BACKGROUND
Reduced intake and absorption of antioxidants due to pain and malabsorption are probable causes of the lower levels of antioxidants observed in patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP). Improving the status of antioxidants might be effective in slowing the disease process and reducing pain in CP.

OBJECTIVES
To assess the benefits and harms of antioxidants for the treatment of pain in patients with CP.

SEARCH METHODS
We searched the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Conference Proceedings Citation Index from inception to October 2012. Two review authors performed the selection of trials independently.

SELECTION CRITERIA
We included all randomised controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating antioxidants for treatment of pain in CP. All trials were included irrespective of blinding, numbers of participants randomly assigned and language of the article.

DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
Two review authors extracted data independently. The risk of bias of included trials was assessed. Study authors were asked for additional information in the case of missing data.

MAIN RESULTS
Twelve RCTs with a total of 585 participants were included. Six trials were double-blinded, placebo-controlled studies, and the other six trials were of less adequate methodology. Most trials were small and had high rates of dropout. Eleven of the 12 included trials described the effects of antioxidants on chronic abdominal pain in chronic pancreatitis. Pain as measured on a visual analogue scale (VAS, scale range 0 to 10) after one to six months was less in the antioxidant group than in the control group (mean difference (MD) -0.33, 95% confidence interval (CI) -0.64 to -0.02, P value 0.04, moderate-quality evidence). The number of pain-free participants was not statistically significantly different (risk ratio (RR) 1.73, 95% CI 0.95 to 3.15, P value 0.07, low-quality evidence). More adverse events were observed in the antioxidant group, both in the parallel trials (RR 4.43, 95% CI 1.60 to 12.29, P value 0.0004, moderate-quality evidence) and in the cross-over trials (RR 5.80, 95% CI 1.56 to 21.53, P value 0.0009, moderate-quality evidence). Adverse events occurred in 16% of participants and were mostly mild (e.g. headache, gastrointestinal complaints), but were sufficient to make participants stop antioxidant use. Other important outcomes such as use of analgesics, exacerbation of pancreatitis and quality of life were rarely reported. One trial from 1991 evaluated the effects of antioxidants on acute pain during exacerbation of chronic pancreatitis and found that a significantly higher proportion of participants in the antioxidant group experienced pain relief. This trial was conducted more than 25 years ago and has not been reproduced since that time. Therefore, additional trials are needed before reliable conclusions can be drawn.

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS
Current evidence shows that antioxidants can reduce pain slightly in patients with chronic pancreatitis. The clinical relevance of this small reduction is uncertain, and more evidence is needed. Adverse events in one of six patients may prevent the use of antioxidants. Effects of antioxidants on other outcome measures, such as use of analgesics, exacerbation of pancreatitis and quality of life remain uncertain because reliable data are not available.


Whether you're fairly new to therapy or you've practiced for many years, no doubt at times you've found yourself stumped with certain clients who leave you feeling perplexed and discouraged with that "I-just-don't-know-what-to-do-next" feeling. George Gafner has been there and that's precisely why he wrote this book. The reality is that today's cookie-cutter treatment mentality presupposes that all people with, say, depression, can be treated essentially the same way, which virtually ignores the established fact that a good deal of a person's mental functioning is governed not by conscious choice but instead by automatic, or unconscious, forces that lie outside voluntary control. The author believes that all therapeutic approaches should be adapted to the unique needs of the individual client, and that the unconscious needs to be heavily considered in any therapy approach. Centred around two fascinating case studies, Gafner discusses concepts and techniques seldom addressed, including the therapist's use of voice, subtle vocal shifts, the pause, the strategic interval of silence and seeding as well as the application of hypnotic techniques within standard talk therapy.He makes the case for integrating ego-strengthening in therapy, advocates ego-strengthening as a "shovel-ready project" and incorporates the use of healing metaphors in therapy. As a strong supporter of evidence-based treatments, he believes that in much of real world mental health treatment we can't simply follow a manual. We must adapt treatment to the unique needs of the individual, and the more skills and tools we can bring to bear, the better for both us and our clients.


The concept of countries as brands has been increasingly recognized in the post-modern global world. The terms "national brand" or "country brand" define a symbolic construct, which emphasizes the attractive, unique and sustainable qualities of a nation. This paper argues that the national brand and its competitiveness, based on the new approaches of nation branding using sociological and economic theories and concepts, can establish and communicate a specific image of national identity. This paper presents some empirical findings of a study that investigate Croatian national brand. Nation branding might be obtained by a sustained dialog between government, decision makers, business, cultural and civil community, leaders, and individuals in the society. A country brand, therefore, consists of an identity and image, as a system of signs and codes, where nation branding applies widely used marketing concepts for promoting the country's image and attractiveness. Finally, the paper argues that "national brand" or "country brand"is not just a function individually performed by governments or companies, but an integrated and concerted effort on behalf of all interested stakeholders.


Biowastes can enhance the establishment of New Zealand (NZ) native vegetation, particularly on degraded land, where biological or physicochemical deficiencies limit plant growth. We identified critical success factors influencing selection and use of biowastes for a) growing native plants and b) rehabilitating native ecosystems. These were: weed competition; resilience (especially to drought and storms); ecosystem succession; and soil microbiome responses to elevated Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Organic Matter (OM) and contaminants (including Trace Elements). These factors determine the selection, timing and methods of biowaste application, selection of plant species and target ecosystems, and post-application management of receiving sites. Commonly planted native NZ species benefit from biowastes application where soils have depleted OM or sites with surface crusting, erosion, or high exposure to wind and temperature fluctuations. Commonly planted native species display luxury uptake of macro-nutrients, even on soils that are low-fertility under agricultural standards. Therefore, the growth responses to additional nutrients may be small. In contrast, most exotic weeds outcompete NZ species in high fertility soils. Therefore, biowaste application should not result in excessive nutrient availability. This can be achieved by using blends that contain a high-carbon biowaste, such as wood-waste, which immobilizes some macronutrients in the short term. We recommend long-term research using mixed-species field trials to identify biowastes and application methods that together support development of resilient native ecosystems. In particular, research should determine the role of biowastes on the beneficial mycorrhizae and native soil fauna. Application methods that enhance heterogeneity may help retain and/or build responsive microbiomes while conserving 'native' microbiomes to deliver sustainable, rehabilitated native ecosystems.


Vermitea is a liquid mixture produced by aerated or non-aerated mixing of vermicast to water. The introduction of vortex brewers had made progress in producing vermitea in terms of faster brewing time. Commercial vortex brewer is expensive and is not locally available in the Philippines. This study aimed to develop and test a locally made vortex brewer. The effects of varying amounts of air flow rate (at T1-7.2 L min-1, T2-14.4 L min-1, T3-21.6 L min-1, T4-control/non-aerated) during the brewing process to the operating time, machine performance, and properties of produced vermitea were determined. The establishment of brewing time was conducted for 24 hours and the fastest time was identified for T3 and T4 at 12 hours while longer brewing time of 20 hours was identified for T1 and T2. It was observed that the brewing time was shorter for the brewer using highest air flow rate during brewing. The largest recovery was recorded by the brewer with the lowest flow rate (T1) which was 93.39%. The brewing efficiency of the fabricated brewers was above the critical value. Also, the produced vermitea by all brewers has no foul odor which was an indication of proper aeration. The pH levels of the produced vermitea are all acidic, at a range of 6.19 to 6.86, but are still within the acceptable range. An economic analysis indicates that the most economically feasible was brewer T2 with 7.2 L min-1 air flow rate.


The estimation of seismic viscosity is crucial in simulating production history in heavy oil fields. While viscosity of heavy oil can be estimated at the borehole by using viscosity meters or by geochemical measurements, we wish to estimate viscosity variation between boreholes. Seismic data analysis provide such a possibility. Recent studies have shown that measurements of seismic absorption (or inverse-Q values) can be related to viscosity. In particular, Vasheghani and Lines (2008) showed that Zener's model describes rock physics observations. It is further shown that VSP measurements could possibly define the Q variations accurately enough to give viscosity estimates.


