The intergeniculate leaflet (IGL) is an integral part of the adult circadian visual system. It is characterized by the presence of retinal afferents and peptidergic cells projecting via a geniculohypothalamic tract (GHT) to the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), site of the mammalian circadian clock. The adult IGL also contains abundant reactive astrocytes immunoreactive to GFAP. Because glia have a large role in brain development, we examined the ontogeny of the hamster IGL with respect to both glial and neuronal markers. Neuropeptide Y- immunoreactive (NPY-IR) cells destined for the IGL appear on embryonic day 11 (E11) in a matrix of vimentin (VIM)-IR radial glia. Migratory ellipsoid NPY-IR cells with long leading and trailing processes become oriented between the reticular thalamic neuroepithelial lobule, and the developing IGL. Most NPY-IR cells arrive in the IGL by E14 and extend axons ventrally into the GHT. These penetrate the SCN at P3 and arborize to an adult-like stage by P10. A specialized GFAP-IR radial glial path coinciding with the migratory route of NPY-IR cells appears by E14. As early as E15, cells contributing to this path are found displaced away from the ventricle. As the glial path disappears from the maturing brain, the entire length of the IGL becomes filled with GFAP-IR astrocytes. These features are consistent with translocation and transformation of a specialized set of radial glia into IGL astrocytes. The results demonstrate that the IGL is a large, developmentally important, feature of the lateral geniculate complex that is embryologically distinct from adjacent dorsal and ventrolateral geniculate nuclei.


Surveys were made in 2001 and 2002 to determine the distribution and prevalence of the alfalfa blotch leafminer, Agromyza frontella (Diptera: Agromyzidae), and its primary parasitoids, Dacnusa dryas and Chrysocharis liriomyzae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae and Eulophidae, respectively), in Illinois. We collected 239 samples from alfalfa fields in the alfalfa-producing regions of Illinois. Samples from each site consisted of 20 cut stems and 10 sets of 10 sweeps in 2001, and 40 stems and 10 sets of 20 sweeps in 2002. Each trifoliate was examined for mining and pinholing injury, and the number of adult A frontella, D. dryas, and C. liriomyzae per 10 sweeps was calculated for each site. We found that 16.3% of the sites were infested with A. frontella, and all infested fields were north of 39.95° N latitude. Although up to 95% of stems were injured at some sites, mean injury per stem never exceeded 12% of trifoliates. Maximum adult abundance was 8.1 adults per 10 sweeps. We did not detect D. dryas or C. liriomyzae in any of the sweep samples. Because of consistently low populations and the relatively slow rate ofA. frontella's spread in Illinois, we conclude that A. frontella is not a serious threat to alfalfa production in this state at this time.


Vegetation is closely related to groundwater depth in the arid inland areas. In this study we investigate the relationship between vegetation and depth of the groundwater table in June 2000 in the Ejina area, northwestern China, by combining remote sensing with in-situ groundwater observations. Our results demonstrate that the groundwater depth suitable for vegetation in this region ranges from 2 to 5 m, depending on species composition. Hardly any vegetation occurs when the groundwater depth is below 5.5 m because the rooting depth of the present species is limited and therefore cannot maintain adequate water supplies to their canopies.


For more than 30 years, knowledge-based product configuration systems have been successfully applied in many industrial domains. Correspondingly, a large number of advanced techniques and algorithms have been developed in academia and industry to support different aspects of configuration reasoning. While traditional research in the field focused on the configuration of physical artefacts, recognition of the business value of customizable software products led to the emergence of software product line engineering. Despite the significant overlap in research interests, the two fields mainly evolved in isolation. Only limited attempts were made at combining the approaches developed in the different fields. In this paper, we first aim to give an overview of commonalities and differences between software product line engineering and product configuration. We then identify opportunities for cross-fertilization between these fields and finally develop a research agenda to combine their respective techniques. Ultimately, this should lead to a unified configuration approach.


Objective: The Norwegian Breast Cancer Screening Programme invites women aged 50–69 to biennial mammographic screening. Although 84% of invited women have attended at least once, attendance rates vary across the country. We investigated attendance rates among various immigrant groups compared with non-immigrants in the programme. Methods: There were 4,053,691 invitations sent to 885,979 women between 1996 and 2015. Using individual level population-based data from the Cancer Registry and Statistics Norway, we examined percent attendance and calculated incidence rate ratios, comparing immigrants with nonimmigrants, using Poisson regression, following women's first invitation to the programme and for ever having attended. Results: Immigrant women had lower attendance rates than the rest of the population, both following the first invitation (53.1% versus 76.1%) and for ever having attended (66.9% versus 2 86.4%). Differences in attendance rates between non-immigrant and immigrant women were less pronounced, but still present, when adjusted for sociodemographic factors. We also identified differences in attendance between immigrant groups. Attendance increased with duration of residency in Norway. A subgroup analysis of migrants' daughters showed that 70.0% attended following the first invitation, while 82.3% had ever attended. Conclusions: Immigrant women had lower breast cancer screening attendance rates. The rationale for immigrant women's non-attendance needs to be explored through further studies targeting women from various birth countries and regions.


Higher-order organizational learning occurs when a company adopts new principles, assumptions, and paradigms, which often turn into competitive advantage. Systems development and implementation offer an opportunity for higher-order organizational learning that is rarely exploited. Advanced information systems, in particular expert systems (ES) and executive information systems (EIS), provide ample opportunities for higher-order organizational learning if the development process is structured in certain ways. This work includes an analysis of three organizations in terms of project outcomes, organizational learning outcomes, and organizational performance. On the basis of these assessments, five critical success factors are identified that may contribute to organizational learning during advanced system development. The relationships between these factors and organizational outcomes are summarized in a preliminary model that can form the basis for future research. The work closes with some recommendations for ways information systems managers can encourage higher-order organizational learning during advanced system development.


The thesis is about the Benin artist Romuald Hazoume and his installation La Bouche du Roi. In his artworks, he tells about the contemporary African situation and what it is like to be an African today. He assumes that slavery has not disappeared, it has just changed. The underlying context for African contemporary art is investigated in order to analyze La Bouche du Roi and Hazoume's perspective. The contextual approach examine areas such as the contemporary African art scene, a traditional perspective, masks, slavery, colonization, globalization, postmodernism and post colonialism. The author places the Hazoume in a post colonial context because there are parallels to the movement within his art. The central part of La Bouche du Roi consists of a slave ship which is constructed of 304 masks. A key source of inspiration is Brookes, a 1700th century print. The image shows the horrors that were connected with the transatlantic slave trade. It was used by the abolition movement to arouse public opinion against slavery. La Bouche du Roi stands in opposition to Brookes due to how the slaves are portrayed. In the latter they are shown as passive victims that have been stripped of their identity and culture. He uses the mask to tell that Africa has changed and to correct stereotypical misconceptions about the continent and its inhabitants. Due to their shape, they give associations to the traditional Africa, but they are made of plastic cans that have been used by Benin petrol smugglers. These people are poor and their work is very dangerous, but they don't have any other options. Hazoume equate their harsh conditions with slavery. His masks can therefore be interpreted as a metaphor for slavery. According to Hazoume greedy Africans and Westerners have a shared responsibility for the historic slave trade and its ongoing legacy. He has a vision of liberating his people. The basis for this is that his people, he is of Yoruba-origin, shall reestablish their identity and their culture. Due to this they will cease to be slaves and justice will be restored. The author finds some problematic aspects for the realization of his vision.


The system of beliefs and practices related to Bektashism seems to have corresponded to a kind of liberation theology, whereas the structure of Bektashi groups corresponded more or less to the type of religious organization conventionally known as charismatic groups. It becomes understandable therefore that their spiritual tendency could at times connect with and meet social, cultural and national perspectives. In turn, when members of the previously persecuted religious minority will acquire a degree of religious and political respectability within society at large, the doctrines of heterodoxy and liberation theology fade into the background. In the end, the heirs of the heterodox promoters of spiritual reform and social movement turn into followers and faithful defenders of a legitimate authority. They become the spokespeople for an institutionalized orthodoxy whose support is sought by the political regime.


The purpose of this research was to study and evaluate the role that asphalt binders play in the resistance of asphalt pavements to low temperature cracking. As part of the Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP) new specifications for asphalt binders were developed that are based on the performance of the material. The asphalt binder graded and specified according to these new performance-based specifications is called PG binder. These new specifications are commonly referred to as Superpave (Superior Performing Asphalt Pavement) binder specifications. A section of Interstate 64 in southern Indiana was experiencing severe low temperature cracking before it was reconstructed over the summers of 1995 and 1996. The binder used in the new pavement mixes was PG material. Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) tests, Bending Beam Rheometer (BBR) tests, and viscosity tests were performed on this binder. Comparisons were made between test results obtained from the binders in the old pavement and the new pavement. All tests and comparisons were based on the Superpave binder specifications. A portion of this study involved a review of the extraction and recovery procedures used in the laboratories. Much of the asphalt used in this project had to be extracted from cores or pavement mixes, and it was important to ensure that the extraction and recovery process did not significantly change the properties of the material. Also, as a part of this research project, plans were developed for field monitoring of the temperature distribution within the pavement and its variation with time, in order to correlate these changes with pavement performance. Data generated during this monitoring program will be used in the future for validation of low temperature algorithms developed as a part of the Superpave system.


