Objective Subthalamic deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is a neurosurgical therapy to treat Parkinson's disease (PD). Optimal therapeutic outcomes are not achieved in all patients due to increased DBS technological complexity; programming time constraints; and delayed clinical response of some symptoms. To streamline the programming process, biomarkers could be used to accurately predict the most effective stimulation configuration. Therefore, we investigated if DBS-evoked potentials (EPs) combined with imaging to perform prediction analyses could predict the best contact configuration. Methods In 10 patients, EPs were recorded in response to stimulation at 10 Hz for 50 s on each DBS-contact. In two patients, we recorded from both hemispheres, resulting in recordings from a total of 12 hemispheres. A monopolar review was performed by stimulating on each contact and measuring the therapeutic window. CT and MRI data were collected. Prediction models were created to assess how well the EPs and imaging could predict the best contact configuration. Results EPs at 3 ms and at 10 ms were recorded. The prediction models showed that EPs can be combined with imaging data to predict the best contact configuration and hence, significantly outperformed random contact selection during a monopolar review. Conclusion EPs can predict the best contact configuration. Ultimately, these prediction tools could be implemented into daily practice to ease the DBS programming of PD patients.


The recording density that has already been achieved with particulate media undoubtedly exceeds even the most optimistic expectations of most researchers in the field, who, long before the present state of development, had anticipated their replacement by thin metallic coatings or by some new and exotic formulation of novel particles. The old work horse not only survives but continues to lead the pack and even to demonstrate new spritness and vigor everytime it comes around the track! And if one judges by the recent IBM announcements, the old horse will continue to dominate the field well into the next decade. To be sure of course, he is not running unassisted, since the rules of the race permit a formidable array of electronic, electro-mechanical, and other props to be used, and they have been applied profusely and to great advantage. In this paper we do some crystal-ball gazing in trying to look at the future and to assess the attainable extensions in recording density using particulate media. Our analysis is primarily aimed in delineating the role of the magnetic parameters and the thickness of the coating and thus determining the way they would have to evolve in order to accomodate higher recording densities. The fundamental magnetic limits are several orders of magnitude beyond the present state of the art (4700 bits/cm, 235 tracks/cm). Therefore, it appears most likely that future advancements will be paced by other considerations-smaller particles with narrower range of shape and size distributions, uniform and well-aligned dispersions, thinner and smoother coatings, new types of transducers with better fringing field gradients and improved short wavelength and high frequency sensitivity, better track-following servos, more efficient codes, and a host of electronic signal processing, filtering, waveform shaping and compensation techniques. We conclude that these non-magnetic considerations will ultimately impose the upper bounds in recording density, which are estimated to be less than an order of magnitude beyond the present achievements (to about 10,000 bits/cm and 500 tracks/cm). The realization of this potential, however, is going to be increasingly more difficult, and it is not unlikely that we may have to switch horses along the way and to use thin metallic media, perpendicular recording, or some other not yet invented innovation.


Taking the rural houses in northwest China as study object, combining with the local conditions of climate and economy, the paper put forward the appropriate schemes of solar energy utilization to meet with ecological building trends, which were experimented in Jianfuqiao village. Also, the indoor objective appropriate temperature is used to analyze the indoor thermal environment of experimental rural houses in winter. Accordingly, the availability and effectiveness of ecological technology utilization in the rural areas has been tested and proved in the northwest China.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the concepts of remote and task risks in relation to the structure of the casual theme restaurant industry, and to examine the performance consequences of their relationships. This study proposed a framework of analysis that will enable industry participants to develop an improved understanding of the relationships among environmental risk drivers, and of the influence of their strategic decisions on the environment-performance connection. Specifically, it was proposed that task risk factors could be identified, and that they would mediate the influence that some identifiable remote risk factors would have on the performance of the industry. It was also expected that this mediated relationship would be moderated by the influence of the structure of industry. The primary unit of analysis was at the industry sector level as the performance construct was operationalized using a portfolio of 24 casual theme restaurant firms. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the remote and task risk factors. The analysis suggested that three remote factors and three task factors represent the two environmental constructs: "Interest rates", "Expectations" and "Exchange rates" for the remote environment, and "Input quantities", "Input restaurant" and "Input prices" for the task environment. A number of time-series regression analyses were subsequently conducted for the 19932006 period to investigate the various proposed relationships. The results indicated that a number of significant direct effects of the remote and task risk factors on the cash flow returns on invested capital of the industry portfolio existed. Also, a significant mediated relationship was found: the "Input prices" mediated the influence of the "Expectations" on changes in the cash flow returns on invested capital. However, and despite numerous significant direct effects between the industry structure variables and the performance variables, no moderation could be established. The present study paved the way for future research on the relationships between the remote and task environment and the performance of firms. In particular, further research should be conducted that delves into the role of the cyclical nature of environmental risk factors. Besides, additional investigations of the influence of the structure of the industry should be conducted by attempting to compare more contrasted states of the industry.


Photodynamic therapy (PDT) for cancer is known to induce an immune response against the tumor, in addition to its well-known direct cell-killing and vascular destructive effects. PDT is becoming increasingly used as a therapy for localized infections. However there has not to date been a convincing report of an immune response being generated against a microbial pathogen after PDT in an animal model. We have studied PDT as a therapy for bacterial arthritis caused by Staphylococcus aureus infection in the mouse knee. We had previously found that PDT of an infection caused by injection of MRSA (5X107 CFU) into the mouse knee followed 3 days later by 1 μg of Photofrin and 635- nm diode laser illumination with a range of fluences within 5 minutes, gave a biphasic dose response. The greatest reduction of MRSA CFU was seen with a fluence of 20 J/cm2, whereas lower antibacterial efficacy was observed with fluences that were either lower or higher. We then tested the hypothesis that the host immune response mediated by neutrophils was responsible for most of the beneficial antibacterial effect. We used bioluminescence imaging of luciferase expressing bacteria to follow the progress of the infection in real time. We found similar results using intra-articular methylene blue and red light, and more importantly, that carrying out PDT of the noninfected joint and subsequently injecting bacteria after PDT led to a significant protection from infection. Taken together with substantial data from studies using blocking antibodies we believe that the pre-conditioning PDT regimen recruits and stimulates neutrophils into the infected joint which can then destroy bacteria that are subsequently injected and prevent infection.


Stochastic pinning of domain walls (DWs) in Permalloy (Py) nanowires is a significant challenge that needs
to be overcome to produce reliable magnetic nanowire-based devices for memory/logic applications. In this
study, stochastic interactions of vortex DWs (VDWs) with intrinsic defects and artificial notch-shaped
defects have been studied with the aim of understanding their complexity and proposing methods to control
them.
VDW pinning/depinning behaviour in double and single notches showed complex behaviour in real
measurements when compared with quasi-static simulations. Systematic study was performed on VDW
interactions with double and single notches with a range of depths and nanowires' thicknesses. Results
showed that multi-mode stochastic pinning/depinning behaviour occurred for the vast majority of systems.
However, for large single notches in thick nanowires (t=40nm), single-mode depinning-field-distributions
were observed. It was shown that convergence to single depinning-mode was due to the nature of Walkerbreakdown
transformations that preserve the vortex shape of VDWs, and to the specifics of DWs interaction
with notch and edge roughness.
The dependence of stochastic pinning/depinning behaviours on DW injection processes was also studied. It
was found that DWs injected into nanowires using pulses through orthogonal current-line nucleation
exhibited more deterministic pinning/depinning behaviour than those injected from nucleation pads. This
may be attributed to the process by which DWs depin from the nucleation pad junction.
Additionally, it is shown that pinning/depinning stochasticity can be mitigated by passing VDWs through
sharp bends that act as chirality rectifiers. For certain nanowire/notch geometries, this reduces the number
of accessible pinned DW configurations to a single configuration; thus, producing a single-mode depinningfield-
distribution.
Finally, micromagnetic simulations are used to demonstrate feasibility of DW logic architecture where bits
are encoded using VDW chirality. Designs are proposed for NAND, AND, NOR, OR and FAN-OUT gates.
All gates work by manipulating the interaction of VDWs with Y-shaped junctions and/or notches.


We report major element composition ratios for regions of the asteroid 433 Eros imaged during two solar flares and quiet sun conditions during the period of May to July 2000. Low aluminum abundances for all regions argue against global differentiation of Eros. Magnesium/silicon, aluminum/silicon, calcium/silicon, and iron/silicon ratios are best interpreted as a relatively primitive, chondritic composition. Marked depletions in sulfur and possible aluminum and calcium depletions, relative to ordinary chondrites, may represent signatures of limited partial melting or impact volatilization.


Reaction rates and selectivities were measured for transacylation of fatty acid esters in solvents catalysed by Candida antarctica lipase B and by cutinase from Humicola insolens. With these enzymes classical water-based enzymology can be expanded to many different solvents allowing large variations in interaction energies between the enzymes, the substrates and the surrounding. Further ,hydrolysis reactions catalysed by Bacillus subtilis esterase 2 were investigated. Thermodynamics analyses revealed that the enzyme contribution to reaction rate acceleration compared to acid catalysis was purely entropic. On the other hand, studies of differences in activation entropy and enthalpy between enantiomers and between homologous esters showed that high substrate specificity was favoured by enthalpic stabilisation. Solvent was found to have a profound effect on enzyme catalysis, affecting both reaction rate and selectivity. Differences in substrate solubility will impact enzyme specificity since substrate binding is an equilibrium between enzyme-bound substrate and substrate in free solution. In addition, solven tmolecules were found to act as enzyme inhibitors, showing both competitive and non-competitive behaviour. In several homologous data series enthalpy-entropy compensation relationships were encountered. A possible extrathermodynamic relationship between enthalpy and entropy can easily be lost under co-varying errors propagated from the experiments. From the data in this thesis, one instance was found of a real enthalpy-entropy compensation that could be distinguished from statistical errors, while other examples could not be verified.