This dissertation concerns the Hidden Subgroup Problem (HSP) in quantum computation. We explore certain facets of the problem which, we expect, will lead towards a general framework for understanding such problems. We first present an implementation of an optimal measurement, the Pretty Good Measurement (PGM), for the problem of the hidden subgroup problem over the dihedral group. This is a problem for which no efficient algorithm is known. This problem is relevant to the shortest vector in a lattice problem (SVP) in cryptography. We give a representation theoretic implementation of the PGM, achievable with only abelian transforms. The subset sum problem, an NP-complete problem, is needed in identification of certain subspaces. There are some novel ideas and techniques used in the implementation that make it realizable. This brings into focus how a measurement specified through a POVM (positive operator valued measure) is achievable through a basis change in a particular representation. This has connections to the HSP for other groups. We also study the question of optimal query selection to maximize the probability of subgroup identification. This part of the research complements a well-researched topic of finding optimal measurements in the spirit of state discrimination as applied to the hidden subgroup problem. We find the optimal query, the character query , over a class of queries that are an equal superposition over the group, for oracles that take values in a finite abelian group. This query outperforms the query used in the standard method of the HSP. This approach has connections to other domains of quantum computation. We then extend the query selection idea to the case of multiple queries in the HSP and find examples in which this gives significant gains over the standard method. We consider the problems that the analysis of this more general problem entails, and outline a possible program to be followed. This is a part of continuing research


Significance Plants lose water and take up carbon through stomata, whose behavior has major influences on global carbon and water fluxes. Yet both competition for water and the potential fitness costs of hydraulic damage during water stress could alter how stomata behave. Here, we add variable xylem conductivity to water and carbon costs of low-xylem water potentials to the classic stomatal optimization and a pure carbon-maximization optimization. We show that both optimizations can reproduce known stomatal responses to environmental conditions but that the pure carbon-maximization optimization is also consistent with competition for water. We describe a new measure—the marginal xylem tension efficiency—that can be used to test stomatal optimizations. For over 40 y the dominant theory of stomatal behavior has been that plants should open stomates until the carbon gained by an infinitesimal additional opening balances the additional water lost times a water price that is constant at least over short periods. This theory has persisted because of its remarkable success in explaining strongly supported simple empirical models of stomatal conductance, even though we have also known for over 40 y that the theory is not consistent with competition among plants for water. We develop an alternative theory in which plants maximize carbon gain without pricing water loss and also add two features to both this and the classical theory, which are strongly supported by empirical evidence: (i) water flow through xylem that is progressively impaired as xylem water potential drops and (ii) fitness or carbon costs associated with low water potentials caused by a variety of mechanisms, including xylem damage repair. We show that our alternative carbon-maximization optimization is consistent with plant competition because it yields an evolutionary stable strategy (ESS)—species with the ESS stomatal behavior that will outcompete all others. We further show that, like the classical theory, the alternative theory also explains the functional forms of empirical stomatal models. We derive ways to test between the alternative optimization criteria by introducing a metric—the marginal xylem tension efficiency, which quantifies the amount of photosynthesis a plant will forego from opening stomatal an infinitesimal amount more to avoid a drop in water potential.


We have observed a significant increase in the instability of SiC power MOSFET ID-VGS characteristics following bias stressing at elevated temperature, similar to the effect we previously observed following an ON-state current stress. Devices stressed by elevated temperature alone exhibited very little instability compared with devices stressed with both temperature and applied bias. These results, along with other results in the literature, suggest that this increase in threshold voltage instability at elevated temperature is due to the activation of additional near-interfacial oxide traps related to an O-vacancy defect known as an E′ center. It is important to develop improved processing methods to decrease the number of precursor oxide defect sites, since an increased negative shift can give rise to increased leakage current in the OFF-state and potential device failure if proper precautions are not met to provide an adequate margin for the threshold voltage.


This study used a damaged skin, porcine model to evaluate the in vivo efficacy of WoundStat™ for decontamination of superficial (non‐haemorrhaging), sulphur mustard‐contaminated wounds. The dorsal skin of 12 female pigs was subjected to controlled physical damage and exposed to 10 μL 14C–radiolabelled sulphur mustard (14C–SM). Animals were randomly assigned to either a control or a treatment group. In the latter, WoundStat™ was applied 30 s post exposure and left in situ for 1 h. Skin lesion progression and decontaminant efficacy were quantified over 6 h using a range of biophysical measurements. Skin, blood and organ samples were taken post mortem for histopathological assessment, 14C–SM distribution and toxicokinetic analyses. Application of SM to damaged skin without decontamination was rapidly followed by advanced signs of toxicity, including ulceration and decreased blood flow at the exposure site in all animals. WoundStat™ prevented ulceration and improved blood flow at the exposure site in all decontaminated animals (n = 6). Furthermore, significantly smaller quantities of 14C–SM were detected in the blood (45% reduction), and recovered from skin (70% reduction) and skin surface swabs (99% reduction) at 6 h post‐challenge. Overall, the distribution of 14C–SM in the internal organs was similar for both groups, with the greatest concentration in the kidneys, followed by the liver and small intestine. WoundStat™ significantly reduced the amount of 14C–SM recovered from the liver, a key organ for SM metabolism and detoxification. This study demonstrates that WoundStat™ is a suitable product for reducing the ingress and toxicity of a chemical warfare agent. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Abstract Several life-history features of Niagara River muskellunge were determined and compared to similar data for other populations. Sexual maturity occurred during the fourth and fifth year for most Niagara River males and females, respectively. In terms of ages at sexual maturity and length-weight relationship, Niagara River muskellunge were similar to lake populations. In early life, fish of the Niagara River, and those of West Virginia and Kentucky streams, grew more rapidly than fish from lake populations. However, growth of river and stream fish slowed more quickly with age than that of lake fish. These differences in growth pattern between lentic and lotic populations may have resulted from differences in prey sizes and availability.


We have studied temperature-dependent (77–300 K) electrical characteristics and low-frequency noise (LFN) in chemical vapor deposited (CVD) single-layer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) based back-gated field-effect transistors (FETs). Electrical characterization and LFN measurements were conducted on MoS2 FETs with Al2O3 top-surface passivation. We also studied the effect of top-surface passivation etching on the electrical characteristics of the device. Significant decrease in channel current and transconductance was observed in these devices after the Al2O3 passivation etching. For passivated devices, the two-terminal resistance variation with temperature showed a good fit to the activation energy model, whereas for the etched devices the trend indicated a hopping transport mechanism. A significant increase in the normalized drain current noise power spectral density (PSD) was observed after the etching of the top passivation layer. The observed channel current noise was explained using a standard unified model incorporating carrier number fluctuation and correlated surface mobility fluctuation mechanisms. Detailed analysis of the gate-referred noise voltage PSD indicated the presence of different trapping states in passivated devices when compared to the etched devices. Etched devices showed weak temperature dependence of the channel current noise, whereas passivated devices exhibited near-linear temperature dependence.


Virus entry into target cells is the first step for virus infection. Understanding the overall entry mechanism, including the binding mechanism of specific virus glycoproteins with cellular receptors, can be useful for the design of small molecule inhibitors and vaccine development. Recently, EphA2 was identified as an important entry receptor for both KSHV and EBV. In the present study, we investigated the required binding sites within EphA2 and EBV gH/gL that mediate the interaction of these two proteins allowing entry into epithelial cells and found that it differed in compared to the interaction of KSHV gH/gL with EphA2. Our discoveries may uncover new potential interventional strategies that block EBV and KSHV infection of target epithelial cells. ABSTRACT Both Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) are human gammaherpesviruses and are important in a variety of malignancies. Eph family receptor tyrosine kinase A2 (EphA2) is a cellular receptor for KSHV and EBV. Previous studies identified five conserved residues (ELEFN50-54) in the N-terminal domain of KSHV gH that are critical for Eph binding and KSHV infection. However, the specific domains of EBV gH/gL important for EphA2 binding are not well described. We found that the KSHV gH (ELEFN50-54) motif is important for higher KSHV fusion and that EBV gH/gL does not utilize a similar motif for fusion activity. We previously identified that an EBV gL N-glycosylation mutant (gL-N69L/S71V) was hyperfusogenic in epithelial cells but not in B cells. To determine whether this glycosylation site may be the binding region for EphA2, we compared the EphA2 binding activity of EBV gH/gL and the EBV gH/gL-N69L/S71V mutant. We found that EBV gH/gL-N69L/S71V had higher binding affinity for EphA2, indicating that the EBV gL N-glycosylation site might be responsible for inhibiting the binding of gH/gL to EphA2. Loss of N-glycosylation at this site may remove steric hindrance that reduces EBV gH/gL binding to EphA2. In addition, the mutations located in the large groove of EBV gH/gL (R152A and G49C) also have decreased binding with EphA2. Taken together, our data indicate that the binding site of EphA2 on EBV gH/gL is at least in part proximal to the EBV gL glycosylation site, which in part accounts for differences in EphA2 binding affinity by KSHV. IMPORTANCE Virus entry into target cells is the first step for virus infection. Understanding the overall entry mechanism, including the binding mechanism of specific virus glycoproteins with cellular receptors, can be useful for the design of small molecule inhibitors and vaccine development. Recently, EphA2 was identified as an important entry receptor for both KSHV and EBV. In the present study, we investigated the required binding sites within EphA2 and EBV gH/gL that mediate the interaction of these two proteins allowing entry into epithelial cells and found that it differed in compared to the interaction of KSHV gH/gL with EphA2. Our discoveries may uncover new potential interventional strategies that block EBV and KSHV infection of target epithelial cells.


OBJECTIVE
The strongest susceptibility locus of psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region (psoriasis susceptibility region 1, or PSORS1), and HLA-Cw*06:02 has been reported as the PSORS1 susceptibility allele. Non-HLA genes within the MHC region have also been implicated in PsA, but because of the strong linkage disequilibrium at chromosome 6p21, it is difficult to make a distinction between susceptibility alleles and linked markers. Recent studies have demonstrated that the association between PsA and the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) promoter polymorphism TNF*-857 is independent of PSORS1. The aim of this study was to replicate the independent association of TNF*-857 in patients with PsA.

METHODS
A total of 909 patients with PsA and 1,315 healthy controls originating from the UK, Germany, and Italy were typed for TNF*-857 and for the estimated risk alleles of HLA-Cw*06:02.

RESULTS
Overall, the results of genotyping in these 3 case-control cohorts replicated the finding that the frequency of carriers of TNF*-857 TT/CT who were negative for the PSORS1 risk allele was significantly higher among patients with PsA compared with control subjects (30% versus 21%; P = 9.17 × 10(-5)).

