Future space missions will require onboard autonomy to reduce data, plan activities, and react appropriately to complex dynamic events. Software to support such behaviors is computationally-intensive but must execute with sufficient speed to accomplish mission goals. The limited processing resources onboard spacecraft must be split between the new software and required guidance, navigation, control, and communication tasks. To-date, control-related processes have been scheduled with fixed execution period, then autonomy processes are fit into remaining slack time slots. We propose the use of quality-of-service (QoS) negotiation to explicitly trade off the performance of all processing tasks, including those related to spacecraft control. We characterize controller performance based on exhaustive search and a Lyapunov optimization technique and present results that analytically predict worst-case performance degradation characteristics. The results are illustrated by application to a second-order linear system with a linear state feedback control law.


No way! Automating the deployment of the entire infrastructure? That can't be done! These are words we have heard many times, but the answer is: Yes, you can, with the step-by-step guides, sample scripts, and other resources found in this book. In the modern datacenter, everything is about automation, repeatable processes, and well-designed and documented infrastructure. This can be accomplished with PowerShell and MDT 2013. In this book, you learn how to install and configure the core infrastructure components in Windows Server 2012 R2. You start from absolutely nothing, and using the book and its sample scripts, build a complete real-world, production-ready infrastructure.


Background: Clinical judgement is the application of evidence to decision making in a professional healthcare setting. Studies in neuroscience (Immordino -Yang and Damassio, 2007) have shown that effective judgement and decision-making require tempered emotion to provide a guiding 'rudder' revealing knowing to be a feeling state. Emotional labour as a central feature of nursing practice is well documented (Gray, 2009). Theorists have identified emotions as tools for reflection (Bradbury-Jones et al. 2009), but this area of knowledge remains underdeveloped. / Aims: This thesis enquires into the existence of a commonality of emotions in nursing practice with potential as core emotion concepts arising from diverse narratives for use as tools for reflection and professional judgement. / Method: In phase one thirty-three nurses across five specialist areas talked exhaustively about the emotions they experienced while immersed in practice and the causes of these emotions. The data was collected in a London teaching hospital NHS trust and in three community NHS trusts in the East Midlands of England. Following this, in a second phase, six nurses (two supervisors and four supervisees) in a London Teaching Hospital who had not taken part in the first part of the research talked about their experience after two months and four months of using a framework for reflection consisting of seven common core concepts identified in the first research phase. In both phases the interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim and the data analysed using Grounded Theory Method. / Results: The data betrayed professional movement that was characterised by person centred care in the face of complex adversity. Seven core emotional concepts were found to have commonality across practice forming an 'emotion map'. The 'emotion framework' for reflection was shown to increase self awareness, inform and empower practice. / Discussion: The design is limited by the singularity of discourse and the sample size. The notion of emotional constituents of a framework for reflection opens up a new frontier in learning in which the details of an experience are the outcome of reflection on emotion rather than the reverse. The framework demonstrated 'organic' properties which permit a harnessing of the sense of salience that is central to human judgement. Increased credence has been given to personal knowledge and intuition.


Introduction Elevated cortisol levels have been reported in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and may accelerate the development of brain pathology and cognitive decline. Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) has anti-glucocorticoid effects and it may be involved in the AD pathophysiology. Objectives To investigate associations of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) cortisol and DHEAS levels with (1) cognitive performance at baseline; (2) CSF biomarkers of amyloid pathology (as assessed by CSF Aβ levels), neuronal injury (as assessed by CSF tau), and tau hyperphosphorylation (as assessed by CSF p-tau); (3) regional brain volumes; and (4) clinical disease progression. Materials and Methods Individuals between 49 and 88 years (n = 145) with mild cognitive impairment or dementia or with normal cognition were included. Clinical scores, AD biomarkers, brain MRI volumetry along with CSF cortisol and DHEAS were obtained at baseline. Cognitive and functional performance was re-assessed at 18 and 36 months from baseline. We also assessed the following covariates: apolipoprotein E (APOE) genotype, BMI, and education. We used linear regression and mixed models to address associations of interest. Results Higher CSF cortisol was associated with poorer global cognitive performance and higher disease severity at baseline. Cortisol and cortisol/DHEAS ratio were positively associated with tau and p-tau CSF levels, and negatively associated with the amygdala and insula volumes at baseline. Higher CSF cortisol predicted more pronounced cognitive decline and clinical disease progression over 36 months. Higher CSF DHEAS predicted more pronounced disease progression over 36 months. Conclusion Increased cortisol in the CNS is associated with tau pathology and neurodegeneration, and with decreased insula and amygdala volume. Both CSF cortisol and DHEAS levels predict faster clinical disease progression. These results have implications for the identification of patients at risk of rapid decline as well as for the development of interventions targeting both neurodegeneration and clinical manifestations of AD.


This study examines whether a stronger commitment to climate change within a company results in reductions in GHG emissions. Utilizing data from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) data base for a sample of 224 companies in the S&P 500 operating in 2009, we construct an overall measure for the level of an organizational commitment based on firm responses to the CDP project survey including a firm having: (1) a board committee or other executive body responsible for climate issues, (2) an emission target in place or recently achieved, (3) 80 percent or more of emissions verified, (4) monetary incentives for reduced emissions by the board/executive board and/or management group, (5) climate change information in annual reports, and (6) climate change information in a Sustainability or CSR report. These constructed variables are correlated with CDP designations of companies as having excellent carbon disclosure and carbon performance. To test the overall hypothesis of a significant relationship between GHG reductions and commitment, we perform regressions on this variable and changes in carbon emissions for future years 2009 to 2011, and 2009 to 2012, as well as individual commitment measures. Our empirical results show that the organizational commitment variables are not significantly related to carbon emission or carbon intensity reductions. However, having board responsibility for sustainability and a previous target or success are significant factors, along with being more profitable. Our results suggest that embedding sustainability, as related to climate change, in companies does not follow a simple prescription.


