are very uncommon and are probably fewer than when other methods are used. Reports advocating its use have been published including recent series of cases from the U.S.A.,' Uruguay,2 Holland,3 and Bri.ain.4 Complications have been negligible. One advantage of the operation, most commonly performed as a prophylactic measure during operations for other abdominal conditions, is that it avoids cutting across the appendix with the risk of infection that this entails, as when the ligated stump is buried in the wall of the caecum under a pursestring suture. The principle of the operation is to turn the appendix completely outside in, as one does with the finger of a glove, so that it comes to lie in the lumen of the caecum. It is usually done by stripping the appendix of its mesentery and turning in its tip with a probe, which is advanced until the appendix has completely disappeared into the interior of the caecum, leaving only a tiny depression. This is oversewn with a nonabsorbable cross-stitch which also includes any remaining blood vessels going to the appendix, which will then slough off and be digested. Radiographic studies show that this happens after a week or so. In any event appendicitis cannot occur because of the changed anatomy. Gynaecologists have most opportunity of incidental elimination of the appendix, and it has been my routine to do so in all appropriate cases during pelvic surgery. I have employed the inversion technique exclusively since 1958 and have used it over 1,000 times. In no case has there 'been any postoperative complication whatever and I am unaware of any at a later date. Colleagues who have adopted the same procedure have had similar results. I therefore support the view of Edelbohls5 who in 1895 wrote: "Inversion of the normal appendix is so simple and easy a matter, withal in itself so devoid of danger, that the wtriter is prepared to advocate inversion of the appendix whenever for any reason the abdomen is opened. There are those surgeons who under the conditions just stated advocate ligature and removal of the normal appendix. How much more does their logic apply to the inversion of the entire appendix as contrasted with ligature and ablation."-I am, etc., SELBY TAIT Maternity Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Medical Centre, Birmingham


Touchscreens are becoming commonplace in the modern-day vehicle, meaning they need to be accessible to all users, young or old. An experiment was conducted to understand the impact of age-related decline on touchscreen task performance when driving where users were asked to complete a simple touchscreen task in both a stationary (static) and moving (dynamic) condition. As expected, a significant decrease in task performance was found when comparing the static condition to a dynamic one. However, when analysing these two conditions by age, only the dynamic condition produced a significant decrease. A positive moderate correlation was also found in both conditions. This result has implications for the design of in-vehicle touchscreen systems to be inclusive of users of different ages and provides insight about the impact of when tasks are carried out in the vehicle.


Student performance in general organic chemistry courses is determined by a wide range of factors including cognitive ability, motivation and cultural capital. Previous work on cognitive factors has tended to focus on specific areas rather than exploring performance across all problem types and cognitive skills. In this study, we have categorized the different kinds of problems encountered in general organic chemistry, and correlated performance in each problem type with overall class performance. Fairly reproducible results are found for ten consecutive semesters over five academic years. Problem types that require higher-level cognitive skills tend to correlate better with overall class performance than those that rely more heavily on memorization. Performance on some problem types was found to predict up to ∼90% of the variances of overall class performance. Correlations across problem types with external student characteristics, such as general chemistry grade, are interpreted as highlighting the important contributions of other factors in addition to cognitive ability to success in organic chemistry.


Developing Proofreading and Editing Skills, 5/e by Camp provides instruction and applications designed to sharpen skills in detecting and correcting errors in written communications including memos, letters, reports, email messages, databases, presentation slides, advertisements, and spreadsheets. The material progresses from easy-to-recognize errors to those more difficult to spot, allowing students to build confidence and skill. Highlights of the 5th edition include a discussion of voice-recognition technology and proofreading and editing, end-of-chapter text applications with two applications in each chapter available on CD-ROM, and a series of seven review modules offering challenging proofreading practice.


Purpose of review Recurrent loss of function mutations within genes of the cohesin complex have been identified in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML). STAG2 is the most commonly mutated cohesin member in AML as well as solid tumors. STAG2 is recurrently, mutated in Ewing's Sarcoma, bladder cancer, and glioblastoma, and is one of only ten genes known to be recurrently mutated in over four distinct tissue types of human cancer Recent findings The cohesin complex, a multiprotein ring, is canonically known to align and stabilize replicated chromosomes prior to cell division. Although initially thought to lead to unequal chromosomal separation in dividing cells, data in myeloid malignancies show this is not observed in cohesin mutant MDS/AML, either in large patient cohorts or mouse models. Mounting evidence supports a potential alternate mechanism whereby drivers of cell-type specific gene expression and hematopoietic development are impaired through alteration in three-dimensional nuclear organization and gene structure. Summary Understanding the functional consequences of cohesin mutations in regulating lineage-specific and signal-dependent defects and in myeloid transformation will identify novel pathophysiologic mechanisms of disease and inform the development of novel therapeutic targets.


This thesis examines to what extent and by what means the Assistant Masters
Association (AMA) was able to influence provision in relation to conditions of
service for the secondary schoolmaster in England and Wales in the 60-year period
from the AMA's foundation in 1891. A thematic approach is adopted with chapters
devoted to the specific issues of tenure, salaries, superannuation, registration and
training. Within each chapter there is a necessary concentration on the earlier period
of the AMA's history when the impetus to create acceptable conditions of service was
at its most imperative.
The thesis draws upon much previously unused material from the Assistant Masters
Archive, lodged at the University of London Institute of Education Library. The
study builds upon and extends the earlier research of Baron, Tropp and Gosden, and
provides an alternative interpretation to the more recent work of Lawn, Ozga, Grace,
and others, which presents the behaviour of organized teachers in terms of employeremployee
conflict. The strike, confrontational stratagem and the coercion of its
membership are seen as alien to the AMA's philosophy. The AMA's participation
with Joint Four, and its interaction with other teacher unions, are fully explored.
The significant contribution of the AMA to enhanced provision across the spectrum
of teacher employment is shown to be primarily the result of the Association's
persistent, professional dialogue with government - both central and local - via
carefully researched data and targeted argument.


Background The importance of person centred care has been dominant in End of Life Care (EoLC) national guidance since publication of the EoLC Strategy in 2008. However, variations in quality of care remain concerning. National frameworks have been developed to enable care providers to drive changes to improve patient care and experience (NPELCP 2015). It is therefore important to explore what patients and those close to them think about services they encounter; it is widely recommended that engaging with service users should inform ongoing service improvement strategies. Aim In one acute hospital trust: Explore the lived experience of being a hospital inpatient, and receiving support from the HSPCT; Make recommendations to the acute trust regarding improving patient experience. Method A phenomenological approach was adopted utilising the following methods: Narrative Interviews – In-depth interviews with recently discharged palliative patients; Case note review – key documentation from recent in-patient episode. Results 20 interviews completed. Qualitative data analysis is currently being undertaken using Thematic Analysis. Initial emerging themes identify the following: Modes of communication impact on perceptions of care; Levels of understanding affect perceptions of control and loss of self; Burden of symptoms impact on patients holistic wellbeing/quality of life; Institutional culture and prior experiences may exacerbate feelings of concern. Conclusion Study findings will contribute to a greater understanding of the inpatient experience within the acute hospital setting, as well as provide information directly to the acute trust to promote local change and improvements to care delivery. Reference National Palliative and End of Life Care Partnership (NPELCP). Ambitions for Palliative and End of Life Care: a national framework for local action; 2015. http://endoflifecareambitions.org.uk/. Accessed June 17, 2016


In a multi-disciplinary project, patient derived glioblastoma stem-cell cultures (GSCs) have been established and characterized extensively with the goal of applying computational efforts to integrate results from high-throughput screens of drugs and RNAi with genomic and transcriptional profiling to predict the most successful therapy for individual glioma patients. The main goal of this study was to develop a platform for testing the tumor-initiating capacity of GSCs in mouse brain and to label the cells with GFP-luciferase to enable non-invasive quantification of tumor growth by in vivo bioluminescence imaging. Adherently grown GFP-luciferase labeled glioblastoma stem-cell cultures were dissociated and injected stereotactically into immunodeficient mice. Tumor growth was monitored by IVIS imaging for up to 40 weeks and brains were collected for histopathological and immunohistochemical stainings. Automatic quantification and growth pattern analysis of tumor cells in brain sections was set up based on human cell specific staining and a CellProfiler Analyst's machine learning classifier with a manual observer correlation of 0.86. GSC xenograft tumors with a wide range of histopathological features and biological behaviors recapitulating high grade astrocytoma was confirmed in mice injected with 14 of the 29 glioblastoma cell cultures (48%). Glial lineage markers, such as Sox2, GFAP, and Olig2, were expressed both in patient tumors and patient derived xenografts. Individual glioblastoma cell cultures were either characterized by formation of condensed tumors (8/14, 57%) or diffuse infiltrative growth through the brain parenchyma (6/14, 43%). In summary, we present a valuable mouse model for preclinical studies of glioma. Integrative analysis of molecular profiles with growth pattern data has the potential to unravel genes that distinguish tumors with more infiltrative growth. Our biobank of luciferase labeled GSCs may be useful for longitudinal monitoring of tumor growth dynamics in the setting of therapies and provides a foundation for testing the effect of predicted drug vulnerabilites in orthotopic xenografts mouse models. Citation Format: Cecilia Krona, Soumi Kundu, Karl Holmberg-Olausson, Riasat Islam, Rashmi Ramachandra, Ludmila Elfineh, Sven Nelander. In vivo modeling of high grade glioma for oncology drug development [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2017; 2017 Apr 1-5; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 4813. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2017-4813


Data deduplication is a critical system in support dispose of excess information as an option of enthralling records; it provisions simply distinct copy of file. Together with the whole associations stockpiling pattern and numerous associations encase more bits of copy in sequence. Holder in point different clients stores comparative documents in a few superior spaces. Deduplication nullify these extra duplicates by sparing as single duplicate of information and restore alternate duplicates alongside pointers that flipside to the first duplicate. It be the information pressure procedure for to build the data transfer capacity proficiency and capacity misuse. Information deduplication is tremendously utilizing as a part of distributed computing currently. Feature information administration versatile and stockpiling setback in distributed computing. Information deduplication protect the privacy of touchy data. It lives up to expectations with merged encryption system to scramble the information before convey. Administrations frequentlyutilize Deduplication in reinforcement and disaster recuperation functions. Here we attempt the approved deduplication ensure,meet with simultaneous encryption to supervise the cost of security for touchy information with half and half distributed computing.


