East Timor, (renamed Timor-Leste after independence in 2002) a small tropical country northwest of Australia, is one of the newest members of the United Nations. There are several reasons for East Timor having been in focus in international affairs. Firstly, it was its occupation by Indonesia and its brutal rule since 1975 and the country's achievement of independence in 2002. Secondly, East Timor illustrates a case of realpolitik by the superpowers in international relations, as was evident from their support to Indonesia, or their complete indifference to the issue. "The History of Peace-building in East Timor: The Issues of International Intervention" comprehensively analyses various international responses during its pre- and post-independence eras and examines the process of peace-building after the referendum in the country. The book assesses the legitimacy of each response and policy, how these influenced East Timor as a newly independent state, and what the international society expects in the future from the country that was in turmoil for so long. The book consists of three sections detailing the history of the crisis, policy analysis and comparative analysis with peace-building initiatives by the UN in Cambodia. The book updates the study on East Timor by also discussing the state-building process such as the UNDP organised Recovery, Employment and Stability Programme for Ex-Combatants and communities, the Serious Crimes Unit and the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation in East Timor. The book would be of interest to policy makers, practitioners and academics specialising in East Timor and other countries in the process of peace-building.


The Aurignacian technocomplex in Eurasia, dated to ~43-28 ka, has no direct archeological taxonomic equivalent in Africa during the same time interval, which may reflect differences in inter-group communication or differences in archeological definitions currently in use. Extinct hominin taxa are present in both Eurasia and Africa during this interval, but the African archeological record has played little role in discussions of the demographic expansion of Homo sapiens, unlike the Aurignacian. Sites in Eurasia and Africa by 42 ka show the earliest examples of personal ornaments that result from extensive modification of raw materials, a greater investment of time that may reflect increased their use in increasingly diverse and complex social networks.


Oligodendrocyte maturation has been defined based on expression of developmentally regulated antigens. However, transitions at early stages of the lineage have not been functionally characterized fully in situ. Combining 2',3'-cyclic nucleotide 3'-phosphodiesterase (CNP)-promoter driven enhanced green fluorescent protein expression and whole-cell capacitance measurements permitted a reliable distinction between subcortical white matter NG2+ oligodendrocyte progenitors (OPs) and O4+ preoligodendrocytes (pre-OLs) in situ. We focused on K+ channels because their expression has been associated previously with the proliferation and differentiation potential of OPs. Using whole-cell patch clamp, we observed a downregulation of the delayed outward-rectifying current (IKDR) between the NG2+ and O4+ stages but no significant changes in transient K+-channel current (IKA) amplitude. Tyrosine kinase inhibition in NG2+ cells reduced IKDR amplitude with no effect on IKA, which mimicked the endogenous changes observed between OPs and pre-OLs. Tyrosine kinase inhibition also reduced the proliferative capacity of NG2+ OPs in slice cultures. Conversely, acute platelet-derived growth factor receptor-alpha (PDGFR-alpha) activation caused an increase of IKDR in NG2+ but not in O4+ cells. Consistent with this finding, PDGFR-alpha immunoreactivity was confined to NG2+ cells with undetectable levels in O4+ cells, suggesting that PDGFR-alpha signaling is absent in pre-OLs in situ. Importantly, the PDGF-induced increase of IKDR in NG2+ cells was prevented by tyrosine kinase inhibition. Together, these data indicate that PDGFR-alpha and tyrosine kinase activity act via a common pathway that influences functional expression of K+ channels and proliferative capacity of OPs in situ.


PURPOSE
To assess clinical, biological, and kidney parameters before and 6 months after revascularization of renal artery stenosis due to fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD).

METHODS
Twenty hypertensive patients (18 women; mean age 48.7 +/- 15.4 years) with unilateral de novo FMD stenosis were studied before and 6 months after revascularization (balloon angioplasty 19; bypass surgery 1). Blood pressure and creatinine clearance were measured, and renal length, cortical thickness, cortical area (CA), and medullary length (ML) were evaluated by spiral computed tomographic angiography (CTA) in 20 poststenotic and 20 contralateral kidneys.

RESULTS
Six months after revascularization, the systolic and diastolic blood pressures decreased by 19 mmHg and 10 mmHg, respectively (p=0.02), the number of antihypertensive drugs decreased by 1 (p=0.01), but the increase in creatinine clearance was not significant. At baseline, the poststenotic kidneys were significantly more atrophied than the contralateral normal kidney (ML in normal kidney 89 +/- 9 mm versus 81 +/- 10 mm in poststenotic kidney, p<0.001; CA in normal kidney 824 +/- 149 mm(2) versus 703 +/- 156 mm(2) in poststenotic kidney, p<0.01), which persisted at 6 months (ML in normal kidney 89 +/- 10 versus 80 +/- 11 in poststenotic kidney, p<0.001; CA in normal kidney 807 +/- 145 mm(2) versus 696 +/- 157 mm(2) in poststenotic kidney, p<0.01). Renal length was still within normal range in all kidneys, and the morphological parameters remained stable after revascularization.

CONCLUSIONS
We demonstrated significant cortical/medullary atrophy in poststenotic kidneys compared to contralateral normal kidneys. Despite intraparenchymal disease, clinical outcome was favorable after revascularization. Cortical/medullary thinning appears to be an early marker of renal ischemia that could support revascularization in FMD disease.


This article reviews the academic works on executive politics in the European Union, from the first contributions in the early 60s to the latest studies. It highlights both how developments in the broader literature have guided works on the European Union and how these have contributed to the study of comparative executive politics. Lastly, the essay analyses the normative implications of this literature, in light of the debate on the democratic deficit, and suggests a research agenda.


I LIKE BEING cast in the role of a "geek" or computer nerd -- it gives me a lot of anonymity. Over the years, I've helped build five high-tech schools and have consulted with many others. Fortunately for the "educator" side of me, most teachers, principals, college administrators, and others who see me in their schools think I'm just there to deal with the computer systems and networks. And since I am usually cast in the role of "geek" (I mean the term in a most complimentary way), people seem to assume that I have no skills as an educator. Thus I have been lucky to have unobtrusive access to about 100 classrooms in several different schools. What's more, in my role as geek, I've been the system administrator of a number of e-mail systems, a dozen file servers, and numerous schoolwide networks. At present I have this kind of access to the high- tech systems in two elementary schools. What this means is simple: I know what kinds of raw data are typically collected in lots of high- tech systems that have very large memories indeed. And, like most network administrators, I have monitoring software that gathers, records, analyzes, and visually displays the data that constantly accumulate about what's happening in the school. "Data mining" is a term used a lot by the information technology folks in business. The idea of data mining is simple: we've got all these data, so why not try to extract whatever is of value. Corporations often sift through mountains of data, extracting customer profiles, buying habits, and purchasing trends; compiling demographic details; building mailing lists; and gathering other valuable intelligence. Since the high-tech systems in schools function a lot like those in business, it is certainly feasible to mine this data for research purposes. Here are a few examples of what can be found in the data that most high-tech schools collect. It is common practice to install "network minder" software that tracks the amount and kind of traffic on the network. This software can both give a "snapshot" of the network at any given time and log and average network traffic over time. For example, you can sit at a console in the morning and watch as the school "wakes up." It's almost like standing on a hilltop watching the lights turn on in a small city. You can also watch throughout the day and detect patterns in student computer use. In most elementary classrooms children don't get to use the classroom computers until the teacher is finished with the morning's large-group activities. So the first access they usually have to classroom computers is between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. There is another peak time for student use, starting about 2 p.m. If a school has a departmentalized fifth grade, however, you will see a different pattern. Seldom do you find a teacher who has managed to organize his or her classroom so that students have access to computers all day long. (We should search out these teachers and see how they manage and organize their classrooms.) It is also instructive to watch the student computer use on Fridays: you can detect the modern equivalent of "free film on Friday" teachers. Merely clicking a button on the net-minder software starts it logging this kind of information. Then, whenever you want, you can display a bar graph of network activity by day or by week in 15-, 30-, or 60- minute increments. Obviously, comparing data in this way across schools can be very informative. In one high-tech model school where I examined this kind of data, believe it or not, most students had access to their classroom computers nearly all day long. File server software also has monitoring and logging capability. For example, a server can automatically build a "log file" that keeps track of when people sign on and off the server. This dataset can be mined for patterns of use by teachers and students. Servers also have a "who has logged on" panel that displays this information instantaneously. …


Harry White is the man other men want to be: admired by his peers, talented, rich, and desired by countless women. His steady rise to a position of unprecedented influence in a New York investment firm seems inevitable to those who know him, and on the way he acquires a beautiful wife and children. But with every achievement the desire to destroy what is his grows stronger. A demon within drives him to sexual excess, petty crime and eventually murder. "The Demon" explores the dark side of a man's ambitions with unflinching determination. Harry White's story is a gripping twentieth-century tragedy.


Vision-based sensors such as stereo cameras, are often used on mobile robots for mapping and navigation purposes. Cameras provide a rich set of data making them useful for object recognition, localization and detecting environmental structure. When obtaining range measurements, however, stereo camera vision systems do not perform well under some environmental conditions such as regions which are uniform in appearance (e.g., plain walls), large metallic or glass surfaces (e.g., windows) and poor lighting conditions. This paper describes how range data obtained from a stereo camera vision system can be improved upon through use of additional sonar and infrared proximity sensors. We provide experimental results showing that data fusion from three types of sensor range data does indeed result in a more accurate occupancy grid mapping.


