Bimaterial electrothermal actuation is a commonly employed actuation method in microsystems. This paper focuses on optimal materials selection for bimaterial structures to maximize the thermomechanical response based on electrothermal heat-transfer analysis. Competition between different modes of heat transfer in electrothermally actuated cantilever bimaterial is analyzed for structures at the microscale (10 mum les L les1 mm) using a lumped heat-capacity formulation. The choice of materials has a strong influence on the functional effectiveness and the actuation frequency even though the electromechanical efficiency is inherently small (~10-5). Frequencies on the order of ~100 Hz to 15 kHz can be obtained for bimaterial structures at small scales by varying either the operating temperature range or the rate of heat dissipation. It is found that engineering alloys/metals perform better than other classes of materials for high-work high-frequency (~10 kHz) actuation within achievable temperature limits.


Colorectal cancer (CRC) accounts for ~9% of all cancers in the Veteran population, a fact which has focused a great deal of the attention of the VA's research and development efforts. A field-based meeting of CRC experts was convened to discuss both challenges and opportunities in precision medicine for CRC. This group, designated as the VA Colorectal Cancer Cellgenomics Consortium (VA4C), discussed advances in CRC biology, biomarkers, and imaging for early detection and prevention. There was also a discussion of precision treatment involving fluorescence-guided surgery, targeted chemotherapies and immunotherapies, and personalized cancer treatment approaches. The overarching goal was to identify modalities that might ultimately lead to personalized cancer diagnosis and treatment. This review summarizes the findings of this VA field-based meeting, in which much of the current knowledge on CRC prescreening and treatment was discussed. It was concluded that there is a need and an opportunity to identify new targets for both the prevention of CRC and the development of effective therapies for advanced disease. Also, developing methods integrating genomic testing with tumoroid-based clinical drug response might lead to more accurate diagnosis and prognostication and more effective personalized treatment of CRC.


This paper theoretically investigates the effects of the temperature and flowrate of cold seawater on the net output of an OTEC plant. Parameters of pipe length, pipe diameter, seawater depth, and the flowrate of seawater are considered. It shows that a maximum output of the net work exists at a certain flowrate of cooling seawater. The output work is higher for a larger ratio of warm to cold seawater flow rate. For a lower cold seawater temperature, the maximum net output and the corresponding required flow rate of cold seawater becomes larger. The pipe diameters corresponding to maximum net output increase with decreasing cold seawater temperature for fixed flow velocity in pipes. In addition, a larger maximum net output can be obtained by employing a higher temperature of the surface warm seawater. q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


Introduction : Physiological delivery program was implemented in mother-friendly hospitals of Iran after 2008. The aim of present study is to assess the effect of physiological delivery program in a mother-friendly hospital on duration of active phase and second stage of labor. Methods : This study was a clinical trial that was conducted at the Sinaand Ommobaninmotherfriendly hospitals in Ahvaz, Mashhad, Iran, in 2016. The intervention group of 77 women was offered the childbirth preparation classes during pregnancy and physiological delivery program during labor and the control group of 77 women received routine care. Results: The results showed that after controlling the confounding factors, the active phase and second stage of labor were significantly shorter in the intervention group (p<0.001).  Conclusion : Complete implementation of physiological delivery program can reduce the duration of labor pain. Key words : Natural Childbirth; Prenatal Education; non-pharmacologic approaches; First stage of labor; Labor duration; Second stage of labor


In this paper, the flexibility method of damage identification for transmission tower based on Wigner-Ville Distribution (WVD) signal amplitude vector is forwarded. The damage coefficient equation involving modal parameters and damage parameters is firstly established, on the basis of the linear relation of flexibility matrix and structure parameters. Then, the mathematical deduction of WVD signal term reveals the function relation between WVD signal terms and modal parameters. Lastly, the damage coefficient equation is solved by substituting mode shape vector with the signal amplitude vector of response under suddenly unloading to identified the position and extent of structural damage. A numerical example demonstrates its accuracy for damage identification and excellent noisy immunity.


The present text deals with two layers of philosophic psychology/anthropology in the works of Thomas Aquinas and strives to examine the mutual relationships and interrelated meanings between these layers while paying particular attention to the biblical image of a human being as imago Dei. With respect to this aim, the paper contains a justification of the distinction between philosophic psychology, which understands soul as a substantial form of the human being, and dualistic philosophic psychology, which views soul as the subject of activities, or as incomplete substance. This distinction is then confirmed as confronted with the way Thomas Aquinas delimits the human being as imago Dei in his Summa Theologiae, by which means the way we understand this expression becomes more exact, and the importance of Thomas's dualistic terminology, which we encounter in his works, is emphasised at the same time.


Tumorigenesis is a result of favorable interactions between the tumor microenvironment (TME) and tumor cells. The microenvironment hosts several cytokines, soluble factors, and signaling factors secreted by stromal cells which accelerate the progression of cancer. Bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) invade the TME and are hypothesized to differentiate into cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) by the action of Transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) and Vascular Endothelial growth factor VEGF, some of the key cytokines involved in this process.
This study aimed to investigate expression of cytokines with different conditioned media using the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line and BM-MSCs. Furthermore, we also studied the effectiveness of a herbal formulation (HF-1) in countering the expression of these cytokines. BM-MSCs secreted significantly higher concentrations of the cytokines when in co-culture with MCF-7 cells. Furthermore, the diminished concentrations of VEGF and TGF-β observed post-addition of HF-1 demonstrates its potential applications in preventing tumorigenesis and cancer metastasis.


Charles A Sherring, a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Deputy Commissioner in the Indian Civil Services, wrote this book in 1905 amongst a flurry of books on this topic, owing to the capture of Tibet by the British army in 1904. Taking an opportunity to travel in his capacity as Deputy Commissioner, he toured the lesser-known tracts of Western Tibet. This area of Tibet and the areas on the British boundary are most sacred to the Buddhist and Hindu because of the presence of the holy lake of Mansarovar and the venerated peak of Kailash. This area has a romance of legends and myths where quaint customs and manners appeal to all with poetic leanings.Written amidst daily duties while travelling, braving tempestuous rains and freezing winds, the object of this book is entirely non-political, and the author has omitted all controversial matter. There is also an account of a climb on the mountain, considered at that time to be the highest in the world, Gurla Mandhata. It was the first attempt to climb a mountain using the most modern methods available in 1905. The book is peppered with 175 illustrations.


Abstract This study's objective was to estimate net returns and return risk for antimicrobial metaphylaxis options to manage bovine respiratory disease (BRD) in high health-risk feedlot cattle. The effectiveness of antimicrobials for metaphylaxis varies by cattle population. How differing antimicrobial effectiveness translates to net return profitability for heterogeneous cattle populations is less understood. Net returns and return risk were assessed using a net return simulation model adapted to allow for heterogeneity in high health-risk cattle placement characteristics and antimicrobial choice to control BRD. The net return model incorporated how antimicrobials modify BRD health and performance outcomes. Health and performance outcomes were calibrated from published literature and proprietary feedlot data. Proprietary data came from 10 Midwestern feedlots representing nearly 6 million animals and 50,000 cohorts. Twelve placement-by-metaphylaxis decision combinations were assessed: high health-risk steer placement demographics were 600 or 800 lb steers placed in Winter (Oct–Mar) or Summer (Apr–Sept) managed with one of three different health programs: "no metaphylaxis," "Upper Tier" antimicrobial, or "Lower Tier" antimicrobial. Net return distributions were compared between "no metaphylaxis" and a specific antimicrobial tier within specific cattle populations. We found the expected incremental net return of administering an "Upper Tier" ("Lower Tier") antimicrobial for metaphylaxis compared to "no metaphylaxis" for high health-risk steers was $122.55 per head ($65.72) for 600 lb and $148.65 per head ($79.65) for 800 lb winter placements. The incremental expected net return and risk mitigated by metaphylaxis varied by placement weight, season, and antimicrobial choice. The probability net returns would decline by at least $50 per head was significantly reduced (from approximately 4% to 40%) when any antimicrobial was used on high health-risk steers. Both tiers of antimicrobials used for metaphylaxis increased expected net returns and decreased net return variability relative to no metaphylaxis. Thus, feedlots were more certain and realize a greater profit on high health-risk pens of steers when metaphylaxis was used. This occurred because the reduction in cattle health and performance outcomes using any antimicrobial was sufficiently large to cover added initial and subsequent antimicrobial costs. Results aid in assessing metaphylaxis strategies in high health-risk cattle.


Objective(s): In the current study antioxidant capacities of five different extracts of Artemisia ciniformis aerial parts were evaluated by cell-free methods. Then seven fractions of the potent extract were selected and their antioxidant capacity was assayed by cell free and cell based methods. Materials and Methods: Antioxidant ability was measured using the: 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging test, β-carotene bleaching (BCB) method and ferrous ion chelating (FIC) assay. Total phenolic contents (TPC) of all the samples also were determined. The cytoprotective effect of fractions was evaluated by measuring the viability of cells after exposure to doxorubicin (DOX). The mechanism of action was studied by investigating caspase-3, mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), the level of super-oxide dismutase (SOD) and intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS). Results: Hydroethanolic extract exhibited a notably higher antioxidant activity and phenolic content. Among the fractions (A to G) of hydroethanolic extract, the highest antioxidant capacity was observed in the Fraction E. Moreover, 24 hr pretreatment of PC12 cells with fractions B, C and D decreased DOX-induced cytotoxicity. In addition, pre-treatment of cells with fraction B resulted in significant decrease in generation of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) and increase in the activity of SOD. We were able to demonstrate remarkable reduction in the activity of caspase-3 and increase in MMP in PC12 cells following pretreatment with fraction B. Conclusion: Our observations indicated that the fraction B of A. ciniformis hydroetanolic extract possessed protective effect on oxidative stress and apoptosis induced by DOX in PC12 cells.