There is a need to improve the current demolition techniques selection process that
involves a multicriteria decision making problems because the decision performed by
demolition engineers were based on their knowledge and experience without any
systematic procedure that can be followed to support the decision process. There is also a
need to capture the expert's knowledge since significant proportion of senior,
experienced demolition engineers are close to retirement, and unless their knowledge is
captured in some form, it would be lost. Concerning to these needs, the research aim is to
develop an intelligent decision support system that incorporated the demolition expert's
knowledge in selecting the most appropriate demolition techniques for a given structure.
Various research methodologies were adopted to achieve the aim. Literature on
demolition industry was first reviewed. Knowledge acquisition approaches were used to
capture the demolition expert knowledge, which included an industry survey through
postal questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, and protocol analysis. The rapid
prototyping methodology was used in developing the prototype system. The proposed
intelligent decision support system is called 'Demolition Techniques Selection System'
(DTSS). The prototype system consists of two stages. The first stage will assist the
decision maker to select the most appropriate demolition techniques in term of technical
aspects by using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model. The second stage allows the
decision maker to assess the demolition techniques in terms of cost by using the
Demolition Cost Estimation model. The prototype was evaluated during and after the
development process to verify, validates, and improves it. The evaluation revealed that
the prototype system demonstrated many benefits and applicable for use in the industry.
It is concluded that the prototype provides a clear, systematic and structured framework
that improved the current demolition techniques selection process. It also serves as an
information source that contains a considerable amount of information on demolition
techniques. It can act as a teaching aid for young professionals coming into the
demolition industry by giving them a basic information and understanding of demolition.
Demolition contractors can use the system as a marketing aid to impress potential clients
to win a project because of its ability to give rational and structured decisions with the
capability of generating graphical reports and sensitivity analysis.


This research reports on a diverse student audience engaging in an Australian university's undergraduate commerce program core unit which was offered across three separate geographic campus locations and online. The research extends upon work undertaken on student engagement in online settings and lies in the domain of blended learning design and practice in the Australian higher education business context. The research adopted a dual-period surveying approach aimed at comparing patterns of student engagement within a major business subject offered in two different trimesters in one academic year. The survey analysis compared student perceptions of engagement with the subject and identified significant variations in patterns of engagement based on key background and demographic factors. Findings, inter alia, are presented across seven major student engagement dimensions as applied to the interplay between online and located/campus learning (i.e. Online Active Learning, Online Social Interaction, Online Collaboration, Online Teaching, Online Assessment, Online Relevance, and Online Contact with Staff). Implications for blended learning design, eLearning and practice in such complex environments involving diverse student audiences are examined.


This article adopts a non-parametric approach to explore the relation between size, capital intensity and productivity in a set of Portuguese manufacturing sectors. The article makes use of 2007 data from fi rm's balance sheets and income statements in sectors "food and beverages", "clothing", "manufactured non-metallic mineral products" and "metallic products, except machinery and equipment". In 2007, these four sectors represented almost half of the total number of manufacturing fi rms, more than one third of gross value added and sales and more than forty per cent of employment and capital stock in the Portuguese manufacturing sector. Firstly, the article presents basic descriptive statistics regarding the distribution of fi rms along the selected variables. Secondly, the analysis is enlarged by estimating robust conditional kernel distributions for the pairs of variables capital intensity-productivity, sizeproductivity and size-capital intensity. The unconditional distributions for the selected variables reveal some similarities between sectors. There is substantial heterogeneity within sectors but fi rms are concentrated in classes that correspond to small size, low capital-labour ratios and small number of workers. The conditional distributions reveal that the largest fi rms in terms of sales tend to be those with higher capital-labour ratios and these two characteristics tend to lead to higher levels of apparent labour productivity.


This paper, based on a qualitative documentary research, consists in presenting some reflections raised on the relationship between language policies and public basic education, translated into the experience of the construction of pedagogical practice in the public school environment for foreign language teaching (FLT) in the Distrito Federal. Teachers face the lack of theoretical and practical tools in the development of critical thinking to understand the language policies addressed to their field of activity. Thus, we try to answer the following question: What are the language policies that support the teaching of foreign language in public basic education in the Distrito Federal? Through this investigation, it is possible to consider some of the many aspects that involve the development of language policies aimed at teaching FL in the public basic education in the Distrito Federal.


This review article is divided into three parts. Firstly, three soil/structure interaction problems are described in which strain is imposed on the soil caused by solar heating of the structures. They are modeled by reference to cyclic ratcheting strains with the help of a simple two-component model comprised of one elastic element and one element of granular material. Possible stable shakedown solutions are described for a bridge and filter bed. In contrast, a tower structure may become progressively less stable with increasing load cycles. Secondly, our experimental results from plane strain biaxial tests on sand under drained cyclic loading conditions are shown to complement the work of others. Results reveal the existence, in strain control experiments, of a unique shakedown stress ratio, S, which is independent of cyclic strain amplitude, but with the associated void ratios being strain-amplitude dependent. At very small strain amplitudes S may decrease. Thirdly, numerical modeling methods are described. These include applications of nonlinear elasticity, and elasto-plasticity including endochronic theory, to predict the behavior of granular materials under cyclic loading. It is concluded that temperature-induced cyclic loadings are of importance in some soil/structure interaction situations, and that reliable predictions can be made in simple cases. Further knowledge and research is needed to fully predict the incremental evolution of fabric change during cyclic stressing and cyclic straining. Either existing models will be required to be modified, or new ones formulated to capture all the features covered in this paper


The Santo Antão variety (SA) of Cape Verdean Creole (CVC) is not only very little studied but the existing publications, overwhelmingly in Portuguese, are not well known among a wider linguistic audience. This is particularly surprising if we consider that from the first Cape Verdean census, in 1731 (Carreira 1984), until the 1970s Santo Antão has been the second most populous island of the archipelago. The article presents a review of the literature from historical sources about the settlement of Santo Antão, which then serves as a base from which to reconsider current debates about the genesis of CVC. Linguistic data, mainly of phonological nature, from conversations recorded during a short field trip to Santo Antão (Cabo da Ribeira and Vila das Pombas), complemented by existing data on other varieties of CVC, are used to support the proposed hypotheses.