EU policy geared towards the sustainable development of European coastal areas has incorporated Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) as one of its primary mechanisms to achieve its goal. However, critical shortcomings in the ICZM paradigm have emerged. In particular, incoherence in the European Commission's ICZM principles with respect to local and strategic objectives remains an issue. Additionally, a lack of scientific certainty about environmental processes when determining the environmental pros and cons of alternative coastal-management decisions undermines environmentally protective decisions that may otherwise hinder local regional development. With these issues in mind, a Biodiversity Portfolio Analysis (BPA) is applied to Iarras Aithneach, a peninsula on the west coast of Ireland, to test its suitability as tool for ICZM. In addition, the paper uses the BPA methodology to explore the contrast between scientific/strategic and local attitudes towards the management of a coastal area of environmental importance. Pronounced differences between the two are found and the implications for both BPA and ICZM are discussed. The spatial and participatory nature of the BPA process and the explicit treatment of risk the framework exhibits suggest there is scope for it to become a useful tool for ICZM. It also has the potential to act as a routine way of quantifying the "attitude gap" between the scientific community and the local community when managing a unique coastal area. & 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


The title of this paper suggests two distinct aspects of the models that we propose and consider. The rst of these is the modelling of other agents by motivated agents. That is to say that the act of modelling is itself motivated and constrained by the agent doing that modelling. The second aspect is that all such models will also be of motivated agents. It is not su cient merely to know what other agents are like, but also to know why they are like that. This why aspect is what provides the extra information that allows a greater understanding of the interactions between entities in the world, and consequently provides for more resilient agents capable of e ectively dealing with new and unforeseen circumstances in an uncertain world. Previous work has described a formal framework for agency and autonomy in which agents are viewed as objects with goals, and autonomous agents are agents with motivations. This paper considers the nature of cooperation within that framework. We identify distinct kinds of interaction, depending on the nature of the entities involved. In particular, we describe and specify the di erences that arise in these interactions which we characterise as engagements of non-autonomous agents, and cooperation between autonomous agents.


INTRODUCTION
This study explored immediate heat signatures with different passing techniques and the delayed thermal data points with the picosecond Alexandrite laser with the 6mm at and fractional optic during and after treatment. We sought to clarify the im- mediate effects of heating and understand the thermal and short term clinical difference when using these optics.

RESULTS
There were no immediate differences or a signi cant temperature rise with different passing techniques using the at or the fractional optic. However, after treatments a signi cant temperature elevation over 24 hours with manageable erythema was noted with the fractional optic. Only faint redness was appreciated with the at optic.

CONCLUSION
The different passing methods with these optics did not result in a significant thermal change. However, the fractional optic produces a localized area of epidermal necrosis which results in a significant clinical and a delayed thermal effect. With multiple treatments over time, collagen, elastic tissue, and mucin is produced resulting in improvement of acne scars and photo-damaged skin. This process suggests that a well-placed epidermal injury can stimulate an inflammatory cascade with dermal remodeling. J Drugs Dermatol. 2016;15(11):1347-1352..


This paper analyzes environmental expenditures in Indonesia – a significant newly industrializing economy – reported at the plant level comprising all 23 thousand manufacturing establishments with more than 20 employees. Since compliance is barely enforced, pollution abatement expenditures are effectively voluntary in nature. This allows us to test whether foreign owned firms expend more due to a technology that adheres to stricter Western standards or whether the predominant effect is that both foreign and domestic exporting companies are more environmentally conscious due to better technology transfer or green consumerism in the Western countries. If so, this would contradict conventional wisdom that environmental expenditures reduce competitiveness and that increased levels of foreign direct investment or export-orientation in manufacturing will necessarily pre-empt firms from behaving in a ?greener? fashion.


The bone-bonding ability of a glass ceramic can be evaluated by using simulated body fluid (SBF). Furthermore, rat primary osteoblast cell culture is effective in collecting preliminary information for potential application of any material of organic or inorganic origin. In this study, the effect of CeO2 addition on crystallization behavior and bioactivity of potassium mica and fluorapatite based glass ceramics was investigated. Also an osteoblast cell culture model was utilized to investigate the effect of CeO2 addition on biocompatibility of potassium mica and fluorapatite based glass ceramics by using biological criteria such as cell viability, metabolic activity and nitric oxide production. ©2009 The Ceramic Society of Japan. All rights reserved.


A virulent organism of the genus Pseudomonas was isolated from the white catfish, Ictalurus catus. The bacterium was pathogenic to all species of fish tested. Symptoms of the disease, physiological characteristics of the pathogen, and treatment methods are presented. Kanamycin injected intraperitoneally or oxytetracycline used as a feed additive was effective in controlling the disease. The growth and biochemical characteristics do not fit any description in Bergey's Manual, but the organism appears to be closely related to P. fluorescens.


Zero-energy city, sustainable City and zero-carbon city are new terms in cities' energy management. In this study, a framework of designing a Low-Carbon Eco-City (LCEC) in urban sector of Mashhad with focus on sustainable supply of electrical energy has been simulated. For this purpose, the maximum potential of biomass renewable electricity and expansion of photovoltaic capacityrequired to cover remaining electricity demand in urban sector of Mashhad has been entered in Hybrid Power Generation System by using an analytical programming approach. The results indicated that biomass technology is superior technology for designing LCEC with less volatility and lower cost of production and it enters into the fossil-renewable hybrid production system with high penetration. Despite increasing capacity of photovoltaic technology up to 8GW, because of high investment cost problem, photovoltaic power generation cannot utilize in competition with the production of biomass technology. Hence it is suggested that biomass technology of sustainable development energy in the urban sector of Mashhad to be regarded as a city on the path LCEC. On the other hand, supportive policies should be adopted to reduce the cost of photovoltaic technology in order to provide the competitiveness of this technology in high capacities.


INTRODUCTION Obesity is one of the major health risk factors behind the rise of non-communicable conditions. Understanding the factors influencing obesity is very complex since there are many variables that can affect the health behaviors leading to it. Nowadays, multiple data sources can be used to study health behaviors, such as wearable sensors for physical activity and sleep, social media, mobile and health data. In this poster we describe a system which uses an off-the-shelf messaging app coupled with a recommender system to provide tailored health recommendations in arabic and/or english to mothers with overweight children in Qatar. This is part of the ICAN project. The ICAN project was funded by the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation) under project number NPRP X- 036- 3–013 (Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Approach to Addressing Overweight and Obesity among Qatari Youth). Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic, and with technological advancements, new tools can be used to monitor and analyze lifestyle factors leading to obesity, which in turn can help in timely health behavior modifications. In this paper we describe developed Telegram bot coupled with a recommender system to send educational messages using health recommendations. This bot allows automatic sending of messages that can be answered by the user. The answers can be ratings in a 1 to 5 star scale, or plain text, depending on the message. In a trial held in Qatar, an educational intervention for mothers using Telegram was carried out for a twelve-week period, which overlapped with the holy month of Ramadan and the school summer break. The goal was to keep the mothers motivated to actively work towards keeping their children healthy. Our nutritional advice took into account the religious month of Ramadan. METHODOLOGY We defined a pool of motivational messages for the mothers associated to different topics and challenges regarding the nutrition and physical activity of their children. The messages were created in English and Arabic language. A total of 24 keywords were defined. These keywords linked each message to features that define it (i.e. deals about vegetables, fats, religious quotes regarding healthy eating, healthy recipes, etc). A special set of 9 messages were specifically designed to be sent when users start the intervention. The answers to these messages define the initial user profile. Once an initial user profile is known, the user will start receiving messages on a weekly basis, one tailored message per week up to a maximum of 77 messages. Users can rate the messages based on their perceived usefulness. This feedback is stored in the user profile - user-keyword vector - so that the following messages that she receives contain keywords - message-keyword vector- that were included in previously rated messages. A total of 38 mothers, with children between 9 and 12 years old, joined the program to receive tailored messages across the entire summer based on their personal preferences. After each week, the system asked them whether they had completed the challenge, and their opinion about their difficulty, and usefulness. RESULTS During the 4 months of the intervention, about 500 messages were sent to the participants. The participants had a total of 94 challenges included in the messages that they could promise to accomplish. Of these, 11 challenges were totally completed, 42 challenges were almost completed, and 7 challenges had been given up by the mothers after they initially promised to do them. The data also shows that over 59 messages, only 17 were found easy to do, however 39 challenges were found 'just fine' to do. Over 59 challenges, 47 messages were found useful by mothers. CONCLUSIONS In this study we have tested the feasibility of a recommender system tailoring health messages delivered by an off-the-shelf messaging app as Telegram, and we consider the results show that the system achieved to rise some motivation from mothers to give a healthy diet to their children. However, further work is needed to assess how we can increase the engagement so that more of the proposed challenges are accepted, and completed, and also if to compare with groups of mothers that do not have the app in a formal randomized control trial.