An investigation to determine whether useful onboard mispointing corrections to satellite altimeter measurements for errors in antenna mispointing can be made with the European Research Satellite (ERS-1) altimeter is reported. An analytic model of the nonlinear mispointing control loop is developed and the step response and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) behavior of the loop in isolation are derived. The ERS-1 altimeter is expected to have a maximum static mispointing error of 0.2 degrees and a maximum harmonic error of 0.1 degrees . Taking these values as typical, it is concluded that with a loop time response of about one minute, it is not possible to correct the biased estimate of backscattering coefficient without decreasing its SNR. However, it is possible to achieve an unbiased estimate with a noise level significantly less than the uncorrected bias, but a successful implementation would require very accurately calibrated range gate samplers. >


Stephen Jeffreys' play The Libertine (1994) dramatizes the life of the notorious seventeenth-century poet and libertine, John Wilmot, Second Earl of Rochester. Jeffreys' antipathy to his protagonist is conveyed to his audiences through a masterful manipulation of their in-born disgust reflexes. In the 2004 film of The Libertine, directed by Lawrence Dunmore, playwright and director collaborate to create an overwhelming onslaught upon the viewers' senses, which results in the audience almost invariably experiencing unmitigated aversion toward Rochester. Placing both play and film in the context of recent research into mirror neurons, simulation, and disgust-mechanisms and their potential resonance among theater and cinema viewers, this essay considers how preconscious neurological, visual, auditory, and motor circuits may be accessed and influenced in order to provoke both the sensation of physical disgust and the moral judgments of indignation and rejection.


Introduction Substance abuse is more than just a health problem; it is a formidable moral, social, and economic challenge of pandemic proportions. Palestine is not an exception to this problem, and the trend of use is increasing. Healthcare providers, primary care physicians, pharmacists, patients themselves, and their families, can all play a role in identifying and preventing prescription drug abuse. Methodology The study population included 205 public pharmacies distributed across the Gaza Strip governorates. Data was collected by means of an interview questionnaire administered to pharmacists working in the pharmacies. Study objectives The aim of the study was to identify and verify several variables and attributes affecting drug abuse, including the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of pharmacists, and to study and analyze the drug abuse situation in the Gaza Strip. Results The majority of pharmacists (90.2%) acknowledged drug addiction as an existing phenomenon in the Gaza Strip society, and 32.2% of pharmacists believed that the physician, the pharmacist, and the inspection department all shared the responsibility for its existence. Most pharmacists believed that the increased anxiety and tension in the community was the most common reason for this increase in demand for drugs. Approximately 50.2% of pharmacists did not believe that their colleagues dispensed any of the controlled drugs without a doctor's prescription. Approximately 89.8% of pharmacists were convinced of the need for a medical prescription to dispense any of the drugs listed, and of these 89.8%, 84.8% did not dispense any of the controlled drugs to a person they suspected of being dependent on drugs, even if that person had a medical prescription. Hence, the study showed no significant relationship. Conclusion The study showed that drug abuse is an existing phenomenon in the Gaza Strip and there is a lack of attention to reduce its spread and impact on society. There are similarities between female and male pharmacists in the Gaza Strip with regard to knowledge about drug abuse; however, there are differences in practice and attitude among them.
Recommendation
 Physicians, pharmacists, and the inspection department should assume their respective responsibilities toward prevention of drug abuse as a shared responsibility in order to ensure a safe future for the entire community.


The Dahl salt-sensitive (Dahl/SS) rat is a genetic model of salt-sensitive hypertension that develops left ventricle (LV) hypertrophy after five to six weeks and cardiac failure with LV dilation and contractile dysfunction after 10 to 12 weeks of high-salt intake. The aim of the present study was to evalute cardiometabolic and inflammatory biomarkers in the Dahl/SS rat fed a normal-salt diet (NS-0.3% NaCl) and a high-salt diet (HS-8% NaCl).
 For that purpose, eight week-old Dahl/SS rats were randomized into two groups, one group received a HS and the other a NS diet for 10 weeks. In the last week of treatment, 3 out of 10 animals from the HS diet group died. All animals from the NS diet group survived (n=8). The high-salt diet induced heart and kidney hypertrophy, as shown by higher heart/body weight (3.86±0.05 vs 2.96±0.05 mg/g, p<0.05) and kidney/body weight ratios (5.23±0.29 vs 3.41±0.06 mg/g, p<0.05), as compared to the NS diet group counterparts. Rats in the HS diet group presented proteinuria (273.1±26.8 vs 34.5±2.6 mg/day, p<0.05), hypercholesterolemia (4.45±0.23 vs 3.07±0.22 mmol/l, p<0.05), reduced levels of free fatty acids (0.23±0.02 vs 0.35±0.02 mmol/l, p<0.05) and normal levels of triglycerides in plasma (1.87±0.29 vs 1.28±0.15 mmol/l, p>0.05), as compared to animals on a NS diet. Insulin plasma levels in the HS group were lower than in the NS group (1.82±0.13 vs 4.03±0.40 ng/ml, p<0.05), though the glucose plasma levels were unchanged (162±5 vs 150±7 mg/dl, p>0.05). The plasma levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1 were higher in the HS than in LS diet group (105.0±10.4 vs 67.6±2.8 pg/ml, p<0.05). A multiplex inflammatory cytokine assay was used to profile expression of 23 inflammatory mediators. The plasma levels of nine inflammatory mediators, including IL-1β, IL-4 and VEGF, were significantly increased in rats in the HS group.
 In conclusion, HS diet feeding in the Dahl/SS rat deteriorate cardiometabolic and inflammatory biomarkers.


An inelastic pulsed neutron scattering study was performed on the dependence of the dispersion and spectral intensity of the in-plane Cu-O bond-stretching LO phonon mode on doped charge density. The measurements were made in the time-of-flight mode with the multiangle position sensitive spectrometer of the ISIS facility on single crystals of YBa{sub 2}Cu{sub 3}O{sub 6+x} (x=0.15, 0.35, 0.6, 0.7, and 0.95). The focus of the study is the in-plane Cu-O bond-stretching LO phonon mode, which is known for strong electron-phonon coupling and unusual dependence on composition and temperature. It is shown that the dispersions for the samples with x=0.35, 0.6, and 0.7 are similar to the superposition of those for x=0.15 and 0.95 samples, and cannot be explained in terms of the structural anisotropy. It is suggested that the results are consistent with the model of nanoscale electronic phase separation, with the fraction of the phases being dependent on the doped charge density.


: Rehabilitation professionals contributing to the plan of care for a patient with a wound must be aware of and follow the rules promulgated by regulators, surveyors, and payers. Certain regulations are of particular importance. When establishing functional outcomes, the rehabilitation professional should ask whether the outcomes are meaningful, practical, and sustainable. By becoming part of the multidisciplinary team, rehabilitation professionals can help to improve cost-effectiveness of wound care and patient outcomes.


The Indonesian archipelago is a land of timeless natural beauty that, in the 21st century, faces unprecedented environmental degradation. It was also the biological laboratory of Alfred Russel Wallace, who, working independently of Charles Darwin, discovered the theory of evolution by natural selection. Wallace, who travelled for eight years in the archipelago, was one of the greatest field naturalists and nature writers of his century. A prodigious collector, he was the first to bring living birds of paradise to the West. This account of a true explorer sweeps from the time of Wallace's 19th-century discoveries in biogeography to the looming biodiversity crisis of the 21st century - from the exploration of natural wonders to the exploitation of natural resources. The result is a history that portrays the intricate connections of human life and natural life.


This paper analyzes the meaning of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Bells" in terms of Poe's overlooked use of religious images. Past criticism of the poem is toured and examined, highlighting the shortcomings of critics who have failed to account for the poem's allusions to and sources from Christian contexts. A prospective reading is then provided which works with those overlooked aspects to make the following case: the bells of "The Bells" do not represent a vague onomatopoeic exercise, but instead figure the fervent celebration of a (likely Christian) religion by its adherents, as observed by the speaker across his life. The speaker's psychological journey is charted from his being proselytized in youth to his coping with doubts about promises of individual immortality in adulthood. This reading is then further supported by considering other poems by Poe (especially "A Paean," "Lenore," and "The Raven"), wherein this paper demonstrates Poe's developing attitudes in the 1840s toward the prospect of the afterlife, as well as the implications of his own peculiar conception of a 'material soul.' Ultimately, "The Bells" is shown to be a haunting consideration of mortality as concealed by the same kind of dogmatic thinking which is likely responsible for the poem's specific images going overlooked for so long.


Raman spectroscopy is a powerful tool for detection of chemical and bioanalytes but lacks enhancement required to detect these analytes at the ultrahigh sensitivity needed for many applications. Surface enhanced Raman Scattering is a technique by which an analyte signal can become greatly enhanced and, near single molecule sensitivity, is achievable. Currently, SERS-based detection platforms currently rely on noble metal nanostructures as primary enhancing sources for the detection of chemical and bioanalytes but have significant limitations in terms of reproducibility and biocompatibility. Recent research has shown that semiconductors have the ability to exhibit SERS enhancing characteristics that can potentially supplant the use of noble metals without the limitations associated with noble metal nanomaterials. This thesis presents, the generation of three-dimensional self-assembled hybrid silicon nanostructures though a laser-ion plume formation mechanism. These Si nanostructures exhibit high sensitivity SERS enhancement characteristics which can be applied for chemical and biosensing applications.