Whether or not steady-state topography and denudation are probable states depends on the timescale of system response to tectonic and climatic perturba- tions relative to the frequency of those perturbations. This paper presents analytical derivations of algebraic relations for the response time of detachment-limited fluvial bedrock channel systems both to tectonic and climatic perturbations. Detachment- limited fluvial erosion is described by the stream-power incision model, and the derivations are limited to the applicability of that model. All factors likely to influence system response time that are not adequately captured by the stream-power incision model will tend to increase the response time. The calculations presented thus provide minimum estimates of landscape response time and therefore over-predict the prob- ability of attaining and sustaining steady-state topography and denudation. The Central Range of Taiwan is used as a case study to estimate response times in a landscape often argued to be in steady state. Model parameters are fit to modern stream profiles by assuming that the topography represents a quasi-steady-state form. Estimated response times generally range from 0.25 to 2.5 Ma, depending on the non-linearity of the incision rule and the magnitude and type of perturbation. Thus it may be reasonably argued that steady-state topography and denudation are likely to prevail during periods of climatic stability (response time is sufficiently short compared with plate tectonic timescales). However, rapid climatic fluctuation in the Quaternary appears to preclude the attainment of steady-state conditions in modern orogens. motivation


Material nonlinearity is of great importance in many engineering problems. In this paper, we exploit NURBS-based isogeometric approach in solving materially nonlinear problems, i.e. elastoplastic problems. The von Mises model with linear isotropic hardening and kinematic hardening is presented, and furthermore the method can also be applied to other elastoplastic models without any loss of generality. The NURBS basis functions allow us to describe exactly the curved geometry of underlying problems and control efficiently the accuracy of approximation solution. Once the discretized system of non-linear equilibrium equation is obtained, the Newton-Raphson iterative scheme is used. Several numerical examples are tested. The accuracy and reliability of the proposed method are verified by comparing with results from ANSYS Workbench software.


Corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH)-containing processes were found by immunohistochemistry in the dorsal and lateral parabrachial nucleus extending medially over the dorsal aspect of the brachium and then along the lateral and medial aspects of the mesencephalic trigeminal tract. Reactivity of lesser density extended ventrally from the medial parabrachial nucleus into the locus ceruleus and subceruleus. To determine if CRH acts in these areas to modulate plasma adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and arginine vasopressin (AVP), acutely prepared, chloralose-anesthetized cats were tested with microinjections (100 nl/min, 2 min). Plasma ACTH increased significantly after injections of CRH (2 pmol) along the dorsal aspect of the brachium and in the locus subceruleus (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01, respectively). Plasma AVP increased significantly after injections of CRH into the medial parabrachial nucleus (P < 0.01). These responses of ACTH and AVP differed significantly from those to injections of either vehicle or glutamate at identical sites and from those to CRH injected in other areas. None of these latter responses was significant. CRH was without effect on arterial pressure even though glutamate (30 nmol) injected into the area ventral and medial to the brachium elicited a significant pressor response. We suggest that excitatory amino acids such as glutamate act in this area to activate neurons with descending projections that influence autonomic function. In contrast, CRH appears to activate other neurons with ascending projections that drive neuroendocrine release.


Cluster analysis is a statistical classification technique that can identify subgroups of people with similar profiles on a research measure or measures. Given its exploratory nature, cluster analysis has a somewhat controversial history in traffic safety research. It has been argued that the ability to produce different solutions using different methods reduces the credibility of cluster analysis as a useful measure for traffic safety research. Part of the problem has been the inconsistent selection of clustering techniques by researchers. This is true even though studies of biological data with known structures have identified and recommended particular methods to apply to particular types of data. In addition, many validation techniques have been developed to test selected solutions. This paper presents an overview of these issues, including two recent Australian studies that have included cluster analyses; one relating to seat belt use and the other to speeding behavior. In each case profiles of road user subgroups were identified based on differences in self-reported road safety attitudes and behaviors. The studies also used factor analysis to first reduce the amount of variables entered into the cluster analysis. In this way multiple measures could be included. It is argued that this combination, factor analysis followed by cluster analysis, can provide a powerful exploratory tool for traffic safety research.


This study introduces two advances to the aggregate productivity index methodology typically employed by ABARES. First, it accounts for the effects of climate variability on measured productivity by matching spatial climate data to individual farms in the ABARES farm surveys database. Second, a farm-level production frontier estimation technique is employed to facilitate the decomposition of productivity change into several key components, including technical change and technical efficiency change. The study makes use of farm-level data from the ABARES Australian agricultural and grazing industries survey database. An unbalanced panel dataset is constructed containing 13 430 observations (4255 farms) over the period 1977–78 to 2007–08. Spatial climate data, including winter and summer seasonal rainfall and average maximum and minimum temperatures, were obtained via the Australian Water Availability Project. These data were mapped to individual farms using Geographic Information System methods. The study employed stochastic frontier analysis methods to estimate a production frontier with time varying technical efficiency effects of the form proposed by Battese and Coelli (1992). Production frontiers are estimated for each of the three major Grains Research and Development Corporation regions: southern, northern and western. Selected climate variables are shown to display a high degree of explanatory power over farm output. The results confirm that deterioration in average climate conditions has contributed significantly to the decline in estimated productivity over the post-2000 period. Technical change is shown to be the primary driver of productivity growth in the industry in the long run, offset by a gradual decline in technical efficiency. After controlling for climate variability, a gradual decline in the rate of technical change is still observed.


Purpose. The aim of research is to study the main elements of ecological and economic management in the process of ecologization of agrarian production implementing economic and ecological instruments, methods of management, strategy of development. Methodology / approach. The base for the methodological approaches while developing the innovative model of ecologization of agrarian production was methods of structural analysis (component analysis) and synthesis, due to them diagnostics, and estimation of ecological and economic potential of the industry were made; potential opportunities connected with strategic tasks were determined. Results. The model of the components of the ecological-economic mechanism of management of ecologization of agrarian production was proposed. The measures to ensure the environmentally friendly management of agrarian business were presented. The main directions of organizational and economic management of ecologization of agrarian production were presented. In the system of ecological-economical mechanism of achieving a high level of competitiveness on the innovative basis was carried out through application of the corresponding methods: organizational, economic, technical-technological, administrative. Originality / scientific novelty. Novelty is determined by the implementation of the process of ecologization the agricultural production in the context of applying alternative management systems, in which agrarian enterprises are considered as the economic-ecological system, which is based on rational and ecologically grounded methods of production, by providing the quality of the produce and raw material. Practical value / implications. The results from the analysis include the formed methods of ecological-economical management and mechanisms of their implementation towards: provision of the safe development in agribusiness of the region based on the innovative scheme by developing and supporting the organic production; provision of population with high-quality local ecologically safe produce.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the ability of hand radiographs collected at study inclusion to predict a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) 2 years later, in a cohort of patients with early arthritis.

METHODS
We evaluated 270 patients with arthritis of less than one year duration. At the first visit, all patients underwent a standardized evaluation including laboratory tests and radiographs. Followup was 30+/-11.3 mo. The hand radiographs were read by observers blinded to patient data who looked for item 7 of the 1987 ACR criteria for RA and used Sharp's method to score erosions and joint space narrowing.

RESULTS
The kappa coefficient for ACR item 7 was < 0.65 for bony decalcification and > 0.8 for erosions. Intra and interobserver correlation coefficients for Sharp score ranged from 0.90 to 0.95. The "erosion" component of ACR item 7 was more specific than the full item 7 (96% versus 87.5%; p = 0.02). Sharp erosion score was not better than the erosion component of item 7 (sensitivity 17%; specificity 96%).

CONCLUSION
Regardless of the criterion used, hand radiographs were of limited value to predict which patients would be considered as having RA 2 years later. Diagnostic performance was similar for the "erosions" component of the 1987 ACR item 7 and for Sharp erosion score. The full 1987 ACR item 7 (erosions or bony decalcification) performed less well.


Graphene (GR)–semiconductor composite-based photocatalytic systems have received ever-increasing attention due to the attractive possibilities they provide to alleviate environmental and energy issues. Extensive endeavours have been made to construct high-performance GR–semiconductor composite photocatalysts for solar energy conversion. In this review, recent advances in developing strategies to assemble efficient GR–semiconductor composite photocatalysts are highlighted. These advances can be mainly classified into three aspects. The first is the optimization of individual components, including maximization of the functions of graphene and optimization of the photoactive semiconductors. The second is interface engineering between graphene and semiconductors. The third is the design and optimization of GR–semiconductor composite photocatalysts from a system-level consideration. Finally, it is proposed that combining these advances together with theoretical investigations will take us further along the road to advancing GR–semiconductor composite-based photocatalysis. Truly smart GR–semiconductor composite photocatalysts with robust structural and functional infrastructure are anticipated to be forthcoming.


