This paper examines how the cognitive framework of collective mindfulness complements tenets of user experience in public health crisis communication. Collective mindfulness attunes an organization into preemptively identifying and avoiding potential failures that can have adverse safety and public relations outcomes. To illustrate the connection between this cognitive framework and user experience, this article shares findings from a case study with the 2014 Johns Hopkins Medicine Ebola Crisis Communications Team, whose primary goals were to improve the usability of Ebola personal protective equipment protocols and to prepare healthcare providers for a U.S. Ebola crisis. Based on a grounded theory investigation, this article suggests that the collective mindfulness principles of deference to expertise, resilience, and refusal to simplify complex procedures informed the team's ability to avoid a catastrophic communication failure. Additionally, these principles allowed the team to attune to key user experience principles, including addressing user context and user limitations.


BACKGROUND
Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) is a novel cytokine that triggers the dendritic cell-mediated T(H)2 response and regulatory T cell expansion. The aim of this study is to evaluate whether TSLP and TSLP receptor (TSLPR) are expressed in primary human extravillous trophoblast (EVT), how proimflammatory cytokines (tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha, IL-1beta), T(H)2 and T(H)3 cytokines (IL-4, TGF-beta) and pregnancy-associated hormones regulate TSLP production by EVT and whether the SLP-TSLPR interaction affects the biological behavior of trophoblsts.

METHODS
We assessed TSLP mRNA and protein expression by real-time RT-PCR, ELISA and immunochemistry, respectively. We further investigated effects of TSLP on the proliferation and invasion of trophoblast cells in vitro.

RESULTS
The primary EVTs constitutively expressed TSLP and TSLPR. IL-4 and TNF-alpha or pregnancy-associated hormones result in a significant increase in TSLP mRNA expression and protein release from EVT, and TSLP promotes primary EVT proliferation and invasion in vitro.

CONCLUSIONS
This study has demonstrated that the first-trimester human trophoblast cells express TSLP and TSLPR, that cytokine milieu which mimics the maternal-fetal interface modulates expression of TSLP in trophoblast and that TSLP stimulates trophoblast proliferation and invasion. This suggests that TSLP plays an important role in human EVT invasion and placentation in human early pregnancy.


Reverse engineering is an emerging technology that promises to play a role in reducing product development time. Reverse engineering in this paper refers to the process of creating engineering design data from existing parts. It creates or clones an existing part by acquiring its surface data using a scanning or measurement device. Recently, laser scanning technology has improved significantly and has become a viable option in capturing geometries of complicated design models. 3D laser scanners have become more accurate and the speed of data acquisition has increased dramatically. However, they generate up to thousands of points per second, and handling the huge amount of point data is a major problem. It becomes quite important, therefore, to reduce the amount of acquired point data and convert it into formats required by the manufacturing processes while maintaining the accuracy. This paper presents methods that can reduce efficiently the amount of point data.


To explore the structural basis of the unique selectivity spectrum and conductance of the transmembrane channel protein AqpM from the archaeon Methanothermobacter marburgensis, we determined the structure of AqpM to 1.68-A resolution by x-ray crystallography. The structure establishes AqpM as being in a unique subdivision between the two major subdivisions of aquaporins, the water-selective aquaporins, and the water-plus-glycerol-conducting aquaglyceroporins. In AqpM, isoleucine replaces a key histidine residue found in the lumen of water channels, which becomes a glycine residue in aquaglyceroporins. As a result of this and other side-chain substituents in the walls of the channel, the channel is intermediate in size and exhibits differentially tuned electrostatics when compared with the other subfamilies.


In this paper we consider the problem of parameter estimation in the $p$-spin Curie-Weiss model, for $p \geq 3$. We provide a complete description of the limiting properties of the maximum likelihood (ML) estimates of the inverse temperature and the magnetic field given a single realization from the $p$-spin Curie-Weiss model, complementing the well-known results in the 2-spin case (Comets and Gidas (1991)). Our results unearth various new phase transitions and surprising limit theorems, such as the existence of a 'critical' curve in the parameter space, where the limiting distribution of the ML estimates is a mixture with both continuous and discrete components. The number of mixture components is either two or three, depending on, among other things, the sign of one of the parameters and the parity of $p$. Another interesting revelation is the existence of certain 'special' points in the parameter space where the ML estimates exhibit a superefficiency phenomenon, converging to a non-Gaussian limiting distribution at rate $N^{\frac{3}{4}}$. As a consequence of our analysis, we obtain limit theorems for the average magnetization, results which are of independent interest, that provide key insights into the thermodynamic properties of the model.


The citation for Milton Friedman's Nobel Prize of 1976 points to three contributions. In two cases, the principal works the Committee must have had in mind are easy to identify. The question of what was intended by the third – 'his demonstration of the complexity of stabilization policy' – is considered. It is argued that, contrary to what might be suspected, this does not refer to any work on the Phillips curve; but the work to which it does refer is identified. The reasons that particular work is less well-remembered than the other work mentioned in the citation are considered.


Electron donor–acceptor (EDA) complexes of triphenylene (TP) based side-chain discotic liquid crystalline polymers doped with chiral acceptors exhibit a remarkable supramolecular polymer effect upon reaching a critical doping amount, complying with the discrete columnar stack (DCS) based modular assembly mechanism. Furthermore, selective left- or right-handed homochirality determined by the enantiomeric nature of chiral dopants has been achieved, with a helical polymer backbone surrounded by chiral supramolecular columns through modular assembly between the chiral dopant and DCS subunits, revealing a strong circular dichroism (CD) activity reminiscent of the fascinating hierarchically assembled superstructure of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). Such polymeric EDA stoichiometric complexation and generation of single-handedness provides inspiring insight into and guidance for constructing various chiral functional materials via non-covalent interactions in a facile way, and also enhances in-depth understanding of the origin of biological helical structures and chiral basis of life.


Pottery stone (PTS) filled polypropylene (PP) composites were prepared using a twin screw extruder and injection molding machine. PTS used in this study is in a particulate form with an average particle size of 6.95 μm. The melt flow index (MFI), tensile properties (tensile strength, Young's modulus and elongation at break), notched-impact strength, flexural strength, thermal stability and morphology of the PP/PTS composites were investigated. The results showed that the incorporation of PTS into the PP matrix caused a slight decrease in the MFI, an increase in the tensile strength (5 and 10 phr, but 10 phr optimal), Young's modulus (all, but 20 phr optimal), impact strength (all, but 20 phr optimal), flexural strength (all, but 10 phr optimal) and thermal stability (all, but 20 phr optimal) and a decrease in the elongation at break. Therefore, PTS can be effectively used as reinforcing filler in PP. The fractured surfaces of the composites displayed the well dispersed of PTS in PP matrix and also exhibited plastic deformation feature.


While a number of different theoretical models have been advanced to explain why states implementor, indeed, do not implementmultilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), very little empirical work has been undertaken to validate their predictions. With a view to narrowing this gap, the present article adopts a large-N, econometric approach to test the explanatory power of four distinct models of compliancedomestic adjustment, reputational, constructivist and managerialin the context of European Union (EU) environmental policy. Using data on the number of ofcial infringements received by 15 member states for non-implementation of environmental directives over the period 19792000, we nd that all four models make a statistically signicant contribution to explaining spatio-temporal differences in legal implementation. Thus, our results suggest that the implementation of MEAs is shaped by a combination of rational calculations of domestic compliance costs and reputational damage, domestically institutionalized normative obligations, and legal and political constraints. We conclude by suggesting a greater need for multi-causal theoretical models of supranational legal compliance.


A significant improvement in power-semiconductordevice utilisation seems possible if the maximum output current of power-stages could be limited by thermal feedback from the powerconverter. To illustrate the potential utilisation benefit obtained in main switching devices, the variation in usable current with operating conditions is examined for several devices applied in a constant-frequency-PWM VVVF inverter, and operated under conditions to keep their junction-temperature constant. INTRODUCTION Typical errors that exists in heatsink design calculations are often not precisely known or empirically tested despite the strong influence power-device junction temperature has on failure-rate, and thus power electronics system reliability, and the contribution of the heatsink assembly to overall system size and weight. The likely reasons for this include: the difficulty in accurately predicting or even bracketing device power-loss, given the existence of production-spread and temperature variation in conduction and switching characteristics; the complexity of practical power-loss waveforms; the imprecision in estimated thermal impedance and resistance seen by power devices distributed on a heatsink; and the difficulty in measuring the chip-area-averaged junction-temperature of switched power-devices. As a result of such difficulties, the safety margins built into power-stage and heatsink designs will often be far from optimum. Some improvement in verifying the operating junction-temperature of devices and achieving tighter designs wilt inevitably result from better loss prediction and thermal-design verification as simulation tools become more widely tested and developed. However, a greater improvement in optimizing device utilisation, and incidentally system reliability, seems possible from more sophisticated active current-limiting, which limits the maximum output current or power of systems to maintain the junction-temperature (or power dissipation) ofthe main power-devices below a pre-set level, say 125 "C, on a pulse-by-pulse basis. The effects of changes in device heating and cooling characteristics due to dynamic load changes, variation in operating conditions etc. would, thus, be directly measured and safeguarded ag$nst, by closed-loop control. There would be significant practical difficulties to overcome in implementing temperature-regulated active-current-limiting, such as obtaining clean, proportional, die-area-averaged, junctiontemperature feedback signals, or on-line monitoring of converter input and output power, without adding significantly to device cost. But prior to tackling these, it is necessary to clearly establish the incentive for developing such a control scheme by considering the potential level of increase in device utilisation. This has been investigated, in principle, by notionally applying a range of mediumpower devices in a constant-frequency PWM three-phase inverter application and estimating the maximum usable current that gives a specific junction temperature for a range of varying modulating and switching frequencies. 0-7803-1859-5/94/$4.00


BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
C-reactive protein (C-RP) levels correlate with fibrinogen values and are predictive of coronary artery disease. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) strongly regulates the production of C-RP. A polymorphism (C/G-174) within the IL-6 gene has been shown to affect IL-6 gene expression and plasma concentrations.