Sunny' tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) containerized transplants were grown with the standard or conventional systems (SS) and with recently developed flotation systems (FS). Standard system and FS transplants, and direct-seeding using coated seeds were evaluated in the field for root and shoot growth and yield at Parrish, Bradenton, and Naples during fall, winter, and spring plantings. Plant growth characteristics were measured weekly before, during, and after transplanting or sowing. In the Parrish and Bradenton Fall 1987 and Bradenton Spring 1988 experiments, SS transplants had greater leaf area, root volume, shoot dry weights, and shoot : root ratios than FS transplants. During early development, the FS transplants had more lateral root growth than SS transplants, but had similar total root growth and horizontal and vertical root distribution after transplanting in the field. Transplants and direct-seeded plants allocated 72% of the total root mass in the upper 0 to 10 cm of the soil. In Fall 1987, SS transplants had between 29% and 41% more fruit yield than FS transplants at Bradenton and Parrish, respectively. In the Naples Winter 1988 and Parrish and Bradenton Fall 1989 experiments, both transplant types had similar fruit yields, but more than direct-seeded plants. Transplants grown with the flotation system are recommended for use provided that seedlings are grown and maintained with minimum hardening before establishment in the field.


Searching for specific antibodies in bird serum could reveal arbovirus activity in certain localities. To date, no systematic surveillance for arbovirus infection in autochthonous population of wild birds has been conducted in Slovakia. Present study includes birds captured on spring migration and birds of the autochthonous nesting population of the Drienovská wetland (Slovakia). Serum samples were tested for West Nile virus (WNV), Usutu virus (USUV), Tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and Tribeč virus (TRBV) neutralizing antibodies (NAb). Blood samples were collected during 2017 spring migration (March – April) and from local breeders and hatched juveniles (May – July) caught by Constant Effort site ringing method. Specific NAb were detected by micro-titration virus neutralization test. WNV NAb were detected in 11.7% (18/153) of sampled birds. Ten WNV seropositive were migrants (Eurasian Robins, Eurasian Blackcap and a Great Tit), 5 were nesting adults (Song Thrush, White Throat, Eurasian Jay, Hawfinch and Eurasian Blackbird) and 3 were juveniles (Song Thrush, Common Starling and a Great Tit). There was not confirmed USUV infection in any of the examined birds. TBEV NAb were detected during breeding season in the adult Eurasian Blackcap, which means 1.1% (1/93) seropositivity. TRBV NAb was detected in 7.4% (5/68) of adult birds (Eurasian Blackbirds and a Common Starling) and in one juvenile Great Tit, which had also WNV Nab as well. These results suggest active transmission of at least two arboviruses in the autochthonous avifauna in Slovakia.


This study was aimed to assess fish production, supply and demand in selected districts of North Shewa Zone, Amhara Regional State, Ethiopia to generate base-line data that would help in the proper and sustainable utilization of fishery and water resources. Structured and semi structured questionnaires were employed as a means of data collection tools. Respondents from five districts that is, Merhabete, Menz Mama, Menz Gera, Shewa Robit and Ataye were selected using purposive sampling techniques. From each district, consumers, producers, fish traders, stakeholders and fish experts were selected purposively. The fishing and aquaculture activities of the area were performed by part-time fishermen (producers) mainly for family consumption and sale on small scale during dry season. The fishing gears commonly used are hooks of different sizes, traps (fish basket) locally made and rarely gillnet. Though the severity of the constraints varies from one district to the other, the main fish production constraints in the areas were low fish supply, lack of awareness, lack of support, lack of facilities, low profit, and distance from market place. The fish demand and supply in the study area is unbalanced. Lates niloticus, Oreochromis niloticus, Clarias and Bagrus dockmak are the fish species preferred by consumers in the study area. Continuous support, awareness creation and promotion of local fish farming are important to integrate fish in their diet to scale up fish demand and supply in North Shewa Zone, Ethiopia.

 Key words: Aquaculture, fish demand and supply, fish production, food security.


Biodiversity is frequently seen as an indicator of ecological health. Therefore a survey of the macroinvertebrates of the Olifants River, one of the most polluted rivers in South Africa, was conducted in 2010–2011. Four surveys were conducted at a total of seven sampling sites in four ecoregions, Highveld-Upper, Highveld-Lower, Lowveld-Lower and Eastern Escarpment mountain range, using sweepnets to sample vegetation and substratum. Conductivity, pH and temperature were measured in situ. Macroinvertebrates were identified to family level and counted. Ninety-four taxa were collected, of which 12 were each represented by more than 1% of the total number specimens collected. The influence of abiotic factors on biodiversity was assessed through canonical correspondence analysis, species richness, Shannon–Wiener index and Pielou's evenness index. Ecoregion and associated temperatures played dominant roles in the distribution of families. Although the level of organic enrichment at some sites could benefit families tolerant to, or with a preference for, such conditions, this proved insufficient to exclude the less-tolerant families from those sites.


Standardized tests for adhesion testing evaluate e.g. the pull - out force that enables us to compare adhesion strength of various materials. The results of tests are valid for the same sample shapes and dimensions only; the tests, where one of the geometric parameters of the sample differs, cannot be compared in this way. The results of these tests cannot be transformed into an adhesion strength that should be used as a limit value in computational modelling and in evaluation of damage risk. This limited scope of application is conditioned by stress concentration in the sample. Therefore, computational modelling was used to find another type of test which does not show any stress concentration on the material interface or which finally gives a uniform stress distribution in the whole contact surface, The computational modelling was realized for steel fibre in rubber matrix, i.e. materials showing a mismatch in moduli of elasticity on five orders, The Mooney-Rivlin material model was used for modelling the hyper-elastic behaviour of rubber. The most uniform stress distribution was found in some types of torsion tests. The results of these tests, realized experimentally with a different type of material combination, show a considerably low dependence of the adhesion strength, defined as the mean shear stress in the material interface before fracture, on the sample dimensions, The dependence of the adhesion strength on normal stress in the contact area was solved by means of computational – experimental modelling.


Abstract. Trends in the atmospheric concentration of CO2 during three recent interglacials – the Holocene, the Eemian and Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 – are investigated using an earth system model of intermediate complexity, which we extended with process-based modules to consider two slow carbon cycle processes – peat accumulation and shallow-water CaCO3 sedimentation (coral reef formation). For all three interglacials, model simulations considering peat accumulation and shallow-water CaCO3 sedimentation substantially improve the agreement between model results and ice core CO2 reconstructions in comparison to a carbon cycle set-up neglecting these processes. This enables us to model the trends in atmospheric CO2, with modelled trends similar to the ice core data, forcing the model only with orbital and sea level changes. During the Holocene, anthropogenic CO2 emissions are required to match the observed rise in atmospheric CO2 after 3 ka BP but are not relevant before this time. Our model experiments show a considerable improvement in the modelled CO2 trends by the inclusion of the slow carbon cycle processes, allowing us to explain the CO2 evolution during the Holocene and two recent interglacials consistently using an identical model set-up.


This study examines whether deferred benefit cuts affecting current public employees encourage mid-career teachers and civil servants to separate from their employers. The analysis takes advantage of a 2005 reform to the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island (ERSRI) that dramatically reduced the generosity of benefits for current workers. Importantly, the cuts applied only to ERSRI members who had not vested by June 30, 2005. High-tenure ERSRI members and municipal government employees in Rhode Island were unaffected. This sharp difference in benefit levels permits a triple-differences research design in which low-tenure ERSRI members are compared, before and after the reform, to high-tenure members, and to lowand high-tenure members of the Municipal Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island. The results show that the benefit cut caused a 2.4-percentage-point increase in the rate of separation, implying an elasticity of employer-specific labor supply with respect to deferred benefits of 0.28. Although state employees were more sensitive to benefit cuts than teachers, the low elasticities for both groups suggest that the labor market for public employees may not be highly competitive.


This is Mrs Irene Winder's story about bringing up her son Raymond, born in 1960 on the Marsh Housing Estate in Lancaster. Irene herself grew up here in the 1930s, having a difficult home life, including times in the workhouse; her parents separating; and then, aged seven or eight, being sent away to the institution of King's Heath Residential School, which she recalls as being in Birmingham 14. This followed negative primary schooling experiences in Lancaster. Irene remembered: "They shoved me to one side ... There was too many in a class. If you couldn't do what they wanted to do that was it, your face didn't fit. So I used to get bad-tempered and that's where I went wrong, you see. They didn't give me a chance." Irene is currently trying to establish why she was sent away to Birmingham, and the exact location of the institution. Returning to the Marsh Estate, Lancaster, at the age of 16, and having to live with her father rather than her mother, she was under local authority supervision until she was 21, at which point she married and started to raise her own family.


