraisal of Guidelines, Research and Evaluation (AGREE) II instrument. Prior to the consensus meeting, a systematic literature review was conducted, with the selected literature deemed clinically relevant to the consensus statements. Statements were further refined and assessed systematically following established standards. The consensus process consisted of a modified Delphi approach. The consensus was established through a minimal 75% "agree" rate.

RESULTS
Thirteen consensus statements were developed addressing clinical challenges, existing treatment options and their limita-tions, and new therapeutic alternatives.

CONCLUSION
Bacterial resistance to antimicrobials commonly used in treating impetigo has been reported. Antimicrobial stewardship is critical to optimize patient outcomes and to prevent the development of resistance. Healthcare providers should be aware of local resistance patterns in impetigo to help guide therapy. The use of newer safe and effective topical antibiotic alternatives as a first-line treatment should be an important step in antimicrobial stewardship.J Drugs Dermatol. 2020;19(3): doi:10.36849/JDD.2020.4679.


Chaos provides many interesting properties that can be used to achieve computational tasks. Such properties are sensitivity to initial conditions, space filling, control and synchronization. Chaotic neural models have been devised to exploit such properties. In this paper, a chaotic spiking neuron model is investigated experimentally. This investigation is performed to understand the dynamic behaviours of the model. The aim of this research is to investigate the dynamics of the nonlinear dynamic state neuron (NDS) experimentally. The experimental approach has revealed some quantitative and qualitative properties of the NDS model such as the control mechanism, the reset mechanism, and the way the model may exhibit dynamic behaviours in phase space. It is shown experimentally in this paper that both the reset mechanism and the self-feed back control mechanism are important for the NDS model to work and to stabilise to one of the large number of available unstable periodic orbits (UPOs) that are embedded in its attractor. The experimental investigation suggests that the internal dynamics of the NDS neuron provide a rich set of dynamic behaviours that can be controlled and stabilised. These wide range of dynamic behaviours may be exploited to carry out information processing tasks.


The catalytic efficacy of silver nanoparticles was investigated toward the chemoselective reduction of nitro-tetrazole or amino acid-substituted derivatives into the corresponding amines in high isolated yields. This highly efficient protocol was thereafter applied toward the multicomponent reaction synthesis of heterocyclic dihydroquinoxalin-2-ones with high isolated yields. The reaction proceeds with low catalyst loading (0.8–1.4 mol %) and under mild catalytic conditions, a very good functional-group tolerance, and high yields and can be easily scaled up to more than 1 mmol of product. Thus, the present catalytic methodology highlights a useful synthetic application. Different molecules are designed and accordingly synthesized with the current protocol that could play the role of inhibitors of the soluble epoxide hydrolase, an important target for therapies against hypertension or inflammation.


Background: Distal tibial metaphyseal fractures pose many complexities. This study assessed the outcomes of distal tibial fractures treated with medial locking plates. Methods: Eighteen patients were selected based on the fracture pattern and classified using the AO classification and stabilized with an AO medial tibial locking plate. Time to fracture union, complications, and outcomes were assessed with the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society Ankle score at 12 months. Results: Sixteen of the 18 patients achieved fracture union, with 1 patient lost to follow-up. Twelve fractures united within 24 weeks, with an average union time of 23.1 weeks. Three delayed unions, two at 28 weeks and one at 56 weeks. The average time to union was 32 weeks in the smokers and 15.3 weeks in the nonsmokers. Five of the 18 patients (27%) developed complications. One superficial wound infection, and one chronic wound infection, resulting in nonunion at 56 weeks, requiring revision. Two patients required plate removal, one after sustaining an open fracture at the proximal end of the plate 6 months after surgery (postfracture union) and the other for painful hardware. One patient had implant failure of three proximal diaphyseal locking screws at the screw head/neck junction, but successful fracture union. The average American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society ankle score was 88.8 overall, and 92.1 in fractures that united within 24 weeks. Conclusions: Distal tibial locking plates have high fracture union rates, minimum soft tissue complications, and good functional outcomes. The literature shows similar fracture union and complication rates in locking and nonlocking plates.


Assembling protein complexes and protein interaction networks from affinity purification-based proteomics data sets remains a challenge. When little a priori knowledge of the complexes exists, it is difficult to place proteins in the proper locations and evaluate the results of clustering approaches. Here we have systematically compared multiple hierarchical and partitioning clustering approaches using a well-characterized but highly complex human protein interaction network data set centered around the conserved AAA+ ATPases Tip49a and Tip49b. This network provides a challenge to clustering algorithms because Tip49a and Tip49b are present in four distinct complexes, the network contains modules, and the network has multiple attachments. We compared the use of binary data, quantitative proteomics data in the form of normalized spectral abundance factors, and the Z-score normalization. In our analysis, a partitioning approach indicated the major modules in a network. Next, while Euclidian distance was sensitive to scaling, with data transformation, all the attachments in a data set were recovered in one branch of a dendrogram. Finally, when Pearson correlation and hierarchical clustering were used, complexes were well separated and their attachments were placed in the proper locations. Each of these three approaches provided distinct information useful for assembly of a network of multiple protein complexes.