We examine how firms operating in three or more countries show different international spatial dependencies, compared to those operating in just two countries (home and one foreign country). In a multi-country model, we focus on the significance of rival locations abroad, which has not been considered in bilateral two-country models. We present a model in which a multinational enterprise (MNE) determines the spatial extension of operations (measured by the number of foreign countries per parent firm) and the intensity of production (measured by the volume of local sales or exports per foreign location). We call these "extensive decisions" and "intensive decisions," respectively. We then estimate how their affiliates' locations are substitutable or complementary with each other. We use panel data on Japanese-owned foreign affiliates from 2000-2007 and measure key determinants to trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) multilaterally, relative to other foreign locations. We find that 1) the setup of a new location for local sales is replaceable with the imports from surrounding economies, 2) the setup of a new location for exports is encouraged by the market size of surrounding economies, and 3) the export volume to the third foreign economies are also enhanced.


A variety of cell types exhibit phenotype changes in response to the mechanical stiffness of the substrate. Many cells excluding neurons display an increase in the spread area, actin stress fiber formation and larger focal adhesion complexes as substrate stiffness increases in a sparsely populated culture. Cell proliferation is also known to directly correlate with these phenotype changes/changes in substrate stiffness. Augmented spreading and proliferation on stiffer substrates require nuclear transcriptional regulator YAP (Yes associated protein) localization in the cell nucleus and is tightly coupled to larger traction force generation. In this study, we show that different types of fibroblasts can exhibit spread morphology, well defined actin stress fibers, and larger focal adhesions even on very soft collagen gels (modulus in hundreds of Pascals) as if they are on hard glass substrates (modulus in GPa, several orders of magnitude higher). Strikingly, we show, for the first time, that augmented spreading and other hard substrate cytoskeleton architectures on soft collagen gels are not correlated with the cell proliferation pattern and do not require YAP localization in the cell nucleus. Finally, we examine the response of human colon carcinoma (HCT-8) cells on soft collagen gels. Recent studies show that human colon carcinoma (HCT-8) cells form multicellular clusters by 2-3 days when cultured on soft polyacrylamide (PA) gels with a wide range of stiffness (0.5-50 kPa) and coated with an extracellular matrix, ECM (collagen monomer/fibronectin). These clusters show limited spreading/wetting on PA gels, form 3D structures at the edges, and eventually display a remarkable, dissociative metastasis like phenotype (MLP), i.e., epithelial to rounded morphological transition after a week of culture on PA gels only, but not on collagen monomer coated stiff polystyrene/glass where they exhibit enhanced wetting and form confluent monolayers. Here, we show that HCT-8 cell clusters also show augmented spreading/wetting on soft collagen gels and eventually form confluent monolayers as on rigid glass substrates and MLP is completely inhibited on soft collagen gels. Overall, these results suggest that cell-material interactions (soft collagen gels in this case) can induce cellular phenotype and cytoskeleton organization in a remarkably distinct manner compared to a classical synthetic polyacrylamide (PA) hydrogel cell culture model and may contribute in designing new functional biomaterials.


In this study, the authors study the input delay compensation problem for discrete-time linear systems with both state and input delays. Under the assumption that the original time-delay system without input delay can be stabilised by state feedback, a nested predictor feedback controller is established to predict the future states such that the arbitrarily large yet exactly known input delay in the original system is completely compensated. Consequently, it is shown that the closed-loop system consisting of the original time-delay system and the nested prediction feedback controller is asymptotically stable. Under an additional assumption, an explicit nested predictor feedback controller without involving any nested summations is also established. Finally, two numerical examples are carried out to illustrate the obtained theoretical results.


Few studies have explicitly focused on risky group decision making in information sharing or examined the manifestation of communication differences in face-to-face (FTF) and computer-mediated communication (CMC) teams. Hypothesizing that information-sharing behaviors could be influenced not only by contextual forces but also by personality and trust, we integrate communication mode, trust and personality into a theoretical framework, and also examine the possible impact of these constructs on risky group decision-making outcomes. Our interdisciplinary study integrates the fields of information system management, investment analysis and financial education by examining both FTF and CMC teamwork in a StockTrak portfolio simulation. We find that contrary to the common wisdom, even though FTF team members tend to feel greater levels of trust, affiliation and satisfaction in their team collaboration process, CMC teams eventually outperform their FTF counterparts by having greater portfolio returns and investor utilities.


This research studied stacking—position segregation by race or ethnicity in team sports—in the 1992 Major League Baseball season using a multivariate analysis, with control variables of height, weight, age, power, speed, and skill. The strong relationship between race and centrality found in previous studies was confirmed; African-American players were predominantly in the outfield positions, Latino players in the middle infield positions, and white players in the most central position of catcher, as well as the other infield positions. The multiple regression analyses revealed direct effects of some control variables on centrality; however, only the variable of speed was found significantly to reduce the bivariate relationship between being African-Americans and centrality. A proportion of the variance in allocation of African-Americans to the outfield may thus be due to this job-related ability; the residual race effects, which account for the majority of the explained variance, must at present still be...


The optical properties of black polyethylene have been measured from 3 to 4000 cm−1. The scatter of data from different sources is caused by differences of carbon particle sizes, concentrations of the carbon in the polyethylene, and form of the carbon. An empirical fit of the absorption coefficient appears to demonstrate Rayleigh absorption. A physical model for absorption, with the electron mean free path about equal to the carbon-particle diameter, is proposed. Surface- and bulk-plasma effects may be inferred.


