Quantum interference (QI) effects in molecular devices have drawn increasing attention over the past years due to their unique features observed in the conductance spectrum. For the further development of single molecular devices exploiting QI effects, it is of great theoretical and practical interest to develop simple methods controlling the emergence and the positions of QI effects like anti-resonances or Fano line shapes in conductance spectra. In this work, starting from a well-known generic molecular junction with a side group (T-shaped molecule), we propose a simple graphical method to visualize the conditions for the appearance of quantum interference, Fano resonances or anti-resonances, in the conductance spectrum. By introducing a simple graphical representation (parabolic diagram), we can easily visualize the relation between the electronic parameters and the positions of normal resonant peaks and anti-resonant peaks induced by quantum interference in the conductance spectrum. This parabolic model not only can predict the emergence and energetic position of quantum interference from a few electronic parameters but also can enable one to know the coupling between the side group and the main conduction channel from measurements in the case of orthogonal basis. The results obtained within the parabolic model are validated using density-functional based quantum transport calculations in realistic T-shaped molecular junctions.


Organic anion-transporting polypeptide (Oatp) 1c1 is a high-affinity T(4) transporter expressed in brain barrier cells. Oatp1c1 transports a variety of additional ligands including the conjugated sterol estradiol 17beta-glucuronide (E(2)17betaG). Intriguingly, published data suggest that E(2)17betaG inhibition of Oatp1c1-mediated T(4) transport exhibits characteristics suggestive of atypical transport kinetics. To determine whether Oatp1c1 exhibits atypical transport kinetics, we first performed detailed T(4) and E(2)17betaG uptake assays using Oatp1c1 stably transfected HEK293 cells and a wide range of T(4) and E(2)17betaG concentrations (100 pm to 300 nm and 27 nm to 200 mum, respectively). Eadie-Hofstee plots derived from these detailed T(4) and E(2)17betaG uptake experiments display a biphasic profile consistent with atypical transport kinetics. These data along with T(4) and E(2)17betaG cis-inhibition dose-response measurements revealed shared high- and low-affinity Oatp1c1 binding sites for T(4) and E(2)17betaG. T(4) and E(2)17betaG recognized these Oatp1c1 binding sites with opposite preferences. In addition, sterols glucuronidated in the 17 or 21 position, exhibited preferential substrate-dependent inhibition of Oatp1c1 transport, inhibiting Oatp1c1-mediated E(2)17betaG transport more strongly than T(4) transport. Together these data reveal that Oatp1c1-dependent substrate transport is a complex process involving substrate interaction with multiple binding sites and competition for binding with a variety of other substrates. A thorough understanding of atypical Oatp1c1 transport processes and substrate-dependent inhibition will allow better prediction of endo- and xenobiotic interactions with the Oatp transporter.


Lean Direct Injection (LDI) concept proves to be an ultra-low NOx combustion scheme for future gas turbine combustors because of its ability to operate at very lean conditions. For LDI burners, the Fuel Nozzle Diameters (FND) play a vital role in deciding a balance between the various performance criteria demanded by the gas turbine industry like efficient usage of fuel, a wide range of flame stability, uniform exit temperature distribution and very low overall emissions. This paper attempts to find the optimum FND in terms of some key combustion parameters, for a novel multi-swirl LDI burner having a cross-flow mixing between fuel jets and swirling air. At first, lean blow out limits were detected from experiments with different FND using two different fuels, methane and liquefied petroleum gas, within a range of air flow rates. It was observed that with the decrease in FND the flame extinguished at a higher equivalence-ratio. Then their performances were compared through CFD simulations with two different combustion models, namely, Eddy Dissipation and PDF Flamelet. The combined results of cold and hot flow simulations showed that with the decrease in FND the fuel jet was able to penetrate deeper into the air swirl by overcoming the air momentum, which resulted in enhanced mixing leading to more efficient utilization of fuel and also uniform exit temperature distribution resulting in lower pattern factor. Thus the findings of this research work should be resourceful in the development of modern cross-flow LDI combustors.


Following are the preferred responses for the Patient Management Problem in this issue. The case, questions, and answer options are repeated, and the preferred response is given, followed by an explanation and a reference with which youmay seekmore specific information. You are encouraged to review the responses and explanations carefully to evaluate your general understanding of the material. The comment and references included with each question are intended to encourage independent study.


Competency is a cross-functional integration and coordination of capabilities (Javidan, 1998) in a way to accomplish the respective job effectively and efficiently. Teaching at the university level is not just following a monotonous set of practices. It requires a higher level of pedagogical skills, behavioral control and teaching philosophy apart from the strong subject knowledge. Thus, there is a requirement of a scale to measure competencies of university teaching personnel. This scale will not only help the institutions by providing "Blue print" for the individual's entire behavioral scope, but also, it will make available a guide for the development of university teaching personnel.


The posters were created to display our illustrations produced for a published research book as a part of our UROP studying Dutch complex housing. The work was produced by Corinne Deger, who is a part of the College of Design, Department of Architecture. Her research was facilitated by Professor Julia W. Robinson.


The relationship between component and system reliability is a key factor in the improvement of plant processes and a wide variety of models have been studied, under the general headings of "Probabilistic Methods", "Graph Theoretical Methods" and "Simulation". An outline review of these reliability models is given as a background to the work of the thesis and the ideas were used to steer the design of the software tool, which we have developed. The tool is generic in the sense that it can be used for any production system consisting of any number of parallel production lines, although we have considered its application in detail for one system only. In particular, we describe an application of reliability theory in the modelling of a plant process, which incorporates examples of Load-Sharing, parallel and series stages and we demonstrate how the production plannmg control is related to reliability considerations.

The tool has been tested in reference to a real production system, for which Quality and Reliability features have been analysed though data collection and simulation. The production system is located in Intel's ESSM (European Site for System Manufacturmg) plant m Ireland. The plant's products are the basic components of a Pentium II processor, based on a new technology, (known as MMX or Secc), which enables enhancements for multimedia and communication applications. We have also applied our software tool to the old production line (pre-datmg Secc Technology), both for calibration purposes and to compare the two lines Software features mclude the ability to, mvestigate line reaction to changes in quality and reliability, to pmpomt problem areas, to cost failures in reliability, to explore degraded operation, stages with poor quality/reliability can be identified and Estimate the real UPH (Units Per Hour). We present an analysis of system performance and provide recommendations for possible improvements to the system.


This paper proposed a new zero-voltage switching(ZVS) Two-Inductor boost converter. The conventional Two-Inductor boost converter has defect. When the switch is turned off, the high voltage spike is occurred in the switch by leakage inductance and switch parasitic capacitor. To solve this problem, the parallel resonant capacitor is added to the conventional Two-Inductor boost converter. Using quasi-resonant between parallel resonant capacitance and leakage inductance, the switches is operated soft switching. A reduction of transformer turn ratio is achieved by the voltage doubler rectifier.


In this updated Self-care of Hypertension Inventory Version 3.0 (SC-HI v3.0), items were added to better reflect the Theory of Self-care of Chronic Illness and revised based on recent research. The reorganized and expanded SC-HI now reflects the theoretical concepts of self-care maintenance, monitoring, and management. Objective To evaluate the psychometric properties of the SC-HI v3.0, we conducted exploratory factor analyses. Here, we report on its reliability and construct validity. Methods A sample of 200 adults with chronic hypertension completed a sociodemographic survey and the SC-HI v3.0. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted on item sets using principal factor method for analyzing the correlation matrix. Reliability was calculated using common factor coefficient of determinacy for multidimensional scales, for which values greater than 0.80 are considered adequate. Results The sample was 83.4% non-Hispanic White; 56% were women, with a mean age of 62.2 ± 12.5 years. The self-care maintenance scale (mean, 75.9 ± 13.6) had adequate reliability (ρ = 0.81, 0.80) for a 2-dimensional model of self-care maintenance identified as autonomous and consultative behaviors. The new self-care monitoring scale (mean score, 58.5 ± 21.99) had a single-factor solution with very good reliability (ρ = 0.94). The self-care management scale (mean score, 64.5 ± 19.5) had a single-factor solution, with moderate to strong factor loadings (0.22–0.68) and acceptable reliability (ρ = 0.84). Conclusions Initial testing suggests that the SC-HI v3.0 is a sound measure of the essential elements of self-care for adults with chronic hypertension. With the new self-care monitoring scale, the SC-HI v3.0 is a valid reflection of the theory on which it is based.


Most strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolated from the respiratory tracts of cystic fibros pae have a mucoid colony morphology due to the synthesis of an exopolysaccharide called aginate. al gene product (AlgB) is necessary for the high-level production of alginate in mucoid P. aeruginosa. Ia this study, AlgB was shown to be involved in the transcription of algD, a gene previously demonstrated to be activated in mucoid P. aeruginosa. In viro and in vivo expression studies reveal that aigB encodes a protein with a molecular size of 49 kDa. The DNA sequence of a 2.2-kb P. aeruginosa fgment cont aB was also determined. The amino-terminal domain of AIgB was found to be conserved with the amio-al of the response regulator dass of two-component regulatory proteins. The central domain of AIgB has sequences highly conserved with those in the NtrC subfamily of tr ptional activators (NtrC, NIfA, HydG, DctD, FlbD, TyrR, and PgtA). The central domain of AlgB also ins a potential nudeotide bidig site. AIgB is the first NtrC homolog described from P. aeruginosa. At the carboxy terminus of AlgB, a helix-turn-helix motif was observed, suggesting that AlgB is a DNA-binding protein. The strongly conserved NtrC-like central domain of AlgB is not present in AlgR, another algnate response regulator. This study therefore identifies and characterizes the second


Abstract Ancient commentators like Ammonius and Boethius tried to solve Aristotle's "sea battle argument" in On Interpretation 9 by saying that statements about future contingents are "indefinitely" true or false. They were followed by al-Fārābī in his commentary on On Interpretation. The article sets out two possible interpretations of what "indefinitely" means here, and shows that al-Fārābī actually has both conceptions: one applied in his interpretation of Aristotle, and another that he is forced into by the problem of divine foreknowledge. It also explains the relevance of al-Fārābī's remarks as a link between the non-statistical modal theories of Philo and Avicenna.