We used capture-recapture methods to estimate bird species richness from mist-net and point-count data from a study area in Campeche, Mexico. We estimated species richness separately for each survey technique for two habitats, forest and pasture, in six sampling periods. We then estimated richness based on species' detections by either technique, and estimated the proportion of species detected by each technique that are not part of the population sampled by the other technique. No consistent differences existed between richness estimates from count data and from capture data in the two habitats. In some sampling periods, over 50% of the richness estimate from one survey technique may be species that are not sampled by the other technique, suggesting that one technique may not be adequate to estimate total species richness and that comparing estimates from areas sampled by different techniques may not be valid.


Applications with 3D models are now becoming more common on tabletop displays. Displaying 3D objects on tables, however, presents problems in the way that the 3D virtual scene is presented on the 2D surface; different choices in the way the projection is designed can lead to distorted images and difficulty interpreting angles and orientations. To investigate these problems, we studied people's ability to judge object orientations under different projection conditions. We found that errors increased significantly as the center of projection diverged from the observer's viewpoint, showing that designers must take this divergence into consideration, particularly for multi-user tables. In addition, we found that a neutral center of projection combined with parallel projection geometry provided a reasonable compromise for multi-user situations.


We propose a real time user interface that utilizes emotion recognition by physiological signals. To improve the problem that was low accuracy of emotion recognition through the traditional EEG(ElectroEncephaloGram), We developed a physiological signals-based emotion recognition system mixing relative power spectrum values of theta/alpha/beta/gamma EEG waves and autonomic nerve signal ratio of ECG (ElectroCardioGram). We propose both a data map and weight value modification algorithm to recognize six emotions of happy, fear, sad, joy, anger, and hatred. The datamap that stores the user-specific probability value is created and the algorithm updates the weighting to improve the accuracy of emotion recognition corresponding to each EEG channel. Also, as we compared the results of the EEG/ECG bio-singal complex data and single data consisting of EEG, the accuracy went up 23.77%. The proposed interface system with high accuracy will be utillized as a useful interface for controlling the game spaces and smart spaces.


Dynamic peer communication is the most complicated of all the group communication mode. The paper concisely analysed five typical group key agreement protocols put forward in recent years, they are: centralized key distribution (CKD), burmester-desmedt (BD), steer et al. (STR), group diffie-hellman (GDH) and tree-based group diffie-hellman (TGDH). A new group key agreement protocol (TTS) is proposed and compared with other protocols. This protocol has the advantage in computation, and fit to common network condition.


Breast cancer is a multifaceted disease with several clinical, pathological and molecular attributes contributing to disease prognosis or treatment outcome. Treatment measures in breast cancer are based on hormone/growth factor receptor -estrogen/progesterone receptor (ER/PR) or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2) status. TP53 pathway inactivation in breast cancer is well-established. Although TP539s therapeutic relevance is well-recognized, it remains under-utilized in patient-management, since all TP53 mutants are treated equally in the diagnostic context. In reality, enormous heterogeneity exists in nature, type and functional impact of TP53 variants. Therefore, understanding the diversity of TP53 variants in breast cancer subtypes may enhance its diagnostic utility in this cancer. We utilized clinical NGS data, obtained using commercially available targeted panels, TruSeq Amplicon Cancer Panel (Illumina) and Ion AmpliSeq Cancer Hotspot Panel v2 (Thermofisher) to analyze tumor DNAs from cancer patients at the Advanced Molecular Diagnostic Laboratory (Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto, Canada). We focused on data from 105 advanced breast cancer patients. We consolidated several schemes proposed in the literature to classify TP53 variants, and evaluated patient molecular profiling and pathology data based on: (1) presence of TP53 variants; (b) coding effect; and (c) transcriptional activity. We further investigated whether TP53 variants were associated with reportable variant load, co-occurrence with other molecular changes and hormone/growth-factor receptor status. In our study group, 70.4% cases carried one or more variants. TP53 alterations were prevalent (40.9%) in our cohort, followed by PIK3CA variants (36.2%). 15/105 cases (14.3%) carried variants in both genes. Unlike in other cancer types, where missense TP53 variants predominate (e.g., colorectal, 72.6%), missense (49%) and nonsense/frameshift (42%) variants were similarly distributed in breast cancers. Gain-of-Function (GOF) and Loss-of-Function (LOF) TP53 variants were also equally distributed (32% vs. 33%). However, TP53mut PIK3CAmut breast cancer cases were more likely to carry missense and/or LOF variants (10/15 cases). TP53 variants were also associated with hormone/growth-factor receptor status. A greater proportion of ER- vs ER+, PR- vs PR+, and ER-PR-Her2- vs ER+PR+Her2- breast cancer cases carried missense GOF TP53 variants respectively when compared to missense LOF and variants of unknown significance taken together(80-85% vs 50-55%; p Taken together, we define a stratification strategy for TP53 that takes into account the diversity of TP53 variants, and demonstrate its application to molecular profiling and clinico-pathological data in breast cancer. Citation Format: Swati Garg, Mahadeo A. Sukhai, Maksym Misyura, Mariam Thomas, Tong Zhang, Lillian L. Siu, Philippe L. Bedard, Tracy L. Stockley, Suzanne Kamel-Reid. Impact of TP53 status and functional classification on molecular profiles in breast cancer subtypes. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 4765.