Abstract. Blowing snow impacts Antarctic ice sheet surface mass balance by snow redistribution and sublimation. However, numerical models poorly represent blowing snow processes, while direct observations are limited in space and time. Satellite retrieval of blowing snow is hindered by clouds and only the strongest events are considered. Here, we develop a blowing snow detection (BSD) algorithm for ground-based remote-sensing ceilometers in polar regions and apply it to ceilometers at Neumayer III and Princess Elisabeth (PE) stations, East Antarctica. The algorithm is able to detect (heavy) blowing snow layers reaching 30 m height. Results show that 78 % of the detected events are in agreement with visual observations at Neumayer III station. The BSD algorithm detects heavy blowing snow 36 % of the time at Neumayer (2011–2015) and 13 % at PE station (2010–2016). Blowing snow occurrence peaks during the austral winter and shows around 5 % interannual variability. The BSD algorithm is capable of detecting blowing snow both lifted from the ground and occurring during precipitation, which is an added value since results indicate that 92 % of the blowing snow is during synoptic events, often combined with precipitation. Analysis of atmospheric meteorological variables shows that blowing snow occurrence strongly depends on fresh snow availability in addition to wind speed. This finding challenges the commonly used parametrizations, where the threshold for snow particles to be lifted is a function of wind speed only. Blowing snow occurs predominantly during storms and overcast conditions, shortly after precipitation events, and can reach up to 1300 m a. g. l.  in the case of heavy mixed events (precipitation and blowing snow together). These results suggest that synoptic conditions play an important role in generating blowing snow events and that fresh snow availability should be considered in determining the blowing snow onset.


Microarray expression data is one of the most widely used to find patterns in genetic expressions. The DNA Microarray Technique participates as one of the leading methods in Cancer Research. Due to the presence of immense noise, fewer numbers of samples and huge amount of genes, the useful genomic knowledge extraction from this technique is an important question in today's Biological Research. Scientists and Researchers are exploring efficient mathematical procedure to find realistic gene expressed knowledge. In this study K-Means Clustering technique is used on an efficient 3rd order polynomial based technique to normalize the genomic data of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and Acute Lymphocyte Leukemia (ALL). AML was used as a model to generate the coefficients of the polynomial by considering non trending, decorellation and offset based techniques. The K nearest Neighbor technique is used to estimate the missing values of microarray data and avoid the impact of missing data on clustering algorithm. The data can be regenerated easily using 3rd order polynomial normalization based on model generated by AML. Top ranked genes in each cluster have been presented in this paper which helps in finding functionally coregulated genes in ALL and AML.


Recently, contrastive learning has found impressive success in advancing the state of the art in solving various machine learning tasks. However, the existing generalization analysis is very limited or even not meaningful. In particular, the existing generalization error bounds depend linearly on the number $k$ of negative examples while it was widely shown in practice that choosing a large $k$ is necessary to guarantee good generalization of contrastive learning in downstream tasks. In this paper, we establish novel generalization bounds for contrastive learning which do not depend on $k$, up to logarithmic terms. Our analysis uses structural results on empirical covering numbers and Rademacher complexities to exploit the Lipschitz continuity of loss functions. For self-bounding Lipschitz loss functions, we further improve our results by developing optimistic bounds which imply fast rates in a low noise condition. We apply our results to learning with both linear representation and nonlinear representation by deep neural networks, for both of which we derive Rademacher complexity bounds to get improved generalization bounds.


In this study, we report on a novel, expedited solid-phase approach for the synthesis of biotinylated and fluorescently tagged irreversible affinity based probes for the chymotrypsin and elastase-like serine proteases. The novel solid-phase biotinylation or fluorescent labeling of the aminoalkane diphenyl phosphonate warhead using commercially available Biotin-PEG-NovaTag or EDANS NovaTag resin permits rapid, facile synthesis of these reagents. We demonstrate the kinetic evaluation and utilization of a number of these irreversible inactivators for chymotrypsin-like (chymotrypsin/human cathepsin G) and elastase-like serine proteases. Encouragingly, these compounds display comparable potency against their target proteases as their N-benzyloxycarbonyl (Cbz)-protected parent compounds, from which they were derived, and function as efficient active site-directed inactivators of their target proteases. We subsequently applied the biotinylated reagents for the sensitive detection of protease species via Western blot, showing that the inactivation of the protease was specifically mediated through the active site serine. Furthermore, we also demonstrate the successful detection of serine protease species with the fluorescently labeled derivatives "in-gel", thus avoiding the need for downstream Western blotting. Finally, we also show the utility of biotinylated and pegylated affinity probes for the isolation/enrichment of serine protease species, via capture with immobilized streptavidin, and their subsequent identification via de novo sequencing. Given their selectivity of action against the serine proteases, we believe that these reagents can be exploited for the direct, rapid, and selective identification of these enzymes from biological milieu containing multiple protease subclasses.


A novel bandpass filter with four switchable configurations is presented in this paper. The proposed filter is composed of two parallel connected dual-band bandpass filters. In particular, each filter has two open stubs and one parallel-coupled line, series connected with the stepped transmission lines and switching diodes. With four switching diodes in the "on" state, the measured central frequencies of quadruple passbands are located at 2.65, 3.36, 4.65, and 5.36 GHz. The result matches well with the theoretical simulation.