Phenotypes are the products of developmental processes whose dynamics are controlled by genes. In many developmental processes there is a nonlinear relationship between genetic variation and phenotypic variation. These nonlinear relationships can result in the emergence of dominance among alleles that control the developmental process. We explore the properties of dominance relationships in a simple developmental system consisting of a diffusion-gradient-threshold mechanism commonly deployed in pattern formation. We show that a single nonlinear process (diffusion) within this integrated mechanism leads to the emergence of dominance in all components of the mechanism. Unlike the situation in metabolic pathways, where new mutations are most likely to be recessive, the structure of the nonlinearities in this developmental mechanism is such that in certain circumstances new mutations are equally likely to be dominant or recessive. Although the dominance we observe in this system is the result of a physiological process, we also find that dominance can evolve by microevolutionary mechanisms and thus are able to reconcile the opposing views of Fisher and Wright on dominance.


Socio-cognitive conflict is not only an inevitable cognitive and affective state in group learning experience, but also creates opportunities for better learning. When learners experience sociocognitive conflict, they inspect the gaps in their knowledge. But not all learners benefit from this experience. Students vary greatly in their dispositions to react to social rejection (rejection sensitivity, RS) with implications for knowledge acquisition in group learning. How learners face and engage in conflict, therefore, may be dependent on learners' RS. In this paper, we examine the extent to which Low Rejection Sensitivity (LRS) and High Rejection Sensitivity (HRS) influence socio-cognitive conflict learning gains. In a 4×2 mixed-design with contradictory information as a within-subjects factor (True-False, False-True, False-False, True-True) and RS as the between-subjects factor (Low, High), we analyzed perceived socio-cognitive conflict and knowledge acquisition in a multi-agent intelligent tutoring system (ITS) environment, where 78 participants engaged in trialogues on research methods concepts with animated two peer agents. The results show that high as compared to low (HRS vs. LRS) learners display a significantly more socio-cognitive conflict perception but less knowledge acquisition in contradictory information conditions. Our findings suggest that RS biases the knowledge acquisition in sociocognitive conflict learning environments, which indicates that sociocognitive conflict strategy cannot simply be generalized across different learners in ITS environments, and ITS learning environments need to be designed with respect to learners' dispositions.


In this paper we propose an approach to visualise the domestic communication patterns by designing domestic interfaces. We conduct a review of literatures on the development of interaction interfaces including the design and evaluation methods, the communication patterns in the home, and the design methods for domestic infrastructures. Following an analysis of current design approaches and interface design and evaluation, we draw some implications from a practical consumption behaviour research; a study designed an unconventional control panel interface. And the evaluation results of the study provided us an illustration of new interface effectiveness by novel design approach. The study of interface design approach indicates that the pattern visualisation stretches insights into the design and understanding for domestic communicational patterns.


The response to changes in the osmotic pressure and the capability to adapt to raised tonicity of culture medium, obtained by increasing the NaCl molarity (0.137M), varies among different Mammalian cell lines. Cells cultured in permissive hypertonic medium become resistant to more drastic hypertonic solutions, which are incompatible with cell survival, in the absence of any pretreatment. When cells grown in hypertonic medium are fed again with normal medium, they do not maintain their greater resistance acquired by adaptation; this points to a reversible physiological process rather than to a stable regulatory change at a genetic level. Cells of the EUE line (human embryonic epithelium), grown in medium containing a doubled NaCl concentration (0.274M), show a growth rate slower than cells cultured in a isotonic medium, whereas the plating efficiency is apparently unaffected. The chromosome number distribution in EUE cells cultured in hypertonic medium shows a significant increase in the frequency of cells with a double chromosomal set (20% in treated cells versus 1.5% in control cells). The induction of polyploidy in hypertonic media can be a useful tool in experiments of genetic analysis based on chromosome segregation via tetraploidy. Furthermore the osmotic adaptation of cells in vitro can provide a useful selective system for the isolation of cellular hybrids.


. Objective . High-resolution prosthetic vision requires dense stimulat- ing arrays with small electrodes. However, such miniaturization reduces electrode capacitance and penetration of electric field into tissue. We evaluate potential solutions to these problems with subretinal implants based on utilization of pillar electrodes. Approach . To study integration of three-dimensional (3D) implants with retinal tissue, we fabricated arrays with varying pillar diameter, pitch, and height, and implanted beneath the degenerate retina in rats (Royal College of Surgeons, RCS). Tissue integration was evaluated 6 weeks post-op using histology and whole-mount confocal fluorescence imaging. The electric field generated by various electrode configurations was calculated in COMSOL, and stimulation thresholds assessed using a model of network-mediated retinal response. Main re- sults . Retinal tissue migrated into the space between pillars with no visible gliosis in 90% of implanted arrays. Pillars with 10 µ m height reached the middle of the inner nuclear layer (INL), while 22 µ m pillars reached the upper portion of the INL. Electroplated pillars with dome-shaped caps increase the active electrode surface area. Selective deposition of sputtered iridium oxide onto the cap ensures localization of the current injection to the pillar top, obviating the need to insulate the pillar sidewall. According to computational model, pillars having a cathodic return electrode above the INL and active anodic ring electrode at the surface of the implant would enable 6 times lower stimulation threshold, compared to planar arrays with circumferential return, but suffer from greater cross-talk between the neighboring pixels. Significance . 3D electrodes in subretinal prostheses help reduce electrode-tissue separation and decrease stimulation thresholds to enable smaller pixels, and thereby improve visual acuity of prosthetic vision.


INTRODUCTION
Intraoperative floppy iris syndrome (IFIS) was first described by Chang and Campbell in 2005. The characteristics of this syndrome include: 1. Floppy iris that billows in reaction to intraocular fluid currents during standard phacoemulsification procedure; 2. Flaccid iris stroma that tends to prolapse through well-constructed surgical incisions; 3. Insufficient pupillary mydriasis despite proper pharmacologic preparation and progressive pupillary constriction during the operation. Surgical procedures with IFIS have since been noted to have an exceptionally high rate of complications, some of which can be vision threatening. These complications include: radial tear in the anterior capsule, a posterior capsule rupture with vitreous prolapse, retained lens fragments, anterior chamber hemorrhage, increased postoperative inflammation, permanent damage to the iris causing a deformed pupil, glare and photophobia, cystoid macular edema, retinal detachment and endophthalmitis. Several studies have found substantial aetiological association between IFIS and current or previous consumption of selective α1 adrenoreceptors antagonists. The strongest association was found with the drug Tamsulosin (Flomax). The α1 anatagonists are commonly used to treat lower urinary tract symptoms in elderly men with benign prostatic hyperplasia. This article will review current knowledge about IFIS including historical background, incidence, pharmacological mechanism and possible measures and methods aimed to reduce surgical complications.


This fact sheet summarizes data collected by the Illinois Water Inventory Program for the water reporting year 2012. Water use data is presented in two sectors, public water supply and the self-supplied industry. During 2012, reported water withdrawals in Illinois totaled 40,230 million gallons per day (mgd), with groundwater totaling 480 mgd and surface water 39,750 mgd. Public water supplies (PWS) withdrew 1,509 mgd and self-supplied industries (SSI) withdrew 38,721 mgd. Electric power generation is the state's number one water user, making up a majority of water withdrawals in 2012. Excluding power generation, which is generally a non-consumptive use of water, SSI withdrawals totaled 477 mgd.


We study the double obstacle problem for p-harmonic functions on arbitrary bounded nonopen sets E in quite general metric spaces. The Dirichlet and single obstacle problems are included as special cases. We obtain the Adams criterion for the solubility of the single obstacle problem and establish connections with fine potential theory. We also study when the minimal p-weak upper gradient of a function remains minimal when restricted to a nonopen subset. Many of the results are new even for open E (apart from those which are trivial in this case) and also on Rn.


After a growth recovery, with an expansion of 1.1 percent in 2017, the region has encountered some bumps in the road. The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region is expected to grow at a modest rate of 0.6 percent in 2018 and 1.6 percent in 2019. This slowdown in the region's recovery is mainly explained by the crisis that started in Argentina in April, the growth slowdown in Brazil, and the continuing economic, social, and humanitarian collapse in Venezuela. Furthermore, net capital inflows to the region have fallen dramatically since early 2018, bringing once again to the fore the risks faced by LAC. In addition, natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes have brought devastation to the region with disturbing frequency. The core of the report analyzes the foundations of risk, develops a theoretical framework to price risk instruments, and reviews how LAC has managed risk in practice. The overall message of the report is that there are different types of risk: (i) those that follow standard probabilistic distributions that can be easily insured by the market; and (ii) those that exhibit fat-tails (i.e., non-negligible probabilities of extreme events) that are much harder to ensure by the market (like earthquakes). Finally, there are "black swans" that, by definition, are unpredictable events that cannot be insured and force countries to rely exclusively on ex-post aid and/or broad preventive measures. In other words, the fatter are the tails of a distribution, the less market insurance is available, and the more countries will have to rely on ex-post aid. Yet progress in managing risk continues to be made (the Catastrophe Bond for earthquakes in the Pacific Alliance, recently sponsored by the World Bank, being an outstanding example). This would have been unthinkable some time ago. New knowledge and insurance schemes, all supported by institutions such as the World Bank, will undoubtedly make LAC a safer region to live and prosper.


We present first results of a four-epoch VLBA survey for nonthermal emission toward all 556 compact radio sources previously identified in a deep VLA survey of the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). We identify VLBA counterparts toward an unprecedented 123 sources. Of these, 41 do not have X-ray counterparts, of which 34 also do not display near-infrared counterparts. Since these cannot be explained by extragalactic background sources, this suggests a component of the ONC population of young stellar objects that are too deeply embedded for even X-rays to be detectable. We find pervasive variability and detect even most of the highest-S/N sources in only one out of four epochs. Neither a negative spectral index nor extreme variability in the VLA data is a good predictor of a VLBA detection.