In this thesis, the Raman enhancing characteristics of the hybrid Si nanostructures are examined and correlated to the unique physical morphology and material chemistry of these nanostructures. These Si nanostructures are shown to be comprised of individual Si nanospheroids that have fused to form a highly 3D nanoweb-like self-assembled nanostructures. It is also shown that these nanospheroids are composed of both amorphous and polycrystalline sub-regions, which can only be generated within an ion-plume formed by a femtosecond pulsed laser. By programming the laser, the nanostructure morphology and hybrid nature can be manipulated and optimized. These Si nanostructures are shown to be highly sensitive as SERS platforms for chemical analytes. In addition, it is shown that with the application of noble metal nanoparticles on the surface of the 3D hybrid silicon nanowebs structures, an additional enhancement boost can be optimized for the detection of chemical molecules. With this, the dual contribution to the SERS sensitivity from both the primary Si nanostructures and the secondary noble metal nanostructures can be used to detect the presence of a biomolecule analyte is shown.

To delve deeper into how these hybrid Si nanostructures cause SERS enhancement of bioanalytes, the Si ion interactions within the laser-ion plume were manipulated to induce quantum-scale defects within the hybrid Si nanospheroids. By creating both an inert and oxygenated laser-ion plumes the formation of sub-nanograins within the nanospheroids and sub-nanovoids on the nanospheroid surface is shown to significantly enhance the detection of bioanalyte signal for multiple biomolecules which act as signals for various diseases. Based on the results in this thesis, it has been proven that Si-based nanostructures have the capacity to be used as sole SERS enhancing sources for chemical and biomolecule analytes.


This paper considers TCQ and LDPC codes for the quadratic Gaussian Wyner-Ziv problem. After TCQ of the source input X, LDPC codes are used to implement Slepian-Wolf coding of the quantized source input Q(X) given the side information Y at the decoder. Assuming ideal Slepian-Wolf coding in the sense of achieving the theoretical limit H (Q(X)|Y), it is shown that Slepian-Wolf coded TCQ (SWC-TCQ) performs 0.2 dB away from the Wyner-Ziv distortion-rate function D/sub WZ/*(R) at high rate. This result mirrors that of entropy-coded TCQ in classic source coding and establishes the connection between performances of high-rate Wyner-Ziv coding and classic source coding. Practical designs with TCQ, irregular LDPC codes (for Slepian-Wolf coding) and optimal estimation at the decoder perform 0.83 dB away from D/sub WZ/*(R) at medium bit rates (e.g., /spl ges/ 2.3 b/s). With 2-D trellis-coded vector quantization, the performance gap to D/sub WZ/*(R) is only 0.66 dB at 1.0 b/s and 0.47 dB at 3.3 b/s.


Abstract Theories of the economic evolution of societies and their diversity are critically examined, paying particular attention to the evolution of hunter-gatherer societies. An interdisciplinary approach drawing on anthropology and economics is adopted. Currently, three main stereotypes of the nature of hunter-gatherer societies exist. While these indicate that they were diverse, they fail to capture the full extent of their diversity. It is argued that this diversity increased with the passage of time and was shaped by the varied local eco-geographic conditions in which these societies evolved. This raises the question of whether this development had the same basis as speciation in the biological theory of natural selection. This is discussed and then particular attention is given to Adam Smith's vision of the economic evolution of human societies. In conclusion, it is hypothesized that the evolutionary path of modern economies and societies has diverged from that of prehistoric societies—they have become less diverse. Modern societies may also have become more ultrasocial, a process which accelerated following the commencement of agriculture.


: The availability of hair-bearing flaps offers patients a more extensive choice of corrective procedures for baldness. The hair-bearing axial temporoparietal-occipital (TPO) flap which we prefer is based on the superficial temporal artery and extends well past the posterior midline. The procedure is performed in the office. The "instant" and exceptionally dense hair which grows in patients with sparse, limited, and finely textured hair is a distinct advantage over the hair transplanted by punch autograft technique. Since the surgery involved is formidable, the patient must be highly motivated, well-informed and advised realistically about the results available with this procedure. A well-planned and properly executed TPO flap procedure is the best method for obtaining the density of hair and the appearance desired within the shortest time.


The interconnectivity of 6LoWPAN networks with the Internet raises serious security concerns, as constrained 6LoWPAN devices are accessible anywhere from the untrusted global Internet. Also, 6LoWPAN devices are mostly deployed in unattended environments, hence easy to capture and clone. Despite that state of the art crypto solutions provide information security, IPv6 enabled smart objects are vulnerable to attacks from outside and inside 6LoWPAN networks that are aimed to disrupt networks. This paper attempts to identify intrusions aimed to disrupt the Routing Protocol for Low-Power and Lossy Networks (RPL).In order to improve the security within 6LoWPAN networks, we extend SVELTE, an intrusion detection system for the Internet of Things, with an intrusion detection module that uses the ETX (Expected Transmissions) metric. In RPL, ETX is a link reliability metric and monitoring the ETX value can prevent an intruder from actively engaging 6LoWPAN nodes in malicious activities. We also propose geographic hints to identify malicious nodes that conduct attacks against ETX-based networks. We implement these extensions in the Contiki OS and evaluate them using the Cooja simulator.


Invasive plants that displace native floral communities can cause changes to associated invertebrate species assemblages. Using a mini-review of the literature and our own data we add to the still considerable debate about the most effective methods for testing community-level impacts by invasive species. In endangered saltmarshes of southeast Australia, the non-native rush Juncus acutus L. is displacing its native congener J. kraussii Hochst., with concurrent changes to floral and faunal assemblages. In two coastal saltmarshes, we tested the hypothesis that the ability to detect differences in the invertebrate assemblage associated with these congeneric rushes depends on the microhabitat of the plant sampled. We used three sampling methods, each targeting specific microhabitats: sweep netting of the plant stems, vacuum sampling of the plant tussock, and vacuum sampling of the ground directly below the plants. Over 3800 individuals and 92 morphospecies were collected across four main taxa: gastropods, crustaceans, hexapods and arachnids. Detection of differences in invertebrate density, richness and composition associated with native compared with non-native rushes was dependent on the microhabitat sampled and these differences were spatially variable. For example, at one saltmarsh the stems and tussock of J. acutus had a lower density and richness of total invertebrates and hexapods than those of the native J. kraussii. In contrast, crustaceans on the ground were in greater abundance below J. acutus than J. kraussii. This study demonstrates that on occasions where overall differences in the assemblage are not detected between species, differences may become apparent when targeting different microhabitats of the plant. In addition, separately targeting multiple microhabitats likely leads to a greater probability of detecting impacts of invasion. Comparing the invertebrate assemblage without differentiating between or sampling an array of microhabitats can fail to determine the impact of invasive species. These results highlight that a combination of methods targeting different microhabitats is important for detecting differences within the invertebrate community, even for phylogenetically related species.


The QUSAIBA-1 shallow core drilled in NW Saudi Arabia penetrated the Qalibah, Sarah and Qasim formations. The Silurian graptolites and chitinozoans from the Qusaiba Member of the Qalibah Formation have been investigated previously. The present study focuses on the Upper Ordovician part of the core hole. A total of 39 core samples from the glacio-marine Sarah Formation and from the upper part of the Qasim Formation were processed for chitinozoans. Part of the sample set yielded abundant and well-preserved specimens associated with graptolite remains, scolecodonts, acritarchs and cryptospores. Other samples from glacially related sediments contained only a few fragmented chitinozoan vesicles of early Late Ordovician species suggesting reworking. Four different chitinozoan assemblages are identified. The youngest one is restricted to two samples located very close to the gamma ray peak and to the highest evidence of glacial sediments. This assemblage is dominated by Cyathochitina species including C. caputoi, associated with subordinate numbers of Ancyrochitina, Euconochitina and Belonechitina species. This assemblage does not contain the classical Late Ordovician chitinozoan taxa and an early Rhuddanian age is considered possible. The underlying interval is less productive and sometimes virtually barren. This interval yields a second assemblage mainly composed of broken specimens of Tanuchitina, Cyathochitina, and Euconochitina. Most of these forms seem reworked, probably through glacial erosion. The composition changes drastically in the older core samples where abundant Armoricochitina nigerica and Ancyrochitina species are associated with e.g., Euconochitina lepta, Calpichitina lenticularis, Acanthochitina barbata and Desmochitina minor. This constitutes the third recovered chitinozoan assemblage. In addition to the classical components, new species have been observed. This assemblage occurs in pre-glacial strata and is assigned to the late Katian (Ashgill). The oldest processed sample contains Belonechitina, Hercochitina, Conochitina and Euconochitina species. This fourth assemblage, however, lacks A. nigerica and suggests an older age assignment (e.g., late Caradoc of the British chronostratigraphy).


We present a simple EM-based grammar induction algorithm for Combinatory Categorial Grammar (CCG) that achieves state-of-the-art performance by relying on a minimal number of very general linguistic principles. Unlike previous work on unsupervised parsing with CCGs, our approach has no prior language-specific knowledge, and discovers all categories automatically. Additionally, unlike other approaches, our grammar remains robust when parsing longer sentences, performing as well as or better than other systems. We believe this is a natural result of using an expressive grammar formalism with an extended domain of locality.


Background and Aim: Clinicians and researchers always need standard measures for the evaluation of auditory perception and speech production in deaf children, particularly those with cochlear implants. This study addresses the reliability and validity of the Persian version of categorization of auditory performance (CAP) scale and speech intelligibility rating (SIR) in cochlear-implanted prelingual deaf children. Methods : A total of 92 cochlear-implanted deaf children aged 1.3-15.7 years participated in the study. Test-retest reliability, inter-rater reliability, and criterion and construct validity of the scales were investigated. Results : The obtained test-retest reliability for categorization of the auditory performance scale and speech intelligibility rating was 0.82 and 0.99 (p<0.01), respectively, whereas the suggested inter-rater reliability based on average Cohen's kappa coefficient was 0.73 and 0.70 for the two scales (p<0.01), which appear acceptable. The concurrent validity of the scales was 0.64 and 0.69 (p<0.01). The construct validity for categorization of the auditory performance scale ranged between 0.58 and 0.74 (p<0.01), whereas the same feature for the speech intelligibility rating indicated a range between 0.66 and 0.69 (p<0.01). Conclusion: The findings of this investigation indicated that both CAPII and SIR scales are reliable and valid instruments for the assessment of auditory perception and speech production of cochlear implant deaf children.