Photoacoustic imaging (also called optoacoustic or thermoacoustic imaging) can image vascularity clearly with simultaneous high contrast and high spatial resolution, and has the potential to be an application for tumor diagnosis and treatment monitoring. In a unique photoacoustic system, a single pulse laser beam was used as the light source for both cancer treatment and for concurrently generating ultrasound signals for photoacoustic imaging. The photoacoustic system was used to detect early tumor on the rat back, and the vascular structure around the tumor could be imaged clearly with optimal contrast. This system was also used to monitoring damage of the vascular structures before, during and after photodynamic therapy of tumor. This work demonstrates that photoacoustic imaging can potentially be used to guide photodynamic therapy and other phototherapies using vascular changes during treatment. Prospective application of photoacoustic imaging is to characterize and monitor the accumulation of gold nanoshells in vivo to guide nanoshell-based thermal tumor therapy.


An important step in urban purification of drinking water is disinfection by e.g. chlorination where potential pathogenic micro-organisms in the water supply are killed. The presence of organic material in natural water leads to the formation of organic by- products during disinfection. Over 500 of these disinfection by-products (DBPs) have been identified and many more are estimated to form during the disinfection step. Several DBPs such as trihalomethanes (THMs), which is carcinogenic, poses serious health risks to the community. There is very few quantitative data available which realizes the actual levels of these compounds present in drinking water. The levels of four THMs present in drinking water were measured. It included chloroform, bromodichloromethane, chlorodibromomethane and bromoform. Although microbiological parameters are considered to get more attention than disinfection by-products, the measurement of the levels of these compounds in South-African drinking water is essential together with establishing minimum acceptable concentration levels. The target range for total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) established by the US EPA at the end of 2003 is 0-0.08ug/mL. The aim of this paper is to create an awareness of the problem as well as presenting preliminary results obtained with the method of analysis. Preliminary results indicate that urgent attention must be given to the regulation and monitoring of DBPs in South African drinking water.


According to the Periodic Safety Review Process, the safety level is re-assessed every ten years, considering national and international operational feedback, evolution of knowledge and best available practices. Protection against natural hazards is part of this safety level re-assessment. In the current global change context, climate change impact has to be integrated in external natural hazards estimations, such as climatic hazards or external flooding.
 EDF has consequently implemented a climate watch approach. Undertaken approximately every 5 years, roughly in line with the publication of the assessment reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and with the update of safety licensing basis during Periodic Safety Reviews, this approach is intended to:
 - revisit the climatic hazards which present a plausible or certain upward trend, and could lead to an increased reference hazard level,
 - monitor the reach of target levels which should trigger a thorough analysis (concept of Major Climate Event) to ensure the robustness of the reference hazard level between two periodic reviews.
 This climate watch approach is developed in partnership with the scientific community and is based on the following activities:
 - compile and analyze datasets on hazards that are subject to changes with climate change (observed and modelled time series),
 - develop knowledge of associated climatic phenomena (models, projections).
 The application of this approach is presented in two steps:
 - the key implications of the last climate watch exercise carried out in 2015, which identified climatic hazards whose evolution is unfavorable and is plausible or certain for the sites of EDF NPPs:
 ○ High air and water temperatures (for the "heat wave" hazard)
 ○ Sea level (for the "external flooding" hazard for coastal or estuary sites)
 ○ Drought or « low flow » hazard for fluvial sites;
 - the results obtained for the 900 MW units, for which EDF started the 4th periodic safety review in 2019.
 Such an approach, which is closely linked to periodic reviews, ensures the robustness of nuclear power plants to the climatic hazards through the consideration of the updated hazard levels.


The Responsibility to Protect (RtP) report has been hailed by academics and policy makers alike as an important policy development in the international community's potential to protect vulnerable and insecure populations from violence. This article critically assesses the RtP, examining the problems with its particular conception of justice and security based on the nature and source of threats to individuals. It criticises the RtP's focus on crises, arguing that this downplays the importance of systemic, 'chronic' problems of injustice and disorder across the globe – and thus the importance of responding to these chronic problems. This emphasis, together with the RtP's focus on civil and political rights over socioeconomic rights, results in the causes of crises being perceived as local, thereby obviating the need to admit the role of the international community in contributing to current crises and systemic injustices. Based on these criticisms, this article concludes that the RtP's narrow conception of the relationship between justice and security will not further the international community's ability to discharge its responsibility towards individuals across the globe.


Programme: Michael Finnissy, Beethoven's Robin Adair (Belgian Premiere, co-commission with York Late Music Festival) Brian Ferneyhough, Quirl Patricia de Almeida, Vacuum Corporis (Piano Piece No. 4) (World Premiere) (With Ben Smith, piaano) Lauren Redhead, For Luc Brewaeys (World Premiere) Luc Brewaeys, The Dale of Tranquility (World Premiere)


A nonlocal boundary value problem for the semilinear hyperbolic equation in a Hilbert space is considered. The uniqueness of the solution of this problem is established. The first order and the second order of accuracy difference schemes for the approximate solution of this problem are presented. The convergence estimates for the solution of these difference schemes are obtained. To validate the main results, these difference schemes are applied to the one dimensional semilinear hyperbolic problem.


Many countries delegate a substantial part of social service decisions to local administrative levels, while federal laws provide the overall framework for service levels. Strict regulations to reduce budget overruns may however leave local governments with a potential trade-off between adhering to fiscal budgets and supplying critical welfare services as e.g. programs to protect vulnerable children. We investigate if budgetary constraints influence child protection decisions using high-quality register data. We show that the introduction of fiscal sanctions to improve budget adherence contributed to a sharp decline in budget overruns on child protective services by reducing the number of children in out-of-home care. Our results further show that monthly variation in budget adherence within a fiscal year affects the probability of a placement in out-of-home care for children in need of help towards the end of a fiscal year. We estimate that a budget overrun of 10 percentage points by mid-year leads to a 1.2 percent reduction in the number of children in care over the remaining part of the fiscal year. Municipalities reduced child protection expenditure by choosing cheaper types of care and ending placement for children in out-of-home care, particularly for children turning 18. Our paper contributes to the literature on fiscal federalism by documenting the trade-off between managing public expenditure and providing safety and equal opportunity for vulnerable children. We thus highlight that enforcing strict budget adherence may be in conflict with social policy goals. Our results raise an important discussion about centralization versus delegation of critical public services.


LOPES2 (LOwer-extremity Powered ExoSkeleton) is a robotic device for gait training and assessment of motor function in stroke survivors. Large forces applied by LOPES2 are experienced as uncomfortable by the patient, affecting rehabilitation efficiency. A Body Weight Support System (BWSS) is therefore required for unloading the lower extremities in patients who are unable to carry their own body weight.
A previous design of a BWSS for LOPES2 was unsuccessful. The goal of this project is to propose a simpler, less costly and more appropriate redesign. The most important user requirements are easy patient (un)mounting from and to a wheelchair, adjustable support force which is constant during operation and a mechanism which prevents the patient from falling.
The problem is subdivided into functionalities, being a constant force source, a transmission, allowing horizontal movement, falling security and adjustment of height and force. Solutions for these functionalities are analysed theoretically, after which a concept-design is proposed. Prototypes will be built for the constant force source and the transmission.
A non-circular pulley is chosen as a constant force source, while a lever-transmission is used as transmission. A small-scale prototype showed adjustable constant force behaviour, but with a peak error of 8% in an extreme situation. Horizontal movement is made possible with the use of a series hinge-linear guidance. The operator can adjust the operation height with an electrical worm-drive winch. This winch, combined with mechanical falling endstops, can be used as an elevator to quickly mount and unmount patients.


Blind image deblurring remains a challenging problem for modern artificial neural networks. Unlike other image restoration problems, deblurring networks fail behind the performance of existing deblurring algorithms in case of uniform and 3D blur models. This follows from the diverse and profound effect that the unknown blur-kernel has on the deblurring operator. We propose a new architecture which breaks the deblurring network into an analysis network which estimates the blur, and a synthesis network that uses this kernel to deblur the image. Unlike existing deblurring networks, this design allows us to explicitly incorporate the blur-kernel in the network's training. In addition, we introduce new cross-correlation layers that allow better blur estimations, as well as unique components that allow the estimate blur to control the action of the synthesis deblurring action. Evaluating the new approach over established benchmark datasets shows its ability to achieve state-of-the-art deblurring accuracy on various tests, as well as offer a major speedup in runtime.


The genes encoding essential enzymes of the fermentative pathway for ethanol production in Zymomonas mobilis, an obligately ethanologenic bacterium, were inserted into Escherichia coli under the control of a common promoter. Alcohol dehydrogenase II and pyruvate decarboxylase from Z. mobilis were expressed at high levels in E. coli, resulting in increased cell growth and the production of ethanol as the principal fermentation product from glucose. These results demonstrate that it is possible to change the fermentation products of an organism, such as E. coli, by the addition of genes encoding appropriate enzymes which form an alternative system for the regeneration of NAD+.