This thesis aims to provide a new perspective on the British Liberal Party during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries via an analysis of pamphlet literature produced in support of the party. The period under investigation saw the fortunes of the Liberal Party move from being the principal rival of the Conservative Party to one of three competing for power, with the Labour Party emerging as a party capable of forming a government. The thesis aims to contribute to scholarly debate on the subject by showing that there was indeed a ?decline of Liberalism? and ?rise of Labour?, but that these themes can be best understood in terms of the appeals both parties made to the electorate. It will show that when analysed through the literature they or their supporters produced to win over voters, the Liberal Party can be seen to have failed to adapt to a shifting electorate, and that they did not react to developing critiques of Liberalism from the Labour Party and its constituent bodies in sufficient time to prevent Labour establishing itself as a credible party of government, thus removing one of the Liberal Party?s main advantages over Labour. The thesis will use a close analysis of the text contained within a sample of Liberal Party pamphlet literature to show that the party had particular problems when addressing itself to working-class voters, who became an increasingly important section of the electorate following franchise extensions in 1867, 1884 and 1918. It will show that the Liberal Party constructed their appeals to working-class voters using a constructed figure, which will be termed the ?Liberal Working Man?, who was possessed of particular characteristics which made him suitable to hold the vote. The ?Liberal Working Man? was both conceived within models of political behaviour deriving from ?whiggish? forms of political history and also appealed to by using narratives of political history which stressed the need for him to support the Liberal Party. The thesis will show that the Liberals did nor realise until too late that their understanding of the working-class electorate was flawed and had contributed to the emergence of the Labour critique of their party, by which time the First World War had created a series of practical problems which hampered the party?s attempts to maintain working-class support. The Liberal Party will be shown to have been put into a position whereby its pamphlet appeals could no longer rely on the old assumptions with regards working-class electoral behaviour, and proved incapable of providing an adequate replacement for the concept in their attempts to garner support through electoral literature.


As complexity is the feature of the structure of constellation and numerous satellites of multiple satellite integrated navigation system, on some special occasions or during some unusual period, selecting and recombining of constellation and satellites should be completed quickly. An innovational strategy was adopted to apply the fast algorithm of selecting satellites into the field of system modeling of multiple satellite integrated navigation system. Our method only concerned the judgment and selection of the elevation angle and azimuth angle of the visible satellites, and in the case of ensuring the positioning accuracy of integrated system. This method avoided the difficulty of object modeling and took full advantage of relationship among satellite constellations. Therefore, the potential was fully explored of multiple satellite integrated navigation system itself. The simulation results show that the anti-jamming performance and self-healing ability of the whole navigation system have been strengthened by fast algorithm of selecting satellites. That is to say, the computational complexity has been decreased to such an effect as to improve the real-time performance of the system by sacrificing very limited positioning precision.


Working memory refers to a mental 'workbench' whereby new or goal relevant information is held in a readily accessible state in order to achieve success with cognitive problems. Working memory has been shown to be relevant to individual differences in many aspect of cognition including fluid intelligence, while also identified as a core deficit in cognitive developmental disorders. Therefore the possibility that working memory capacity is trainable, and that such interventions produce generalisable cognitive benefits is highly noteworthy. Following these initial claims from early studies using an adaptive working memory training intervention, commercial products have been developed and marketed, based on the premise that working memory can indeed be trained and lead to transfer to a wider range of cognitive abilities. A close examination of the literature suggests that these claims are based on a combination of mixed generalisable results and often a lack of evidence for genuine working memory improvement. In some examples the analyses testing for working memory improvement fail to show such effects while in others the chosen assessment tasks are too similar to the trained tasks to be evidence for general working memory improvement. The potential for improved fluid intelligence and amelioration of deficits leading to developmental issues due to a working memory training intervention is of clear practical importance. However, for such arguments to be made convincingly it is of critical importance that there is increased understanding of the effects of working memory training on the construct itself. Thus far the effects seen in the literature have not proved to be robust and therefore the mechanisms of any proposed effect need to be examined to illuminate the conceptual and empirical benefits of such training interventions, whilst also establishing their robustness and reliability. In addition, there is reason to believe that tighter methodological designs are needed to make the domain more credible with particular emphasis on suitable active control groups. Therefore this thesis pursued a series of studies assessing the efficacy of adaptive difficulty WM training interventions with an emphasis on the impact on the working memory construct (near-transfer). Thus, the assessment of potential improvements in working memory formed the core analyses within this thesis. Therefore, in addition to the three working memory training studies, this thesis will also addressed various methods of assessing working memory performance from typical behavioural assessments, so as to inform the methods utilised in the pre-post changes in the training studies. This was achieved by means of analysing alternative scoring methods, assessment protocols, and modelling the difficulty of different list length trials using a Rasch model in working memory tasks. Each training study utilised a randomised pre-post (experiment one also incorporated a follow-up phase) intervention design where the control group completed a demanding regime of tasks with minimal stress on working memory. In each experiment participants completed a battery of tasks prior to the onset of the training phase that lasted 5-6 weeks. During the training phase an intervention group would complete the specified training regime while an active control group would complete different tasks. Following the conclusion of the training phase the initial battery of tasks was re-administered (experiment one also incorporated a follow-up phase). Additionally, all software used was developed specifically for this project including control group tasks therefore maintaining consistency in the 'look and feel' between the two groups. In experiment one (N = 55) an intervention using a variety of working memory based tasks (Working Memory Period, Memory Updating, Colour Corsi, and Stroop) was assessed and compared with an active control intervention in children aged 9-10. No improvements were found in the individual tasks measuring verbal and visuo-spatial working memory, nor were there training effects. In experiment two (N = 76) children aged 9-11 participated in three working memory interventions with each consisting of a single task (Working Memory Period, Colour Corsi, and N-Back). No improvements were seen in any training group beyond what was also seen in an active control group in composite measures of verbal and visuo-spatial working memory, or processing speed. A final working memory training experiment (N = 55) replicated the results from experiment two (Dual N-Back replacing standard N-Back) using a sample of healthy adults. These data suggest, in typically developing children and adults, that adaptive working memory training interventions may not improve working memory functions. These results cast doubt on the potential for such interventions to produce improved performance in a wider range of higher order cognitive abilities. Potential reasons for the existence of a number of positive results in the literature are considered including ineffective controls, publication bias, and potential false positives as a consequence of multiple comparisons - with regards the number of tasks used in a pre-post battery in addition to the number of measures one can extract from each task compounded by the possibility of analysing these data using multiple methods.


The buckling behavior of a face layer debonded locally from the core of a sandwich panel is analyzed by considering a Euler beam on Winkler foundation with debonds subjected to in-plane compression. Exact closed form solutions of the buckling load and mode shape are obtained, and corresponding numerical results are given to illustrate the solution. Results indicate that the wrinkling wavelength of the perfectly bonded face layer can be used as an appropriate characteristic length for normalizing the debond length of a relatively long face layer. The effects of length and location of debonds and the end constraints of the face layer on the load carrying capacity are discussed. Interactive effects due to two debonds and the overlapping of debond faces are also studied. A master curve based on a classical solution is developed by employing the new normalization of the debond length. A modification to the usual Winkler foundation constants is made for an isotropic core, and it agrees very well with published results of a finite element analysis.


We propose an evolutionary model for weighted network according to characteristics of real-life network, and the weighted model integrates the triad formation and the preferential mechanism. The two mechanisms provide a wide variety of scale-free behaviors depending on the parameter that govern the new nodes and new links growth. The model gives power-law distributions of degree, weight, and strength. In particular, the average strength displays scale-free property , , as confirmed in many real networks. While in BBV weighted model, the scaling exponent . This implies that the strength of nodes grows faster than their degree. This denotes a strong correlation between the weight and the topological properties in the model, which can be considered as a meaningful development of weighted network model.


Introduction: Adult-onset Stills Disease (AOSD) is a rare immuno-inflammatory disease with an unpredictable course. Contemporary treatment with biological agents is commonplace but the efficacy of treatment and effects on long-term outcomes are poorly defined. We investigated prognostic markers and evaluated outcomes in an Australian cohort of hospitalized patients with AOSD diagnosed and treated over 10 years. Methods: Patients greater than 18 years of age with a discharge ICD-10 code for AOSD were selected from medical records at 3 tertiary hospitals in Perth, Western Australia from 2009-2019. Demographic data, and clinical and serological outcomes after 12 months of follow-up were collected. Relationships between plasma ferritin and clinical remission, flare rate, need for conventional treatment with or without conventional or biological disease-modifying agents (csDMARD and bDMARD) and Physician Global Assessment score (PGA) were evaluated, as were the effect of treatments on serologic markers of remission and PGA. Fishers exact tests for a categorical comparisons and Mann-Whitney U-tests for comparison of continuous outcomes were performed. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: All patients received corticosteroid therapy and 18 of 24 also received csDMARDs. Of these, 8 progressed to bDMARDs. Lower baseline ferritin concentrations were observed in those who achieved complete remission, required csDMARDs +/bDMARDs, or had more flares per 100 patient-years and lower PGA scores, but the results were not statistically significant. Serological markers of remission decreased markedly with all treatments, but no significant differences between treatments or in patients achieving remission was observed. Conclusions: Long term follow-up was limited but remission rates appeared low. No unequivocal predictors of treatment response or outcome were identified. A trend towards greater use of csDMARDs and bDMARDs, and low PGA scores (poor outcome at 12 months), implying worse outcomes was observed with hyperferritinemia. Accordingly, marked hyperferritinemia may be a biomarker for more sustained or severe AOSD manifestations and predispose to more relapses. Further research is required to examine this possibility in more detail. Tasman Medical Journal 2021; 3(2): 94-10


This paper presents a new high speed current mirror with continuous gain adjustment. Based on this current mirror, a variable gain current amplifier is designed in 0.18µm CMOS technology. The current gain of the amplifier can be continuously varied from 0dB to 20dB while the bandwidth of the circuit remains above 100MHz. The circuit consumes 0.9mW from 1.5V supply.


