"Trafficking" is not a thing. It is not an event. You cannot point a finger at it or take a photograph of it. "Trafficking" is a convenient, simple and useful label attached not to a single phenomenon but to a complex series of states and events that individually may or may not be harmful or wrong."1Increasing attention has been given to the issue of trafficking in human beings worldwide because it is a gross violation of human dignity and human rights. Hundreds of thousands of women and children are now commodities sold on an international market to be exploited in prostitution, pornography and forced labour. No country is immune because trafficking is a problem that goes beyond national borders. This thesis focuses on the example of one country, namely Georgia, and its position in the fight against trafficking in human beings. The thesis employs a qualitative research strategy and a case study research design. As a developing country, Georgia greatly depends on assistance from various stakeholders from the international community and local civil society. Thus, the thesis examines a network of cooperation for the formulation of anti-trafficking policy with the help of foreign governments, international organizations and local non-governmental organizations. The conclusions drawn from the conducted research can be summarized as follows: anti-trafficking policy is a specific policy area where issue experts having knowledge about various aspects of this phenomenon count as much as establishments possessing political, economic and organizational power. Thus, anti-trafficking policy formulation and development in Georgia can serve as an example of an issue network.


The ball-milling process involves both fracturing and welding of particles. Particles of ductile materials are very likely to attach to each other when entrapped between balls. Therefore, conventional milling methods fail to grind ductile materials into nanoparticles. However, using brittle particles together with the starting materials, one can fracture and highly activate ductile particles through planetary ball milling. During the milling pro- cess, brittle particles are easily fractured down, and their sharp edges chop the particles of the ductile materials incessantly into pieces until both ductile and brittle particles are nano-sized (a process which is unlikely, if not impossible, to accomplish by ball milling of ductile materials alone). In this chapter, the effects of ball milling of ductile materials (e.g., graphite, aluminum, and zinc) together with a brittle material (here, NaCl), for preparation of metal nanoparticles or metal oxide nanoparticles are investigated. A theoretical explana- tion of the mechanism is also presented based on the facts and practical measurements.


The representation of adolescent same-sex love in Daniel Ribeiro's Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho (2014) and Aluizio Abranches's Do Comeco ao Fim (2009) stands out from other treatments of adolescence and homosexuality in Brazilian/Latin-American cinema. The movies' setting within an urban upper-class environment allows for a conception of adolescence as a prolonged period of carefree exploration. By intertwining the experience of adolescence with the discovery of emergent sexuality, the movies develop a model of sensual, gentle masculinity and a reciprocal concept of homosexual love, thus undermining the paradigmatic juxtaposition of active masculinity and passive femininity that has dominated cinematic representations of homosexual characters and same sex-encounters in Latin-American cinema.


Sir We read the paper by Dr Bouvy (Br J Surg 1997; 84: 358-61) with interest and have comments on the statistical analysis and experimental design of the study. They indicated that the normal distribution is verified by a histogram but in Table 1 one can observe that the standard deviation of each group is large, resulting in coefficients of variation greater than 50 per cent. This value should not exceed 30 per cent in normally distributed data. A normal distribution concerning the whole group of animals is not sufficient to perform parametric tests such as analysis of variance (ANOVA), Student's t test, etc. Each group should be normally distributed within itself and with group sizes of less than 15 this is a questionable claim. The correct statistical approach would have been to have used the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test instead of ANOVA'. Bacteria, endotoxin and particulate material can be absorbed by the diaphragmatic lacunae and reach the systemic circulation via the thoracic ductz. The importance of parathymic lymph nodes that drain the peritoneal cavity on local eradication of tumour cells was stressed in an earlier well conducted study'. For these reasons it might be more relevant to take into account tumour growth in the parathymic lymph nodes and free tumour cells in the peripheral blood. In the second part of the study the authors inoculated tumour cells into the renal subcapsular space via laparotomy. Laparotomy is one of the major variables of the study and one group of animals underwent two laparotomies, while the laparoscopy group had only one. The effect of opening the peritoneum has been shown to be detrimental on immunity by others4,'. The effect of an additional laparotomy on immunity is not well documented but may cause a linear or exponential effect. If exponential, immunity may be more depressed than expected in the laparotomy group. It might have been more appropriate to use a dorsal flank incision for inserting the tumour into the renal subcapsular area in both groups to eliminate the effect of additional laparotomy.


RATIONALE, AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
Recovery of language function in individuals with post-stroke aphasia is associated with a variety of patient and stroke-related indices. Amidst a complex interaction of a multitude of variables, clinicians are faced with the arduous challenge of predicting aphasia recovery patterns and subsequently, long-term outcomes in these individuals. Unfortunately, predictive factors are highly variable making prognosis of aphasia recovery difficult. Therefore, the objective of this review was to assess the influence of patient-related and stroke-related factors on language recovery in individuals with post-stroke aphasia.

METHODS
We completed a literature review to assess and identify evidence-based patient and stroke-related variables shown to be influential in aphasia recovery.

RESULTS
A range of patient-related (gender, handedness, age, education, socio-economic status and intelligence) and stroke-related indices (initial severity, lesion site and lesion size) were identified as potential influential factors to post-stroke aphasia recovery. Initial severity of aphasia emerged as the factor most predictive of long-term aphasia recovery. Other influential factors of post-stroke language recovery included lesion site and size.

CONCLUSIONS
Stroke-related factors, including aphasia severity, lesion site and lesion size, appear most critical to post-stroke aphasia recovery. The findings presented in this review offer clinicians an evidenced-based framework to assist in prediction of post-stroke aphasia recovery patterns and subsequent long-term functional communication outcomes.


Many integrins mediate cell attachment to the extracellular matrix by recognizing short tripeptide sequences such as arginine–glycine–aspartic acid and leucine–aspartate–valine. Using phage display, we have now found that the leukocyte-specific β2 integrins bind sequences containing a leucine–leucine–glycine (LLG) tripeptide motif. An LLG motif is present on intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, the major β2 integrin ligand, but also on several matrix proteins, including von Willebrand factor. We developed a novel β2 integrin antagonist peptide CPCFLLGCC (called LLG-C4), the structure of which was determined by nuclear magnetic resonance. The LLG-C4 peptide inhibited leukocyte adhesion to ICAM-1, and, interestingly, also to von Willebrand factor. When immobilized on plastic, the LLG-C4 sequence supported the β2 integrin–mediated leukocyte adhesion, but not β1 or β3 integrin–mediated cell adhesion. These results suggest that LLG sequences exposed on ICAM-1 and on von Willebrand factor at sites of vascular injury play a role in the binding of leukocytes, and LLG-C4 and peptidomimetics derived from it could provide a therapeutic approach to inflammatory reactions.


Life expectancy is an important measure for health research and policymaking. Linking individual survey records to mortality data can overcome limitations in vital statistics data used to examine differential mortality by permitting the construction of death rates based on information collected from respondents at the time of interview and facilitating estimation of life expectancies for subgroups of interest. However, use of complex survey data linked to mortality data can complicate the estimation of standard errors. This paper presents a case study of approaches to variance estimation for life expectancies based on life tables, using the National Health Interview Survey Linked Mortality Files. The approaches considered include application of Chiang's traditional method, which is straightforward but does not account for the complex design features of the data; balanced repeated replication (BRR), which is more complicated but accounts more fully for the design features; and compromise, 'hybrid' approaches, which can be less difficult to implement than BRR but still account partially for the design features. Two tentative conclusions are drawn. First, it is important to account for the effects of the complex sample design, at least within life‐table age intervals. Second, accounting for the effects within age intervals but not across age intervals, as is done by the hybrid methods, can yield reasonably accurate estimates of standard errors, especially for subgroups of interest with more homogeneous characteristics among their members. Published in 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The mixture formation prior to the ignition process is a key element in the diesel combustion because it significantly influences throughout the combustion process and exhaust emissions. Purpose of this study is to clarify the effects of ambient temperature, oxygen concentration and air entrainment into the spray on the heat release process during ignition delay periods.
This study investigated diesel combustion fundamentally using a rapid compression machine and high speed digital video camera. The detail behavior of spray evaporation, spray interference and mixture formation during ignition delay period was investigated using the schlieren photography system. Ignition process, flame development and images of the spray ignition with extremely dark flame were investigated by light sensitivity direct photography method. Heat release processes were analyzed by pressure measurement in the chamber.
Results show that short endothermic process produces slow heat recovery, leading to gentle increase of initial heat release rate. Low oxygen concentration produces slow heat recovery process rather than long endothermic period, which suggests fuel-air mixing is required to promote chemical reaction for the case of low oxygen-concentration atmosphere. Initial heat release is activated to some extent by increase of air entrainment into spray during ignition delay period. However, excessive air entrainment increases initial heat release little and rather affects diffusion combustion.


In this paper, we introduce a new vision-language pre-trained model -- ImageBERT -- for image-text joint embedding. Our model is a Transformer-based model, which takes different modalities as input and models the relationship between them. The model is pre-trained on four tasks simultaneously: Masked Language Modeling (MLM), Masked Object Classification (MOC), Masked Region Feature Regression (MRFR), and Image Text Matching (ITM). To further enhance the pre-training quality, we have collected a Large-scale weAk-supervised Image-Text (LAIT) dataset from Web. We first pre-train the model on this dataset, then conduct a second stage pre-training on Conceptual Captions and SBU Captions. Our experiments show that multi-stage pre-training strategy outperforms single-stage pre-training. We also fine-tune and evaluate our pre-trained ImageBERT model on image retrieval and text retrieval tasks, and achieve new state-of-the-art results on both MSCOCO and Flickr30k datasets.