In this paper I investigate the intergenerational transmission of gender norms. The norm I focus on is the traditional view that it is the role of the mother to look after young children and the role of the father to be the breadwinner. I develop a model of identity formation where a child's gender norm is endogenous to two main sources of socialisation: her family on the one hand, and society at large on the other. Using data from the Next Steps survey and the International Social Survey Programme, I examine the intergenerational transmission of gender norms in England when the norms of the family, and the society it is embedded in, are oppositional. My findings indicate between-sex heterogeneity in the transmission of gender norms from parents to children. Boys raised in modern families (i.e. where the mother is the breadwinner) are less likely to develop traditional norms. However, compared to those in traditional families, girls raised in modern families are actually more likely to be traditional; in opposition to their family's but in line with society's norm. Examining further outcomes associated with gender norms, I find that girls raised in modern families are also less likely to state that being able to earn high wages is important for them, and are less likely to pursue a science degree at university level. I use my identity formation model to argue that these results can be explained by heterogeneity in preferences for conformity to the family, and present empirical evidence that indeed, girls in modern families are less conformist than those in traditional families. Using a regression discontinuity design, I further show that this weaker preference for conformity is in fact a result of the treatment of living in a modern family.


Research of the framing effect of risky choice mostly applies to the tasks where the effect of only one probability or risk level on the choice of non-risky or risky options was examined. The conducted research was aimed to examine the framing effect in the function of probability level in the outcome of a risk option in three decision-making domains: health, money and human lives. It has been confirmed that the decision-making domain moderates the framing effect. In the monetary domain, the general risk aversion has been confirmed as registered in earlier research. At high probability levels, the framing effect is registered in both frames, while no framing effect is registered at lower probability levels. In the domain of decision-making about human lives, the framing effect is registered at medium high and medium low probability levels. In the domain of decision-making about health, the framing effect is registered almost in the entire probability range while this domain differs from the former two. The results show that the attitude to risk is not identical at different probability levels, that the dynamics of the attitude to risk influences the framing effect, and that the framing effect pattern is different in different decision-making domains. In other words, linguistic manipulation representing the frame in the tasks affects the change in the preference order only when the possibility of gain (expressed in probability) is estimated as sufficiently high.


Volume 9, issue 3, e00809-18, 2018, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.00809-18. We inadvertently referred to Asp53 as the phosphorylated residue in MrrA, instead of Asp58, in the main text ("MrrA is a central phosphorylation hub for multiple histidine kinases") and in Fig. S2 in the supplemental material. We also listed the wrong primers to construct this mutant version of MrrA. The primers originally listed were indeed for the Asp53Asn mutation, which however was not tested. The construct used and shown in our paper (Fig. S2A) is the Asp58Asn (D58N) mutant version, and we verified this by resequencing the insert part of the plasmid. Accordingly, we have corrected Fig. S2A and Table S2 and they have been replaced online. These changes do not in any way affect the conclusions of the paper. We apologize to the readers for any confusion that may have arisen from our mistake.


Acoustic signals from diesel engines contain useful information but also include considerable noise components To extract information for condition monitoring purposes, continuous wavelet transform (CWT) is used for the characterization of engine acoustics. This paper first reviews CWT characteristics represented by short duration transient signals. Wavelet selection and CWT are then implemented and wavelet transform is used to analyze the major sources of the engine front's exterior radiation sound. The research provides a reliable basis for engineering practice to reduce vehicle sound level. Comparison of the identification results of the measured acoustic signals with the identification results of the measured surface vibration showed good agreement.


Patterns of bone loss in the axial skeleton have been studied in a sample of Swedish women participating in a longitudinal population study which was started in 1968. In 1976, the mineral content of the lumbar spine (predominantly trabecular bone) was measured in vivo in 130 women by dual photon absorptiometry. Premenopausal or recently postmenopausal women were compared with women of identical age who had been postmenopausal for a long time. The first group was found to have significantly higher values of bone mineral content. Five years later, in 1981, the same women were re-examined with identical techniques. A slight decrease in bone mineral content with age was found in postmenopausal women. The findings were mostly in agreement with those of the first cross-sectional study, with bigger differences in bone mineral content between women of different menstrual status than between women of different age. In addition, the lower values in women with early menopause compared to those with late menopause remained in spite of increasing age.


The new generation State Test House BrixlAcid test system, is a bold integration of open platform, personal computer and process controller instrumentation and software sub-systems designed to maximize the efficiency and utilization of existing automatic fruit analyzer hardware. The new equipment provides cost-effective, state-of-the-art hardware connectivity and software programmability. The new generation of test house equipment is a recombination of basic industry approved automatic fruit analysis, test hardware and procedures. The scope of modern-ization and renovation included system rewiring, incorporation of a programmable controller, a new test computer, UNlX operating system, supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) software, a fourth generation relational data base, communications system, and a central office host computer. A new environmental systems enclosure, new weight controllers, sample scale, Super VGA color monitor, pH and temperature sensing instrumentation, multi-form printers, and 9600 baud modems were also furnished. The method of testing for Brix and acid remained intact.


Several nuclear receptors including the all-trans retinoic acid receptor RAR, form heterodimers with the 9-cis retinoic acid receptor, RXR. RXR-RAR heterodimers show an impressive flexibility in DNA binding and can recognize palindromic, inverted palindromes and direct repeats of the core half-site sequence AGGTCA. Dimerization interfaces in the DNA-binding domains of RXR, RAR, and thyroid hormone receptor (TR) that promote selective binding to strictly spaced direct repeats have previously been identified. However, an additional dimerization domain is present within the ligand-binding domains (LBDs) of these receptors. Here we localize a transferable 40-amino acid region within the LBDs of RXR, RAR, TR, and chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor that is critical for determining identity in the heterodimeric interaction and for high-affinity DNA binding. This region overlaps almost perfectly with a helical segment in the RXR LBD crystal structure that was recently demonstrated to be part of the dimer interface. Our data suggest a sequential pathway for nuclear receptor dimerization whereby the LBD dimerization interface initiates the formation of solution heterodimers that, in turn, acquire the capacity to bind to a number of differently organized repeats. Formation of a second dimer interface within the DNA-binding domain (DBD) restricts receptors to direct repeat targets. Accordingly, the combination of an obligatory (LBD) and an optional (DBD) dimerization domain imparts a dynamic DNA-binding potential to the heterodimerizing receptors that both increases the diversity of the hormonal response as well as providing a restricted set of target sequences in direct repeat elements that ensures physiological specificity.


Humans share an extraordinary degree of sociality with other primates, calling for comparative work into the evolutionary drivers of the variation in social engagement observed between species. Of particular interest is the contrast between the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and bonobo (Pan paniscus), the latter exhibiting increased female gregariousness, more tolerant relationships, and elaborate behavioral adaptations for conflict resolution. Here, we test predictions from 3 socioecological hypotheses regarding the evolution of these traits using data on wild bonobos at LuiKotale, Democratic Republic of Congo. Focusing on the behavior of co-feeding females and controlling for variation in characteristics of the feeding patch, food intake rate moderately increased while feeding effort decreased with female dominance rank, indicating that females engaged in competitive exclusion from high-quality food resources. However, these rank effects did not translate into variation in energy balance, as measured from urinary C-peptide levels. Instead, energy balance varied independent of female rank with the proportion of fruit in the diet. Together with the observation that females join forces in conflicts with males, our results support the hypothesis that predicts that females trade off feeding opportunities for safety against male aggression. The key to a full understanding of variation in social structure may be an integrated view of cooperation and competition over access to the key resources food and mates, both within and between the sexes.


Abstract. Activation is necessary to form a cloud droplet from an aerosol, and it is widely accepted that it occurs as soon as a wetted aerosol grows beyond its critical radius. Traditional Kohler theory assumes that this growth is driven by the diffusion of water vapor. However, if the wetted aerosols are large enough, the coalescence of two or more particles is an additional process for accumulating sufficient water for activation. This transition from diffusional to collectional growth marks the limit of traditional Kohler theory and it is studied using a Lagrangian cloud model in which aerosols and cloud droplets are represented by individually simulated particles within large-eddy simulations of shallow cumuli. It is shown that the activation of aerosols larger than 0. 1 µm in dry radius can be affected by collision and coalescence, and its contribution increases with a power-law relation toward larger radii and becomes the only process for the activation of aerosols larger than 0. 4–0. 8 µm depending on aerosol concentration. Due to the natural scarcity of the affected aerosols, the amount of aerosols that are activated by collection is small, with a maximum of 1 in 10 000 activations. The fraction increases as the aerosol concentration increases, but decreases again as the number of aerosols becomes too high and the particles too small to cause collections. Moreover, activation by collection is found to affect primarily aerosols that have been entrained above the cloud base.


Globally the UN Development Program estimates that 800 million people are involved in urban farming worldwide. Of these, 200 million produce food primarily for the market, providing 15 to 20 percent of the world's food. But the majority raises food for their own families. With the increase in urban poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition in urban areas due to increasing urbanization, many citizens have turned to urban agriculture as a livelihood strategy and source of income for a substantial number of urban households. However, many urban farmers operate without formal recognition of their main livelihood activity and lack the structural support of proper municipal policies and legislation. Contradictions exist between legislation, policy and actual practice. This paper examines legal and policy framework affecting development of urban agriculture. Using Eldoret Municipality case study, purposive sampling was employed and targeted Land Use Policy of 2009, Urban Areas and Cities Act 2011, Physical Planning Act Cap 286, Public Health Act Cap 242, Environment Act, Agriculture Act Cap 318, Local Government Act Cap 265 and Eldoret Municipal Bylaws. Key informant interviews were conducted with top government officials of the Ministries of Lands, Public Health, Local Government, Environment, and Agriculture, Eldoret Municipal Authority and Physical Planning Department. Data was analyzed by reviewing the contents, identifying contradictions between the laws and describing them as correctly as possible in finding out how the existing policies and acts have affected the development of urban agriculture According to the national legislation in Kenya, urban agriculture can be forbidden, restricted, allowed, controlled, facilitated or even promoted as expressed in the various policies and acts.. But there is no specific policy on urban agriculture. Eldoret Municipality recognizes the importance of urban farming as an important livelihood component, by tolerating the practice though it is illegal. But the translation of this awareness into a formal recognition in by-laws and ordinances has not been done. The study recommends that policy on Urban Agriculture should be enacted and the Physical Planning Act Cap 286 revised and municipal by laws harmonized in line with Urban Areas and Cities act 2011, and the New Land Policy(2009) to legalize the activity to enable maximum realization of its benefits and ensure sustainable land use management.