Oxytetracycline (OTC) has been extensively used for marking a variety of fish species, but has never been successfully used to mark channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus. Channel catfish fingerlings (~ 25 mm TL) obtained from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation at Byron Fish Hatchery were kept in Living Streams (791 to 1,018 L) equipped with recirculation units. Marking trials consisted of immersing channel catfish in one of three concentrations (250, 450, and 700 mg/L) OTC hydrochloride [HCl] for 6 hours. Samples of channel catfish were obtained from each group at 1-week and 4-week postimmersion. Lapilli otoliths and pectoral spines were removed to assess mark presence with an epi-fluorescent compound microscope. After one week, no marks were detected on pectoral spines for all treatments, mark detection on otoliths depended on concentration, but never exceeded 43% (700 mg/L). After four weeks, all otoliths and pectoral spines were determined marked for 700 mg/L OTC, 20% for fish immersed in 450 mg/L OTC, and 0% were marked after four weeks at the 250 mg/L OTC. Results show, channel catfish fingerlings can be successfully marked with immersion in OTC at 700 mg/L for at least 6 hours. © 2011 Oklahoma Academy of Science.


Abstract As a primary industry, agriculture is directly dependent on natural conditions and therefore potentially vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. In Norway and Northern Norway in particular, the future climatic changes are expected to be overall positive. Still, the consequences for agriculture are not straightforward, but dependent on the interaction between different weather and biological elements, as well as political, economic and social conditions. In this interdisciplinary study we have assessed biological and agronomic effects of climate change, and their interaction with political, economic and social factors, to identify farmers' vulnerability and adaptive capacity to climate change. The assessments are based on downscaled climate change scenarios and interviews with local farmers in the three northernmost counties in Northern Norway (latitude 65.5° to 70°). The study shows that the farmers to a degree are vulnerable to a changing climate, not mainly because of the direct effects of changing growing conditions, but because these changes are an added factor to an already tenuous situation created by Norwegian agricultural policy and socio-economic development in general. We have found that farmers are highly adaptive, to both changing growing conditions and changing agricultural policies. However, changes in policy are currently a greater challenge to farmers than climate change, and such changes are therefore a more salient driver of vulnerability.


The different steps to recognize printed music are described. The first step is to detect and to eliminate the staff lines. A robust method based on finding regions where are only the staff lines, linking between them the staff lines pieces in these regions is used. After staff lines elimination, symbols are isolated and a representation called attributed graph is constructed for each symbol. Thinning, polygonalization, spurious segments cleaning, and segment fusion are performed. A first classification, separating all notes with black heads from others, is performed. To recognize notes with black heads (beamed group or quarter notes), a straightforward structural approach using this representation is sufficient and efficient in most cases. In the ambiguous cases (chord or black head linked to two stems), an ellipse matching method is used. To recognize half notes and bar lines, a structural method using the graph is used.<<ETX>>


In southwestern Sardinia the areas around Iglesias and Guspini–Arbus represent the heart of the former mining industry. Lead and zinc ores were extensively exploited from 1850 to 1995. Geochemical studies in these areas have identified the main sources of contamination to be from drainage of flooded mines, mining wastes and tailings abandoned in settling ponds, and exposed ores. The transport of the fine materials eroded from the tailings ponds contributes to spreading pollution over larger areas downstream. Concentrations of Pb, Cd and Zn in the streams draining the mining area (up to 1, 1.7, and 1000 mg l−1, respectively) are several orders of magnitude higher than those observed in rivers outside the mining areas in Sardinia (Pb: <0.004 mg l−1, Cd: <0.001 mg l−1, and Zn: <0.02 mg l−1), and greatly exceed the Italian drinking water standards (Pb: 0.01 mg l−1, Cd: 0.005 mg l−1, and Zn: 3 mg l−1).


To meet today's demanding requirements for increased performance, reduced size, lower mass, and cost, simple lenses containing multiple aspheric surfaces are required. It is now common for the number of aspheric surfaces used in an infrared lens to exceed the actual number of lens elements. Multiple aspheric and diffractive surfaces provide additional degrees of freedom in the lens design. This is required to achieve increased levels of imaging performance demanded by reduced pitch detectors. Aspheric surfaces also enable a greater diversity of materials to be used such that athermal solutions can be realized without the need for additional lens elements. More recent advances in detector technology will demand multispectral operation, but the requirements for simple, inexpensive optics will remain. Innovative use of aspheric components can also create very simple multispectral optics to fulfil this emerging need. This paper will review the range of applications that can be satisfied using no more than two optical components, highlighting the specific benefits that aspheric and diffractive surfaces provide. Consideration will also be given to future developments where enhanced functionality can be achieved using computational imaging techniques. Examples will be given for several military applications including weapon sights, driver's vision enhancement and remote weapon stations.


In the Arabidopsis root, the SHORT-ROOT transcription factor moves outward to the ground tissue from its site of transcription in the stele and is required for the specification of the endodermis and the stem cell organizing quiescent center cells. In addition, SHORT-ROOT and the downstream transcription factor SCARECROW control an oriented cell division in ground tissue stem cell daughters. Here, we show that the JACKDAW and MAGPIE genes, which encode members of a plant-specific family of zinc finger proteins, act in a SHR-dependent feed-forward loop to regulate the range of action of SHORT-ROOT and SCARECROW. JACKDAW expression is initiated independent of SHORT-ROOT and regulates the SCARECROW expression domain outside the stele, while MAGPIE expression depends on SHORT-ROOT and SCARECROW. We provide evidence that JACKDAW and MAGPIE regulate tissue boundaries and asymmetric cell division and can control SHORT-ROOT and SCARECROW activity in a transcriptional and protein interaction network.


Multicomponent fluorescent hexapod coordination polymer particles (CPPs) have been synthesized from Zn2+ ions and two kinds of fluorescent building blocks (1,4-biphenyldicarboxylic acid, H2bpdc and N,N′-phenylenebis(salicyclideneimine)dicarboxylic acid, 1). The ultimate size of the final hexapod CPPs depended upon the size of the initially-formed cube CPPs, which acted as the template for growth of the secondary coordination polymers. SEM studies conducted at numerous stages of growth revealed the several interesting intermediates, which give exceptionally strong evidence for the seed-directed formation of the hexapod CPP. Two continuous processes, the initial formation of seed CPPs with a cubic shape and the growth of secondary CPs on the six facets of the cube seeds for the final formation of micro-sized hexapods, were monitored via microscopy. The analyses of the initial and final products also revealed that they had different chemical compositions and so different optical properties. In addition, zinc oxide particles with a maintained hexapod shape have been prepared from the simple calcination of hexapod CPPs.


ICFAR PhD Master Classes addressed questions of practice within the context of doctoral work. Each workshop was run by an artist who has undertaken a PhD project. The guest artist talked about how they approached their own PhD, and reflected on how the doctoral work has informed their current intellectual and creative practice.


Production of subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs) for efficient translation of downstream viral proteins is one of the major strategies adapted for viruses that contain a multicistronic RNA genome. Both viral genomic RNA (gRNA) replication and sgRNA transcription rely on the combined activities of viral replicase and host proteins, which recognize promoter regions for the initiation of RNA synthesis. ABSTRACT Many positive-strand (+) RNA viruses produce subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs) in the infection cycle through the combined activities of viral replicase and host proteins. However, knowledge about host proteins involved in direct sgRNA promoter recognition is limited. Here, in the partially purified replicase complexes from Bamboo mosaic virus (BaMV)-infected tissue, we have identified the Nicotiana benthamiana photosystem II oxygen-evolving complex protein, NbPsbO1, which specifically interacted with the promoter of sgRNA but not that of genomic RNA (gRNA). Silencing of NbPsbO1 expression suppressed BaMV accumulation in N. benthamiana protoplasts without affecting viral gRNA replication. Overexpression of wild-type NbPsbO1 stimulated BaMV sgRNA accumulation. Fluorescent microscopy examination revealed that the fluorescence associated with NbPsbO1 was redistributed from chloroplast granal thylakoids to stroma in BaMV-infected cells. Overexpression of a mislocalized mutant of NbPsbO1, dTPPsbO1-T7, inhibited BaMV RNA accumulation in N. benthamiana, whereas overexpression of an NbPsbO1 derivative, sPsbO1-T7, designed to be targeted to chloroplast stroma, upregulated the sgRNA level. Furthermore, depletion of NbPsbO1 in BaMV RdRp preparation significantly inhibited sgRNA synthesis in vitro but exerted no effect on (+) or (−) gRNA synthesis, which indicates that NbPsbO1 is required for efficient sgRNA synthesis. These results reveal a novel role for NbPsbO1 in the selective enhancement of BaMV sgRNA transcription, most likely via direct interaction with the sgRNA promoter. IMPORTANCE Production of subgenomic RNAs (sgRNAs) for efficient translation of downstream viral proteins is one of the major strategies adapted for viruses that contain a multicistronic RNA genome. Both viral genomic RNA (gRNA) replication and sgRNA transcription rely on the combined activities of viral replicase and host proteins, which recognize promoter regions for the initiation of RNA synthesis. However, compared to the cis-acting elements involved in the regulation of sgRNA synthesis, the host factors involved in sgRNA promoter recognition mostly remain to be elucidated. Here, we found a chloroplast protein, NbPsbO1, which specifically interacts with Bamboo mosaic virus (BaMV) sgRNA promoter. We showed that NbPsbO1 is relocated to the BaMV replication site in BaMV-infected cells and demonstrated that NbPsbO1 is required for efficient BaMV sgRNA transcription but exerts no effect on gRNA replication. This study provides a new insight into the regulating mechanism of viral gRNA and sgRNA synthesis.