To survive that is 'to eat and not to be eaten', to live on. Any living system, to survive and
live on, whatever is its spatial and temporal level of organization, owns 7 invariant
qualitative capabilities (degrees of freedom). It is formed by embeddings and juxtapositions
of pre-existing systems. The local quantitative laws of its spatial-temporal structuring and
functioning are associated with these qualitative characteristics and independent from the
dimensional scales. Living systems are both independent and dependent from their new
global level of organization and the local situations of emergence. The local actors become
mutually integrated into their global whole through their merging into an ARMSADA
(Association for the reciprocal and Mutual Sharing of Advantages and DisAdvantages).
Reversely (systemic constructal law), the global whole is integrating the local parceners. As
all the sub-systems which live in it, the whole Universe is living in an ecoexotope that it
can share with other Universes. At every level of organization, the evolution of the living
systems obeys 5 organizing principles of emergence and the space (the volume of the adult
system VA) and the duration (time of generation tg) are linked through a power law of
growth and exchange VA2 = C.tg3


This book challenges conventional wisdoms both about economic performance and about policies for economic development in African countries. Its starting point is the striking variation in economic performance: unevenness and inequalities form a central fact. The authors highlight not only differences between African countries but also variations within countries, differences often organized around distinctions of gender, class, and ethnic identity. For example, school dropout and neonatal mortality have been reduced, particularly for some classes of women in some areas. Horticultural and agribusiness exports have grown far more rapidly in some countries than others. These variations (and many others) point to opportunities for changing performance, reducing inequalities, learning from other African policy experiences, and escaping the ties of structure and legacies of a colonial past. The book rejects teleological illusions and Eurocentric prejudice, but does pay close attention to the results of policy in more industrialized parts of the world. Seeing the contradictions of capitalism for what they are—fundamental and enduring—may help policy officials protect themselves against the misleading idea that development is likely to be a smooth, linear process, or that it would be were certain impediments removed. The authors criticize a wide range of orthodox and heterodox economists, especially for their cavalier attitude to statistical sources. Drawing on decades of research and policy experience, they combine careful use of available evidence from a range of African countries with heterodox political economy insights (mainly derived from Kalecki, Kaldor, and Hirschman) to make the policy case for specific types of public sector investment.


Saponins are a wide class of natural surfactants, with molecules containing a rigid hydrophobic group (triterpenoid or steroid), connected via glycoside bonds to hydrophilic oligosaccharide chains. These surfactants are very good foam stabiliziers and emulsifiers, and show a range of nontrivial biological activities. The molecular mechanisms behind these unusual properties are unknown, and, therefore, the saponins have attracted significant research interest in recent years. In our previous study (Stanimirova et al. Langmuir 2011, 27, 12486-12498), we showed that the triterpenoid saponins extracted from Quillaja saponaria plant (Quillaja saponins) formed adsorption layers with unusually high surface dilatational elasticity, 280 ± 30 mN/m. In this Article, we study the shear rheological properties of the adsorption layers of Quillaja saponins. In addition, we study the surface shear rheological properties of Yucca saponins, which are of steroid type. The experimental results show that the adsorption layers of Yucca saponins exhibit purely viscous rheological response, even at the lowest shear stress applied, whereas the adsorption layers of Quillaja saponins behave like a viscoelastic two-dimensional body. For Quillaja saponins, a single master curve describes the data for the viscoelastic creep compliance versus deformation time, up to a certain critical value of the applied shear stress. Above this value, the layer compliance increases, and the adsorption layers eventually transform into viscous ones. The experimental creep-recovery curves for the viscoelastic layers are fitted very well by compound Voigt rheological model. The obtained results are discussed from the viewpoint of the layer structure and the possible molecular mechanisms, governing the rheological response of the saponin adsorption layers.


In this study, we performed fracture toughness testing of ten Eurofer97 steel variants using precracked miniature multi-notch bend bar (M4CVN) specimens based on the Master Curve method in the ASTM E1921 standard. Additional Vickers microhardness and room temperature tensile testing complemented the fracture toughness testing. Compared with standard Eurofer97, the ten variants didn't show a comprehensive improvement of mechanical properties. The Master Curve method was found to yield a reasonable prediction of fracture toughness results obtained from M4CVN specimens with most valid fracture toughness data within the 2% and 98% tolerance boundaries of the Master Curve. The three-parameter Weibull distribution with Weibull exponent b = 4 also yielded excellent prediction of the relationship between fracture toughness results KJc and the cumulative probability for failure pf for one steel variant.


Abstract Male Satin Bowerbirds (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus) build stick structures known as bowers that serve as the focus for courtships and matings. Males decorate their bowers with numerous coloured decorations and are known to steal these decorations from one another. We investigated the stealing of bower decorations among males at the Bunya Mountains in Queensland, Australia. We aimed to (1) determine which classes of decorations were targets for theft in the studied population, and (2) examine whether the frequency at which individual decorations were stolen related to their intrinsic properties. To address our first aim, all decorations on the bowers of 21 adult males were labelled and their movements tracked throughout one mating season. To address our second aim, decorations stolen at least three times during the season were collected and their morphological and reflectance properties compared to those of decorations that were not stolen. In terms of the classes of decorations, tail feathers of Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans) were stolen more than any other class of decoration, but blue plastic bottletops were the most popular decorations relative to their availability on bowers. Frequently stolen individual decorations were similar to non-stolen items in their weights and surface areas, but were darker blue in colour than the decorations never stolen. Both bottletops and feathers reflected higher levels of ultraviolet (UV) light than did all other classes of bower decorations tested, thus suggesting that males may be using UV reflectance in sexual signalling. The darker blue, stolen decorations may increase contrast between the decoration collection and the platform, while the UV-reflecting subset of most frequently stolen decorations (bottletops and feathers) may increase contrast within the decoration collection. This in turn may increase the attractiveness of the display to females.


PURPOSE
To synthesize recent findings regarding pigment dispersion syndrome in order to arrive at a hypothesis concerning the nature of an underlying genetic predisposition.

METHODS
The literature on the subject was reviewed and analyzed.

RESULTS
Eyes with pigment dispersion syndrome differ from normal in that they have a larger iris, a midperipheral posterior iris concavity that increases with accommodation, a more posterior iris insertion, increased iridolenticular contact that is reversed by inhibition of blinking, possibly an inherent weakness of the iris pigment epithelium, and an increased incidence of lattice degeneration of the retina.