DESIGN AND METHODS
In 598 asymptomatic employees of a hospital in Southern Italy, we investigated the association between IL-6 C/G-174 gene variants and plasma fibrinogen levels.

RESULTS
Subjects with IL-6 plasma levels >2.0 pg/mL had a higher body mass index (BMI) (24.5+/-1.2) than subjects with IL-6 levels below this cut-off value (23.7+/-1.2; p =0.005). No association was found with sex, cigarette smoking, or alcohol consumption (p always>0.05). When the whole sample was analyzed according to the IL-6 C/G-174 polymorphism, there was no difference with respect to age, sex, alcohol consumption, cigarette smoking, total cholesterol, triglycerides, and body mass index. Median plasma fibrinogen levels, as well as carriers of plasma levels of IL-6 >2.0 pg/mL and C-RP >0.33 mg/L, were similar among subjects with different IL-6 genotypes. Similarly, no difference was observed when only carriers of plasma levels of IL-6 >2.0 pg/mL were analyzed, whereas in those with C-RP >0.33 mg/L IL-6 GG carriers had significantly lower plasma fibrinogen levels.

INTERPRETATION AND CONCLUSIONS
The investigation of the IL-6 C/G-174 polymorphism does not seem to be a useful tool for predicting raised plasma fibrinogen levels.


We have imaged gold‐labeled DNA molecules with the atomic force microscope (AFM). Circular plasmid DNA was labeled at internal positions by nick‐translation using biotinylated dUTP. For visualization, the biotinylated DNA was linked to streptavidin‐coated colloidal gold spheres (nominally 5 nm diam) prior to AFM imaging. Reproducible images of the labeled DNA were obtained both in dry air and under propanol. Height measurements of the DNA and colloidal gold made under both conditions are presented. The stability of the DNA‐streptavidin colloidal gold complexes observed even under propanol suggests that this labeling procedure could be exploited to map regions of interest in chromosomal DNA.


The appearance attributes of designed products noted in the literature often reflect what designers themselves perceive in a product design. This present research, however, provides knowledge on how consumers perceive product appearance by identifying appearance attributes that consumers use to distinguish the appearances of durable products. Descriptions of appearance were generated by consumers in a free categorization task. The descriptions were classified as the attributes Modernity, Simplicity and Playfulness. These attributes were confirmed in a separate rating-task performed by a second group of consumers. The attributes proved stable across different groups of consumers indicating that they are universal. Additionally, the attributes were validated across different product categories and are thus generalizable and not product category specific. The appearance attributes identified in this research provide knowledge of what consumers see in durable product appearance. Knowledge of what appearance attributes are perceived by consumers in a product design can help a designer to communicate certain pre-specified meanings in a product


OBJECTIVE To explore associations between diabetes etiology (type 1 diabetes mellitus [T1DM] vs. T2DM) and glycemic control in the prediction of 5-year periodontal status change. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The Study of Health in Pomerania (SHIP) is a population-based stratified sample of German men and women. Healthy participants and those determined to have T2DM arose from the SHIP cohort, and T1DM participants were recruited from diabetes clinics in the catchment area that gave rise to SHIP. Dentate participants (n = 2,626; 53% women; 20–81 years of age) were included. Diabetes was determined via physician diagnosis and/or HbA1c ≥6.5% (uncontrolled diabetes >7.0%). Examiners blinded to diabetes status performed random half-mouth periodontal examinations, assessing probing depth (PD) and attachment loss (AL) (four sites/tooth) at baseline and follow-up. Participants were categorized into six groups as follows: 1) diabetes free (n = 2,280), 2) incident T2DM (n = 79), 3) controlled T2DM (n = 80), 4) uncontrolled T2DM (n = 72), 5) controlled T1DM (n = 43), and 6) uncontrolled T1DM (n = 72). In multivariable regressions, mean PD change (ΔMPD), mean AL change (ΔMAL), or incident tooth-loss values were regressed across the aforementioned diabetes categories. RESULTS Mean (SD) ΔMPD and ΔMAL values among all participants were −0.08 ± 0.5 mm and 0.08 ± 1.03 mm, respectively, and 34% lost one or more teeth. Relative to diabetes-free participants, those with uncontrolled T2DM experienced greater ΔMPD ± SE (P < 0.05), whereas participants with either uncontrolled T1DM or uncontrolled T2DM realized greater ΔMAL (P < 0.05). Uncontrolled T1DM and T2DM were both associated with an increased risk of future tooth loss (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Diabetes control, but not etiology, was associated with future tooth loss and accelerated AL progression.


In this dissertation, we study the influence of interplanetary (IP) shock impact angles in the IP shock geoeffectiveness focusing on simulations and observations. In our simulations, we use OpenGGCM global MHD code to study the nightside magnetospheric, magnetotail, and ionospheric responses to IP fast forward shocks. Three cases are presented in this study: two inclined oblique shocks, hereafter IOS-1 and IOS-2, where the latter has a Mach number twice stronger than the former. Both shocks have impact angles of 30$^o$ in relation to the Sun-Earth line. Lastly, we choose a frontal perpendicular shock, FPS, whose shock normal is along the Sun-Earth line, with the same Mach number as IOS-1. We find that, in the IOS-1 case, due to the north-south asymmetry, the magnetotail is deflected southward, leading to a mild compression. The geomagnetic activity observed in the nightside ionosphere is then weak. On the other hand, in the head-on case, the FPS compresses the magnetotail from both sides symmetrically. This compression triggers a substorm allowing a larger amount of stored energy in the magnetotail to be released to the nightside ionosphere, resulting in stronger geomagnetic activity. By comparing IOS-2 and FPS, we find that, despite the IOS-2 having a larger Mach number, the FPS leads to a larger geomagnetic response in the nightside ionosphere. As a result, we conclude that IP shocks with similar upstream conditions, such as magnetic field, speed, density, and Mach number, can have different geoeffectiveness, depending on their shock normal orientation. In the second part of this dissertation, we present a survey of fast forward IP shocks using WIND and ACE satellite data from January 1995 to December 2013 to study how IP shock geoeffectiveness is controlled by IP shock impact angles. A shock list covering one and a half solar cycle is compiled. The yearly number of IP shocks is found to correlate well with the monthly sunspot number. We use data from SuperMAG, a large chain with more than 300 geomagnetic stations, to study geoeffectiveness triggered by IP shocks. The SuperMAG SML and SME indices, enhanced versions of the familiar AL and AE indices, are used in our statistical analyses to quantify substorm strength and auroral power (AP) intensity, respectively. The jumps of the SML index and the calculated AP intensity triggered by IP shock impacts on the Earth's magnetosphere are investigated in terms of IP shock orientation and speed. We find that, in general, strong (high speed) and almost frontal (shock normal almost parallel to the Sun-Earth line) shocks are more geoeffective than inclined shocks with low speed. The highest correlations (correlation coefficient R = 0.78 for SML, and R = 0.79 for AP) occur for fixed IP shock speed and varying the IP shock impact angle. We attribute this result, predicted previously by simulations, to the fact that frontal shocks compress the magnetosphere symmetrically from all sides, which is a favorable condition for the release of magnetic energy stored in the magnetotail, which in turn can produce moderate to strong auroral substorms, which are then observed by ground based magnetometers. These results confirm our previous numerical simulations.


Myo‐inositol phosphate synthase (MIPS) plays a crucial role in inositol homeostasis. Transcription of the coding gene INO1 is highly regulated. However, regulation of the enzyme is not well defined. We previously showed that MIPS is indirectly inhibited by valproate (VPA), suggesting that the enzyme is post‐translationally regulated. Using 32Pi ‐ labeling and phosphoamino acid analysis, we show that yeast MIPS is a phosphoprotein. Mass spectrometry analysis identified five phosphosites, three of which are conserved in the human MIPS. Analysis of phosphorylation‐deficient and phosphomimetic site‐mutants indicated that the three conserved sites in yeast (S184, S296, and S374) and human (S177, S279, and S357) affect MIPS activity. Both S296A and S296D yeast mutants and S177A and S177D human mutants exhibited decreased enzymatic activity, suggesting that a serine residue is critical at that location. The phosphomimetic mutations S184D (human S279D) and S374D (human S357D) but not the phospho‐deficient mutations decreased activity, suggesting that phosphorylation of these two sites is inhibitory. The double mutation S184A/S374 caused an increase in MIPS activity, conferred a growth advantage, and partially rescued sensitivity to VPA. Our findings identify a novel mechanism of regulation of inositol synthesis by phosphorylation of MIPS


A device such as the Microsoft SenseCam shall accumulate an average of 650,000 images per year (taken from the perspective of the user). Aiden has investigated numerous techniques to optimally digest this vast collection of images, namely through grouping images into distinct events/activities; and also through the ability to search/retrieve similar events to a given event (e.g. "when was the last time I went for a walk in the park?").

This talk will focus on the application scenario of tourists using lifelogging devices, e.g. a trip to London, attending a big ice hockey game, etc. It is desirable to supplement, or augment, the images taken by the SenseCam with images taken by other people at these locations or events. To achieve this Aiden augments the SenseCam images with images from the Flickr (user-generated) photo-sharing website, a resource of hundreds of millions of photographs. There a number of research challenges inherent in achieving this aim, as well as no clearly defined technique of evaluating the usefulness of any given approach.