This research is aimed at looking into demography as a determinant of the education system of Japan, Nigeria and South Africa. The various manifestations of this phenomenon as it affects the afore-said countries are looked into in order to derive lessons South Africa could learn from Japan and Nigeria. The main purpose of an education system is to meet the needs of the target group for which it has been designed. Demographic needs are but one of the few needs of the target group that have to be addressed. The literature study has been used in order to gain a better understanding of the demographic issues with regard to the countries in question. Chapter 2 presents some theoretical guidelines with regard to demography as a determinant of the education system. Chapter 3 presents demographic issues pertaining to Japan and how the Japanese system of education takes cognisance of such issues. Subsequently, lessons which could be learnt by the South African education system are highlighted. Chapter 4 is devoted to the presentation of the demographic issues as determinant of the education system of Nigeria and how the Nigerian education system takes cognisance of such issues. Subsequently, lessons which could be of value to South Africa are mernioned. Chapter 5 concentrates on the description of the demographic conditions in South Africa and how these conditions are taken cognisance of by the education system. Chapter 6 presents the summary of the preceding chapters. Findings are presented and recommendations are made with a view to improving the South African situation.


Salt stress is one of the harmful abiotic stress factors. It makes agricultural lands especially in arid and semi-arid regions useless despite the efforts. More than six percent of total world agricultural lands are on the edge of vanishing due to salt stress. Salinity in soil occurs as a result of the factors such as lack of drainage, improper irrigation, excessive accumulation of soluble salts. Salinity limits the growth of plants. Despite the main results, some results of plants due to these limitations vary from species to species. The negative effects get morphological, biochemical and physiological reactions from plants. Slowed or stopped growth of roots and shoots, closuring of stomata, germination slowing, decreased or stopped development of seedling, deterioration of photosynthetic activity are the main reactions of plants to stress. On the other hand, plants also develop tolerance mechanisms as a result of some auxiliaries for surviving under adverse conditions. Plants have tendency to protect themselves from salinity with osmotic protectants synthesized by them such as sugars, proline, amino acids, glycine betaine. In this review, the responses of plants to salt stress were investigated and gathered.


Michel Henry was, fundamentally, neither a thinker of the Krisis, nor a philosopher of "critical" thought. In his Barbarism, however, and his two volumes on Marx, Henry criticized forcefully the culture of his time and place. Culture, Henry suggests, has brought about an over-turning (rovesciamento) that has obscured life, its inner essence. Henry's phenomenology, which opposes itself explicitly to this over-turning, strives to grasp, and to re-turn (controrovesciare) thought again, to that which, in his view, has been concealed. This doubled turn—an over-turning of an over-turning, advanced in order to restore what modern thought has subtracted, i.e., life—represents the most fundamental, genuinely, 'critical' aspect of Henry's philosophy. The question here, then, is to see whether and how Henry's phenomenological proposal can regain (ritrovato) what has been forgotten and concealed, and how this subtracted (rimosso) element can be returned (ridonato) again to thought. If this can be clarified, the genuinely critical character of Henry's thought can be constituted, as capable both of protesting against its time and of proposing elements for its renewal. In this essay, I will introduce certain characteristic themes of Barbarism, in order to establish a connection between barbarism and its critique. This connection will be established through a clarification of two such radical reversals in our age; those of culture, on one hand, and psychoanalysis on the other. In order to investigate this connection, and in order to engage the general theme of a reversal (rovescio), I will take a detour, in order to begin with what I will define as a forgotten overturning (rovescio).


type="main"> This article discusses the effect of deferred tax liabilities (DTLs) on an impairment test of goodwill. While IAS 12.66 acknowledges that DTLs arising in a business combination influence the amount of goodwill an entity recognises, International Financial Reporting Standards are silent on the implications of this rule, in particular that DTLs trigger a 'day one' impairment of goodwill. To avoid this impairment charge, the professional literature suggests deducting DTLs from the carrying amount of the cash generating unit. This method appears contentious conceptually and is unable to shield the entity from an impairment in subsequent periods. The article discusses four proposed solutions to the problem, but recommends a conceptual re-think of the mechanical recognition of deferred taxes in a business combination.


E-commerce is the fastest growing subsector within retail trade, yet the exact nature of competition between physical stores and the online channel is thinly studied empirically. Following a period of rapid growth, national aggregate establishment counts for the bookstore industry declined by over 40% between 1994 to 2012. I measure the differential effect of online competition on brick-and-mortar bookstores, using unique establishment-level data between 1987 to 2012 combined with measures of e-commerce levels from Forrester Research's Technographics Survey. To trace out the impact of e-commerce, I exploit geographic and temporal variation in the level of online activities. I find that online competition has a larger negative effect on large chain stores than on single-unit stores. Furthermore, bookstores that were the most insulated from online competition are precisely the stores that sell a wide array of products outside of books, such as food, gift cards, and clothing. In response to surging online competition, stores have expanded their non-book product offerings over time. However, the largest bookstores chains were still most negatively impacted given that they were relative inefficient at non-book retailing. I develop a dynamic oligopoly model of the bookstore industry to quantify the effect of online retail on equilibrium market structure. One implication of the model is that the rise of online competition has disproportionately reduced long-run profitability for the large chains by over 30 % in the last time period of study, despite their non-book presence increasing the most over time.


Accurate segmentation of cellular images remains an elusive task due to the intrinsic variability in morphology of biological structures. Complete manual segmentation is unfeasible for large datasets, and while supervised methods have been proposed to automate segmentation, they often rely on manually generated ground truths which are especially challenging and time consuming to generate in biology due to the requirement of domain expertise. Furthermore, these methods have limited generalization capacity, requiring additional manual labels to be generated for each dataset and use case. We introduce MAESTER (Masked AutoEncoder guided Segmen'Iation at pixEl Resolution), a self-supervised method for accurate, subcellular structure segmentation at pixel resolution. MAESTER treats segmentation as a representation learning and clustering problem. Specifically, MAESTER learns semantically meaningful token representations of multi-pixel image patches while simultaneously maintaining a sufficiently large field of view for contextual learning. We also develop a cover-and-stride inference strategy to achieve pixel-level subcellular structure segmentation. We evaluated MAESTER on a publicly available volumetric electron microscopy (VEM) dataset of primary mouse pancreatic islets ß cells and achieved up-wards of 29.1 % improvement over state-of-the-art under the same evaluation criteria. Furthermore, our results are competitive against supervised methods trained on the same tasks, closing the gap between self-supervised and supervised approaches. MAESTER shows promise for alleviating the critical bottleneck of ground truth generation for imaging related data analysis and thereby greatly increasing the rate of biological discovery. Code available at https://github.com/bowang-lab/MAESTER.


Abstract. The amplitude, phase, and form of the seasonal cycle of atmospheric CO2 concentrations varies on many time and space scales (Peters et al., 2007). Intra-annual CO2 variation is primarily driven by seasonal uptake and release of CO2 by the terrestrial biosphere (Machta et al., 1977; Buchwitz et al., 2007), with a small (Cadule et al., 2010; Heimann et al., 1998), but potentially changing (Gorgues et al., 2010) contribution from the ocean. Variability in the magnitude, spatial distribution, and seasonal drivers of terrestrial net primary productivity (NPP) will be induced by, amongst other factors, anthropogenic CO2 release (Keeling et al., 1996), land-use change (Zimov et al., 1999) and planetary orbital variability, and will lead to changes in CO2atm seasonality. Despite CO2atm seasonality being a dynamic and prominent feature of the Earth System, its potential to drive changes in the air-sea flux of CO2 has not previously (to the best of my knowledge) been explored. It is important that we investigate the impact of CO2atm seasonality change, and the potential for carbon-cycle feedbacks to operate through the modification of the CO2atm seasonal cycle, because the decision had been made to prescribe CO2atm concentrations (rather than emissions) within model simulations for the fifth IPCC climate assessment (Taylor et al., 2009). In this study I undertake ocean-model simulations within which different magnitude CO2atm seasonal cycles are prescribed. These simulations allow me to examine the effect of a change in CO2atm seasonal cycle magnitude on the air-sea CO2 flux. I then use an off-line model to isolate the drivers of the identified air-sea CO2 flux change, and propose mechanisms by which this change may come about. Three mechanisms are identified by which co-variability of the seasonal cycles in atmospheric CO2 concentration, and seasonality in sea-ice extent, wind-speed and ocean temperature, could potentially lead to changes in the air-sea flux of CO2 at mid-to-high latitudes. The sea-ice driven mechanism responds to an increase in CO2atm seasonality by pumping CO2 into the ocean, the wind-speed and solubility-driven mechanisms, by releasing CO2 from the ocean (in a relative sense). The relative importance of the mechanisms will be determined by, amongst other variables, the seasonal extent of sea-ice. To capture the described feedbacks within earth system models, CO2atm concentrations must be allowed to evolve freely, forced only by anthropogenic emissions rather than prescribed CO2atm concentrations; however, time-integrated ocean simulations imply that the cumulative net air-sea flux could be at most equivalent to a few ppm CO2atm. The findings presented here suggest that, at least under pre-industrial conditions, the prescription of CO2atm concentrations rather than emissions within simulations will have little impact on the marine anthropogenic CO2 sink.