CONCLUSION
The results of this collaborative study indicate that TNF*-857T is a susceptibility allele for PsA independent of the PSORS1 allele.


AIRE deficiency causes a characteristic pattern of pulmonary immunopathology that is responsive to T and B lymphocyte–directed immunomodulation. A breath of fresh AIRE Mutations in the AIRE gene lead to APECED, which presents with a variety of autoimmune symptoms. Ferré et al. prospectively studied a large cohort of patients with APECED and discovered that a substantial proportion of them suffered from pneumonitis, which had gone largely undiagnosed. The airways and lung tissue were characterized by infiltration of activated neutrophils and lymphocytes. This infiltration was also observed in Aire−/− mice, and pneumonitis was ablated by T or B cell deficiency. Accordingly, patients treated with drugs to modulate T or B lymphocytes resolved pneumonitis symptoms and improved respiratory function. This study reveals a serious and previously unappreciated manifestation of AIRE deficiency and paves the way for interventions. Autoimmune polyendocrinopathy-candidiasis-ectodermal dystrophy (APECED), a monogenic disorder caused by AIRE mutations, presents with several autoimmune diseases. Among these, endocrine organ failure is widely recognized, but the prevalence, immunopathogenesis, and treatment of non-endocrine manifestations such as pneumonitis remain poorly characterized. We enrolled 50 patients with APECED in a prospective observational study and comprehensively examined their clinical and radiographic findings, performed pulmonary function tests, and analyzed immunological characteristics in blood, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid, and endobronchial and lung biopsies. Pneumonitis was found in >40% of our patients, presented early in life, was misdiagnosed despite chronic respiratory symptoms and accompanying radiographic and pulmonary function abnormalities, and caused hypoxemic respiratory failure and death. Autoantibodies against BPIFB1 and KCNRG and the homozygous c.967_979del13 AIRE mutation are associated with pneumonitis development. APECED pneumonitis features compartmentalized immunopathology, with accumulation of activated neutrophils in the airways and lymphocytic infiltration in intraepithelial, submucosal, peribronchiolar, and interstitial areas. Beyond APECED, we extend these observations to lung disease seen in other conditions with secondary AIRE deficiency (thymoma and RAG deficiency). Aire-deficient mice had similar compartmentalized cellular immune responses in the airways and lung tissue, which was ameliorated by deficiency of T and B lymphocytes. Accordingly, T and B lymphocyte–directed immunomodulation controlled symptoms and radiographic abnormalities and improved pulmonary function in patients with APECED pneumonitis. Collectively, our findings unveil lung autoimmunity as a common, early, and unrecognized manifestation of APECED and provide insights into the immunopathogenesis and treatment of pulmonary autoimmunity associated with impaired central immune tolerance.


The prevalence of necrotic potato virus Y (PVY) in natural populations could reflect increased fitness of necrotic isolates. In this paper, the effects of the acquisition of molecular determinants (A/G(2213) and A/C(2271)) involved in necrosis capacity on both the number of progeny produced and the competitiveness of PVY were characterized. The relationship between necrosis and fitness was tested using (i) Nicotiana tabacum cv. Xanthi and Nicotiana clevelandii, (ii) necrotic PVY(N)-605 and non-necrotic PVY(O)-139 isolates, (iii) single-mutated (PVY(KR) and PVY(ED)) and double-mutated (PVY(KRED)) versions of PVY(N)-605 and (iv) three quantitative PCR assays specific for nt A(2213), G(2213) and A(2271) of the PVY genome. The data demonstrated effects of both the genetic background and nt 2213 and 2271 on the fitness of PVY. Quantification of PVY RNA in singly infected plants revealed that both the PVY(N)-605 genetic background and the acquisition of necrotic capacity resulted in a decrease in the number of progeny produced. Competition experiments revealed that the genetic background of PVY(N) had a positive impact on competitiveness. In contrast, nucleotides involved in necrotic properties were associated with decreased fitness. Finally, in the host that did not respond to infection with necrosis, the benefit associated with the PVY(N)-605 genetic background was higher than the cost associated with the acquisition of molecular determinants involved in necrosis capacity. The opposite result was obtained in the host responding to the infection with necrosis. These results indicate that the emergence of necrotic isolates from a non-necrotic population is unlikely in tobacco.


Decentralized cognitive radio networks (CRN) require efficient channel access protocols to enable cognitive secondary users (SUs) to access the primary channels in an opportunistic way Without any coordination. In this paper, we develop a distributed spectrum access protocol for the case where the SUs aim to maximize the total system throughput while competing for spectrum resources. To model the competition amongst SUs, we formulate the spectrum access problem as a {\it distributed welfare game}, in which at each iteration each SU has to compute its marginal contribution to the system's welfare. Moreover, the SUs also need to decide which resource (channel) they should access at the next iteration. To address these challenges, we propose a stochastic learning algorithm based on payoff-based log-linear learning and prove its convergence towards a Pareto-efficient Nash Equilibrium state.


Abstract In nuclear reactor physics, deterministic and hybrid calculation methods dominate the field of transient analysis. This implies that important safety assessments are subject to many approximations, which are needed by these methods. This paper proposes the Dynamic Monte Carlo method (Dynamic MC), which solves the coupled Boltzmann and kinetic equations with exact geometry and continuous energy, using only Monte Carlo techniques. For Dynamic MC a number of new techniques are developed, e.g., precursor tracking, forced decay for precursors, and the branchless method. Also, the particle source of the simulation has to be determined differently from what is current standard Monte Carlo practice, and the simulation scheme is adapted. A few example cases are simulated, demonstrating the effectiveness of Dynamic MC. The sample cases vary from simple homogeneous systems to full fuel assemblies with an asymmetric flux profile during the transient. Since Dynamic MC is implemented in the general-purpose Monte Carlo code Tripoli, it can be applied to any geometry.


Inorganic semiconductor materials in nano-dimension have drawn intense attention in recent years because of their size-tunable optoelectronic properties arising from the quantum confinement effect. These materials often require to be incorporated into other materials, often polymers, to acquire necessary processability to the various shape and preservation of the quantum confinement effect. One of the most frequent forms of incorporation is the polymer / semiconductor nanocomposites. This paper describes the templated based synthesis of 5 nm CdSe nanoparticles (NEP) embedded polypyrrole nanorods. The electrochemical deposition (ECD) to the AAO membrane was used to construct the NEP-rod. In order to preserve quantum confinement effect of CdSe-NEP in the polypyrrole nanorods, distribution and total population of the particles were carefully controlled by concentration of the particle and monomeric pyrrole and electrodepostion parameters including current density and applied potentials. The transmission electron microscope and near-field scanning fluorescence microscopic measurement showed that NEP-rod are homogeneously dispersed in the polypyrrole nanorod with diameters and length of 200 ~ 320 nm and 15 μm respectively. This structure can be applied in the applications of solar cell, light-emitting diode, and sensors.


DOCUMENT RESUME SP 005 149 Brown, George I. Aftectivity, Classroom Climate, and Teaching. American Federation of Teachers, Washington, D.C. May 71 30p. ; Educational Monograph Series No. 6 AFT Order Dept., 1012-14th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005 (EMS #6; $0.50) EDRS Price MF-$0.65 HC-$3.29 Affective Behavior, *Affective Objectives, Classroom Techniques, Relevance (Education), *Teaching Techniques This paper defines "confluent education" as the integration of the affective and cognitive elements and discusses the complications ot over-emphasizing either the affective or cognitive aspect to the detriment of the other. The author presents an overview of techniques in affective learning and suggests ways to integrate such techniques into conventional classroom practice and content. He suggests two general questions for teachers to ask themselves: 1) What possible relevance does this content or material have to the present lives of my students? 2) How do my students feel about this content or material? He cites several programs that are working to emphasize the affective element. These include the Affective Education Project in the Philadelphia public schools and a program called Development and Research in Confluent Education (DRICE) at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Finally, the author suggests the creation of a national clearinghouse for information on introducing affective learning experiences into teaching. (RT)