This paper presented a simple approach to implementing the 2nd-order absorbing boundary condition (ABC) in the FETI-DPEM (dual primal finite element tearing and interconnecting method) without changing the major framework of the method. As a result, the accuracy of the FETI-DPEM method in 3D open-region analysis is significantly improved. Numerical results are provided to validate the implementation and demonstrate the improved performance associated with the 2nd-order ABC.


This was an observational descriptive study. The variables studied were carried out to get more detailed information about transportation process of fuel such as potential hazard, transportation procedure of fuel and safety requirement of fuel transportation. This study was conducted by checklist observation and interviews to employees. The results of this study showed there are potential hazards of transporting such as fire hazard, slip hazard and hazard of road traffic accidents in the fuel transportation. Besides that, the safety practices of fuel transportation like transportation procedure of fuel and safety requirements of fuel is good, although there are still less requirements of hazardous chemical transportation. Based on this result of this study, it is suggested to company should be control the potential hazards and should be completed less requirements of hazardous chemical transportation.


Paleoseismic data from the Mesquite Lake fault reveal evidence for up to four prehistoric earthquakes since the latest Pleistocene, with three large surface- rupturing events in about the past 10.2 ka. Three events were recorded in trenches excavated for this investigation on Mesquite Lake playa. A buried fault scarp brack- eted by accelerator mass spectrometer radiocarbon ages of detrital charcoal indicate that a mid to late Holocene event occurred between about 2.7 and 7.4 ka, most likely between about 3.9 and 4.6 ka. An early Holocene rupture defined by a subtle buried scarp and upward-terminating fissures is bracketed between about 7.7 and 10.2 ka. Evidence for an inferred late Pleistocene event prior to about 10.2 ka includes a subtle scarp, upward termination of faults, folding, and in-filled craters and fissures. A previous paleoseismic investigation just south (2 km) of the playa identified at least one event in the past 1.3 ka, although this event was not identified in this study at the playa site. Apparent vertical offsets of about 1.0 m and 1.2 m for the last two events at the playa site suggest a sequence of similar serial ruptures. These separa- tions are comparable to the height of surficial scarps just south of the playa. Because the vertical separations produced by each event are similar, the Mesquite Lake fault, at least locally, experiences similar slip-per-event. Since the initiation of Holocene playa development just over 10.2 ka ago, we estimate a horizontal slip rate of 0.7- 0.9 mm yr 1 that is consistent with slip rates for other faults in the eastern California shear zone. Despite large uncertainties, event stratigraphy at the playa site shows that periods of quiescence up to thousands of years separated large ruptures, similar to other faults in the eastern California shear zone. Comparison of paleoseismic studies in the eastern California shear zone suggest that the Mesquite Lake, and possibly the Bullion and Lavic Lake faults in the eastern part of the shear zone may have failed during periods of seismic quiescence in the western part of the zone, at about 1- 5 ka. This suggests that seismic strain release may vary spatially across the shear zone and that temporal clusters of earthquakes are not necessarily spatially limited to specific regions.


'Denial of benefits' clause has been in the spotlight in the past ten years or so as a method of countering treaty shopping and preventing the misuse of the benefits of international investment agreement (IIA). No doubt, the matter is now one of the elements of the broader debate for an investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) reform. This paper presents the evolution and framework of the 'denial of benefits' clause in IIAs and discusses the application of the clause by investment arbitral tribunals. As shown, there are clear divergent opinions on certain aspects concerning these 'denial of benefits' clauses, some of which are the result of the diverse language employed by this provision, in particular with respect to Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and non-ECT scenarios.

On the issues raised by the application of the 'denial of benefits' clause, the analysis reveals that arbitral tribunals often come to divergent conclusions. Arbitral tribunal do agree that if the language of the 'denial of benefits' clause requires, this right must be actively exercised by the denying state. As such, it is understood that there is no automatic application of this provision. The manner in which the host state should exercise the 'denial of benefits' right and any prior notification or consultation requirements are still not uniformly decided. Nevertheless, it is understood that most arbitral tribunals would be comfortable to consider these requirements if they are spelled out in the 'denial of benefits' clause. The reason for this, as explained by the tribunal in Ampal v. Egypt, is that such negotiations or consultations, if they are mandatory, would trigger the inapplicability of the 'denial of benefits' clause. Furthermore, it is still under debate whether the 'denial of benefits' clause is an issue pertaining to the jurisdiction or to the merits of the case. While opinions are not uniform, it is agreed that arbitral tribunals remain competent to assess whether the denying state has exercised the denial of benefits right within the framework ascribed by the applicable IIA. Related to this, it seems that there is consensus that the burden to prove the fulfilment of the requirements for the application of the 'denial of benefits' clause rests on the denying state. The substantive requirements for the application of the 'denial of benefits' clause usually refer to (1) ownership or control of the legal entity by nationals of a third state, and that (2) the legal entity has no substantial business activities at the place of incorporation. The paper discusses these elements, and in particular the notion of 'control' and 'substantial business activities', showing that there is little to no recommendation as to the meaning of these notions in the context of a relevant IIA.

In conclusion, the paper highlights the increasing role the 'denial of benefits' has commenced to play in the economy of the existing IIAs and, in particular, with a view of the current discussion on the legitimacy and the efficiency of ISDS. It is, thus, expected that states will consider inserting this clause in their IIAs, as a standard clause, and relying on its application in related ISDS proceedings.


Regional maritime security: The maritime security of Southeast Asia reflects a range of enduring and dynamic factors. Enduring factors are mainly the geography of the region with its complex pattern of archipelagos, islands, bays and gulfs and narrow shipping channels; its heavy dependence on shipping for both domestic and intra-regional trade; and the importance of regional seas and their resources to the well-being of regional peoples. The dynamic factors include sovereignty disputes, the increasing levels and density of shipping traffic in the region, increased exploitation of marine resources, deteriorating fish stocks and marine habitats, growing naval budgets and higher levels of naval activity. The combination and complexity of these enduring and dynamic factors highlight the challenges of promoting maritime security in the region. Meeting these challenges is exacerbated by both the rate of change and the lack of truly effective regional forums in which to develop appropriate cooperative and coordinated measures to deal with them.


Abstract Introduction P-element induced wimpy testis-like 2 (Piwil2) is in the Piwi gene family. Piwil2 has important roles in the self-renewal mechanism of stem cell induction and progression of numerous types of human malignancies such as lung, breast, colon, prostate, and cervical cancers. Glutathione S-transferase (GST) acts as detoxification in cancer metabolism. This study aimed to investigate the effects of the stem cell protein Piwil2 on MCF10A and MCF-7 at the GST activity levels. Materials/Methods MCF-7/Piwil2 and MCF10A/Piwil2, transfected with a plasmid carrying the Piwil2 gene, and non-transfected MCF-7 and MCF10A were cultured in a complete DMEM/F12 medium. GST A1 and P1 activity was determined in these cell lines using as substrates CDNB, EA respectively. Results According to experimental results, GST P1 activity decreased in the MCF-7/Piwil2 cells as compared with the non-transfected MCF-7 cells, however, MCF-7/Piwil2 cells demonstrated increases in GST A1 (total GST) activity. The statistically significant differences were found for the comparison of non-transfected MCF-7 and MCF-7/Piwil2 (p<0,0001), for GST enzyme activities by using CDNB and EA as substrates. These results were the same for the MCF10A cell line. Discussion It is shown for the first time that transfection studies may affect GST activity at the cellular mechanism level. The study contributes to determining the effect of transfection on GST isoenzymes and also how the Piwil2 gene may affect GST activity in the stem cell line.


There is an international tendency toward increased demand for both cost-efficiency and high reliability of power distribution systems. To meet these demands, asset management methods, including reliability analyses, have been developed. These reliability analyses often utilize only mean values and hence do not take into consideration the consequences of severe events. This paper proposes a framework for more detailed quantitative risk analysis methods. The aim is to allocate resources more cost-effectively. The suggested framework is exemplified and evaluated by implementing it within the analyses of a real power distribution system. The main concept is to divide comprehensive projects into minor analyses and then in a final step compile the results. The proposed analysis framework can be used independently or combined with earlier proposed vulnerability methods. The latter provides a two-dimensional analysis framework. It is shown that totally different investment alternatives could be preferred depending on whether a traditional analysis method using average values is employed compared with the proposed analysis framework, which also considers severe system states. This demonstrates the risks involved in using average values and the strength of the proposed method. Furthermore, it is shown that already available information can be used for improved asset management decision support. In addition, the performed case study gives combined reliability and weather statistics useful as reference material.


Estimation of unknown noise covariances in a Kalman filter is a
problem of significant practical interest in a wide array of applications.
Although this problem has a long history, reliable algorithms for their
estimation were scant, and necessary and sufficient conditions for
identifiability of the covariances were in dispute until recently. Necessary and sufficient conditions for covariance estimation and a batch estimation
algorithm. This paper presents stochastic gradient descent (SGD) algorithms for
noise covariance estimation in adaptive Kalman filters that are an order of
magnitude faster than the batch method for similar or better root mean square
error (RMSE) and are applicable to non-stationary systems where the noise covariances
can occasionally jump up or down by an unknown magnitude. The computational
efficiency of the new algorithm stems from adaptive thresholds for convergence,
recursive fading memory estimation of the sample cross-correlations of the
innovations, and accelerated SGD algorithms. The comparative evaluation of the
proposed method on a number of test cases demonstrates its computational
efficiency and accuracy.