Abstract Introduction Besides supply reduction, preventive interventions to reduce harm from gambling include interventions for the reduction of demand and to limit negative consequences. Several interventions are available for gamblers, e.g. limit-setting. Reviews have been published examining the evidence for specific measures as well as evaluating the effect of different measures at an overall level. Only a few of these have used a systematic approach for their literature review. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is twofold. First, to assess the certainty of evidence of different preventive measures in the field of educational programs and consumer protection measures, including both land-based and online gambling. The second is to present shortcomings in eligible studies to highlight what type of information is needed in future studies. Method This systematic review included measures administered in both real-life settings and online. Twenty-eight studies fulfilled our inclusion criteria and had low or moderate risk of bias. Results The results showed that only two measures (long term educational programs and personalized feed-back) had an impact on gambling behavior. Follow-up period was short, and measures did not include gambling as a problem. The certainty in most outcomes, according to GRADE, was very low. Several shortcomings were found in the studies. Discussion We concluded that the support for preventive measures is low and that a consensus statement regarding execution and methods to collect and analyze data for preventive gambling research is needed. Our review can serve as a starting point for future responsible gambling reviews since it evaluated certainty of evidence.


Before its amendment in 2018, Article 51 of the Jordanian Arbitration Law stated that: 'if the court nullifies the award, consequently it would render the arbitration agreement nullified'. The newly amendment Article 51 of the Jordanian Arbitration Law reads: 'If the Court of Cassation […] nullifies the award that should not result in nullifying the arbitration clause unless the arbitration agreement is itself void'. Here we argue that the new amendment was long due as the previous Article unduly intruded on parties' autonomy. This article was originally submitted before the 2018 amendment of the law and the exact wording of what the article originally suggested was adopted by the new law.


As the confrontation between the West and Iran over uranium enrichment comes to a head, the internal confrontation in Iran between the partisans of divine sovereignty, allied with the Revolutionary Guard, and popular sovereignty continues to simmer.

In this section, the first president of the Islamic Republic, a leading cleric of the opposition, the Iranian human rights activist and Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi and a former British intelligence agent ponder what lies ahead.


Tidal features in the outskirts of galaxies yield unique information about their past interactions and are a key prediction of the hierarchical structure formation paradigm. The Vera C. Rubin Observatory is poised to deliver deep observations for potentially of millions of objects with visible tidal features, but the inference of galaxy interaction histories from such features is not straightforward. Utilising automated techniques and human visual classification in conjunction with realistic mock images produced using the NewHorizon cosmological simulation, we investigate the nature, frequency and visibility of tidal features and debris across a range of environments and stellar masses. In our simulated sample, around 80 per cent of the flux in the tidal features around Milky Way or greater mass galaxies is detected at the 10-year depth of the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (30 − 31 mag arcsec−2), falling to 60 per cent assuming a shallower final depth of 29.5 mag arcsec−2. The fraction of total flux found in tidal features increases towards higher masses, rising to 10 per cent for the most massive objects in our sample (M⋆ ∼ 1011.5 M⊙). When observed at sufficient depth, such objects frequently exhibit many distinct tidal features with complex shapes. The interpretation and characterisation of such features varies significantly with image depth and object orientation, introducing significant biases in their classification. Assuming the data reduction pipeline is properly optimised, we expect the Rubin Observatory to be capable of recovering much of the flux found in the outskirts of Milky Way mass galaxies, even at intermediate redshifts (z < 0.2).


Ultrasonic waveforms reflected by various kinds of defects were calculated by numerical analysis based on elastic wave theory. By using these calculated results as a knowledge base, the development of a nondestructive evaluation system which provides quantitative information, such as types, locations, sizes and shapes of the defects, is expected. In this study, a fuzzy reasoning method based on principal component analysis was proposed and a prototype system was developed. This method can be used to characterize waveforms using the principal components and to interpolate the wave data using the membership functions in the fuzzy rules. In addition, by adjusting the membership functions, the error which depends on the difference between the numerical analysis and the experiment can be absorbed. This method was applied to crack depth evaluation for perpendicular and inclined cracks. In each case, both the numerical analysis data and the experimental data were evaluated with high accuracy.


A notable conflict in extractive industries is a clash of competing interests. A desire to address this conflict has resulted in the development of corporate social responsibility (CSR) theories. The aim of this paper is to provide an indepth understanding of factors that have a significant impact on positive corporate community engagement, by focusing on the engagement aspect of corporate social responsibility. The study is centered around the following three questions: (1) How should corporates engage with local communities to ensure positive engagement outcomes? (2) What is the role of communities in the corporate engagement process? (3) What are the key components of Corporate Community Engagement? Using qualitative and quantitative data instruments, empirical evidence was generated from five communities in close proximity to platinum and diamond mining companies in Zimbabwe. The qualitative data gathering process generated ten key components of corporate community engagement. Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the factorial validity of these components. The factor solution resulted in three significant components: (1) value adding partnerships; (2) trust; and (3) effective communication. The paper concludes by giving consideration to corporate best practices that lead to enriching understanding of local communities and effective engagement.


The growing number of participants in foreign policy decision-making calls for a study of the forces affecting the behaviour of states in the international arena. In contemporary states, parliaments are increasingly challenging the exclusive prerogatives of executive power in foreign and defence policy. Many experts stress that the powers of the Danish Parliament in these fields are among the most considerable in the world. The question is, however, whether these powers are exercised in the same manner towards different states and regions. This article aims to find out how the Danish Parliament contributes to the country's foreign policy towards the EU and Russia. The concentric circles model is employed to assess the level of the Danish Parliament's participation in the foreign policy of the Kingdom of Denmark in different regions of the world. The study conducts a comparative analysis of the evidence of the Parliament's influence on Denmark's relations with the EU, the EFTA, and Russia. The findings lead one to conclude that the Danish Parliament's participation in the country's foreign policy towards EU bodies is highly institutionalised and coherent, which can be explained by close integration of Danish political elites into European ones as well as by European processes being clear and predictable for Danish parliamentarians. The participation of the Parliament in Danish—Russian relations is less systematic and structured since the Danish Parliament sometimes lacks diplomatic experience and resources to influence more complex and ambiguous relations with the Russian Federation.


Abstract On the surface, Japan continues to be a non-immigration country. Economic migrants are never admitted as permanent residents at the point of initial entry and rarely viewed as immigrants any time afterward. At the same time, however, Japanese immigration policy has become markedly settlement oriented since the mid-2000s. The government has managed to cobble together a series of initiatives the total of which now has the appearance of an integration policy mostly targeting co-ethnic migrants, so-called nikkeijin. The country has also introduced a new points-based system which confers immigration privileges, such as family sponsorship and expedited access to permanent residence, on highly skilled migrants. By pointing at these policy examples, I demonstrate that Japan has become a de facto immigration country where some migrants are denizens or expected to become so. The present aim, then, is to explain why and how this shift has occurred despite the stasis which characterizes the policy façade. I argue that these changes are best understood as reactive and incremental adjustments to unexpected outcomes of earlier policy decisions on the admission of both unskilled and highly skilled workers as temporary migrants.


In their most basic form, concatenated codes consist of an outer and an inner code. The task of the outer code is to protect payload data, while the inner code protects the symbols of the outer code. This allows one to construct codes that are tailored for a given communication channel. One example for outer codes is the famous class of Reed–Solomon (RS) codes. It is well-studied and allows for ultra-fast implementations of both encoder and decoder. However, RS codes are based on large non-binary code symbols. This renders them useful for channels that produce error bursts in the order of the symbol size. Using concatenation with an inner code that is effective for non-bursty binary errors allows one to apply RS codes even for channels that are not their natural habitat. Within the concatenated code, the inner code is in charge of correcting non-bursty channel errors. The outer code deals with erroneous decoding results of the inner code, which, from its perspective, are long error bursts. Long concatenated codes can be decoded by using algorithms for their comparatively short inner and outer codes. This is a measurable advantage, since the complexity of most decoders grows at least linearly with the code length. The most striking property of concatenation is that this comes at no charge, i.e., long concatenated codes can correct the same number of errors as long non-concatenated codes with the same distance. This was proven in 1966 by Forney, together with an actual decoding algorithm that executes the outer decoder Z0 times. This algorithm is called Generalized Minimum Distance (GMD) decoding, and Z0 is fixed by the properties of the outer code. In this dissertation, we investigate two main questions: What can we achieve if we allow execution of the outer decoder only Z < Z0 times and to which extent can we compensate the expected loss of error-correcting capabilities by using advanced outer decoders? A decoder can be rated by its error/erasure tradeoff λ, a figure that specifies the penalty of knowing neither location nor value of an error in contrast to knowing its location but not its value. Until 1997, only decoders with λ = 2 were known for RS codes. Since then and sparked by the discovery of the Sudan algorithm, the coding theory community has invented a plethora of algorithms with improved tradeoff λ ∈ (1, 2). We investigate such advanced decoders and generalize to λ ∈ (1, 2] results of Forney and other authors that are restricted to λ = 2. To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to present this generalization. In the first part of the thesis, we introduce basic algebraic codes within the framework of code concatenation. We list classical decoding algorithms with λ = 2 as well as the most important advanced ones with λ ∈ (1, 2). In order to allow for a general description of GMD decoding for all considered algorithms, we introduce a means of expressing their error-correcting capabilities by a unified function, the Generalized Decoding Radius. The second part considers the decoding radius of GMD decoding, i.e., the maximum number of errors that are correctable with guarantee. We derive two optimal variants of GMD decoding for arbitrary λ ∈ (1, 2] and any number Z ≤ Z0 of outer decoding trials and analyze their properties. Depending on the properties of outer and inner code, we can always state which variant is superior over the other. Our attention is shifted towards the probability of a decoding success in the third part. We show how this probability can be maximized for any λ ∈ (1, 2] and any Z ≤ Z0 and express it analytically.