I. Introduction Asbestos worker injury litigation is now in its fourth decade in the United States.1 At least 500,000 asbestos workers and their family members have brought claims against one or more defendant corporations.2 Workers claiming injuries due to exposure to asbestos have sued more than a thousand corporations, in a wide range of industries.3 Some corporations have had hundreds of thousands of claims brought against them.4 As a result of the litigation, more than forty corporations have filed for insolvency or reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code.5 Insurance analysts report that U.S. insurers have paid more than $20 billion to resolve claims through 2000 and estimate that the total cost to U.S. insurers may ultimately be several times that.6 Estimates of the ultimate costs to resolve all U.S. asbestos claims, including expenditures by U.S. and non-U.S. insurers and uninsured losses paid directly by corporations, range upwards of IMAGE FORMULA5 $200 billion.7 And new epidemiological estimates suggest that the number of asbestos-exposed individuals may be several times the number previously believed to have been exposed.8 At least since the 1980s, asbestos litigation has been a source of consternation for the courts. By the mid-1980s, asbestos cases constituted a significant fraction of all civil filings in the ten federal and state courts where the litigation was then concentrated;9 in 1990, one out of every three civil cases filed in the Eastern District of Texas was an asbestos personal injury claim.10 By 1994, the Los Angeles Times reported that about fifty new asbestos cases were filed daily in the U.S.11 A series of RAND studies of asbestos litigation in the early 1980s found that plaintiffs obtained less than forty percent of every dollar spent to resolve an asbestos personal injury claim,12 that cases took many years to resolve (sometimes reaching a conclusion long after the plaintiff had died), and that some courts had given up on trying to process their asbestos cases, believing that only legislative action could deal with the masses of claims that were concentrated in their courts.13 In 1987, the Federal Judicial Center convened a special conference of judges and asbestos plaintiffs and defense counsel to discuss the litigation and options for resolution.14 In 1990, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Rehnquist appointed a special committee of the Judicial Conference to consider asbestos litigation, which called for congressional action to establish a "national asbestos dispute-resolution scheme."15 One member of the committee suggested that such a scheme should be modeled along the lines of the Black Lung program. 16 The Committee also recommended that the Judicial Panel IMAGE FORMULA7 on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) consolidate all asbestos cases pending in the federal courts. The JPML acted on the recommendation and transferred the consolidated cases to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania,17 where they were assigned to Judge Charles Weiner, who had established a reputation in that district for efficient management of asbestos cases and for facilitating large-scale settlements.18 Efforts to legislate a resolution of asbestos injury litigation date back to the 1970s,19 but except for a revision to the Bankruptcy Code to validate the resolution of asbestos claims by trusts established under reorganization plans,20 no legislative initiative has borne fruit. In the face of congressional inaction, the Judicial Conference in 1991 asked the Civil Rules Advisory Committee to consider amending Rule 23 to facilitate the resolution of asbestos and other mass tort litigation.21 Initially, the committee considered restructuring Rule 23 with mass tort litigation in mind. But over time, the committee's attention shifted to the rising controversy over consumer class actions, and it directed its efforts towards raising the bar for class-action certification for money damage cases generally, rather than lowering it for mass torts. …


Advanced research on rechargeable Lithium-ion batteries has allowed for large format and high-energy batteries to be largely used in Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs). For transportation applications, beside limitations of driving range, long charging time is still considered as an important barrier for a wide use of BEVs. The increase of the charging current amplitude may however subject the battery to stressful situations and can significantly increase the temperature of the battery. These phenomena reduce the battery's lifetime and performances and in worst-case scenario, thermal runaway can occur. To avoid this, there is a need for an optimized thermal management in order to keep the battery in a safe and beneficial range of operating conditions. Firstly, in this PhD dissertation a two-dimensional electrical-thermal model has been developed to predict the cell temperature distribution over the surface of the battery. This model requires less input parameters and still has high accuracy. In addition, a novel estimation tool has been developed for estimation of the thermal model parameters. Furthermore, the thermal behavior of the proposed battery has been investigated at different environmental conditions as well as during the abuse conditions for assessment of thermal stability of the battery. Taking into account the harsh thermal distribution, an advanced three-dimensional electrochemical-thermal model has been developed in order to investigate the impact of the cell design on the thermal, voltage and current distributions in order to avoid high non-homogenous distribution. The developed model allows us to optimize the cell design, in order to achieve the longest lifetime and high performances of battery cell. Finally, different thermal management strategies such as liquid cooling and passive cooling using phase change material embedded in an aluminium-foam (liquid-solid phase change) have been investigated and compared in depth by applying real BEV drive cycles. The main objective of this study is to decrease the complexity, the weight, the volume and the cost and to maintain high safety according to the best strategy.


Ocean-based climate action can play an important role in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement. Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are one of the main vehicles under the Paris Agreement for countries to communicate their national climate strategies. The purpose of this technical note is to lay out the methodology for assessing the extent to which ocean-based measures for climate action are represented in new and updated NDCs from island and coastal countries.


Like probably many others, we have been waiting eagerly for the results of the Long-term Evaluation of Glucosamine Sulfate (LEGS) study.1 The expectation was that this trial would shed light onto the ongoing controversy about the value of chondroitin, glucosamine and their combination in the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, and provide answers to several open questions. The LEGS study fully met this expectation as to the structure-modifying effect of the combination of chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine sulfate. However, what do the results of this trial tell us about the structure-modifying effect of chondroitin sulfate or glucosamine sulfate alone, or about the symptomatic effect of chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine sulfate or the combination thereof? Unfortunately, the results of the LEGS study add very little to this question as we will point out subsequently.

Symptomatic effect: The main symptomatic outcome measure in the LEGS study was changed from the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to self-reported pain when the authors realised that only about 20% of the patients recruited till that point in time were taking NSAIDs. The alternative primary outcome measure to assess the symptomatic effect was the maximum score of pain 'at its worst' recorded daily in a 7-day diary that the participants had to complete every 2 months. There are several problems with this alternative outcome measure: (1) It seems not to have been validated, that is, we have not found any relevant validation study. (2) Experiences with it are lacking, that is, we are not aware of any other trial in which this measure had been used. (3) Pain due to knee OA is activity-related (depending on the activity), that is, a patient with knee OA may not suffer from pain while walking, but may do so when descending stairs. We do not know what …


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We investigate the ability of a quantum measurement device to discriminate two states or, generically, two hypotheses. In full generality, the measurement can be performed a number n of times, and arbitrary preprocessing of the states and postprocessing of the obtained data are allowed. There is an intrinsic error associated with the measurement device, which we aim to quantify, that limits its discrimination power. We minimize various error probabilities (averaged or constrained) over all pairs of n-partite input states. These probabilities, or their exponential rates of decrease in the case of large n, give measures of the discrimination power of the device. For the asymptotic rate of the averaged error probability, we obtain a Chernoff-type bound, dual to the standard Chernoff bound for which the state pair is fixed and the optimization is over all measurements. The key point in the derivation is that identical copies of input states become optimal in asymptotic settings. Optimal asymptotic rates are also obtained for constrained error probabilities, dual to Stein's lemma and Hoeffding's bound. We further show that adaptive protocols where the state preparer gets feedback from the measurer do not improve the asymptotic rates. These rates thus quantify the ultimate discrimination power of a measurement device.


The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of age on vascular responses to acetylcholine (ACh) and NO-releasing compound (NOC-18). The studies were performed in young (4 mo old, n = 8) and old (22 mo old, n = 6) male rats. Responses to ACh and NOC-18 were examined in vitro by using isolated abdominal aortic rings. The maximum relaxation response to ACh, an endothelium-dependent vasodilation, was lower in aortas from old rats. Sensitivity (mean effective concentration; EC50) of ACh in old rats was significantly less than in young rats. There were no differences in maximum NOC-18-induced relaxation, an endothelium-independent vasodilation, in aortas from young and old rats. On the other hand, the concentration-response curve for NOC-18 was shifted to the right and the sensitivity (EC50 to NOC-18) was lower in old rats. These results indicated that both endothelium-dependent vasodilation induced by ACh and endothelium-independent vasodilation induced by NOC-18 are impaired in aorta from old rats.


Abstract When separation is a problem in binary dependent variable models, many researchers use Firth's penalized maximum likelihood in order to obtain finite estimates (Firth, 1993; Zorn, 2005; Rainey, 2016). In this paper, I show that this approach can lead to inferences in the opposite direction of the separation when the number of observations are sufficiently large and both the dependent and independent variables are rare events. As large datasets with rare events are frequently used in political science, such as dyadic data measuring interstate relations, a lack of awareness of this problem may lead to inferential issues. Simulations and an empirical illustration show that the use of independent "weakly-informative" prior distributions centered at zero, for example, the Cauchy prior suggested by Gelman et al. (2008), can avoid this issue. More generally, the results caution researchers to be aware of how the choice of prior interacts with the structure of their data, when estimating models in the presence of separation.


Changes in the contents of DNA and RNA, RNA species, the synthesis rates of DNA and RNA, and the activity of DNase and RNase were investigated in the callus of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L. cv. Willow Leaf) during subculture and differentiation. The contents of DNA and RNA were higher in differentiating callus than that in subcultured callus. After day 12, the contents of DNA and RNA in differentiating callus rose continuously while the contents of DNA and RNA in subcultured callus remained constant. Changes in RNA species and its relationship to total RNA level were also analyzed. At the stage of shoot primordium formation in differentiating callus, the activity of RNase increased markedly and the synthesis rate of RNA increased continuously; while the RNase activity and the synthesis rate of RNA in subcultured callus were much lower during the same period. During the period of shoot growth, the synthesis rate of DNA in differentiating callus was elevated compared to that in subcultured callus. The results above suggested that the metabolism of nucleic acids in differentiating callus was more active than that in subcultured callus.


Fosfosal, a phosphate derivative of salicylic acid, which presents both analgesic and antiinflammatory properties, was used as a model drug to study the potential of recently developed chitosan membranes (with different crosslinking degrees) to be used as drug release rate-controlling membranes. The fosfosal permeation across these membranes was studied using an in-house built developed diffusion cell with online automatic monitoring. Experiments were performed using phosphate buffer saline (PBS) solution at 37°C. Different flow properties of the detection set up were determined in order to estimate the errors introduced by the automatic online monitoring system. For increasing crosslinking degrees the permeability initially decreased, and then increased, likely as a consequence of the crosslinking influence on a variety of properties like crystallinity and hydrophilicity that have opposite influence on permeability. In summary, it was possible to control the drug release profile by means of changing the degree of crosslinking of chitosan membranes and to follow the respective release kinetics by means of using the developed diffusion cell.