Abstract The pressure—viscosity coefficient is an indispensable property in the elastohydrodynamic (EHD) lubrication of hard contacts, but often not known. A guess will easily lead to enormous errors in the film thickness. This article describes a method to deduct this coefficient by adapting the value of the pressure—viscosity coefficient until the differences between accurate film thickness approxi-mation values and accurate film thickness measurements over a wide range of values are at a minimum. Eleven film thickness approximation formulas are compared in describing the film thickness of a test fluid with known value of the pressure—viscosity coefficient. The measurement method is based on spacer layer interferometry. It is concluded that for circular contacts the newer more versatile expressions are not better than some older approximations, which are limited to a smaller region of conditions, and that the older fits are as least as appropriate to find the pressure—viscosity coefficient of fluids, in spite of the limited data where they have been based on.


As the first of the Canterbury Tales, the Knight's Tale attracts special attention, particularly in relation to the overall structure of the work and to the other tales. It has been the subject of a vast body of comment by scholars and lay readers. Monica McAlpine provides access to this material in the first of the Chaucer Bibliographies series to deal with a narrative portion of that author's best-known work. McAlpine includes book-length and chapter-length studies, portions of books and chapters, articles and portions of articles, notes, substantive commentary in editions, study guides, and a few allusions previously unnoticed. Unpublished dissertations are included on a selective basis. Reviews that reflect scholarly debate on the Knight's Tale have also been annotated. The first section of the bibliography covers the various editions and translations of the work published between 1900 and 1985. The second includes backgrounds and general studies, and the third deals with the three major sources. The fourth section provides a chronologically ordered survey of material on the Knight in the General Prologue and the Links. The final section, also chronologically divided, discusses works on the Knight's Tale itself.


The legacy of deliberate and accidental introductions of invasive alien species to Australia has had a hefty economic toll, yet quantifying the magnitude of the costs associated with direct loss and damage, as well as for management interventions, remains elusive. This is because the reliability of cost estimates and under-sampling have not been determined. We provide the first detailed analysis of the reported costs associated with invasive species to the Australian economy since the 1960s, based on the recently published InvaCost database and supplementary information, for a total of 2078 unique cost entries. Since the 1960s, Australia has spent or incurred losses totalling at least US$298.58 billion (2017 value) or AU$389.59 billion (2017 average exchange rate) from invasive species. However, this is an underestimate given that costs rise as the number of estimates increases following a power law. There was an average 1.8–6.3-fold increase in the total costs per decade since the 1970s to the present, producing estimated costs of US$6.09–57.91 billion year-1 (all costs combined) or US$225.31 million–6.84 billion year-1 (observed, highly reliable costs only). Costs arising from plant species were the highest among kingdoms (US$151.68 billion), although most of the costs were not attributable to single species. Of the identified weedy species, the costliest were annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum), parthenium (Parthenium hysterophorus) and ragwort (Senecio jacobaea). The four costliest classes were mammals (US$48.63 billion), insects (US$11.95 billion), eudicots (US$4.10 billion) and monocots (US$1.92 billion). The three costliest species were all animals – cats (Felis catus), rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and red imported fire ants (Solenopsis invicta). Each State/Territory had a different suite of major costs by species, but with most (3–62%) costs derived from one to three species per political unit. Most (61%) of the reported costs applied to multiple environments and 73% of the total pertained to direct damage or loss compared to management costs only, with both of these findings reflecting the availability of data. Rising incursions of invasive species will continue to have substantial costs for the Australian economy, but with better investment, standardised assessments and reporting and coordinated interventions (including eradications), some of these costs could be substantially reduced.


Introduction High population in India, one time considered as liability, now being seen as an opportunity to convert population into quality population, a global need of professionals and hence an asset. India is emerging as growing economic force and may be one of the largest economies in few decades from now. This will not automatically happen; the government and other agencies have to strategically work in this direction. One of the mechanisms of enhancing quality in population is providing mass education of best quality. The result of many researches concludes that levels of education have a positive correlation with a nation's economic development. As per latest census (2001) literate (having primary education, who can write & read) pie is 65.38% out of more than one billion population. As per 1997 data, only 12.7 per 1000 are enrolled in higher education. To be global force as anticipated; the literacy & quality in higher, technical, professional and special education is required to be enhanced substantially. As per constitutional provision, 'education' is a concurrent matter where Union & State governments, both enjoy powers. Central Government is responsible for major policy relating to higher education in the country; grant permission to Central & Deemed Universities. State Governments are responsible for establishment of State Universities and colleges, and provide plan grants for their development and non-plan grants for their maintenance. Article 21A of the constitution guarantee Fundamental Right for education, while Article 45 under Directive Principle, states for provision for free and compulsory education for children. This mandate is limited to primary education, and to discharge this obligation, government requires Rs. 727,000 million in addition to regular requirement of Rs. 471,000 million annually. Looking to the technology up gradation, research & development in higher education huge investment and recurring expenditure is required. Like any other sector of economy, education also should not be monopoly domain of government, but private players should be allowed to operate. There is mesh of express & implied provision relating to administering Public Private Partnership in education. This research paper aims at to see and appraise whether present legal environment ensure constitutional obligations cast on State for primary education and permit conducive growth of higher, technical, professional & special education? If not, than what are the reasons thereof? As the needs, challenges & opportunities are different in each category of education, there is unambiguous & clear-cut need of designing legal framework, which takes care of the issues related to public private partnership in primary, higher & special education. Objective & Research Problem 1)Government as regulator of educational institutes has five major functions such as entry, accreditation, disbursement, affirmative action and license. Does the present legal framework is effective in regulating primary & higher education in public & public-private partnership? 2)Government as facilitator of educational institutes should provide encouraging & competitive environment to establish, grow & sustain higher, professional, special & technical education institutes. Does the present legal framework is effective in facilitating primary & higher education in public & public-private partnership? 3)To propose dynamic & flexible regulating & facilitating legal framework for public private partnership that ensure constitutional obligation in primary education and allow globally competitive environment in higher, technical, professional and special education. Research Methodology & Data Source The study encompasses analysis using primary and secondary data from various sources. Using secondary data, studying present regulatory framework for primary & higher education, literature survey undertaken in recent year, more specifically in primary education. By primary survey, experience of management of private players in higher, technical & professional educational institute will be source for analyzing current situation & problems. One educational institute from health, agriculture, biotechnology, management & engineering will be taken for primary data collection. Considering student as the major stakeholder, their satisfaction level will also be measured and inviting suggestions from them to improve quality of education. At least 10 students in each field will be surveyed. Conclusion The last objective of this research project is to develop a model of legal framework that ensure constitutional obligation of government to provide free primary education so as to increase literacy level. As one size does not fit for all, for higher, special, professional and technical education the government should act as facilitator and legal framework that provide environment to create globally competitive institutes on business model. It may be proposed to generate 'universal service fund' out of fees charged or profit of such activities of higher education as business model and that may be used to support primary education.


Five single nucleotide polymorphisms in leptin and leptin receptor genes were analysed for their possible impact on estimating breeding values for somatic cell count score (SCS) in milk, longevity and reproductive traits. Used were 309 active Polish Holstein-Friesian bulls. The LEP-C(-963)T, LEP-Y7F, LEP-R25C, LEP-A80V, and LEPR-T945M genotypes were identified using the PCRRFLP method. For linked leptin mutations, the additional haplotype analysis was performed. The results obtained suggest that three polymorphisms of bovine LEP gene may be associated with nonreturn rate in cows. The most significant effect was found for LEP-A80V. Moreover, the LEPRT945M mutation seemed to be related to the age at first insemination.


Experimental single-agent chemotherapies using 11 anticancer agents for 15 human cancers xenografted into nude mice revealed that each cancer line seemed to retain a degree of individuality in its spectrum of chemosensitivity irrespective of whether it originated from the same organ or whether it was of a similar histologic type. As possibly factors relevant to this chemosensitivity, we investigated the following 9 parameters in cancer tissue or cancer-bearing mice, i.e., grade of differentiation, vascularity, percentage necrosis, volume doubling time, labeling index (LI), LDH activity, tissue/serum LDH ratio, thymidine phosphorylase activity, and serum CEA. Values of these parameters remained markedly constant within each cancer line. The relationships between these 9 parameters and chemosensitivities to the 11 drugs were investigated in 15 cancer lines. A statistically significant relationship was noted in 22% of the 99 such combinations. Parameters showing a close correlation to chemosensitivity differed from drug to drug, such as ADR vs LI and vascularity, 5'-DFUR vs CEA and vascularity, and MMC vs LDH ratio and grade of differentiation. It was concluded that the chemosensitivity of cancer lines to each drug is a result of various interacting factors.