This study examined the directly attached cells (DAT cells) of the human junctional epithelium from teeth extracted for advanced periodontal disease. The monolayer nature of the DAT cells remaining on the tooth surface after extraction offers a unique opportunity to study their morphology and activity in situ. We collected DAT cells and examined them by transmission electron microscopy and by autoradiography of cells labeled with 3H-thymidine. Our morphological results suggest that degenerative changes associated with pocket formation affect individual cells rather than regions of the DAT cell population at one time. The epithelial attachment apparatus (EAA) appeared to be the most resistant structure persisting on the tooth surface during the degeneration of the individual DAT cells. The new technique developed for two-dimensional observation of the sheet of DAT cells labeled in situ on the tooth surface in culture showed that the attached cells, even in periodontal disease, exhibit proliferative ability, suggesting a regenerative role for the DAT cells.


The incorporation of Ge in GaAs layers grown simultaneously on (100), (311)A, and (311)B GaAs substrates by molecular‐beam epitaxy has been studied using Hall‐effect measurements, photothermal ionization spectroscopy, and photoluminescence. The quantitative analysis shows that Ge is more amphoteric than Si, but the orientation dependence of the amphoteric behavior of Ge is similar to Si. The amphoteric site preference of Ge is more selective for growth on the (311) polar orientation than on the (100) nonpolar orientation. Like Si, Ge incorporates predominantly as a donor in (311)B growth, while it incorporates predominantly as an acceptor in (311)A growth.


In order to cut the costs of third-party logistics companies and respond to the Chinese government's low-carbon economy plans, this paper studies the more practical and complex open vehicle routing problem, which considers low-carbon trading policies. A low-carbon multi-depot open vehicle routing problem with time windows (MDOVRPTW) model is constructed with minimum total costs, which include the driver's salary, penalty costs, fuel costs and carbon emissions trading costs. Then, a two-phase algorithm is proposed to handle the model. In the first phase, the initial local solution is obtained with particle swarm optimization (PSO); in the second phase, we can obtain a global optimal solution through a further tabu search (TS). Experiments proved that the proposed algorithm is more suitable for small-scale cases. Furthermore, a series of experiments with different values of carbon prices and carbon quotas are conducted. The results of the study indicate that, as carbon trading prices and carbon quotas change, total costs, carbon emission trading costs and carbon emissions are affected accordingly. Based on these academic results, this paper presents some effective proposals for the government's carbon trading policy-making and also for logistics companies to have better route planning under carbon emission constraints.


BACKGROUND
Metabolic syndrome is responsible for increasing the fat content of the liver. Among several non-invasive methods of liver fat analysis, the most important role is played by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). This pilot study describes the methodology for measurements of triglycerides in the liver in a group of liver transplant patients using 1H MRS at 3T.

METHODS AND RESULTS
Thirty-eight patients (12 Female, 27 male, aged 19-71) who underwent routine preventive examination at IKEM were included in the MRS study. The fat content of liver biopsies was classified according to the number of affected hepatocytes, HIS. Based on this classification, there were 20 patients with a steatosis score of S0, 15 patients with a score of S1, 2 patients with a score of S2 and 1 patient with a score of S3. 1H MR spectra were measured from three positions in the liver. Following Longo et al, the concentration of fat phi(fat), was calculated from the signal intensities of water and triglycerides. Linear correlation between the number of affected hepatocytes and fat content was described by the equation: HIS = 6.4 phi(fat) -2.1; r2 = 0.85; p = 0.001.

CONCLUSIONS
The pilot study confirmed that examination of fat content using 1H MRS at 3T is well tolerated by patients. Significant correlation was found between the results of histology and 1H MRS measurement of liver fat content. The method is suitable for non-invasive repetitive and screening examination measurement of fat in the liver.


In Polistes paper wasps, haploid early males can mate with early emerging females and leave viable offspring. In contrast, diploid early males are eventually sterile because they contribute triploid offspring via diploid sperm. Clarifying the ploidy of early males is important for determining whether early male production is a reproductive strategy for the species. We examined the mating behavior and the ploidy of early males in the Japanese paper wasp, Polistes rothneyi iwatai van der Vecht. Thirteen early males from four colonies were all diploid. Two of the nine early males (22.2%) attempted to mate with females, but only one individual (11.1%) was successful (the female's spermatheca contained spermatozoa). These results suggest that although most early males of P. rothneyi iwatai do not produce offspring, their mating may be linked to the occasional production of triploid females.