Abstract. Change detection in urban and suburban areas through remote sensing satellite imagery is an important topic. Furthermore, it is of special interest to derive information on the category of detected changes is of special interest. In Boldt et al. (2012), a fullyautomatic change detection method based on a morphological filtered ratio image was presented. This filter step is accomplished by an alternating sequential filter (ASF), which supports the knowledge-driven analysis of the scene. For example, the focus can be set on small-scaled changes caused by vehicles or smaller construction sites. The change detection itself is performed using the automatic threshold method shown in Sahoo et al. (2004) considering the entropies of the fore- and background of the filtered ratio image. In contrast, the presented approach makes use of morphological differential attribute profiles (DAPs) to compare changes detected in high resolution (HR) TerraSAR-X (TSX) amplitude images of Greding (Germany). DAPs are the derivatives of morphological attribute profiles (APs). APs are calculated by applying iteratively attribute openings and/or closings to an input image. Attribute openings (resp. closings) themselves are a combination of connected openings (closings) and trivial openings (closings). DAPs provide the opportunity to derive typical signatures for each pixel of the entire image (Dalla Mura et al., 2010), and, as a consequence, for each detected change segment. Aiming on the categorization of changes, it is shown in this paper that the DAPs represent a promising method for detecting changes with similar semantics automatically.


Franchising higher education courses - the delivery of university courses in further education colleges - is now a well-established practice, recognising the needs of dispersed communities and the demand for lifelong learning. One of the key elements of franchise course provision is the supporting library and learning resources which are made available to students undertaking such courses. This Briefing reports on research carried out at the University of Central Lancashire which aimed to provide an understanding of library service support for franchised courses from the point of view of students, their tutors, and librarians in both colleges and universities. With the importance of off-campus learning likely to grow, experience of supporting franchised courses will provide an invaluable model for the future.


3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is known to enhance tactile sensory perception, an effect that contributes to its popularity as a recreational drug. The neurophysiological basis for the effects of MDMA on somatosensation are unknown. However, MDMA interactions with the serotonin transporter (SERT) and subsequent enhancement of serotonin neurotransmission are well known. The rat trigeminal somatosensory system receives serotonergic afferents from the dorsal raphe nucleus. Because these fibers express SERT, they should be vulnerable to MDMA-induced effects. We found that administration of a challenge injection of MDMA (3 mg/kg i.p.) after repeated MDMA treatment (3 mg/kg per day for 4 days) elicits both serotonin and norepinephrine efflux in the ventral posterior medial (VPM) thalamus of Long-Evans hooded rats, the main relay along the lemniscal portion of the rodent trigeminal somatosensory pathway. We evaluated the potential for repeated MDMA administration to modulate whisker-evoked discharge of individual neurons in this region. After surgically implanting stainless steel eight-wire multichannel electrode bundles, we recorded spike train activity of single cells while activating the whisker pathway using a piezoelectric mechanical stimulator. We found that repeated MDMA administration increased the spontaneous firing rate but reduced both the magnitude and duration of whisker-evoked discharge in individual VPM thalamic neurons. The time course of drug action on neuronal firing patterns was generally consistent with fluctuations in neurotransmitter efflux as shown from our microdialysis studies. On the basis of these results, we propose that single use and repeated administration of MDMA may "distort," rather than enhance, tactile experiences in humans, in part, by disrupting normal spike firing patterns through somatosensory thalamic relay circuits.


Despite significant progress over the past two decades, numerous economic, technical and non-technical challenges have hampered the deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies. Recent advances in integrated assessment software have provided powerful new decision support tools to help overcome such challenges and to better evaluate investment and other risks in the integrated capture, transport and storage system. Specifically, the SimCCS software framework provides novel decision support capabilities for CCS project development. In this paper, we illustrate how the development of a new online science gateway platform of the SimCCS software termed SimCCS Gateway is now rapidly expanding the accessibility of this powerful tool. Applications in the SimCCS Gateway platform have been designed to facilitate engagement across the entire CCUS community, including commercial project developers, researchers in the technical and policy spheres, educational users (higher education and K-12) and the general public. The Gateway is providing an innovative new approach to technology transfer as well as outreach to communities in which CCS projects are being proposed and planned. Current applications include projects throughout the US and China, but nations such as Canada and Australia are poised for future implementation owing to availability of key datasets. In this way, the SimCCS Gateway software platform aims to provide a valuable new tool to facilitate the rapid deployment of CCS technologies around the globe.


Introduction: Low carbohydrate diets (LCD) have shown beneficial effects on short-term weight reduction programs for obese individuals without diabetes, but the long-term evidence of efficacy on individuals with type 2 diabetes is not conclusive.
Objective: To evaluate, the effectiveness of 12 or more weeks of LCD compared to Low Fat Diet (LFD), Usual Care Diet (UCD) or Low Glycemic Index Diet (LGID) on weight reduction and AIC on type 2 diabetes individuals.
Methods: A systematic review was conducted on randomized trials registered in PubMed, Cochrane and EBSCOhost from January 1st 2000 to January 1st 2010 including those with an intervention program with LCD in type 2 diabetes subjects and a follow-up iÝ 12 weeks. Available data on study design; carbohydrate composition of diet; duration of diet; and the outcomes of weight, lipid levels (total, low density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and triglycerides), hemoglobin A1C percent and/or fasting glucose were extracted.
Results: Five studies showed greater weight reduction with LCD, of which four demonstrated no significant difference. The longest trial intervention studies did not show a difference in weight change. Only two studies showed greater reduction of A1C with LCD, including the longest intervention trial with a low carbohydrate Mediterranean diet.
Conclusions: This review shows that there are no consistent differences in weight and A1C changes over the long-term treatment with LCD and LFD, UCD or LGID.


Public works and public employment programmes (PEPs) have long been considered a staple of social assistance. For the most part, though, they have been designed as ?safety nets? in the context of counter-cyclical programme interventions and responses to shocks. In some cases they have also focused on reducing poverty or addressing structural unemployment challenges over the longer term, but they have seldom been implemented on a scale that would make a dent in structural poverty. Recent advances in conceptualising and implementing scalable PEPs suggest that these programmes also have a broader development role to play. (...)