When China and Africa, within the framework of the FOCAC, met three years ago in Beijing to establish a "strategic partnership", many were curious to see how Beijing was actually going to carry out its ambitious African safari. During this gathering, Chinese authorities made eight pledges aiming at strengthening the China-Africa axis. As both parties are meeting again next month, Beijing will be proud to announce that it has kept almost all its promises. Due to the global financial crisis, the next FOCAC will take place in a particularly severe economic environment. Is Beijing still capable of continuing its policy of financial largesse towards Africa? But more important, do African countries eventually know what they want from China?

 Key word: China-Africa, FOCAC.


The existence of the permanent electric dipole moment of a fundamental particle implies violation
of time reversal invariance. The electric dipole moment of a paramagnetic neutral atom is mainly
induced by the nuclear Schiff moment. In this study the Schiff moments induced by the interaction
which violates parity and time reversal invariance are calculated for various Xe isotopes using the
shell-model wavefunctions. The contributions to the Schiff moment from one-particle and onehole
excitations turn out to be very different from orbital to orbital. It is also found that the
contributions from the core excitations are larger than other particle-hole contributions.


Abstract To optimize a hypericin derivative as a potential photodynamic therapy agent its light-induced singlet oxygen/superoxide radical formation capability should be enhanced and its long-wavelength absorption band should be bathochromically shifted to better match medicinal lasers. A heavy-atom–substituted derivative was realized by electrophilic iodination of hypericin to yield 2,5-diiodo-hypericin. Using photodestruction of bilirubin IXα this derivative was demonstrated to exhibit an enhanced light-induced singlet oxygen/superoxide radical formation capability as compared to hypericin. With respect to a bathochromically shifted derivative styryl residues were attached to the methyl groups of hypericin by de novo ring synthesis. Although the long-wavelength absorption band of this derivative displayed a bathochromic shift of nearly 40 nm it unfortunately immediately underwent an intramolecular [2 + 2] cycloaddition to yield the corresponding cyclobutane derivative in which the added conjugation system became interrupted.


Young adolescents' online bullying behavior has raised a significant amount of academic attention. Nevertheless, little is known about the social context in which such negative actions occur. The present paper addresses this issue and examines how the patterns of traditional bullying and cyberbullying are related and how electronic forms of bullying can be linked to the social context at school. To address these questions, social network analysis was applied to examine the networks of social interactions and (cyber)bullying among an entire grade of 1,458 thirteen to fourteen year old pupils. The results show that (1) cyberbullying is an extension of traditional bullying, as victims often face the same perpetrators offline and online, (2) there is evidence of mutual cyberbullying among youngsters and (3) cyberbullying is more likely to occur in same-gender and same-class students. The implications for future research and prevention of cyberbullying are discussed.


The oil from the pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo) seed is claimed to be useful in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia. This investigation seeks to examine the effect of pumpkin seed oil on testosterone-induced hyperplasia of the prostate of rats. Hyperplasia was induced by subcutaneous administration of testosterone (0.3 mg/100 g of body weight) for 20 days. Simultaneous oral administration of either pumpkin seed oil (2.0 and 4.0 mg/100 g of body weight) or corn oil (vehicle) was also given for 20 days. The weights of the rats were recorded weekly, and the influence of testosterone and pumpkin seed oil on the weight gain of the rats was examined. On day 21, rats were sacrificed, and the prostate was removed, cleaned, and weighed. The prostate size ratio (prostate weight/rat body weight) was then calculated. Neither testosterone nor pumpkin seed oil had any significant influence on the weight gain of the rats. Testosterone significantly increased prostate size ratio (P < .05), and this induced increase was inhibited in rats fed with pumpkin seed oil at 2.0 mg/100 g of body weight. The protective effect of pumpkin seed oil was significant at the higher pumpkin seed oil dose (P < .02). We conclude pumpkin seed oil can inhibit testosterone-induced hyperplasia of the prostate and therefore may be beneficial in the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia.


The relative concentrations of Polybrene (PB) and calf serum (CS) in retroviral supernatant have considerable effects on the efficiency of retrovirus-mediated gene transfer and the stability of retroviral vectors. The effect of PB on the efficiency of transduction of Moloney murine leukemia virus (MMuLV)-derived vectors is strongly dependent on CS. At a fixed CS concentration, the efficiency of transduction shows a maximum as a function of PB concentration. Increasing the CS concentration shifted this maximum to higher PB concentrations, but the value of the maximum remained the same. Therefore, there were optimal combinations of PB and CS concentrations that maximized the efficiency of gene transfer: 4.4, 8.8, 13.2, and 22 micrograms/ml of PB for 1%, 2.5%, 5%, and 10% (vol/vol) CS, respectively. Moreover, the presence of PB affected significantly the kinetics of retroviral decay. The loss of retroviral activity did not follow simple exponential decay in the absence of PB during the decay period of the viral supernatant. The dynamics of viral inactivation showed an initial phase during which the transduction efficiency remained constant followed by exponential decay. However, in the presence of high PB concentrations (13.2 micrograms/ml) during the decay period of retroviral vectors, the initial delay was lost and the decay was exponential right from the outset. The present results suggest that in addition to virus-cell interactions that occur on the target cell surface, other physico-chemical processes may occur in solution that have profound effect on retroviral activity and therefore they are of particular importance for gene therapy.


Generally, methods of authentication and identification utilized in asserting users' credentials directly affect security of offered services. In a federated environment, service owners must trust external credentials and make access control decisions based on Assurance Information received from remote Identity Providers (IdPs). Communities (e.g. NIST, IETF and etc.) have tried to provide a coherent and justifiable architecture in order to evaluate Assurance Information and define Assurance Levels (AL). Expensive deployment, limited service owners' authority to define their own requirements and lack of compatibility between heterogeneous existing standards can be considered as some of the unsolved concerns that hinder developers to openly accept published works. By assessing the advantages and disadvantages of well-known models, a comprehensive, flexible and compatible solution is proposed to value and deploy assurance levels through a central entity called Proxy.


The Central Java Provincial KPU has a program which is one of the programs
of the KPU RI contents aimed at the community. From the data obtained there are
still many people whose knowledge level is still low will the election in Indonesia
and Joglo House election program. The purpose of this research is to know the
strategy used by Public Relations of KPU in organizing Joglo House election
socialization and for the society in Indonesia to learn about the election itself. The
method used in this study using descriptive method with data collection tool through
interview.
Socialization is carried out by plunging directly into the field because many
people do not know about this CPR and the level of knowledge is very low. KPU
Public Relations use the strategy indirectly and directly. Indirect strategy that is using
social media facebook, twitter in addition to social media KPU using website, print
and electronic media. While the direct strategy that is face to face or socialize in some
attractions in Semarang such as Banaran Coffee, Goa Kreo, Jatibarang Reservoir.
When carrying out the socialization of the KPU to attract the attention of visitors by
providing merchandise. From the results of socialization conducted by the Central
Java Provincial KPU can be said successfully because the PR explained the materials
to the visitors clearly and easily understood by visitors.


Abstract : The Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) is a worldwide network of ground stations that support a wide variety of users from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The network performs tracking, telemetry, and commanding (TT&C) for these varied users. Users, located at Satellite Operations Centers (SOC), must compete for time on the AFSCN. This thesis demonstrates how to predict satellite link performance, specifically by users of the AFSCN. It will also demonstrate how users might use this capability to save spacecraft power. A tool was created called the AFSCN Link Predictor (LP) which predicts BER across a future contact. The design of the AFSCN LP and a proposed modification to the AFSCN using DoD Architecture Framework (DoDAF) was accomplished. A simulation, using this tool, was conducted that demonstrates the utility of performance prediction for representative low, medium, and high earth orbiting spacecraft communicating with two geographically separated ground stations.


As a French-German research team we conducted a survey with a sample of academic libraries and graduate schools in France and Germany to determine the current situation and trends in the publishing of electronic PhD theses and dissertations (ETDs) under Open Access (OA). The percentage of OA theses varies depending on the country, the research field, and the institution. Not all ETDs are available in OA for a variety of reasons, including confidentiality, embargoes, author-imposed restrictions, and a lack of encouragement and/or requirement by libraries and graduate schools. The survey reveals qualitative and structural differences between France and Germany in this area. Here we discuss the survey findings, the methodologies used in the survey, and the various policies (or lack thereof) and their impact on ETDs and OA. A strategy is outlined for moving towards ensuring that publishing ETDs under OA becomes routine, and an electronic version becomes the only manifestation of a thesis.


The aim of this project is to broaden the knowledge about Service Level Agreements (SLA) within the context of airports and their services offered, focusing on the measurement of quality levels as a key factor to establish this kind of contracts. At the same time, Barcelona Airport is treated aside and a SLA model is proposed, mainly based on building new performance indicators. SLA are a kind of contracts between providers and their customers, which differ from traditional contracts in terms of the new ones being based on performance evaluation as the main basis of the contractual relationship. Overall it is an interesting concept if we apply it to the main actors in aviation and air transport fields, which are airlines, airports and ground handling companies. The last ones become especially relevant if we consider the measurement of the offered service quality. As handling agents operate within the airport facilities, they must offer an excellent customer service which may take the airport to be well considered by their users, them being either passengers or airlines. Currently, from an international point of view, we are really far away from functioning based on performance contracts. Tools such as SLA are still under investigation and development. However, by means of the definition of new performance service indicators, a new model will be proposed, which will provide the tasks taking place at Barcelona Airport with more control and thoroughness. In addition, it is worth saying that no additional economical or environmental costs will be generated.