BACKGROUND
Neurologic involvement is a frequent cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with endocarditis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the most relevant clinical, epidemiologic and evolutive characteristics of patients presenting neurologic complications during the evolution of endocarditis.

METHODS
Fifty adult non intravenous drug addict patients who had neurologic complications during endocarditis were prospectively evaluated. The presence of cerebral ischemia, hemorrhage, or infectious complications were studied by established criteria.

RESULTS
Neurologic complications were detected in 50 of the 282 patients (18%) with endocarditis diagnosed over 17 years in one institution. The most common complications were seen in patients with mitral endocarditis of either native valves (28%) or prosthetic valves (30%). The prevalence was identical in the endocarditis of either type of valve (18%). The most frequent complication was cerebral ischemia (29 episodes) and central nervous system infection (8 episodes). Fifty-nine percent of the complications presented prior to the diagnosis of endocarditis with half of the remaining 41% occurring during the first 2 weeks of antibiotic treatment. Endocarditis by Staphylococcus aureus was associated with neurologic complications in 40% of the cases. Global mortality was 48%, being related with prosthetic endocarditis, the existence of cerebral hemorrhage or central nervous system infection, etiology by S. aureus and the presence of anticoagulant treatment.

CONCLUSIONS
Neurologic complications are frequent during the evolution of infectious endocarditis, both or an initial feature and during its evolution. The presence of complications considerably impairs the prognosis of this disease.


Stiff-man syndrome is a neurologic disorder characterized by progressive rigidity of skeletal muscles. Deficiency of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid and autoantibodies to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), the enzyme synthesizing gamma-aminobutyric acid, are closely associated with the disorder, although the relevant antigenic epitopes have not been identified. In the present study, sera from two patients with SMS was used in an immunoblotting assay with recombinant GAD67 (M(r) 67,000) and GAD65 (M(r) 65,000) isoforms to test whether SMS sera can recognize specific epitopes. We found that both SMS sera recognized the GAD65, but not the GAD67, isoform. Using 13 different synthetic GAD peptides to block the autoantibodies, two GAD65 epitopes were identified. One epitope recognized by both patients' sera, was blocked by the peptide representing amino acid residues 354-368. In one patient only, blocking was also observed by a peptide representing residues 390-402, which includes the binding site of the GAD cofactor, pyridoxal 5'-phosphate. A single amino acid substitution in GAD65 at position 401 (leucine to proline) and representing the analogous GAD67 sequence in this region significantly reduced the peptide's inhibitory effect. These findings suggest that SMS GAD autoantibodies share distinct GAD65 linear epitopes and that some SMS patients' autoantibodies may block the active site, explaining SMS GABA deficiency.


Research Summary Crime reduction policy has focused almost exclusively on offenders. Recent studies and evaluations show that expanding our policy portfolio to include places may be highly productive. We show that there is considerable research showing that crime is concentrated at a relatively few locations, that high-crime places are stable, that changing places can reduce crime, that displacement is not only far from inevitable but also less likely than the diffusion of crime prevention benefits, and that owners of high-crime places can be held accountable for the criminogenic conditions of their locations. We link these findings to environmental policy, where environmental scientists, economists, and regulators have developed a broad set of regulatory options. The core of this article describes a portfolio of environmental policy instruments directly applicable to crime places. We also discuss major decisions local governments will need to make to implement various forms of regulation, and we list challenges that governments must anticipate in planning for such implementation. We argue that a regulatory approach to crime places has the potential to lower the cost to taxpayers of reducing crime by shifting costs from governments to the relatively few place owners whose actions create crime-facilitating conditions.

Policy Implications Taking a regulatory approach to crime places substantially expands the crime policy options under consideration. Regulatory options may increase local governments' effectiveness at reducing crime while reducing governments' costs. This is because regulatory approaches have the potential to shift some portion of the financial burden for crime fighting to owners of criminogenic locations. Policy makers can select between means-based anticrime regulations that focus on how place owners manage their locations and ends-based regulations that focus on the number of crimes allowed at places. Both of these approaches contain several alternative regulatory instruments, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Experimenting with various regulatory instruments could lead to the development of a range of new crime reduction policies. In addition, a regulatory approach has implications for the funding of policy research. Means-based regulatory instruments require governments to develop evidence that the means they regulate have the desired impact on crime. Ends-based regulatory instruments shift this burden to the regulated places.