CONCLUSION
A gene affecting some aspect of the development of the middle third of the eye early in the third trimester appears at the present time to be the most likely cause.


Debris-rich basal ice at Burroughs glacier, southeastern Alaska, has 60 vol% to 70 vol% debris. Recently deposited basal till exceeds 60 vol% sediment with 30% to almost 40% porosity. Where basal ice is very rich in debris, basal till is deposited through melt out with only slight compaction of the debris. Porosity this high in till is commonly associated with subglacially deforming and dilated sediment. However, the recently deposited basal melt-out till at Burroughs glacier has not been deformed after deposition, but has porosity values similar to tills elsewhere interpreted to be subglacially deforming and dilated in an unfrozen state. High porosity can occur in basal melt-out till deposited directly by basal melt out.


Autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa (ARRP) is a degenerative disease of photoreceptors in which defects in the rhodopsin and phosphodiesterase β‐subunit (PDEB) loci have been reported. To assess the involvement of PDEB in ARRP families from Spain, we screened a panel of 19 families for linkage to markers within or close to the PDEB gene. Homozygosity was also tested in cases of consanguinity. This combined approach ruled out PDEB as the cause of the disease in all but one of the families. Molecular characterization of the gene in that family (a consanguineous pedigree) revealed a homozygous 71′bp tandem duplication in exon 1 of the affected member, the parents being heterozygous. This defect causes a frameshift mutation which leads to a premature stop codon, suggesting that this mutant allele is the underlying cause of ARRP in this patient. According to the data presented here, the PDEB gene is not the main gene responsible for ARRP, but accounts for about 5% of the cases.© 1995 wiley‐Liss, Inc.


The transverse vibration of a nanobeam subject to initial axial compressive forces based on nonlocal elasticity theory is investigated. The effects of a small nanoscale parameter at molecular level unavailable in classical mechanics theory are presented and analyzed. Explicit solutions for natural frequency, vibration mode shapes are derived through two different methods: separation of variables and multiple scales. The respective numerical solutions are in close agreement. Validity of the models and approaches presented in the work are verified. Unlike the previous studies for a nonlocal nanostructure, this paper adopts the effective nonlocal bending moment instead of the pure traditional nonlocal bending moment. The analysis yields an infinite-order differential equation of motion which governs the vibrational behaviors. For practical analysis and as examples, an eight-order governing differential equation of motion is solved and the results are discussed. The paper presents a complete nonlocal nanobeam model and the results may be helpful for the application and design of various nano-electro-mechanical devices, e.g. nano-drivers, nano-oscillators, nano-sensors, etc., where a nanobeam acts as a basic element.


Chitin is an abundant, carbon-rich polymer in the marine environment. Chitinase activity has been detected in spent media of Synechococcus WH7803 cultures – yet it was unclear which specific enzymes were involved. Here we delivered a CRISPR tool into the cells via electroporation to generate loss-of-function mutants of putative candidates and identified ChiA as the enzyme required for the activity detected in the wild type.


The Swedish criminalization of the purchase of sex aims to abolish prostitution through targeting the demand, while decriminalizing those selling sex in an ostensible effort to protect sex workers – constructed as passive victims of gendered violence – from criminalization. Drawing from authors' research and that of others, this article discusses the sex purchase law (sexköpslagen), exploring some of its impacts on the lives of sex workers and the dynamics of Swedish prostitution. We argue that the law has failed in its abolitionist ambition to decrease levels of prostitution, since there are no reliable data demonstrating any overall decline in people selling sex. Furthermore, we argue that the law has resulted in increased dangers in some forms of sex work. Dangers are exacerbated by a lack of harm reduction services, which are seen to conflict with Swedish abolitionism. Moreover, discourses and social constructions informing the sexköpslagen have informed the attitudes of service providers. In addition to specific outcomes of the law, we note evictions of sex workers, problems with immigration authorities, child custody and the police, and briefly discuss these themes. Where Sweden continues to attempt to export the sexköpslagen to other parts of the world, these elements should be carefully considered.


The carious conditions in which echo-reactions occur have been reviewed. Echo-reactions do not consist of indiscriminate repetition, but depend on personal rapport. The selectivity of echo-reactions, with regard to both the person imitated and the actions repeated, has been demonstrated. The fundamentally social nature of echo-reactions has been pointed out. The tendency of the patients with echo-symptoms to complete automatically sentences and actions initiated by the persons with whom they have established contact has been described. Those completion phenomena are an alternative to, or superimposed on, echo-reactions. The psychological mechanism underlying echo-reactions and the associated completion phenomena is that of identification on a primitive level. The various phases which echolalia and the associated completion phenomenon undergoes in the course of the evolution and re-evolution of speech have been demonstrated. A new interpretation of echo-reactions in schizophrenia has been advanced. They are to be understood, from the psychological point of view, as the result of an impulse to maintain social contact co-existing with the opposing tendency to extreme autism. An unusual case of chronic catatonia has been reported in which echo-reactions existed over many years. This patient, who had been a high grade mental defective, had in the course of his psychosis regressed to a level of speech corresponding to that of low-grade mental deficiency. Echo-reactions in infancy and those occurring under certain condition in normal adults have been discussed. The condition in which echolalia occurs have been found to have in common an urge to speak or act, a tendency to repetition and an incomplete development of impairment of expressive as well as perceptive speech. The conditions for echopraxia are similar but concern motor activity. They echo-reactions have been analysed from the point of view of Gestalt psychology, which throws light on their formal as well as dynamic significance. The pathology and some aspects of the physiology of echo-reactions has been discussed. The part played by the emotional element in their conditioning has been considered in the light of Hughlings Jackson's studies on automatisms.