Study objectives Firstly, to identify spatially close pairs and triplets of childhood leukaemias and cancers in Britain. Secondly, to compare pair frequencies with random expectations, identify excesses, and measure the diameters ofany clusters. Thirdly, to infer possible causes. Design and setting Stratified Poisson analyses of two comprehensive sets of childhood leukaemia and cancer data in Great Britain: seeking home address pairs within particular census enumeration districts (EDs) or postcodes (PCs). Numbers of pairs/triplets ofleukaemia registrations sharing single or adjacent EDs were compared with Poisson expectations in national ED strata with different numbers of households (HHs). Pairs/triplets of leukaemia/cancer deaths (and births) sharing a single PC were compared with Poisson expectations in national PC strata with different numbers ofpostal delivery points (DPs). Same and adjacent house pairs were identified individually among the same PC death pairs. Areal case densities were estimated around a sample of index cases, using their own PC grid coordinates, and those recorded in the cent-


East and south coastal China is made up of a cluster of six developed provinces whose CO 2 emissions account for one third of the total CO 2 emissions in China. As such, it is meaningful to predict carbon emissions in this region to assess whether China can achieve emission reduction targets. This paper employed STIRPAT to analyze the factors impacting the carbon emissions of this area from 2000 to 2015, including population (POP), urbanization (UR), GDP per capita (GDP), energy intensity (EI), and industrial structure (IS). The results showed that GDP was mainly responsible for increasing carbon emissions while EI played a significant role in reducing it. Considering the importance of GDP, EI, and IS obtained from regression analysis, basic, highest-rate, middle, and advanced scenarios were set to predict carbon emissions according to different change rates. In the basic scenario, carbon intensity was reduced by 48.5% in 2020 compared to 2005, which was slightly higher than the national target of 40–45%, and was reduced by 59.7% in 2030, which was close to a 60–65% reduction. Nevertheless, in the advanced scenario, carbon intensity was reduced by 51.7% in 2020 and 69.1% in 2030 compared to 2005, which were higher than the national targets. Therefore, improving energy efficiency, optimizing energy structure, and adjusting industrial structure were suggested to be major strategies for carbon intensity mitigation.


Survey non-response is a relevant but under-researched topic in a pandemic setting, which merits investigation for the unexpected consequences it can produce on the reliability of the survey results. In this paper we investigate non-response error, using data collected at the turn of the pandemic on a known sample of 5,605 individuals first involved in the Italian Lives panel (ITA.LI) and then invited to join an ad hoc survey on the health crisis (ITA.LI Covid-19). We compare respondents and non-respondents to ITA.LI Covid-19, using the multivariate logistic regression technique to estimate variations in the probability of taking part in the survey attributable to specific characteristics of the sample members. Our results highlight that highly-educated people, those who live alone, and people living in municipalities experiencing a higher growth of mortality rates after the pandemic outbreak are more likely to take part in the survey, while full-time workers are still less likely to participate. Based on these results, we formulate general recommendations on how to minimise non-response error when sampling frame data are available, both at the survey design stage and at the data management stage. © 2021 Societa Editrice il Mulino. All rights reserved.


The pattern of genetic differentiation among experimental populations of the flour beetle Tribolium castaneum suggested the hypothesis that relative fitness of three genotypes at the PGM-1 locus (or other linked loci) depends directly on diet. This hypothesis was tested by measuring several fitness components (developmental time, survival, fecundity, rate of egg cannibalism) on groups of individuals differing at the PGM-1 locus that were reared on three types of flour (wheat, corn and a mixture of wheat, corn, barley and rye). Flour type had large effects on all traits except larval survival to 3 weeks of age. Relative fitnesses of the three genotypes differed significantly for fecundity. Diet was found to significantly influence the relative developmental times of the three genotypes.


Abstract. The mitigation of air pollution in megacities remains a great challenge because of the complex sources and formation mechanisms of aerosol particles. The 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing serves as a unique experiment to study the impacts of emission controls on aerosol composition, size distributions, and oxidation properties. Herein, a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer was deployed in urban Beijing for real-time measurements of size-resolved non-refractory submicron aerosol (NR-PM1) species from 14 October to 12 November 2014, along with a range of collocated measurements. The average (±σ) PM1 was 41.6 (±38.9) μg m−3 during APEC, which was decreased by 53 % compared with that before APEC. The aerosol composition showed substantial changes owing to emission controls during APEC. Secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA: sulfate + nitrate + ammonium) showed significant reductions of 62–69 %, whereas organics presented much smaller decreases (35 %). The results from the positive matrix factorization of organic aerosol (OA) indicated that highly oxidized secondary organic aerosol (SOA) showed decreases similar to those of SIA during APEC. However, primary organic aerosol (POA) from cooking, traffic, and biomass-burning sources were comparable to those before APEC, indicating the presence of strong local source emissions. The oxidation properties showed corresponding changes in response to OA composition. The average oxygen-to-carbon level during APEC was 0.36 (±0.10), which is lower than the 0.43 (±0.13) measured before APEC, demonstrating a decrease in the OA oxidation degree. The changes in size distributions of primary and secondary species varied during APEC. SIA and SOA showed significant reductions in large accumulation modes with peak diameters shifting from ~ 650 to 400 nm during APEC, whereas those of POA remained relatively unchanged. The changes in aerosol composition, size distributions, and oxidation degrees during the aging processes were further illustrated in a case study of a severe haze episode. Our results elucidated a complex response of aerosol chemistry to emission controls, which has significant implications that emission controls over regional scales can substantially reduce secondary particulates. However, stricter emission controls for local source emissions are needed for further mitigating air pollution in the megacity of Beijing.


The Bijak Wang or Smart Money programme is a half-day interactive workshop on money and money management targeted at children aged 10 to 12 years. The objective of the programme is to develop financial literacy through the use of an interactive games kit i.e. Smart Money Kit: Bright Kids Smart Money. This innovative programme was developed as an alternative learning and teaching tool for children to acquire personal financial management knowledge and skills with guidance from parents and adults. The kit comprises conservative board games that help to sharpen children"s soft skills in communication, strategic planning and critical thinking. Research literature has revealed that instilling money management knowledge and skills in children will impact positively on them, empowering them to manage better their finances in future. The concept behind this programme is learning through play. This programme was conducted with four groups of participants from different geographical areas. Participants engaged in gameplay with Profesor Bijak Wang and Ekspedisi ABCD which are both board games; Cuba Ingat dan Teka which is a flash card game; and Reka Tabung ABCD. All these games are highly integrated with the six basic money management concepts. As the participants play, they undergo cognitive absorption of money management concepts, which they will tend to apply in their future daily lives. Pre and post-testing using a self-administrated questionnaire was conducted to analyse the level of money management skills and knowledge the children had before participating in the programme and the level that they had acquired after they had participated in the various gameplays. The results of the post-test show that the children"s financial literacy improved with their increased acquisition of money management skills and knowledge as compared to the level they initially had as revealed by the results of the pre-test conducted. This indicates that children learn effectively through interactive learning using the Smart Money Kit: Bright Kids Smart Money. As such, parents and teachers should use innovative and creative approaches in educating children about money and money management and treat this learning as a lifelong process so children will make prudent financial decisions in their future.


The paper revolves around cases of movements and re-movements of animal and human bodies in museums, mirroring ideological movements and changes, movements of the (physical but non-living) bodies in time and space as well as representations of time and space, also in meta-exhibitions about historical exhibitions. The focus lies on the non-living bodies in natural history museums, i.e. stuffed animals, skeletons, anatomical preparations and models but this does not exclude the living, breathing, moving, feeling and thinking bodies that gaze at the dead. The paper is part of the project Zoo/mbies and Nature Morte: Bodies in Museums of Natural History 1800–2007, in which museums in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Uppsala and London are explored. It also relates to the question of how heritage is constructed and transformed, and how the nature/culture-dualism still forms these constructions.


ABSTRACT Background: Collaborations among researchers based in lower and middle income countries (LMICs) and high income countries (HICs) have made major discoveries related to diseases disproportionately affecting LMICs and have been vital to the development of research communities in LMICs. Such collaborations have generally been scientifically and structurally driven by HICs. Objectives: In this report we outline a paradigm shift in collaboration, exemplified by the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI), in which the formulation of priorities and administrative infrastructure reside in the LMIC. Methods: This descriptive report outlines the critical features of the MEPI partnership. Results: In the MEPI, LMIC program partners translate broad program goals and define metrics into priorities that are tailored to local conditions. Program funds flow to a LMIC-based leadership group that contracts with peers from HICs to provide technical and scientific advice and consultation in a 'reverse funds flow' model. Emphasis is also placed on strengthening administrative capacity within LMIC institutions. A rigorous monitoring and evaluation process modifies program priorities on the basis of evolving opportunities to maximize program impact. Conclusions: Vesting LMIC partners with the responsibility for program leadership, and building administrative and fiscal capacity in LMIC institutions substantially enhances program relevance, impact and sustainability.


This article presents our work on the development of a fuel cell (FC) and battery hybrid (FC-Bh) system for use in portable microelectronic systems. We describe the design and control of the hybrid system, as well as a dynamic power management (DPM)-based energy management policy that extends its operational lifetime. The FC is of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) type, operates at room temperature, and has an energy density which is 4--6 times that of a Li-ion battery. The FC cannot respond to sudden changes in the load, and so a system powered solely by the FC is not economical. An FC-Bh power source, on the other hand, can provide the high energy density of the FC and the high power density of a battery.
 In this work we first describe the prototype FC-Bh system that we have built. Such a prototype helps to characterize the performance of a hybrid power source, and also helps explore new energy management strategies for embedded systems powered by hybrid sources. Next we describe a Matlab/Simulink-based FC-Bh system simulator which serves as an alternate experimental platform and that enables quick evaluation of system-level control policies. Finally, we present an optimization framework that explicitly considers the characteristics of the FC-Bh system and is aimed at minimizing the fuel consumption. This optimization framework is applied on top of a prediction-based DPM policy and is used to derive a new fuel-efficient DPM scheme. The proposed scheme demonstrates up to 32% system lifetime extension compared to a competing scheme when run on a real trace-based MPEG encoding example.