This research takes of the text of Undang-Undang Melaka, issued in critical edition by Liaw Yock Fang (1976). This text is wellknown as Undang-nsang Negeri Melaka, Risalah Hukum Kanun, Hukum Kanun, and Undang-ndang Melayu.The text is known as one of the oldest and the most important Indonesian literature which contain laws, because of the wide application and the great amount of its manuscripts and also of the variant form.We analyse that text using a reception and intertextual approach. The receptive approach takes over the reseacher role as the explicit reader and the role of the text as the real matter of the implicit reader role. The intertextual approach here means while takes over the role of other text as the understanding background of UMM.From the analitical receptivity we know that a receptive on structur language and contect has existed in the UMM text. The aspect receptivity signed by verse addition absorbed from Islamic laws, the pattern and the method of writing. the receptivity of the language as used in Islamic law as asual. The content receptivity signed by the influence and absorbtion from the Islamic law text existed in the syncritism laws.We know from the intertextual analysis, UMM text has intertext relation with Quran, Hadis/Prophets tradition, and Ijmak/Consencus. In the other hand, from the two approachs we hope to know the Islamic law contents which were basorbed into UMM, and the Islamic laws practiced by community of Malaka at that time.Finally we shall know that the receptivity and the intertextual process in the UMM is the concequence and also the results of the difusion. This diffusion took place the local culture was influenced by Hinduism-Budhism and Islam. In this case involved some kinds of culture one of them was language, system of religion and laws, etc.
Key words: explicit reader-implicit reader intertext relation


This thesis details the study of N~Z~28 nuclei obtained using the fusion evaporation reactions 19Ne +40Ca at a beam energy of 70 MeV and 24Mg-40Ca at a beam energy of 65 MeV. The 19Ne data constitute the first tests of a neutron-deficient Radioactive Ion Beam (RIB) for high-spin nuclear spectroscopy. The radioactive Ne beam was supplied by the coupled cyclotrons at the Louvain-la-Neuve facility, Belgium. Emitted gamma-rays were detected by an array of 7 TESSA-style Ge-detectors in the backward hemisphere in two rings. A degree of channel selection was also allowed by identifying evaporated charged particles with an array of 128 silicon-strip detectors (LEDA array). Background subtraction of radiation from the decay of the beam was achieved using the timing properties of the pulsed beam and through particle detection using the LEDA charged particle array Information on the relative evaporation residue cross-sections was obtained and the problems associated with performing such experiments in a high radioactive background environment are addressed. New information on the high spin states of 58Ni was obtained using the reaction 40Ca (24Mg, alpha2p), performed at the ATLAS facility at Argonne National Laboratory. Emitted 7-rays were detected by high efficiency AYEBALL array which consisted of 18 EUROGAM and TESSA-style Compton suppressed Ge-detectors in four annular rings. Channel selection is demonstrated by use of (a) mass selection using the Argonne Fragment Mass Analyser (FMA), (b) a split anode ionization chamber at the back of the FMA, and (c) an array of 11 neutron detectors in a ring at forward angles. The effectiveness of using recoil-gated gamma coincidence data for the study of nuclear structure in neutron-deficient nuclei close to the proton drip-line is shown. The excited states of 58Ni are compared with OXBASH shell model calculations and the problems associated with forming high angular momentum states in the limited valence space are addressed.


One of the major problems for Critical Discourse Analysts is how to move on from their insightful critical analyses to successfully 'acting on the world in order to transform it'. This paper discusses, with detailed exemplification, some of the areas where linguists have moved beyond description to acting on and changing the world. Examples from three murder trials show how essential it is, in order to protect the rights of witnesses and defendants, to have audio records of significant interviews with police officers. The article moves on to discuss the potentially serious consequences of the many communicative problems inherent in legal/lay interaction and illustrates a few of the linguist-led improvements to important texts. Finally, the article turns to the problems of using linguistic data to try to determine the geographical origin of asylum seekers. The intention of the article is to act as a call to arms to linguists; it concludes with the observation that 'innumerable mountains remain for those with a critical linguistic perspective who would like to try to move one'. © 2011 John Benjamins Publishing Company.


A new method for current control based on a predictive strategy is presented. This uses a discrete-time model of the load to predict the future value of the current for each of the possible voltage vectors generated by the inverter. The vector which minimises the current error at the next sampling time is selected. Experimental results that confirm the feasibility of the method are given.


abstract:In the mid-twentieth century, newspapers were published at nearly every prison in North America. These papers were written, edited, illustrated, and printed by imprisoned staffs, and they were exchanged between editors for journalistic peer review through a network they called the Penal Press. This article describes the methods of production, reception, and most of all distribution of these Penal Press papers, focusing on the practice of trading prison papers across great distances between readers at faraway institutions. It insists that to properly understand the Penal Press, its periodicals must be studied as a collection. The necessity of understanding the Penal Press in this way, however, is circumscribed by the fact that these papers have had no central depository and are scattered in numerous archives across the continent. As Reveal Digital's newly launched American Prison Newspapers database continues to add digitized versions of prison periodicals to its online collection, there is greater hope that a fuller history of the Penal Press will be possible.


Purpose
Inter-organisational cooperation in revenue collection has received limited attention in the tax administration literature. Recent experiences from Tanzania offer a unique opportunity to examine opportunities and challenges facing such cooperation between central and local government agencies in a developing country context. The administration of property taxes (PT) in Tanzania has been oscillating between decentralised and centralised collection regimes. This paper aims to examine how inter-organisational cooperation affected implementation of the reforms.

Design/methodology/approach
The study draws on data from a variety of sources of information collected during a series of fieldworks over the past decade. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a wide range of stakeholders, including senior managers and operational staff of the national and municipal tax administrations. The interviews focused on the background and objectives of the property tax reforms, working relations between the central and local government revenue administrations, technical and administrative challenges and innovations, and changes over time with respect to revenue enhancement and implementation of the reforms. Relevant tax legislation and regulations, budget speeches and reports were reviewed.

Findings
Two lessons of broader relevance for policy implementation and PT administration are highlighted. First, institutional trust matters. Top-down reform processes, ambiguity related to the rationale behind the reforms and lack of consultations on their respective roles and expectations have acted as barriers to constructive working relationships between the local and central government revenue agencies. Second, administrative constraints, reflected in poor preparation, outdated property registers and valuation rolls and inadequate incentives for the involved agencies to cooperate hampered the implementation of the reforms.

Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature on inter-organisational cooperation in revenue collection through a detailed case study of property tax reforms in a developing country context. It also contributes to the literature on policy implementation by identifying political and administrative factors challenging the reform process. In line with this literature, the study shows that policy implementation is not necessarily a coherent process. Instead, it is frequently fragmented and disrupted by changes in policy formulation and access to adequate resources.


BACKGROUND
Topical agents containing mixtures of hydroquinone and glycolic acid often cause irritation in patients with melasma.

OBJECTIVE
The authors assessed the safety and efficacy of a new cream containing hydroquinone (HQ), glycolic acid, and hyaluronic acid for epidermal melasma.

METHODS
Fifteen Latin American women with bilateral epidermal melasma underwent twice-daily full face application with the study cream for 12 weeks. A moisturizer was added if irritation developed.

RESULTS
Mexameter data revealed that 14 of 15 patients (93%) improved, and there was a significant decrease in MASI (melasma area and severity index) scores of 64% over the course of the study. Fifty-three percent of the patients required a moisturizer after eight weeks of treatment. The majority of adverse events were mild. Patient and physician global evaluation showed moderate, obvious or very marked improvement in all patients.

LIMITATIONS
Open, uncontrolled trial in a small number of patients.

CONCLUSION
A cream containing hydroquinone, glycolic acid and hyaluronic acid demonstrates improvement in patients with melasma.


Semiconductor process is that have spent a lot of economic and time costs when an abnormality occurs. It is essential to manage the efficient process monitoring about the abnormality diagnosis of the equipment. Since the vacuum pump are used in a number of steps, it is possible to diagnose the overall condition of the process through the health monitoring via vacuum pump. In this paper, we performed an analysis using the case information to be generated in response to the aging of equipment in case based reasoning (CBM). In order to optimize the case which is defined as Initial state, Aging state, Fault state defined, we determine the two experimental conditions and analysis using a machine learning technique. In analysis, we used the Random Forest that there is strength in multiple and imbalance class. Based on the optimal case that selected as the experimental results, we can provide decision to assist with the diagnosis and prediction of equipment. Keywords— Vacuum pump, Random Forest, case-based reasoning, Initial state, Aging state, Fault state.


The establishment of symbolic communication system, i.e., making a shared meaning system from meaningless signals, is studied in experimental semiotics (Galantucci, 2005). Local neural activities within a brain region during a symbolic communication task (Konno et al., 2013), where two participants try to establish a symbolic communication system from scratch, has been studied (Li et al, 2015). It is, however, not certain how information bindings between different brain regions is involved in a cognitive process associated with the establishment process. We analyzed EEG phase synchronization, as a measure of functional connectivity, of participants engaged in the symbolic communication task. We found the recruitment of fronto-occipital synchronization at 40 Hz frequency (gamma band), when a symbolic message was displayed, became fast when establishing a symbolic communication system. This finding suggests that frontal-occipital information binding by phase synchronization becomes efficiently used in the course of mutual understanding of symbolic messages.


For many of us in emergency medicine, rising to the challenge of the COVID-19 crisis will be the single most exciting and challenging episode of our careers. Lessons have been learnt on how to make quick and effective changes without being hindered by the normal restraints of bureaucracy. Changes that would normally have taken months to years to implement have been successfully introduced over a period of several weeks. Although we have managed these changes largely by command and control, compassionate leadership has identified leaders within our team and paved the way for the future. This article covers the preparation and changes made in response to COVID-19 in a London teaching hospital.


We consider a class of stochastic models on a lattice in which particles are created and annihilated with given rates. The class include very distinct models such as the contact process and the stochastic Ising model. We show how to set up stochastic models with the dynamics that conserve the number of particles that are equivalent, in the thermodynamic limit, to the creation-annihilation models. We also obtain a formula that allows the calculation of the rates with respect to the ensemble of constant particle number.


In remote sensing community, IHS (intensity, hue, and saturation) transform is one of the most commonly used fusion algorithm. A study on IHS fusion indicates that the color distortion cannot be avoided. Meanwhile, wavelet decomposition has a property of frequency division in transform domain. And the statistical property of wavelet coefficient reflects those significant features. So, a united optimal fusion method, which using the statistical property of wavelet decomposition and IHS transform on pixel and feature levels, is proposed. That is, the high frequency of intensity component I is fused on feature level with multi-resolution wavelet in IHS space, and the low frequency of intensity component I is fused on pixel level with optimal weight coefficients. Spectral information and spatial resolution are two performance indexes of optimal weight coefficients. Experiment results show that it is a practical and effective method.