Klinefelter syndrome (KS) results from an extra chromosome X, which is due to the failure of normal chromosomal segregation during meiosis. Patients with KS have gynecomastia, small testes, and azoospermia. Apoptosis is a mechanism responsible for the normal regulation of spermatogenesis. LDOC1 gene is a known regulator of nuclear factor mediated pathway to apoptosis through inhibition of nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐kappaB). Furthermore, the transcription factor myeloid zinc finger gene 1 (MZF‐1) has been shown to interact with LDOC1 and to enhance LDOC1 activity favoring apoptosis. We investigated the expression of LDOC1 gene mRNA, by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT‐PCR), in peripheral blood leukocytes of 13 patients with KS compared to 13 healthy men chosen as controls. LDOC1 expression was higher in 9 of the 13 KS patient compared to normal controls. These finding led us to hypothesize that LDOC1 gene upregulation may play a role in the spermatogenesis derangement observed in patients with KS.


The Level Generation Competition, part of the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (CIS)-sponsored 2010 Mario AI Championship, was to our knowledge the world's first procedural content generation competition. Competitors participated by submitting level generators - software that generates new levels for a version of Super Mario Bros tailored to individual players' playing style. This paper presents the rules of the competition, the software used, the scoring procedure, the submitted level generators, and the results of the competition. We also discuss what can be learned from this competition, both about organizing procedural content generation competitions and about automatically generating levels for platform games. The paper is coauthored by the organizers of the competition (the first three authors) and the competitors.


Many developing countries would like to increase the share of modern or formal sectors in their employment. One way to accomplish this goal may be to encourage the entrance of foreign firms. They are typically relatively large, with high productivity and good access to foreign markets, and might therefore be better at creating jobs than domestic firms are. However, previous research on the issue has been limited by the paucity of long data sets for firm operations. We examine employment growth in Indonesia in a large panel of plants between 1975 and 2005, and especially in plants taken over by foreign owners from domestic ones. Employment growth is relatively high in foreign-owned establishments, although foreign firms own relatively large domestic plants, which in general grow more slowly than smaller plants. For plants that change the nationality of ownership during our period, we find a strong effect of shifts from domestic to foreign ownership in raising the growth rate of employment, but no significant effects of shifts from foreign to domestic ownership. The faster growth of employment in the foreign-owned plants in general is concentrated in the takeovers, especially in the year of acquisition. Foreign takeover of a domestically-owned plant, on average, brings a large immediate expansion of employment.


Abstract. The timing of the last interglacial (LIG) thermal maximum across the globe remains to be precisely assessed. Because of difficulties in establishing a common temporal framework between records from different palaeoclimatic archives retrieved from various places around the globe, it has not yet been possible to reconstruct spatio-temporal variations in the occurrence of the maximum warmth across the globe. Instead, snapshot reconstructions of warmest LIG conditions have been presented, which have an underlying assumption that maximum warmth occurred synchronously everywhere. Although known to be an oversimplification, the impact of this assumption on temperature estimates has yet to be assessed. We use the LIG temperature evolutions simulated by nine different climate models to investigate whether the assumption of synchronicity results in a sizeable overestimation of the LIG thermal maximum. We find that for annual temperatures, the overestimation is small, strongly model-dependent (global mean 0.4 ± 0.3 °C) and cannot explain the recently published 0.67 °C difference between simulated and reconstructed annual mean temperatures during the LIG thermal maximum. However, if one takes into consideration that temperature proxies are possibly biased towards summer, the overestimation of the LIG thermal maximum based on warmest month temperatures is non-negligible with a global mean of 1.1 ± 0.4 °C.


This paper presents a design study of a miniaturized broadband nonlinear vibration energy harvester (VEH) with piecewise-linear restoring force based on a mechanically-sprung resonator with stoppers. It is commonly recognized that a VEH based on a nonlinearly-sprung resonator can show broadband frequency characteristics while keeping its maximum power performance due to its bent resonance peak. The resonator to be investigated in this study consists of a magnet composite as a mass moving through an induction coil, two planar springs, and mechanical stoppers. The magnet composite is comprised of two repelling cylindrical magnets and a steel disk between them, all encapsulated in a thin stainless-steel cylinder. The planar springs with spiral-like shape are respectively connected to the both ends of the magnet composite so that they provide soft linear stiffness in a compact size. The mechanical stoppers installed to constrain the deformation of the spring give the resonator piecewise-linear hardening characteristics which effectively broaden the resonance band. In this study, the prototype VEH developed in the previous study is presented, and the gaps between the springs and stoppers are adjusted so that the resultant piecewise-linear restoring force shows symmetric or asymmetric property with respect to the equilibrium point. Experimental studies and analyses are carried out to examine the performance of the presented VEH in terms of the frequency response. The comparison of three different configurations of the stopper illustrates how the asymmetry in the bilinear restoring force affects the shape of the resonance peak. It is also suggested that the asymmetry may help the VEH operate in broader band by exploiting its ability of tailoring the resonance characteristics, which still needs further investigation.


BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE
Mechanisms that lead to de novo formations of nonfamilial-type cavernomas are not well understood. One of the interesting hypotheses is the causative relationship between developmental venous anomaly (DVA) and cavernoma formation. We report a unique case in which serial imaging demonstrated the evolution of de novo formation of a cavernoma in association with a thrombosed DVA. A detailed review of the causal hypothesis between a DVA and cavernoma is also provided.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION
We report a 37-year-old female patient in whom a cavernoma-like lesion arose 1 year after the progressive thrombosis of a medullary (or caput medusa) vein of a DVA. The presence of an acute angulation in the draining vein may have prompted an intrinsic outflow restriction. Possible worsening of venous disequilibrium led to subsequent thrombus progression, venous congestion, and occlusion of the vein with venous dilation and signs of stasis on follow-up magnetic resonance imaging. Finally, this developed into a lobulated lesion with salt-and-pepper appearance at the converging region of medullary tributaries, which typified the classic features of a cavernoma.

CONCLUSION
Compared with other published cases of de novo cavernoma formation in relation to a DVA, our case, for the first time, allows us to witness the temporal evolution from a thrombosed DVA to the birth of a cavernoma around it. This supports the hypothesis that the cavernoma can be an acquired disease that arises from a DVA.


In this essay, Hana Kawai and Emily Taylor provide a case study of one teacher's classroom that examines issues of student conflict, gender dynamics, and the importance of reflective discussion to address oppressive social structures. Through reflections and observations that focus on the intersection of gender and race, they urge teachers to recognize, understand, and respond to everyday classroom conflict through a critical lens. Kawai and Taylor conclude with an "imagined conversation" that discusses the larger societal influences that affect individual choices.


A possibility of the use of thymalin was studied in children with diabetes mellitus using adequate immunohormonal investigations. Clinico-metabolic investigations proved the efficacy of the use of the new immunomodulator thymalin in multimodality therapy of diabetes mellitus in children.


How is it possible to study the 'cityness' of cities, their particular character and the locally specific actions of their residents? One crucial aspect that distinguishes cities from one another is how social phenomena are embedded in a particular city's built environment, its economy, and particular horizons of meanings. To analyse a significant example of this embeddedness, this chapter examines Kenya's Nairobi through the lens of social milieus in the middle-income stratum, the so-called 'middle classes'. Moreover, the milieu concept enables the identification of social groups that share sociocultural features such as specific ways of life, professional and leisure activities, and forms of consumption and investment. The text studies which local aspects are significant for milieus in Nairobi in comparison to Mombasa and other Kenyan cities. And, using two case studies, the Christian Religious Milieu and the milieu of the Young Professionals, it illustrates how the particular city modifies these milieus. Such an approach not only allows for a better understanding of the 'middle classes' in African cities as comprised of different identifiable milieus, it also yields a method for analysing the local particularities of a city, whether in Africa or other parts of the world. The chapter is significant for policy and practice because it introduces with the concept of social milieus a nuanced alternative to (middle) class approaches that distinguishes lifestyles, aims in life and forms of consumption. Also, the chapter discusses, using the example of Nairobi, how milieus are bound to specific structures of a city and might offer—from the perspective of basic research—suggestions for practical use.


A numerical model has been used to simulate the conditions observed during the ACE-2 Hillcloud experiment and to study the processes which may be taking place. The model incorporates gas phase chemistry of sulphur and nitrogen compounds upstream of the cloud, and the interaction of aerosol, precursor trace gases and oxidants within the cloud. Gas phase and aerosol inputs to the model have been provided from measurements made in the field. Dynamics of the air flow over the hill consisted of simple prescribed dynamics based on wind speed measurements, and also for some cases modelled dynamics. In this modelling study, it was found that during clean case studies particles down to 40-55 nm diameter were activated to form cloud droplets, the total number of droplets formed ranging from 200 to 400 drops/cm(3) Significant modification of the aerosol spectra due to cloud processing was observed. In polluted cases particles down to 65-80 nm diameter were activated to form cloud droplets, the total number of droplets ranging from 800 to 2800 drops/cm(3). Modification of the aerosol spectra due to cloud processing was slight. In all cases, changes in the aerosol spectra were due to both the uptake of HNO3, HCl, NH3 and SO2 from the gas phase, (the SO2 being oxidised to sulphate) and the repartitioning of species such as HNO3, HCl, and NH3 from larger particles onto smaller ones. Modelling results have been compared with observations made. Modelled droplet numbers are typically within 20% of the best measured values. The mode of the droplet distribution typically around 10 20 mu m for clean cases and 4-8 mu m for polluted cases was found to be in good agreement with the measured values of 10-25 mu m for clean cases, but not in such good agreement for polluted cases. Measurements of upwind and interstitial aerosol distributions showed that the smallest particles activated were 30 and 50 nm for clean and polluted cases respectively, slightly smaller than the model values quoted above. Measured upwind and downwind aerosol spectra showed similar modification to that predicted by the model in eight out of the eleven model runs carried out. Chemistry measurements also give general evidence for both the uptake of species from the gas phase, and repartitioning of species from large particles onto smaller ones, though comparisons For individual cases are more difficult. From this modelling study, it can be concluded that in general, in the remote environment the exchange of hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and ammonia between aerosol particles and take up from the gas phase in the vicinity of cloud may be a very important mechanism in regulating the evolution of the aerosol spectrum. Further, the much more linear relationship between cloud droplet and accumulation mode aerosol number, which was observed in the measurements made during the ACE-2 HILLCLOUD project is supported by these modelling results. The implications of this for the indirect effect will be explored in future work.