Stimulated surface- and edge-emissions were investigated for ZnO thin films grown epitaxially by pulsed laser deposition. The lasing threshold was 0.32 MW/cm2 for surface pumping and 0.5 MW/cm2 for edge pumping, which is significantly lower than thresholds observed previously. A modified variable stripe length method was used to measure the gain, which was 1369 cm−1 for the N-band emission. Losses were measured using the shifting excitation spot method and values of 6.2 cm−1 and 6.3 cm−1 were found for the N-band and P-band, respectively. The measured gain and loss were the highest and lowest (respectively) ever reported for ZnO films.


The passage of the 18th Amendment to Constitution of 1973 of Pakistan is a major constitutional development to strengthen local system of government in Pakistan. The amendment constituted one of the most dramatic devolution of power since drafting of 1973 Constitution. The increased authority accorded to provincial governments has enhanced their ability to retain control of their revenue; however, most taxes will continue to be redistributed by the center. The amendment authorizes the provinces to establish the local government system. This paper focuses on the failure of various provincial governments to conduct periodic local body"s elections and to implement the system. The study also focuses on the political leadership insincerity in their commitment to devolution of power to the local representatives. The study finds out that contrary to non-elected institutions elected institutions are to greater extent reluctant to empower local representatives. The study also finds out that despite lack of political will, unsound financial conditions remained a major obstacle in deepening the roots of these institutions. These elected representatives at federal and provincial level half-heartedly supporting this system as they think of the later will reduce their influence and will decrease their power base.


Professor Max Lurie has done a great service to the study of tuberculosis by collecting the material and integrating the results of his own investigations and those of his colleagues over the past forty years and publishing them in one well-produced volume. Arnold R. Rich has said that, of all the factors determining the fate of tuberculous infection in any animal, native resistance is the most important. It is this difficult subject, with its many elusive problems, that is discussed in 15 fascinating chapters in this important book, which goes a long way by detailed experimental investigations to elucidate the native and acquired defensive mechanisms against tuberculosis. The experimental work throws light on the varying extent of organ resistance to tuberculosis in different species. It shows that one of the most decisive factors in the progress of the infection is the fate of the bacillus within the mononuclear phagocytes and the capacity of these cells, in different organs, to disintegrate the chemical constituents of human and bovine tubercle bacilli. There is an interesting and important chapter on the role of sex hormones in native resistance, which will no doubt be valuable in future studies on the effect of contraceptive methods relying on changes in these secretions. The experimental work has been done mainly at the Henry Phipps Institute in the University of Pennsylvania, and incidentally has led to some significant observations on the correlation in rabbits between varying native resistance to tuberculosis and the incidence of adenocarcinoma of the uterine fundus among different strains. Each chapter is summarized, and the final chapter is a recapitulation and integration of the whole book. There is a comprehensive bibliography and a detailed and complete index. Although many problems still await solution in the complex subject of resistance to tuberculosis, this publication is most timely, for progress in eradicating the disease, after most encouraging initial successes, is generally becoming more and more difficult, largely owing to our ignorance of the defensive mechanism of the body tissue against the infection. Although the subject matter of the book is intricate and highly technical, it is presented in a clear and lucid manner, so that it will be as valuable to the clinician as to the pathologist. It therefore should have a wide appeal and become a classic among the many works on tuberculosis. FREDERICK HEAF. Sub-aortic Stenosis


Preface. Foreword. Acknowledgments. 1 Nuclear Fear - The Godzilla of All Fears. 1.1 The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 1.2 Nuclear Fallout in America. 1.3 WMDs: Witnesses of Mass Destruction. 1.4 Fear and the Film Industry. 1.5 Celluloid Spies. 1.6 Atomic Nature Run Amok. 1.7 Post-War Nuclear Reactions. 1.8 The Specter of Cold War. 1.9 The Fearful Fifties. 1.10 Dr. Strangelove & Learning to Love the Bomb. 1.11 Nuclear Terror Revisited. 1.12 Chernobyl's Impact on Contemporary Views of Nuclear Energy. 1.13 The Myth of the Lone Madman. 1.14 Fear of an Unknown Atom. 2 Terrorism and Nuclear Fire. 2.1 A Prophetic Warning. 2.2 History of Terrorism. 2.3 Terrorism (Un)Defined. 2.4 Legal Taxonomy of Terrorism. 2.5 The Defining Principles of Terrorism. 2.6 Nation States: The Fuel for Nuclear Fire. 2.7 Global Mass Media: The Oxygen of Terrorism. 2.8 Extremists Groups: The Spark that Ignites Terrorism. 2.9 Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Nightmare. 3 Radiation and Radioactivity Concepts. 3.1 What, Exactly, Is Radiation? 3.2 Units of Radioactivity. 3.3 The Different Types of Radioactive Decay. 3.4 Measuring Radioactivity. 3.5 Environmental Radiation. 3.6 Radiation from Nuclear Power Plants. 3.7 The Benefits of Radiation on Health and Medicine. 3.8 The Benefits of Radiation on Agriculture. 3.9 The Benefits of Radiation on Industry. 3.10 The Benefits of Radiation on National Security. 3.11 The Benefits of Radiological and Nuclear Material on International Security. 4 Nuclear Countermeasures and Nuclear Security. 4.1 Security of Radiation Sources. 4.2 Atomic Authorization. 4.3 Safety of Radiation Sources. 4.4 Enforcing International Standards of Safety. 4.5 Meeting Global Needs for Energy. 4.6 Difficulties of Radioactive Disposal. 4.7 A Radiation Role Model. 4.8 Nuclear Applications to Increase Public Safety and National Security. 4.9 Current Nuclear and Radiation Countermeasures. 5 Nuclear Events and Incidents. 5.1 The Search for Nuclear Substances. 5.2 Diplomatic Reasoning. 5.3 Inferring Nuclear Intent. 5.4 Nuclear Arms in the Wrong Hands. 5.5 A More Active Defense. 5.6 Should Diplomacy Fail. 5.7 A Closer Look at Nuclear Weapons. 5.8 Nuclear Blast Force. 5.9 Nuclear Thermal Force. 5.10 Radioactive Force. 5.11 Radiological Dispersion Devices. 6 Radiological Incidents Management and Planning. 6.1 Threat Assessment. 6.2 Medical Stockpiling. 6.3 Medical Development. 6.4 Readying the Response Infrastructure. 6.5 Evaluating the Medical Countermeasure Enterprise. 6.6 The Good News: Areas of Improvement. 6.7 Protective Action Guidelines. 6.8 The Role of the Military in a Radiological Emergency. 7 Role of the First Responder. 7.1 Structure of the First Response Team's Patterns of Action. 7.2 Role of the First Response Team. 7.3 Protection of Responders and the Public. 7.4 Lessons Learned from First Response to Past Emergencies. 7.5 Manage the Medical Response. 7.6 Manage Criminal and Terrorist Threats After a Radiological Event. 7.7 Launching the First Response. 7.8 Incident Command. 7.9 Members of the First Response Team. 7.10 Preliminary Assessment and Response. 7.11 Emergency Response Team. 7.12 Incident Commander Action Guide. 7.13 Resource Coordinator Action Guide. 7.14 Fire Departments Action Guide. 7.15 Emergency Medical Service Action Guide. 7.16 Law Enforcement/Security Team Action Guide. 7.17 Forensic Evidence Management Team Action Guide. 7.18 Public Information Officer Action Guide. 7.19 Crisis Communication Tips. 7.20 Local Hospital Action Guide. 7.21 National EOC Action Guide. 7.22 First Responder Monitor Action Guide. 8 Action Plans. 8.1 Assess Hazard and Establish Security Area. 8.2 Personnel Protection Guidelines. 8.3 Public Protection Guidelines. 8.4 Public Registration. 8.5 Monitor the Public and Responders. 8.6 Public Decontamination. 8.7 Response Contamination Control. 8.8 Monitoring and Decontamination of Vehicles and Equipment. 8.9 Field Triage for Mass Casualties. 9 Medical Treatment of Radiological Injuries. 9.1 The Radiological Effects of RDDs. 9.2 Radioactivity and Its Impact on the Body. 9.3 Symptoms and Syndromes. 9.4 Emergency Assessment. 9.5 Signs of Dangerous Radiation Dosages. 9.6 Treatments for Radiation Exposure. 9.7 Post-Radiation Procedures. 9.8 Psychological Side Effects. 9.9 Psychological First Aid. 9.10 Treating Terror. 10 Cleanup and Decontamination after a Radiological Incident. 10.1 Differences between Chemical, Biological and Radiological. 10.2 Decontamination Differences for Fallout and a RDD. 10.3 Who will be in Charge of Cleanup and Decontamination? 10.4 Radiological Cleanup Overview and Objectives. 10.5 Radiological Cleanup Decision Making. 10.6 Initial Cleanup Scoping. 10.7 Stakeholder Outreach & Stakeholder Working Group. 10.8 Evaluation of Cleanup Options. 10.9 Specific Guidelines for Cleanup and Decontamination. 10.10 The "Do Nothing" Strategy. 10.11 Physical Removal Strategy. 10.12 Physical Entrapment Strategy. 10.13 Chemical Decontamination Strategy. 10.14 Use of Isotope Dilution for Decontamination. 10.15 Priorities for Decontamination. 11 Conclusions. 11.1 Nuclear Terror: Are We Prepared Internationally? 11.2 Who is Internationally Responsible for Nuclear Countermeasures? 11.3 Nuclear Terror: Are We Prepared Nationally? 11.4 What We Know About the Inevitable. Appendix A: Radioactive Contamination Monitoring. Appendix B: List of Acronyms. Appendix C: Radiological Terms. Appendix D: Radiological Attack - Radiological Dispersal Devices - Incident Planning Guide. Appendix E: Federal Agencies Governing the Immediate Response to a Radiological Event. Appendix F: Potential Isotopes Likely to be Used in a Radiological Dispersion Device. Bibliography. Index.