The present study aims at comprehending the retired people through a group experience as well as allowing them to reflect about their condition. The authors utilized the research-action methodology, with 25 retired subjects who worked in the University, aging from 51 to 79 years old. The narratives related to their experiences were obtained through verbal interaction, group discussions and interviews. From the analysis of the experiences emerged questions associated to the retired-elderly interests, their physical and mental health, relationship, learning process, social environment and leisure.


Background Our health care system faces major threats as the number of people with multiple chronic conditions rises dramatically. Objective To study the use of Online Health Communities (OHCs) as a tool to facilitate high-quality and affordable health care for future generations. Methods OHCs are Internet-based platforms that unite either a group of patients, a group of professionals, or a mixture of both. Members interact using modern communication technologies such as blogs, chats, forums, and wikis. We illustrate the use of OHCs for ParkinsonNet, a professional network for Parkinson disease whose participants—both patients and professionals—use various types of OHCs to deliver patient-centered care. Results We discuss several potential applications in clinical practice. First, due to rapid advances in medical knowledge, many health professionals lack sufficient expertise to address the complex health care needs of chronic patients. OHCs can be used to share experiences, exchange knowledge, and increase disease-specific expertise. Second, current health care delivery is fragmented, as many patients acquire relationships with multiple professionals and institutions. OHCs can bridge geographical distances and enable interdisciplinary collaboration across institutions and traditional echelons. Third, chronic patients lack adequate tools to self-manage their disease. OHCs can be used to actively engage and empower patients in their health care process and to tailor care to their individual needs. Personal health communities of individual patients offer unique opportunities to store all medical information in one central place, while allowing transparent communication across all members of each patient's health care team. Conclusions OHCs are a powerful tool to address some of the challenges chronic care faces today. OHCs help to facilitate communication among professionals and patients and support coordination of care across traditional echelons, which does not happen spontaneously in busy practice.


This study presents the results of light and temperature impact assessment on the efficiency and stability of natural dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). It investigates also the impact of light and temperature on the absorbance, changes in functional groups, and the energy levels of the curcumin natural dye. The natural dyes and DSSCs were irradiated and heated at a temperature of 50°C for 0, 100, and 200 hours and examined by the ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectrophotometry, the Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and cyclic voltammetry test. The results show that the light and heat treatment at 50°C for 100 and 200 hours cause the decreasing voltage, current, and efficiency of DSSCs more than 89%. Interestingly, the DSSC with curcumin-dye subjected to heat and light treatment did not have a significant decrease in the value of fill factor (FF). It shows that the quality of the junctions in the DSSCs is good and the physical structure of DSSCs is stable. It can be stated that the performance of DSSCs decreases when subjected a light and heat treatment is due to the changes of HOMO and LUMO levels of curcumin dyes.


This brief memoir recounts one day the author spent with Harold Garfinkel (1917–2011) and his wife at their house in Los Angeles—the day Garfinkel was invited to join the advisory board of Laboratorium. Intending to interview the sociologist, the author found herself instead having to respond to his questions and received career-building recommendations. The article stresses Garfinkel's profound passion for his profession as well as the consideration, tact, and respect he showed his students.


BACKGROUND
Heptahelical G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) support numerous sensory and metabolic functions and differ considerably in levels of expression. GPCR protein levels should link to regulation of GPCR mRNAs by microRNAs (miRs), which might significantly depend on numbers, size and GC content of the canonical antisense matches in mRNAs. These parameters of GPCR mRNAs have not been studied in detail.

METHODS
Canonical matching profiles of human GPCR mRNAs and miRs were examined using segments of 7-15 nucleotides in windows shifted by one position over the entire microRNA sequence.

RESULTS
Human GPCRs mRNAs within larger function-related groups have a quite homogenous matching with miRs. Both the GC content and the melting temperature (and hence also the binding energy) are appreciably higher in 5'utr compared to 3'utr matches of the same length. Increase in the GC content correlates significantly with length in the ubiquitous matches of 7-12 nucleotides. However, several GPCR groups strongly differ in overall match numbers and density. The untranslated regions of sensory receptor mRNAs, especially the olfactory and Taste-2 mRNAs, have the lowest match numbers and density and the fewest miR partners. The glucagon and frizzled families show the highest canonical matching.

CONCLUSION
Partnership of GPCR mRNAs and miRs could significantly relate to the type of function of the receptor proteins, with mRNAs of the sensory receptors having the lowest and those of metabotropic GPCRs the highest targeting. This could be of interest regarding GPCR regulation by exogenous miRs.


It has previously been reported that the soleus Hoffmann (H-)reflex is diminished in amplitude during a massage of the ipsilateral triceps surae. A question arises as to the origin of this decrease. The purpose of this study was to determine whether massage does indeed diminish motoneuronal excitability or whether the decrease is an artefact associated with the experimental procedures, i.e. saturation of the transmission capacity of the afferent pathway. H-reflexes and the corresponding muscle (m-)responses were recorded from the medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscle during a 3-minute massage of the ipsilateral soleus muscle in 12 neurologically healthy adults during 4 control conditions (C1, C2, C4, C5) and 1 experimental (C3-massage) condition. Peak-to-peak mean amplitudes of the MG H-reflex obtained during massage were significantly reduced in comparison to all control values recorded while the subjects were at rest. These results suggest that massage does indeed diminish motoneuronal excitability, since these effects were not restricted to the homonymous motoneurone pool, but could also be demonstrated for a close synergistic muscle, uninvolved in the massage.


A regimen of thiacetarsamide sodium (0.22 ml/kg twice daily for 2 days) plus levamisole phosphate (11 mg/kg/day for 10 days) was effective in eliminating unidentified microfilariae from the blood in seven of eight tamarins. No serious side effects resulted from the treatment. All of the animals were initially freed of circulating microfilariae after treatment, and five have remained microfilaria-negative for 1 year. Two of the tamarins died of causes unrelated to filariasis and were microfilaria-negative before death. One tamarin remained microfilaria-positive after two courses of this treatment.


We study the Gaussian laser transmission in lithium niobate crystal(LiNbO3) by using the finite element method to solve the electromagnetic field's frequency domain equation and energy equation. The heat generated is identified by calculating the transmission loss of the electromagnetic wave in the birefringence crystal, and the calculated value of the heat generated is substituted into the energy equation. The electromagnetic wave's energy losses induced by its multiple refractions and reflections along with the resulting physical property changes of the lithium niobate crystal are considered.Influences of ambient temperature and heat transfer coefficient on refraction and walk-off angles of O-ray and E-ray in the cases of different incident powers and crystal thicknesses are analyzed. The E-ray electrical modulation instances, in which the polarized light waveform is adjusted to the rated condition via an applied electrical field in the cases of different ambient temperatures and heat transfer coefficients, are provided to conclude that there is a correlation between ambient temperature and applied electrical field intensity and a correlation between surface heat transfer coefficient and applied electrical field intensity. The applicable electrical modulation ranges without crystal breakdown are proposed. The study shows that the electrical field-adjustable heat transfer coefficient range becomes narrow as the incident power decreases and wide as the crystal thickness increases. In addition, it is pointed out that controlling the ambient temperature is easier than controlling the heat transfer coefficient. The results of the present study can be used as a quantitative theoretical basis for removing the adverse effects induced by thermal deposition due to linear laser absorption in the crystal, such as depolarization or wave front distortion, and indicate the feasibility of adjusting the refractive index in the window area by changing the heat transfer boundary conditions in a wide-spectrum laser.


Confocal Raman micro-spectroscopy (CRMS) was used to measure time-course spectral images of live cells undergoing apoptosis without using molecular labels or other invasive procedures. Human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) were exposed to 300 µM etoposide to induce apoptosis, and Raman spectral images were acquired from the same cells at 2-h intervals over a period of 6 h. The purpose-built inverted confocal Raman micro-spectrometer integrated an environmental enclosure and wide-field fluorescence imaging. These key instrumental elements allowed the cells to be maintained under sterile physiological conditions (37 °C, 5% CO2) and enabled viability and apoptosis assays to be carried out on the cells at the end of CRMS measurements. The time-course spectral images corresponding to DNA Raman bands indicated an increase in signal intensity in apoptotic cells, which was attributed to DNA condensation. The Raman spectral images of lipids indicated a high accumulation of membrane phospholipids and highly unsaturated non-membrane lipids in apoptotic cells. This study demonstrates the potential of CRMS for label-free time-course imaging of individual live cells. This technique may become a useful tool for in vitro toxicological studies and testing of new pharmaceuticals, as well as other time-dependent cellular processes, such as cell differentiation, cell cycle and cell–cell interactions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


The philosophical and, in a lesser degree, linguistic debate about the notion of names has been raging for a long time. The processes behind naming are presented and explained in various ways. This paper will try to give a new insight into the motivation behind the creation of new names as seen from the linguistics viewpoint. Metaphor, as one of the major sources of motivation from the perspective of cognitive linguistics, is the basic form of human conceptualization. The first part of the paper presents the current theories about names. The second part describes the basic principles of cognitive linguistics as related to metaphors. The third part deals with providing the evidence regarding metaphor involvement in original creation of people's names, while the last part of the paper presents examples from the Serbian language.