Introduction Anaerobic power is power used in high-intensity bouts of exercise lasting fewer than ten seconds; which is the peak amount of time for phosphocreatine reserves to empty as a primary fuel source. It is expressed in terms of watts of force per kilogram of bodyweight. Power is considered a crucial component in overall athleticism. Ample power tends to be a key difference maker in short-terms bouts of fast twitch, Type I myo-fiber, events. For example, athletic events, or competitions which call for optimal power output, are weight lifting, sprinting, jumping and wrestling, although may other team sports and individual sports and competitions also have high anaerobic power output demands. Anaerobic power can be measured and improved. The three physical assessments in this study are commonly used to measure power. Each has been researched and normative and standards have been established for force production by their use. They are the Vertec vertical jump, Force plate and Wingate tests (WAnT). Also, several formulas are used to calculate power output from the vertical displacement from the Vertec. These formulas are named for the scientists who developed them. They are the Lewis, Sayer, Harman and Johnson formulas. In the same way there exists a most accurate way to measure someone's running speed, certain power output measuring tests have proven to be superior to the others. The force Plate is currently the "gold standard" for measuring anaerobic power output. Because having a higher threshold for anaerobic power output is a clear advantage to most sports and skills it is important to determine power output to know if a competitive disadvantage exists. Most people might assume because males are generally physically stronger and carry more muscle than females per kilogram of bodyweight, males must produce more power. But because we understand anaerobic power is a ratio of watts of force to kilograms of bodyweight, this assumption may not be the actual case. It is expected for there to be no significant difference of anaerobic power output between the male and female subjects based on power/mass ratios in the three anaerobic power output assessments. Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine if a difference of anaerobic power output between the genders existed while determining the most reliable power-measuring exams and formulas. Methods Ten non-athlete males (age 27.1 yrs., height 181.67 cm, weight 89.82 kg) and eight non-athlete women (age 24.13 yrs., height 167.95 cm, weight 74.97 kg) of the University of Texas at Arlington volunteered to participate in this study. Each subject contributed data in the three anaerobic power output assessments. Subjects were randomly divided and assigned to a particular starting exercise assessment at random order. Each subject preformed a power output test using Force Plate technology, which displays the power measurements on-screen without the need for hand-written calculations. In the force plate test, subjects stood still on the measurement pad so weight could be recorded and calibration accomplished. Then, the subject jumped as vertically high as they could from the plate and landing back on the plate; then the power output was calculated. Subjects also performed a vertical jump test with equipment designed by Vertec. In this test subjects measure their standing reach in inches, then subtract that amount from three trails of a standing maximal vertical jump. The results of the Vertec were used in each formula designed to measure anaerobic power. For the results of the Vertec subjects performed their own power calculations using said formulas. The formulas are the Lewis, Sayer, Harman and Johnson formulas. Subjects also performed a Wingate Test, which also displays the anaerobic power output as well as fatigue rate. © Center for Promoting Ideas, USA www.aijcrnet.com 65 While fatigue rate is not a direct reflection of anaerobic power production, it does provide limited insight to the storage reserves of phosphocreatine the subject posses. During the Wingate test subjects peddle as fast as they can for one full minute after a warm-up of pedaling at 80 rotations per minute for one minute. At the conclusion of each test subjects were given ample time to recover before beginning the next test. Results The anaerobic power output difference between the genders was significant based on the results of most tests but not every test. The null hypothesis stated that there would be no difference in anaerobic power output between the genders. In the Force Plate test the distribution of the countermovement among males to females (A: 42.3, 24.88 ±: 9.05, 7.64) rejects the null hypothesis (p = 0.003). The distribution of Peak Power among males to females (A: 5365.3, 3123.85±1088.459, 884.685) rejects the null (P= 0.001). The distribution of Peak Power/W/kg among males to females (A: 58.31, 39.70 ± 9.353, 12.249) rejects the null hypothesis (P=0.009).Within the findings from the Vertec vertical jump test we find only significant differences. We reject the null hypothesis across the board in the displacement category (P= 0.006), Lewis Power (P= 0.011), Sayer Power (P= 0.002), Harman Peak and average power respectively (P= 0.001, 0.000), and Johnson Peak power and average power respectively (P= 0.002, 0.027).Our Wingate test findings rejected the null hypothesis in the categories of average power (P= 0.000), peak power (P= 0.000), average power/kg (P= 0.000), peak power/kg (P=V0.027). Conclusion Significant power output differences do exist in the tested sample population. This conclusion was based on the results of Wingate testing and comparative means in the Force Plate test. It was found that there were significant gender differences in peak power and mean power revealing that other factors in addition to body dimensions account for the gender differences in anaerobic power. The results of the study indicate that the relationships of their findings showed that when individuals with different body sizes are compared, individuals with small body size are at a disadvantage when compared with absolute anaerobic power parameters, on the other hand, large body sized individuals are at a disadvantage when compared with respect to ratio scaled parameters. Therefore, analysis should be considered as a method to account for the influence of body size in intergroup and gender comparisons of anaerobic performance (Hazir & Kosar, 2007). This is not out of line with what we predicted in our introduction. Other studies used in research suggest a similar result. In terms of the highly affective Wingate test, when using the lighter resistance (0.080 kg/kgbw), power production for males was greater than almost all previously reported findings by approximately 10 to 30%. When using the heavier resistance (0.095 kg/kgbw), the increase in power production in males was even greater (Richmond et al., 2011). This result suggests that no method adequately adjusts for the gender differences and thus the best methods for studying physical performance of males and females would be separately (Hazir & Kosar, 2007). Background Anaerobic power is power used in high-intensity exercise activities lasting fewer than ten seconds. There is a difference in anaerobic muscular power and muscular endurance. This differentiates the skills required to excel in a sport like football, where action bouts require maximal physical exertion for brief moments followed by short rest periods, rather than soccer, where the majority of the competition requires moderate levels of exertion for a longer period of time from its participants. Power is expressed in terms of watts of force per kilogram of bodyweight. As stated before, power is considered a crucial component of overall athleticism. Ample power tends to be a key difference maker in short terms bouts of fast twitch events. For example: weight lifting, sprinting, jumping and wrestling. Anaerobic power can be measured by way of several assessments developed over the years from research-based exercise physiologist and sports trainers. Anaerobic power can be improved through exercise and training specified to increase power output. When considering an athlete's performance in a power output measuring exercise, it is important to consider the other factors working in the athletes favor simultaneously. Aerobic fitness of high-performance explains about 40% of the variance in performance of power output results. This suggests that other factors than anaerobic power such as technical abilities need to be considered in the physiological assessment of these athletes, even in anaerobic power assessments such as the Wingate Test or Force Plate (Vaitkevičiūtė & Milašius, 2012). Because having a higher threshold for anaerobic power is a clear advantage to most sports and skills it is important to determine power output. American International Journal of Contemporary Research Vol. 4 No. 4; April 2014 66 With the introduction of Title 9 there has been increased involvement of female participants in high-intensity exercise and sport. As a result, more questions are being asked about the athletic capabilities and physical strength output female sport participants possess. From there, some findings have sparked important research questions about male and female differences in exercise performance (Clare & Webber, 2006). These questions about gender differences are relevant due to the establishment of training protocols and exercise prescription, and in the field of sport-related physical therapy treatment female participants may receive. Much past research has typically sought to answer questions based on muscular production differences and determine physiological differences based on anatomy and biomechanical factors among the genders. Most people might assume because males are generally physically stronger than females, males must produce more power. This study is laid out to determ


Spectroscopic analysis of the CO spectrum , together with thermochemical measurements on the burning of carbon in oxygen, lead to the conclusion that L, the heat of sublimation of carbon, is either 124 or 170 kcal./mol. An estimate of L may be made by calculating the energies of excited states of benzene, butadiene and hexatriene, assuming various values of L , and choosing the one that gives the best agreement with experiment. The theory employed bears a close resemblance to that developed by Eyring for estimating activation energies. Almost exact agreement with experiment is obtained in all three cases by assuming L=170, and no agreement is obtained by assuming L = 124. More elaborate calculations are most unlikely to upset this result. The conclusion is therefore that L = 170 kcal./mol. The equilibrium internuclear distances in the excited states are found, and the potential function controlling some of the vibrations about these positions is determined. It is shown that the excited state of benzene has the regular hexagon configuration, the carbon-carbon internuclear distance being 1.45 A, compared with 1.39 in the ground state. The carbon breathing frequency in the excited state is calculated to be 920 cm.-1, compared with the experimental value 940 cm.-1.


Child obesity is frequently associated with dysfunction of autonomic nervous system. Children in pubertal development were suggested to be vulnerable to autonomic nervous system problems such as decrease of heart rate variability from dysregulation of metabolic control. This study explored the influence of pubertal development on autonomic nervous system function in overweight and obese children and the concurrent effects of their physical activity. Eighty-four overweight or obese children and 87 normal weighted controls were recruited. Autonomic nervous system function was studied by measuring heart rate variability. Results showed that the overweight/obese children had significantly lower heart rate variability. Overweight/obese children in puberty had significantly lower heart rate variability which was positively correlated with their physical activity levels. In conclusion, overweight/obesity adversely affects the autonomic nervous system function of children especially during their pubertal development. Overweight/obese children should be encouraged to engage in physical activities during puberty to improve their autonomic nervous system function.


Aiming to exploit native, drought tolerant plants for use on green roofs at the semi-arid Mediterranean region, the effect of substrate type and irrigation frequency on growth of the halophyte Atriplex halimus was investigated on an extensive green roof in Athens, Greece. Rooted cuttings were planted in December 2012 in experimental modules with a green roof infrastructure on a fully exposed second-floor flat roof and were kept in culture until September 2014. Two types of substrate, 10 cm deep, were used, one with soil, i.e. grape marc compost:perlite:soil:pumice (3:3:2:2, v/v) and a lighter one, without soil, i.e. grape marc compost:perlite:pumice (3:3:4, v/v). Two irrigation frequencies were applied during the two dry periods, i.e. every 5 days (normal) and 9 days (sparse) in summer 2013 and every 4 days (normal) and 7 days (sparse) in summer 2014, when substrate moisture was 17-20% and 5-9% for normal and sparse, respectively. At the first growth period (2013) plant height was promoted by normal irrigation, while the above ground fresh and dry weight in October 2013 was promoted both by normal irrigation and soil amended substrate. At the end of the second growth period (2014), dry weight of the above ground part of the plant was higher under normal irrigation, while plant height was not affected by any of the main factors. No evidence of damage to the plant photosynthetic apparatus was recorded in any of the treatments, while stomatal resistance (Rleaf) was increased in plants under sparse irrigation indicating water limitation. Plants grew well and looked similar in all treatments. Thus A. halimus is suitable for use on extensive green roofs in areas with semi-arid Mediterranean climate, with soilless (light weight) substrate and sparse irrigation.


can be found at: Qualitative Inquiry Additional services and information for http://qix.sagepub.com/cgi/alerts Email Alerts: http://qix.sagepub.com/subscriptions Subscriptions: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsReprints.nav Reprints: http://www.sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav Permissions: http://qix.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/3/1/26#BIBL SAGE Journals Online and HighWire Press platforms): (this article cites 5 articles hosted on the Citations


The interaction between human and non-human can be visualised through archaeology, the excavation of material culture, which provides a unique insight into frameworks of ontological encounter. Indeed, it is the realisation of how the human subject perceives the non-human that is utilised by both exhibitionary institutions and adventure fiction to elicit a recognition of material 'identity' within a viewing subject. Both the visual framings of film and the representative reductionism of prose therefore project narratives about materiality but simultaneously imply that such an identification reflects an emergent 'object ontology'. Encounters with 'wonderful things' or xeno-artefacts may thus appear extraordinary, but become tacitly 'knowable' through the way they are framed to the subject. This thesis focuses on the cultural production of the artefact encounter to demonstrate how notions of 'object identity' reflect on human perception rather than any realisation of non-human ontology. Analysing the subjective labelling involved within the differentiation of rubbish and relic, the thesis investigates how encounter is fundamental to prescriptions of material value or worth. Literary representation draws upon such a materialist paradigm to evoke a recognition of 'objects' and thus provides a platform where such preconceptions can be both identified and confronted. Weird Fiction's inclination to notions of exteriority is therefore perfectly suited to depictions of contact that eludes a distillation of macro ontologies to micro representations and rather resides within the process of encounter. Yet while Speculative Realist or Object-Oriented thought utilises the Weird to re-conceptualise ontological definitions, this thesis argues that such formations return to a recognition of non-human alterity as lying beyond anthropocentric depiction, rather than confronting the biases within the framework itself. Through artefacts, ruins, zones and xenoarchaeology, this thesis analyses the very processes of encounter to consider how imaginative modes can help underscore the urgency of re-negotiating ontological contact points.