In this paper, student-level indicators of opportunity to learn (OTL) included in the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment are used to explore the joint relationship of OTL and socioeconomic status (SES) to student mathematics literacy. Using multiple methods, we find consistent evidence that (a) OTL has a significant relationship to student outcomes, (b) a positive relationship exists between SES and OTL, and (c) roughly a third of the SES relationship to literacy is due to its association with OTL. These relationships hold across most countries and both within and between schools within countries. Our findings suggest that in most countries, the organization and policies defining content exposure may exacerbate educational inequalities.


Models of median-related crash severity were developed by using roadway inventory and crash records for Pennsylvania Interstate highways. Cross-median and median barrier crashes formed the sample of crash types considered. Data were collected to model crash severity, including cross-section, traffic volume, and environmental predictor variables. Logistic regression models were developed by using both an ordinal and a nominal response. The results indicate that modeling crash severity as an ordinal response provided appropriate results for cross-median crashes, whereas a nominal response was more appropriate for median barrier crashes. Explanatory variables such as pavement surface conditions, use of drugs or alcohol, presence of an interchange entrance ramp, horizontal alignment, crash type, and average daily traffic volumes affect crash severity. The analysis results may be used by practitioners to understand the trade-off between geometric design decisions and median-related crash severity. Approximately 0.7% median barrier crashes on the Interstate system resulted in a fatality, whereas 43% were property-damage-only crashes and about 56% were injury crashes. More than 17% of cross-median collisions were fatal, and 67% involved injury.


The following article endeavors to develop a technical but nevertheless relatively simple explanation of the revised price indexes of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics. These ind xes are widely used not only for general purposes but also in the administrative calculation of parity prices which current legislation provides are to be so determined as to give farm commodities generally the same purchasing power in terms of "articles and services that farmers buy, wages paid hired farm labor, interest on farm indebtedness secured by farm real estate, and taxes on farm real estate" as prevailed during the base period January 1910–December 1914. This means that the indexes must measure broad changes over something more than four decades. This requirement sets a most difficult task in constructing farm price indexes, especially the parity index covering prices and cost rates paid by farmers owing to the great shift in farm production methods and, equally, farm family living patterns since 1910. We believe that the new indexes are as good a basis for tracing these changes as can be devised from the available data and it is with considerable pride that they are presented, especially since the need for such revision has long been recognized.


Are generational accounts informative about the effect of the budget on the intergenerational distribution of resources and (when augmented with generation-specific propensities to consume out of life-time resources) on aggregate consumption and saving? The paper makes three points. First, the usefulness of generational accounts lives or dies with the strict life-cycle model of household consumption. Voluntary intergenerational gifts or liquidity constraints may therefore adversely affect or even destroy their informativeness. Second, even when the life-cycle model holds, generational accounts only measure the effect of the budget on the lifetime consumption of private goods and services. They ignore the intergenerational (re-)distribution associated with the government's provision of public goods and services. Third, generational accounting ignores the effect of the budget on before-tax and before-transfer quantities and prices, including before-tax and -transfer distribution of life-time resources across generations and intertemporal relative prices. That is, it does not handle incidence or general equilibrium repercussions very well. Although useful, generational accounts should therefore carry the label 'handle with great care.'


Introduction - Atopic eczema (AE) is a common inflammatory skin disorder, affecting one in five children and one in twelve adults in the UK. Due to the chronic nature of the condition and its poor management by conventional therapies, AE sufferers increasingly resort to complementary and alternative types of treatment.

Aim - The aim of this study was to document, analyse and discuss Western Herbal Medicine (WHM) practitioners' views on therapeutic approaches for AE.

Methods - Three participants were recruited using purposive sampling. Inclusion criteria required participants to be: i) currently practising UK medical herbalists, ii) members of an established WHM professional body iii) in practice for at least 10 years, iv) having treated at least 5 cases of EA during the last year and v) living in or within 2 hours of London. Semi-structured interviews were used, each lasting 30 minutes. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Results - Five themes emerged from data analysis: Internal herbal therapeutic approach; Topical applications; Importance of dietary therapeutic approach; Emotional/psychological parameters; and Practitioners' role and patient individuality. Internal use of herbs such as Viola tricolour, Urtica dioica, Glycyrrhiza glabra and Taraxacum officinale appeared to be the preferred way to administer herbal treatment. Even though no standard "eczema cream" was reported, creams containing anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and healing herbs were used by all herbalists. The importance of tackling emotional issues and improving diet was stressed, with particular emphasis on ω-3 fatty acids and vitamin D.

Conclusions – This research highlighted the holistic, patient-focused therapeutic approach of the participants in treating AE. Both internal and external use of herbs as well as dietary and lifestyle modifications were viewed as important by all herbalists. Further quantitative and qualitative studies are needed to investigate the WHM approach to AE treatment.


A number of different software programs are used to investigate the in vivo wear of polyethylene bearings in total hip arthroplasty. With wear rates below 0.1 mm/year now commonly being reported for highly cross‐linked polyethylene (XLPE) components, it is important to identify the accuracy of the methods used to measure such small movements. The aims of this study were to compare the accuracy of current software programs used to measure two‐dimensional (2D) femoral head penetration (FHP) and to determine whether the accuracy is influenced by larger femoral heads or by different methods of representing the acetabular component within radiostereometric analysis (RSA). A hip phantom was used to compare known movements of the femoral head within a metal‐backed acetabular component to FHP measured radiographically using RSA, Hip Analysis Suite (HAS), PolyWare, Ein Bild Roentgen Analyse (EBRA), and Roentgen Monographic Analysis Tool (ROMAN). RSA was significantly more accurate than the HAS, PolyWare, and ROMAN methods when measuring 2D FHP with a 28 mm femoral head. Femoral head size influenced the accuracy of HAS and ROMAN 2D FHP measurements, EBRA proximal measurements, and RSA measurements in the proximal and anterior direction. The use of different acetabular reference segments did not influence accuracy of RSA measurements. The superior accuracy and reduced variability of RSA wear measurements allow much smaller cohorts to be used in RSA clinical wear studies than those utilizing other software programs. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 35:988–996, 2017.


The interactions between an organ and its surrounding environment are critical in regulating its development. In vertebrates, neural crest and mesodermal mesenchymal cells have been observed close to the eye during development, and mutations affecting this periocular mesenchyme can cause defects in early eye development, yet the underlying mechanism has been unknown. Here, using timelapse microscopy and four-dimensional cell tracking in zebrafish, we establish that genetic loss of neural crest impairs cell movements within the optic vesicle. At the ultrastructural level, neural crest cells are required for basement membrane formation specifically around the retinal pigment epithelium. Neural crest cells express the extracellular matrix crosslinking protein nidogen and, strikingly, ectopically expressing nidogen in the absence of neural crest partially restores optic cup morphogenesis. These results demonstrate that the neural crest is required for local establishment of ocular extracellular matrix superstructure, which in turn drives optic cup morphogenesis.


Abstract Trajectories of 500- and 1000-μm diameter particles are calculated as they fall through the spatially varying flow field above sinusoidal terrain for various combinations of atmospheric stability, wind speed, and terrain wavelength. In each case, a set of 20 uniformly spaced particles are released simultaneously above sinusoidal topography and their trajectories are obtained numerically by coupling a linear wave solution for flow over sinusoidal topography with equations for particle motion. The flow field and the associated patterns of deposition are shown to be strongly influenced by atmospheric stratification. For strong stratification, the presence of vertically propagating waves produces relatively concentrated "particle streams." For less stratified conditions with evanescent waves, little focusing of particle trajectories is apparent. The ability of the atmosphere to focus or concentrate falling particles may ultimately produce regions along the surface with enhanced deposition.


The function of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has long been considered for mechanical protection and recently attributed to the supply of nutrients to the brain. However, we hypothesize that the brain is a water-cooled and water-cleaned system. Recent studies on the glymphatic pathways and the introduction of cisternostomy as a surgical procedure for traumatic brain injury reveal a vast and in-depth functionality of the CSF, which works in synchrony with the cardiopulmonary rhythms to act as a buffer for optimum cerebral function. The nasal sinuses are located around the suprasellar cistern, and the evaporating wet mucosa within them during the breathing contributes to local cooling, whereas the nocturnal activation of AQP4 channels allows CSF-ISF exchange. The resultant "cooling and cleaning" of the brain not only maintains a physiological equilibrium but also opens doors for understanding and treating pathophysiology underlying common degenerative and neuro-inflammatory diseases. This chapter describes the novel theory of brain cooling and cleaning and the clinical and experimental evidence to support this hypothesis.