Aboriginal health To the Editor: Unlike Philip Woodruff (MJA, March 17, 1984), I did not gain particular pleasure from reading I. A. Musgrave's articles on Aboriginal mortality or, more specifically, the organization and achievements of the Aboriginal Health Programme in Queensland.' Aboriginal health is a highly emotive issue, and even the more rational among us tend to allow reason to be swamped by emotion. I regret that this is as true of Musgrave's article as of those other papers published in the Journal that he criticizes.a.a The road to hell may be paved with good intentions, but the official road toward good Aboriginal health is even more littered by failed programmes and schemes. I am sure that Dr Musgrave must have read, and have some knowledge, of the numerous past and recent failures in Aboriginal health care and education committed by perfectly wellintentioned doctors working for state and private organizations. (One assumes that Dr Ian Musgrave is the very same Dr Anthony Musgrave who originated the present Queensland Aboriginal Health Programme.) I am concerned that, in the first three paragraphs of his article, he shows little insight into why such schemes have failed. He gives no facts to convince us that the system he inaugurated has done any better than others, past or present. Figures I to 5 show us that mortality in Queensland is improving, but not why it is improving. There is no mention as to whether Aboriginal groups in any community have ever been consulted to find out what their priorities in health care might be. Dr Musgrave talks of "legitimate government programmes". One wonders what an illegimate government programme might be. No one denies that a tremendous amount of effort is being made by the Aboriginal Health Programme, but he has completely failed to address whether this effort is having any effect at all. May I draw his attention to two of the most significant reports on Aboriginal health, which he has either not read or seen fit not to quote. The first is that of the National Trachoma and Eye Health Programme. and I particularly refer to the assessment of Aboriginal housing;' the other, that of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal Health.' Does he really think that Aboriginal commimities, whose contact with government health officials in many places has been relatively brief, believe our theories of disease transmission, or indeed in any of the philosophy behind Western European medicine? I suggest that he talk to the health workers in the Aboriginal Health Programme about this matter. There are few prizes to be awarded for an observation that alcohol is a disruptive force among Aborigines. I would have preferred that Dr Musgrave tell us why it is a disruptive force, since without such knowledge I cannot see that any alcohol programme can be advanced. His special pleading to demonstrate that adult mortality among Aborigines is only a little worse than in the white population in Queensland seemed unconvincing. His remarks on the staff of independent Aboriginal medical services, describing them as lessqualified, shows some ignorance of the medical staff involved in these programmes. In a scientific journal one should be able to expect intellectual honesty in an attempt at rational analysis. It saddens me to read an article that makes no attempt at such analysis but carries all the hallmarks of an "apologiapro sua vita". John E. Thompson ThoracicAnnexe CairnsHospitals Board Cairns.QLD4870


The rate of uptake of cholesteryl ester from chylomicrons has been determined with the isolated perfused rat heart and both intact and functionally hepatectomized rats. Uptake was found to be proportional to the cholesteryl ester content of the particles. Transfer of cholesteryl ester to other lipoprotein classes of the plasma was negligible under these conditions, and loss of cholesteryl ester from the medium was associated with quantitative recovery in the vascular bed. The uptake mechanism was nonsaturable and independent of the lipoprotein lipase binding site. Compared with receptor-dependent uptake of low density lipoprotein cholesteryl ester by heart endothelium, the chylomicron pathway appears to provide a major proportion of cholesteryl ester cleared from the plasma. Uptake was initially heparin dependent, and cleared lipid was released by 10 microgram/ml of heparin; however, lipid taken up rapidly became heparin resistant and was then hydrolyzed slowly with production of unesterified fatty acid. These results are discussed in the context of the possible role of cholesterol-rich chylomicron remnant lipoproteins in atherogenesis.


This thesis presents a highly automated design framework, called DaedalusRT, and several novel techniques. As the foundation of the DaedalusRT design framework, two types of dataflow Models-of-Computation (MoC) are used, one as timing analysis model and another one as the implementation model. The timing analysis model is used to formally reason about timing behavior of an application. In the context of DaedalusRT, the Mode-Aware Data Flow (MADF) MoC has been developed as the timing analysis model for adaptive streaming applications using different static modes. A novel mode transition protocol is devised to allow efficient reasoning of timing behavior during mode transitions. Based on the transition protocol, a hard real-time scheduling approach is proposed. On the other hand, the implementation model is used for efficient code generation of parallel computation, communication, and synchronization. In this thesis, the Parameterized Polyhedral Process Network (P3N) MoC has been developed to model adaptive streaming applications with parameter reconfiguration. An approach to verify the functional property of the P3N MoC has been devised. Finally, implementation of the P3N MoC on a MPSoC platform has shown that run-time performance penalty due to parameter reconfiguration is negligible.


Conserved primers were used to PCR amplify 95% of the Helicobacter hepaticus 16S rRNA gene. Its sequence was determined and aligned to those of related bacteria, enabling the selection of primers to highly diverged regions of the 16S rRNA gene and an oligonucleotide probe for the development of a PCR-liquid hybridization assay. This assay was shown to be both sensitive and specific for H. hepaticus 16S rRNA gene sequences.


Abstract This paper is a comparative analysis of two key documentaries by Fernando Solanas: La hora de los hornos / The Hour of the Furnaces (1966–68) and Memoria del saqueo / Social Genocide (2003). It argues that Solanas produces documentaries when the representative link that ties the political representatives to the represented (the people) is suspended or breaks down, as experienced during the times of the proscription of Peronism (1955–73) and in the more recent crisis of representation in Argentine institutional politics (1989–2001). The comparison follows two axes: political arguments and the aesthetics of contrast. Regarding the first criterion, the paper highlights the current persistence, in Solanas's political argumentation, of externalist-mechanistic versions of dependency theory of the late 1960s and early 1970s. In relation to the aesthetics of contrast, it analyses the stark oppositions in Solanas's documentaries as a visual rhetoric which can be read as an essentialist false-bottom economy that opposes 'appearance' to 'reality'. The article concludes that these political and aesthetic polarizations are essentializing and literalizing discursive strategies that denounce the excesses of political representation from an unmediated and transparent site of full popular presence. Within such strategies, there is no room for the constitutive opacity intrinsic to representation and articulatory politics.


Despite the Supreme Court's 25-years of fierce forays and rapid retreats in the battle over property rights and the takings clause, two intractable theoretical problems have eluded the Court's attempts to provide guidance for state actors as to when a regulation will, in the words of Justice Holmes, "go too far." Those two problems lie in identifying the relevant parcel against which a property restriction will be weighed (the parcel as a whole, relevant parcel, or denominator issue) and the relevance of the timing of a regulation in analyzing the extent and reasonableness of a landowner's expectations of unregulated use for compensation purposes. The first is a question about how we identify the quantum of property "taken" by a regulation; is it one toothpick out of a very large bundle of property rights or is it the entirety of a relatively small bundle? The second is a question about the fairness of changing land-use regulations mid-stream, so that a person who purchased land under one regime might be entitled to compensation when a new, stricter regime significantly diminishes the uses she can make of her land. These two issues merge together when takings jurisprudence demands that we identify the relevant parcel at some regulatory moment in time. This article suggests that we should not be analyzing takings claims in single snapshot moments, but should instead look at actions the landowner has taken to make herself vulnerable to the supposed harms of regulations. This article challenges traditional takings jurisprudence and offers a better way to balance the legitimate interests of landowners with the needs of the public in regulating land uses.


Lifelogging is a technically inspired approach that attempts to address the problem of human forgetting by developing systems that "record everything." Uptake of lifelogging systems has generally been disappointing, however. One reason for this lack of uptake is the absence of design principles for developing digital systems to support memory. Synthesizing multiple studies, we identify and evaluate 4 new empirically motivated design principles for lifelogging: Selectivity, Embodiment, Synergy, and Reminiscence. We first summarize four empirical studies that motivate the principles, then describe the evaluation of four novel systems built to embody these principles. We show that design principles were generative, leading to the development of new classes of lifelogging system, as well as providing strategic guidance about how those systems should be built. Evaluations suggest support for Selection and Embodiment principles, but more conceptual and technical work is needed to refine the Synergy and Reminiscence principles.


One of the most fundamental and cherished concepts advocated for any government is that "rightness" should be defined by the "rule of law"; that is, the basic design and operations of governments as stated in constitutions, enacted laws, the enduring structure of the national justice system, a body of common laws and precedents, and a legal structure of governments in which the powers and authorities are both authorized and limited. Citizen's rights are protected and their obligations defined under these laws, and usually include the right to take legal action to protect themselves.  The rule of law has long been considered as the principal means by which governments are kept within proper limits.  Even totalitarian governments attempt to hide their arbitrary motives by issuing finely worded constitutions that appear to guarantee a rule of law but that in reality are doomed to be disregarded at the pleasure of the State. Charles F. Bingman spent 30 years as a U. S. government official in NASA, the Transportation Department and the Executive Office of the President, and he has since taught public management at the George Washington University and the Johns Hopkins U. Washington Center.  He has undertaken consulting assignments in more than a dozen countries including China.  His most recent book is "Why Governments Go Wrong", iUniverse, 2006. [1] Concept of the supremacy of regular, as opposed to arbitrary, power; c. the exercise of these powers by those in authority; d. the doctrine that any person is subject to the ordinary laws of the region; e. the As used in this paper, the rule of law is: a.  A set of substantive legal principles and laws; b.  the doctrine that the general constitutional/legal principles are the result of judicial decisions determining the rights of private individuals in the courts.