This dissertation engages an extensive historiography in addressing two central areas of research. Chapter 1 assesses the qualitative nature of republican politics across the period in question, considering the changing place of the politics of civil rights, socialism, feminism, and populism in republican politics, and assessing how republicanism varied across a heterogeneous social geography. To this end, the dissertation analyses factors informing the framing of political allegiance. Chapter 2 analyses the complex place of republicanism within broader societal politics, with particular reference to republicanism's interactions with the Catholic Church, alternative political parties and groupings, and nationalist communities themselves. The thesis also addresses the issue of political hegemony, questioning the extent to which republican politics were moulded and transformed by the wider communities in which they existed, making a distinction between leadership and rank-and-file, cognisant of the contested nature of political directives within organisations.


Abstract. As major calcifiers in the open ocean, coccolithophores play a key role in the marine carbon cycle. Because they may be sensitive to changing CO2 and ocean acidification, there is significant interest in quantifying past and present variations in their cellular calcification by quantifying the thickness of the coccoliths or calcite plates that cover their cells. Polarized light microscopy has emerged as a key tool for quantifying the thickness of these calcite plates, but the reproducibility and accuracy of such determinations has been limited by the absence of suitable calibration materials in the thickness range of coccoliths (0–4 µm). Here, we describe the fabrication of a calcite wedge with a constant slope over this thickness range, and the independent determination of calcite thickness along the wedge profile. We show how the calcite wedge provides more robust calibrations in the 0 to 1.55 µm range than previous approaches using rhabdoliths. We show the particular advantages of the calcite wedge approach for developing equations to relate thickness to the interference colors that arise in calcite in the thickness range between 1.55 and 4 µm. The calcite wedge approach can be applied to develop equations relevant to the particular light spectra and intensity of any polarized light microscope system and could significantly improve inter-laboratory data comparability.


The regulation of hepatic glucose metabolism is important in glucose homeostasis, and liver glucokinase (LGK) plays a central role in this process. Hepatic glucokinase expression is known to be regulated by insulin. Recently it has been suggested that sterol regulatory element binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c) mediates the action of insulin on LGK transcription; however, the precise mechanism is not, to date, well known. In the present study, we identified two functional SREBP-1c response elements, SREa and SREb, in the rat LGK promoter. SREBP-1c could bind to these SREs and activate the LGK promoter, and insulin activated the LGK promoter in Alexander cells. The physical interaction between the protein and SREs of the LGK promoter in vivo was also confirmed. Insulin selectively increased SREBP-1c and LGK expression in primary hepatocytes. Adenoviral expression of SREBP-1c stimulated LGK expression, and the dominant negative mutant of SREBP-1c blocked the increased gene expression of LGK by insulin and SREBP-1c. A chromatin immunoprecipitation assay using primary hepatocytes showed increased binding of SREBP-1 to SREs of the LGK promoter by insulin.


A Question of Life or Death: Suicide and Survival in the Union Army Kathleen Anneliese Logothetis Studying the Civil War soldier involves a quest to comprehend how they soldiers understood and managed their war experiences. Under the conditions of soldier life and the horrific violence of Civil War battles, mental trauma and suicide would not be unthinkable consequences. Union soldiers did commit suicide during the war, sometimes in response to the trauma of battle, hospital, or prison camp. However, suicide in fact was a very small percentage of casualties in the Union army, representing less than one percent of the losses during the war. This thesis examines the dual nature of suicide in the Union army. On one hand, the transformation from civilian into soldier and the traumatic experiences related to military life greatly affected men. The first year of enlistment proved the most difficult, particularly for men between the ages of twenty-six and thirty. One hundred and one cases of suicide are analyzed both contextually and statistically in order to further understand the experience and decisions of the Civil War soldier. On the other hand, the low suicide rate suggests that most soldiers managed their war time experiences. Men relied on a "cultural toolbox" of religious beliefs, established methods of facing and mourning death, ideas about courage and masculinity, and ties to the civilian world to understand and act within their role as a soldier. By focusing on suicide, the analysis centers on the possibility of failure in negotiating the experience of war, instead of the successes most historians have emphasized. In addition, instead of ideas such as liberty, freedom, and country, soldiers understood their experiences and persevered because of social norms and behaviors. The motivation for suicides as well as the support system which prevented them came from a soldier's interactions as a family and community member, as well as a part of a volunteer army fighting a war. Questions about life and death are not always grandiose; they can come from basic understandings of and connections to one's world. Soldiers felt the impact of both positive and negative influences; using suicide as a focal point allows for an examination of how soldiers negotiated trauma and wartime conditions to survive.


Sensor networks, a novel paradigm in distributed wireless communication technology, have been proposed for various applications including military surveillance and environmental monitoring. These systems deploy heterogeneous collections of sensors capable of observing and reporting on various dynamic properties of their surroundings in a time sensitive manner. Such systems suffer bandwidth, energy, and throughput constraints that limit the quantity of information transferred from end-to-end. These factors coupled with unpredictable traffic patterns and dynamic network topologies make the task of designing optimal protocols for such networks difficult. Mechanisms to perform data-centric aggregation utilizing application-specific knowledge provide a means to augmenting throughput, but have limitations due to their lack of adaptation and reliance on application-specific decisions. We, therefore, propose a novel aggregation scheme that adaptively performs application-independent data aggregation in a time sensitive manner. Our work isolates aggregation decisions into a module that resides between the network and the data-link layer and does not require any modifications to the currently existing MAC and network layer protocols. We take advantage of queuing delay and the broadcast nature of wireless communication to concatenate network units into an aggregate using a novel adaptive feedback scheme to schedule the delivery of this aggregate to the MAC layer for transmission. In our evaluation we show that end-to-end transmission delay is reduced by as much as 80% under heavy traffic loads. Additionally, we show as much as a 50% reduction in transmission energy consumption with an overall reduction in header overhead. Theoretical analysis, simulation, and a test-bed implementation on Berkeley's MICA motes are provided to validate our claims.


E-Learning, Technology Enhanced Learning, Digital Learning, Digital Pedagogy – the names may have changed but how far have we actually come? In academia there has long been a vision of changing Higher Education for the better through the use of technology. Bates (1997) identifies four ways in which technology could be used in education. 1. improvingthequalityoflearning; 2. improving access to education and training; 3. reducingthecostsofeducation;and 4. improving the cost‐effectiveness of education. This session will explore whether we actually set out on the right path in the first place, to what extent we have been successful in using technology to achieve Bates' four suggested improvements and what our vision for the future of our digital education landscape should be. The last 10 years has seen the emergence of Web 2.0, social media platforms & not forgetting MOOC's, so how has the education technology landscape changed & what does this mean for our academic practice? Using technology in the session to "crowd source" opinions we will seek to answer these questions and identify the progress made and the challenges that lie ahead. Garrison, (2006) identifies two distinct decades of education technology, the first decade was about the technology (in many ways pushing aside pedagogy) and the second decade saw an emergence of technology aligning with pedagogy. As we enter the third decade, to what extent are we seeing pedagogy as the influencer of technology? For example, the emergence of the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) framework (Koehler & Mishra, 2009) suggests that we are beginning to see technology as being equally important to subject knowledge & pedagogic knowledge. Bates, A.W. (1997), "Restructuring the university for technological change", paper presented at What Kind of University?, 18‐20 June, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, London. Garrison, D. R. (2011). E-learning in the 21st century: A framework for research and practice. Taylor & Francis. Chicago Koehler, M., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK)?. Contemporary issues in technology and teacher education, 9(1), 60-70.


Although gas hydrates often occur in seismically active regions, the role of
earthquakes as triggers of hydrocarbon seepage through gas hydrate-bearing
sediments has been only super�cially addressed. The Makran continental
margin o�shore Pakistan hosts hydrocarbon-laden sediments and gas hydrates
and is prone to vigorous seismicity. The area was visited in the frame of
RV METEOR expedition M 74/3 in 2007 (Bohrmann et al. 2008).
Here we present geochemical evidence for a substantial increase in upward
gas �ux inducing methane emission into the water column and gas hydrate
formation in the sediment, a phenomenon which occurred within a few decades
of the strongest earthquake ever reported for the entire Arabian Sea. We
propose a causal relation and present re�ection seismic data supporting our
hypothesis that co-seismic ground shaking induced mechanical fracturing of
gas hydrate-bearing sediments creating pathways for free gas to migrate from
a shallow reservoir within the gas hydrate stability zone into the water column.
Our �ndings lead to conclude that hydrocarbon seepage triggered by earthquakes
might play a role for carbon budgets at other seismically active continental
margins. The newly identi�ed process presented here can help interpret
data from similar sites.


The fast pace at which knowledge is generated means that students of medicine must develop generic skills during the course of their training. Critical thinking is essential to make self-regulated judgments based on substantiated reasoning. In order to measure students' skills, the Individual Generic Skill Questionnaire (CCGI, in Spanish) was developed, with 74 items that measure students' self-perception in the following skills: critical thinking, information literacy, self-management, time management, problem solving and decision-making. To validate the critical thinking section, 18 experts assessed the questionnaire and determined the relevance of each assertion, and the questionnaire was given to 135 students. Cronbach's alpha was 0.739 and a factorial analysis produced 3 components associated with different facets of critical thinking: information interpretation and analysis, making a judgment on a situation from objective and subjective information, and inferring the consequences of a decision based on self-regulated judgments. Descriptive statistics show that student self-perception is better regarding their preferences in assessing and inferring.