Declining emissions of sulfur and nitrogen have curtailed acid deposition across large areas of North America and Europe. This has allowed many lakes to recover from acidification, with decreases in sulfate, increases in pH, and increases in alkalinity. But reduced acid deposition has not always coincided with chemical lake recovery. Surface waters in Nova Scotia did not exhibit clear evidence of recovery as recently as 2007, due in part to increasing organic acidity and slow replenishment of base cations. In an updated assessment with data collected as recently as 2019, we analyze water chemistry representing 81 lakes and rivers and two precipitation monitoring stations over up to 41 years. We find that Nova Scotia surface waters are now exhibiting signs of chemical recovery. We estimated the linear decrease in precipitation sulfate and nitrate yield at up to 0.31 and 0.18 kg ha-1 year-2, respectively, and the linear increase in precipitation pH at up to 0.014 year-1. Sulfate decreased in 60 of 62 lakes and 14 of 17 rivers (-0.0051 to -0.23 mg L-1 year-1), while pH increased in 55 of 64 lakes and 11 of 17 rivers (0.0015-0.072 year-1). Apparent colour increased in 54 of 62 lakes and 13 of 17 rivers (0.0026-3.9 Pt-Co year-1). We identified increasing aluminum trends in 46 of 61 lakes, and we show using size-exclusion chromatography that binding to organic and iron-based colloids may help to explain these trends. To the extent that increases in apparent colour are explained by chromophoric dissolved organic matter (DOM), they imply greater binding capacity for metals in surface waters, and greater capacity for DOM to stabilize metal (oxyhydr)oxide colloids.


They left Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Michigan, and Stanford to drive ambulances on the French front, and on the killing fields of World War I they learned that war was no place for gentlemen. The tale of the American volunteer ambulance drivers of the First World War is one of gallantry amid gore; manners amid madness. Arlen J. Hansen s "Gentlemen Volunteers" brings to life the entire story of the menand womenwho formed the first ambulance corps, and who went on to redefine American culture. Some were to become legendsErnest Hemingway, e. e. cummings, Malcolm Cowley, and Walt Disneybut all were part of a generation seeking something greater and grander than what they could find at home.The war in France beckoned them, promising glory, romance, and escape. Between 1914 and 1917 (when the United States officially entered the war), they volunteered by the thousands, abandoning college campuses and prep schools across the nation and leaving behind an America determined not to be drawn into a European war. What the volunteers found in France was carnage on an unprecedented scale. Here is a spellbinding account of a remarkable time; the legacy of the ambulance drivers of WWI endures to this day."


Off-axis electron holography in a field emission gun transmission-electron microscope and electron dynamic calculation are used to determine the absorption coefficient and inelastic mean free path(IMFP) of copper. Dependence of the phase shift of the exit electron wave on the specimen thickness is established by electron dynamic simulation. The established relationship makes it possible to determine the specimeu thickness with the calculated phase shift by match of the phase shift measured in the reconstructed phase image. Based on the measured amplitudes in reconstructed exit electron wave and reference wave in the vacuum, the examined IMFP of electron with energy of 200kV in Cu is obtained to be 96nm.


In-situ inspection and quality assessment of rock bolts and other load-bearing structural elements, has received significant attention over the years, but there are still no techniques available capable of monitoring changes over time in mechanical properties of already installed bolts. Since mechanical changes will also affect the propagation of mechanical waves, ultrasound is a strong candidate. In this paper we propose a technique based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) for coding the transmitted ultrasound pulse in such a way that the propagation channel (transducer and rock bolt combined) can be estimated. We show that a transmit voltage of 1.1 V r.m.s. is sufficient to obtain reliable channel estimates even in bolts as long as one meter. The channel estimates are then used to predict changes in tensile stress on the bolt, from experiments conducted in a laboratory environment.


Screening for breast cancer has been evaluated by 9 randomized trials over 5 decades and recommended by major guideline groups for more than 3 decades. Successes and lessons for cancer screening from this history include development of scientific methods to evaluate screening, by the Canadian Task Force on the Periodic Health Examination and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force; the importance of randomized trials in the past, and the increasing need to develop new methods to evaluate cancer screening in the future; the challenge of assessing new technologies that are replacing originally evaluated screening tests; the need to measure false-positive screening test results and the difficulty in reducing their frequency; the unexpected emergence of overdiagnosis due to cancer screening; the difficulty in stratifying individuals according to breast cancer risk; women's fear of breast cancer and the public outrage over changing guidelines for breast cancer screening; the need for population scientists to better communicate with the public if evidence-based recommendations are to be heeded by clinicians, patients, and insurers; new developments in the primary prevention of cancers; and the interaction between improved treatment and screening, which, over time, and together with primary prevention, may decrease the need for cancer screening.


Introduction
Arthroscopic glenoid reconstruction using a tricortical iliac crest bone graft is performed to anatomically reconstruct the glenoid and reestablish glenohumeral stability in patients with chronic anteroinferior shoulder instability and substantial osseous defects1-3.

Indications & Contraindications

Step 1 Patient Positioning
Place the patient in the lateral decubitus position and prepare the arm and ipsilateral iliac crest.

Step 2 Diagnostic Arthroscopy and Portal Placement
Perform a diagnostic arthroscopy via the posterior portal and establish an anteroinferior, an anterosuperior, and a deep anteroinferior portal.

Step 3 Capsulolabral Complex Release and Scapular Neck Preparation
Depending on the pathology and morphology of the defect, release the capsulolabral complex from the scapular neck and prepare the glenoid rim and scapular neck with a motorized burr to ensure adequate osseous healing.

Step 4 Harvesting and Preparation of the Iliac Crest Bone Block
Harvest an autologous tricortical iliac crest bone block from the ipsilateral side and contour it appropriately for an anatomic reconstruction of the glenoid.

Step 5 Graft Insertion and Positioning
Enlarge the passage for the graft through the rotator interval, insert the bone block, and position it anatomically at the scapular neck.

Step 6 Graft Fixation
With the aid of a drill sleeve, temporarily stabilize the graft using Kirschner wires and then definitively attach it to the scapular neck using 2 Bio-Compression screws.

Step 7 Capsulolabral Repair
Reattach the capsulolabral complex to the original glenoid, inferior and superior to the bone block, using 2 knotless suture anchors to complete the anatomic reconstruction of the glenoid.

Step 8 Rehabilitation and Postoperative Treatment
Immobilize the arm for 6 weeks postoperatively and limit flexion and external rotation during this time period.

Results
Fifteen patients with a mean age of 31.4 years (range, 17 to 49 years) with anteroinferior glenohumeral instability and substantial glenoid defects underwent arthroscopic iliac crest bone-grafting and were prospectively evaluated for an average period of 20.6 months (range, 12 to 65 months)12.

Pitfalls & Challenges


This work in progress paper presents the foundation for an Automatic Designer of large software systems-of-systems. The core formalism for the Automatic Designer is UML. The Automatic Designer extends UML with a fitness function, which uses analysis of non-functional requirements, utility theory, and stakeholder requirements, as the basis for its design suggestions. This extension logic is formalized using an OCL-based Predictive, Probabilistic Architecture Modeling Framework (called P2AMF). A set of manipulation operators is used on the UML model in order to modify it. Then, from a component library (with OTS products), new components will be introduced to the design. Using operators, a search algorithm will look for an optimal solution.


This paper considers the challenge of estimating treatment effects from observational data in the presence of unmeasured confounders. A popular way to address this challenge is to utilize an instrumental variable (IV) for two-stage regression, i.e., 2SLS and variants, but limited to the linear setting. Recently, many nonlinear IV regression variants were proposed to overcome it by regressing the treatment with IVs and observed confounders in stage 1, leading to the imbalance of the observed confounders in stage 2. In this paper, we propose a Confounder Balanced IV Regression (CB-IV) algorithm to jointly remove the bias from the unmeasured confounders and balance the observed confounders. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to combine confounder balancing in IV regression for treatment effect estimation. Theoretically, we re-define and solve the inverse problems for the response-outcome function. Experiments show that our algorithm outperforms the existing approaches.


Abstract. Most existing lidar odometry estimation strategies are formulated under a standard framework that includes feature selection, and pose estimation through feature matching. In this work, we present a novel pipeline called LO-Net for lidar odometry estimation from 3D lidar scanning data using deep convolutional networks. The network is trained in an end-to-end manner, it infers 6-DoF poses from the encoded sequential lidar data. Based on the new designed mask-weighted geometric constraint loss, the network automatically learns effective feature representation for the lidar odometry estimation problem, and implicitly exploits the sequential dependencies and dynamics. Experiments on benchmark datasets demonstrate that LO-Net has similar accuracy with the geometry-based approach.


In this study we investigate the ability of Natural Killer (NK) cells to form ultrasound-mediated intercellular contacts with target cells in a multi-well microdevice by high-resolution confocal-microscopy imaging of inhibitory immune synapses. Furthermore, we compare the NK-Target cell cluster migration with and without ultrasound actuation. Experiments indicate that clusters of cells are positioned and maintained centered in the wells for 17 hours when they are exposed continuously to ultrasound. Our system can be used for both screening high numbers of events in low resolution and also for high resolution imaging of long term cell-cell interactions.


While mindfulness meditation has been used in clinical settings as an adjunctive treatment for substance use disorders for some time, there has been limited empirical evidence to support this practice. Mindfulness-Related Treatments and Addiction Recovery bridges this gap by reporting the findings of studies in which mindfulness practice has been combined with other behavioural treatments and/or adapted to meet the needs of a variety of client populations in recovery. Therapies used as interventions in the described studies include Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention (MBRP), and Mindfulness-Based Therapeutic Community (MBTC) treatment. The book offers a glimpse into the many ways in which mindfulness strategies have been applied to various facets of the recovery process including stress, craving, anxiety, and other relapse related factors. Preliminary evidence, while not conclusive, suggests that mindfulness-based therapies are effective, safe, satisfying to clients, and that an individual, at-home mindfulness practice can be potentially sustained over time, beyond the intervention duration.