We have analyzed the total solar irradiance (TSI) and the spectral solar irradiance as ultraviolet emission (UV) in the wavelength range 115–180 nm, observed with the instruments TIM and SOLSTICE within the framework of SORCE (the solar radiation and climate experiment) during the long solar minimum between the 23rd and 24th cycles. The wavelet analysis reveals an increase in the magnetic flux in the latitudinal zone of the sunspot activity, accompanied with an increase in the TSI and UV on the surface rotation timescales of solar activity complexes. In-phase coherent structures between the midlatitude magnetic flux and TSI/UV appear when the long-lived complexes of the solar activity are present. These complexes, which are related to long-lived sources of magnetic fields under the photosphere, are maintained by magnetic fluxes reappearing in the same longitudinal regions. During the deep solar minimum (the period of the absence of sunspots), a coherent structure has been found, in which the phase between the integrated midlatitude magnetic flux is ahead of the total solar irradiance on the timescales of the surface rotation.


In her contribution to the international seminar on "Natural Family Planning" organized in October by the Irish Department of Health in cooperation with the World Health Organization, Professor Judith Bardwick, professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, offered an explanation for the high dropout rate from contraceptive programs based on periodic abstinence and for the difference between method failure rates of as little as 1% and user failure rates as high as 30% or more. She argued that contraceptive methods which ask women to maintain a continuous observation of the symptoms of their menstrual cycles will draw the attention of the women continuously to the act of coitus. Yet, simultaneously, the use of these symptoms as a contraceptive means requires abstinence from coitus. Even Bardwick was unable to make very definite statements regarding contraception based on periodic abstinence because of the lack of available data. A primary benefit of the Irish seminar was the presentation of the preliminary results from a 5-center international study of the Billings Method (also known as the Ovulation Method or the Cervical Mucus Method). The study, supervised by the World Health Organization in Geneva, is being conducted in Auckland, Bangalore, Dublin, Manila, and San Miguel and involves 870 couples. Over 80% of the couples are Roman Catholic. Professor H.G. Burger reported findings from the first 3 months of the study. The method (which uses observation of both the quantity and quality of vaginal mucus to determine the time of ovulation) required an average of 15-18 days abstinence in each cycle with 11-15 days available for intercourse. 90.8% of the women were thought to have acquired a good understanding of the method after the 1st cycle and 97.1% after the 3rd cycle. The couples' motivation for using the method was "religious" in 40% of the cases and "unhappiness with other methods" in about 25%. During the 2704 cycles under observation, there were 45 pregnancies in 5.2% of the women. 2 of these were regarded as user failures. Method related failures ranged from 0.48 to 3.00 and user-related failures from 0.96 to 19.25.


BACKGROUND. Preterm birth has been associated with increased parenting stress in early infancy, and some reports have found this to be a risk factor for later behavioral problems. There are, however, few studies and conflicting results. Information about the fathers is scarce. OBJECTIVES. Our goal was to study the effects of an early-intervention program on parenting stress after a preterm birth until 1 year corrected age. METHODS. A randomized, controlled trial was conducted including infants with a birth weight <2000 g treated at the University Hospital of North Norway Trust, which serves the 2 northern-most counties in Norway, to examine the effects of a modified version of the Mother-Infant Transaction Program on parenting stress measured by the Parenting Stress Index. A term control group was also recruited. The Parenting Stress Index was administered to the mothers at 6 and 12 months' corrected age and to the fathers at 12 months' corrected age. The intervention consisted of 8 sessions shortly before discharge and 4 home visits by specially trained nurses focusing on the infant's unique characteristics, temperament, and developmental potential and the interaction between the infant and the parents. RESULTS. Seventy-one infants were included in the preterm intervention group, and 69 were included in the preterm control group. The preterm groups were well balanced. Seventy-four infants were included in the term control group. Compared with the preterm controls, both the mothers and fathers in the preterm intervention group reported significant lower scores in child domain, parent domain, and total stress on all occasions except the mother-reported child domain at 12 months. These differences were not related to birth weight or gestational age. The level of stress among the preterm intervention group was comparable to their term peers. Both parents in the intervention group reported consistently lower scores within the distractibility/hyperactivity, reinforces parents, competence, and attachment subscales compared with the preterm control group. There were no differences in mean summary stress scores between the mothers and fathers in the 2 preterm groups at 12 months, but the intraclass correlation coefficient was higher in the intervention group. CONCLUSIONS. This early-intervention program reduces parenting stress among both mothers and fathers of preterm infants to a level comparable to their term peers. We are now studying whether this will result in long-term beneficial effects.


Purpose/Background: "Weaving" Indigenous and Western knowledges are understood to advance health equity for the Indigenous community whose own knowledge and values are often subsumed. Partnerships that support Indigenous leadership and bring Indigenous knowledge to greater parity with Western knowledge are imperative. Indigenous people living in Small Island Developing States like the U.S. territories experience health disparities. The WHO has declared noncommunicable diseases as a global health epidemic, including cancer disparities. In American Samoa (AS) less than 7% of age-eligible adults participated in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, while the Healthy People 2020 target is 70% screened. CRC may be prevented through screening and early detection. The relationship between CRC screening with knowledge, attitudes, beliefs (KAB), and health literacy has never been locally assessed in AS. AS based community researchers partnered with regional academic researchers in local research training, instrument development, data collection, and data analysis. Community relevant approaches guided assessment of CRC screening rates, CRC screening KAB, and health literacy. Objective: This abstract describes the community engaged approaches and results through the National Institute of Minority Health Disparities funded INdigenous Samoan Partnership to Initiate Research Excellence (INSPIRE), introduced at the 2015 CTR-IN annual meeting. Materials & Methods: INSPIRE principal Investigators are based in AS, operated through the American Samoa Community Coalition, a community-based organization, partnering with academic co-investigators in Hawaii and California. To assess CRC KAB and health literacy, two validated assessment instruments were adapted: The KAB survey, from self-developed and 47 Community Assessment on Colorectal Cancer Screening Knowledge, Attitudes, Behavior, and Health Literacy in American Samoa: Methods and Results Tofeono, Sy, Kaopua, Tong, Cassel, and Yoshikawa Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice Volume 12, MW-CTRIN Special Issue, Summer 2019 http://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/jhdrp/ Follow on Facebook: Health.Disparities.Journal Follow on Twitter: @jhdrp population-based instruments, and Short Test for Functional Health Literacy in Adults (STOFHLA). Community partners translated then back translated both surveys with three focus groups. Twenty cognitive interviews were conducted to test translation cogency. Seven AS INSPIRE research trainees participating in year-long workshops were trained on Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS). Initial participants (seeds) were recruited by social characteristics. Upon survey completion participants received coupons to each recruit three eligible participants. 713 community respondents participated in three months. An INSPIRE researcher (epidemiologist) analyzed data, with technical assistance from an academic biostatistician in Hawaii when needed fostering research capacity training. Bivariate and multivariate statistics analyzed CRC knowledge, attitudes, health literacy as correlates and predictors of self-reported screening. Results: About 65 percent of respondents finished high school; 68.9% had no insurance. Only 2 respondents completed CRC screening, but 63.3% and 82.3% of English vs Samoan survey respondents respectively would get colonoscopy. Among the 11 knowledge questions, 5 items were "don't know" while 2 items were incorrect responses on English and Samoan surveys respectively. Almost twice as many Samoan compared to English survey respondents (81% vs. 44%) scored "inadequate" in the S-TOFHLA. Correlates and predictors of CRC screening behavior and differences in results between the respondents who took English vs Samoan surveys will be reported. Discussion/Conclusion: Almost all participants have not received CRC screening, lower than other reported AS nationwide figures. This first ever study, led by and for American Samoans obtained robust results on knowledge, attitudes, and health literacy of CRC screening to allow continued research and interventions to increase very low CRC screening rates.


Donors are concerned about how their aid is used, especially how it affects fiscal behaviour by recipient governments. This study reviews the recent evidence on the effects of aid on government spending and tax effort in recipient countries, concluding with a discussion of when (general) budget support is a fiscally efficient aid modality. Severe data limitations restrict inferences on the relationship between aid and spending, especially as the government is not aware of all the aid available to finance the provision of public goods. Three generalizations are permitted by the evidence: aid finances government spending; the extent to which aid is fungible is over-stated and even where it is fungible this does not appear to make the aid less effective; and there is no systematic effect of aid on tax effort. Beyond these conclusions the fiscal effects of aid are country-specific.


Background/Objectives: As multi-agent system requirement is high in e-health care, this module for analysis and diagnosis of cardiac patients has been designed using transformation method in this work. Methods/Statistical Analysis: The baseline drift of the ECG has been eliminated and the beat rate is evaluated from the peaks of the signals using Fast Fourier Transform. It helps for analysis of the patients' cardiac condition. Further for an adaptive window size, wavelet transform is utilized for both time and frequency component of a signal. This makes it as a potential technique for baseline drift removal and detection more accurate than FFT. Findings: FT analysis provides only the frequency component of any signal. The analysis will be more versatile and informative if both time and frequency information are investigated. For an adaptive window size, wavelet analysis can take care of both time and frequency component of a signal adequately. This makes it as a potential technique for this work. Subsequently an attempt is made to estimate the base line drift removal of the signal to obtain the main signal using wavelet decomposition. Next to it discrete wavelet transform have been applied to enrich the result. Application/Improvements: This can be well utilized in e-healthcare systems for the benefits of both patients and hospitals irrespective of distance. Also this module can be improved for other diseases.