Recently, the control of particles measured in the tens of nanometers has become indispensable for manufacturing semiconductor devices. In sulfuric acid - hydrogen peroxide mixture (SPM) processes, it is increasingly important to reduce particles on the wafer. A batch type re-circulation bath has been generally used with a fluoroplastic filter built into the equipment. The pore size of the filter used has gradually become smaller. The particle levels on the wafer have decreased after the filter was changed from a 100nm rating to a 30nm rating.


The purpose of this article is to put forward submissions regarding the implementation of a weapons review process in compliance of South Africa's obligations under Additional Protocol I (hereinafter "API") Article 36. Article 36 requires each state party to determine whether the employment of any new weapon, means or method of warfare that it studies, develops, acquires or adopts would, insome or all circumstances, be prohibited by international law. Article 36 does not specify how such a legal review should be implemented or conducted. Thus this article puts forward proposals regarding both the substantive and procedural aspectsof a review of the legality of weapons, means and methods of warfare that the authors submit best befits the South African context.A background regarding the legal limitations placed upon the use of certain weapons, means and methods of warfare and an explanation of South Africa's obligations regarding national implementation of a weapons review process, is given in paragraph 1 so as to create an understanding as to why it is necessary for the Republic of South Africa to implement a process to review the legality of weapons, means and methods of warfare. Before the implementation of a weapons review process can be discussed, the subject matter of such a review must first be ascertained. Thus paragraph 2 contains a discussion regarding the definition of the term "weapons, means and methods of warfare" and a determination of which weapons shall form the subject matter of legal reviews. No specific manner of implementation is contained within API and thus it is at the discretion of the state in question, in this case South Africa, to adopt the necessary measures to implement this obligation. In this regard, paragraph 3 contains submissions regarding the status of the review body within the state hierarchy and its method of establishment. This paragraph also contains an explanation of the process by which South Africa acquires its weapons. The legal scope of the review process is dealt with in paragraph 4. Within thisparagraph, the place of both treaty-based law and customary international law ("CIL") in the South African legal system is discussed. Furthermore, the treaty-law and customary international law rules binding upon South Africa regarding limitations of specific weapons and general weapons limitations are enumerated and the paragraph ends with a discussion of the Martens Clause.


This story of the evolution of legal evaluations from the seventeenth century to the close of the twentieth depicts English influences on American law student evaluations, which have waned in the twentieth century with the advent of course-end examinations. Seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English examinations given to conclude a legal degree were relatively ceremonial exercises in which performance was often based on the demonstration of rote memory. As examination processes evolved, American law schools adopted essay evaluations from their English counterparts. Examinees in the nineteenth century were given a narrative, requiring the recognition of particularly appropriate legal doctrines, enunciation of the component requirements of the doctrines, and the prioritized application of those components to the facts. One function of this type of examination procedure was to emphasize applications of the law to particular situations rather than to reward memorization. In response to new educational theory in the twentieth century, greater concern about the validity of measurement in law school examinations led to the development of short-answer, true-false, and multiple choice questions. Moot courts, once a popular source of legal instruction in England and America, changed considerably in the twentieth century with the development of interschool competitions and with graded moot court programs. Grades, allowing for the ranking of students, became an essential function of the modem law school examination. In the 1980's and 1990's, law schools have markedly reduced the rigor of their grades and diminished the level of academic attrition. The current method of using course-end exams as the sole method of grading has profound disadvantages and has been met with many calls for reform.


Twenty-four good premorbid schizophrenics, divided on the basis of paranoid-nonparanoid status, were studied under a double-blind design for differential responses to a phenothiazine medication while receiving drug and placebo regimens. Autonomic responsivity levels measured by skin resistance and related to drug status did not distinguish between the paranoid-nonparanoid status patients. Significant findings emerged in the interactions between paranoid-nonparanoid status and the drug-placebo condition on only the cognitive and perceptual measures. The paranoid patient on placebo status consistently did very poorly in both the clinical ratings and the experimental tasks. The nonparanoid patients showed only mild-to-moderate improvement effects while receiving medication and the performance of the nonparanoid receiving placebo was often very similar to that of the paranoid given drugs. The findings of this study and others emphasize the importance of using the paranoid-nonparanoid and good-poor premorbid groupings when doing clinical and experimental research on schizophrenics.


On September 8, 1879, The Weekly Argus boasted that it was "Republican at all times and under all circumstances." Despite the Great Compromise with the South nearly two years earlier, John Edward Bruce, co-owner and associate editor of the paper, believed the destiny and welfare of African America was tied to the Republican Party. Bruce's conclusion was a mixture of political opportunism and Republican loyalty. The Weekly Argus, founded by Bruce to promote Republican candidates and party leaders, received financial support from the GOP during the 1880 campaign. Bruce sold his interest in this publication to a stock company in 1881, but his allegiance to the Republican Party remained unquestioned. This, however, would change in 1883.(2)During the first fifteen months of Chester Arthur's administration, Black Republicans became disillusioned with the new President's policies. William E. Chandler, Secretary of the Navy and future Senator from New Hampshire, directed the administration's southern strategy, crafting a policy that gave lip service to protecting Black rights while supporting an assortment of lily-white independent Movements. The Arthur administration also fostered Black exclusion among southern Republicans. "Negro officials," the President declared, "do not help the party as much as white officials." But this challenge to Bourbon supremacy not only ignored respected African American leaders, but quickly diminished any hopes of Black patronage appointments.(3)As the Republican establishment distanced itself from Black party loyalists, the national commitment to racial equality also eroded. After 1880, mob violence and lynching became alarmingly common throughout the South. Northerners and their elected representatives questioned any form of federal intervention in southern affairs. Radical Republicans were vilified by the country and sectional controversy over the race question avoided, as white public sentiment wanted to "bury the bloody shirt" and reconcile the differences between the North and South. In addition, during this period of a boom in the nation's railroad system and explosion in industrialization; America's energy concentrated on uniting the country and increasing its material welfare. The status of Black citizens became a negotiable factor in the reunification and economic advancement of the United States.(4)By 1883 these developments fueled a thriving debate among Black leaders and intellectuals on the merits of political independence, the relationship of the Republican party to the African American community, and a demand for an equitable share of political patronage and leadership positions. For the next thirty-seven years, John Edward Bruce was an articulate and passionate participant in this dialogue. He authored myriad articles and speeches about the Republican Party while recording his observations on race relations and the American political scene. Bruce's struggle with Republican politics reflected a blend of personal ambition, and political vacillation, as well as an attempt to prevent the gradual deterioration of Black political power and the value of citizenship.(5)What was the nature of Bruce's relationship with the Republican Party? How did he view the Democratic opposition? What was his interpretation of Black independent movements? How did he participate in the efforts to prevent the deterioration of Black political influence? What was the outcome of Bruce's quest for a patronage appointment? How did he use his journalistic skills to promote personal ambitions within the party? This article will address those questions and chart Bruce's long sojourn in the Republican Party.Between 1874 and 1882, John Bruce entered Republican politics while carving out a career in journalism. A young and ambitious man in his twenties, Bruce had grown up listening to Black Republican partisans, such as Martin Delany and Henry Highland Garnet, debating public policy in his cousin's boarding house. …


Arthrogryposis is a condition characterized by symmetric, nonprogressive joint contractures and weak or absent musculature that is present at birth. The amyoplasia form is the most common, and in this group, the elbow is frequently involved, typically in an extension contracture bilaterally. Active elbow flexion is weak or absent, but active extension is spared. This elbow dysfunction poses a significant disability for affected children. Sensation and cognitive development is normal in children with arthrogryposis, and as a group they demonstrate a remarkable degree of adaptability to their deformities. The goal of any treatment is to facilitate the child's functional independence. This article describes the surgical technique of transfer of the long head of the triceps into the proximal ulna to provide active elbow flexion in children with arthrogryposis. The goal of the procedure is to reliably achieve antigravity active flexion while preserving active extension. It has the advantages of technical simplicity and minimal donor site morbidity. By adding this procedure to the existing options for treating this challenging condition, a surgeon is better able to tailor intervention to an individual child's strength and available donor muscles.


Male subjects in animal and human studies are disproportionately used for toxicological testing. This discrepancy is evidenced in clinical medicine where females are more likely than males to experience liver-related adverse events in response to xenobiotics. While previous work has shown gene expression differences between the sexes, there is a lack of systems-level approaches to understand the direct clinical impact of these differences. Here, we integrate gene expression data with metabolic network models to characterize the impact of transcriptional changes of metabolic genes in the context of sex differences and drug treatment. We used Tasks Inferred from Differential Expression (TIDEs), a reaction-centric approach to analyzing differences in gene expression, to discover that several metabolic pathways exhibit sex differences including glycolysis, fatty acid metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, and xenobiotics metabolism. When TIDEs is used to compare expression differences in treated and untreated hepatocytes, we find several subsystems with differential expression overlap with the sex-altered pathways such as fatty acid metabolism, purine and pyrimidine metabolism, and xenobiotics metabolism. Finally, using sex-specific transcriptomic data, we create individual and averaged male and female liver models and find differences in the pentose phosphate pathway and other metabolic pathways. These results suggest potential sex differences in the contribution of the pentose phosphate pathway to oxidative stress, and we recommend further research into how these reactions respond to hepatotoxic pharmaceuticals.


Social robots of the future will need to perceive, reason about, and respond appropriately to ethically sensitive situations. At the same time, policymakers and researchers alike are advocating for increased transparency and explainability in robotics-design principles that help users build accurate mental models and calibrate trust. In this short paper, we consider how Rube Goldberg machines might offer a strong analogy on which to build transparent user interfaces for the intricate, but knowable inner workings of a cognitive architecture's moral reasoning. We present a discussion of these related concepts, a rationale for the suitability of this analogy, and early designs for an initial prototype visualization.