Peggy Guggenheim was one of the most important (and celebrated) art world figures of the twentieth century. Born into a wealthy New York family, she traveled throughout Europe during the 1920s and 1930s where she was a witness to the major art movements through her association with artists such as Constantin Brancusi, Max Ernst and Marcel Duchamp, to name a few. With a keen eye and exalted social standing, she amassed one of the most significant modern art collections in private hands. This volume is the only complete book on her exceptional collection. Through several essays and extended captions, every aspect of Guggenheim's collection, which was donated to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in 1979 after her death, is explained. The breadth of the collection is astonishing: from the earliest examples of abstraction by Piet Mondrian to the controlled abandon of Jackson Pollock's drip paintings (whose career she single-handedly launched), her intuition regarding the important trends was almost clairvoyant. The book begins with an essay devoted to the concept of structure as it relates to the cubist work of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque; the lyrically expressionistic work of Wassily Kandinsky and the spare constructivist work of Lissitzky, among many others. Guggenheim was also deeply interested in surrealist and dada work examples of which are well represented in the collection including the fantastical landscapes of Giorgio de Chirico and Max Ernst's whimsical collages. Sculpture formed an important part of Guggenheim's collection, many of which were installed to glorious effect on the well-manicured grounds of her home in the Grand Canal, Palazzo Venier dei Leoni. Withexceptional care and thoughtfulness, she was able to strike a remarkable balance between more classically-inspired work, such as the soft and refined curves of Henry Moore's figures, and more avant-garde work of Alberto Giacometti whose ghostly, attenuated figures were some of the most haunting works produced this century. In the end, the book chronicles not only the development of a great collection and the life of the socialite eccentric who built it, but, more importantly, the history of modern art.


Cell populations of the marine bacterium ANT-300, from either batch or continuous culture with dilution rates ranging from D = 0.015 h−1 to D = 0.200 h−1, were monitored for viability, direct counts, and optical density for 98 days under starvation conditions. Three stages of starvation survival were observed for each of the cell populations. Although direct counts remained at 2 × 107 to 3 × 107 cells ml−1 throughout the starvation period, large fluctuations occurred in cell viability during stage 1 (0 to 14 days) of starvation survival. Stage 2 (14 to 70 days) involved an overall decrease in viability for each of the cell populations; the rate of viability loss was dependent upon the growth rate. Cell viability stabilized at approximately 0.3% of the direct count in stage 3 (70 to 98 days). Long-term starvation corresponded to the prolongation of stage 3 starvation survival. Cell volumes for each of the cell populations decreased with the length of the starvation period. However, the cell volume of starved cells was also dependent more on growth rate than on the length of the time starved. We hypothesize that the cell population with the slowest growth rate is most closely representative of cells found in the oligotrophic marine environment.


The prostaglandin E synthase 2 (PTGES2) gene maps to a locus linked to obesity and is involved in the synthesis of the antilipolytic compound prostaglandin E(2). In a recent study, we found an association of the minor PTGES2 Arg298His allele and lower risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the European Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) and Cooperative Health Research in the Augsburg Region (KORA) cohorts. Here, we employed our Metabolic Intervention Cohort Kiel (MICK) to assess the influence of the PTGES2 Arg298His polymorphism on a wider scale of parameters of the metabolic syndrome and postprandial metabolism. In comparison to subjects homozygous for the Arg allele, carriers of the His-allele showed significantly lower fasting insulin (geometric mean +/- SEM: 11.8 muU/mL, 11.41-12.25 versus 13.0, 12.71-13.33; p = 0.023), lower postprandial insulin levels after an oral glucose tolerance test (area under the curve 77.2, 74.07-80.52 versus 81.2, 78.8-83.63; p = 0.023) and lower homeostasis model assessment (HOMA)-insulin-resistance (3.030, 2.909-3.157 versus 3.346, 3.257-3.438; p = 0.041) and HOMA-beta-cell-function (107.2, 104.04-110.52 versus 117.2, 114.65-119.71; p = 0.019). Adjustment for body mass index (BMI) resulted in a loss of these significant differences. BMI tended to show lower values in His-allele carriers, (p = 0.067). In conclusion, risk-reducing effects of the minor His allele of the PTGES2 Arg298His polymorphism could be mediated partly by lowered BMI.


Radiative transfer models consistently overestimate surface diffuse downward irradiance in cloud‐free atmospheres by 9 to 40% at two low altitude sites while correctly calculating direct‐normal Solar irradiance. For known systematic and random measurement errors and for realistic aerosol optical properties, the discrepancy can be resolved by a reduction in the vertical aerosol optical thickness (AOT) inferred from sunphotometric measurements by an average 0.02 ± 0.01 for 32 cases examined, together with a compensating increase in a continuum‐like atmospheric absorptance over the solar spectrum of ∼5.0% ± 3.0%. This phenomenon is absent at two high altitude sites, where models and measurements agree to within their mutual uncertainties. Examination of apparent AOT at several locations around the globe also indicates presence of such excess atmospheric absorption. The proposed absorption and corresponding reduction in AOT would have important consequences for climate prediction and remote sensing.


Background The success of home treatment is strongly influenced by patient adherence to treatment. Non-adherence to treatment represents not only an important issue for the patient, affecting both the clinical efficacy and safety of the drug treatment, but also has financial and social implications for the community. Purpose This study evaluated the adherence to treatment, persistence, and the daily cost of treatment in patients with prostate cancer treated with gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists, comparing leuprorelin 3.75–11.25, leuprorelin 7.5–22.5 and triptorelin. Materials and Methods Adherence to treatment was measured as the ratio between the Received Daily Dose (RDD) and the Prescribed Daily Dose (PDD), using software developed for this purpose by hospital pharmacists. The RDD was calculated as the sum of the number of days between two consecutive drug refills, whilst the PDD was determined based on the treatment regimen as prescribed by the physician. The persistence was calculated as the sum of the number of days the patient had stayed on treatment. The cost of daily treatment was calculated on the basis of the RDD. Results 126 patients were enrolled in this study for triptorelin, 143 for leuprorelin 3.75–11.25 and 31 for leuprorelin 7.5–22.5. The adherence values for all drugs ranged between 0.95 and 1.10, showing good quality management of domiciled treatment. The analysis of persistence conducted over three years showed a decrease by 20% for leuprorelin 3.75–11.25, 25% for triptorelin and 50% for leuprorelin 7.5–22.5. The cost per RDD was €.2.15, €.2.24 and €.2.84 for leuprorelin 7.5–22.5, leuprorelin 3.75–11.25 and triptorelin respectively. Conclusions The excellent adherence values showed that all the drugs studied have a good safety profile and easy administration. In fact, patients complied with the dosage and medication regimens as recommended by prescribers. The persistence values were overlapping. The cost per RDD for triptorelin was 23% higher than leuprorelin. No conflict of interest.


The American research university enjoyed an unprecedented boom from the end of World War II until the 1990s. All sources of financial support for universities--federal grants, private gifts, state appropriations, student tuition, and revenues from university medical centers--grew substantially. As a result, traditionally prestigious universities expanded and numerous other universities were transformed from primarily teaching institutions to significant research centers. But in the 1990s, research universities have experienced the first protracted challenge to the boom of the preceeding four decades. This book examines the nature of the challenges to research universities, and their likely effects on the number, size, and operation of these universities. The authors assess the prospects for research support from government, industry, and profits from university medical centers, and conclude that the future does not appear bright in these cases. They also examine the methods used by the federal government to pay for university research, and propose changes that would make both universities and the federal government better off by reducing the administrative costs of federal grants. Their primary conclusion is that in the next decade American research universities will face increasingly stringent budgets, and will be forced to shrink and refocus their activities in order to survive as research institutions.


The effects of novel or relevant (a single exposure to experimental chamber) and irrelevant (20 exposures to experimental chamber) stimuli on the levels of serotonin (5-HT) and its metabolite 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5-HIAA) in the frontal cortex, striatum, and nucleus accumbens in the left and right hemispheres were studied in male and female rats. It was found that 5-HT and 5-HIAA contents in the frontal cortex changed in response to neither relevant nor irrelevant stimuli. However, there were hemispheric difference in 5-HT and 5-HIAA in the frontal cortex of intact animals. The level of 5-HT in males and the level of 5-HIAA in females were higher in the left frontal cortex. In females, the level of 5-HIAA in the left striatum decreased in response to the novel stimulus. Sex differences in: a) 5-HT metabolism (increase in the level of 5-HIAA in males and increase in 5-HT in females) and b) lateralization (the striatal 5-HT metabolism in males changed bilaterally and only in the left hemisphere in females) were observed in reactions to irrelevant stimuli. Both in male and female rats, serotonin content in the nucleus accumbens changed only in response to the irrelevant stimuli. The 5-HT level increased in the left and right hemispheres independently of sex, but hemispheric difference was revealed only in females, in which the serotonin level was higher in the left nucleus accumbens. It is concluded that serotonergic neurotransmitter mechanisms are involved in hemispheric and sex differences in selective attention.


Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have discovered thousands of significant genetic effects on disease phenotypes. By considering gene expression as the intermediary between genotype and disease phenotype, expression quantitative trait loci studies have interpreted many of these variants by their regulatory effects on gene expression. However, there remains a considerable gap between genotype-to-gene expression association and genotype-to-gene expression prediction. Accurate prediction of gene expression enables gene-based association studies to be performed post hoc for existing GWAS, reduces multiple testing burden, and can prioritize genes for subsequent experimental investigation. In this work, we develop gene expression prediction methods that relax the independence and additivity assumptions between genetic markers. First, we consider gene expression prediction from a regression perspective and develop the HAPLEXR algorithm which combines haplotype clusterings with allelic dosages. Second, we introduce the new gene expression classification problem, which focuses on identifying expression groups rather than continuous measurements; we formalize the selection of an appropriate number of expression groups using the principle of maximum entropy. Third, we develop the HAPLEXD algorithm that models haplotype sharing with a modified suffix tree data structure and computes expression groups by spectral clustering. In both models, we penalize model complexity by prioritizing genetic clusters that indicate significant effects on expression. We compare HAPLEXR and HAPLEXD with three state-of-the-art expression prediction methods and two novel logistic regression approaches across five GTEx v8 tissues. HAPLEXD exhibits significantly higher classification accuracy overall; HAPLEXR shows higher prediction accuracy on approximately half of the genes tested and the largest number of best predicted genes (r2> 0.1) among all methods. We show that variant and haplotype features selected by HAPLEXR are smaller in size than competing methods (and thus more interpretable) and are significantly enriched in functional annotations related to gene regulation. These results demonstrate the importance of explicitly modeling non-dosage dependent and intragenic epistatic effects when predicting expression.


Pauci-immune glomerulonephritis in systemic vasculitides usually have anti-neuthrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCA). However, vasculitides of large vessels such as Takayasu's and giant cell (temporal) arteritis do not. Exceptionally ANCA(+) small vessel vasculitides are associated with large vessel vasculitis. It may be a coincidence or both vasculitides have a common pathogenesis. We report a 30 years old woman on hemodialysis due to a chronic glomerulonephritis ANCA(+) diagnosed nine years ago. Eight years later, she presented with an aortitis with severe stenosis of distal aorta and vasculitis of left subclavian artery. She was treated with adrenal steroids and cyclophosphamide. During the ensuing five years she has been stable and without signs of reactivation of the disease.


Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus were grown in media containing one of several halogenated organic acids which the bacteria metabolized but could not use as a major carbon and energy source for growth. Gas chromatographic techniques were employed to detect the presence of low population densities by analysis for products formed by the microorganisms. By virtue of the presence of the cometabolizable halogenated substrate in the medium, the sensitivity of procedures for detecting the presence of S. typhimurium, E. coli, and S. aureus was increased more than 7,000-, 20,000-, and 1,000-fold, respectively.


This study is to develop a strategy and offers strategic media planning formulations and recommendations. The research framework is analyzing the company's external and internal factors of strategic media planning with the collaborations of SWOT analysis, which is Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats and sees the elements of media strategy. The study was conducted by using in-depth interviews of the Karangkraf employees in order to gain insights into the company media planning strategies. 3 informants from media marketing department and 3 informants from circulation department were interviewed based on the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of media planning in Karangkraf in order to identify the strategic plan development and the company sales. The findings shows Karangkraf s media planning is straightforward where the advantage of having 25 magazines. However, the strategic media planning development propose in this study are to stress on marketing mix, aggressive marketing and media planning procedure. There are specific strategies develop. This study includes a proposed strategic plan for Karangkraf s company as a guide to help develop media planning in future.


With multi-channel biochemical screening becoming more widely used, it is necessary that normal values be established that will pertain to the population being screened. Statistically, results derived from a sample can be applied only to the population from which the sample was drawn. Thus, normal values derived from the typical sample of "young American volunteers employed in the hospital and apparently healthy" cannot validly be applied to members of a hospital population. Logically, it would be more valid to examine the values of a large sample of patients and determine the normal values by use of statistical methods. Presented in this paper are sections of an extensive statistical study performed on a hospital population using the SMA-12/60. It is hoped that this study may serve as useful guidelines for those technologists who believe that normal values should be established for a given laboratory, method and population.


Background There have been recent suggestions that the majority of cancers are caused by random cell mutations, as opposed to environmental and inheritable factors. We hypothesise that if this is the case, then there would be no geographical patterning to cancer mortality rates at the neighbourhood level. Our paper presents a test of this hypothesis for England and Wales. Methods Mortality data for England and Wales (2006–2009) are used for Middle Super Output Areas (mean population size 7200). We focus on the 16 most prevalent cancers. Age- and sex-standardised mortality ratios were calculated. The global Moran's I is used to estimate the spatial autocorrelation of each cause of death, detailing the degree of geographical clustering each displays. We also use the local Moran's I to explore the patterns of any clustering found. Results Lung cancer was found to have a strong geographical clustering at the neighbourhood level (I = 0.431, 95% CI = 0.417–0.445). However, few other cancers were found to have any clustering, with I values mostly below 0.1. Only those causes related to poor diet and increased alcohol consumption (associated to social factors) displayed some degree of clustering (stomach cancer I = 0.185, 95% CI = 0.171–0.199; liver cancer I = 0.117, 95% CI = 0.103–0.131). Results were consistent after completing sensitivity analyses. Discussion Our results suggest that the majority of the most prevalent cancers have somewhat random geographical patterns, supporting our hypothesis. Nevertheless, social and environmental factors were still important for some cancers including lung, stomach and liver cancers. The results have important implications for policy, as if cancer development is mostly random then there is greater need for focusing on early detection and increasing awareness as opposed to tackling environmental risk factors.


Background and methodology Sexually active women presenting to genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics are at risk of both sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies. Emergency hormonal contraception is the only contraceptive service provided in our GUM clinic in Birmingham, UK. We wanted to assess whether contraception use was adequate in women attending our clinic and whether we were missing opportunities to provide more reliable contraception. All new female patients attending the clinic in January 2006 had their notes reviewed to determine current contraception, adequacy of use and contraceptive advice given. Results A total of 266 women were eligible for contraception. Overall, 148 (56%) of the women used reliable methods. Fifty-five (21%) women were using no contraception and not planning a pregnancy. The under-20s, over-30s and ethnic minorities were more likely to use inadequate or no contraception. Discussion and conclusions Almost half (43%) the women attending our GUM clinic had inadequate or no contraception, and in addition documentation of contraceptive advice and further information was poor (5%). Young people and ethnic minorities seem particularly vulnerable and at present we are not addressing their contraceptive needs. We plan to conduct a prospective survey to assess this issue further and address feasibility for an on-site contraceptive service.


In this article, I examine how contemporary Berlin is governed, with a particular focus on the production of urban space. My points of reference are the term 'government' (as employed by Foucault) and the field of governmentality studies (where it is applied empirically). Based on a critical discourse and dispositive analysis of the city's current urban development policy, I propose that urban governance in Berlin may be analysed through the lens of three central dispositives: the dispositive of governing through citizenship; the dispositive of the creative city; and the dispositive of the social city. I discuss the characteristics of these dispositives of urban governance, drawing on a number of examples taken from the discipline of urban space production in order to look specifically at the aims and objectives of governance, its subjects and the ways it manifests itself. In conclusion, I suggest that the new forms of governance based on empowerment and cooperation have by no means replaced disciplinary technologies of governance, but are rather embedded within them.


Background:
 Diastolic dysfunction of left ventricle (LV) is associated with heart failure symptoms and restricts exercise capacity even in patients with preserved LV ejection fraction. LV diastolic dysfunction is readily evaluated by the conventional Doppler echocardiography. We hypothesized that LV dysfunction may deter functional recovery and increase vascular events in acute ischemic stroke patients.

 Methods:
 From a total of 4808 patients who admitted to a tertiary academic hospital between August 2007 and June 2013, we selected image-documented cases (N=3858) and subjects with echocardiographic evaluation within 1 month before or after the index stroke (N=3175; 66% of the eligible population). We excluded cases without adequate echocardiographic data for evaluation of LV diastolic dysfunction (N=213) and mRS score at 3 months (N=17). LV diastolic dysfunction was graded into 4 groups in accordance with the current guideline: normal (including restricted patterns), grade 1, grade 2 and grade 3 dysfunction. Recurrent vascular events and mRS score at 3 months were collected prospectively as a quality improvement program of stroke care. Functional dependency or death was defined as a mRS score 2 - 6.