Knowledge and design captured in the heads of people is a starting point for the abductive design process in which design thinking and its tools support the ideation and externalization of design prescriptions. Turning these design prescriptions into innovative solutions implies to further decompose design thinking artifacts while enriching them with semantics, as this enables a bridging opportunity to conceptual models representing actual enterprise and operational contexts. Realizing the bridging opportunity requires to intertwine digital twins of design thinking artifacts with the semantic expressiveness of conceptual modelling methods. The problem is that this requires a considerable knowledge engineering effort. To ease the problem, machine learning concepts are introduced into the Design2Model approach employed in OMiLAB. Furthermore, a corresponding tool is realized. As a result, the paper at hand reports on a novel application case in which machine learning and knowledge engineering is combined to realize – in an effective way – the bridging opportunity between design thinking and conceptual modelling. In particular, the case covers a component of the Design2Model tool responsible for digitalizing, semantifying, and processing of Post-it Notes from a design thinking workshop and their representations in diagrammatic conceptual models. The report focuses on technologies used and their qualitative artificial ex-post evaluation in a laboratory environment.


The Marx Brothers are universally considered to be classic Hollywood's preeminent comedy team and Duck Soup is generally regarded as their quintessential film. A topical satire of dictatorship and government in general, the movie was a critical failure and box-office let-down on its initial release in 1933.
 J. Hoberman's study of the film traces its reputation history, from the initial disappointment of its release, to its rise to cult status in the 1960s when the Marx's anarchic, anti-establishment humor seemed again timely. Hoberman places Duck Soup, alongside analogous comedies—Dr. Strangelove (1964), the Beatles films, Morgan! (1966), The President's Analyst (1967) and The Producers (1968). It attained canonical stature as a touchstone for Woody Allen and would be recognized by the Library of Congress in the 1990s.
 Hoberman's analysis provides a historical and political context as well as an in-depth production history, drawing on primary sources and emphasizing director McCarey's prior work along with the Marx Brothers as well as the situation at Paramount, a substantial synopsis, and an account of the movie's initial reception, concluding with its subsequent elevation to comic masterpiece.


The venous function has been assessed after deep vein thrombosis (DVT) by Doppler, strain gauge plethysmography (55 patients) and exercise plethysmography (10 patients) for a mean period of 63 weeks. Venous volume and venous outflow remain significantly lower throughout the study, whatever the site of thrombosis and the initial therapy (Heparin, local or general Urokinase). There are no significant correlations between clinical and functional parameters except for patients with proximal obstruction and popliteal valvular incompetence. Exercise plethysmography evaluates the importance of the calf pump in the postphlebitic syndrome. Static plethysmographic measurements prove to be unreliable for the long term prognosis whereas associated dynamic tests should be a better way to assess the haemodynamic changes after DVT and to control the efficiency of the prevention of the post-phlebitic syndrome.


The social processes involved in acquiring flint and stone in the Neolithic began to be considered over thirty years ago, promoting a more dynamic view of past extraction processes. Whether by quarrying, mining or surface retrieval, the geographic source locations of raw materials and their resultant archaeological sites have been approached from different methodological and theoretical perspectives. In recent years this has included the exploration of previously undiscovered sites, refined radiocarbon dating, comparative ethnographic analysis and novel analytical approaches to stone tool manufacture and provenancing. The aim of this volume in the Neolithic Studies Group Papers is to explore these new findings on extraction sites and their products. How did the acquisition of raw materials fit into other aspects of Neolithic life and social networks? How did these activities merge in creating material items that underpinned cosmology, status and identity? What are the geographic similarities, constraints and variables between the various raw materials, and how does the practise of stone extraction in the UK relate to wider extractive traditions in northwestern Europe? Eight papers address these questions and act as a useful overview of the current state of research on the topic.


Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is a highly aggressive tumor that arises from the mesothelial cells lining the pleural cavity. Asbestos is considered the major factor in the pathogenesis of this malignancy, with more than 80% of patients with a history of asbestos exposure. MPM is characterized by a long latency period, typically 20–40 years from the time of asbestos exposure to diagnosis, suggesting that multiple somatic genetic alterations are required for the tumorigenic conversion of a mesothelial cell. In the last few years, advancements in next-generation sequencing and "–omics" technologies have revolutionized the field of genomics and medical diagnosis. The focus of this chapter is to summarize recent studies which explore the molecular mechanisms underlying this disease and identify potential therapeutic targets in MPM.


Research problem definition and research question
For DSM's Sourcing Petrochemicals & Energy department, there are only a limited number of suppliers
big and capable enough to supply DSM. Therefore, DSM's current sourcing strategy is focused on the
development of long term strategic relationships with so called "strategic" suppliers. DSM's main objective
is to achieve a continuous improvement of DSM's supplier business processes, reduce DSM's cost and
develop and maintain a higher degree of "Sustainability" and "Innovation". "Sustainability" and "Innovation"
are part of DSM's core values and are increasingly part of DSM's key business growth drivers.
DSM's willingness to develop a long term commitment with suppliers can be acknowledged by the fact
that DSM is willing to share in-house information, train suppliers and share financial benefits with strategic
suppliers. To support this strategy, DSM is using "performance measurement" as a quality improvement
mechanism to measure the progress of suppliers over time and to use this information to develop shortterm
and long-term goals and objectives.
The main research focus of this thesis is related to the use of "performance measurement" by DSM's
Petrochemical and Energy group which comprises six business groups. The main research problem of
this thesis is related to the gathering, analysis and interpretation of gathered performance data from the
six business groups. Currently, each business group has its own Supplier Performance Measurement &
Evaluation System in place, which includes business group specific critical success factors and key
performance indicators. Also, the data analysis performed by the business groups differs. Some business
groups use traditional methods such as supplier rating with the use of scorecards or Microsoft Excel, while
other business groups use a more modern approach that includes the use of advanced SAP supplier
measurement & evaluation modules. The use of SAP is less time consuming and enables the user to
generate a complete supplier evaluation report. This is one of the reasons DSM management prefers SAP
over the traditional methods that are still in use. Therefore, the second objective of this research is to
develop a SAP environment in which the new Supplier Performance Measurement & Evaluation System
can operate.
Currently, DSM is not satisfied by the way performance data is gathered, analysed and processed.
DSM prefers one standardised Supplier Performance Measurement & Evaluation System for all business
groups, that includes an alignment of critical success factors and key performance indicators and allows
an easier and faster supplier performance evaluation. This is required to support DSM's current sourcing
objective that includes the continuous improvement of supplier capabilities.


'Burst' operating mode of mode-locked fiber lasers, presented for the first time in [1], has recently gained high potential in hard and soft tissue ablation [2, 3]. Pulse bursts consist of temporally closely spaced pulses, which during the ablation prevent rapid cycles of material heating and cooling. Bursts are typically generated at low repetition rate, which allows lower average power at the same level of the energy, therefore, avoiding long-term heat accumulation in the material. Hence, burst mode operation is superior in terms of energy required, ablation speed and avoidance of thermal effects, compared to uniform pulse trains. Currently to achieve the pulse burst generation, several acousto-optic modulators are introduced in the laser system to crop window of seed laser output pulse train or direct pulse burst generation from highly-pumped lasers [4, 5]. Here we propose a new concept of generating such pulse bursts using an ultralong mode-locked fibre laser, based on quasi-lossless concept, where the short laser cavity is enhanced with a long fiber span, forming a distributed Raman amplifier. This relaxes the restriction on non-compensated losses inherent in traditional ultralong soliton lasers and enables effective wave breaking and multiple-pulsing phenomena.


How architects measure light is changing. Human perception of light is ostensibly the reasonwhy spaces are illuminated, yet primary lighting guidelines used by architects measure how much light is falling on a surface, not the distribution of light to the human eye (Cuttle 2011). Recent lighting research related to human visual perception introduces new ideas that, while they challenge the status quo of lighting practice, build on decades of respected prior research. In this paper's case in point, researchers are developing new methodologies and tools to study luminance distribution in built environments (Inanici &Navvab 2006). The concept of studying luminance, or perceived light, instead of only illuminance has longbeen established in texts by leading lighting designers and researchers (Lam 1977, Boyce 2003, Steffy2008). This paper aims to provide information on luminance distribution as a factor of emerging importance in the design of quality illuminated environments. To this end, it reviews the use of illuminance and luminance metrics in contemporary architectural lighting practice and research contexts, exposing the objective and subjective aspects of light that these terms measure. It finds that new tools that analyze luminance data from high dynamic range photography and digital simulation models are joined by new lighting knowledge dissemination platforms, together breaking down barriers that prevent architects from designing with luminance concepts. Examination of these research and knowledge tools reveals a shift to across-disciplinary, user-centered approach to architectural lighting where realities of human visual perception and surrounding physical contexts enjoy renewed attention.