The purpose of present paper to determine the Finsler spaces due to deformation of special Finsler $ (\alpha, \beta) $ metric. Consequently, we obtain the non-holonomic frame with help of Riemannian metric $ \alpha $ , one form metric $ \beta $ and Randers metric such as forms I. $L(\alpha, \beta)=\alpha \beta + \beta^{2} $ i.e. product of Randers metric and 1-form metric and II. $L(\alpha, \beta)= \alpha^{2} + \alpha \beta$ i.e. product of Randers metric and Riemannian metric.


Abstract: Students' vocational interests can be described by Holland's theory of occupational choice. Holland distinguishes six interest dimensions here: realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising, and conventional. Although these attributes are relatively stable during adolescence, their stability increases dramatically during university studies. Because vocational interests are often a factor in career counseling and the choice of what to study, it is essential to investigate the extent to which they develop during the first years of college. This study examines the NEPS first-year student cohort to investigate the stability of students' interests and aspirations. The paper analyzes 2,442 male and 3,435 female students who studied within one of six major study clusters and provided data about their vocational interests at Wave 1 (study entry) and Wave 9 (about 4.5 years later close to the end their studies). The study's results show strong and highly significant correlations for all interest dimensions, as well as a high stability of students' aspirations. The correlations were strongest for artistic interests and weakest for conventional interests and were distinguishable between most dimensions. Furthermore, the analyses showed notable differences with respect to gender and field of study. Further analyses went beyond a variable-centered towards a person-centered approach showing that students with a stable interest vector also displayed higher profile correlations and a higher person-environment fit. The analysis shows that 28% of the sample are still developing their interests. This indicates notable adaption processes during university time that should be factored into course design, career counseling, and further research.


In this paper we present the annotation scheme and parser results of the animacy feature in Russian and Arabic, two morphologicallyrich languages, in the spirit of the universal dependency framework (McDonald et al., 2013; de Marneffe et al., 2014). We explain the animacy hierarchies in both languages and make the case for the existence of five animacy types. We train a morphological analyzer on the annotated data and the results show a prediction f-measure for animacy of 95.39% for Russian and 92.71% for Arabic. We also use animacy along with other morphological tags as features to train a dependency parser, and the results show a slight improvement gained from animacy. We compare the impact of animacy on improving the dependency parser to other features found in nouns, namely, 'gender', 'number', and 'case'. To our knowledge this is the first contrastive study of the impact of morphological features on the accuracy of a transition parser. A portion of our data (1,000 sentences for Arabic and Russian each, along with other languages) annotated according to the scheme described in this paper is made publicly available (https://lindat.mff.cuni.cz/repository/xmlui/handle/11234/1-1983) as part of the CoNLL 2017 Shared Task on Multilingual Parsing (Zeman et al., 2017).


Terminal structure analysis of an insect cytoplasmic polyhedrosis virus (CPV) genome RNA in the early 1970s at the National Institute of Genetics in Japan yielded a 2′-O-methylated nucleotide in the 5′ end of double-stranded RNA genome. This finding prompted me to add S-adenosyl-L-methionine, a natural methylation donor, to the in vitro transcription reaction of viruses that contain RNA polymerase. This effort resulted in unprecedented mRNA synthesis that generates a unique blocked and methylated 5′ terminal structure (referred later to as "cap" or "m7G-cap") in the transcription of silkworm CPV and human reovirus and vaccinia viruses that contain RNA polymerase in virus particles. Initial studies with viruses paved the way to discover the 5′-cap m7GpppNm structure present generally in cellular mRNAs of eukaryotes. I participated in those studies and was able to explain the pathway of cap synthesis and the significance of the 5′ cap (and capping) in gene expression processes, including transcription and protein synthesis. In this review article I concentrate on the description of these initial studies that eventually led us to a new paradigm of mRNA capping.


The inner rift valley of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 36°48′ N. is 1.5 to 3 km wide and 100 to 400 m deep. It is symmetrical in profile with a discontinuous medial ridge 100 to 240 m high and 800 to 1,300 m wide along its axis. The medial ridge is replaced every 1 to 3 km with a central trough 200 to 600 m wide. The medial ridge is apparently built by eruptions of pillow basalt recurring at intervals of roughly 14,000 years at a given point. Between eruptions (and possibly during them), the ridge splits and divides along its axis and subsides, which produces the central trough. As the trough widens and deepens, it eventually taps magma in a shallow reservoir, initiating a new eruption that rebuilds the medial ridge. Outward spreading of the inward-dipping shingled halves of the former medial ridge produces a layer of pillowed basalts about 400 m thick (oceanic layer 2A), in which resides the bulk of the remanant magnetization of the ocean floor. This layer overlies a layer of intrusive rock (layer 2B) composed of a dike complex that feeds eruptions building the medial ridge as well as the outward moving, solidified shells of a shallow magma chamber.


This research provides insights to government into the potential of web 2.0 as a mechanism to engage with the public on issues concerning road safety. It uses the Transtheoretical Model of Change (TTM) to bring about citizen engagement. An important first step in TTM was to establish young people's 'contemplation' of engaging with government via web 2.0 by determining their abilities and expectations. Reasonably high levels of abilities with web 2.0 tools as well as expectations for Road Safety 2.0 applications were found, thus encouraging government to pursue the potential of web 2.0. Expectations were highest for information management followed by data management and citizen engagement. The next stage of TTM will see the public becoming 'active' in their engagement with government. This imposes significant challenges for Road Safety 2.0. Externally, government has to adapt to the attention economy by acquiring 'eye-ball time' for road safety and an increasingly reflexive society that reacts to events on the basis of their own choosing. Internally, government systems have to be transformed to reflect an organisational architecture of participation to enable open and transparent collaboration with citizens.


A variety of diseases are related to mitochondrial dysfunction. Hence, the ability to transport drugs to mitochondria that are otherwise cell impermeable would be of great therapeutic potential. Triphenylphosphonium (TPP) cations have been shown to accumulate in mitochondria when attached to small molecules. Here we report on the consequence of increasing the number of TPP moieties that are covalently linked to a model hydrophilic peptide Hemagglutinin A (HA). By extending the HA peptide with l-lysine amino acids to which the TPP's are covalently linked through the epsilon-amine, we have systematically synthesized the HA peptide with 0-3 TPP's. All peptides were subsequently labeled with FITC at the N-terminus. Cellular uptake and mitochondrial localization of the HA-TPP conjugates in HeLa cells were profoundly augmented with increasing number of TPPs, suggesting that this approach is applicable for the delivery of peptides. Furthermore, confocal microscopy demonstrated that the peptides localize to mitochondria. Importantly, all peptide conjugates did not show apparent toxicity at concentrations that are several orders of magnitude higher than those used for HA peptide delivery.


This paper proposes a lossless data embedding method for Block Truncation Coding (BTC) compressed images based on prediction and histogram shifting techniques. Because BTC is easy to implement, and requires significantly less CPU cost, it has arouse widely attention in applications where real-time processing is demanded. For the existing lossless data embedding method in BTC codes, the decoder has to be specifically designed so that the spatial domain image can perfectly reconstructed from the compressed codes. Therefore, the application of these methods is limited. In the proposed embedding method, we slightly modified the quantization values of BCT codes to embed data losslessly, and a standard BTC decoder can be used to decode the BTC codes. The embedded secret messages can be extracted at the receiver side with the correct key. The experimental results revealed that the proposed method not only recovers the stego image to its original one, but also preserved a high image quality.


Abstract Many economists adopt a critical stance on cooperatives. One example is the claim that larger membership in cooperative banks is detrimental to performance. We re-examine this earlier finding by drawing from a richer and broader conceptual framework than used previously and conclude that in recent years, the relationship between membership and performance may be positive. In our empirical analysis, we use new data for Finnish cooperative banks and, compared to earlier work, develop an alternative measure for membership and employ improved estimation methods. A positive relationship between membership and performance in financial cooperatives is consistently found. We discuss our findings in light of an emerging body of theoretical and empirical work on cooperatives, especially for financial cooperatives, and argue that a new view of cooperatives is warranted.


This study examined the link between feedback seeking and creative performance by focusing on the mediating role of goal self consistency. The survey was completed by 160 full-time employees from China. We found that Feedback seeking would increase creative performance, feedback seeking would increase goal self consistency, goal self consistency would increase creative performance, goal self consistency is a mediating factor in the relationship between feedback seeking and creative performance.


The article reports results of experiments to further determine the underlying physics behind the formation and development of internal transport barriers (ITBs) in the DIII-D tokamak. The initial ITB formation occurs when the neutral beam heating power exceeds a threshold value during the early stages of the current ramp in low density discharges. This region of reduced transport, made accessible by suppression of long wavelength turbulence by sheared flows, is most evident in the ion temperature and impurity rotation profiles. In some cases, reduced transport is also observed in the electron temperature and density profiles. If the power is near the threshold, the barrier remains stationary and encloses only a small fraction of the plasma volume. If, however, the power is increased, the transport barrier expands to encompass a larger fraction of the plasma volume. The dynamic behaviour of the transport barrier during the growth phase exhibits rapid transport events that are associated with both broadening of the profiles and reductions in turbulence and associated transport. In some but not all cases, these events are correlated with the safety factor q passing through integer values. The final state following this evolution is a plasma exhibiting ion thermal transport at or below neoclassical levels. Typically the electron thermal transport remains anomalously high. Recent experimental results are reported in which RF electron heating was applied to plasmas with an ion ITB, thereby increasing both the electron and the ion transport. Although the results are partially in agreement with the usual E × B shear suppression hypothesis, the results still leave questions that must be addressed in future experiments.