The nurse administrator leadership style influences the professional nurse's perceptions of work effectiveness. In today's rapidly changing healthcare industry, this relationship between leadership style and condition of work effectiveness warrants further investigation. By developing knowledge regarding the relationship between transformational nursing leadership and work effectiveness, the implementation of research-based interventions into the work environment benefits rural acute healthcare organizations. In contrast with urban tertiary healthcare systems, rural acute healthcare organizations provide quality healthcare services from a limited supply of registered nurses due to their local geographical constraints. In rural communities, healthcare organizations need to develop ways in which transformational leadership talent is developed from within the organization. Registered staff nurses employed at rural healthcare organizations, develop unique relationships among themselves as a response to being in a rural environment, thus a focused research agenda is needed for this unique population. A systematic review of the literature using a computer search of CINAHL, MEDLINE, ABI-lnform, and INFOTRAC suggests that in order for staff nurses to provide quality care, nurses need to have access to the opportunity, information, support, and resources. The relationship between transformational leadership and work effectiveness was investigated using a quantitative, non-experimental, descriptive-correlational research design. The sampling process consisted of census sample of 1,115 registered nurses living in ten randomly selected counties in Kansas with the total usable responses of 44 (N = 44). Orem's (2001) Self Care Deficit Theory of Nursing (SCDTN), Kanter's (1993) Structural Theory of Power and Bass and Avolio's (1994) Transformational Leadership Theory were abstracted together into a new conceptual model to guide this investigation. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire by Bass and Avolio (1995), was used to measure transformational leadership. The Conditions of Work Effectiveness Questionnaire II (CWEQ-IJ), by Laschinger, Finegan, and Shamian (2001), was used to measure work effectiveness. The descriptive data results revealed that the rural nurse participants perceived their leaders to function at high levels of transformational leadership across all subscales. In addition, they perceived their leaders to function at high levels in facilitating a work effective environment across all subscales with highest above mean scores found within the opportunity subscale. Statistical analysis using Pearson's Product Moment Correlation coefficient was used to determine if a correlation existed between: (a) transformational leadership and the subscales of extra effort, effectiveness, and satisfaction; (b) conditions of work effectiveness subscales and predictive work effectiveness, overall work effectiveness, and global work effectiveness; and (c) the mean of the total score of the MLQ-5X subscales and the mean between the total score of the CWEQ II subscales. Level of significance was set for the investigation at .05 (p < .05). A statistically significant correlation existed between transformational leadership and extra effort (r = .866), effectiveness (r = .813), and satisfaction (r = .827). Significant correlations were found across all CWEQ-II subscales ranging from .683 (r = .683) to .975 (r = .975). In addition, statistically significant correlations were found to exist between transformational leadership and work effectiveness (r = .439), predictive work effectiveness (r = .507), overall work effectiveness(r = .571), and global work effectiveness (r = .520). Conclusions, implications, and recommendations are provided with a focus on nursing theory, nursing research, nursing practice, and nursing education.


Stones or calculi in the urinary tract affect up to 12% of men and 5% of women by the age of 70 years, with more than a third of individuals having a strong family history (Unwin, 1996). Complications include obstruction in the urinary tract, pain, nausea, vomiting and sepsis. Common causes are: urine stasis, infection, presence of foreign bodies, dehydration, diet and periods of immobility. Encouraging initial diuresis could exacerbate rather than relieve symptoms. Discharge advice is a key feature of preventing recurrence once the predisposing factors have been identified. The relationship between patient and nurse is an invaluable and ideal opportunity for nurses to educate patients in appropriately changing dietary habit and in maintaining a urine output of greater than 2 litres per day.


Our culture is one that speaks rather than listens. From reality TV to political rallies, there is a clamour to be heard, to narrate, and to receive attention. It reduces 'reality' to revelation and voyeurism.

The Art of Listening argues that this way of life is having severe and damaging consequences in a world that is increasingly globalized and interconnected. It addresses the question: how can we listen more carefully? Social and cultural theory is combined with real stories from the experiences of the desperate stowaways who hide in the undercarriages of jet planes in order to seek asylum, to the young working-class people who use tattooing to commemorate a lost love.

The Art of Listening shows how sociology is in a unique position to record 'life passed in living' and to listen to complex experiences with humility and ethical care, providing a resource to understand the contemporary world while pointing to the possibility of a different kind of future.

'This is a wise and human piece of writing, concerned to break out of sociology's academic straitjacket and speak to a wider audience. . .If anything can recover the somewhat tarnished reputation of sociology amongst the general public, then it is a book like this.' New Humanist

'The Art of Listening is a rare book in its commitment to vitalize an ethical, global sociology for the twenty-first century. Students are encouraging their parents to read it. Everyone needs this book -- especially jaded academics.' Sanjay Sharma, British Journal of Sociology - See more at: http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-art-of-listening-9781845201210/#sthash.h1pRz35T.dpuf


Global fisheries catches can be increased in a sustainable way after rebuilding of fish populations, if ecosystem functioning is considered. A central biological reference point for fisheries manag ...


Article history: Received October 25 2010 Received in revised form 01 February 2011 Accepted 02 March 2011 Available online 07 March 2011 Improper design of school furniture is one of the contributing factors to back pain among students as indicated in some studies. In the case of designing school furniture where sitting constitutes a considerable time in the school, seat becomes important for comfort. This study is carried out in three selected institutions in Nigeria to determine level of musculoskeletal disorder in students' and the furniture that they use. 720 questionnaires with 240 students (120 boys and 120 girls) drawn from each participating institutions were administered and 675 responses were received. The results show that the number of students having MSD, accounted for 93.75%. However, the distributions of pain in the body parts in each school were different. The musculoskeletal pain, mostly concentrated on neck, right shoulders right elbow right wrist right hand, upper back and lower back. The result also reveals that most of the students are sitting on chairs with seat that are too high and too deep or too shallow and of tables that are too high. However, it is recommended that further study on effect of designed school furniture and sitting position in larger sample of students' representative in Nigeria tertiary institutions should be carried out in order to reduce the effect of body pains. © 2011 Growing Science Ltd. All rights reserved.


Abstract The requirement of running a new generation of fuel production is inevitable due to the limitation of oil production from reservoirs. On the other hand, enhancing the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere brings global warming phenomenon and leads to catastrophic disasters such as drought and flooding. Conversion of carbon dioxide to methanol can compensate for the liquid fuel requirement and mitigate CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. In this review, we surveyed the recent works on homogeneous hydrogenation of CO2 to CH3OH and investigated the experimental results in detail. We categorized the CO2 hydrogenation works based on the environment of the reaction, including neutral, acidic, and basic conditions, and discussed the effects of solvents' properties on the experimental results. This review provides a perspective on the previous studies in this field, which can assist the researchers in selecting the proper catalyst and solvent for homogenous hydrogenation of carbon dioxide to methanol.


The essay looks at the maturity of Ettore Tito, an artist of transition between the nineteenth-twentieth century, as an anti-Altersstil since in his case we are not dealing with discontinuities connected with a renewed attitude. His late international impressionism has been considered anachronistic as in the emblematic case of the antinomy between the two personal exhibitions of Tito and Modigliani at the 1930 Biennale of Venice. The essay aims to consider the Altersstil as a methodological 'tool', as opportunity to reflect on the history of official taste and of the first forty years of the Biennale, both around curatorial strategies and the display as story of taste.


A fourth order formulation of the displacement discontinuity method (DDM) is proposed for the crack analysis of brittle solids such as rocks, glasses, concretes and ceramics. A fourth order boundary collocation scheme is used for the discretization of each boundary element (the source element). In this approach, the source boundary element is divided into five sub-elements each recognized by a central node where the displacement discontinuity components are to be numerically evaluated. Three different formulating procedures are presented and their corresponding discretization schemes are discussed. A new discretization scheme is also proposed to use the fourth order formulation for the special crack tip elements which may be used to increase the accuracy of the stress and displacement fields near the crack ends. Therefore, these new crack tips discretizing schemes are also improved by using the proposed fourth order displacement discontinuity formulation and the corresponding shape functions for a bunch of five special crack tip elements. Some example problems in brittle fracture mechanics are solved for estimating the Mode I and Mode II stress intensity factors near the crack ends. These semi-analytical results are compared to those cited in the fracture mechanics literature whereby the high accuracy of the fourth order DDM formulation is demonstrated. Fourth Order Formulation


This thesis examines how drinking behaviours are associated with violent behaviour amongst young people in England and Wales. It is argued that in order to deconstruct the alcohol-violence relationship, it is necessary to critically examine drinking patterns and the development thereof as well as attitudes held towards alcohol consumption. The study comprises secondary statistical analyses of the Home Office?s Offending Crime and Justice Survey, a survey providing data on young people?s drinking and offending behaviour over four successive annual sweeps. Cross-sectional models are used to examine the predictors of violent offending and the role of alcohol consumption. These are subsequently extended into longitudinal models to examine change over time. Collectively, these models provide a detailed exploration of how alcohol consumption influences violent behaviour amongst young people and offer some insights into ways in which alcohol-related violence can be moderated.Whilst, on the whole, individual attitude items did not significantly predict violent behaviour amongst regular drinkers, findings did, however, suggest three distinct classifications based on attitudes held towards drinking: ?social drinkers?, ?positively motivated drinkers? and ?problem drinkers?, which were significantly associated with age, binge drinking frequency and violent offending. Findings also support existing evidence that the pattern of drinking (rather than the frequency of alcohol consumption) is associated with violent offending and the study identifies a contemporaneous (time-specific) association between levels of binge drinking and assault outcomes. That is, that high frequency binge drinking is a temporally proximal risk factor for the increased propensity of committing assault offences and that occurrences in assault outcomes over time are relatively dependent on levels of drinking over time. In turn, this suggests that the periods in which young people are drinking more, they also offend more. The thesis thus provides evidence that reducing alcohol consumption in late adolescence may, in turn, reduce the prevalence of violent assault offences in and immediately after drinking occasions.