The problem of selecting joint space trajectories for redundant manipulators is considered. Solutions which allow secondary tasks to be performed by the arm simultaneously with end-effector motions may be selected in a number of ways. An algorithm to accomplish this, by means of conditions on a scalar function of the joint variables, is introduced and analyzed. Problems inherent in schemes involving constraints in configuration space are considered. >


Climate change and variability are common phenomena that affect crop productivity globally but with significant differences between different regions of the world. Studies of the impacts of these phenomena on Irish potato –Solanum tuberosum L.-production within Tubah Sub-Division based on records of precipitation and temperatures from 1995 to 2015, indicated an increasing mean annual temperature rate of 0.09 0C per year and a slight  increasing annual rainfall rate of 25.8 mm per year. Potato yields within the same period equally increased by 1.26 t/ha per year until 2012 when the yields started decreasing due to a correspondingly marked  increase in both temperature and rainfall. The drop in potato yields has also been attributed to disease infestation such as potato blight and rot which are favoured by the increases in temperature and rainfall. Statistical correlation and regression analyses of these data revealed that the potato yields showed weak positive correlations with temperature (R= 0.02) and with rainfall (R= 0.12). Results from questionnaire survey, focus group discussions and semistructured interviews indicated that the potato crop (63 %) of most farmers were negatively affected by climate change and  variability through the increased sporadic rainfall which enhanced potato blight and rot. Some adaptation strategies to these climatic factors are already being practised by most farmers (81 %) who are making use of a combination of fertilizers, pesticides, improved seeds and irrigation  practices to remedy the situation although further approaches such as the use of resistant species are necessary towards improving on the dwindling potato yields. Keywords : Climate, Change, Variability, Tubah Sub Division, Irish Potato, Adaptation Strategies, Cameroon.


Highly transparent polyethylene terephthalate (PET) mesh fabrics were dip coated with carbon nanotubes (CNT) followed by inkjet printing with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) to develop textile-based CNT/PEDOT:PSS composite conductors. These coated fabrics show a combination of conductivity, transparency and flexibility suitable for use in flexible displays. Sequential CNT and PEDOT:PSS coating greatly enhances the conductivity at high tensile strains without reducing the optical transparency. Electroluminescent (EL) devices using such textile-based CNT/PEDOT:PSS composite conductors as the front electrodes exhibit superior flexibility and mechanical robustness over their ITO-coated PET film-based counterparts under stretching and tight bending.


INTRODUCTION
To determine the feasibility of high-performance supine flight, the USAF Canopy Escape Module (65 degree seat-back-angle) was modified and deployed into the Naval Air Warfare Center Dynamic Flight Simulator.

METHODS
Seven male subjects performed a flight syllabus consisting of instrument flight maneuvers (high-G level turns, ILS task, vertical S-2, Half Cuban Eight). Subjects were trained and performed under both 1 g (static) and dynamic conditions in supine and upright postures. Data were assessed to determine the effects of motion (G) and seat position. A weighted objective performance grading scheme was devised based on the ability to achieve specified flight parameters.

RESULTS
This paper presents the analysis of the first two tasks. During the turns, motion effects did not effect the ability to maintain specified G loads when supine, whereas there were significant differences when upright. Also, there were lower error rates under static, as compared to dynamic, conditions. Even though subjects demonstrated lower error rates during dynamic turns when upright, there were few significant differences referable to body position. Overall, subjects with the most flight experience performed better upright than supinated, while a naive subject flew significantly better supine. Notably, one subject did experience a G-induced loss of consciousness (G-LOC) and an almost LOC event during a supinated high-G turn. Body position or motion effects did not significantly alter ILS task performance.

CONCLUSIONS
High performance supine flight is feasible and additional study is warranted. Important and unanticipated performance-related decrements were discovered only through the use of dynamic flight simulation.


Methods of reactive magnetron sputtering using the sequential oxidisation of a
sputtered metal film from two magnetron sources, in a rotating substrate system, have
been developed. A rotation rate of around one revolution per second enhanced atomic
level mixing of the film constituents on the substrate. Depending on the materials
involved, two very fast feedback methods were employed to automatically control the
admission rate of oxygen into the sputtering system. These methods were plasma
emission monitoring (PEM), which was used to control the reactive sputter-deposition
of In, Zn, W, V, Mo and Ti oxide, and voltage control, which was used to control the
reactive sputter-deposition of Zn, Cu, Pb and Al oxide. The stoichiometry of the film
was controlled by PEM or voltage control on one magnetron, and dopants were added
by sputtering from the other magnetron. In other words, the former magnetron served
two purposes; the first was to sputter metal and oxidise it, and the second purpose was
to oxidise the metal sputtered from the other magnetron... cont'd


The purpose of the study is to develop a methodological approach to assess the infrastructure potential of the territory as a tool for monitoring the effectiveness of the implementation of the state regional policy in the field of infrastructure development. The algorithm for comparative assessment of the infrastructure potential of regions is substantiated in the article. The authors believe that a regular assessment of the level of infrastructure development (infrastructure capacity) of macro-regions and regions – subjects of the Russian Federation, along with the monitoring of the achievement of the targets established, should be provided within the framework of implementation approved at the Federal and regional levels, of programmes and plans for infrastructure development. The proposed method of cost estimation of the region's infrastructure potential is based on the use of an integral indicator of the territory's fund saturation, taking into account the qualitative characteristics of the state of fixed assets. The study revealed a significant spatial differentiation of Russian regions in terms of infrastructure potential that helped to group them by the level of its development. The difference between the maximum and minimum values of the infrastructure potential assessment (even without taking into account the federal cities) exceeds 730 times. The cities of federal significance – Moscow, St. Petersburg, Sevastopol, as well as the republics of Crimea and Tatarstan, Krasnodar, Moscow and Kaliningrad regions have the maximum infrastructure potential. The infrastructure potential is evenly decreasing to the East and North of the country. The republics of Tyva, Sakha (Yakutia), Magadan region, and the Chukotka Autonomous Region have the lowest indicators of territory's fund saturation and correspondingly low level of infrastructure potential development. More than a quarter of all Russian regions have a lower level of infrastructure development than the national average. Based on the correlation analysis, it was found that the size of the territory's infrastructure potential has a direct positive impact on the inflow of investments to the regions and the growth of GRP, and therefore is one of the important factors of economic growth and increasing the competitiveness of the regional economy. The results obtained within the study can be applied in the practice of managing the development of territories when forecasting and developing strategies of the socioeconomic development of new macro-regions of Russia, and also used for monitoring the state policy of infrastructure development.


MicroRNAs are short non-coding RNA sequences that that can modify genes in post transcriptional manner and are often de-regulated in cancer. Cancer stem cells, a subset of cancer cells with stem cell properties, are considered the root of tumorigenesis and seeds of metastasis. In this study we are interested in elucidating the role of miR-206 in breast cancer stem cell-mediated tumorigenesis and metastasis. We have observed that microRNA-206 (miR-206) regulate the metastatic traits of breast cancer cells, both in vitro and in vivo. Our studies have elucidated a signaling cascade that culminates in the silencing of cytokine (such as interleukin) and integrin expression. Knockdown of the interleukin and integrin genes by siRNAs mimics the phenotype of miR-206 expression in breast cancer cells. DNA content analysis using propidium iodide staining revealed that knockdown of miR-206 targets as well as over-expression of miR-206 in MDA-MB-231 cells regulates cell cycle arrest. Our results indicate that miR-206 mediates its regulatory effects through inhibiting multiple targets. MiR-206 may serve as a new therapeutic candidate for the future treatment of breast cancer. Citation Format: Valery Adorno-Cruz, Huiping Liu. Understanding the role of microRNA-206 in breast cancer. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1894.


Noodles are widely consumed in China, which can be cooked in different ways. The effects of different cooking methods (boiling, steaming, microwave heating, stir-frying and frying) on the resistance starch (RS) content and digestive properties (digestion rate, digestibility and estimated glycemic index (eGI) value) of noodles were investigated. The RS content was greatly affected by the cooking time, and it was varied when the noodles were optimally cooked using different cooking methods. The RS contents of the microwaved and stir-fried noodles were relatively high (0.59%–0.99%), but it was lower (0.43%–0.44%) in the boiled and steamed noodles. Microwaved noodles showed the slowest digestion rate and the lowest eGI. Due to the limited water within fried noodles, none RS was found in the fried noodles, whereas stir-fried noodles showed RS5 formation from the XRD and DSC results. Compared with boiled and steamed noodles, the microwaved noodles showed a more compact morphology without porous holes on the surface, whereas fried noodles showed irregular morphology. The results indicated that the digestive properties of noodles made with the same ingredients can be greatly altered by using different cooking methods, and the digestive properties of different cooked noodles are worthy of confirmation using in vivo analysis.


The concept of developmental local government is at the core of local government transformation in South Africa and places implicit responsibilities on local authorities. In terms of prescriptions contained in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, legal and moral obligations are imposed on municipalities to function on a participatory basis with the intention that the broader community should have a more significant role to play in local government decision-making. Municipalities are now required to become agents for local economic development and the importance of public / private partnerships in terms of the new developmental mandate for local government, needs to be actively pursued by municipalities. Integrated development planning is one of the most important mechanisms through which municipalities can develop the strategic capacity to meet their existing responsibilities.
Municipal councillors now require a particular level of expertise and knowledge to enable them to perform their functions in the best interests of the communities they were elected or appointed to serve.
Within the context of the above, this paper will endeavour to review developmental obligations imposed on local government and in particular the skills and expertise that councillors require in order to function efficiently and effectively. The paper will provide an overview of the following :
the new developmental mandate;
the need for community participation;
the establishment of ward committees;
empirical survey of capacity building needs of councilors; and
recommendations.