The creation of a hybrid beauty in the cartoon sphere and in advertising intersected with popular and consumer culture at a moment when women's roles in the public sphere were changing. Politically the nation was at a crossroads: the Anglo-Egyptian treaty of 1936 removed most impediments toward Egyptian independence; however, British troops remained in the Suez Canal zone. With respect to economic history, multinationals were expanding in Egypt, while an emerging bourgeoisie worked to establish local industries. With World War II came economic crisis: inflation, profiteering, black markets, rising inequality, and the return of British troops to strategic locations around the country. This article argues that the hybrid beauty represents the push and pull between women's emerging roles in public spaces and traditional values, imperialism versus authenticity, local industry competing against multinationals, and a negotiation of new roles for husbands and wives in companionate marriage.


Neural network classifiers can largely rely on simple spurious features, such as backgrounds, to make predictions. However, even in these cases, we show that they still often learn core features associated with the desired attributes of the data, contrary to recent findings. Inspired by this insight, we demonstrate that simple last layer retraining can match or outperform state-of-the-art approaches on spurious correlation benchmarks, but with profoundly lower complexity and computational expenses. Moreover, we show that last layer retraining on large ImageNet-trained models can also significantly reduce reliance on background and texture information, improving robustness to covariate shift, after only minutes of training on a single GPU.


This is a review of the chrono-geometrical structure of special and general relativity with a special emphasis on the role of non-inertial frames and of the conventions for the synchronization of distant clocks. ADM canonical metric and tetrad gravity are analyzed in a class of space-times suitable to incorporate particle physics by using Dirac theory of constraints, which allows to arrive at a separation of the genuine degrees of freedom of the gravitational field, the Dirac observables describing generalized tidal effects, from its gauge variables, describing generalized inertial effects. A background-independent formulation (the rest-frame instant form of tetrad gravity) emerges, since the chosen boundary conditions at spatial infinity imply the existence of an asymptotic flat metric. By switching off the Newton constant in presence of matter this description deparametrizes to the rest-frame instant form for such matter in the framework of parametrized Minkowski theories. The problem of the objectivity of the spacetime point-events, implied by Einstein's Hole Argument, is analyzed.


Objectives
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) gestational weight gain (GWG) recommendations do not differentiate by severity of obesity. Among a large, diverse cohort of women with obesity, we assessed gestational weight gain and neonatal size outcomes between prepregnancy obesity classes.

Methods
Electronic health records from 25,017 women with obesity who delivered singleton term births (37-42 weeks) at Kaiser Permanente Northern California between 2008-2013 were abstracted. We examined associations between BMI obesity class (class 1 30-34.9 kg/m2; class 2 35-39.9 kg/m2; class 3 ≥ 40 kg/m2), total GWG, adherence to IOM recommendations (below, within, or above), infant birthweight and large-for-gestational age (LGA, > 90th percentile for weight) using analysis of variance or chi2. Multivariable linear and logistic regression models were used to examine associations between obesity class, total GWG, and neonatal size, adjusting for maternal height, infant sex, race/ethnicity, parity, gestational age at delivery, and total GWG in neonatal models.

Results
Before pregnancy, 60.9% of women had class 1 obesity, 24.6% class 2, and 14.5% class 3. Adherence to IOM recommendations varied by obesity class (P < 0.001); overall, a majority (59.0%) of women showed excessive GWG (64.3% class 1; 53.7% class 2; 45.7% class 3) with a smaller proportion (21.0%) gaining within IOM recommendations (20.9% class 1; 21.5% class 2; 20.5% class 3). In adjusted models, compared to women with class 1 obesity, estimated total GWG was 1.89 kg lower among women with class 2 obesity (P < 0.001), and 3.4 kg lower among women with class 3 obesity (P < 0.001). A total of 3933 neonates were born LGA (14.4% class 1; 16.9% class 2; and 19.5% class 3). In adjusted models, compared to women with class 1 obesity, neonates born to women with class 2 or class 3 obesity were heavier (class 2: b = 58.3g, 95% CI (45.1, 71.5), P < 0.001; class 3: b = 121.5g, 95% CI (105.1, 137.8), P < 0.001) and at higher risk for LGA infants (class 2 AOR 1.50, CI: 1.28, 1.77; P < 0.001; class 3 AOR 2.38, 95% CI: 2.01, 2.82; P < 0.001).

Conclusions
Prepregnancy class 2 and class 3 obesity were associated with lower gestational weight gain, but higher infant birthweight and risk for LGA. The optimal range of maternal weight gain that balances risk for mothers and infants may vary by severity of obesity.

Funding Sources
Kaiser Permanente Community Benefit Grant to Monique Hedderson, PhD.


Volatilization is a valid concern in the solidification of wastes containing organics. In the presence of strongly adsorbing substances, however, even volatile compounds may not rule out solidification. In order to distinguish between wastes having negligible emissions and those from which emissions may be problematic, a definition of a volatilization potential and a method of determining this potential is needed. The assessment method can be based on the emission rate measured in a standardized laboratory setup. This paper begins to develop a laboratory setup and a reference framework for the interpretation of the measured emissions from sludges. A volatilization quality index is derived, which can be used to evaluate and rank the potential of volatilization from sludges during mixing operations. This quality index is related to the measured emissions from an organic sludge taken from a waste site. The implications of the experimental results are related to practice.


Maize occupies an important position in the world economy, and serves as an important source of food and feed. Together with rice and wheat, it provides at least 30 percent of the food calories to more than 4.5 billion people in 94 developing countries. Maize production is constrained by a wide range of biotic and abiotic stresses that keep afflicting maize production and productivity causing serious yield losses which bring yield levels below the potential levels. New innovations and trends in the areas of genomics, bioinformatics, and phenomics are enabling breeders with innovative tools, resources and technologies to breed superior resilient cultivars having the ability to resist the vagaries of climate and insect pest attacks. Maize has high nutritional value but is deficient in two amino acids viz. Lysine and Tryptophan. The various micronutrients present in maize are not sufficient to meet the nutritive demands of consumers, however the development of maize hybrids and composites with modifying nutritive value have proven to be good to meet the demands of consumers. Quality protein maize (QPM) developed by breeders have higher concentrations of lysine and tryptophan as compared to normal maize. Genetic level improvement has resulted in significant genetic gain, leading to increase in maize yield mainly on farmer's fields. Molecular tools when collaborated with conventional and traditional methodologies help in accelerating these improvement programs and are expected to enhance genetic gains and impact on marginal farmer's field. Genomic tools enable genetic dissections of complex QTL traits and promote an understanding of the physiological basis of key agronomic and stress adaptive and resistance traits. Marker-aided selection and genome-wide selection schemes are being implemented to accelerate genetic gain relating to yield, resilience, and nutritional quality. Efforts are being done worldwide by plant breeders to develop hybrids and composites of maize with high nutritive value to feed the people in future.


Re-use is the fundamental means of sustaining and thus conserving modest architectural
heritage (Grade II listed buildings). Currently, it remains a marginal activity within property
development as the direct agents perceive the re-use process to be more complex, construction
and project costs to be higher, and the project duration to be longer than new built projects. As
a result, the risk of vacancy and obsolescence in architectural heritage Increases.
The author asserts that understanding the actual dynamics of the process, and identifying the
factors that increase the chances of overcoming challenges associated with re-use, and thus
achieving a successful outcome, would be Instrumental In firstly evaluating the validity of the
above perceptions, which are widely published in the related literature, and then proposing a
'good practice re-use process' that can be adopted to similar projects. Hence, agents would
become equipped with the know-how of carrying out re-use projects. Eventually, re-use would
move towards the centre of the property development domain, and subsequently our capacity
for sustaining architectural heritage would have increased.
Therefore, this thesis focuses on the process of re-using listed buidings. It adopts a process
mapping approach m a case study context. The development processes of three re-use projects
in London are mapped. The process mapping approach adopted is novel to the property
development sector. Its novelty lies in two areas. Firstly, it maps the actual processes instead of
proposing a normative process protocol. Secondly, it devises a methodological approach, which
is both flexible enough to allow data 'speak for itself, and systematic enough to allow for
rigorous and consistent analysis of rich and extensive qualitative data. (Comparative analysis of
the maps follow process mapping. Here, the aim is to assess process performances and project
outcomes. Then a 'good practice guide for re-use process' is proposed. This is based on the
findings of the comparative analysis.
The research has shown that the re-use process is complex, but is still possible to achieve
success if the development team is competent in managing complexity, flexible and responsive,
and adopts a holistic project perspective. Even if the development teams do not have these
attributes, they can successfully complete a re-use project if the market is buoyant. The
buoyancy of the market can thus counter-balance the direct agents' reluctance to get involved
and increase the opportunities of re-using listed buildings. The challenge is to establish and
sustain the attributes the development team needs to possess to achieve success in the
development/construction industry where short-termism still overrides. Until this is achieved, re- -
use is likely to continue to be a marginal activity dominated by a small number of development
teams with expertise in the field at locations and times of market depression.