Conventional beamforming transmission techniques can enhance physical layer secrecy performance while requiring the full channel state information (CSI) of legitimate users and even that of eavesdroppers at the transmitter. However, providing full CSI of legitimate users at the transmitter can be challenging in practice. Thus, it is of considerable interest to enhance secrecy performance with partial CSI of legitimate users at the transmitter. Random unitary beamforming (RUB) is a low-complexity multiple antennas transmission scheme requiring limited CSI. In this study, the authors investigate the secrecy performance of RUB transmission over multiple-input single-output single-eavesdropper and multiuser multiple-input multiple-output single-eavesdropper channels. They also propose a novel RUB-based artificial noise (AN) method for multiple antennas communication system. They derive the closed-form expressions of the exact and the asymptotic ergodic secrecy rate and the secrecy outage probability for these transmission scenarios. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the trade-off between performance and complexity of the resulting physical layer security design. They show that the deployment of RUB and RUB-based AN offers an attractive solution for enhancing the security of wireless transmission systems.


The Institutional Teaching Culture Perception Survey (ITCPS) was used to investigate beliefs of tenured, tenure-track, and sessional faculty members (N=576) about the teaching culture within three large research-intensive universities in Canada. As predicted, we found significant differences between these three groups of faculty members' perceptions of their institutions' teaching cultures. Sessional faculty perceived that their universities rewarded effective teaching less than their tenured or tenure-track colleagues. Tenured faculty were less likely than the tenure-track and sessional faculty to believe it was important to encourage, recognize, or assess effective teaching. These results have important implications for the quality of teachingand, ultimately, student learning, as sessional faculty are teaching an increasing number of students and tenured faculty are the primary decision-makers in setting the priorities for their institutions.


Thyroid hormones (TH) are important for fetal and placental development. Monocarboxylate transporters 8 and 10 (MCT8, MCT10) are effective plasma membrane TH transporters expressed in the human placenta from 6 weeks of gestation. Both have been localized to human villous trophoblasts and extravillous trophoblasts (EVTs). Aims: Using HTR-8/SVneo cells as a model of 1st trimester EVTs, we assessed 1) Triiodothyronine (T3) effects on gene expression and cell proliferation; 2) the effect of altered MCT8 or MCT10 expression on proliferation and apoptosis; and whether effects were T3-mediated. Methods: 1) Cell proliferation was assessed by the MTT assay at 24-96hrs. Gene expression was assessed by quantitative QPCR (2-48h). 2) MCT8 was down-regulated using siRNA, and MCT8 and MCT10 were over-expressed by plasmid transfection. Effects of altering expression were assessed by MTT assay (Proliferation) and Caspase3/7 activity (Apoptosis). Results: We observed that T3 treatment did not affect HTR-8/SVneo proliferation nor alter the mRNA expressions of TH responsive gene, Connexin43 (Cx43) and the pre-receptor regulators of T3 action, deiodinases 2 and 3 (D2, D3), nor its own transporters, MCT8 and MCT10. However, T3 treatment was observed to decrease the expression of TH receptor β1 (TRβ1) (ANOVA p<0.05). Over-expression of MCT8 or MCT10 reduced cell proliferation by 36% and 29% respectively (ANOVA p<0.05) in the presence of T3. Apoptosis was reduced, independently of T3 treatment, by 24 and 31% (+/- T3 respectively) following overexpression of MCT8, and by 12 and 19% (+/- T3 respectively) following overexpression of MCT10, respectively (ANOVA p<0.005). Conversely, down-regulation of MCT8 resulted in increased apoptosis independently of T3 (p<0.003). Conclusions: HTR-8/SVneo cell proliferation does not change with T3 treatment. In addition, MCT8 and MCT10 may have both T3-dependent (suppress proliferation) and T3-independent (apoptosis) effects in EVTs. This suggests an important role for MCT8 and MCT10 in human placental development.


The human 5-LOX enzyme and its interaction with competitive inhibitors were investigated by means of a combined ligand-based and target-based approach. First, a pharmacophore model was generated for 16 non redox 5-LOX inhibitors with Catalyst (HipHop module). It includes two hydrophobic groups, an aromatic ring, and two hydrogen bond acceptors. The 3D structure of human 5-LOX was then modeled based on the crystal structure of rabbit 15-LOX, and the binding modes of representative ligands were studied by molecular docking. Confrontation of the docking results with the pharmacophore model allowed the weighting of the pharmacophoric features and the integration of structural information. This led to the proposal of an interaction model inside the 5-LOX active site, consisting of four major and two secondary interaction points: on one hand, two hydrophobic groups, an aromatic ring, and a hydrogen bond acceptor, and, on the other hand, an acidic moiety and an additional hydrogen bond acceptor.


The identification of complex semantic structures such as events and entity relations, already a challenging Information Extraction task, is doubly difficult from sources written in under-resourced and under-annotated languages. We investigate the suitability of cross-lingual structure transfer techniques for these tasks. We exploit relation- and event-relevant language-universal features, leveraging both symbolic (including part-of-speech and dependency path) and distributional (including type representation and contextualized representation) information. By representing all entity mentions, event triggers, and contexts into this complex and structured multilingual common space, using graph convolutional networks, we can train a relation or event extractor from source language annotations and apply it to the target language. Extensive experiments on cross-lingual relation and event transfer among English, Chinese, and Arabic demonstrate that our approach achieves performance comparable to state-of-the-art supervised models trained on up to 3,000 manually annotated mentions: up to 62.6% F-score for Relation Extraction, and 63.1% F-score for Event Argument Role Labeling. The event argument role labeling model transferred from English to Chinese achieves similar performance as the model trained from Chinese. We thus find that language-universal symbolic and distributional representations are complementary for cross-lingual structure transfer.


Hypermobile ridges or flabby edentulous ridges are a common occurrence in edentulous patients. The literature reveals that the mucostatic impression technique is one of the treatment options in this scenario. Conventional mucostatic methods like employing a window tray technique, multiple relief holes, or double spacers can be employed when the flabby tissue is localized. But in cases of generalized flabbiness of the residual ridge, even the manual placement and manipulation of a custom tray may distort the tissues, violating the principle of mucostatics. This presentation is a clinical report of a patient with a generalized flabby maxillary edentulous ridge opposing a partially edentulous mandibular arch. A split two-part special tray using the principle of magnetic attraction for self retention was fabricated. This self retention ruled out finger pressure during impression making, helping to achieve mucostatics.


This paper adopts models from epidemiology to account for the development and decline of neologisms based on internet usage. The research design focuses on the issue of whether a host-driven epidemic model is well-suited to explain human behavior regarding neologisms. We extracted the search frequency data from Google Trends that covers the ninety most influential Chinese neologisms from 2008-2016 and found that the majority of them possess a similar rapidly rising-decaying pattern. The epidemic model is utilized to fit the evolution of these internet-based neologisms. The epidemic model not only has good fitting performance to model the pattern of rapid growth, but also is able to predict the peak point in the neologism's life cycle. This result underlines the role of human agents in the life cycle of neologisms and supports the macro-theory that the evolution of human languages mirrors the biological evolution of human beings.


In cultures of primary rat kidney cells numerous foci of transformed ceils were observed 14 to I8 days after inoculation with adenovirus type I2. These foci were readily identified in medium containing I'8 rnM calcium. Serial lines of transformed cells could only be established in medium with a low calcium concentration. Transformation was apparent because of the altered morphology, loss of contact inhibition, oncogenicity and the presence of virus specific tumour antigen. No infectious virus could be recovered from the transformed cell lines. The induced tumour in rats had the appearance of a poorly differentiated carcinoma with occasional formation of tubules.


Abstract New knowledge on cognition and learning generated in the various fields of neuroscience is now being incorporated into the learning sciences. This development might have broad significance for the theoretical development of the field of education, in particular leading to a renewed and more nuanced understanding of learning as an embodied process. The Nordic countries have a long and rich tradition of including arts and crafts as core subjects in children's education; however, there is an ongoing discussion of its potential role in the twenty-first century. The new knowledge on cognition and learning opens up new vistas on practical-aesthetic "making" activities in the general education of children. This article establishes a theoretical lens of embodied learning as an operational translational framework for questioning the assumption that "making matters" and uses it as a tentative analytical tool to unpack an example of making activities.


We present a new sample of 37 close major-merger galaxy pairs, selected from the 2-degree field redshift survey of the two-micron all-sky survey (2MASS) galaxies. The selection criteria for our near-infrared pairs are more closely related to galaxy mass (a very important parameter in galaxy evolution models) than those for optical selected samples. Our sample benefits enormously from the high homogeneity and accuracy of the 2MASS database, and false matchings are minimized by the essentially three-dimensional selection procedure. Taking into account the biases, we find that 1.96 (±0.4)% of galaxies are in close major-merger pairs. This indicates a local merging rate of 1.0%, in good agreement with the results in recent studies of optical selected pairs in the local universe. The results derived with our sample have high confidence.


Abstract Introduction: During the last years there has been an effort in miniaturizing the endoscopic devices. The video presents an alternative for the management of distal ureteral stone, using a ureteral access of 4.85 Fr and 27 cm of length, previously described as micro-ureteroscopy. Material and Methods: This procedure was performed through a 3-part all-seeing needle, consisting of micro-optics 0.9 mm in diameter with a 120-degree angle of view, an irrigation channel and an integrated light. Clinical Case: Seven year-old boy, with history of preterm birth (29 weeks) was referred to our consultation complaining of left back pain and an elevation of serum creatinine. The renal ultrasound revealed a left ureterohydronephrosis, caused by a 10 mm stone located 13 mm from the ureterovesical junction. The patient underwent a micro-ureteroscopy with laser lithotripsy. The stone was fragmented with an average energy of 0.5 J with 12 Hz of frequency. The total energy spent was 12514 J. At the end of the procedure, a double J stent was placed. The procedure lasted 45 minutes and was uneventful. The patient was discharged 24h after the procedure without complaints and remained stone free. Conclusion: Micro-ureteroscopy is a safe and effective technique in distal ureteral lithiasis treatment in children. The small dimensions of the equipment increase the safety of the procedure making this a good option for the treatment of ureteral stones in children.