We report the results of a randomized trial to assess the impact of an innovative ethics curriculum on the knowledge and confidence of 85 medical house officers in a university hospital programme, as well as their responses to a simulated clinical case. Twenty-five per cent of the house officers received a lecture series (Limited Intervention or LI), 25 per cent received lectures and case conferences, with an ethicist in attendance (Extensive Intervention or EI), and 50 per cent served as controls. A post-intervention questionnaire was administered. Knowledge scores did not differ among the groups. Confidence regarding ethical issues was significantly greater in the aggregate intervention group (3.9 on a 1 to 5 scale) compared to the control group (3.6). Confidence regarding procedural issues related to ethics was significantly higher for the EI group than for the controls (4.0 v 2.8). Responses to a simulated case showed that significantly fewer house officers in the EI group would intubate a patient for whom such therapy would be futile (EI = 57 per cent, LI = 87 per cent, Controls = 82 per cent). We conclude that ethics education can have an impact on house officers' confidence and their responses to a simulated case, and that the EI was more effective than the LI. Such results have implications regarding the implementation of ethics education during residency.


Objective: To investigate the practices of hospital professionals in providing information to patients and to professionals in primary care at patient discharge from hospital. Methods: We used a qualitative methodology with individual face-to-face interviews with 22 hospital physicians and nurses. Results: We identified two themes in the information practices of health care professionals at patient discharge from hospital: (i) producing information in parallel processes and (ii) challenges in tailoring information to different recipients. Conclusion: Hospital routines and professional norms prescribing that discharge information should take place in parallel processes by hospital physicians and by nurses impede transparency and interdisciplinary coordination in primary care. A strong focus on providing patients only with information that is tailored for them neglects the interest patients may have in seeing what information about them is transmitted to primary care. Practice implications: Hospital routines and professional culture are important factors to consider in efforts to promote more transparent health care for patients and improved interdisciplinary communication. This is not only a matter of attitudes in the individual health care professional. In the development of solutions for electronic exchange of information in health care, all these factors should be taken into account.


The majority of effort in the area of polymeric nanocarriers is aimed at providing controlled drug delivery in vivo. Therefore, it is essential to understand the delicate interplay of polymeric NPs with serum proteins in order to forecast their performance in a biological system. In this study, the interaction of serum proteins with functionalized polymeric colloids as a function of particle charge and hydrophobicity was investigated. Moreover, impact on NP stability and cargo leaching was assessed. The hard protein corona of polymeric NPs with either uncharged methoxy groups (methoxy-NPs), positively charged amine groups (amine-NPs), negatively charged carboxylic acid groups (carboxyl-NPs) or zwitterionic NPs decorated with amine and carboxylic acid groups (zwitterion-NPs) was quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed and correlated with the respective colloidal stability using fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Positively charged amine-NPs displayed an enhanced interaction with serum proteins via electrostatic interactions resulting in a hard corona consisting of diverse protein components. As revealed by FRET and agarose gel electrophoresis, the enhanced adsorption of proteins onto the colloidal surface significantly altered the NP identity and severely impaired the colloidal integrity as the lipophilic cargo was continuously leached out of the hydrophobic NP core. These results highlight the importance of generating a profound knowledge of the bio-nano interface as adherence of biomolecules can severely compromise the performance of a colloidal drug delivery system by changing its identity and integrity.


. The mixotrophic alga Uroglena americana forms a dense 'bloom' in Lake Biwa, Japan, in spring when dissolved inorganic phosphorus is in short supply relative to the requirements for algal growth. To assess the possibility that this alga uses bacteria as a substitutable P source via phagotro-phy, feeding experiments were conducted using bacteria-sized fluorescent microspheres as tracer particles. The exper~rnents revealed that the ingestion rate of U. americana on the food particles (bacteria + mcrospheres) is significantly affected by the concentrations of phosphate as well as food particles In the lake water. The response of ingestion rate to phosphate concentration indicated that P levels 20.4 pM P were enough to reduce bacterivory by this alga. However, phosphate concentration had no effect on ingestion rate in heterotrophic nanoflagellates. These results suggest that U. americana can utilize bactena as a substitutable P source. Such an ability favors the development and maintenance of dense blooms by this alga under P-limited conditions.


Plasmodium vivax has been considered for years as responsible for a mild form of malaria, due to the absence in the majority of its infections of the severe form of the disease, typical instead of the deadly human parasite P. falciparum. In the last decade, studies on vivax malaria have had a partial step ahead especially after the completion of the whole genome project, but there is still a gap of knowledge in the biology of this parasite. Moreover, the emergence of P. vivax antimalarial resistance in 1980s and its subsequent spread in the Southeast Asia have indicated new concerns about the possibility to control this parasite. P. vivax drug resistance poses a major threat to endemic countries and without important international efforts, we could assist in a near future to the paradox of seeing different malaria co-endemic countries, that have successfully controlled/eliminated P. falciparum, still fighting against P. vivax.


The purpose of this research is to study the clinical current of stomach and duodenal ulcer disease in a combination with the ischemic heart disease (IHD). The group of 290 patients with IHD in a combination with SUD and DUD were examined. The clinical-laboratory researches, histological analysis of stomach mucosa bioptates (SMB) and duodenal mucosa bioptates (DMB) were spend. In persons with IHD the stomach ulcers are observed (56%) more often than duodenal ulcers. The lesser curvature and pillory part of stomach were affected more often. In male the ulcers were met 3.5 times more often than in female. It was marked the tendency to the painless current of ulcer disease (UD). There were no the seasonal prevalence of exacerbations. In 52% of the patients the first manifestations of the disease were the gastric bleedings. The UD current differed by often relapses and long exacerbations (76%), which have coincided with the IHD exacerbations. In 68% of the patients the UD exacerbations were marked at the first 10 days after the myocardial infarction or aortocoronary shunting. The role of Helicobacter pylori as a causative factor of UD is marked in 26% of the patients. In 62% of the patients the basic role in UD exacerbation played the microcirculatory disorders, lowering of bloodstream in stomach mucosa or duodenal mucosa, syndrome of hypocoagulation, dislipidemia. In stomach and duodenal mucosa bioptates the dystrophic changes were expressed. The formation of ulcers and erosions of mucosa of gastrointestinal path in IHD patients are probably connected with blood circulation disorders in SM. The main aggression factors are the hypoxia, accompanying trophic disorders of SM and DM, the changes in vascular system.