Vette to Volt: Evolution of Cardiac System
Automobiles of these days are under constant pressure to become more environment friendly and fuel efficient. Conventional cars are constantly replaced by hybrid vehicles. Chevy Volt, a solution presented by General Motors Cooperation, has a gasoline engine which works mostly as a generator to charge battery that supplies energy for electric motors. Therefore, the engine provides motive power only indirectly by means of electric energy instead of directly through transmission as with Chevy Corvette (nicknamed Vette). Overviewing the process of evolution of cardiac system in multicellular organisms based on both published sources and preliminary information, we find that the evolution of cardiac system shares common features with the evolution of automobiles.


The Covid-19 pandemic has reinforced the value of robust, policy-relevant research to inform decision-making and heightened the need for evidence-informed responses to address worsening inequalities. While international development research has the potential to contribute to a more equitable world, research funders grapple with how to ensure that their support best enables researchers to respond to evolving evidence demands and influence policy and practice. This article reflects on lessons emerging from one of the International Development Research Centre's (IDRC) rapid-response initiatives and highlights the ongoing experiences of our research partners in influencing policy to address the socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic. We conclude that flexibility of funding, promoting Southern leadership and embedded partnerships, and ongoing support for amplification of research results help to ensure that research is positioned for impact amid constantly evolving priorities. This has implications for research funding practices and underlines the importance of addressing inequities in access to research funding.


The method described deals mainly with a method of redistributing the skin after reconstruction of the urethra. The rationale for the operation is based on the pathologic embryology of the deformity. The technique is used in distal penile and glanular hypospadias in the absence of chordee. The meatus is relocated with a distally based turnover flap or with a meatoplasty and glanuloplasty. The lateral fusion raphes, which bifurcate in hypospadias from the ventral raphe toward the dogears of the skin hood, are then opened and sutured longitudinally, as fusion should have occurred. The postoperative aspect is that of a normal prepuce. Postoperative swelling is almost nonexistent, the incisions being made in embryologic fusion raphes. Results have been especially pleasing from the aesthetic point of view. A "functional" mobile prepuce is obtained (Table I).


Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) and Electronic Navigation Chart (ENC) will become, due to the amendments to the SOLAS Convention (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea) that are to be enforced on 1st January 2011, mandatory navigational tools for particular classes of vessels, with the implementation period from 2012 to 2018. Both for ECDIS and ENC there are production standards that the producers will have to comply with, which would be a guarantee for a high reliability of the newly implemented navigational tool. Croatia has established the right and responsibility for the production of ENCs for the territory of its jurisdiction on its national regulations and on recommendations of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO), as well as on the recent provisions of the SOLAS Convention related to hydrographic activity. According to the aforementioned provisions, national hydrographic offices will have, in the countries where they have been constituted and where they are operating, the main mission to provide quality navigational charts and publications for the territory of the country's jurisdiction at sea. In Croatia, the mission has been given to the Hydrographic Institute of the Republic of Croatia (HHI) that has been fulfilling the task for a century, providing quality paper charts and publications to end users. After the new regulations related to the implementation of mandatory ECDIS and ENC have been enforced, HHI designed its project of ENC production, thus covering the areas of jurisdiction of the Republic of Croatia at sea. ENC is a digital database and is produced in compliance to the IHO production specification S-57. It contains all relevant data needed for safe navigation, such as coastline, bathimetry, buoys, lights etc. Geographic coverage, which most often corresponds to the coverage of a paper chart, is the basic measuring unit for ENC and is called a cell. According to their compilation scale and their navigational purpose, ENCs have been classified into six user groups. As with other official producers of ENCs, Croatian ENCs are produced on the basis of the existing paper charts. The fact that the ENC cell coverage is based on the coverage of a paper chart created the problem of overlap of ENC data, i.e. the presence of two ENC cells for the same geographic navigational area. Observing the IHO recommendations and because of the problem that the end user might have when using ENCs in navigation along the area, such situation is considered as untenable and urges hydrographic offices to solve the problem of overlap where it occurs. The problem of overlap has been identified for the area of the Adriatic Sea between two current official ENCs producers for that area, precisely in navigation groups of Overview ENC and General ENC. Through the work of the Mediterranean and Black Seas Hydrographic Commission (MBSHC), the two parties have for some time been engaged in solving the problem of overlap for the territory of the Adriatic Sea, but unfortunately without much success, which is, on long term basis, untenable, i.e. which should be resolved in compliance with valid regulations and IHO recommendations by the date of enforcement of the mandatory ECDIS and ENC. In this paper an analysis of the current overlap of ENC data for the Adriatic Sea has been presented, including the existing solutions for other areas. Taking into consideration what has been achieved so far, and conforming to regulations related to the responsibility of national hydrographic offices in charting the areas under their competence and to IHO recommendations, concrete proposals for solving the problem of overlap of ENC data for the Adriatic Sea have been given.


Before make computers can be active collaborators in design work, they must be equipped with some human-like visual and design skills. Towards this end, we report some advances in integrating computer vision and automated design in a computational model of 'artistic vision' -- the ability to see something striking in a subject and express it in a creative design. The artificial artist studies images of animals, then designs sculpture that conveys something of the strength, tension, and expression in the animals' bodies. It performs an anatomical analysis using conventional computer vision techniques constrained by high-level causal inference to find significant areas of the body, e.g., joints under stress. The sculptural form -- kinetic mobiles -- presents a number of mechanical and aesthetic design challenges, which the system solves in imagery using field-based computing methods. Coupled potential fields simultaneously enforce soft and hard constraints -- e.g., the mobile should resemble the original animal and every subassembly of the mobile must be precisely balanced. The system uses iconic representations in all stages, obviating the need to translate between spatial and predicate representations and allowing a rich flow of information between vision and design.


We present Scriptroute, a system that allows ordinary Internet users to conduct network measurements from remote vantage points. We seek to combine the flexibility found in dedicated measurement testbeds such as NIMI with the general accessibility and popularity of Web-based public traceroute servers. To use Scriptroute, clients use DNS to discover measurement servers and then submit a measurement script for execution in a sandboxed, resource-limited environment. The servers ensure that the script does not expose the network to attack by applying source- and destination-specific filters and security checks, and by rate-limiting traffic.

Scriptroute code is publicly available and has been deployed on the PlanetLab testbed of 42 sites. As proof-of-concept, we have used it both to create RPT, a tool for measuring routing trees toward a destination, and to repeat the experiment used to evaluate GNP, a recently proposed Internet distance estimation technique. We find that our system is flexible enough to implement a variety of measurement tools despite its security restrictions, that access to many remote vantage points makes the system valuable, and that scripting is an apt choice for expressing and combining measurement tasks.


Ocimum sanctum (Tulsi) is known to be an important medicinal plant from ancient period in India. Ursolic acid (UA), Oleanolic acid (OA) and Betulinic acid (BA), the derivatives of triterpenoid saponins, acts as a bioactive compounds and have been isolated from many medicinal plants and reported to possess a potent anti-bacterial activity against the pathogenic bacteria. The present study was aimed to undergo the phytochemical screening and to investigate the antibacterial efficacy of the leaf extract of Ocimum sanctum in various solvents like acetone, methanol, chloroform, diethyl ether, dimethyl sulfoxide and aqueous extracts. The Minimum Inhibition Concentration (MIC) of UA, OA and BA against pathogenic bacteria was also determined. The methanolic and aqueous extracts of crude leaf powder were found to be most effective against the pathogenic bacterial strains selected for the study. Of the three triterpenoids, UA was most effective followed by OA and BA against most of the pathogens. Furthermore, the concentration of UA and OA in leaf powder of Ocimum sanctum was also determined by HPLC. The total concentration of UA and OA was 0.352% in leaf of Tulsi.


Performance measurement is now commonplace in the private sector. The early focus on financial results has expanded to include measurement of customer satisfaction, business processes, and opportunities for learning and growth. With the increased scrutiny on public and not‐for‐profit organizations to demonstrate measurable results, private sector measurement techniques have been borrowed and applied to these enterprises. The Oregon State Bar (OSB) is the only state bar association in the USA that is known to have pursued a rigorous focus on measurable results for its programs and services. This case study is designed to examine the measures in place for services to sections (special interest groups) within the OSB and recommend improvements. Research on goal setting theory, process management, survey design, and implementation strategies have been used to underpin the case study. The study will show that multiple indicators are necessary at various points in time during the year in order to measure fully whether the desired results are on track for the year.


Hepatic glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are dysregulated in human obesity, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and diabetes. The multifunctional GST pi-isoform (GSTP) catalyzes the conjugation of glutathione with acrolein and inhibits c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) activation. Herein, we tested whether GSTP deficiency disturbs glucose homeostasis in mice. Hepatic GST proteins were downregulated by short-term high-fat diet in wild-type (WT) mice concomitant with increased glucose intolerance, JNK activation, and cytokine mRNAs in the liver. Genetic deletion of GSTP did not affect body composition, fasting blood glucose levels, or insulin levels in mice maintained on a normal chow diet; however, compared with WT mice, the GSTP-null mice were glucose intolerant. In GSTP-null mice, pyruvate intolerance, reflecting increased hepatic gluconeogenesis, was accompanied by elevated levels of activated JNK, cytokine mRNAs, and glucose-6-phosphatase proteins in the liver. Treatment of GSTP-null mice with the JNK inhibitor 1,9-pyrazoloanthrone (SP600125) significantly attenuated pyruvate-induced hepatic gluconeogenesis and significantly altered correlations between hepatic cytokine mRNAs and metabolic outcomes in GSTP-null mice. Collectively, these findings suggest that hepatic GSTP plays a pivotal role in glucose handling by regulating JNK-dependent control of hepatic gluconeogenesis. Thus, hepatic GSTP-JNK dysregulation may be a target of new therapeutic interventions during early stages of glucose intolerance to prevent the worsening metabolic derangements associated with human obesity and its relentless progression to diabetes.