What can law schools do to address the criticisms in the Carnegie Foundation's January 2007 report on legal education? That report found that law schools are not teaching students how to be competent lawyers. One particularly promising answer is cross-disciplinary training with MBAs, which leading law schools such as NYU, Stanford, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard have embraced in recent years. In this article, I explore the value of such courses, and discuss a cross-disciplinary course that I successfully debuted in the Fall of 2006 at NYU entitled, "Negotiating Complex Transactions with Executives and Lawyers." More generally, I argue that cross-disciplinary courses offer special advantages for students, schools, universities, and employers, and deserve much more emphasis in professional training and higher education.


Currently, it is rare to be unable to fit a patient with spherical soft lenses, and it is becoming increasingly easy to [figure: see text] achieve success with toric and other specialty lenses. If we fulfill the criteria of full corneal coverage, acceptable movement, overrefraction to a clear end point, and stable, nonfluctuating visual acuity, our patients should be well on their way to long-term success with soft lenses.


In the context of semantic image segmentation, we show that knowledge of world-centric camera orientation (from an inertial sensor) can be used to improve classification accuracy. This works because certain structural classes (such as the ground) tend to appear in certain positions relative to the viewer. We show that orientation information is useful in conjunction with typical image-based features, and that fusing the two results in substantially better classification accuracy than either alone – we observed an increase from 61% to 71% classification accuracy, over the six classes in our test set, when orientation information was added. The method is applied to segmentation using both points and lines, and we also show that combining points with lines further improves accuracy. This work is done towards our intended goal of visually guided locomotion for either an autonomous robot or human.


Rearing techniques provide a unique opportunity to study aspects of insect ecology, behaviour and physiology. Both the larval and adult stages in Melolonthinae scarabs have important impacts on crop and pasture yields worldwide. Rearing techniques for this group of phytophagous beetles usually results in a low survival rate from larva to adult, varying from 10% to 50%. Here, the current rearing method used for the New Zealand grass grub (Costelytra zealandica) was improved by increasing the pupation weight threshold, as well as by changing the container type used to rear the larvae. This improved method produced an 83% increase in the survival rate from larva to adult, and the technique developed here may help increase the laboratory survival rate of other Melolonthinae species worldwide.


Abstract In the wake of the devastating second wave of the pandemic in India, I taught an elective subject called 'A Politics of Frivolity? Feminism, Law and Humour'. I offered a subject that intellectually embraced frivolity, precisely for the purpose of responding to the serious anguish and hopelessness of the pandemic. That the study of law is serious business works as (almost) a truism. Understandably, laughter seldom goes with it. Feminists, and feminisms, have also attained a similar reputation or stereotype of being humourless and killjoys. Given this antithetical relationship that humour and laughter shared with both law and feminism, their friendship was not easily foreseeable, working to infuse their combined study with an element of surprise and incongruity. This essay offers an account of my experience of teaching the subject during these dark times. It is a reconstruction partly from my class notes and partly from scribblings and memory. I reflect on a selected set of materials that I taught in the class, how these were received, the questions they raised and how the context enlivened the materials.


Abstract COVID symptom screening, a new workplace practice, is already affecting many millions of American workers. As of this writing, 34 states already require, and federal guidance recommends, frequent screening of at least some employees for fever or other symptoms. This paper provides the first empirical work identifying major features of symptom screening in a broad population and exploring the trade‐offs employers face in using daily symptom screening. First, we find that common symptom checkers could screen out up to 7 percent of workers each day, depending on the measure used. Second, we find that the measures used will matter for three reasons: Many respondents report any given symptom, survey design affects responses, and demographic groups report symptoms at different rates, even absent fluctuations in likely COVID exposure. This last pattern can potentially lead to disparate impacts and is important from an equity standpoint.


Despite extensive study of the numerous immunoregulatory mechanisms that contribute to the `immune-privileged'nature of the anterior chamber (AC) of the eye, little is known of the functional nature of antigen-presenting cells (APC) present in the tissues adjoining the AC. In the present study, we have compared the antigen-presenting capacity of dendritic cells (DC) and macrophages isolated from the normal rat iris. Whereas iris DC exhibited a potent ability to stimulate resting allogeneic T cells in MLR cultures (an in-vitro correlate of the ability to induce primary T cell responses), resident iris macrophages displayed negligible MLR-stimulatory capacity. Significantly, iris macrophages could efficiently elicit proliferation of primed antigen-specific T cells (an in-vitro correlate of the ability to act as local APC in secondary responses). This antigen-presenting activity was approximately half that of fully `mature' iris DC and considerably greater than that of freshly isolated iris DC. A key contributor to the effectiveness of resident iris macrophage antigen presentation was considered to be the absence of lymphocytostatic control of T cell proliferation exerted by these cells. The results indicate dichotomous but complementary roles for DC (immune surveillance) and macrophages (local antigen presentation in secondary responses) in this tissue.


Quishuar is a forest species which is well known for its uses. Intensive farming and unsatisfied plant supply have been limited to meet reforestation programs. Micropropagation is a technique that would help eradicate this problem as the purpose is to produce more plants in less time. The objective of this research was to develop protocols for disinfection, establishment, and multiplication in vitro; for this reason, tests from seeds and plants sprouts were carried out; the first phase with seeds, using kilol and benomil, together with NaOCl at 3 % (10 min). The results indicate that the germination percentage was 100 % in MS (Murashige y Skoog medium) and the contamination, oxidation percentage was 0 %. On the other hand, plants sprouts exposed to fungicides, antioxidants and NaOCl at 1 % (10 min), did not have contamination or oxidation. The sprouting percentage was 100 % in WPM (Woody Plant Medium). In the second phase in MS medium without the addition of hormones, plant sprouts (1.95 cm), knots number (1.94 knots) and multiplication rate (2.67) were observed. Based on the results, it is suggested that protocols are effective for in vitro propagation.


Optical imaging of labeled cells is the most prevailing method for cell tracking in mouse models. However, the immunogenicity of xenobiotic reporter genes, such as the commonly used firefly luciferase (ffLuc) and enhanced green fluorescence protein (eGFP), results in inconsistency in cell labeling and tumor progression, preventing their use in host mice with normal immunity. To resolve this issue, we have generated a reporter gene-tolerized transgenic mouse in which an ffLuc-eGFP fusion gene was targeted to the anterior pituitary gland using a rat Growth Hormone promoter (dubbed the "glowing-head" mouse). When ffLuc-eGFP-labeled Lewis Lung Carcinoma (LLC) tissue was subcutaneously transplanted into syngeneic glowing-head mice (GH-c-brd), their non-transgenic litter-mates (WT-c-brd), and immunocompromised Nod-Scid (balb/c) mice, anti-GFP antibody was induced only in the circulation of WT-c-brd. Labeled LLC also exhibited fewer CD4+ T cells but more macrophages in GH-c-brd than in WT-c-brd, suggesting it induced adaptive immunity in the latter. Moreover, GH-c-brd exhibited faster subcutaneous tumor growth and post-resection metastatic progression, and maintained more consistent tumor labeling, as compared to WT-c-brd and even Nod-Scid mice. Interestingly, in an adjuvant chemotherapeutic setting, the immunogenicity of the labeled tumor was able to deter metastatic progression in a manner similar to that obtained by drug treatment. We conclude that the immunogenicity of xenobiotic labeling markers can significantly influence disease progression and therapeutic responses thereby compromising immunocompetent preclinical cancer models, and that the glowing-head mouse can be used to circumvent such problems and promote consistent disease monitoring. Citation Format: Chi-Ping Day, Zoe Weaver, John Carter, Carrie Bonomi, Terry Van Dyke, Melinda Hollingshead, Glenn Merlino. Immunological naturalization of immunocompetent host mice to luciferase-GFP for consistent tracking of transplanted tumors. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 1556. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-1556


Ammophila arenaria is a dominant sand-fixing plant species of the European coastal foredunes. It remains vigorous under regular burial conditions on seaward slopes, but starts to degenerate when sand accumulation diminishes. Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain this degeneration. In this study, we test the hypothesis that upward growth of plants following sand burial enables them to escape harmful soil organisms. Plants in a degenerating field stand of A. arenaria and potted plants grown in sterilized sand (outdoor pot experiment) were buried with sterilized or nonsterilized sand. Burial in both sterilized and nonsterilized sand resulted in stem elongation, increased numbers of living shoots, and increased shoot and root biomass. However, when plants were grown in and buried with sterilized sand, the numbers of shoots were significantly higher than those buried with nonsterilized sand. The new root zone of buried plants was colonized by pathogenic soil organisms (nematodes and fungi) during the same growing season. It is concluded that by upward growth through pathogen-free sand, the plants benefit, at least temporarily, from escaping its pathogens and parasites. [KEYWORDS: Clonal growth; upward growth; migration; soil-borne disease; growth reduction Harmful soil organisms; hippophae-rhamnoides l; growth;breviligulata; succession; ecology]


Using the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment catalogue, two contact binaries were studied using data in the V and I bands. The photometric solutions for the V and I bands are presented for two contact binaries OGLE 003835.24-735413.2 (V1) and OGLE 004619.65-725056.2 (V2) in Small Maglellanic Cloud. The presented light curves are analyzed using the Wilson-Devinney code. The results show that the variables are in good thermal and marginal geometrical contact with features like the O'Connell effect in V1. The absolute dimensions are estimated and its dynamical evolution is inferred. They tend to be solar type marginal contact binaries. The 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope and the 4.0-m International Liquid Mirror Telescope of the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES, Nainithal) can facilitate the continuous monitoring of such kind of objects which will help in finding the reasons behind their period changes and their impact on the evolution of the clusters.