 Results:
 Among the 2945 included subjects, male was 1784 (61%) and the mean age was 67 ± 13 years. Recurrent events until 3 months included 197 (7%) recurrent strokes and 246 (8%) composite events. Functional dependency or death at 3 months was documented in 1384 (47%) cases. Cases with LV diastolic dysfunction were more likely to be female, old, higher prevalence of vascular risk factors, and more severe neurological deficit at admission. A multivariable logistic regression model taking functional dependency or death as a dependent variable showed that LV diastolic dysfunction remained significant after adjusting for relevant covariates as follows: grade 1 dysfunction (adjust OR [95% CI]; 1.23 [1.01 - 1. 50]), grade 2 (1.24 [0.92 - 1.68]) and grade 3 (1.76 [1.19 - 2.60]). However, there was no association between LV diastolic dysfunction and vascular events.

 Conclusion:
 LV diastolic dysfunction may independently hinder functional recovery after ischemic stroke.


One of the challenges in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) classrooms is teaching writing genres, especially to students who come from fields that are taught in L1. This is presumably "not only because different languages seem to have different ways of organizing ideas and structuring arguments but because students' prior writing experiences in the home, school or elsewhere do not prepare them for the literacy expectations of their university or professional workplace" (Hyland, 2013, p. 95). In our study, we analyze 36 argumentative essays written by students of Political Science and International Relations in an English for Social Sciences (ESP-adapted) course taught at the West University of Timisoara in Romania. The essays are written in English and the students' L1 is Romanian. The aim of the study is to find out to what extent argumentative structures in English are influenced by Romanian academic writing genre norms. For our analysis, we use corpus linguistics methods, looking at frequencies and phraseology patterns as well as prominent rhetoric features related to argumentation. We argue that translations of Romanian structures feature prominently when descriptive moves (description, definition, enumeration) are employed.


Waters and water rights have endured (or induced) a uniquely pathological tendency in our tradition to split up the authority to declare the operative legal interests therein. By studying three seemingly unrelated areas of waters and water rights law, this tendency is brought out in its essence and linked to explicit foundations and likely causes. Ultimately, this kind of extreme jurisdiction splitting is rendering our waters ungovernable, forcing even the most basic legal questions to go undecided. The last part of the article introduces three different reform pathways but cautions against the search for quick fixes of any kind.


The study was carried out to determine the aerobic plate counts (APC), Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Salmonella contamination levels in cooked (n=24) and raw (n=24) beef, pork and mutton samples, surface contact plates (n=48) and water samples (n= 40) from street vendors. A total of 8 street vendors who were willing to participate in the study were randomly selected. After biochemical tests, no significant differences were found in the microbial counts of meat sold by street vendors in Alice and King Williams town. Furthermore, no significant differences were found in the mean scores of raw beef, mutton and pork where APC (4.8, 3.7 and 2.8 Log CFU/g), Staphylococcus aureus (3.3, 3.7 and 2.8 Log CFU/g) and E. coli (1.0, 0.6 and 0.3 Log CFU/g) respectively. Salmonella tested negative in all the samples tested in the study. The results in the study were associated with cross-contamination during processing and storage. However, the levels of contamination in cooked meat were lower when compared to the standards set by Commission Regulation for determining the microbiological quality of ready-to-eat foods. Overall, poor hygiene of the street vendor, utensils, and holding area were major sources of contamination. It was therefore concluded that there were no differences in the microbial counts of meat sold in the informal markets of Nkonkobe and Buffalo City Municipalities in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Improved sanitation facilities, hygiene tools, and training will promote the production of safer food by the street vendors.


While working for the Department of Justice, detailed to the Regime Crimes Liaison's Office (RCLO) in Iraq in 2005, the head of our excavation team, Sonny Trimble, made a casual comment that has stuck with me. I paraphrase: "Forensic digs," he said, "are very different from humanitarian ones." As someone with a legal background who had not had previous field experience, it was initially hard to understand what he meant, as all mass grave excavations used techniques that could be and have been called "forensic." It all came down to the relatively simple proposition that the former involved a holistic look at a grave site and the circumstantial evidence it contained, with a view towards building a criminal case. The latter focused more on exhuming the bodies themselves, with hopes of repatriating the victims' remains.Some forensic scientists have thought of this distinction as a false dichotomy that only confounds those doing the work at the site and complicates matters for policymakers as they try to their rebuild a atrocity-torn country. This paper takes a different view. By examining genocide jurisprudence as developed by the International Criminal Tribunals, assessing the value of the forensic evidence that can be gained from mass grave excavations, and acknowledging the interplay of each of those in the greater reimplementation of the rule of law in post-conflict situations, this paper proposes a model protocol for the forensic excavation of mass graves that provides comprehensive guidelines to tribunals and scientists regarding the standards of care of grave sites to insure integrity of the evidence contained therein, while allowing for the flexibility to tailor treatment of each grave site to its own particular needs.This paper won Vermont Law School's 2008 International Law Writing Competition, and was presented at that school's conference "Understanding Genocide: Prevention, Prosecution, and Progress" in October, 2008. An updated version will be presented at The George Washington University Law School's International Law Week in February 2009. I am currently working to include a more robust discussion of the pertinent genocide precedent, and a re-defining of "excavation" as distinguished from "exhumation" to better describe the differences between operations that are part of a criminal investigation (i.e. the interchangable use of the terms, as in footnote 38, will not apply in subsequent versions), versus those that are not. I will also be adding pages on the dynamics of ICC complimentarity requirements and states' responsibilities to investigate. There is also currently minimal discussion about the proceedings of the Iraqi High Tribunal, principally because this version of the paper focused on what was more germane to the Vermont Law School conference, which was the ICT precedent.The views contained herein are my own and do not in any way reflect the views or policies of the Department of Justice, the Regime Crimes Liaison's Office, or any government agency.


Introduction:
There are several trials suggesting that radial as well as focused shockwave therapies show satisfying results as treatment options of plantar fasciitis. This study was performed to examine whether there are further patient or treatment related factors influencing the outcome of focused ESWT as treatment option for plantar fasciitis enabling physicians to estimate the possible benefit and to eventually improve efficacy.
Methods:
284 patients (363 feet with plantar fasciitis) received focused ESWT for plantar fasciitis and answered a questionnaire inquiring epidemiologic and anamnestic treatment data immediately before as well as 19 to 77 weeks after the first application.
Results:
74 percent of patients are satisfied, 72 percent received treatment with focused ESWT only once. The individual result was independent of the energy applied, the physician applying ESWT as well as epidemiologic data assessed, but there was a negative correlation with the number of past injections with corticosteroids.
Discussion:
We observed treatment benefits like satisfying results with no complications and no immobilization. These results were reproducible and were achieved with in most cases with one, in some cases with up to three treatment sessions. In contrast to other authors who stated that ESWT should rather be regarded as an end stage treatment we would recommend ESWT in even earlier stages to prevent chronification because of its better results compared to many other conservative treatment options.
Conclusion:
Focused ESWT is a safe and feasible treatment option for plantar fasciitis, its efficacy is consistent over different physicians. Hence, ESWT can be recommended even as early treatment option for plantar fasciitis.


The aim of this article is to introduce multi downstream passive optical network based on optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) technique, which is considered as a next-generation optical access network. Hence, incorporating this technique with passive optical network (PON) will enable the system to support higher bandwidth compared to the standard PON. The decoder is configured based on spectral coding because of its good noise suppression properties. Since the most important aspect of PON architecture is its simplicity, a multi PON access network each PON comprises 9 users encoded by modified quadratic congruence (MQC) codes at the C band for downstream signals with channel spacing 25/50 GHz is simulated. In this article low error rate transmission at high data rate for distances up to 28 km is demonstrated. Variation in the results was studied when varied fiber length, data rate and different effective power were applied. It has been shown that OCDMA is capable of providing gigabit-per-second for each user. The receiver sensitivity is affected by the multi premises system, where the best system performance can only be achieved when the effective power is -1dBm. Nevertheless, the results have indicated that the proposed PON based on spectral amplitude coding OCDMA technique is capable to support multi premises network.


Chillers constitute a significant portion of energy consumption equipment in heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. The growing complexity of building systems has become a major challenge for field technicians to troubleshoot the problems manually; this calls for automated ldquosmart-service systemsrdquo for performing fault detection and diagnosis (FDD). The focus of this paper is to develop a generic FDD scheme for centrifugal chillers and also to develop a nominal data-driven (ldquoblack-boxrdquo) model of the chiller that can predict the system response under new loading conditions. In this vein, support vector machines, principal component analysis, and partial least squares are the candidate fault classification techniques in our approach. We present a genetic algorithm-based approach to select a sensor suite for maximum diagnosabilty and also evaluated the performance of selected classification procedures with the optimized sensor suite. The responses of these selected sensors are predicted under new loading conditions using the nominal model developed via the black-box modeling approach. We used the benchmark data on a 90-t real centrifugal chiller test equipment, provided by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, to demonstrate and validate our proposed diagnostic procedure. The database consists of data from sixty four monitored variables of the chiller under 27 different modes of operation during nominal and eight faulty conditions with different severities.