The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of using music on teaching English Poetry in Jordanian universities on students' performance. The researchers followed the equivalent pre/post T test two group designs. To achieve the aim of the study, a pre/post-test was constructed to measure students' performance in English poetry. The sample of this study consisted of 120 students (56 males and 64 females) from the third year students in Al Zaytoonah University during the first semester of the academic year 2011/2012. The subjects of the study were distributed into two groups (experimental group and control group). The experimental group was taught poetry accompanied with music while the control group was taught poetry using the traditional way of teaching. The subjects were 30 male students for the experimental group and 26 male students for the control group, while the female students for the experimental and control group were 31 and 33 respectively. Those subjects were distributed into two purposefully selected sections in Al Zaytoonah University in Amman. Descriptive statistical analyses were used (means and standard deviation) for the pre and post- tests of students' poetry test to experimental and control groups. Comparison statistical methods were used (Two Way ANOVA) analysis of variance to make a comparison between the control and the experimental groups and gender variable (male and female). The findings of the study indicated that there were statistically significant differences in the post- test between the control and the experimental groups in favor of the experimental group, and there was no statistically significant difference in the students' achievement due to gender. There was no statistically significant difference due to the interaction between gender and group. The researchers proposed some recommendations to enhance the effect of using music in teaching poetry on students' performance such as conducting further studies in other universities.


Abstract This article tells the story of how Monopoly, a familiar object, was militarized on the eve of World War II. It will trace how game makers working for both Allied and Axis nations redesigned Monopoly to address their own political contexts, ranging from the Great Depression to Italian Fascism to Nazi German POW camps. To understand how different nations mobilized Monopoly for wartime, we first must turn to the historical origins of its design.


The incidence of eating disorders (EDs) is increasing. According to the NHS digital data male diagnoses of EDs have also risen significantly and hospital admissions of adult men with EDs increased by 70 per cent between 2010 and 2016. It is reported that men often refrain from seeking help as showing vulnerability is deemed incompatible with the westernised social construction of masculinity and EDs in men frequently go unrecognised. Hence, figures may not reflect true incidence. Studies show that motivation to change (MoC) in patients with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) is key for effective treatment response and recovery. Autonomy in patients' motivation can predict long-term outcomes; it provides an internal locus of control enabling individuals to be an active agents within their struggle. Studies on MoC in EDs, like ED research more generally have mainly yielded quantitative data and focused on women.

This study focuses on the experiences of men's MoC in relation to their journeys with AN. It is anticipated that focusing on this under-explored topic will contribute to better understanding of men's experiences of AN. This also may help lift the stigma attached to males who have an experience of ED or more generally of mental health (MH) issues.

Eight English-speaking men were recruited using purposive sampling to participate in this research. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was employed to conduct this study and involved semi-structured interviews as a means of collecting data. Interviews were transcribed and analysed according to the IPA guidelines yielding three master themes. Themes were interpreted using the existing literature on EDs and MoC. Use of reflexivity emerges throughout the study. The master themes generated from the data analysis were: 'sense of control', 'me and the world', and 'connecting'.

These master themes comprised of ten subthemes. The research findings invite professionals to shift existing thinking in the context of men's MoC and agency regarding engaging in behaviours to the detriment or to the benefit of their health throughout the progression of their illness.The results of this study are discussed in relation to existing literature pertaining to EDs and MoC, in particular of men's experiences of AN. The applicability of these findings for counselling psychologists' (CPs) practice is discussed. A critical consideration of the findings will then lead to recommendations for future research.


Students are the main stakeholders in the higher education area so their involvement is closely related to the quality of higher education. There are a lot of factors that affect the understanding of the quality of higher education. Factors are used for quality planning, assessment, assurance, control, improvement etc. The research question is: what factors affect students' understanding of the quality of higher education? The research was conducted in two stages. During the first stage of the research, the concept of the quality of higher education was analysed by using literature review and focus group discussion. During the second stage, a questionnaire was developed and students of the Faculty of Engineering Economics and Management of Riga Technical University (RTU FEEM) were surveyed, the results of students' survey were analysed by using Spearman rank correlation. The research shows that there are three groups of factors that affect students' understanding of the quality of higher education: factors related to the study process (SP), support and resources (SR), and external factors and results (EFR). As a result of correlation analysis, SP factors have more internal correlations within the group, while SR and EFR factors more correlate with each other. The most significant factors that affect students' understanding of the quality of higher education are the quality of educational content and professors' competence. Some trends were observed: (1) factors with a small number of correlations have more internal correlations than intergroup correlations; (2) the more important is the factor, the greater is the number of relationships, and vice versa; (3) the more important is the factor, the closer are relationships, and vice versa. There is one exception recognised in the research: although the factor 'Quality of educational content', according to the students, is the most important factor, the correlation analysis shows that it has no statistically significant correlations with other factors.


The Ni- based superalloy Inconel 625 is extensively used owing to its high strength, excellent fabricability, good weldability and outstanding resistance to high temperature corrosion against aggressive environments. However, despite its unique properties and extensive use, its wear resistance is in some cases unsatisfactory. In this study, Inconel 625 was subjected to boriding treatments at different temperature and different durations. Microstructural characterization was made by conventional methods (scanning electron microscopy, optic microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis) and mechanical characterization was made by microhardness and micro-abrasion wear test. Micro-abrasion wear tests were conducted against a AISI 52100 steel under 5, 7.5 and 10 N load in a 25 wt.% SiC slurry at room temperature. Microstructural results revealed that multi-phase boride layer (nickel boride, chrome boride and iron boride) and silicide layer were formed. The hardness and thickness of the boride layers were found to be 1175--2432 HV0.1 and, 6.61 -- 92.03 I¼m, respectively. Depending on the boriding temperature and time. In spite of silicide layer formation the wear resistance of borided Inconel 625 alloy increased up to 8 times thanks to the increase in the surface hardness which was caused by boriding process. The boriding treatment caused a transition in the wear mechanism. While grooving was observed in the untreated Inconel 625 samples, mixed (grooving and rolling) and rolling type wear was predominant in the borided samples.


In this work, the laser-scribing technique was used as a low-cost, rapid and facile method for fabricating digital microfluidic (DMF) systems. Laser-scribed graphene (LSG) electrodes are directly synthesized on flexible substrates to pattern the DMF electrode arrays. This facilitates the DMF electrodes' fabrication process by eliminating many microfabrication steps. An electrowetting test was performed to investigate the effectiveness of the LSG DMF electrodes in changing the contact angles of droplets. Different DMF operations were successfully performed using the proposed LSG DMF chips in both open and closed DMF systems. The quality and output resolution were examined to assess the performance of such patterned electrodes in the DMF systems. To verify the efficacy of the LSG DMF chips, a one-step direct assay for the detection of Legionella pneumophila deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was performed on the chip without the need for any washing step. The high specificity in distinguishing a single-nucleotide mismatch was achieved by detecting target DNA concentrations as low as 1 nM. Our findings suggest that the proposed rapid and easy fabrication method for LSG DMF electrodes offers a great platform for low-cost and easily accessible point-of-care diagnostic devices.


Urban centers across Canada are partitioned by racial geographies that circumvent and circumscribe the movements of aboriginal bodies. This article examines how aboriginal youth experience and engage these racisms that organize Canadian social spaces. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork undertaken at a drop-in recreational centre in the inner city of Edmonton, Alberta, it documents the different ways in which indigenous youth employ hip-hop as a means to contest their subjection to these immobilizing racisms. First, it shows how these youth employ hip-hop as a technology of self-transformation through which they recreate their selves as meaningful, efficacious political actors capable of disrupting their relegation to criminogenic places. Second, it documents how the practice of a distinctly indigenous hip-hop allows these youth to innovate an aesthetic space disruptive of the historicist racisms that otherwise subject aboriginality to anachronistic spaces. Finally, this article shows that, by performing a hybridized, distinctly indigenous breakdance, these practitioners of hip-hop dramatize the physical and cultural motility of aboriginal bodies.


Abstract The Cambrian inlier at Beaver Harbour, southern New Brunswick, is now confidently referred to the marginal platform of the late Proterozoic–Early Paleozoic Avalon microcontinent. The sub-trilobitic Lower Cambrian Chapel Island and Random Formations are unconformably overlain by the mafic volcanic-dominated Wade's Lane Formation (new). Late Early Cambrian trilobites and small shelly taxa in the lowest Wade's Lane demonstrate a long Random–Wade's Lane hiatus (middle Terreneuvian–early Branchian). Latest Early–middle Middle Cambrian pyroclastic volcanism produced a volcanic edifice at Beaver Harbour that is one of three known volcanic centers that extended 550 km along the northwest margin of Avalon. Middle Middle Cambrian sea-level rise, probably in the Paradoxides eteminicus Chron, mantled the extinct volcanics with gray-green mudstone and limestone of the Fossil Brook Member. Black, dysoxic mudstone of the upper Manuels River Formation (upper Middle Cambrian, P. davidis Zone) is the youngest Cambrian unit in the Beaver Harbour inlier. Lapworthella cornu (Wiman, 1903) emend., a senior synonym of the genotype L. nigra (Cobbold, 1921), Hyolithellus sinuosus Cobbold, 1921, and probably Acrothyra sera Matthew, 1902a, range through the ca. 8 m.y. of the trilobite-bearing upper Lower Cambrian, and H. sinuosus and A. sera persist into the middle Middle Cambrian. Lapworthella cornu and H. sinuosus replaced the tropical taxa L. schodackensis (Lochman, 1956) and H. micans Billings, 1872, in cool-water Avalon.