Diabetes mellitus is a worldwide public health problem. It manifests as either insulin-dependent or noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. It is associated with several dermatoses, which need to be addressed individually. Dermatoses often provide clues to the status of diabetes. The presence of dermatoses may compound the challenges confronted by the treating physician to modify the management of each patient. Several noninfective and infective dermatoses can act as a forewarning that a particular individual is likely to develop diabetes. This association is highlighted by specific entities, such as necrobiosis lipoidica and granuloma annulare and will be discussed below.


Using zirconium oxychloride hydrate ( ZrOCl2•8H2O) and ammonia water (NH3•H2O) as raw materials, and ammonium dihydrogen phosphate (NH4H2PO4) as additives, tetragonal zirconia (t-ZrO2) with size range of 8–12 nm were prepared by coprecipitation method under hydrothermal conditions. The influence factors on phase transformation and the particle size such as phosphor loading, hydrothermal temperature and calcination temperature were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform Roman spectra (FT-Roman), the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) method and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques etc. Research results show that a small amount of phosphor has been incorporated into the framework of ZrO2 crystals, producing a certain amount of oxygen vacancies. Phosphor can effectively restrain crystal particles growth and improve the thermal stability of metastable t-ZrO2. The phosphor doped t-ZrO2 had a high surface area (244.2 m2/g). In contrast to the pure ZrO2 particles readily aggregating, the phosphor species deposited on the framework of ZrO2 crystals prevented the agglomeration of the primary particles during calcinations.


This thesis is an investigation of how written words are processed and represented for output. A single case study of an acquired dysgraphic patient is presented who produced a serial position effect in spelling tasks characterised by an increase in error rate from word beginning of word end. This pattern is assumed to reflect a deficit in the retrieval of stored orthographic representations. It is suggested that the order of output of letters may be encoded by an ordering of activation values. The nature of the deficit in terms of distinctions between input and output and access and storage are considered. The findings are discussed in relation to an existing connectionist model of spelling which was implemented and lesioned in an attempt to reproduce certain aspects of the patients data. Furthermore, a detailed analysis of the patients spelling errors suggests that orthographic representations consist of representational units other than the single letter and whole word. Finally, the role of the semantic system in lexical retrieval was investigated with regards to the distinction between proper names and common nouns. The ability of two patients to write/read proper names semantically was studied. Differences in the representational properties of proper names may result in them being selectively spared or impaired.


Recent developments of fabrication, manipulation and characterization techniques at nanometer scale for low-dimensional nanostructures using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) are reviewed. Firstly two reliable methods for metallic nanostructure formation using tip material transfer are introduced. Secondly STM-manipulation of Au nanoclusters grown on self-assembled monolayers is introduced, where single electron tunneling effect is clearly observable using tunneling spectroscopy. As a new type of STM manipulation, a reversible control method of surface periodic structures (phases) on Si(100) at low temperatures is introduced. Finally using a single atom deposition technique using a controlled point contact, fabrication of one-dimensional quantum well on a single dimer row of Si(100) surface is explained. Combining the fabrication and characterization capabilities of STM in various environments, STM can be a powerful tool for the exploration of nanotechnology and nanoscience.


The optical transmissions spectra of amorphous Ge-S-Se films of chemical compositions (GeS2)50(GeSe2)50 and (GeS3)50(GeSe3)50, prepared by thermal evaporation, have been measured over the whole 400 to 800 nm spectral range. It has been ascertained that annealing of the films leads to the absorption edge shift into the short-wave spectral region. The values of pseudo-gap width Eg and film refraction index n have been determined. Changes in optical properties of films are caused by structural transformations taking place in them under laser illumination and annealing.


Adoptive transfer of T cells expressing transgenic TCR with antitumor specificity provides a hopeful new therapy for patients with advanced cancer. To fulfill a large need for TCR with high affinity and specificity for various tumor entities, we sought to identify parameters for rapid selection of CTL clones with suitable characteristics. Twelve CTL clones displaying different Ag sensitivities for the same peptide-MHC epitope of the melanoma-associated Ag tyrosinase were analyzed in detail. Better MHC-multimer binding and slower multimer release are thought to reflect stronger TCR–peptide-MHC interactions; thus, these parameters would seem well suited to identify higher avidity CTL. However, large disparities were found comparing CTL multimer binding with peptide sensitivity. In contrast, CD8+ CTL with superior Ag sensitivity mediated good tumor cytotoxicity and also secreted the triple combination of IFN-γ, IL-2, and TNF-α, representing a Th1 pattern often missing in lower avidity CTL. Furthermore, recipient lymphocytes were imbued with high Ag sensitivity, superior tumor recognition, as well as capacity for Th1 polycytokine secretion after transduction with the TCR of a high-avidity CTL. Thus, Th1 polycytokine secretion served as a suitable parameter to rapidly demark cytotoxic CD8+ T cell clones for further TCR evaluation.


From Dirac monopole theory to modern GUT's (Grand Unified Theories), magnetic monopoles have attracted much attention from physicists. While Dirac had demonstrated the consistency of magnetic monopoles with quantum eletrodynamics, 't Hooft and Polyakov demonstrated the necessity of monopoles in GUT's. Furthermore, the GUT's supply more clues about magnetic monopoles, including their exceptionally heavy masses ~10[superscript 16] GeV. Both current theories and previous monopole experiments have suggested that the flux of magnetic monopoles is likely to be very small, so it is necessary to have a large area detector to search for them. This thesis presents a search for fast moving magnetic monopoles with the MACRO detector.

The MACRO detector is a large underground detector located at Gran Sasso, Italy. Its primary goal is to search for magnetic monopoles at a flux level beyond the Parker bound. It is underground at 3,000 meters water equivalent depth, with a nominal acceptance of 10,000 m[superscript 2] sr. It employs liquid scintillator counters, streamer tubes and track-etch detectors which can supply both independent and cross checks for fast monopole candidate events.

This search is mainly based on the liquid scintillator counters with primary event selection and energy reconstruction from the ERP system. The 6.2 [mu]s trigger time is based on the time of flight of a fast moving monopole diagonally through one supermodule with a velocity ~10[superscript -2]c. The search uses the "six-month-run" data which were taken from December of 1992 to July of 1993 with the operation of the lower part of the detector. With energy reconstruction ability up to 8 GeV with 22% error, we apply a double-face high energy requirement to reject most muon events from the data sample. We then apply the WFD, streamer tube and strip information to reject non-monopole events.

The live time for this analysis is 5,300 hours, with acceptance of 4050 m[superscript 2]sr. With no fast monopole candidate event found, we establish an upper flux limit for the fast moving magnetic monopole at 90% confidence level of 3.03 x 10[superscript -15] cm[superscript -2]sr[superscript -1]s[superscript -1] for velocities from 10[superscript -2]c to 1.0c.


The city of Lisbon, like many others in the EU region, introduced a Low Emission Zone (LEZ) as a tool for improving air quality in its city centre. This kind of emission reduction schemes is always controversial since it might lead to significant changes in the daily behaviours of its inhabitants. In order to evaluate the effects of the measure, an estimation of the impact of the introduction of the Lisbon LEZ was performed. Real traffic counting and fleet characterization combined with CORINAR-based emission inventory methodology allowed to estimate the impacts of three different scenarios applied to the "business as usual" condition (current vehicle fleet) ranging from "no circulation from non- compliant vehicles" to an "aggressive fleet renewal". Results highlight the high percentage of atmospheric emissions of PM10 and NOx that might result from certain fleets like taxis and buses, especially because there was an emphasis in standardized/normalized estimations (emissions per 1000 vehicles) in order to allow different strategic approaches. The total reduction of PM10 emissions associated to each scenario vary between 6 ton.year-1 (scenario 2) and 8 ton.year-1 (scenario 1), or 25% and 34% less emissions. In terms of NOxemission reductions vary between 6 ton.year-1 (scenario 2) and 57 ton.year-1 (scenario 1), or 1% and 7% less emissions. The Lisbon LEZ is therefore much more efficient in reducing PM10 emissions compared to NOx. Major reduction in PM10 and NOx emissions are to be expected with a moderate intervention in the (relatively old) taxi fleet in Lisbon while for passenger cars the impact is limited. However in absolute terms and due to its urban mileage passenger cars should also continue being included in Lisbon LEZ. Simultaneously, an effort in the increase of dedicated lanes for public transport should be made, for further reductions in PM10 and NOx emissions.


Twenty-one individual chlorobiphenyls (CBs), including the most toxic non-ortho-CBs, were determined in 52 samples of sea mammals, harbour porpoise (Phoceana phoceana), dabs (Limanda limanda), seals (Phoca vitulina) and dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). The toxic non-ortho-CBs and mono-ortho-CBs were isolated from the di- and tri-ortho-CBs using a pyrenylsilica HPLC column prior to the final determination by GC with electron-capture detection. The distribution of the CBs in the different species were studied by principal component analysis. Separations of males and females, young and adult individuals and the different species of sea mammals were obtained based on the degree of accumulation of CBs.


Modern geosteering is heavily dependent on real-time interpretation of deep electromagnetic (EM) measurements. We have developed a methodology to construct a deep neural network (DNN) model trained to reproduce a full set of extra-deep EM logs consisting of 22 measurements per logging position. The model is trained in a 1D layered environment consisting of up to seven layers with different resistivity values. A commercial simulator provided by a tool vendor is used to generate a training data set. The data set size is limited because the simulator provided by the vendor is optimized for sequential execution. Therefore, we design a training data set that embraces the geologic rules and geosteering specifics supported by the forward model. We use this data set to produce an EM simulator based on a DNNwithout access to the proprietary information about the EM tool configuration or the original simulator source code. Despite using a relatively small training set size, the resulting DNN forward model is quite accurate for the considered examples: a multilayer synthetic case and a section of a published historical operation from the Goliat field. The observed average evaluation time of 0.15 ms per logging position makes it also suitable for future use as part of evaluation-hungry statistical and/or Monte Carlo inversion algorithms within geosteering workflows.