Mendelian models can predict who carries an inherited deleterious mutation of known disease genes based on family history. For example, the BRCAPRO model is commonly used to identify families who carry mutations of BRCA1 and BRCA2, based on familial breast and ovarian cancers. These models incorporate the age of diagnosis of diseases in relatives and current age or age of death. We develop a rigorous foundation for handling multiple diseases with censoring. We prove that any disease unrelated to mutations can be excluded from the model, unless it is sufficiently common and dependent on a mutation‐related disease time. Furthermore, if a family member has a disease with higher probability density among mutation carriers, but the model does not account for it, then the carrier probability is deflated. However, even if a family only has diseases the model accounts for, if the model excludes a mutation‐related disease, then the carrier probability will be inflated. In light of these results, we extend BRCAPRO to account for surviving all non‐breast/ovary cancers as a single outcome. The extension also enables BRCAPRO to extract more useful information from male relatives. Using 1500 families from the Cancer Genetics Network, accounting for surviving other cancers improves BRCAPRO's concordance index from 0.758 to 0.762 (p=0.046), improves its positive predictive value from 35 to 39 per cent (p<10−6) without impacting its negative predictive value, and improves its overall calibration, although calibration slightly worsens for those with carrier probability <10 per cent. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


In instructional multimedia design, it is often recommended that text accompanying pictures be presented in a personalised style to promote learning. The superiority of personalised over formal text may be explained using social agency theory (Mayer, 2005b), but it has not been investigated empirically whether such effects are valid in classroom settings, or depend on learner characteristics such as domain-specific prior knowledge. In this research, 65 pupils from the 10th grade of German grammar schools received computerised instructions about the structure of the human eye, containing static pictures and on screen text. The texts were written either in formal or in personalised style. Personalisation of the formal text was reached by replacing 130 impersonal articles with second person possessive pronouns and 24 third person articles with second person constructions. For learners with low prior knowledge, personalisation improved drawing and labeling performance, as well as the verbalisation of structural knowledge and transfer. For learners with higher prior knowledge, only labeling and drawing performance were improved, whilst structural knowledge was not affected and transfer performance was reduced.


We implanted 300keV Xenon in silicon oxide at doses ranging from 1x1016 to 5x1016/cm2. For the first time, we reported the formation and the thermal evolution of bubbles/cavities in SiO2. Characterization by cross-section transmission electron microscopy (XTEM) and Rutherford backscattering spectrometry (RBS) showed that bubbles/cavities remain present even after a 1100°C annealing, while Xe strongly desorbs out at that temperature. Our measurements provides unexpected dielectric constant (k) lower than 1.6. These results make this technique very attractive for low-k applications in Si technology. Keywords: low-k dielectric, rare gas implantation, silicon oxid.


Security in mobile handsets of telecommunication standards such as GSM, Project 25 and TETRA is very important, especially when governments and military forces use handsets and telecommunication devices. Although telecommunication could be quite secure by using encryption, coding, tunneling and exclusive channel, attackers create new ways to bypass them without the knowledge of the legitimate user. In this paper we introduce a new, simple and economical circuit to warn the user in cases where the message is not encrypted because of manipulation by attackers or accidental damage. This circuit not only consumes very low power but also is created to sustain telecommunication devices in aspect of security and using friendly. Warning to user causes the best practices of telecommunication devices without wasting time and energy for fault detection.


We recorded trap site characteristics and captures during a trapping programme designed to protect breeding and released black stilts (kaki, Himantopus novaezelandiae) from predation, in order to learn about trap site features that might improve the efficacy of future predator trapping management. Captures were made at 1629 leg-hold traps opened over 71 333 trap nights between 1998 and 2000, at six locations in the Upper Waitaki Basin, New Zealand. Twelve trap site variables were recorded. The model describing the best combination of variables for four groups of predators (cats Felis catus, mustelids Mustela furo (ferrets) and M. erminea (stoats), harriers Circus approximans and hedgehogs Erinaceus europaeus) was found using logistic regression and AIC values. For all predator groups both the way the trap was set and its placement within the landscape (with respect to habitat type and the distribution of landscape features that might be important to predators) influenced capture rates. Mustelids and harriers were more likely to be caught on stable riverbed habitats where rabbit densities are highest, while hedgehogs were mainly caught on river terraces and cats were equally likely to be caught anywhere. Individual trap characteristics in terms of set type, trap haze, trap backing, plate haze, visibility of bait, substrate and ground cover, associated with higher catch rates for each predator group are described.


Platelets are small anucleate blood cells that plug holes in damage blood vessels. They do so by adhering to exposed extracellular matrix proteins at sites of injury and aggregating together. Platelet responsiveness to injury is controlled by a diverse repertoire of surface receptors that can be divided into two broad categories based on how they signal; the tyrosine kinased-linked receptors and the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). There has been much work on elucidating the functions of tyrosine kinases in platelets, whereas protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) have been under-investigated. To date, six non-transmembrane PTPs (NTPTPs), PTP-1B, Shp1, Shp2, MEG2-PTP, LMW-PTP and HePTP and a single receptor-like PTP (RPTP), CD148, have been identified in platelets. The main objective of this thesis was to determine the functional role of CD148 in platelets, which had never been studied in platelets. Using a mouse model, I demonstrate that CD148 is a critical positive regulator of signalling from the main collagen activation receptor GPVI and the fibrinogen integrin \(\alpha\)II\(\beta\)3, and also plays a minor role in regulating thrombin and thromboxane A\(_\\) (TxA\(_2\) mediated aggregation and secretion via the PAR-4 and TP receptors, respectively. The molecular mechanism of how CD148 regulates signalling from so many receptors is by maintaining a pool of active Src family kinases (SFKs) in platelets, which it does by dephosphorylating a tyrosine residue in the C-terminal of all SFKs. In an attempt to identify other PTPs that perform a similar function to CD148 in platelets, I analyzed platelets from PTP-1B- and TC-PTP-deficient mouse models for functional and phosphorylation defects. PTP-1B-deficient platelets exhibited minor aggregation/secretion and phosphorylation defects relative to CD148-deficient platelets; and TC-PTP, which I show to be expressed in human and mouse platelets for the first time, is involved in platelet development. My conclusion is that CD148, PTP-1B and TC-PTP have distinct functional roles in platelets.


Lack of social support and low self-efficacy are important barriers to regular exercise and physical activity. However, it is unclear whether these resources contribute significantly to CDC recommended physical activity levels and which of these factors (and their associated sub-domains) are more robust in relating to leisure time physical activity (LTPA) among older adults. This study examines the role of social support and self-efficacy in shaping recommended levels of older adult LTPA from five cities across the United States. Results indicated that social support provided by friends (rather than family) and the self-efficacy domain of perceived physical ability were significantly related to LTPA as measured through Metabolic Equivalents (METS). Consistent with prior research, age and health were also significantly related to LTPA. Findings suggest that inter-personal resources and intra-personal resources both play an equal role in shaping LTPA of older adults. Suggestions for promoting LTPA of older adults are discussed.


In this study, the effects of etanercept, anakinra, and their combination on streptozotocin-induced type 2 diabetes in rats were pathologically evaluated. A total of 30 rats were separated into 5 groups as control (C), diabetes (D), diabetes + anakinra (DA), diabetes + etanercept (DE), and diabetes + anakinra + etanercept (DAE). Anakinra (10 mg/kg/day, s.c.) and etanercept (10 mg/kg, twice weekly, s.c.) were administered to the DA and DE groups, respectively, and the DAE group received both anakinra and etanercept for 21 days. Histopathologically, pathological changes related to diabetes in internal organs occurred in the diabetes group, and there was a significant decrease (improvement) in these changes in the treatment groups (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the treatment groups, but some changes in the liver and kidneys were higher in the combined group which should be taken into account for longer use. Although there was no significant difference, etanercept was more effective on pancreatic lesion scores and anakinra was more effective on testicular changes. As a result, the single or combined use of IL-1 and TNF-α antagonists anakinra and etanercept were effective in the treatment of type 2 diabetes in rats without any toxic-pathological effect.


A map demarcating the boundaries of Griqualand West. Also shows boundaries, rivers, mountain ranges in the Northern Cape. Boundary proclaimed by M. Brand 1870, boundaries of Griqualand West as proclaimed by Sir H. Barkly, 1871. Relief shown by hachures. Colour. Scale 4/8 th inch to 1 mile. Appendix map F


Climate change already has begun destabilizing natural systems, prompting unprecedented heat waves, droughts, floods, and severe storms. While scientists admonish us that greenhouse gases must be cut deeply and quickly to avoid the worst impacts, past emissions have committed the planet to some further warming. Resulting physical changes will require a legal system that functions amidst extreme weather, rising seas, and scientific uncertainty about the stability of natural systems upon which we relied in designing institutions and infrastructure. An effective response requires both substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to limit the harm ("mitigation") and significant adaptation. Scholars and policymakers have largely treated mitigation and adaptation as distinct strategies, overlooking critical interactions between the two issues. This Article addresses the resulting gap in scholarship.Adequate preparation for climate change requires fundamentally rethinking systems and infrastructure designed for more stable conditions. Part of this rethinking process includes evaluating whether legal measures designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions will ultimately aid or hinder adaptation. Using a case study of one proposed mitigation measure — expanded reliance on nuclear power — this Article illustrates how disconnected approaches to adaptation and mitigation can undermine both efforts. The Article then offers a preliminary framework for holistic climate change governance that directs mitigation investment toward adaptive and adaptable infrastructure that reduces human risks, decreases reliance on complex networks, and moderates the extent of scientific uncertainty that legislators and administrative agencies will face in an unpredictable future environment.