Eukaryotic cell chemotaxis, or directed cell migration in response to a chemoeffector gradient, plays a central role in many important biological process such as wound healing, cancer metastasis, and embryogenesis. In vivo, cells migrate on fibrous ECM, but chemotaxis studies are typically conducted on flat substrates which fail to recapitulate ECM or 3D gel environments with heterogeneous and poorly defined biophysical properties. To address these challenges, this thesis focused on developing a microfluidic assay device which utilizes a reductionist approach to study single cell chemotaxis on aligned, suspended ECMmimicking nanofibers. The device is comprised of a network of microfluidic mixing channels which produce a temporally invariant, linear chemical gradient over nanofiber scaffolds in an observation channel. The microfluidic device design was guided by a numerical model and validated with experimental testing. This device was used to study mouse embryonic fibroblast NIH/3T3 response to platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) on flat polystyrene and suspended, polystyrene nanofibers with small (15 μm), and large (25 μm) spacing. Cell aspect ratio is lowest for flat polystyrene (spread morphology) and highest for large-spaced fibers (spindle morphology). Cells migrating on fibers begin to show a chemotaxis response to a PDGF gradient 10 times shallower than that required for chemotaxis response on a flat substrate. Furthermore, cells with spindle morphology maintain a robust and strong response over a broad range of chemoattractant concentration. These cells also had a 45% increase in speed and 26% increase in persistence over cells on flat polystyrene. The findings of this thesis suggest that 2D substrates may not be sufficient for studying physiologically relevant chemotaxis.


the countryside and to create favorable conditions for the development of new financial activities. For the most countries, the mainstream of business owners are male, while in Greece, the percentage of women entrepreneurs is only 15%, and in the rural area, even smaller. Government policies and the European Union is supporting women entrepreneurship, since women in the labor sector are important factors of development and society's progress. This paper presents the findings of a research regarding women's' firms functioning in the agrotourism sector. Field research was undertaken in almost all the women's agrotourism companies or cooperatives all over Greece. In this matter the sample consisted of 203 women's enterprises functioning in Greece, representing an almost 100% sample of the target research population. Statistical analysis employed frequencies, percentages, means as well as chisquare tests. Results revealed that the type of the agro-tourism firm affect the type of activity chosen from the women's agrotourism firm, while the women's agrotourism firms' manager's age as well as area of operation of the firm does not. This paper is based on research carried out within the framework of the project co-funded by the European Social Fund and National Resources - EPEAEK II - ARCHIMIDIS.


Background: Patients on chronic hemodialysis are at high risk of HCV infection due to nosocomial transmission. The strict adhesion to universal precautions is the first step in prevention, but other simple tools such as systematic monitor disinfection and the use of separate machines for anti-HCV-positive patients need to be evaluated. Methods: A 5-year prospective study was carried out in 4 dialysis centers enrolling 135 patients. General precautions were adopted, but anti-HCV-positive patients were not isolated. In period A, lasting 24 months, monitor disinfection was performed after each dialysis session with sodium hypochlorite; peracetic acid was also used 3 times a week. In period B, lasting 36 months, 3 dialysis units (77 patients) prolonged the same preventive protocol of period A, while another unit (58 patients) also adopted the use of separate machines for anti-HCV-positive subjects. A third-generation ELISA anti-HCV test was performed every 2 months throughout the study. Results: Anti-HCV antibodies were initially detected in 43 patients (31.8%), prevalence rate ranging from 25 to 39.4%. One seroconversion occurred in period A, with an overall seroconversion rate of 0.54%/year. Also in period B one seroconversion occurred (unit 2), seroconversion rate of 0.36%/year. Therefore the mean seroconversion rate throughout the 5 years was 0.43%/year. Conclusion: Systematic monitor disinfection may be a simple and quite effective tool to avoid nosocomial transmission of HCV infection in the hemodialysis setting. In our opinion its use is mandatory. The use of separate machines for anti-HCV-positive patients seems unnecessary.


Those considering threats to the liberal-democratic model of citizenship which emanate 'from below' have naturally focused on migrants' sentiments of belonging and the meaning they ascribe to citizenship – or substantive citizenship. Using the findings of two years' ethnographic fieldwork, the article explores the modes of belonging of a group of first-, second- and third-generation migrants in central London. It is argued that a substantive notion of 'denizenship' united these individuals – whether they were citizens or denizens (resident non-citizens) in the formal sense – a mindset characterised by a rejection of nationhood and involving either a renouncement or a refusal of citizenship and its attendant duties and obligations.


Objectives To evaluate the diagnosis and management of reflux and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD) in infants aged <1 year presenting to general practitioners (GPs). Design, setting and participants A nationally representative, prospective, cross-sectional survey of GP activity in Australia, 2006–2016 (Bettering the Evaluation And Care of Health Study). Annually, a random sample of around 1000 GPs recorded details for 100 consecutive visits with consenting, unidentified patients. Outcome measures Diagnoses of reflux and GORD and their management including prescribing of acid-suppressant medicines (proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and histamine receptor antagonists (H2RAs)) and counselling, advice or education. Results Of all infants' visits, 512 (2.7%) included a diagnosis of reflux (n=413, 2.2%) or GORD (n=99, 0.5%). From 2006 to 2016, diagnostic rates decreased for reflux and increased for GORD. Prescribing of acid suppressants occurred in 43.6% visits for reflux and 48.5% visits for GORD, similar to rates of counselling, advice or education (reflux: 38.5%, GORD: 43.4% of visits). Prescribing of PPIs increased (statistically significant only for visits for reflux), while prescribing of H2RAs decreased. Conclusions Overprescribing of acid suppressants to infants may be occurring. In infants, acid-suppressant medicines are no better than placebo and may have significant negative side effects; however, guidelines are inconsistent. Clear, concise and consistent guidance is needed. GPs and parents need to understand what is normal and limitations of medical therapy. We need a greater understanding of the influences on GP prescribing practices, of parents' knowledge and attitudes and of the pressures on parents of infants with these conditions.


s | 63 the caudate, insula, putamen, and thalamus in the comparison between Pre-treatment and Post-treatment. Those regions are known to be central in emotional and cognitive processing. The structural connectivity in these regions was shown to change according to the 12-week antidepressant treatment. However, correlational analyses did not reveal significant association of FA and Hamilton depression rating scale score. Conclusions: These findings confirm the presence of microstructural white matter alterations in adolescents with major depressive disorder according to the disease condition. DTI could be a useful tool in detecting longitudinal changes after pharmacological treatment with antidepressants in adolescents with major depressive disorder. Further studies involving larger case numbers are needed to detect the long-term effect of antidepressant treatment on the brains of adolescents with mood disorders. PS174 Possible involvement of rumination in gray matter abnormalities in persistent symptoms of major depression: an exploratory magnetic resonance imaging voxel-based morphometry study Ahiko Machino,Tomoya Matsumoto, Shigeto Yamawaki Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Japan Abstract Background: A  recent meta-analysis of many magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies has identified brain regions with gray matter (GM) abnormalities in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). A  few studies addressing GM abnormalities in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) have yielded inconsistent results. Moreover, although TRD patients tend to exhibit ruminative thoughts, it remains unclear whether rumination is related to GM abnormalities in such patients or not. Methods: We conducted structural MRI scans and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to identify GM differences among 29 TRD patients and 29 healthy age-matched and sex-matched controls. A response style questionnaire was used to assess the respective degrees of rumination in TRD patients. Structural correlates of rumination were examined. Results: TRD patients showed several regions with smaller GM volume than in healthy subjects: the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right ventral ACC, right superior frontal gyrus, right cerebellum (Crus I), and cerebellar vermis. GM volumes inBackground: A  recent meta-analysis of many magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies has identified brain regions with gray matter (GM) abnormalities in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). A  few studies addressing GM abnormalities in patients with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) have yielded inconsistent results. Moreover, although TRD patients tend to exhibit ruminative thoughts, it remains unclear whether rumination is related to GM abnormalities in such patients or not. Methods: We conducted structural MRI scans and voxel-based morphometry (VBM) to identify GM differences among 29 TRD patients and 29 healthy age-matched and sex-matched controls. A response style questionnaire was used to assess the respective degrees of rumination in TRD patients. Structural correlates of rumination were examined. Results: TRD patients showed several regions with smaller GM volume than in healthy subjects: the left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), right ventral ACC, right superior frontal gyrus, right cerebellum (Crus I), and cerebellar vermis. GM volumes in these regions did not correlate to rumination. However, wholebrain analysis revealed that rumination was positively correlated with the GM volume in the right superior temporal gyrus in TRD patients. Limitations: Structural correlates of rumination were examined only in TRD patients. Conclusions: Our data provide additional evidence supporting the hypothesis that TRD patients show GM abnormalities compared with healthy subjects. Furthermore, this report is the first to describe a study identifying brain regions for which the GM volume is correlated with rumination in TRD patients. These results improve our understanding of the anatomical characteristics of TRD. PS175 Neural changes of intrinsic motivation between subthreshold depression and healthy subjects Asako Mori1, Ran Jinnnin1, Kenji Matsumoto2, Makoda Matsumoto3, Go Okado1, Yasumasa Okamoto1, Koki Takagaki1, Masahiro Takamura1 1Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Japan, 2Tamagawa University Brain Science Institute, Japan, 3The University of Tokyo Hospital, Japan Abstract Objectives: Subthreshold depression is defined by having depressive symptoms without meeting the criteria of major depressive disorder (MDD). It's a continuous spectrum between MDD and healthy individuals and an important target of intervention. Recently, there has been increasing concern about intrinsic motivation in psychiatry because it contributes to treatment response or social cognition. A previous study demonstrated cortico-striatal network underlies intrinsic motivation with a stopwatch (SW)task(Murayama et  al., 2010). Our previous research revealed subthreshold depression show fronto-parietal hypoactivation when anticipating monetary reward which influences extrinsic motivation (Mori et  al., 2016). However, neural changes of intrinsic motivation among subthreshold depression remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to examine neural changes of intrinsic motivation in subthreshold depression. Methods: Functional magnetic resonance images were acquired from 51 university students with subthreshold depression (34men, 18.2 ± 0.4  years) and age-sex-matched 26 healthy students while performing the SWtask, in which a stopwatch was displayed on a screen and participants should press a button within 50ms of the 5s time point. In addition, we evaluated Beck's depression inventory-II(BDI-II), Environmental Reward Observation Scale(EROS) and Behavioral Activation for Depression Scale (BADS). Approval for the study was obtained from the ethics committee of Hiroshima University. Results: Subthreshold depression showed lower activation of left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) compared to control during preparation for SW task relative to control task. The activation of the left DLPFC was negatively correlated with BDIIIand positively correlated with EROS and BADS. Conclusion: These results suggest the potential link between left DLPFC malfunction and inadequate integration of intrinsic motivation in subthreshold depression. This finding has implications for specific contexts where altered motivational system functioning may play a role in the pathophysiology of subthreshold depression.