We study a generic model governing optical beam propagation in media featuring a nonlocal nonlinear response, namely a two-dimensional defocusing nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) model. Using a framework of multiscale expansions, the NLS model is reduced first to a bidirectional model, namely a Boussinesq or a Benney-Luke-type equation, and then to the unidirectional Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (KP) equation – both in Cartesian and cylindrical geometry. All the above models arise in the description of shallow water waves, and their solutions are used for the construction of relevant soliton solutions of the nonlocal NLS. Thus, the connection between water wave and nonlinear optics models suggests that patterns of water may indeed exist in light. We show that the NLS model supports intricate patterns that emerge from interactions between soliton stripes, as well as lump and ring solitons, similarly to the situation occurring in shallow water.


Speeding on residential/neighborhood streets is a common citizen complaint, but previous research on the effects of lowering speed limits has been limited mostly to high-volume, high-speed roads. On such facilities, studies indicated that a reduction in speed was not commonly attained by reducing the posted speed limits alone. This paper describes residential studies in the United States in Springfield and Columbia that found speed limit reductions from 30 mph (48 km/h) to 25 mph (40 km/h) did produce statistically significant speed decreases. In addition to the speed limit reduction, other issues investigated were the use of specialized speed limit signs containing a yellow border and an additional safety message, pace car stickers and neighborhood educational campaigns. The engineering studies were used by each City to guide their decisions to lower residential speed limits citywide.


Descriptive research design was followed for carrying out the study. The State of Andhra Pradesh was selected purposively for the study as the investigator hails from the state. Out of 23 districts of Andhra Pradesh, 16 were selected using sample random sampling technique. Based on the criteria of highest circulation as well as the availability of the subscribers for each of the farm magazines, three Telugu farm magazines were selected for the study. They were the publications of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University (Vyavasayam-I category) state department of agriculture (Padipantalu-II category) and private agency (AnnadataIII category), respectively as denoted. To study readability of farm magazines three, hundred word samples were purposively selected from the 'others', which was found to be commonly followed format of presentation (recorded high frequency) from each of the three farm magazines. Thus, a total of nine, 100 word samples from three farm magazines formed the sample to assess the readability. The findings with regard to the level of reading ease of the three farm magazines were found to be 'very difficult' with reading ease score of less than 15. The findings with regard to level of human interest in three farm magazines were 'dull' with human interest scores of 16.87, 20.74 and 19.19 respectively. Level of human interest can be increased to 'dramatic' from 'dull' through farmer-led journalism wherein farmers need to be encouraged to document their experiences. ABSTRACT


In certain direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation scenarios some of the source directions are known to the operator even before measurements are acquired. It is then undesirable to use regular DOA-algorithms which waste data-samples estimating the known directions. Additionally, in some applications it is known that the signals emanating from the known directions are uncorrelated with those coming from the unknown directions. In this article we present a novel algorithm which exploits the combination of such prior knowledge in a manner more efficient (in terms of accuracy) than any algorithm known to the authors. Through numerical Monte-Carlo simulations we show the estimator to attain the theoretical accuracy bound for significantly lower signal-to-noise ratios than current state-of-the-art methods. Additionally we show the proposed algorithm to treat the stricter problem of entirely uncorrelated emitters better than current state of the art.


In this paper, making use of recent statistical physics techniques and models, we address the specific role of randomness in financial markets, both at the micro and the macro level. In particular, we review some recent results obtained about the effectiveness of random strategies of investment, compared with some of the most used trading strategies for forecasting the behaviour of real financial indexes. We also push forward our analysis by means of a self-organised criticality model, able to simulate financial avalanches in trading communities with different network topologies, where a Pareto-like power law behaviour of wealth spontaneously emerges. In this context, we present new findings and suggestions for policies based on the effects that random strategies can have in terms of reduction of dangerous financial extreme events, i.e. bubbles and crashes.


Background and Objectives: The Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education has introduced clinical governance as the accepted model of hospital healthcare improvement. Subsequently, a growing movement for implementing clinical governance in health facilities has emerged. This study aimed to explore the opinions of the relevant experts and executives to provide insight into current challenges, barriers and inadequacies in implementation of clinical governance in Iranian health settings.

Methods: A qualitative approach was adopted. A purposeful sample of 17 participants was interviewed in the spring of 2012. The study sample was selected from among clinical governance executives of teaching hospitals affiliated with Kerman University of Medical Sciences and the academicians involved in administration of the clinical governance. The Framework method was adopted for data analysis.

Findings: Seven themes explain challenges of implementing clinical governance, including human resources, management, communication, training, culture, resources, and monitoring and regulations.
Adequate quality human resources, particularly experts in clinical governance should be dedicated.
Leadership commitment to support implementation of clinical governance should be improved. Administrators need to get more familiarized with the concept and requirements of clinical governance. High ranking authorities should avoid rapid turnover of management teams.
Adequate communication regarding of clinical governance is needed to be established among different deputies of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. Hospitals must be encouraged to share their experiences in clinical governance.
Training programs should be based on needs assessment, have definite goals, and focus more on practical aspects of clinical governance.
The felt need for change must be promoted among hospitals' administrations and staff. Teamwork between staff must be promoted. Expectation for rapid achievements and early frustration in time taking reforms must be addressed by appropriate training.
Appropriate infrastructure and mechanisms for reporting, interpretation, and analysis of quality indicator data should be developed. Adequate financial and physical resources should be appropriated.
Efficient monitoring and assessment systems must be implemented. Progress in implementation of clinical governance should be appropriately supervised and evaluated. Constant feedback on staff performance and outcomes of interventions should be provided.
Adequate supportive laws and regulations, legally guaranteeing implementation of clinical governance should be developed.

Conclusions: Considering inter-relation of the identified themes and subthemes, our study recommends that a systems approach should be adopted for successful implementation of clinical governance. While fundamental solutions to the identified challenges require long-term reforms in the health system, some obstacles such as inadequate leadership support, rapid rotation of managers, lack of financial and physical resources, inefficient monitoring system, and inefficient training programs may be addressed in a relatively short run.


Each pixel in a photorealistic, computer generated picture is calculated by approximately integrating all the light arriving at the pixel, from the virtual scene. A common strategy to calculate these high-dimensional integrals is to average the estimates at stochastically sampled locations. The strategy with which the sampled locations are chosen is of utmost importance in deciding the quality of the approximation, and hence rendered image. We derive connections between the spectral properties of stochastic sampling patterns and the first and second order statistics of estimates of integration using the samples. Our equations provide insight into the assessment of stochastic sampling strategies for integration. We show that the amplitude of the expected Fourier spectrum of sampling patterns is a useful indicator of the bias when used in numerical integration. We deduce that estimator variance is directly dependent on the variance of the sampling spectrum over multiple realizations of the sampling pattern. We then analyse Gaussian jittered sampling, a simple variant of jittered sampling, that allows a smooth trade-off of bias for variance in uniform (regular grid) sampling. We verify our predictions using spectral measurement, quantitative integration experiments and qualitative comparisons of rendered images.


PURPOSE
CC chemokine receptor 4 (CCR4) is expressed by peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) and is associated with poor outcomes. Mogamulizumab (KW-0761) is a defucosylated humanized anti-CCR4 antibody engineered to exert potent antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity. This multicenter phase II study evaluated the efficacy and safety of mogamulizumab in patients with relapsed PTCL and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL).

PATIENTS AND METHODS
Mogamulizumab (1.0 mg/kg) was administered intravenously once per week for 8 weeks to patients with relapsed CCR4-positive PTCL or CTCL. The primary end point was the overall response rate, and the secondary end points included safety, progression-free survival (PFS), and overall survival (OS).

RESULTS
A total of 38 patients were enrolled, and 37 patients received mogamulizumab. Objective responses were noted for 13 of 37 patients (35%; 95% CI, 20% to 53%), including five patients (14%) with complete response. The median PFS was 3.0 months (95% CI, 1.6 to 4.9 months), and the median OS was not calculated. The mean maximum and trough mogamulizumab concentrations (± standard deviation) after the eighth infusion were 45.9 ± 9.3 and 29.0 ± 13.3 μg/mL, respectively. The most common adverse events were hematologic events, pyrexia, and skin disorders, all of which were reversible and manageable.

CONCLUSION
Mogamulizumab exhibited clinically meaningful antitumor activity in patients with relapsed PTCL and CTCL, with an acceptable toxicity profile. Further investigation of mogamulizumab for treatment of T-cell lymphoma is warranted.


BACKGROUND
Historically, tumor burden has been considered an impediment to efficacy of immunotherapeutic agents, including vaccines, stem cell transplant, cytokine therapy, and intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin. This effect has been attributed to hypoxic zones in the tumor core contributing to poor T-cell infiltration, formation of immunosuppressive stromal cells, and development of therapy-resistant cell populations. However, the association between tumor burden and efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors is unknown. We sought to determine the association between radiographic tumor burden parameters and efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced lung cancer.

MATERIALS AND METHODS
We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with advanced lung cancer treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors. Demographic, disease, and treatment data were collected. Serial tumor dimensions were recorded according to RECIST version 1.1. Associations between radiographic tumor burden (baseline sum of longest diameters, longest single diameter) and clinical outcomes (radiographic response, progression-free survival, and overall survival) were determined using log-rank tests, Cox proportional-hazard regression, and logistic regression.