BACKGROUND
Gut microbiota play a vital role not only in the digestion and absorption of nutrients, but also in homeostatic maintenance of host immunity, metabolism and the gut barrier. Recent evidence suggests that gut microbiota alterations contribute to the pathogenesis of metabolic disorders.

OBJECTIVE AND METHOD
In this review, we discuss the association between the gut microbiota and metabolic disorders, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and the contribution of relevant modulating interventions, focusing on recent human studies.

RESULTS
Several studies have identified potential causal associations between gut microbiota and metabolic disorders, as well as the underlying mechanisms. The effects of modulating interventions, such as prebiotics, probiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation, and other new treatment possibilities on these metabolic disorders have also been reported.

CONCLUSION
A growing body of evidence highlights the role of gut microbiota in the development of dysbiosis, which in turn influences host metabolism and disease phenotypes. Further studies are required to elucidate the precise mechanisms by which gut microbiota-derived mediators induce metabolic disorders and modulating interventions exert their beneficial effects in humans. The gut microbiota represents a novel potential therapeutic target for a range of metabolic disorders.


The analysis of vulnerabilities can help answer where and how society can best invest in vulnerability reduction. This study aimed at exploring vulnerability and adaptation strategies to climate change of local communities in Bukavu in DR Congo. Participatory action research was used in six villages from three collectivities around the Kahuzi Biega Park. Results showed that (a) perception of climate change depends on what people can see and feel about climate, (b) climate-related risks exacerbated existing problems and created new combinations of risks such as loss of livelihoods and deepening poverty cycle associated, (c) a range of adaptation measures was used or envisaged, and (d) implementation of those measures was hampered by a range of barriers. It is therefore imperative for climate change and climate variability measures to be taken seriously and for adaptation strategies to be integrated into all spheres of public policy making with focus on key economic development sectors.


Background: Globally there have been many initiatives to enhance the number of organ donors.1 The number of individuals waiting for a transplant is significantly higher than the number of available donated organs and the gap continues to widen. In the United States, it has been reported that over 106,000 individuals are awaiting organ donation.2 The family plays a crucial role in the organ donation process. Therefore, it is important to understand the organ donation experiences of family members in the Arab world which extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Arabian Gulf in the east, and from the Mediterranean Sea in the north to Central Africa and the Indian Ocean in the south. There are some challenges surrounding organ donation due to ethical, legal, and social problems. Besides that, religious and traditional issues are more common in the Middle East and Gulf region. In the Middle East, organ donation after brain death or for living donors have less family members' willingness and acceptance.3 Family members of organ donation cases face many challenges before accepting the terms of donation. In reference to this issue, many studies stress the need for family involvement, education and awareness programs in early stage of brain death, even in acute cases that are subject to time constraints. We aim to examine findings of an integrative literature review and explore families' decision-making process related to organ donation of brain dead patients or living donors, posing the question "Do we have to tell the patient's family everything concerning organ donation?" Answering this question will help healthcare providers to understand factors, barriers and culturally sensitive aspects that are leading to the willingness and acceptance of organ donation.4 Methods: The integrative literature review was based on Cooper's five-stage process.5 These stages clearly summarized by Russell include problem formulation, data collection or literature search, evaluation of data, data analysis, and interpretation and presentation of results.6 To determine the sample of the review, published scientific papers in indexed periodicals electronic databases, such as CINAHL, Medline, Google Scholar with Full Text and PubMed from 2009-2019 were searched. Results: The result of the review highlighted the importance of different aspects that lead to acceptance of organ donation. We anticipate that the results of this review will increase awareness of the patients' families concerning organ donation experiences and its impact on the decision-making process. In addition, it will help healthcare professionals and policymakers to consider new strategies, ways of thinking, and communication strategies that can be adopted with patients' families concerning organ donation. Organ donation campaigns can help raise public and healthcare providers' awareness of the benefits of such programs. Conclusions: This review identified that public orientation and family support is the ideal approach for family consent which often remains the only way for organ donation to be made possible. In addition to that, there is a need for the development of supportive policies and continuous education and training programs for healthcare providers and proper utilization of resources to improve the organ donation process.


Objective. Neuroinflammation has long been associated with the performance decline of intracortical microelectrodes (IMEs). Consequently, several strategies, including the use of anti-inflammatories, have been employed to mitigate the inflammation surrounding IMEs. However, these strategies have had limited success towards achieving a chronically viable cortical neural interface, questioning the efficacy of anti-inflammatory approach. Approach. Herein, we conducted a systematic study in rats implanted with functional devices by modulating inflammation via systemic injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), dexamethasone (DEX), a combination of both, or none to assess the degree of inflammation on device functionality. We hypothesized that implanted rats treated with LPS will have a negative impact, and rats treated with DEX will have a positive impact on functionality IMEs and histological outcome. Main results. Contrary to our hypothesis, we did not observe adverse effects in recording metrics among different groups with LPS and/or DEX treatment despite alterations in initial pro-inflammatory markers. We also did not observe any functional benefit of anti-inflammatory treatment. Regardless of the treatment conditions, the recording quality degraded at chronic time points. In end-point histology, implanted rats that received LPS had significantly lower NeuN density and higher levels of CD68 surrounding the implant site, indicative of the pro-inflammatory effect of LPS, which, however, contradicted with the recorded results. Significance. Collectively, our results suggest that acute inflammatory events may not be the key driver for functional degradation of IMEs. Future intervention strategies geared towards improving the functional longevity of intracortical devices may benefit using multi-modal approaches rather than a single approach, such as controlling the initial inflammatory response.


Background: Monitored anaesthesia care is a specific anaesthesia service for diagnostic or therapeutic procedures performed under local anaesthesia along with sedation and analgesia titrated to a level with the provision to convert into general anaesthesia when required. We conducted a retrospective study to determine patient satisfaction in middle ear surgery under monitored anaesthesia care.
Materials and Methods: The number of patients undergoing middle ear surgery under monitored anaesthesia care, over a period of one year were included. They received sedation with midazolam 0.02 mg/kg and fentanyl 1 mcg/kg along with local anaesthetic infiltration. Patient's satisfaction was measured using a five point Likert scale. Intraoperative pain, nausea, vomiting and other discomforts were inquired.
Results: The total number of patients was 64. Fifty-one patients (79.7%) were satisfied, 10 were neutral (15.6%) and 3 patients (4.7%) were dissatisfied with the technique. Earache (4.7%), followed by dizziness (3.1%) and bodyache (3.1%) were the most common cause of discomfort. Nausea occurred in 6 patients (9.4%) and vomiting in 5 patients (7.8%).
Conclusion: Middle ear surgeries can be performed under monitored anaesthesia care with good patient satisfaction.


Desmoplastic melanoma (DM) is a variant of melanoma, which may be confused with nonmelanocytic benign or malignant spindle cell proliferations. The histologic hallmark of DM is the presence of fusiform melanocytes dispersed in a prominent collagenous stroma. Phenotypic heterogeneity of DM is underrecognized. Desmoplasia may be prominent throughout the entire tumor ("pure" DM) or represent a portion of an otherwise nondesmoplastic melanoma ("combined" DM). We reviewed melanomas with desmoplasia from 92 patients seen at a single institution between 1980 and 2002. Fifty-five of the tumors were pure DM. Thirty-seven were classified as combined. Mean follow-up of patients was 46 months for those alive at the last follow-up. Univariate analysis of clinical and pathologic parameters revealed four significant variables for disease-free survival: Clark level (IV vs. V; P = 0.005), DM subtype (pure vs. combined; P = 0.01), tumor mitotic rate (<1, 1–4, >4 mitoses/mm2; P = 0.01), and tumor thickness (<1 mm, 1–4 mm, >4 mm; P = 0.02). Only histologic subtype (P = 0.02) and Clark level (P = 0.05) were independently significant by Cox regression analysis. Our results indicate that distinguishing pure from combined forms of DM is clinically relevant for prognosis (pure forms being associated with longer disease-specific survival). Failure to make this distinction may account for conflicting reports in the literature on the biologic behavior and prognosis of DM.


Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has been variously defined because of varying emphasis placed on its components - dyslipidaemia, hypertension (HBP), hyperglyecmia (HG) and abnormal weight. MetS may be associated with diabetes (DM), HBP, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and apparent health (AH). Unfortunately, the frequency of the diagnostic combination of the risk factors in these conditions has not been reported because it could have therapeutic implications. Data generated in earlier studies on 1107 subjects were analyzed. MetS was diagnosed according to the NCEP-ATP 111 criteria. The frequency of the ten possible diagnostic combinations of the risk factor of MetS was counted and analyzed in each condition associated with the syndrome. The triad, truncal obesity (TO), HBP and decreased high density lipoprotein cholesterol (LHDC) recorded the highest frequency in AH subjects, (males 58.8 and females 38.1%) Among the male patients, HBP, HG and decreased LHDC had the highest frequency (DM, 29.9%; HBP 31.8%; CKD 35.5%). The frequency of the diagnostic triads in the female patients differed from that of the males. The combination of TO, HBP and hypertriglyceridaemia (HTG) absent among the male patients gave the highest frequency in female hypertension and CKD patients. The risk factors combination of TO, HBP and LHDLC can be used for screening MetS in the study population especially among the AH subjects. Moreover, TO appears to be the single most significant risk factor for MetS in the population.