Introduction Ethanol infusion was an early mode of ablative treatment for cardiac arrhythmias. Its initial descriptions involved coronary intra-arterial delivery, targeting arrhythmogenic substrates in drug-refractory ventricular tachycardia or the atrioventricular node. Largely superseded by radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and other contact-based technologies as a routine ablation strategy, intracoronary arterial ethanol infusion remains as an alternative option in the treatment of ventricular tachycardia when conventional ablation fails. Arrhythmic foci that are deep-seated in the myocardium may not be amenable to catheter ablation from either the endocardium or the epicardium by RFA, but they can be targeted by an ethanol infusion. Recent findings Recently, we have explored ethanol injection through cardiac venous systems, in order to avoid the risks of complications and limitations of coronary arterial instrumentation. Vein of Marshall ethanol infusion is being studied as an adjunctive procedure in ablation of atrial fibrillation, and coronary venous ethanol infusion for ventricular tachycardia. Conclusion Ethanol ablation remains useful as a bail-out technique for refractory cases to RFA, or as an adjunctive therapy that may improve the efficacy of catheter ablation procedures.


Abstract. Soil salinity is one of the most important problems affecting many areas of the world. Saline soils present in agricultural areas reduce the annual yields of most crops. This research deals with the soil salinity mapping of Seyhan plate of Adana district in Turkey from the years 2009 to 2010, using remote sensing technology. In the analysis, multitemporal data acquired from LANDSAT 7-ETM+ satellite in four different dates (19 April 2009, 12 October 2009, 21 March 2010, 31 October 2010) are used. As a first step, preprocessing of Landsat images is applied. Several salinity indices such as NDSI (Normalized Difference Salinity Index), BI (Brightness Index) and SI (Salinity Index) are used besides some vegetation indices such as NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), RVI (Ratio Vegetation Index), SAVI (Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index) and EVI (Enhamced Vegetation Index) for the soil salinity mapping of the study area. The field's electrical conductivity (EC) measurements done in 2009 and 2010, are used as a ground truth data for the correlation analysis with the original band values and different index image bands values. In the correlation analysis, two regression models, the simple linear regression (SLR) and multiple linear regression (MLR) are considered. According to the highest correlation obtained, the 21st March, 2010 dataset is chosen for production of the soil salinity map in the area. Finally, the efficiency of the remote sensing technology in the soil salinity mapping is outlined.


Cyproterone acetate (CA0 (10 or 20 mg kg-1 daily for 5 days) injected into castrate rats supplemented with testosterone propionate (TP) caused a significant decrease in ventral prostate weights in situ; no inhibitory effects were noted in transplant weights. CA failed to significantly inhibit DNA in either the in situ prostate or transplant, but his anti-androgen caused a significant decrease in the formation of 3H-dihydrotestosterone and 3H-androstanediol from radioactive testosterone in the in situ organ. Histologically, CA caused a decrease in epithelial cell secretory activity.


A temporal and spatial relationship between plume magmatism, cratonic lithosphere and the
occurrences of orthomagmatic Ni-Cu and platinum-group element (PGE) sulphide
mineralisation has been documented in the literature. However the underlying causes for this
correlation have yet to be resolved – is there an inherent feature of the cratonic lithosphere
and its mantle 'keel' that controls mineralisation? Or is this correlation purely a preservational
bias in the geological record?
Scotland has experienced multiple tectono-magmatic events and provides an ideal testing
ground, or 'framework', in which to assess the role of lithospheric mantle on chalcophile
element (Ni and Cu) and precious metal (PGE and Au) abundances through time. Given the
well-documented geological history of the region (including several suites of mantle xenoliths),
coupled with exploration campaigns in Greenland (with which Scotland has comparable
geology), this thesis aims to assess the contributions and influences of lithospheric mantle vs.
asthenospheric mantle during melting and mineralisation. It also evaluates the Ni-Cu-PGE
mineralisation potential for Scotland, particularly in a Noril'sk-type conduit-hosted setting
within the British Palaeogene Igneous Province (BPIP).
The earliest major tectono-magmatic event following cratonisation of the North Atlantic
Craton (NAC) occurred c. 2.4 Ga during Palaeoproterozoic extension, forming the maficultramafic
Scourie Dyke Swarm. Despite evidence for lithospheric mantle melting at this time,
the subcontinental lithospheric mantle (SCLM) below the Scottish portion of the NAC did not
become severely depleted in sulphides or PGE. Instead, spinel lherzolite mantle xenoliths from
this region (e.g., Loch Roag) record an influx of carbonatite-associated sulphides at this time,
enriched in PGE, and providing a deeper indication of continental extension that may be
correlated to carbonatitic intrusions in Greenland. Subsequent collision and orogenesis of the
NAC in the late Palaeoproterozoic (c. 1.9 to 1.7 Ga) represents a second significant tectonomagmatic
event, recorded in the Scottish SCLM as sulphide (re-)melting and formation of
discrete Pt-sulphide minerals (cooperite). Hence the lithospheric mantle here became
appreciably enriched in precious metals during the Palaeoproterozoic, but crucially this
preserved multiple co-existing populations of sulphides, distinct in their petrographic setting
and geochemistry.
Cratonic basement and associated mantle lithosphere are absent in the southern terranes of
Scotland. This provides a direct comparison between lithospheric mantle geochemistry for
Archaean-Palaeoproterozoic terranes north of the Great Glen Fault vs. Palaeozoic terranes
south of the Great Glen Fault. Rifting of Rodinia and opening of the Iapetus Ocean in the late
Neoproterozoic thus marks a significant change in geodynamic setting. This is especially
apparent in the concentration of cobalt in lithospheric mantle sulphides, which appears to be
inherently linked with the formation and/or later destruction (subduction) of oceanic crust
during the Grampian event of the Caledonian orogeny.
The impingement of the proto-Icelandic mantle plume initiated in the Palaeogene at the base
of the NAC lithospheric mantle keel of Scotland and Greenland. The earliest Palaeogene
magmas are enriched in Pt (i.e., have a high Pt/Pd ratio), whilst subsequent magmas
associated with the opening of the Atlantic Ocean have successively lower Pt/Pd ratios. High
Pt/Pd ratios are therefore coincident with magmas that have intruded through cratonic
lithosphere. The SCLM at the margin of this region is known to be Pt-enriched (with cooperite)
and therefore the changing Pt/Pd ratio of North Atlantic Igneous Province magmas suggests a
fundamental interaction between the mantle plume and pre-enriched SCLM. Thus, whilst the
concentration of metals, particularly Ni and Cu, is largely based on the high degree of
asthenospheric mantle melting associated with the plume itself, the ratio of precious metals,
such as Pt/Pd, can be strongly influenced by SCLM geochemistry.
Overall, the intricate subtleties of metasomatic signatures recorded by mantle xenolith
sulphides (or populations of sulphides) could allow for metallogenic 'mapping' of the upper
mantle. This may identify areas of geochemical and mineralogical 'preconditioning', and
together with geophysical constraints such as major lithospheric lineaments, it may be
possible to establish the craton-specific fertility of a region.
Finally, in order for orthomagmatic sulphide mineralisation to occur, magmas must achieve
sulphur saturation in the upper crust, forming an immiscible sulphide liquid and thereby
collecting PGE and chalcophile elements, possibly to economic grades. Thus a crucial part of
assessing the mineralisation potential of a region must entail an investigation into the causes
and locations of S-saturation. Given that crustal sulphur contamination is a common trigger for
magmatic S-saturation, this thesis establishes the first S-isotopic (δ34S) framework for western
Scotland in order to identify areas of sulphur contamination in the BPIP. In Scotland, the most
readily available and S-rich rocks occur in the Mesozoic Hebrides Basin. Sulphur contamination
of BPIP rocks is widespread and both S-saturation and S-undersaturation can be observed,
suggesting that the region may be extremely fertile for orthomagmatic Ni-Cu-PGE
mineralisation. By reconstructing the Hebrides Basin stratigraphy we can assess locations of
contamination, even if these are above the current level of exposure (and since removed by
erosion), and in some situations sulphide liquid sinking may be demonstrated, suggesting
further possibilities for mineralisation present 'up-stream' in magmatic conduits. In
conclusion, the Scottish BPIP represents a new exploration frontier not yet identified by
industry for orthomagmatic Ni-Cu-PGE mineralisation.
The conclusions are based on approximately 500 rock samples from across Scotland, which have
been analysed for major elements and over thirty trace elements (including PGE) and S-isotopes.
All data are available on an accompanying CD.


Hydrophobin fusion technology has been applied in the expression of several recombinant proteins in plants. Until now, the technology has relied exclusively on the Trichoderma reesei hydrophobin HFBI. We screened eight novel hydrophobin tags, T. reesei HFBII, HFBIII, HFBIV, HFBV, HFBVI and Fusarium verticillioides derived HYD3, HYD4 and HYD5, for production of fusion proteins in plants and purification by two-phase separation. To study the properties of the hydrophobins, we used N-terminal and C-terminal GFP as a fusion partner. Transient expression of the hydrophobin fusions in Nicotiana benthamiana revealed large variability in accumulation levels, which was also reflected in formation of protein bodies. In two-phase separations, only HFBII and HFBIV were able to concentrate GFP into the surfactant phase from a plant extract. The separation efficiency of both tags was comparable to HFBI. When the accumulation was tested side by side, HFBII-GFP gave a better yield than HFBI-GFP, while the yield of HFBIV-GFP remained lower. Thus we present here two alternatives for HFBI as functional fusion tags for plant-based protein production and first step purification.