RESULTS
Among 105 patients, the median baseline sum of longest diameters (BSLD) was 6.4 cm; median longest single diameter was 3.6 cm. BSLD was not associated with best radiographic, progression-free survival, or overall survival. In univariate and multivariate analyses, no significant associations were observed for the other radiographic parameters and outcomes when considered as categorical or continuous variables.

CONCLUSION
Although tumor burden has been considered a mediator of efficacy of earlier immunotherapies, in advanced lung cancer it does not appear to affect outcomes from immune checkpoint inhibitors.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE
Historically, tumor burden has been considered an impediment to the efficacy of various immunotherapies, including vaccines, cytokines, allogeneic stem cell transplant, and intravesical bacillus Calmette-Guérin. However, in the present study, no association was found between tumor burden and efficacy (response rate, progression-free survival, overall survival) of immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced lung cancer. These findings suggest that immune checkpoint inhibitors may provide benefit across a range of disease burden, including bulky tumors considered resistant to other categories of immunotherapy.


A series of novel chiral ruthenium(II) complexes with phenolic hydroxyl groups were synthesized and characterized. These ruthenium(II) complexes exhibited strong dual inhibition of topoisomerases I and IIα, with approximate IC50 values of 3-15 mM, which were more efficient than the widely clinically used single TopoI poison camptothecin (CPT) or TopoIIα poison etoposide (VP-16). Δ-1 and Λ-1 with more hydroxyls were observed to be more potent inhibitors. To further evaluate the mechanism of the complexes at a cellular level, these complexes were investigated for their effect on cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and induction of apoptosis. The results indicated that ruthenium(II) complexes permeated the nuclei in cancer cells and inhibited the activities of nuclear enzymes topoisomerases I and IIα, then triggered DNA damage and induced apoptosis in the cancer cells. The simultaneous inhibition of TopoI and TopoIIα induced the death of cancer cells, which may be a promising and effective strategy for cancer therapy.


Prostate cancer remains a common cancer diagnosis and cause of cancer-related death in men. Despite its high prevalence, screening for prostate cancer for early detection remains controversial. This article outlines evidence from contemporary prostate cancer screening clinical trials and presents an overview of therapeutic options across the spectrum of prostate-cancer states.


Strategic alignment is considered an important construct in the study of business value related to IT projects. The proposed research study aims to identify and analyse the key determinants of business value related to IT projects using a business/IT strategy alignment perspective in Saudi public-sector organisations. The study will utilise a mixed methods design that includes a sample of senior managerial staff drawn from the financial and economic sectors in Saudi Arabia. Qualitative data will be collected via semi-structured interviews (n=15-20 participants) and quantitative data will be collected via survey (n=150-200 participants). Quantitative data will be analysed using SmartPLS software and qualitative data will be analysed using the NVivo software. The key findings from the data set will be discussed in depth to provide a deeper understanding of the determinants of business value related to IT projects from a strategic alignment perspective in public-sector organisations in Saudi Arabia.


Basically, zakat in Islamic teaching is the one of effective and strategic ways to be developed in increasing prosperous of people. So, it can be very potential. The potency of zakat will be great and useful if the institution of zakat administrator can manage effectively and overcome all classic problems always faced by administrators. Managerial skill, accountability, integrity, and truth are the main capitals to manage zakat . Meanwhile, empowering, supervising, and teaching on the people who received zakat (mustahiq) are some important things that should be thought. Therefore, the institution of zakat management should get the way to change people perspective from receiver to giver (mustahiq to muzakki) . The strategies are to accustom for paying zakat , to be creative and smart in collecting zakat , distribute zakat effectively, create high quality of human resources, and to be focus on the programs of developing zakat . DOI:  10.15408/ajis.v16i1.2899


Drug Abuse: Etiology, Prevention, and Cessation serves as a comprehensive source of information on the topography of, causes of, and solutions to drug problems. The text covers conceptual issues regarding definitions of drug use, misuse, abuse, and dependence. Importantly, the text addresses a variety of theoretical bases currently applied to the development of prevention and cessation programs, specific program content from evidence-based programs, and program processes and modalities. Information regarding etiology, prevention, and cessation is neatly delineated into (a) neurobiological, (b) cognitive, (c) micro-social, and (d) macro-social/physical environmental units. The book is ideally suited as a primary source for students and professionals in chemical dependence programs, clinical and health psychology, public health, preventive medicine, nursing, sociology, and social work, among other fields, on the nature, causes, prevention, and cessation of the abuse of legal and illegal drugs.


Empirical work suggests the presence of a public sector wage premium, the reasons for which are investigated in this paper. The results demonstrate a higher premium paid to women and premium decreases concurrent with skills. Job security undermines the incentive to work hard and forces the public sector to pay higher wages. Thus, the public sector wage premium can be used as an indicator of inefficiency in the public sector.


The WSOM (wavelet self-organizing map) model, a neural network for the creation of wavelet bases adapted to the distribution of input data, is introduced. The model provides an efficient online method to construct high-dimensional wavelet bases. Simulations of a 1D function approximation problem illustrate how WSOM adapts to non-uniformly distributed input data, outperforming the discrete wavelet transform. A speaker-independent vowel recognition benchmark task demonstrates how the model constructs high-dimensional bases using low-dimensional wavelets.


The hot spot stress or the notch strain alleviates the welding detail dependency of S-N curve to some extent. This paper suggests a new stress model which alleviates the dependency further, thus the fatigue strengths of several welding details of same material can be evaluated with the S-N curve of the base material. A stress at the hot spot of a weld joint is decomposed into two components; linear rising one, and rapid rising one which is inversely proportional to the distance from the hot spot. For the stress decomposition, a formula is proposed with which the configuration of stress distribution near a hot spot is fitted exactly. The new stress model makes use of a geometric characteristic of the stress distribution curve by the formula. The stress model is applied to five different weld joints. As the result, the experimental fatigue data are plotted very closely to the S-N curve of the base material


A set of Tests of Scientific Thinking were de veloped for possible use as criterion measures in re search on creativity. Scores on the tests describe both quality and quantity of ideas produced in for mulating hypotheses, evaluating proposals, solving methodological problems, and devising methods for measuring constructs. The tests were administered to 3,500 candidates for admission to graduate school in psychology, using an item-sampling proce dure. Reliabilities based on 45-minute tests were adequate for research purposes. Correlations with GRE scores were low, especially for scores based on number of ideas. Follow-up questionnaires were sent to students asking for information about grad uate school attendance, grades, accomplishments during the first year of graduate study, and self-ap praisals of professional skills. Scores based on quantity (number of responses, number of unusual responses, and number of unusual responses that were also of high quality) were significantly related to self-appraisals and to reports of such profes sional accomplishments as collaborating in re search, publishing scientific papers, and designing and maintaining research apparatus. The quantity scores also were related to indices reflecting the quality of the department attended and to conven tional evaluations of student performance. GRE scores were better at predicting these indices of quality but poorer as predictors of accomplishments and self-appraisals.


As anthropology's focus has become increasingly urban, cosmopolitan, and Western, conventional understandings of ethnographic authority, access, and power relations are contested and problematized in new, more complex ways. This essay closely examines the politics of research and the process of ethnographic fieldwork. It focuses on the centrality of texts, not as theoretical models, but as critical sources of data and as strategic sites of negotiation between the ethnographer and her consultants-French chocolatiers. Texts are integral to a complex politics of identity which engage chocolatiers directly with representatives and structures of power. Chocolatiers supply scholarly, popular, and administrative texts to the ethnographer. They also solicit and selectively appropriate portions of her ethnography as a device to affirm their collective identity and to validate their strategic goals. [France, fieldwork, power, craft, identity] Introduction In 1996, five years after my fieldwork among French artisanal chocolatiers in Paris and southwest France had ostensibly ended, an unsettling event occurred. I received a package from Guy Mourier, a friend and consultant from southwest France. He enclosed a copy of the March 1996 issue of the journal (La Confiserie1) published in Paris by the chocolatiers' professional organization. He drew my attention to a feature article on his business of which he was justifiably proud and then added, rather mysteriously, that there was another article in the same issue sure to interest me. As I studied the journal table of contents and found my name listed, I began to feel quite uneasy. I had conducted fieldwork among French chocolatiers during a period (1989 and 1990-91) which posed diverse challenges for them in the form of intrusive European Community (EC) regulation and intensified international competition. Fearing the loss of both craft identity and market share, chocolatiers had sought to authenticate and institutionalize a unique French art of chocolate production. This had involved them in difficult, ongoing negotiations with bureaucratic officials in Paris and Brussels on critical issues ranging from training and certification to new norms of production and labeling. It had also engaged them in a new politics of identity and representation aimed not only at state and EC officials but also at members of their own craft community, a changing clientele, and the ethnographer. The analysis, production, and dissemination of numerous written and visual texts were and remain central to their efforts. In that context French chocolatiers, both national craft leaders and local artisanal practitioners, not only read but also produced texts, often in collaboration with cultural taste makers (such as food critics, restaurateurs, journalists, and intellectuals) and state officials. From my earliest contact with chocolatiers in 1989, they had not only welcomed my interest in their craft by opening their businesses and archives to me but had also offered to publish my research. Between 1991 when I left France and 1993 when I defended the dissertation based on that fieldwork research, I had received periodic inquiries about the status of my writing from both national craft leaders in Paris and local chocolatiers in Southwest France. Had I finished my dissertation? When would it be published? Could they have a French version of it? When it was finally finished in 1993, I had written to the journal editor of La Confiserie explaining the problems posed by the translation of a 400 page document and offered instead to provide a copy in English. A year later, in August 1994, both he and the vice president of the chocolatiers' professional organization separately sent urgent requests for a copy of my thesis-in English. They wanted to present it at a special plenary session of their craft congress to which several well-placed French politicians and European technocrats had been invited. …