. This paper presents a project for the social development of ICTs, which used a participatory design approach and sought to have a high social impact on a community of craftswomen (embroiderers from Cartago, Colombia). Participating in this project implied active dialogue with the community to recognize the knowledge of each participant and achieve culturally relevant representations materialized in technological artifacts. We posit dialogue, representation and recognition as key elements for developing successful participatory design. In practice, this was achieved through an iterative, incremental and open-ended methodology, whose main feature was engagement by doing. This process of design allowed engineers to recognize the craftswomen's traditional knowledge and allowed craftswomen to be less afraid of technology. The main resultant artifact was a tangible user interface that facilitates dialogue between fashion designers and embroiderers in the process of designing new embroidery patterns. This and other artifacts that emerged from the activities and dialogues, the level of engagement of the participants, and the convergence points discovered between embroidery and technology, lead us to conclude that the process presented here can be replicated with other craft communities, to reinforce these communities and assist them in generating innovation in their processes and products.


The expansive nature of soils containing high amounts of montmorillonite mineral can be altered through chemical stabilization, resulting in a material suitable for construction purposes. In this paper, the physicochemical behaviour of phosphoric acid treated samples was studied using X-ray Diffractometry (XRD), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDAX), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Solid-State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (SS-NMR). It was found that in acid stabilized montmorillonitic soil, clay alumina was more susceptible to dissolution and mostly responsible for the formation of aluminate phosphate hydrate compounds that bonded the soil particles together. Furthermore, since the action of stabilizer was mainly "surface-associated", the efficiency of phosphoric acid treatment in terms of strength improvement was rather limited.


This paper intends to develop a theoretical framework for investigating the evolutionary adaptive dynamics of a stochastic differential system. The key to the question is how to build an evolutionary fitness function. Firstly, we propose a stochastic predator-prey model with disease in the prey and discuss the asymptotic behavior around the positive equilibrium of its deterministic equation. Secondly, by using stochastic population dynamics and adaptive dynamics methods, we propose a fitness function based on stochastic impact and investigate the conditions for evolutionary branching and the evolution of pathogen strains in the infective prey. Our results show that (1) large stochastic impact can lead to rapidly stable evolution towards smaller toxicity of pathogen strains, which implies that stochastic disturbance is beneficial to epidemic control; (2) stochastic disturbance can go against evolutionary branching and promote evolutionary stability. Finally, we carry on the evolutionary analysis and make some numerical simulations to illustrate our main results. The developed methodologies could potentially be used to investigate the evolutionary adaptive dynamics of the stochastic differential systems.


This special issue of Management and Organizational History is prompted by a public celebration. It is timed to coincide with 11th November 2018 as the 100-year anniversary of Armistice Day. Articles in this issue of the journal examine the impact that war, as a social, economic and political event, had upon organizational identity and organizational memory. They speak to the broader questions of how organizations understood and rationalized their national, regional, religious or racial identity and behavior in times of conflict, and afterwards in times of peace. Who or what objects, rituals and ceremonies did organizations use to remember and commemorate the lives lost in war – if at all? To what extent were memorials or commemorations special or unique to organizations themselves? Were they embedded within wider systems of meaning? How does the end of conflict and peacetime change these gestures or attitudes towards other nations or groups? To what extent did remembering, or the memory of war, impact upon organizational identity and behavior after conflict ended?


Compound noun can appear in various types and the meaning may not be determined by its components. This study aims to find out the types and analyze the meanings of compound nouns found in the short story "The Star-Child". There are two theories used in this study. The first is the theory of types of compound noun proposed by Katamba and the second is the theory of meanings of compound noun by Palmer. The data in this study were directly taken from the full text of a short story entitled "The Star-Child" written by Oscar Wilde. They were collected by documentation method and note taking technique. The collected data were analyzed by using qualitative and descriptive method. This study applied formal and informal method to present the analysis. The analysis shows that the types of compound noun used are; endocentric, exocentric and copulative types. Besides, in relation to meanings, there are transparent and opaque meanings.


Despite improved employment performance across the OECD in the late 1990s, unemployment remains a key issue for analysis and debate among policy makers. This paper outlines the experience and developing policy of "New Labour" in the UK, the philosophy of the "Third Way" associated with it and arguments advanced to persuade Australian policy makers to follow a similar course. In opposition to these attempts, the paper argues that "deregulation", to the extent that it is associated with neoliberal ideology and incorporated also into the Third Way, is not suited to the Australian situation. The paper concludes with an analysis of the current interest in Third Way policies on the part of the Australian Labor Party, in particular the proposed introduction of "tax credits" for low‐paid workers. It suggests that this approach will compromise opposition to the strategy currently being pursued by the conservative Coalition Government, and will undermine the prospects of the Labor Party at the next election.


Shank, B.F. 1982. Shigo and his saw shed new light on tree health. Weeds, Trees & Turf 21 (6): 28, 30, 34. Alex Shigo, chief scientist at the USDA Northeastern Forest Experiment Station in New Hampshire, is well known to the tree care community. In 1950, he began to dissect hundreds of trees with a chain saw to pin down the actual response of trees to injury and maintenance practices. His string of discoveries has not stopped. There are many people causing unnecessary damage to trees during pruning by cutting into the collar of the branch. Many still use tree wound paint even though it serves no purpose to the tree. During cavity repair, excessive cleaning may reinjure the tree rather than help it. Injecting materials into the tree may do more harm than good, especially if holes are drilled along the same line year after year. These are just a few of the conclusions made by Shigo while working for the Forest Service. The biggest breakthrough, however, may be just around the corner. Shigo is focusing on the energy needed for a tree to protect itself and the level of stored energy in healthy versus unhealthy trees. If the energy problem can be solved, then perhaps the tree will depend more on itself for maintenance. His work on energy reserves in trees developed out of the Dutch elm disease research he is doing. When potassium iodide was applied to cores or slices of various trees, healthy trees showed good starch reserves while dying trees showed little if any reserves. The thought follows if starch reserves can be restored, the tree's defensive reactions will improve and it will survive.


Background: Acute care utilization at the end of life among those with advanced cancer is increasing. Women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) often remain in active treatment until close to death, often receiving futile chemotherapy and sometimes requiring emergency department (ED) visits that may result in admission to the hospital. Palliative care (PC) programs have aimed to reduce overuse by attempting to control symptoms and distress that may result in a visit to the ED or admission to the hospital. Purpose: Describe characteristics of women with MBC receiving care at an outpatient National Cancer Institute designated breast center, describe their acute care utilization during the last six months of life and examine those outcomes in view of specific demographic, disease and treatment factors. Methods and Analysis: Retrospective chart review according to protocolized abstraction of 100 MBC patients who died between 2010 and 2012 from one large urban practice. Records were reviewed for demographics, disease and treatment characteristics and acute care utilization of women with MBC during the last six months of life. Descriptive analysis and multiple regression was employed to test associations between age, race and income on each of the explored factors. Findings: 69% of all MBC patients visited the ED in the last 6 months of life and 26% died in the acute care setting. Of patients on active chemotherapy, nearly ½ of the ED visits were within 7 days of chemotherapy administration. 52% percent of patients received chemotherapy in the last 6 months of life for a total of 3.6 sequential lines during MBC treatment. There was no significant difference between PC (n=15) and Non-PC patients (n=85); suggesting that a "PRN" approach to PC may not have an impact on utilization of acute care resources. Public Health Relevance: Utilization of acute care services, including ED and chemotherapy, at the end of life is great among women with MBC. The model of PC delivery at this institution did not result in less utilization of acute care services at the end of life. Attention to the process of care, such as utilization of resources, is especially important in a population of patients with cancer nearing the end of life because of the potential for poor quality outcomes.


The spin state of the Prussian blue analogue FeIIPtIV(CN)6 is investigated in response to temperature, pressure, and X-ray irradiation. While cooling to 10 K maintains the high-spin state of FeII, compression at ambient temperature induces a first-order spin-crossover (SCO) transition with a small hysteresis loop (p↑ = 0.8 GPa, p↓ = 0.6 GPa). In addition, the high-spin to low-spin transition can be initiated at lower pressure through increased X-ray irradiation. Our study highlights a cooperative SCO with moderate pressure in a porous Prussian blue analogue.


The most widely-used measure of an asset's risk, beta, stems from an equilibrium in which investors display mean-variance behavior. This criterion assumes that portfolio risk is measured by the variance (or standard deviation) of returns. However, the semivariance is a more plausible measure of risk (as Markowitz himself admits) and is backed by theoretical, empirical, and practical considerations. It can also be used to implement an alternative behavioral criterion, mean-semivariance behavior, that is almost perfectly correlated to expected utility and to the utility of mean compound return.


CONTEXT
Early pregnancy exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may contribute to poor birth outcomes through oxidative stress (OS) mediated disruption of maternal and fetal milieu. Most studies have investigated the effect of single EDC exposures on OS.

OBJECTIVE
Assess the association of uniquely weighted mixtures of early pregnancy exposures with the maternal and neonatal OS markers.

DESIGN
Prospective analysis of mother-infant dyads.

SETTING
University hospital.

PARTICIPANTS
56 mother-infant dyads.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
The association of OS markers (nitrotyrosine, dityrosine, chlorotyrosine) in maternal first trimester and term, and cord blood plasma with maternal first trimester exposure levels of each of forty-one toxicants (trace elements, metals, phenols, and phthalates) from 56 subjects was analyzed using Spearman correlations and linear regression. The association of OS markers with inflammatory cytokines and birth outcomes were analyzed by Spearman correlation and linear regression analysis, respectively. Weighted mixtures of early pregnancy exposures were created by principal component analysis and offspring sex-dependent and independent associations with oxidative stress markers were assessed.