Written in the spirit of Ovid (43 B.C--A.D. 17/18), this lively and erudite book traces the art derived from Ovid's Metamorphoses from the Renaissance up to the present day. The Metamorphoses has been more widely illustrated than any other book except the Bible; for centuries, great artists have drawn, painted, and sculpted its stories, the artists often responding not only to Ovid's work but to one another's in their depictions. Paul Barolsky, a specialist in Italian Renaissance art and literature, explores Ovid's unparalleled influence on the visual arts, discussing works by many of the most famous artists of the past six centuries. Broadly interdisciplinary, the new understanding of the themes of the Metamorphoses revealed here will appeal to those in the fields of Renaissance art, humanism, literature, history, and classics, among others. At once witty, entertaining, and profound, Ovid and the Metamorphoses of Modern Art from Botticelli to Picasso is a meditation on what words can achieve that images cannot, and conversely what images can show that words cannot tell.


In this paper, the elasto-plastic dynamic analysis on the steel spatial arch truss with 90m span and 0.2 rise-span ratio is carried out under earthquake wave with SAP2000. In the analyses, the geometric and material nonlinear effects are considered simultaneously based on the plastic-hinge theory. Under the action of EL-centro wave with the peak increasing gradually, its elasto-plastic dynamic responses have been obtained. The results show that its failure mode under the earthquake action is elasto-plastic dynamic buckling; that its critical peak acceleration of EL earthquake wave when applied in X direction is 550gal, and is 675gal when applied in Z direction; The ratio of its maximal node horizontal displacement and its rise height is 1/635, and its displacement ductility coefficient is 1.262 and the ratio of its bars with plastic hinge appearing when buckling is 2.45% when EL-Centro waves applied on structure in X direction; The ratio of its maximal node vertical and its structural span is 1/99, and its displacement ductility coefficient is 19.207 and the ratio of its bars with plastic hinge appearing when buckling is 9.18% when EL-Centro waves applied in Z direction.


We report on the crystal growth, linear, and nonlinear optical properties of LiNa5Mo9O30. The refractive indices were measured, and a very large birefringence of 0.2545 at 450.2 nm was determined. In addition, calculated phase-matching curves indicate that LiNa5Mo9O30 can achieve noncritical type I and type II phase-matching (NCPM) for incident 1064 nm radiation. Maker fringe measurements, to determine individual nonlinear optical coefficients, were also performed on the crystals resulting in d31 = 1.4 pm/V, d32 = 4.3 pm/V, and d33 = 1.1 pm/V. The laser damage threshold (LDT) is around 1.2 GW/cm2 at 1064 nm using a 6 ns Nd:YAG laser operating at 5 Hz. The quality of the crystals was measured by high resolution X-ray diffraction rocking curve measurements that revealed a full width at half-maximum (fwhm) of 59″ from the (001) reflection. The absorption edge was determined to be 357 nm, with transmission up to 5.26 μm. Our results indicate that single crystal LiNa5Mo9O30 is an excellent polarizer as well as...


Milimeter-wave (mm-wave) communication, which has already been a part of the fifth generation of mobile communication networks (5G), would result in ultra dense small cell deployments due to its limited coverage characteristics. In such an environment, outdoor base stations (BS) will get closer to the buildings, in which users are covered and served by indoor small cells that in turn degrades the user Quality of Experience (QoE) owing to the increased interference caused by the outdoor BSs. In this paper, indoor coverage analysis is conducted by considering a scenario, which includes a multi-storey building and two identical indoor femtocell and outdoor BS operating at 28 GHz. During the simulations, impacts of the outdoor BS's transmit power and distance to the building on the indoor coverage are investigated. In addition, various material types, namely one layer brick, International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 28 GHz concrete, ITU 28 GHz glass, and ITU 28 GHz wood, for the building walls are tested. Results reveal that dielectric properties of the materials are the key factors in determining the severity of the interference caused by the outdoor BS, paving the way for including the effects of material type in network designing and smart city planning.


This essay makes three contributions to the debate over whether the Constitution contains a judicially enforceable constraint on gerrymanders. First, it directly tackles the Chief Justice's fear of the judiciary appearing partisan, observing that the same fear would exist if the Constitution explicitly banned gerrymanders and explaining why an implicit ban should be no less judicially enforceable than an explicit ban under Marbury v. Madison. Second, invoking the idea of "institutional forbearance" in the important new book How Democracies Die, the essay shows how the Elections Clause can be construed to protect congressional districting from abuses of legislative discretion committed by state legislatures. Together, these two points lead to a third: the most essential duty of the Court, according to originalist theories of constitutional interpretation, is to preserve the Constitution against changes that would undermine its provisions or its overall core commitment to the creation of a federal republic for the United States; thus, insofar as virulent gerrymanders increasingly threaten the measure of popular sovereignty that elections to the federal House of Representatives were designed to achieve, the preservationist function of originalism requires judicial invalidation of those gerrymanders.


SICK OF LOVE Research and Development for Incubate and Work-in-Progress Performances for Suspense Festival, Little Angel Theatre Autumn 2009

So it is a lover who speaks and says: …….. what echoes in me is what I learn with my body.
Roland Barthes A Lover's Discourse

SICK OF LOVE explores erotic love and the evocative power of the material via live animation of objects, text and flesh, extending Furse's ongoing research into the body-in-performance.

SICK OF LOVE is performed with the full presence of the animators in view. Sat around a huge bed, the audience become intimately close to the action, choosing their own 'close-ups'. The work-in-progress is the first Etude on presence to come from the Laboratory, this one specifically exploring how the performer can channel the spectator's attention to materiality and to the unfolding actions and images created. The performer is, like the puppeteer, saying 'look at this' not 'look at me', a way of playing that requires detailed focus and highly controlled physicality.

SICK OF LOVE launches the Athletes Laboratory – an ongoing research laboratory based in the Pinter Centre for Performance and Creative Writing at Goldsmiths, working with a group of graduates from the MA in Performance Making that Anna Furse directs.

Direction/Scenography - Anna Furse
Laboratory Performers - Andre Amalio, Tereza Havlickova, Alex Crowe, Dafne Louzioti, Vanio Papadelli, Borja Sagasti, Bruno Humberto Sound Composition - James Bulley Lighting - Mischa Twitchin


Synopsis K-Ar measurements on gneisses and basic intrusive bodies from the Torridon, Gairloch and Gruinard Bay areas demonstrate (i) the existence of a few relict Badcallian (≡ Early Scourian of Sutton and Watson 1969) dates of c. 2600 m.y. in the Gruinard Bay area, (ii) the emplacement of Scourie dykes at Torridon, as well as of the Aundrary basite sheet near Gairloch, at least 2200 m.y. ago, and in the case of the dykes probably during the waning stages of the Inverian metamorphism, (iii) the occurrence of the first Laxfordian metamorphism at c. 1700 m.y. ago, of the second Laxfordian metamorphism at c. 1500 m.y. ago, and of the third (retrogressive) Laxfordian metamorphism in the Gairloch area at c. 1400 m.y. ago, (iv) post-Laxfordian cataclasis and reheating at Torridon c. 1150 m.y. ago. The significance of these results is discussed in detail and compared and contrasted with published age data. A statistical re-examination of the lead isotope results of Moorbath et al. (1969), from the areas covered in this paper only, confirms that the parent rocks of the typical basement gneisses were already in existence c. 2900 m.y. ago and were probably subjected to their highest-grade metamorphism at that time.


The enthalpic and entropic components of ligand–protein binding free energy reflect the interactions and dynamics between ligand and protein. Despite decades of study, our understanding and hence our ability to predict these individual components remains poor. In recent years, there has been substantial effort and success in the prediction of relative and absolute binding free energies, but the prediction of the enthalpic (and entropic) contributions in biomolecular systems remains challenging. Indeed, it is not even clear what kind of performance in terms of accuracy could currently be obtained for such systems. It is, however, relatively straight-forward to compute the enthalpy of binding. We thus evaluated the performance of absolute enthalpy of binding calculations using molecular dynamics simulation for ten inhibitors against a member of the bromodomain family, BRD4-1, against isothermal titration calorimetry data. Initial calculations, with the AMBER force-field showed good agreement with experiment (R2 = 0.60) and surprisingly good accuracy with an average of root-mean-square error (RMSE) = 2.49 kcal mol−1. Of the ten predictions, three were obvious outliers that were all over-predicted compared to experiment. Analysis of various simulation factors, including parameterization, buffer concentration and conformational dynamics, revealed that the behaviour of a loop (the ZA loop on the periphery of the binding site) strongly dictates the enthalpic prediction. Consistent with previous observations, the loop exists in two distinct conformational states and by considering one or the other or both states, the prediction for the three outliers can be improved dramatically to the point where the R2 = 0.95 and the accuracy in terms of RMSE improves to 0.90 kcal mol−1. However, performance across force-fields is not consistent: if OPLS and CHARMM are used, different outliers are observed and the correlation with the ZA loop behaviour is not recapitulated, likely reflecting parameterization as a confounding problem. The results provide a benchmark standard for future study and comparison.


Three types of educational interventions designed to mitigate the effects of portrayals of violence against women were tested. Male college students were shown an educational documentary on the psychological impact of "slasher" films and two rape-education films and assigned to one of three conditions: cognitive consistency, in which they wrote essays about myths of sexual violence, were videotaped reading these essays, and watched a playback of themselves and others advocating their antirape positions; no playback, in which the men wrote essays on the same topics, read them to the camera, and exchanged their essays with others instead of seeing themselves advocate their position; or traditional persuasion, in which subjects watched the educational films, then wrote neutral essays about media use, and watched a playback of these. Two additional control conditions were also included in the design. Later the men watched clips from slasher films and saw a videotaped reenactment of an acquaintance-rape trial and evaluated both. Rape-myth acceptance was marginally lower for those men in the intervention conditions. These men also showed higher levels of depression in response to slasher films and assigned less responsibility to the victim portrayed in the rape trial for her own assault and more responsibility to the defendant compared to subjects in the control conditions.