India gained highly from the LPG model as its GDP increased to 9.7percent in 2007-2008. In respect of market capitalization, India ranks fourth in the world. But even after globalization, condition of agriculture has not improved. The share of agriculture in the GDP is only 17percent. The number of landless families has increased and farmers are still committing suicide. But seeing the positive effects of globalization, it can be said that very soon India will overcome these hurdles too and march strongly on its path of development. The lesson of recent experience is that a country must carefully choose a combination of policies that best enables it to take the opportunity - while avoiding the pitfalls. For over a century the United States has been the largest economy in the world but major developments have taken place in the world Economy since then, leading to the shift of focus from the US and the rich countries of Europe to the two Asian giants- India and China. Economics experts and various studies conducted across the globe envisage India and China to rule the world in the 21st century. India, which is now the fourth largest economy in terms of purchasing power parity, may overtake Japan and become third major economic power within 10 years. To conclude we can say that the modernization that we see around us in our daily life is a contribution of Globalization. Globalization has both positive and as well as negative impacts on various sectors of Indian Economy. So Globalization has taken us a long way from 1991 which has resultant in the advancement our country.


Twenty patients affected by chronic venous disease (CVD) in tertiary venous network and/or saphenous vein were analyzed before surgical ablation by echo-color-doppler for the hemodynamic parameters reflux time (RT) and resistance index (RI), a negative and a positive prognostic factor, respectively. RT and RI were next correlated with relevant in vitro parameters of venous endothelial cells (VEC) obtained from surgical specimens, such as cell migration in response to serum gradient, proliferation index, intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1 and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1 expression, as well as cytokines release. Of interest, ICAM-1 expression in patient-derived VEC cultures correlated positively with RT and negatively with RI. Moreover, RT showed a positive correlation with the baseline osteoprotegerin (OPG) expression by VEC and an inverse correlation with VEC proliferation index. On the other hand, RI correlated positively with TNF-related apoptosis inducing ligand (TRAIL) expression. Among the cytokines released by VEC, GM-CSF showed a positive correlation with VEC proliferation and TRAIL expression and a negative correlation with OPG, ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 expression. Since in vitro recombinant GM-CSF induced VEC proliferation and counteracted the induction of ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and OPG upon exposure to TNF-α, our data suggest an anti-inflammatory activity of GM-CSF on venous endothelial cells.


For the sake of simplicity, control laws for autonomous vehicle mainly use linear tire models, but this modeling is only valid for small slip angles. Hence, to keep this hypothesis valid, tire's behavior has to lie within the limits of handling, i.e. there is a threshold the slip angle cannot surpass. This paper develops a new estimator for the cornering stiffness and maximum lateral friction coefficients. These parameters provide important information on the ground conditions and are beneficial for improving the stability of the vehicle. The algorithm is based on estimated lateral tire forces and on a 3 zones adaptive algorithm, including a Dugoff theoretical tire model. It will allow to set up a model not only for the linear part but for the whole range of slip angles, providing the trend of the tire behavior at each time and informing about the future evolution of lateral forces. The advantage of the algorithm is that no measurement of lateral tire forces is needed and few parameters are required such as yaw rate, longitudinal and lateral velocities obtained through an effective Inertial Navigation System, wheel rotational speeds and steering angles. Simulations conducted on realistic dynamical situation validate the algorithm efficiency.


Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) have become the core information processing architecture of large businesses. This study examines the role of Knowledge Social Networks (KSN) in facilitating EIS-related knowledge acquisition accounting for the domain expertise of knowledge sources, its interplay with user task complexity, and their impact on EIS implementation. While research on KSNs has considered knowledge relationship ties, both for knowledge acquisition and dissemination, and their impact on knowledge outcomes and employee performance, it has not addressed the domain expertise of knowledge sources within KSNs and the quality of resultant knowledge flows. Data for the study was collected six months after the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning system. Preliminary results indicate that while knowledge acquisition through KSNs is important, the task complexity of users and domain expertise of knowledge sources need to be considered, especially for users dealing with complex business problems.


Trichotillomania is characterized by recurrent pulling out of hair. It is a chronic disorder that causes functional impairment. Although trichotillomania has been known for a long time, no algorithms for its treatment have been created by now. In its etiology, trauma has also been suggested in addition to other factors. In this case study, a trichotillomania patient of 27 years with increasing severity accompanied by a history of trauma is reported. As medical treatment, aripiprazole augmentation was used, and for trauma therapy, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) was applied. The effects working through the trauma had on the treatment of our case was observed and discussed.


For modern businesses with high levels of technology, IT governance frameworks with guidelines reflect the responsible actions of the Board and executive management and also maintain the organisation's fit and well-being. However, these responsible groups must ensure the organisations are in a risk-free situation and avoid negative influences which may affect organisations. IT infrastructure is the key factor for organisations, as a result of changing business tasks and integrating business activities, in order to work effectively with more returns. The literature has discussed the potential of businesses to employ IT to enable organisations to integrate job functions with IT resources, without boundaries, to avoid problems, and minimise risks. Therefore, organisations can employ an existing IT infrastructure and combine it with new technologies, new systems and applications, and the skill and competency of employees, to use new technologies smartly and proficiently. Thus, these relevant issues raise the significant question of IT governance in organisations and IT domains, due to the need to control and manage processes and resources within and across organisations. This paper proposes to examine the most appropriate solution for Boards, to align strategy and operate organisational integration by effectively implementing IT infrastructure and IT resource management within organisations.


SUMMARY We use combined tectonic field observations and SAR data to determine an improved model of the slip associated with the 1999 Izmit earthquake, which ruptured the North Anatolian Fault at the eastern end of the Sea of Marmara. The leading goal is to understand the main features of the coseismic and post-seismic deformation, which are captured together in the SAR data. To achieve this, we make a critical analysis of the ERS1-2 SAR data, which allows atmospheric effects to be identified and removed. We also use detailed field mapping and measurements of the earthquake surface rupture. Dislocations in elastic half-space and a forward modelling strategy allow us to obtain a slip model by steps. A trial-and-error approach is combined with conventional inversion techniques to determine the slip in the different regions of the fault. The SAR data are well explained with three main zones of high slip along the fault, releasing a total moment of 2.3 × 10 20 Nm( Mw = 7.6), which is higher than the seismological estimates (1.7‐2.0 × 10 20 N m). The inhomogeneous slip distribution correlates with fault segments identified at the surface. The Izmit rupture appears to have extended 30 km west of the Hersek peninsula into the Sea of Marmara with slip tapering fro m2mt ozero. The western end of the rupture is located 40 km SSE from Istanbul. We show that some features seen near to Mudurnu and Gevye and previously interpreted as slip on secondary faults are explained mostly as atmospheric effects correlated with the topography. Using our approach and the available GPS data we obtain a slip model that represents the coseismic slip alone, which suggests that the moment release during the main shock was 1.9 × 10 20 Nm( Mw = 7.5), consistent with the seismological estimates. We conclude that the SAR data include the effects of 2 m of fast after-slip during the month following the main shock, within a zone of the fault located 12‐ 24 km below the epicentral region. Near the hypocentre at a depth of 18 km, the fault appears to have experienced dynamic slip of 1 m associated with the main shock, followed by 2 m of rapidly decelerating post-seismic shear during the following month. We suggest that the distribution of heterogeneous slip and loading along the different fault segments may be important factors controlling the propagation of large earthquake ruptures along the North Anatolian Fault.


: An historical review on biological and medical studies by the piedmontese physicist G. B. Beccaria (XVIII century) is presented. In particular, investigations and experiments concerning the biological effects of natural and artificial electricity, as well as of electrotherapy are discussed. An account on Beccaria's disciples, some of them (Cigna, Gardini, Giulio) were skilful physicians, is also given.


The recent publication of the memorandum of understanding on gay to straight conversion therapy brought many key psychology, health, counselling, and psychotherapy organisations together for the first time to collaborate on a subject on which they had no disagreement. The memorandum clearly states that efforts to try to change sexual orientation through psychological therapies are unethical and potentially harmful. Clearly, therapy has come a long way since the declassification of homosexuality as a mental disorder in the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM, 1973) and the World Health Organization's International Classification of Diseases (ICD, 1992).

What the document left out was conversion therapy as it applies to gender and sexual diversity (GSD) identities and practices beyond gay identities and same sex attractions. For example, in relation to transgender, some therapists still deem it acceptable to try to eliminate behaviour in children that doesn't conform to cultural gender norms or private 'cross-dressing' practices by husbands in a heterosexual marriage. In the case of bisexuality, some still encourage clients to 'pick' homosexuality or heterosexuality, rather than respecting the person holding a bisexual identity.