We examined similarity judgements of arm movements generated by different control strategies with the goal of producing natural looking movements on humanoid robots and virtual humans. We examined a variety of movements generated by human motion capture data as well as fourteen differenct synthetic motion generation algorithms that were developed based on human motor production theories and computational considerations. In experiments we displayed motion clips generated by these 15 different methods on both a humanoid robot and a computer graphic character and obtained judgements of similarity between pairs of movements. Experimental results reveal that for movements with obviously different paths as occurred with two production techniques then, as expected, hand paths dominated in the perception of similarity. However, for roughly similar paths as occurred for the other techniques then judgements about fast movements appeared to be based on their velocity profile while judgements to slow movements were based on more detailed representation of the movement.


Current recommender systems mostly do not take into account as well as they might the wealth of information available in social media, thus preventing the user from obtaining a broad and reliable overview of different opinions and ratings on a product. Furthermore, there is a lack of user control over the recommendation process-which is mostly fully automated and does not allow the user to influence the sources and mechanisms by which recommendations are produced-as well as over the presentation of recommended items. Consequently, recommendations are often not transparent to the user, are considered to be less trustworthy, or do not meet the user's situational needs. This work will investigate the theoretical foundations for user-controllable, interactive methods of recommending, will develop techniques that exploit social media data in conjunction with other sources, and will validate the research empirically in the area of e-commerce product recommendations. The methods developed are intended to be applicable in a wide range of recommending and decision support scenarios.


Patterns of neuropsychological performance on A‐not‐B, inhibition, motor, cognitive, language, and behavior tasks were examined in 34 toddlers—17 cocaine‐exposed (CE) and 17 nonexposed (NE) controls. CE toddlers exhibited greater perseveration, less inhibition, poorer emotional regulation, and less task orientation relative to NE toddlers. Overall cognitive and language skills and motor impairment status were comparable among CE and NE toddlers. Differences in perseveration, emotional regulation, and task orientation between CE and NE toddlers remained significant after statistically controlling for overall cognitive skill. Prenatal cocaine exposure may impart selective vulnerability for deficits in executive function, inhibition, and emotional regulation in toddlers, perhaps related to the concurrent rapid frontal lobe maturation and the neurobiology of cocaine. Furthermore, these findings suggest that performance can be broken down into meaningful neuropsychological components in very young children.


Active research into the ultrasonic processing of food began about 30 years ago but it is clear that some work had been done before this e.g. in the 1920's it was suggested that ultrasound could provide an excellent method of mixing and emulsification. Since then applications of ultrasound in food technology have expanded and fall into two broad fields: one in which it is used to change the properties of food in some way (power ultrasound) and the other in which it is used as a measurement technique (diagnostic ultrasound). This article will deal exclusively with the former.It is the mechanical effects of ultrasound that are of most use in food processing and techniques such as cutting and emulsification are now well established. However with the advances in instrumentation and a greater realisation of the potential for ultrasonic applications the breadth of uses has expanded. Commercial interest has been shown in freezing, because the properties of the thawed product are much improved; in sterilisation where ultrasound affords both reduced times and lower temperatures and in processes such as marination and extraction which rely on the liquid penetration into a material.In these days, when minimal and green processing is a driver for food preparation, power ultrasound can provide useful possibilities for the food technologist. It has several positive aspects which can provide a range of applications in processing but perhaps most significantly it can provide concurrent combinations that include mixing with sterilization, controlled crystallisation with improved heat transfer and many more.


Due to the low dispatchability of wind power, the massive integration of this energy source in electrical systems requires short-term and very short-term wind farm power output forecasting models to be as efficient and stable as possible. A study is conducted in the present paper of potential improvements to the performance of artificial neural network (ANN) models in terms of efficiency and stability. Generally, current ANN models have been developed by considering exclusively the meteorological information of the wind farm reference station, in addition to selecting a fixed number of time periods prior to the forecasting. In this respect, new ANN models are proposed in this paper, which are developed by: varying the number of prior 1-h periods (periods prior to the prediction hour) chosen for the input layer parameters; and/or incorporating in the input layers data from a second weather station in addition to the wind farm reference station. It has been found that the model performance is always improved when data from a second weather station are incorporated. The mean absolute relative error (MARE) of the new models is reduced by up to 7.5%. Furthermore, the longer the forecast horizon, the greater the degree of improvement.


Many civic engagement courses within higher education require students to work with community members to make progress on complex problems, which in itself can comprise leadership practice. Yet, there is little evidence that leadership development is strategically incorporated into such civic engagement courses in general. The authors taught eight leadership sessions over two semesters in the Principled Problem Solving Scholars program at Guilford College. The study discussed in this article examined the perceived impact of a leadership curriculum on the personal leadership practices and the civic engagement of 14 undergraduate students. The authors present their findings in the context of three themes, highlighting (1) the shift in the students' philosophies of leadership from leader-centric to collective perspectives, (2) the value of civic leadership and democratic engagement praxis, and (3) salient leadership lessons. The authors also discuss implications of their study findings as well directions for future research, calling for greater integration of the fields of civic engagement and leadership studies and more research around the curricular integration of leadership education and civic education.


Silicone dioxide (SiO2) layer as an electrical insulator and diffusion barrier was deposited on a flexible stainless steel substrate by plasma enhanced CVD process. And we deposited Mo/Na-doped Mo bi-layer back contact on the oxide layer in order to supply Na into the CIGS absorber. Then we deposited CIGS layer by three-stage process using elemental co-evaporation method and completed the solar cell fabrication. Without antireflection coating, the best CIGS solar cell on the stainless steel showed the conversion efficiency of 10.57 % with Jsc = 33.38 mA/cm2 and Voc = 0.519 V and FF = 0.61 for an active area of 0.45 cm2.


A nonradical mechanism for methane hydroxylation by the bare FeO+ complex, Fe-ZSM-5 zeolite, and soluble methane monooxygenase is proposed from quantum chemical calculations. This mechanism is applicable when a metal-oxo species is coordinatively unsaturated. Direct interaction between methane and a metal active center can form a weakly bound methane complex in the initial stages of this reaction. Subsequent C-H bond cleavage to form an intermediate with an HO-Fe-CH3 moiety in a nonradical manner and recombination of the resultant OH and CH3 ligands take place at a metal active center to form a final methanol complex. Thus, this is a nonradical, two-step reaction. The fact that methyl radical is 10-20 kcal/mol less stable than secondary and tertiary carbon radicals and benzyl radicals leads us to propose this mechanism.


This article presents a summary review of the voluntary sector literature on third sector organizations (TSOs) and climate change. As governments around the world fail to respond adequately to the climate crisis, TSOs are called upon to work with governments, advocate for policy change, and support communities. However, the literature on TSOs and climate change remains limited. We reviewed 68 articles about TSOs and climate change and identified four mechanisms for voluntary action on climate change, which vary on two dimensions—focusing on advocacy or implementation and occurring within or outside government—and include policy advocacy, advocacy for behavior change, participation in governance, and direct interventions. We conclude with five key areas for future research: explaining the relationship between advocacy strategies and context, foregrounding the role of TSOs in climate governance, exploring direct interventions by TSOs, examining community-based TSOs, and linking TSO action and climate outcomes.


Objectives To investigate and compare the feasibility, safety, and preliminary effectiveness of home-based self-managed manual wheelchair high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT) programs. Methods Eleven manual wheelchair users were randomly assigned to the HIIT (n = 6) or the MICT group (n = 5). Both six-week programs consisted of three 40-minute propulsion training sessions per week. The HIIT group alternated between 30 s high-intensity intervals and 60 s low-intensity intervals, whereas the MICT group maintained a constant moderate intensity. Cardiorespiratory fitness, upper limb strength, and shoulder pain were measured before and after the programs. Participants completed a questionnaire on the programs that explored general areas of feasibility. Results The answers to the questionnaire demonstrated that both training programs were feasible in the community. No severe adverse events occurred, although some participants experienced increased shoulder pain during HIIT. Neither program yielded a significant change in cardiorespiratory fitness or upper limb strength. However, both groups reported moderate to significant subjective improvement. Conclusion Home-based wheelchair HIIT appears feasible and safe although potential development of shoulder pain remains a concern and should be addressed with a future preventive shoulder exercise program. Some recommendations have been proposed for a larger study aiming to strengthen evidence regarding the feasibility, safety, and effectiveness of HIIT.


The aim in utilizing microfabrication techniques and CMOS technology for chemical sensors is to devise more intelligent, more autonomous, more integrated, and more reliable gas sensor systems at low costs in a generic approach. Since the sensor market is strongly fragmented, i.e., there exists a large variety of applications with different needs and sensor requirements, a modular approach or "toolbox strategy" relying on CMOS as platform technology was identified as a very promising approach. The application then dictates the microsensor system architecture and the nature of its components: As soon as the target analytes and their concentrations as well as the boundary conditions of detection are specified, the optimum transducer, the necessary driving and signal conditioning circuitry, as well as interface and communication units can be selected from the CMOS-toolbox, and the different modules can then be combined to arrive at a custom-designed monolithic CMOS microsensor system. Several examples of monolithically integrated chemical microsensor systems are presented. The evolution from single transducers, which are integrated with the necessary driving and signal conditioning circuitry, to monolithic multi-sensor arrays and fully developed systems with on-chip sensor control and standard interfaces is shown.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the feasibility of fluoroscopy-assisted placement of one-lung ventilation (OLV) devices in dogs.