I've heard many positive reports about Jigsaw, the community mental health service for young people. Among other places, it's active in Galway city, and young people and students around these parts speak of it highly.

Jigsaw is an initiative set up by Headstrong, the organisation founded by clinical psychologist Tony Bates. Since it started, it has done immense work in the area of young peoples' psychological health.

Now, in collaboration with UCD School of Psychology, Headstrong has carried out one of the most comprehensive studies of mental health ever undertaken in Ireland.

What about drink and drugs? This is the first national study to track drinking behaviour and then link it to mental health. Some 45 per cent of young people, from 12 to 25, have drinking habits that are problematic, harmful or even show dependency. This increases to a worrying 61 per cent for young adults between 17 and 25. And this excessive drinking is having serious effects on young people's mental health, their levels of depression and stress.

We now know young people increase their drink consumption from age 13-14; they move outside the normal range of alcohol consumption at age 18-19 and remain above it until age 25. And for the first time we know, from evidence, that drink is impacting not just on young people's physical health, but on their mental health too.

But over one-third of young people do not talk or seek informal help when they have problems. Those who know that they have emotional difficulties but who do not seek necessary formal help have the highest levels of distress and the lowest well-being.

Which brings us to what I consider one of the key aspects of the research: the concept that one 'Good Adult' is central to the mental health of young people.


The aim of this study is to establish a brief screening tool to classify PD patients as PD with normal cognition (PD-N), PD patients with mild cognitive impairment (PD-MCI) and PD patients with dementia (PD-D). There has been emerging evidence that the MoCA (Montreal Cognitive Assessment) shows potential for the brief assessment of cognition to differentiate among PD patients. One possible solution to further improve the discrimination among PD-D, PD-MCI and PD-N groups is to examine Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) measures in conjunction with the MoCA. A convenience sample of 162 patients suffering from PD and 53 volunteer control subjects were examined in a movement disorders center. Extensive neuropsychological testing was done to classify the PD patients into PD-N, PD-MCI or PD-D. The 24 patients were diagnosed as PD-D based on the Movement Disorders Society Task Force criteria. For PD-MCI, two criteria were used: 1.5SD:2 in one-domain (1.5 SD below the norms on two measures in at least one of four cognitive domains) and 1.5SD:1 in two-domains (1.5 SD below normative data in at least one measure but in two domains) which made a diagnosis of 34 and 39 PD-MCI patients respectively. The remaining patients were classified as PD-N. For both the MCI criteria, the results suggest that 1) for discriminating PD-MCI from PD-N, the MoCA is a sufficiently suitable screening measure that is not improved by adding ADL measures, 2) for distinguishing PD-D from PD-MCI, the MoCA and the full ADL-IS questionnaire can be administered to a patient suffering from PD. When time is limited and depending on the possibility of answering the questions regarding the ADL-IS items, the MoCA along with the Muddled and Complex Medication ADL-IS items should be administered. When no scores are obtained for Muddled, then MoCA along with Complex Medication ADL-IS item is sufficient to discriminate PD-D from PD-MCI. However, if no scores are obtained for Complex Medication item, then an average of four ADL-IS items should be taken along with the MoCA. This attractive brief screening tool helps in detection of cognitive impairment in the elderly.


The majority of the extant languages have one of three dominant basic word orders: SVO, SOV or VSO. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain this word order bias, including the existence of a universal grammar, the learnability imposed by cognitive constraints, the descent of modern languages from an ancestral protolanguage, and the constraints from functional principles. We run simulations using a multi-agent computational model to study this bias. Following a local order approach, the model simulates individual language processing mechanisms in production and comprehension. The simulation results demonstrate that the semantic structures that a language encodes can constrain the global syntax, and that local syntax can help trigger bias towards the global order SOV/SVO (or VOS/OVS).


This thesis draws on the work of philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy to propose 'community' as a conceptual and hermeneutical figure that opens up productive possibilities in the study of contemporary British literature. Community is advanced as a form of political ontology, which moves beyond contingent appearance toward radical possibilities for transformation in the current political landscape. Particular attention is paid to the way in which community is 'put to work' as part of the operation of the capitalist state, where community emerges as a central site of political contestation. Community is demonstrated as offering ways of rethinking the figure of 'politics' itself, opening avenues for developing its meaning through emergent theories of 'gender', the 'queer' and 'trans'.
Community is addressed in the space of literature and representation, where Nancy's figure of 'myth interrupted' is presented as an important dimension of communitarian thought. Through interrogating the representability of community, its mythic foundations are subjected to a process of radical openness that allows for a vibrant and dynamic form of community to emerge. Situating these capacities in the works of authors Jackie Kay, Jon McGregor and Ali Smith, literature is presented as a singular space through which communitarian possibility can be glimpsed. The conceptual figures of 'death', 'gender transformation' and 'magic' are proposed as offering new possibilities in our understanding of community, demonstrating how literature can offer productive and innovative ways of reimagining our understanding of community in the contemporary moment. In this way, this thesis contributes to ongoing debates about the significance of 'community' in contemporary thought, drawing on literature to propose the 'politics of community' as a productive avenue for addressing this.


How do you know when your retail investment is in trouble? When is it time to change course and chart a new direction? Should you wait or act with a sense of urgency? In today9s economic climate, these are questions retail bankers, board members, and investors are constantly evaluating. David Folkman is a senior retail, wholesale, and consumer products executive with 35 years of general management experience. He has been a principal and a member of the board of directors of Regent Pacific Management Corporation since 1991. In this article, David outlines several indicators used to determine the relative health and well-being of a retail business.


Despite being a general observatory, and not a Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) oriented mission, INTEGRAL has contributed to several important discoveries in the GRB field. This has been obtained thanks to its unprecedented localization capabilities, and sensitivity in the soft gamma-ray domain. In this paper I will review the main results obtained during the last 10 years with, and thanks to, INTEGRAL GRBs, including the discovery of one of the few GRBs spectroscopically associated with a Supernova, the first measurement of variable polarization in the GRB prompt emission, the indication of the existence of a low-luminosity population of GRBs, as well as the recent application of GRBs as probes for the fundamental physics. I will mention the main global characteristics of the INTEGRAL sample, and make the point on the lessons learnt from INTEGRAL in the perspective of designing future GRB dedicated missions.


Pharmaceuticals market is highly regulated, and it can be stated that prescription (legal or ethical) drugs have a status of substances in controlled circulation. Promotional activities are also under strict legislation, further burdened with ethical consideration and public scrutiny. Internet as liberal and hard to control medium brings entirely new sets of solutions and/or problems to pharmaceuticals market(ers).


Since its foundation in 1991, the European Respiratory Society (ERS) has been committed to ensuring high standards of respiratory medicine in Europe and providing a platform from which the next generation of respiratory specialists can grow. As a result, the ERS believes that sustained learning is the source for future developments and, therefore, continues to promote research and training wherever possible.


Platinum is still the most active element for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER); however, it suffers from its scarcity and high cost. Thus, significant efforts have been dedicated to maximize the catalytic activity with less loading. When Pt is utilized at a semiconductor surface, more factors have to be considered. Placing a catalyst directly in contact with a semiconductor supports the extraction of photogenerated minority carriers as well as boosts the catalytic reactions. In addition, a catalyst should be designed with prudence not to interfere in the light path with respect to absorption at the underlying substrate. Herein, we report the development of planar Si-based photocathodes, covered with a native oxide, for the HER, which also satisfy the prerequisites for the use of a three-dimensionally patterned, flower-like Ag-Pt catalyst. The catalyst consisted of nanoparticles of homogeneously alloyed Ag and Pt, fabricated by a galvanic exchange of Pt with Ag. Importantly, these two elements were proven to have their own functionalities. Ag not only contributed to transporting e- and Had to the Pt for subsequent processes of the HER but also effectively extracted minority carriers by diluting the high work function of Pt, leading to a better Schottky barrier at the catalyst-insulator-semiconductor junction. Furthermore, computational simulation revealed that the proposed catalyst pattern alleviated optical light loss with the increasing catalyst loading compared to the two-dimensional case. Owing to these effects, we could achieve 0.36 V (vs. reversible hydrogen electrode) as an open circuit potential and the near maximum current density of planar p-type Si. The findings in this work suggests deeper insights that could support the design of catalysts for solar-fuel systems.


This thesis focuses on the appropriateness of the inviscid potential flow model for determining
the manoeuvring characteristics of a body moving through fluid. This model is
widespread in many key applications for ships, submarines, aircraft, rockets, missiles, as
well as for the swimming of marine animals and the flying of birds. Despite the widespread
use, there are important anomalies in the theory, in particular relating to the lift induced
by shed vorticity. These anomalies have been identified in the recent publication by Chadwick
which states that the lift has been calculated incorrectly, and apparent agreement
in wing theory is fortuitous due to "two wrongs" in the theory giving the right answer.
In this thesis, the inviscid flow is further investigated, and the work of Chadwick is
extended and developed further.
In the first two chapters, careful description of the basic fluid concepts and then derivation
of the fluid equations is given. In chapter four, the lift and drag on a wing are considered.
The lift evaluation comes out to be half that expected and this is in agreement and
essentially repeats the analysis in Chadwick's recent paper [1]. However, the analysis is
extended to evaluate the drag, and surprisingly the drag is determined to be infinite.
In chapter five, further investigation into the lift on a thin wing is undertaken, and it is
seen that there is uncalculated jump in the lift at the trailing edge. This is calculated
from the pressure integral across the trailing edge.
Finally, in chapter six, inviscid flow slender body theory is investigated. A complete near
field expansion is given for a singularity distribution of sources over an infinite line by
using the Fourier transform method. In this thesis, this result is extended for the finite
line by using the integral splitting technique. By taking the ends to infinity, the result for
the infinite line is recovered and the two methods shown to be equivalent for this specific
case. The method presented here relies upon allowing a singular wake to exist behind the
body. This introduces non-uniqueness in the matching and the implications of this are
discussed.
Appropriate references to other researchers are given in individual introductions for each
chapter.