A future Galactic Supernova (SN) explosion can lead to a gamma-ray signal induced by ultralight Axion-Like Particles (ALPs) thermally produced in the SN core and converted into high-energy photons in the Galactic magnetic field. The detection of such a signal is in the reach of the Large Area Telescope aboard the \emph{Fermi} Gamma-Ray Space Telescope. The observation of gamma-ray emission from a future SN has a sensitivity to $g_{a\gamma}\gtrsim 4\times 10^{-13}$ GeV$^{-1}$ for a SN at fiducial distance of $10$ kpc and would allow us to reconstruct the ALP-photon coupling within a factor of $\sim2$, mainly due to the uncertainties on the modeling of the Galactic magnetic field.


Pediatric patients with cardiac devices report fear and anxiety associated with exertion and activity resulting in high avoidance of activities, things, or places post-device implant. Extant pediatric cardiac literature is minimal, establishing the need for improved description of the sample. The field is in need of a better understanding of the role of anxiety in physical activity and self-limiting behaviors of the pediatric arrhythmia population. Examining the strength of relationship between patient estimations for duration of exercise capacity and general anxiety, as well as cardiac specific anxiety, may provide clinicians with information to guide intervention for re-engaging this population in exertive behavior. The primary aims of the current project were: 1) to examine feasibility of using treadmill stress tests as a clinical intervention, 2) determine the effects of a treadmill test on anxiety, and 3) examine the strength of relationship between patient-predicted treadmill stress test duration and activity, psychosocial distress, and cardiac specific distress. Participants were recruited from an outpatient electrophysiology (EP) clinic at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas, presenting for a standard of care (SOC) exercise treadmill test (ETT). Child report of general anxiety and device specific anxiety was collected, as well as predicted and total ETT time for six cardiac device patients aged 12-17. Analyses included descriptives, paired t-tests, and correlations. Results indicated moderate feasibility for the current study design, after multiple logistical adjustments to the recruiting process, the protocol, and the personnel necessary to complete the procedures. The use of ETT as an anxiety intervention was not statistically efficacious in this sample. Statistical results indicated strong relationships between predicted ETT duration and general anxiety (r = 0.85, p = 0.033), post-ETT state anxiety and device acceptance (r = -0.82, p = 0.048), general anxiety and report of normal daily functioning (r = -0.84, p = 0.036), body image and Total ETT duration (r = 0.85, n = 6, p = 0.032), and post-ETT state anxiety and report of device distress (r = -0.84, p = 0.036). In conclusion, future projects could be feasible with increased research personnel, increased engagement of clinic EPs, expanded eligibility criteria, and funding to compensate families for parking or traveling expenses. Participants and families saw inherent value in researchers' improved understanding of fears of exertion via ETT. Future research should determine the impact of number of exposure sessions necessary to impact anxiety in patients who report marked anxiety or activity avoidance.


Three multiple attenuation techniques are tested on a Gulf of Mexico dataset. These methods are (1) a hyperbolic Radon transform followed by a mute (2), the Delft approach and (3), a pattern-based technique. The Radon transform separates multiples and primaries according to their moveout. The Delft approach models the multiples and subtracts them by estimating adaptive filters. The pattern-based method us es the multiple model from the Delft approach to extract and separate multiples from the primaries according to their multivariate spectra. Because of the complex geology and the modeling uncertainties introduced by 3-D effects and the acquisition geometry, the Radon transform and the Delft approach do not perform as well as the pattern-based method. In addition, the pattern-based method works significantly better when higher dimension filt ers are utilized: diffracted multiples are well attenuated while preserving the primaries.


We design a graph-based framework for the visualisation and analysis of obligations in access control policies. We consider obligation policies in CBACO, the category-based access control model, which has been shown to subsume many of the most well known access control such as MAC, DAC, RBAC. CBACO is an extension of the CBAC metamodel that deals with obligations. We describe the implementation of the proposed model in PORGY, a strategy driven graph-rewriting tool, based on the theory of port-graphs. CBACO policies allow for dynamic behavior in the modelled systems, which is implemented using the strategy language of PORGY.


Democratic processes may have seen resurgence in many developing countries in recent years, but elections often remain a context for political manipulation and consequently alienation of the economically disenfranchised. Much political communications is about marketing of particular candidates, parties and/or platforms. This article documents the genesis of an innovative voter education campaign developed by an advertising agency in Peru having a strong social agenda. The campaign distilled political choices for national leadership into more manageable selection criteria via analogies from daily life. It was designed to cause citizens to self-examine their own political awareness and motivate them to utilise their voting privileges thoughtfully to further a public policy agenda they favoured.