The Two Cultures phenomenon, first given its name by C. P. Snow in 1956, consists of a conflict between participants in the academic communities of the natural sciences and the humanities; it also mirrors the methodological debate in the social sciences. This phenomenon also occurs in undergraduates in an interdisciplinary research fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh called the Brackenridge Fellowship. The phenomenon is not an issue of jargon—it is about people with different interpretive structures coming into conflict. The Two Cultures phenomenon should not be regarded as an anomaly of normally peacefully-interacting academic disciplines. There are issues about the tradition, culture, and epistemology of different academic disciplines that are perceived as deeply and fundamentally different, and it is only through Two Culture conflicts that these differences are thrown into sharp relief.The problem of interdisciplinary misunderstanding is illuminated by viewing understanding as "being able to imagine a question that a statement answers," as developed in the epistemological theory of hermeneuticist Hans-Georg Gadamer. This study examines the Two Cultures phenomenon in the Brackenridge Fellowship using the methodology of hermeneutic phenomenology. It finds that students usually consider the natural sciences objective and the humanities subjective. These perceptions are overgeneralized at best and harmfully false at worst. Students in all disciplines demonstrate a lack of awareness of the traditional and communal basis of interpretation in academic fields. However, these perceptions do help to hold academic disciplines together, as students define their academic identities by using other fields as counter-examples. There are practical implications from this study for liberal education. Colleges and universities should consider general education programming beyond the traditional requisite of requiring several courses in different subject areas. Without an examination of how the structure of general education implies value judgments of academic disciplines and how these fields have ideas that are perceived as conflicting with each other, an important teachable moment is missed. Gadamerian hermeneutics helpfully provides guidance as to how a truly educational conversation can be realized with these issues, through examining the way that traditions are enacted in academic disciplines.


Face processing is widely understood to be a basic, universal visual function effortlessly achieved by people from all cultures and races. The remarkable recognition performance for faces is markedly and specifically affected by picture-plane inversion: the so-called face-inversion effect (FIE), a finding often used as evidence for face-specific mechanisms. However, it has recently been shown that culture shapes the way people deploy eye movements to extract information from faces. Interestingly, the comparable lack of experience with inverted faces across cultures offers a unique opportunity to establish the extent to which such cultural perceptual biases in eye movements are robust, but also to assess whether face-specific mechanisms are universally tuned. Here we monitored the eye movements of Western Caucasian (WC) and East Asian (EA) observers while they learned and recognised WC and EA inverted faces. Both groups of observers showed a comparable impairment in recognising inverted faces of both races. WC observers deployed a scattered inverted triangular scanpath with a bias towards the mouth, whereas EA observers uniformly extended the focus of their fixations from the centre towards the eyes. Overall, our data show that cultural perceptual differences in eye movements persist during the FIE, questioning the universality of face-processing mechanisms.


The main aim of this paper is to analyse the existing and potential challenges to Vietnam's relationship with China. The paper takes as it starting point the expanding relationship since full normalisation in 1991 in both the political and economic fields. The progress in managing and resolving disputes, e.g. border disputes, is highlighted in the paper. In the analysis of existing challenges to the relationship the focus is on the remaining unsettled border issues in particular in the South China Sea. In the identification and assessment of potential challenges to the bilateral relations the risks with economic competition and uneven trade relations are assessed as are the potential risks associated with developments affecting the Mekong River.


The paper points out certain quantitative methods largely ignored by library service providers; Highlights the importance of customer participation in service delivery process; Examines the concepts 'service quality' and 'customer satisfaction'; emphasizes the need for appropriately handling waiting lines in service organizations; presents briefly the theory of waiting lines (queueing theory), psychology of customers in waiting lines with illustrations from library situations; Discusses ways and means of reducing delays in waiting lines and increasing service quality and customer satisfaction and concludes by stressing the need for appropriate studies on these lines in Librarianship.


The notion that the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) can have more than one stable equilibrium emerged in the 1980s as a powerful hypothesis to explain rapid climate variability during the Pleistocene. Ever since, the idea that a temporary perturbation of the AMOC—or a permanent change in its forcing—could trigger an irreversible collapse has remained a reason for concern. Here we review literature on the equilibrium stability of the AMOC and present a synthesis that puts our understanding of past and future AMOC behavior in a unifying framework. This framework is based on concepts from Dynamical Systems Theory, which has proven to be an important tool in interpreting a wide range of model behavior. We conclude that it cannot be ruled out that the AMOC in our current climate is in, or close to, a regime of multiple equilibria. But there is considerable uncertainty in the location of stability thresholds with respect to our current climate state, so we have no credible indications of where our present-day AMOC is located with respect to thresholds. We conclude by identifying gaps in our knowledge and proposing possible ways forward to address these gaps.


A method is described by which seeds of terrestrial orchids are sown and retrieved in the field under almost natural conditions. For the first time it is possible to conduct a quantitative study of orchid germination in situ and observe seasonal growth and mortality of seedlings. The technique has also enabled us to investigate the relation between the site where the seeds are sown, the availability of an appropriate fungus to infect the seeds, and seedling establishment in the soil. Five local species were studied. Corallorhiza odontorhiza, Goodyera pubescens, and Galearis spectabilis all began to germinate in May-June, after 23-30 weeks in the soil. These species differed in their dependency on infection at germination time, but none of the seedlings developed beyond the point of rupturing the testa except when infected. Seeds of Liparis lilifolia and Tipularia discolor did not germinate within the first 12 months of the experiment. The implications and potential uses of this field sowing technique for further studies and for other kinds of minute seeds are discussed.


Purpose The study aimed to assess the magnitude of depression and associated factors among patients with tuberculosis (TB) visiting outpatient clinics in Ethiopia. Patients and methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 415 TB patients. Study participants were selected through a systematic random sampling technique. Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to assess depression using face-to-face interviews. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Bivariate and multivariate binary logistic analyses were done to identify associated factors with depression. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant, and the strength of the association was presented by adjusted OR (AOR) with 95% CI. Results The magnitude of depression was found to be 31.1% with 95% CI (26.5–35.7). Extrapulmonary TB [AOR =1.8, 95% CI (1.02, 3.24)], poor social support [AOR =3.3, 95% CI (1.8, 6.03)] and perceived TB stigma [AOR =2.0, 95% CI (1.28, 3.18)] were variables found to be statistically significantly connected with depression. Conclusion The magnitude of depression was high compared to the general population and some other studies. Therefore, the current study area and other settings which provide TB screening and treatment need to assess patients for depression and provide intervention, giving more emphasis to patients with risk factors.


A range of national and international legislation, obligations and commitments aim to promote and maintain a healthy and biologically diverse marine environment from shallow coastal waters to the deep sea. In addition, a set of Contributory Marine Objectives (CMOs) have been developed to meet the Government's overall vision for clean, safe, healthy, biologically diverse and productive seas. These objectives require sustained and routine observations of oceanic and coastal ecosystems to achieve their goals. This report evaluates the applicability of existing and suggested (where gaps have been highlighted) environmental indicators that can be used to monitor and assess the state of UK deep-sea habitats. These indicators are reviewed against potential anthropogenic pressures, ecosystem structure and function, as well as statutory obligations and CMOs.

The principal anthropogenic pressures that may have an impact on UK deep-sea habitats are identified as demersal fisheries, Oil and gas industry activities, land-based/shipping pollution and climate change. At present, there are no routine UK deep-sea environment monitoring programmes and the only protected area in UK deep water is the Darwin Mounds region. This investigation has identified seventeen potential indicators of impacts that can be mapped to the assessment framework, which will be used to implement an integrated monitoring programme.

The review of the anthropogenic pressures with regard to relevant indicators highlighted many gaps in current deep-sea habitat monitoring efforts. Gaps that could currently be covered or addressed by suggested indicators are:

• The impact of demersal fishing on UK deep-water habitats. This activity is not routinely monitored and its impact is unknown in the vast majority of UK deep-sea habitats, although it is thought to be the principle threat. (Indicator: photographic transects to measure extent, abundance and diversity of habitats).

• No routine monitoring programmes on the sustained impact of oil and gas industry activity on deep-sea habitats are in place, although the industry is required to perform initial environmental
impact assessments. (Indicator: community change around drill sites).

• The extent and impact of litter/debris (shipping, fishing and land-based) is unknown in the deep sea (Indicator: photographic transects, will show extent but not effects).

Anthropogenic pressures that cannot be addressed with current operational indicators may be addressed by indicators that are under development. Other gaps in monitoring effort require
more research to improve knowledge of the habitats and the impacts caused by the pressures. Also, monitoring effort should not focus only on 'charismatic' species (e.g. corals and sponges).

The critical review of the indicators highlighted significant gaps in their accurate implementation:

• The extent, abundance and diversity of specific UK deep-sea habitats are poorly understood, or remain unknown. Surveys still recover many species new to science and there is a paucity of
knowledge of deep-sea ecological processes.

• The UK does not currently monitor bioaccumulation of contaminants of any kind in deep-sea organisms.

• There is no ecotoxicological information for deep-sea organisms.

• Molecular and biochemical indicators are potentially useful in revealing contaminant exposure and the health of species, but such techniques remain under development.

The review of the indicators in addressing ecosystem structure and function revealed that while some can be used to address ecosystem structure (e.g., photographic transects to reveal extent of specific habitats, species abundance and diversity), there are presently no indicators available to address the issue of ecosystem function directly. Within the deep sea higher biodiversity appears to support higher rates of ecosystem processes and increased efficiency with which these processes are performed. Anthropogenic effects that negatively affect
biodiversity will therefore have a negative impact on ecosystem function. Indicators that monitor biodiversity may therefore act as proxies for monitoring ecosystem function.

A review of the current indicators in place suggests that regional and international statutory obligations and CMOs are not being fully addressed or fulfilled, primarily because there are no routine monitoring programmes in UK deep-sea waters. Photographic transects of the seafloor are potentially the most useful for routine monitoring and assessment of the fragile or vulnerable deep-water habitats found in UK waters and will help to address legal obligations. Such habitats include seamounts, carbonate mounds and reefs (notable for the presence of the deep-water coral, Lophelia pertusa), sponge aggregations, octocoral 'gardens' and chemosynthetic habitats (cold seeps and pockmarks). However, for monitoring, management and protection programmes to work successfully, we need to increase our knowledge of the location and ecology of these deep-sea habitats in UK waters.