The Chukchi Sea and Canada Basin are areas in the Pacific Arctic characterized by northward advection and spreading of Pacific-origin water that transports nutrients into the Arctic Ocean, and thus plays an important role in phytoplankton distributions. In this study, we examined ship-based and mooring data to understand nutrient dynamics and its influence on phytoplankton distributions. In the southern Chukchi Sea, our data suggest that, in contrast to spring blooms that are caused by a nutrient supply with the advection of Pacific-origin water, autumn blooms there are maintained by regenerated nutrients from the bottom of the shallow sea where particulate organic matters are largely accumulated in autumn. On the other hand, large-scale ocean circulation controls nutrient distributions in the Canada Basin where sea ice reduction in recent years has changed the ocean circulation and thus impacts on the nutrient and phytoplankton dynamics. We found that oceanographic and biological responses to the sea ice loss are quite different between the Alaskan and Siberian sides of the region. On the Alaskan side, eddies also play an important role in the nutrient and phytoplankton distributions. However, on the Siberian side, data are still lacking and various biogeochemical processes should be clarified in future studies.


Allopurinol is a commonly used drug in the treatment of chronic gout or hyperuricaemia associated with treatment of diuretic conditions. One of the major problems with the drug is that it is practically insoluble in water, which results in poor bioavailability after oral administration. In the present study, solid dispersions of allopurinol were prepared by solvent evaporation, kneading method, co-precipitation method, co-grinding method and closed melting methods to increase its water solubility. Hydrophilic carriers such as polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyethylene glycol 6000 were used in the ratio of 1:1, 1:2 and 1:4 (drug to carrier ratio). The aqueous solubility of allopurinol was favored by the presence of both polymers. These new formulations were characterized in the liquid state by phase solubility studies and in the solid state by differential scanning calorimetry, powder X-ray diffraction, UV and Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. Solid state characterizations indicated that allopurinol was present as an amorphous material and entrapped in polymer matrix. In contrast to the very slow dissolution rate of pure allopurinol, the dispersion of the drug in the polymers considerably enhanced the dissolution rate. Solid dispersion prepared with polyvinylpyrrolidone showed highest improvement in wettability and dissolution rate of allopurinol. Mathematical modeling of in vitro dissolution data indicated the best fitting with Korsemeyer-Peppas model and the drug release kinetics primarily as Non-Fickian diffusion. Therefore, the present study showed that polyvinylpyrrolidone and polyethylene glycol 6000 have a significant solubilizing effect on allopurinol.


This is a review on 95 references dealing with the genus Linaria (Scrophularioideae-Antirrhineae tribe), a known genus of the Scrophulariaceae family, which comprises about 200 species mainly distributed in Europe, Asia and North Africa. The use of some Linaria species in folk medicine has attracted the attention for chemical and biological studies. This report is aimed to be a comprehensive overview on the isolated or identified known and often new metabolites from the 41 Linaria species so far cited. It is organised presenting first the phytochemical classes of alkaloids, polyphenols including flavonoids, the latter being quite diffused and mostly present as flavones, flavonols and their glycosides, and terpenoids including iridoids and steroids. Second, the results from biological investigation on plant extracts, pure natural products isolated from Linaria species and some synthetic derivatives are reported, with antitumour, anti-acetylcholinesterase, anti-inflammatory and analgesic, antioxidant and antibacterial activities.


Sixty patients who had had operative treatment of a fracture of the femoral neck or an intertrochanteric fracture were allowed to bear weight as tolerated on the injured limb. The average age was seventy-seven years. Computerized gait-testing was performed at one, two, three, six, and twelve weeks postoperatively to quantify weight-bearing. For the purpose of analysis, the patients were divided into three groups according to whether they had internal fixation of a stable fracture, internal fixation of an unstable fracture, or a primary hemiarthroplasty. Thirty-two patients completed the entire twelve-week study. The average amount of weight that these patients placed on the injured limb increased progressively with time. The average load supported by the injured limb was 51 per cent that of the uninjured limb at one week, and it gradually increased to 87 per cent at twelve weeks. During the first three weeks, the patients who had had internal fixation bore substantially less weight than those who had had a hemiarthroplasty. By six weeks, we could detect no significant differences, with the numbers available, among the groups with regard to weight-bearing or other measured gait parameters. We concluded that elderly patients who are allowed to bear weight as tolerated after operative treatment of a fracture of the femoral neck or an intertrochanteric fracture appear to voluntarily limit loading of the injured limb.


Background In people with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) impaired physical functioning is an acute as well as long term effect of the disease. Observational performance tests reflecting range of motion in upper as well as in lower extremities should be easy to perform in the clinic as well as in research as a complement to self-reported measures of physical functioning. The Signal Of Functional Impairment (SOFI)1 is a performance test which so far has been applied only in Sweden but commonly used in the clinic and in long term follow-up clinical studies. Objectives The aim was to study performance-based function assessed with SOFI over 8 years and, secondly, to study which items included in SOFI that were associated with change in functioning over time. Methods An inception cohort of 1 052 patients with early RA, from the BARFOT-study, recruited 1992–2006 was investigated, mean (SD) age was 54 years (14), 70% were women. The patients were followed by a structured protocol at baseline, 3 and 6 months and at 1, 2, 5, and 8 years. SOFI consists of 3 parts measuring hand, arm (upper), and leg (lower) function (1). Hand function is tested by 4 movements; cylinder grip (H1), pen grip (H2), pincer grip (H3) and opposition of the thumb (H4). Arm function is assessed by 3 movements; hand behind the head and the ability to touch the cervical spine processes with fingers (A1), elbow supination (A2) and elbow extension (A3). Leg function is tested by 4 movements; the ability to touch the opposite knee with the heel while sitting (L1), knee extension in supine position (L2), dorsiflexion of the foot standing on a balance board (L3), and the ability to stand on tip toes without shoes (L4). An assessor scores the patient's ability to perform the different tests on an ordinal scale (0=normal, 1= partly impaired and 2= unable to perform). The range of SOFI scores is 0–44 (best to worst). Results At baseline the mean (SD) SOFI was 7.2 (5.8), and at 1 year follow-up the improvement was 2.75 (5.65), p<0.001. From 1 year to 8 year follow-up the deterioration was 1.5 (4.6), p<0.001. When studying hand, upper and lower function separately, the pen grip and the ability to stand on tip toes improves most during the first year. From 1 to 8 year the pincer grip and the ability to stand on tip toes are the items that deteriorate most (Figure). Assessment of the pen grip, the pincer grip and the ability to stand on tip toes explain 58% to 70% of the SOFI score over time, with the highest rate at 5 (65%) and 8 years follow-up (70%). Conclusions Functioning as assessed by SOFI improved during the first year in patients with early RA and then deteriorated slowly. Over a longer period, pincer grip and the ability to stand on tip toes seemed to be the two most important items to measure when assessing functional impairment over time. References Kerstin B. Eberhardt, B. Svensson and U. Moritz. Functional assessment of early rheumatoid arthritis British Journal of Rheumatology 1988;27:364–371. Disclosure of Interest None declared


Objectives: 1- To explore ideas and attitudes regarding the use of contraceptive methods by adolescents from two "comunas" in the city of Cali. 2- To determine factors that hinder the practice of contraceptive methods. Methodology: Focal groups of pregnant adolescents and their partners, and adolescent not pregnant and their male friends from Cali city were studied. The analysis was made by groups and by "comunas". Results: It was found that the lack of knowledge, the life project, responsibility and fear were issues considered in the results. The model PRECEDE-PROCEDE for organizing the data was utilized. Discussion: Sexuality still is a taboo theme deserving awareness it in the public agenda. Lack of knowledge and negative attitudes are obstacles for using contraceptives. This has been reported also by other authors. Maternity is considered by women as a source of life fulfilment. It is important to stress that maternity is not alone for the woman and that it should involve the partner as well Conclusions: Young people need to overcome misconceptions. To decide for themselves they require orientation and encouragement. It is important to stress that maternity is not for women alone since it is the entire responsibility of couples


This exploratory study examined mental development and the quality of socio-emotional functioning of 16 institutionalized children, aged from 3 to 6 years old, relating them with the quality of their caregivers' attachment narratives. Griffiths Developmental Scales, Child Behavior Checklist, Attachment Script Representation and Attachment Q-Sort were used in the psychological assessment. Results showed that chidren's developmental level was placed below normative data. Furthermore, data regarding externalizing and internalizing psychopathology symptoms were close to the clinical population. Nevertheless, and in contrast to our hypothesis, most children presented almost mormative attachments scores (secure base), but this was not related to the quality of attachement narratives presented by their caregivers. The implications of these findings are discussed in light of the impact of institutional deprivation in child development.