DNA-mediated gene transformation of mouse Ltk-aprt-hprt-cells was used to obtain stable, doubly selected transformants simultaneously expressing herpes virus thymidine kinase (TK) and mammalian adenine phosphoribosyltransferase (APRT). Cotransformants occurred at a frequency of 5 X 10(-6), a similar frequency for the transfer of the aprt marker has been previously observed. Isozyme and Southern blot analysis show that the TK and APRT expressed in these transformants resulted from gene transfer. For one stable cotransformant, [3H]thymidine [( 3H]TdR) selection against TK activity resulted in the loss of APRT activity as well, suggesting that these genes had become genetically linked together. Similarly selection against APRT expression resulted in the loss of a subset of the transferred herpes simplex virus tk genes. 5-Bromodeoxyuridine (BUdR) selected TK- variants differed from [3H]TdR selected TK- variants, in that they retained tk genes. However, BUdR-selected variants expressed full levels of APRT. Therefore, even though the transferred tk and aprt genes had become genetically linked together, they were, in this case, independently expressed since these cells were phenotypically TK- and APRT+.


Background: The scientific-based jamu development program enables the development of medicinal plants in the traditional medicine system that eventual-ly can be used in the formal healthcare system. Baturraden and Sumbang are considered as areas with abundant plant biodiversity in Java, where the local community has used those plants for medicinal purposes. Objective: This study is conducted to qualitative and quantitatively record and conserve the knowledge of the Baturraden and Sumbang community on the utilization of plants for treating diabetes mellitus. Method: The data of the plant's local names, plant organs, methods of prepara-tion, and routes of administration of the herbal preparations used for treating diabetes mellitus were collected through semi-structured interviews with 97 informants. The species use-value (SUV), the relative frequency of citation (RFC), and fidelity level (FL) of each species were calculated accordingly to determine their relative importance and value to the local community. Result: There were 11 plant species from 10 families mentioned. The most commonly used plant organ, preparation method, and administration route were leaves, decoction, and oral, respectively. The most important and valuable plants were including Piper ornatum (SUV = 0.19, RFC = 0.13, FL = 23.09%) and An-drographis paniculata (SUV = 0.09, RFC = 0.07, FL = 42.86%). Conclusion: As the most critical antidiabetic plant in the studied area, the decoction or infusion of Piper ornatum leaves is taken orally 1-2 times a day. However, there are no reports on its anti-diabetic-related activities available to date. In contrast, the uses of Andrographis paniculata as the antidiabetic agent has been widely proven. Baturraden and Sumbang people orally consumed the decoction of this plant's leaves once a day for the said purpose


This book discusses the Party for Freedom (PVV), a political party in the Netherlands, founded and led by Geert Wilders. Attaining between 10 and 18% of the votes, the PVV has become one of the largest parties in the Netherlands and is the only political party worldwide without members. Between 2010 and 2012 the party supported a minority coalition of liberals and christian-democrats in exchange for influence on governmental policy. The PVV can be viewed as the Dutch version of an ideological family of nationalist parties linked by their opposition to immigration and to the political and cultural elites. Within this family, Geert Wilders has played an important role as pioneer of a new master frame, in which Islam is portrayed as the historical arch-enemy of the West. As the main figurehead of European islamophobia, Wilders has inspired political parties and organizations in Europe, North-America, Israel and even Australia. Examining data collected on various aspects of the party (for example, voters, activists, organization and ideology) and employing theoretical insights from sociology, electoral geography and political science, this book analyses this controversial phenomenon and seeks to obtain a clearer picture of the functioning of the PVV. This book will be of interest to students and scholars interested in European politics and current affairs more generally.


Phosphoric acid based geopolymers (PAGPs) are a class of geopolymers that are produced by phosphoric acid activation of metakaolin. In this work, two different PAGPs have been synthesized using phosphoric acid to alumina molar ratios of 1 : 1 and 1.2 : 1. The surface profile, chemical composition, micromorphology, and texture properties of the geopolymers were instrumentally determined. Both geopolymers have shown a mesoporous profile with the avg. pore size of 8.6 and 19.4 nm by GP-1M (P : Al = 1 : 1) and GP-2M (P : Al = 1.2 : 1), respectively. Thermogravimetric analysis revealed that these geopolymers were thermally stable up to 800 °C, although the formation of quartz, cristobalite and tridymite was observed in XRD analysis of the samples treated at 800 °C for two hours. The synthesized geopolymers were utilized for the adsorption of methylene blue (MB) by investigating the effect of the amount of adsorbent, pH of the solution and shaking period. The batch kinetics study fitted best into the pseudo second order (PSO) reaction kinetic model. In isotherm modelling studies, the Langmuir isotherm model was best fitted and was used to describe the mechanism of the adsorption. Experimental adsorption capacities (qe) of 2.84 and 3.01 mg g−1 were recorded for GP-1M and GP-2M, respectively. Used adsorbents were successfully regenerated by furnace treatment at 400 °C for two hours, and the regenerated adsorbents presented enhanced adsorption capacities in the range of 4.9–5.07 mg g−1 for five repeat cycles, elucidating that the material is suitable for multiple time use.