STUDY DESIGN
Experimental study.

SAMPLE POPULATION
Canine cadavers (n = 8) weighing between 20.2 and 37.4 kg.

METHODS
Thoracoscopic access with a two-port approach was established to evaluate bilateral lung ventilation patterns. Advancement of a left-sided Robertshaw double-lumen endobronchial tube (DLT) and the EZ-blocker (EZ) were evaluated under direct fluoroscopic guidance. Each dog also underwent bronchoscopy-assisted placement of an Arndt endobronchial blocker (EBB). Time to initial placement, success of creating complete OLV (after initial placement attempt and after up to two repositionings), and ease of placement score were recorded. Device position was evaluated bronchoscopically after each fluoroscopy-assisted placement attempt.

RESULTS
Time to initial placement was significantly shorter for EZ than for DLT and EBB. The rate of successful placement after up to two repositioning attempts was 87.5%, 87.5%, and 100.0% on the right and 87.5%, 100.0%, 100.0% on the left for DLT, EZ, and EBB, respectively, and was not different between devices. Ease of placement scores were significantly higher for DLT compared with EZ and EBB on both the left and the right sides.

CONCLUSION
Fluoroscopy-assisted placement of DLT and EZ appears feasible in canine cadavers. EZ-blocker placement was efficient and technically easier than DLT, but positioning must be adapted for dogs. Bronchoscopy-assisted placement of EBB remains highly successful.

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Fluoroscopy-assisted placement of EZ and DLT is a useful alternative to bronchoscopy-assisted placement of these OLV devices.


Improvements to the synthesis of Group 16 mixed donor macrocycles are reported. The mixed donor chalcogenoether macrocycles [15]aneO3S2, [18]aneO2S4 and [18]aneO4E2 (E= S, Se and Te) can coordinate a range of both soft and hard Lewis acids. Complexes investigating hard Lewis acids focussed on Ca(II), Sr(II), Sc(III) and Y(III) halides. The Group 2 metals are coordinated to all the donors in the macrocycle, importantly the metal centres showed an affinity for the softer donor (S, Se) as well as the harder donor (O). This interaction was maintained even after trace ingress of water. The lattice energies of the starting metal precursors were important in accessing the coordination chemistry of Ca(II) and Sr(II), CaI2 and SrI2 both gave products of the type [MI2(macrocycle)]. Similarly ScI3 was reacted with the macrocyclic ligands to give ionic solids [ScI2(macrocycle)][I]. The analogous Y(III) and Sc(III) chlorides were also synthesised by using the halide abstractor FeCl3 and [ScCl3(THF)3] and [YCl2(THF)5][YCl4(THF)2] to give complexes of the type [MCl2(macrocycle)][FeCl4]. The macrocycles bind hexadentate (pentadentate in case of [15]aneO3S2) to the Group 3 cations. Softer and borderline Lewis acids Sn(XFn)2 and Pb(XFn)2 (X=B, P; n= 4, 6 respectively) form complexes with the Group 16 donor macrocycles. The coordination compounds exhibit a range of unusual coordination modes for the weakly coordinating fluoroanions ([BF4]- ?2, ?2 and ?1; [PF6]- ?3 and ?2). Pb(II) and Sn(II) were shown to encourage the hydrolysis of the [PF6]- anion and the decomposition of [18]aneO4Te2. Sn(II) also cleaved the other [18]aneO4E2 (E= S, Se) macrocycles, the complex [Sn([18]aneO4S2)(HO(CH2)2OH)][BF4]2 is the first structural evidence for metal mediated ring opening of a saturated oxa-thia macrocycle. A series of coordination complexes of Sb(III), a soft Lewis acid, halides were investigated. Structural comparisons between the analogous fluoro-, chloro- and iodo- antimony(III) complexes showed the corresponding halide greatly influenced the Lewis behaviour of Sb(III). X-ray crystallography, 1H (and where appropriate 19F, 31P, 45Sc, 77Se and 125Te) NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, conductivity measurements and IR spectroscopy were used to characterise the complexes in this study.


Growing Prunus avium L. within an agroforestry system (AFS) may result in sun damage to cambial tissues on sun-exposed bole faces. There are two periods of risk of damage caused by insolation to exposed tree boles, the summer, when cambial temperatures become too high, or during winter, when the frozen dormant cambium tissue thaws and then rapidly re-freezes, a phenomenon commonly referred to as sunscald or southwest disease. Damage on the south western bole face was observed on a number of P. avium within an AFS. Five trees were sampled to assess the period in time that damage occurred. To retrospectively investigate such damage, bark surface temperature data were collected over a two year period for a further five P. avium and analysed. It was shown that bark surface temperature on the south western bole face reached nearly 50 °C during summer and experienced a maximum range of 38 °C within a 24 hour period in spring. A specially formulated white paint was applied to two trees, thus, testing a method to reduce the risk of sun damage. Two models were constructed to predict maximum and minimum daily bark surface temperature using maximum, minimum and mean daily air temperature, daily sum of sunshine hours, cloud cover, wind speed, relative humidity, maximum solar elevation and height on the tree bole as predictor variables. The damage occurred during winter 2009/2010. The models were used to identify maximum and minimum bark surface temperatures during that winter enabling the identification of possible damage events.


Objective

Tremendous progress has been made in the ability to measure particular contaminants or veterinary drugs at very low concentrations. However, rare or previously unknown compounds, metabolites and mixtures are still presenting considerable analytical challenges, while this category in particular might be relevant in terms of food safety. In addition, the need for higher throughput screening strategies at lower costs also demands for methods in addition to chemical analysis. There is considerable development in methodology based on the interaction with bio-macromolecules or living cells or on a biological response in the exposed animal. The aim of this workshop is to provide an up-o-date and practical overview of the various analytical and biological strategies that are available to screen or detect (prior) exposure to drugs, contaminants and pollutants.


The interaction of mesenchymal and epithelial cells that occurs after organ injuries results in enhanced production of cytokines, such as hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). HGF is a glycoprotein with unique properties that contribute to wound healing after injuries. In the present thesis, the release and role of HGF during infectious diseases have been investigated with particular emphasis on pneumonia and meningitis. First, a standard method for serum handling of HGF was determined. It was shown that HGF was stable in the serum after separation and several freeze-thaw cycles, keeping at room temperature for several hours or storage at -70 °C for several months, shaking or adding heparin and albumin did not affect HGF levels in serum. However, for reliable results whole blood had to be separated within one hour after venipuncture at room temperature or kept at 4-8 °C in the case of longer storage before separation. Following this standard method, the concentration of HGF during infectious diseases was studied. In another study we had previously shown that levels of HGF in serum increased during the acute phase of several infectious diseases. In this thesis a simultaneous enhanced production of HGF locally at the site of injury was studied. It was shown that concentration of HGF increased locally in cerebrospinal fluid during meningitis. Levels of HGF were significantly higher during bacterial meningitis than viral meningitis and concentration of HGF in cerebrospinal fluid might be used as a tool in diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. It was shown an enhanced local production of HGF in exhaled breath condensate in pneumonia that did not decrease significantly after 4 weeks in spite of the fact that the patient had recovered clinically and in the X-ray controls. This might show a long repair and healing process after pneumonia. Serum levels of HGF were significantly higher in pneumonia caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae than in other causes of pneumonia. In pneumonia, serum levels ofHGF decreased within 48 hours after efficient antibiotic therapy was started and normalized at convalescence. However, the levels of HGF in serum increased when treatment was ineffective and no clinical improvement was observed. When the appropriate therapy was initiated, the levels of HGF decreased followed by clinical recovery. Serum levels of HGF were able to predict therapy results at least as reliably as CRP within 48 hours after treatment. Thus HGF was shown to be a diagnostic moment for acute bacterial infections, and following levels of HGF in serum may perhaps be used as a prognostic marker in the course of treatment of infectious diseases such as pneumonia. The physiological effects of HGF on chronic leg ulcers(> 1 ar) in 11 elderly patients were studied and an enhanced microcirculation that was significantly correlated to the healing percentage was observed after local HGF treatment. The infected ulcers that received a combined treatment of HGF and appropriate antibiotic responded with a high percentage of healing in three patients with chronic leg ulcers that had not responded to other treatments (including antibiotics) previously. The effect of HGF on injured mouse melanoma cell monolayer was investigated in vitro and showed that HGF caused migration of neighbouring cells towards the nude injured area in a dose-dependent manner. Concomitant morphogenic effects were observed. The actin structure in the cytoskeleton was changed by HGF treatment as studied by confocal microscopy. According to these results it could be cocluded that injuries caused by infectious organisms enhance the local and systemic production of HGF. This might be beneficial in healing of damage after such injuries. Determination of natural HGF in serum might be used as a diagnostic and prognostic marker during infectious diseases. Exogenous administration of recombinant HGF could be a beneficial treatment for injuries such as chronic leg ulcers particularly combined with the appropriate antibiotic in the case of obvious infection.