RESULTS
(1) An inverse relationship between levels of maternal/cord OS markers and individual EDCs was evident. In contrast, when assessed as EDC mixtures, both direct and inverse associations were evident in a sex-specific manner; (2) maternal term OS marker, nitrotyrosine, was inversely associated with gestational age and (3) both direct and inverse associations were evident between the three OS markers and individual cytokines.

CONCLUSIONS
Provides proof of concept that effects of exposures on OS varies when assessed as EDC mixtures versus individually.


This paper describes a method for reinforcing learning habits among students in the Computer Science and Information Systems department. On top of the sharp reduction in the number of enrolled students, there is an increase in the dropout rate that stems from poor learning habits. Strengthening learning habits can play a significant role in increasing students' overall motivation and self-accountability, and it can reduce the relatively high failure rate. These learning characteristics are necessary as well for future collaborative activities, which are a cornerstone of the computer science profession. The individual unique assignments method described in this paper was employed on two courses and helped reduce the failing rate. This paper relates to some quantitative results combined with a qualitative analysis obtained through the students' own reflections on the method, and concludes with a discussion on the results and future follow-up directions.


Chronic myeloid leukemia is a myeloproliferative disorder caused by a clonal disturbance of the trunk cell and the accumulation of granulocytic series in the marrow, blood and other organs. We report a 63 years old male, carrier of a chronic myeloid leukemia whose clinical condition was complicated by the appearance of a T cell lymphoma. He was subjected to chemotherapy, that reduced the size of adenopathies and improved his general condition. Further studies are required to determine if there is a relationship between these two clinical entities.


This discussion paper resulted in a publication in the 'Journal of Econometrics' , 2012, 171(2), 101-120. A class of adaptive sampling methods is introduced for efficient posterior and predictive simulation. The proposed methods are robust in the sense that they can handle target distributions that exhibit non-elliptical shapes such as multimodality and skewness. The basic method makes use of sequences of importance weighted Expectation Maximization steps in order to efficiently construct a mixture of Student- t densities that approximates accurately the target distribution -typically a posterior distribution, of which we only require a kernel - in the sense that the Kullback-Leibler divergence between target and mixture is minimized. We label this approach Mixture of t by Importance Sampling and Expectation Maximization (MitISEM). We also introduce three extensions of the basic MitISEM approach. First, we propose a method for applying MitISEM in a sequential manner, so that the candidate distribution for posterior simulation is cleverly updated when new data become available. Our results show that the computational effort reduces enormously. This sequential approach can be combined with a tempering approach, which facilitates the simulation from densities with multiple modes that are far apart. Second, we introduce a permutation-augmented MitISEM approach, for importance sampling from posterior distributions in mixture models without the requirement of imposing identification restrictions on the model's mixture regimes' parameters. Third, we propose a partial MitISEM approach, which aims at approximating the marginal and conditional posterior distributions of subsets of model parameters, rather than the joint. This division can substantially reduce the dimension of the approximation problem.


Trophoblast can be grown from blastocysts or ectoplacental cones of the mouse in a variety of extrauterine sites. An attempt was made to grow trophoblast in the lung under various conditions. In 94 mice, blastocysts, or cones, were introduced into the lung through the vascular system. Trophoblast growth never occurred. However, when blastocysts, or cones, were introduced directly into the lung, trophoblast grew in 30-50% of mice, depending on technique. Failure to grow from the intravascular position does not appear to be due to liberation of common products of ischemia because blastocysts produced normal trophoblast in the liver when implanted via the portal system, even in the presence of extensive necrosis. The inhibiting factor, which is apparently produced in the lung, is being investigated.


Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate how many embryos will develop if more than 3 2-pronuclei-stage oocytes (2-PNOs) are cultured at the patient's request and in accordance with the Germany Embryo Protection Law. Methods: A total of 106 cycles of patients undergoing their 1st, 2nd or 3rd cycle of IVF or ICSI treatment in 2010 were prospectively included in the study. In each individual case, a decision was taken prior to treatment about the number of 2-PNOs to be cultured after each cycle. Results: Ninety female patients were treated for a total of 106 cycles. A mean of two to six 2-PNOs were cultivated for a period of between 3 and 6 days for each patient. After culture, no viable embryo was identified for 5 patients (4.7 %), a single viable embryo was identified for 37 cycles (34.7 %), and 2 viable embryos were identified for 52 cycles (48.8 %). Eleven patients (10.3 %) had 3 viable embryos after a further 11 cycles and 1 patient had 4 viable embryos in a single cycle. Ten of the patients with 3 embryos each opted to have all 3 embryos transferred in the same cycle. This meant that a single embryo from one patient with 3 viable embryos and a single embryo of the patient with 4 viable embryos were cryopreserved after culture. The pregnancy rate was 19 % per embryo transfer and 25 % per blastocyst transfer (20 pregnancies in total). All cryopreserved embryos were transferred in a subsequent cycle. Discussion: Based on this study it is possible to make a statement about the number of viable embryos which should be cultivated to obtain, at best, two embryos for transfer without running an unacceptably high risk of producing too many embryos which would then need to be cryopreserved. Only 12 patients (13.3 %) had more than 2 viable embryos. The number of supernumerary pre-implantation-stage embryos was acceptably low (only 2 patients had additional viable embryos, 2.2 %). This means that it is possible to fulfil the wishes of individual patients while complying with the German Embryo Protection Law.


Objective: To measure the inflammatory and autonomic responses of healthy humans and patients with coronary artery disease to controlled concentrations of two specific components of vehicle derived air pollution, carbon particles and sulphur dioxide (SO2). Methods: Placebo controlled, double blind, random order human challenge study examining the effects of carbon particles (50 μg/m3) and SO2 (200 parts per billion (ppb)) on heart rate variability (HRV) and circulating markers of inflammation and coagulation in healthy volunteers and patients with stable angina. Results: In healthy volunteers, markers of cardiac vagal control did not fall in response to particle exposure but, compared with the response to air, increased transiently immediately after exposure (root mean square of successive RR interval differences (RMSSD) 15 (5) ms with carbon particles and 4 (3) ms) with air, p < 0.05). SO2 exposure resulted in no immediate change but a significant reduction in HRV markers of cardiac vagal control at four hours (RMSSD −2 (3.6) ms with air, −7 (2.7) ms with SO2, p < 0.05). No such changes were seen in patients with stable angina. Neither pollutant caused any change in markers of inflammation or coagulation at zero, four, or 24 hours. Conclusion: In healthy volunteers, short term exposure to pure carbon particles does not cause adverse effects on HRV or a systemic inflammatory response. The adverse effects of vehicle derived particulates are likely to be caused by more reactive species found on the particle surface. SO2 exposure does, however, reduce cardiac vagal control, a response that would be expected to increase susceptibility to ventricular arrhythmia.


Title: Ethical investing - why not? An evaluation of financial performance of ethical indexes in comparison to conventional indexes. Problem : Do ethical investments perform better than conventional investments? Purpose: To evaluate whether Shariah-compliant indexes and/or socially responsible indexes can improve financial performance of an investment portfolio. Sub-problem: What kind of relationship exists between socially responsible investments and faith-based investments, represented by Shariah-compliant investments? Sub-purpose: To discover how two types of ethical investments, socially-responsible and Shariah-compliant, are related. Method: Quantitative study, covering three types of investment styles of four index families during the period from 2000 until 2011. Financial performance evaluation through the Sharpe ratio, Treynor ratio and Jensen's alpha. Conclusions: Conventional, socially responsible, and Shariah-compliant indexes do not have any significant differences in financial performance on a global basis. However, Shariah-compliant indexes could slightly over-perform conventional and socially responsible indexes during financial downturns. In the same time socially responsible indexes were noticed to be the most volatile during the whole period of study, to compare with conventional and Shariah-compliant. Regarding relationships, high correlations were found between ethical indexes, as well as between ethical and conventional indexes.


To gain a deeper understanding of the literary movement that has dominated recent Anglo-American literary criticism, The Pursuit of Signs is a must. In a world increasingly mediated, it offers insights into our ways of consuming texts that are both brilliant and bold. Dancing through semiotics, reader-response criticism, the value of the apostrophe and much more, Jonathan Culler opens up for every reader the closed world of literary criticism. Its impact on first publication, in 1981, was immense; now, as Mieke Bal notes, 'the book has the same urgency and acuity that it had then', though today it has even wider implications: 'with the interdisciplinary turn taking hold, literary theory itself, through this book, becomes a much more widespread tool for cultural analysis'.


Facilitative interactions are defined as positive effects of one species on another, but bidirectional feedbacks may be positive, neutral, or negative. Understanding the bidirectional nature of these interactions is a fundamental prerequisite for the assessment of the potential evolutionary consequences of facilitation. In a global study combining observational and experimental approaches, we quantified the impact of the cover and richness of species associated with alpine cushion plants on reproductive traits of the benefactor cushions. We found a decline in cushion seed production with increasing cover of cushion-associated species, indicating that being a benefactor came at an overall cost. The effect of cushion-associated species was negative for flower density and seed set of cushions, but not for fruit set and seed quality. Richness of cushion-associated species had positive effects on seed density and modulated the effects of their abundance on flower density and fruit set, indicating that the costs and benefits of harboring associated species depend on the composition of the plant assemblage. Our study demonstrates 'parasitic' interactions among plants over a wide range of species and environments in alpine systems, and we consider their implications for the possible selective effects of interactions between benefactor and beneficiary species.