A new localized excitonic state is demonstrated in patterned monolayer 2D semiconductors. The signature of an exciton associated with that state is observed in the photoluminescence spectrum after electron beam exposure of several 2D semiconductors. The localized state, which is distinguished by non‐linear power dependence, survives up to room temperature and is patternable down to 20 nm resolution. The response of the new exciton to the changes of electron beam energy, nanomechanical cleaning, and encapsulation via multiple microscopic, spectroscopic, and computational techniques is probed. All these approaches suggest that the state does not originate from irradiation‐induced structural defects or spatially non‐uniform strain, as commonly assumed. Instead, it is shown to be of extrinsic origin, likely a charge transfer exciton associated with the organic substance deposited onto the 2D semiconductor. By demonstrating that structural defects are not required for the formation of localized excitons, this work opens new possibilities for further understanding of localized excitons as well as their use in applications that are sensitive to the presence of defects, e.g. chemical sensing and quantum technologies.


In the course of viral infection, the immune system exploits only a fraction of the available CTL repertoire and focuses on a few of a myriad of potentially antigenic peptides. This phenomenon, known as immunodominance, depends on a number of factors, including antigen processing and transport, MHC binding, competition for antigen-presenting cells, availability of the CD8 T cell repertoire and other mechanisms that function largely by restricting the immune response. Here we elucidate a novel mechanism that increases the immunodominance of the epitope rather by enhancing the immune response. Using a peptide-specific MHC-restricted mAb and functional assays of CTL activation, we show that T cells with high avidity for the immunodominant, H-2D(d) restricted, P18-I10 epitope expand rapidly following immunization, and this expansion in turn determines the level of the P18-I10 epitope immunodominance. This proliferation has little dependence on the number of MHC-peptide complexes. Since most self-reactive T cells of high avidity are depleted in the thymus, the selection of immunodominant epitopes based on the expansion of high-avidity T cells in the periphery reduces the potential for autoimmunity.


The relationship between the wave tilt and the electrical parameters of a multilayered structure is investigated. Particular emphasis is placed on the inverse problem associated with the sounding of planetary surfaces. An inversion technique, based on multifrequency wave tilt, is proposed and demonstrated with several computer models. There is close agreement between the electrical parameters used in the models and the inversion values.


The ability of the National Airspace System (NAS) to provide safe separation is achieved by a skilled and dedicated work force operating with support from an automation infrastructure. Requirements for this infrastructure include measures of performance, availability, maintainability, accuracy, and security and are called quality of service (QoS) requirements. The value of the support provided by the infrastructure has been called system effectiveness. An algebraic approach to quantifying the QoS demands upon the SWIM infrastructure by the applications described in NAS Architecture 5 is being developed. An interface management system (IMS) collects this information while providing user support for creation of interface requirements documents, and is in a position to combine the various individual demands upon infrastructure resources to inform (and perform) calculations of aggregate demands upon infrastructure resources. Dynamic schedulability of system resources using Jensen utility functions, where system effectiveness is the utility measure, is anticipated to provide graceful degradation in the event of increased demands upon system capacity.


The persistent increase in the price of energy, the clamour to preserve our environment from the harmful effects of the anthropogenic release of greenhouse gases from the combustion of fossil fuels and the need to conserve these rapidly depleting fuels has resulted in the need for the deployment of industry best practices in energy conservation through energy efficiency improvement processes like the waste heat recovery technique. In 2006, it was estimated that approximately 20.66% of energy in the UK is consumed by industry as end-user, with the process industries (chemical industries, metal and steel industries, food and drink industries) consuming about 407 TWh, 2010 value stands at 320.28 TWh. Due to the high number of food and drink industries in the UK, these are estimated to consume about 36% of this energy with a waste heat recovery potential of 2.8 TWh. This work presents the importance of waste heat recovery in the process industries in general, and in the UK food industry in particular, with emphasis on the fryer section of the crisps manufacturing process, which has been identified as one of the energy-intensive food industries with high waste heat recovery potential


A main challenge for the players on the world dairy market is to efficiently respond to the changes of the local markets characteristics, in the context of an increasingly fierce competition for the raw milk obtained on the farms. From the analysis, it results that the performance of the Romanian milk sector is seriously affected by the excessive fragmentation of supply, which reveals the subsistence and semi-subsistence phenomenon that persists in the milk sector, as the main factor that constrains competitiveness growth. In reference to the volume of investments in the dairy processing sector, it results that this had a slow growth rate in the investigated period, the share in total investments in the food sector ranging from 7.8% (2000) to 16.9% (2011). The investments in agriculture in total investments accounted for 4.9% in the year 2012. In order to adapt to the competition on the European Single Market, the Romanian sector has to receive support through investments, in the conditions in which there is a favourable global conjuncture for the consumption of dairy products, in which their prices are expected to raise on the basis of the increasing demand of the development regions.