The aim is to treat oily sludge from floatation process of oil produced water by deflocculation. Based upon analyzing the granularity distribution and dewater efficiency of the flocs, floc breakage and dewater of oily sludge was carried out. The results indicated that the coagulant skeleton builder in sludge could be broken by changing the coalescent state, and deflocculation could disrupt skeleton of the floc and release interstitial water in sludge. The highest dewatering efficiency is about 81.2% at the pH of 4.5 by gravity sedimentation. The sludge had a broader range of granularity distribution and a smaller volume-average diameter. Moreover, the median diameter d (0.5) of the treated sludge was 36.0 μm, which was smaller than 73.1 μm of raw sample. Meanwhile, capillary suction time (CST) significantly decreased with pH adjustment. A wastewater removal efficiency of 90.99% for the treated sludge by pressure filtration could be achieved. The method would be a potential technique to be applied to other kinds of floatation sludge.


Ovarian pregnancy is a rare form of ectopic pregnancy that remains a diagnostic enigma. We report a 39-year-old nulliparous female undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) and presenting with severe abdominal pain to a hospital after embryo transfer. Serum beta-hCG after embryo transfer was low at 5.4 IU/L. Repeated serum beta-hCG in the hospital was elevated at 1,528 IU/L. Transabdominal ultrasound revealed a 9.8 cm complex mass in the midline in the pouch of Douglas. No intrauterine gestational sac was seen. She underwent emergency diagnostic laparoscopy revealing a small 2 × 2 cm ruptured right ovarian ectopic pregnancy with active hemorrhage seen. A wedge resection of the right ovarian ectopic was performed and hemoperitoneum was drained. Ovarian tissue sent for histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of a ruptured ovarian ectopic. Post-operative hCG level was negative after follow-up. Consequently, the patient was treated successfully with fertility-conserving laparoscopy. J Med Cases. 2016;7(4):150-152 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.14740/jmc2464w


In 1857 all of the Arts students at the University of Sydney could fit into a single photograph. Now there are more than one million university students in Australia. After World War II, Australian universities became less elite but more important, growing from six small institutions educating less than 0.2 per cent of the population to a system enrolling over a quarter of high school graduates. And yet, universities today are plagued with ingrained problems. More than 50 per cent of the cost of universities goes to just running them. They now have an explicit commercial focus. They compete bitterly for students and funding, an issue sharply underlined by the latest federal budget. Scholars rarely feel their vice-chancellors represent them and within their own ranks, academics squabble for scraps. Knowing Australia is a perceptive, clear-eyed account of Australian universities, recounting their history from the 1850s to the present. Investigating the changing nature of higher education, it asks whether this success is likely to continue in the 21st century, as the university's hold over knowledge grows ever more tenuous.


OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the utility of the Johnson and Toshach's method to calculate the fetal weight before the birth in patients with term pregnancy. PATIENTS AND METHOD: A longitudinal, transversal and prospective study was done to analyze 244 patients between 37 to 41.6 weeks pregnancy, they were physically examinated and questionated, the body mass index was calculated and Johnson & Toshach method was used to calculate the fetal weight. The calculated weights with the formula were compared with the fetal weights measured at birth with t-Student's test to determine if significative difference exists (p < 0.05) between the medias of both groups. The data were classified in five categories according to the gestational age and the weights were compared using the Tukey's test to compare the statistic medias (p < 0.05). RESULTS: The category of the 39 to 39.9 gestational weeks of the study group is accounted for 29.5%, the calculated weight's media with the Johnson & Toshach method was of 3,292.88 g while the media of the real weights was of 3,273.13 g. There wasn not significative statistic difference between both groups with a variation of +/- 126 g. There is a correlation of 0.940 between the calculated weight and the real weight. The media of the weights calculated in the macrosomic products was of 4,252.5 g, and the media of the real weights was of 4,293.86 g, there is not significant statistic difference (p = 0.59). According to the gestational age, there was not significant difference. The 9.01% of the cases is represented by the macrosomic products (22) whose were obese in 77%. CONCLUSIONS: The Johnson and Toshach method is useful with a 95% confiability because there was not significant difference between the fetal weight measured and the weigth estimated by the formula, it is a non invasive method, of easy application that permits to detect fetal macrosomia with a variation of +/- 126 g (limit of variation stablished in the original technique is of +/- 240 g). We consider that the formula is useful to detect macrosomic products.


The suitability of distributed power generation systems working at medium and high capacity as it is the case of wave power generation plants, requires a reliable Fault-Ride-Through capability. When a grid fault occurs on the transmission system, the speed of the turbo-generator group increases uncontrolled, the induction generator injects large peak currents that can potentially damage the rotor converters and the plant tends to increase the reactive power consumption, so that it might intensify the voltage dip and contribute to the collapse of the power network. A simple solution would be the automatic disconnection of the plant from the grid in response to the power fault, but this policy could lead to a series of chain disconnections that would produce a massive power network failure. This is why new Grid Codes oblige the distributed power generation systems to remain connected to the power network, even in case of balanced voltage dips. In this paper, an Oscillating Water Column (OWC)-based wave power generation plant equipped with a Doubly Fed Induction Generator is modeled and controlled to overcome these balanced grid faults. The improvement relays on the implementation of a control scheme that suitably coordinates the air flow control, the crowbar, the rotor and the grid side converters to allow the plant to remain in service during the grid fault, and to contribute to its attenuation by supplying reactive power to the network. The simulated results show how it is obtained a great reduction in the rotor currents, improving the transient power stability and avoiding the rotor acceleration, complying with new Grid Codes requirements.


Linguistics lexical diffusion is a phenomenon that can occur in any language. Lexical diffusion of innovation is an element of language that spreads from the lexical to a lexical one another. Observation of lexical diffusion must begin with the observation of language lexical innovation. By observing the lexical diffusion, we can observe how the gradualism changes language elements. This shows that language change does not occur sporadically, but it was systematic. Keywords: lexical diffusion, innovation, gradualism


Is there a European convergence in HRM practices? A cluster analysis of the high-performance paradigm across 31 countries. The High-Performance paradigm can be seen as a set of new forms of work organization combined with flexible HR practices that enhance organizational performance through employee involvement and empowerment. With roots in the American HR tradition, there is an ongoing debate on its universal applicability between what has been called the universalist and the contigent perspectives. Based on this debate, the main goal of this paper is to test if there is a general approach to the High-Performance paradigm, common to all European countries or if it is possible to find different profiles of high-performance practices within Europe. The results show that there is not a single bundle that reflects one "system" of work and HR practices. Cluster analysis revealed three clusters and the distribution of countries by clusters shows a distinct geographical pattern: South-West Europe, South-Eastern Europe and Northern Europe, the latter being more close to the High-Performance paradigm. Keywords High-performance work practices, Employee involvement, Europe, Cluster analysis, Principal components analysis


Summary In the marine brown alga, Fucus, two poles are differentiated before cell division determining the future rhizoid or thallus. We have used a combination of the Ca2+ -sensitive dye Calcium Green and the pH-sensitive dye SNARF monitored at pH-insensitive wavelengths to obtain confocal ratio images of free cytoplasmic calcium distribution at different stages in polarising Fucus zygotes. These dyes have the advantage that they can be used in most confocal microscopes and their longer excitation wavelengths greatly reduce autofluorescence problems. Dyes of varying molecular weights (free acid form, 10 000 mol.wt or 70 000 mol.wt dextran-conjugated) were pressure microinjected into early zygotes which were allowed to polarise in unidirectional light. Dextran-conjugated dyes remained non-compartmentalised and fluorescence could be monitored for up to 3 days following microinjection. Currently we have been able to detect Ca2+ gradients at the tip of the rhizoid, confirming earlier results. Localised Ca2+ elevations have also been observed at the rhizoid pole of the polarising zygote before the onset of rhizoid germination. Limitations of this technique and the significance of these Ca2+ gradients are discussed.


Translation, we all understand, is the most intimate act of reading, and intimacy is a dangerous zone. It is heartening indeed to watch how sincerely the youngest among the Hindi bilinguals have taken up the challenge of translating the most distinct of Modernist Hindi poets into English, the 'sootradhar bhasha' of our times. Earlier Apoorva Narain had translated the best of Kunwar Narayan for a collection published by Rupa five years ago. Then Sahitya Akademi brought out the translations of Kedarnath Singh's selected poems- Benares and Other Poems- translated by many translators including Vinay Dharwadker, Harish Trivedi and K Satchidanandan edited by K Satchidanandan and In 2013 Rahul Soni came up with his translation of 'Magadh' (Srikant Varma) and this year Harper Collins publishes his translation of the selected poems of Ashok Vajpeyi (1959-2015) A good translator, like a sensitive lover, must awaken all layers of poetry: rhetoric, logic and silence, without disrupting the delicate tissues that hold them together as one complete unit. Rahul seems to be sensitively aware of this basic fact about the art and craft of translation.


Abstract The description of irreducible representations of a group G can be seen as a problem in harmonic analysis; namely, decomposing a suitable space of functions on G into irreducibles for the action of G×G by left and right multiplication. For a split p-adic reductive group G over a local non-archimedean field, unramified irreducible smooth representations are in bijection with semisimple conjugacy classes in the 'Langlands dual' group. We generalize this description to an arbitrary spherical variety X of G as follows. Irreducible unramified quotients of the space $C_c^\infty (X)$ are in natural 'almost bijection' with a number of copies of AX*/WX, the quotient of a complex torus by the 'little Weyl group' of X. This leads to a description of the Hecke module of unramified vectors (a weak analog of geometric results of Gaitsgory and Nadler), and an understanding of the phenomenon that representations 'distinguished' by certain subgroups are functorial lifts. In the course of the proof, rationality properties of spherical varieties are examined and a new interpretation is given for the action, defined by Knop, of the Weyl group on the set of Borel orbits.