DosiKit is a field radiation biodosimetry immunoassay for fast triage of individuals exposed to external total-body or partial-body irradiation (TBI or PBI). Assay proof-of-concept based on γ-H2AX analysis of human blood samples has been previously described as a promising tool for rapid assessment of TBI. Here, we report on the performance of the assay for PBI based on an analysis of hair follicles irradiated with a 137Cs gamma-ray source, at doses ranging from 0 to 20 Gy and dose rates ranging from ∼0.8 to ∼3 Gy/min. First, we show that the DosiKit protocol allows extraction and analysis of hair follicle proteins. Next, we show that irradiated hair follicles trigger a DNA damage response by inducing dose-dependent γ-H2AX expression. Since γ-H2AX expression strongly decreases 2 to 4 h postirradiation, due to DNA repair, we hypothesized that an antibody targeting the S*/T*Q domains, phosphorylated by ATM for DNA repair activation (pSQTQ), would extend the postirradiation dosimetry time window. DosiKit analysis of pSQTQ in ex vivo irradiated cynomolgus monkey skin explants shows that these sequences are phosphorylated in a dose-dependent manner up to 8 h postirradiation, and that statistically different ranges of external radiation exposure can be distinguished (0–2 Gy, 5–10 Gy, 20 Gy). Since the DosiKit protocol is intended to be used on both blood and hair samples, we also show that SQTQ sequences are phosphorylated dose-dependently in human blood, allowing samples to be classified into three radiation dose ranges (0–0.1 Gy, 0.5–3 Gy and 5–8 Gy). In conclusion, radiation biodosimetry can be performed on both blood and hair samples up to 8 h after exposure using the DosiKit protocol, allowing the concomitant characterization of TBI and PBI for fast and efficient radiological crisis management.


Grapevine rootstock is basic to achieve good adaptation of the vine to ground and environment. Given the low knowledge of the effects of different rootstocks in the agronomic behavior of cv. Mencia, an experimental trial was developed in the D.O. Bierzo during the period of 2009-2012, on a vineyard planted in 2002 in Pieros (Leon). The vines were trained with vertical trellis, by means of bilateral Royat cordon pruning, to 3 two-bud spurs per arm, for a total of 12 buds per vine. Vine distances were of 3.0 m x 1.0 m (3,333 vines/ha) and row orientation is East-NE to West-SW. The rootstocks to study are: 110R, 140Ru, 1103P, 101-14M, 420A, 5BB, 41B, 161-49C, 333EM, SO4. The experimental design consisted of 4 randomized blocks, with an elemental plot of 30 vines. The results showed a tendency of rootstocks SO4 and 420A to increase grape yield, and 101-14M and 5BB to reduce it, through the variation of number of clusters per vine and cluster weight. The vegetative development was clearly favored by rootstocks 5BB and 1103P, and reduced by 101-14M and 110R, which became the weakest rootstocks, mainly due to the variation of individual shoot vigor. The Ravaz index was higher in 110R, 41B and SO4 and lower in 5BB and 1103P. The influence of the rootstock varied on several parameters of grape quality, which was partially dependent on the level of vegetative growth and grape yield achieved by each rootstock. Thus, 5BB, 101-14M and 1103P, the less productive rootstocks, increased the sugar concentration, whereas 41B and 110R reduced it. The acidity increased with 110R and 1103P, and was reduced with 333EM and 101-14M, whereas the pH value of 5BB, of highest sugar concentration, stood out from the rest. The tartaric acid in 41B and SO4 was the highest, and decreased in 333EM and 140Ru, whereas the malic acid got the highest values in 5BB and 1103P, the rootstocks of highest vegetative growth, and decreased in 101-14 M, as well as in 41B and 110R, the rootstocks of lower sugar concentration. The potassium concentration clearly increased in 5BB, a rootstock of very low production and high sugar content, and decreased in 41B, the rootstock of lowest sugar concentration, and 101-14M, whereas the total phenols index did not shown statistically significant differences between rootstocks.


This study presents a new concept of a simple method for the synthesis of dual layer hydrophilic/hydrophobic composite membranes for membrane distillation (MD). The membranes were prepared of poly(vinylidenefluoride) (PVDF) by phase inversion. The synthesis was realized by allowing a full or partial penetration of the polymer solution through one or two non-woven support (NWS) layers. This was achieved by proper selection of a thin NWS having high stiffness, high porosity and low surface tension, in combination with a runny polymer solution and sufficient time gap between casting and coagulation. The applied preparation method was effective in yielding dual layer composite membranes. The first layer atop the NWS was a hydrophilic or slightly hydrophobic one (contact angle (CA) of 88-92Âo), while the bottom layer beneath the NWS was highly hydrophobic (CA=132-140Âo). The difference in surface energy between the top and bottom layers originated from a difference in morphology. A smooth and dense top layer is formed as a result of an instantaneous demixing, while a porous and multi-scale network with some degrees of spherulitical structure was formed on the bottom by a delayed demixing mechanism. Direct contact MD (DCMD) results showed that the obtained flux was comparable to other composite MD membranes with high salt rejection. Membrane alignment inside the MD module is a critical element in determining the membrane performance and is shown to significantly increase flux when a top facing feed configuration is used.


With regard to the treatment of alopecia, the so-called bunch effect and the creation of an abrupt hair line are a major problem of the conventional method of hair transplantation. Employing a recently developed technique, autologous miniature grafts bearing 3-4 or 5-6 hair follicles are implanted into randomly distributed recipient punch holes. By means of this technique, we are able to achieve aesthetically acceptable hair growth even after a single operating session.


This paper reviews the limits of the traditional 'levelised cost' approach to properly take into account risks and uncertainties when valuing different power generation technologies. We introduce a probabilistic valuation model of investment in three base-load technologies (combined cycle gas turbine, coal plant, and nuclear power plant), and demonstrate using three case studies how such a probabilistic approach provides investors with a much richer analytical framework to assess power investments in liberalised markets. We successively analyse the combined impact of multiple uncertainties on the value of alternative technologies, the value of the operating flexibility of power plant managers to mothball and de-mothball plants, and the value of mixed portfolios of different production technologies that present complementary risk-return profiles.


1. Cumulative trauma or repetitive motion disorders are among the most commonly reported occupational illness, and mainly affect the neck and upper extremities. 2. The etiology of cumulative trauma disorders includes nerve compression secondary to inflammation and tendinitis secondary to microtearing at tendon insertions and/or friction irritation of the tendons. 3. Work postures, such as forward flexed position of head, neck, and shoulders; static loading of muscles; as well as repetitive motions can cause cumulative trauma disorders or aggravate pre-existing problems. 4. The occupational health nurse is in a unique position to encourage early reporting of these problems so that conservative treatment can be initiated, identify ergonomic issues at the worksite and institute change, and work closely with the orthopedist to manage clients effectively with clear communication and collaboration.


Multitasking complicates the problem of intent inference by requiring intent inference mechanisms to distinguish multiple streams of behavior and recognize overt task coordination actions.. Given knowledge of an agent's problem representation and architecture it may be possible to disambiguate the agent's actions and better infer its intent. The requirements for implementing such a system are explored within the context of the Apex reactive planner. A prototype reactive inference method based on the Apex architecture is presented.


The study of the expression of negation in longitudinal adult-child data is a privileged locus for a multimodal approach to language acquisition. In the case of bilingual language acquisition, the necessity to enter two languages at once might have an influence on the management of the visual-gestural and the auditory modalities. In order to tackle these issues, we analyze the longitudinal data of Antoine, a bilingual French/Italian child recorded separately once a month for an hour with his Italian mother and with his French father between the ages of 1;5 and 3;5.Our analyses of all his multimodal utterances with negations show that Antoine has created efficient transitional systems during his developmental path both by combining modalities and by mixing his two native languages. The visual-gestural modality is a stable resource to rely on in all the types of linguistic environments Antoine experiences. His bilingual environment could be connected to the creation of his mixed verbal productions also addressed to both French speaking and Italian speaking interlocutors. Those two transitory creative systems are efficient elements of his communicative repertoire during an important period of his language development. Gesture might therefore have a compensatory function for that little boy. It is a wonderful resource to communicate efficiently in his specific environment during his multimodal, multilingual entry into language.


BACKGROUND
This study aimed to determine women's knowledge of their Pap test results and predictors of accurate knowledge, adherence to follow-up recommendations for abnormal results, current methods of notifying women about their Pap test results, women's preferences for notification method, and women's satisfaction with the current notification system.

METHOD
A telephone survey was undertaken of 315 women with a recent normal or abnormal Pap test result, drawn from pathology records in Sydney, Australia.

RESULTS
Findings revealed that 61% of women with a normal result and 93% of women with an abnormal result self reported having been notified about their result. According to women's reports, 7% of those with abnormal results had not been notified and a further 11% of women with abnormal results were unaware that their result was abnormal, giving a total of 18% of abnormal results not communicated adequately to women. Self-reported adherence with follow-up recommendations among women with an abnormal result was less than optimal. The most common methods of notifying women of their results were initiated by the women such as the woman phoning the doctor or receptionist. However, women strongly preferred doctor-initiated methods, such as a written record from the doctor, the doctor phoning the woman, or consultation with the doctor.

CONCLUSION
Results suggest that better methods of notifying and educating women about their Pap test results are necessary to improve women's knowledge and satisfaction and, even more importantly, to improve their level of adherence with follow-up recommendations for abnormal results.