Slope stability analyses are performed mostly as a two-dimensional (2D) section under the assumption of plane strain conditions, without much consideration to the impact of three-dimensional (3D) shapes. For natural slopes that have the complexities of slope surfaces, 3D modeling may also be considered since it can represent the more realistic geometry of the slope. However, previous studies show that the factor of safety (FS) as a result of 3D analyses mostly overestimated the FS from 2D analyses. This may lead to a long discussion on whether the 3D analysis is still applicable for the natural slopes, and could it represent the same results as the 2D analysis. This study was conducted using the finite element method for calculating the 2D and 3D FS of Pasir Muncang natural slope in order to observe differences of FS resulted from both analyses. A comparison of the FS from the 2D and 3D analyses, and also verification of sensitivity on several factors that impact the 2D and 3D models have been performed. The results of this study has indicated that some factors such as soil parameters, contour interval, and mesh coarseness greatly affect the results of the 2D and 3D calculations. Having carefully selected the aforementioned factors as the inputs for calculations, the difference between the FS values of 3D and 2D analyses becomes smaller. The final result of FS for this case study from the 3D analysis was still higher than the one from the 2D analysis, with the ratio of FS from 3D to FS from 2D was 1.44. It can be inferred that the use of 3D analyses needs more accurate data selections compared to the 2D analyses.


Remote sensing data has been widely used in the estimation of crop yields by employing statistical methods such as regression model. Machine learning, which is an efficient empirical method for classification and prediction, is another approach to crop yield estimation. This paper described the corn yield estimation in Iowa State using four machine learning approaches such as SVM (Support Vector Machine), RF (Random Forest), ERT (Extremely Randomized Trees) and DL (Deep Learning). Also, comparisons of the validation statistics among them were presented. To examine the seasonal sensitivities of the corn yields, three period groups were set up: (1) MJJAS (May to September), (2) JA (July and August) and (3) OC (optimal combination of month). In overall, the DL method showed the highest accuracies in terms of the correlation coefficient for the three period groups. The accuracies were relatively favorable in the OC group, which indicates the optimal combination of month can be significant in statistical modeling of crop yields. The differences between our predictions and USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) statistics were about 6-8 %, which shows the machine learning approaches can be a viable option for crop yield modeling. In particular, the DL showed more stable results by overcoming the overfitting problem of generic machine learning methods.


The organoarsenical species arsenobetaine (AB), arsenocholine (AC), tetramethylarsonium ion (TMA+), dimethylarsinic acid (DMA), and monomethylarsonic acid (MMA) were determined in 64 cooked seafood products (fish, bivalves, squid, crustaceans) included in a Total Diet Study carried out in the Basque Country (Spain). For cooking, various treatments were employed (grilling, roasting, baking, stewing, boiling, steaming, microwaving). The results obtained show that in cooked seafood AB is the major species, followed by DMA and TMA+. AC and MMA are minor species. The results in cooked seafood were compared with the arsenic species contents obtained for the same product raw. After cooking there was an increase in DMA for sardines and bivalves and an increase or appearance of TMA+ for meagrim, anchovy, Atlantic horse mackerel, and sardine. The data provided add to the very scant information available about organoarsenical species contents in cooked seafood.


In the ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of cyclic esters and carbonates, hydrogen-bonding organocatalysis offers an interesting alternative to metal-based and enzymatic catalysis to access biocompatible and biodegradable polymers. The design of catalysts, strategies of activation and mechanistic elucidations are highlighted. Recent developments with functionalized monomers for applications in nanomaterials and biomedicine have opened perspectives to broaden the scope of future catalytic systems. In the field of sustainable chemistry, hydrogen-bonding structures devoted to ROP have become a full-fledged class of catalysts.


This article provides empirical evidence on the zero-leverage phenomenon for a sample of European listed firms for the period 1995–2016. It is shown that there are two types of firms with zero leverage: the financially constrained firms that face obstacles in obtaining external finance, as predicted by the financial constraints hypothesis; and the financially unconstrained firms that maintain zero leverage as a consequence of a financing decision, which supports the financial flexibility hypothesis. The zero-leverage phenomenon is also influenced by the financial system that prevails in each country, being boosted (inhibited) in market-based (bank-based) financial systems, and by the country's macroeconomic conditions, with the recent financial and sovereign debt crises increasing the propensity for zero leverage in market-based countries. We also find that the financial flexibility hypothesis seems to be more important in market-based systems and that the financial constraints approach did not gain importance during the crisis period. Our results are robust to the use of alternative measures of debt conservatism, explanatory variables, and econometric methods and maintain their validity when we allow for endogeneity in firm size and dividend payments. JEL CLASSIFICATION G32


Just one hundred years ago, J.C. Bose described to the Royal Institution in London his research carried out in Calcutta at millimeter wavelengths. He used waveguides, horn antennas, dielectric lenses, various polarizers and even semiconductors at frequencies as high as 60 GHz; much of his original equipment is still in existence, now at the Bose Institute in Calcutta. Some concepts from his original 1897 papers have been incorporated into a new 1.3-mm multi-beam receiver now in use on the NRAO 12 Meter Telescope.