The Salvia miltiorrhiza callus tissue cells were entrapped with 3% alginate. The immobilized cells were incubated in medium with LS + KT 0.1 + NAA 1.0 containing 3% sucrose at 25 degrees C for nearly one month. After incubation, the medium free from cells was extracted with ether 3 times. After evaporation, the residue of the ether extract was employed to determine the content on TLC and HPLC. The results showed that the incubation system mentioned above could continuously secrete the main components of S. miltiorrhiza, tanshinone IIA and cryptotanshinone, which were almost the same as the extract of S. miltiorrhiza roots. In addition, suspension incubation of callus tissue cells, the conditions of immobilization with alginate, the stability of immobilized cells and the characteristics of products were also examined.


Using a combined microwave downstream plasma and low damage RIE, we have successfully developed a dry process that removes both the photoresist and the remaining polymer residue after a via etch step. An ion assisted plasma process containing oxygen and fluorine was successfully developed. It was found that the ion-assisted process converted the Ti, Si and their oxide containing residues to water-soluble compounds. Thus, a room temperature DI water rinse after the dry process removed the entire sidewall residue. The process is carried out at room temperature to avoid any undercutting of the TiN layer. SEM micrographs show that the via sidewall is free of any residue. The electrical data shows via resistance equal to or lower than samples cleaned with the standard process using oxygen plasma followed by a solvent clean. This process has been shown to be a reliable and cost-effective alternative to solvent based processing. Failure due to the narrow window of the solvent process is eliminated and equivalent or improved yield and device performance is obtained with the new process.


SIGNIFICANCE Our study revealed that the validity of a new Japanese visual-perceptual test was acceptable. Visual-perceptual abilities are important to activities of daily living; thus, accurate assessment of visual perception is especially important for children with neurodevelopmental disorders and particularly so for those with learning problems. PURPOSE Visual perception refers to the process by which one receives visual information through sensory impulses and then translates those impulses into meaning based on a previously developed view of the environment. A problem in Japan is the paucity of visual perception tests that use normative data from children who are native Japanese. The Wide-range Assessment of Vision-related Essential Skills (WAVES), which measures visual perception and eye-hand coordination skills and is based on Japanese normative data, was recently published in Japan. The validity of this test has not been comprehensively established. METHODS To investigate the validity of the WAVES, we used the Pearson correlation coefficient to calculate the degrees of association among WAVES scaled and index scores compared with Developmental Test of Visual Perception, Third Edition, scores from 108 elementary school children with symptoms of learning problems. Participants were recruited at Osaka Medical College Learning Disability Center and Sakai Seikeikai Learning Disability Center. RESULTS The concurrent validity of the WAVES was supported by moderate correlation (r = 0.67, P < .01) between the total scores for visual perception and eye-hand coordination index from the WAVES and general visual perception index from the Developmental Test of Visual Perception, Third Edition, even though a correlation analysis of subtests found differences between the two tests. CONCLUSIONS Our results showed that the indices from the two tests measured nearly the same underlying visual-perceptual constructs and indicated that the WAVES had acceptable levels of concurrent validity.


The study examined the relevance of forming a brand image using visual communications. It has been proven over time that, thanks to the brand image, a company can function stably, develop, maintain partnerships and even stay afloat in the event of a crisis. The attractive appearance of the company serves as the basis for attracting new employees and expanding the client base


Abstract Background Patients on maintenance hemodialysis have an increased risk of severe COVID-19 and a reduced response to vaccines. Data are needed to identify immune correlates of protection in this population. Methods Following a COVID-19 outbreak among vaccinated patients in a hemodialysis unit, clinical data and serological response to BNT162b2 vaccine were retrospectively recorded. Results Among fifty-three patients present in the dialysis room, fourteen were infected by SARS-CoV-2 alpha variant (COVID_Pos) and 39 were not. In comparison to uninfected patients, COVID_Pos patients more frequently had additional causes of immunosuppression (50% vs 21%, p = 0.046), and were more often scheduled on the Monday-Wednesday-Friday (MWF) shift (86% vs 39%, p = 0.002). Moreover, COVID_pos had lower anti-Spike IgG titers than uninfected patients (24 BAU/ml [3–1163] vs 435 BAU/mL [99–2555], p = 0.001) and lower neutralization titers (108 [17–224] vs 2483 [481–43 908], p = 0.007). Anti-Spike and neutralization antibody titers are correlated (r = 0.92, p < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, MWF schedule (OR = 10.74 (1.9–93.5), p = 0.014) and anti-spike IgG titers one month before the outbreak (<205 BAU/ml: OR = 0.046 (0.002–0.29), p = 0.006) were independently associated with COVID-19 infection. None of the patients with anti-Spike IgG above 284 BAU/mL got infected. Ten out of fourteen COVID_Pos patients were treated with Casirivimab and Imdevimab. No patient developed severe disease. Conclusions Anti-spike IgG titer measured prior to exposure correlates to protection from SARS-CoV-2 infection in hemodialysis patients. BNT162b2 vaccination alone or in combination with monoclonal antibodies prevented severe COVID-19.


This paper studies the implications of consumer misperception in a market for a (horizontally) differentiated product. Two distinct type of misperceptions are considered: (i) a common misperception that leads consumers to similarly overestimate the benefit from both firms' products; and (ii) a relative misperception that leads consumers to overestimate the relative benefit of one firm's product as compared to the product offered by its competitor. The paper analyzes the implications of misperception for social welfare and consumer surplus. In particular, the effects of price discrimination are considered, for each type of misperception.


Enhanced productivity toward propene oxide in the direct propene epoxidation with hydrogen and oxygen over gold nanoparticles supported on titanium‐grafted silica was achieved by adjusting the gold–titanium synergy. Highly isolated titanium sites were obtained by lowering the titanium loading grafted on silica. The tetrahedrally coordinated titanium sites were found to be favorable for attaining small gold nanoparticles and thus a high dispersion of gold. The improved productivity of propene oxide can be attributed to the increased amount of the interfacial AuTi sites. The active hydroperoxy intermediate is competitively consumed by epoxidation and hydrogenation at the AuTi interface. A higher propene concentration is favorable for a lower water formation rate and a higher formation rate of propene oxide. Propene hydrogenation, if occurring, can be switched off by a small amount of carbon monoxide.


Over the last century, climate change has impacted the physiology, distribution, and phenology of marine and terrestrial primary producers worldwide. The study of these fluctuations has been hindered due to the complex response of plants to environmental forcing over large spatial and temporal scales. To bridge this gap, we investigated the synchrony in seasonal phenological activity between marine and terrestrial primary producers to environmental and climatic variability across northern Patagonia. We disentangled the effects on the biological activity of local processes using advanced time-frequency analysis and partial wavelet coherence on 15 years (2003–2017) of data from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) onboard the Terra and Aqua satellites and global climatic variability using large-scale climate indices. Our results show that periodic variations in both coastal ocean and land productivity are associated with sea surface temperature forcing over seasonal scales and with climatic forcing over multi-annual (2–4 years) modes. These complex relationships indicate that large-scale climatic processes primarily modulate the synchronous phenological seasonal activity across northern Patagonia, which makes these unique ecosystems highly exposed to future climatic change.


Regional accounting firms face significant challenges, such as increasing competition, limited resources, and pressure to provide diverse and complex services. Creativity is considered essential in addressing these challenges. Accordingly, this study investigates how creativity is perceived and the extent to which it is supported in regional Australian accounting firms. This study involves a survey of accountants working in regional Australian accounting firms. While prior studies suggest there is a perceived conflict between accountant's creativity and their ethical decision-making, as well as a perceived conflict between accountant's creativity and productivity; the results of this study suggest that these perceptions are not widely held within regional Australian firms. Rather, this study identifies a culture within regional firms that is perceived to be moderately supportive of creativity and an overall attitude that creativity is valued in regional Australian accounting firms.;


An antifungal medication, also known as an antimycotic medication, is a pharmaceutical fungicide or fungistatic used to treat and prevent mycoses such as athlete's foot, ringworm, candidiasis, serious systemic infections such as Cryptococcal meningitis, and others. In traditional medicine, extracts and essential oil from flowers and leaves are used in the belief they may be useful to treat a variety of fungal disorders. The aim of this study was to analyse the antimycotic properties of rosemary oil and its principal components. The Rosemary oil was screened for antifungal activity by the disc diffusion method. Activated cultures of Candida albicans in Sabouraud's broth was adjusted to 0.5 McFarland standards [108cfu/ml]. 100 µl of the inoculum was introduced to molten Sabourauds dextrose agar and poured in the sterile Petri plates and allowed to set. Sterile filter paper discs (6.0 mm diameter) impregnated with 25µl, 50µl and 100µl /disc were placed on fungal seeded plates and incubated at 28oC for 48 hrs. Clear zones within which fungal growth was absent were measured and recorded as the diameter (mm) of complete growth inhibition. All the concentrations of the test solution inhibited the fungal species with varying degree of sensitivity. The extract showed good antifungal activity at different concentrations with a maximum zone of inhibition of 38 mm at concentration 100µl. This study provides a sample large enough to determine the antifungal properties of Rosemary oil and suggests further studies for possible therapeutic use.


One of my great uncles had only recently received his MD degree at the Medical College of Virginia when the Civil War broke out. He was unable to bide his time and wait for a commission in the Confederate military service where organizational red tape was being produced faster than a working system of military medicine. He volunteered as a liamsburgn the line and was wounded at Williamsburg in his first battle, dying soon thereafter. My family seemed to think that his story contained a moral of some kind. Paul Steiner who has been led far and wide by his interest in Civil War medicine has come up with a strange, but interesting, survey of a number of Civil War general officers who were at one time or another physicians. For the most part, they did not leave medicine directly to go into military activity but had already deserted the