During the 1990s governments, professionals and the public in general have had brought to their attention that incidents in healthcare are occurring in larger numbers than had ever been imagined and are costing tax-payers large amounts of money. Research sponsored by governments has tried to identify some objective evidence of the number of incidents and types of incidents that occur and to put forward some tools to assist with the risk management of incidents.  The purpose of this project was to explore the experience of nurses related to incident reporting. The reporting of incidents is important as it identifies professional risks for nurses. A descriptive qualitative approach was the methodology used and individual interviews of five senior nurses was the method of data collection. Attention was given to finding out about the supports for and barriers against nurses in reporting incidents; the outcomes for nurses of incident reporting; and the organisational culture and scope of 'professional' behaviour of nurses around incident reporting.  The findings revealed that nurses identified themselves as the major reporters of incidents. They considered there was not 'a level playing field' for all professionals around who, how and why incidents were reported, investigated and within the post incident processes. The nurses reported that they made daily decisions about what was an incident, and whether to report events as incidents. They identified aids and supports to the decisions they made such as the medium for reporting and fear of what happened when the incident form left the nurse and went to management.  A number of significant implications were identified for nursing, management and organisations in this research. Nurses need to feel they work in organisations which have a culture of safety  around incident reporting. Management need to clearly communicate policies, processes and organisational expectations related to incident reporting. This should include how incidents will be reported, investigated and the purposes for which management use incident reporting information. It is also important that adequate structures are in place to support nurses when an incident occurs as incidents when they occur have stressful consequences for the nurses who are involved. Professional nursing bodies need to give consideration to the development of clear guidelines on the legal and professional accountability of nurses related to incident reporting including the limitations of this accountability. When processes are clear a more effective approach can be taken to incident reporting, learning can occur and this will prevent the recurrence of some incidents.


In the present article macrocyclic ligand of type (C22H14N4O2) and its transition metal complexes of type[M(C22 H14N4O2)X2]X, where M=Cr(III), and Fe(III), X = Cl-, NO3 - and CH3COO- have been synthesized by template condensation of 1,3-dicarbonyl-phenyl-dihydrazide and 9,10-phenanthrenequinone(PhQ) in methanolic medium in 1:1:1 molar ratio. The structure and geometry of synthesized complexes and ligand is proposed on the basis of various modern physicochemical characterization techniques (spectral, thermal) and found to be six coordinated octahedral geometry of all the synthesized species. Ligand is coordinated to metal in a tetradentate manner in all complexes. Molar conductance measurements showed that reported macrocyclic complexes are weakly electrolytic in nature. All the synthesized compounds have been tested for their in vitro antibacterial activity against two gram +ve and two gram -ve pathogenic bacterial strains viz. Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus (gram +ve) and Salmonella typhi, E.Coli(gram -ve) to access their inhibiting potential. The results obtained were compared with the standard antibacterial drug Ciprofloxacin. The antiradical activity of some newly synthesized complexes has also been evaluated by using DPPH radical scavenging method and compared with standard antioxidant Ascorbic acid.


Purpose-. The aim of this study is to examine the impact of inflation and earnings per share (EPS) on the share prices of the consumer goods sector.
Methods- Data are collected from the financial statements in the Consumer Goods Industry Sector, namely 18 companies registered at ISSI. With the period 2014-2018 using a purposive sampling technique.
Findings- The analysis results show that inflation has not been proven to have a significant effect on stock prices, while EPS has a positive and significant effect. The implication of this finding is that the fundamental factor information of EPS ratios in financial statements can be useful information to predict sharia stock prices


Let $r_4(n)$ be the number of ways of writing $n$ as the sum of four squares. Set $P_4(x)= \sum \limits_{n\le x} r_4(n)-\frac {1}{2}\pi^2 x^2$, the error term for the average order of this arithmetical function.

In this paper, following the ideas of Erd\"os and Shapiro, a new elementary method is developed which yields the slightly stronger result $P_4(x)= \Omega_{+}(x \log \log x)$. We also apply our method to give an upper bound for a quantity involving the Euler $\varphi$-function. This second result gives an elementary proof of a theorem of H. L. Montgomery


Purpose – This paper investigates the effects of founding, growth, decline, and merger on gender differences in managerial career mobility. These common events create and destroy many jobs, and so have big impacts on managers' careers. We build on previous research to predict gender differences in job mobility after such events, and show that these gender differences are moderated by the positions managers occupy: level, firm size, and sex composition.

Methodology – We test our predictions using archival data on all 3,883 managerial employees in all 333 firms in the California savings and loan industry between 1975 and 1988. We conduct logistic-regression and event-history analyses.

Findings – Female managers are less likely than male managers to be hired when the set of jobs expands because of founding and growth, and more likely to exit when the set of jobs contracts because of decline and merger. These gender differences exist because relative to men, women occupy lower-level jobs, work in smaller firms, and work in firms with more women at all managerial ranks. The effects of all but one event (the growth of one's own employer) are moderated by managers' positions.

Value of the paper – Our paper is the first to offer a large-scale test of gender differences in career trajectories in the wake of common organizational events. By showing that these market-shaping events affect male and female managers' careers differently, and that these effects depend on the positions of male and female managers, we demonstrate economic sociology's potential for studying inequality.


In recent years, the concept of "reputation capital" has become widespread. Online apparatuses, such as YouTube likes, Ebay seller ratings and Google's PageRank algorithm automatically measure popularity, influence and trustworthiness; such measures actively influence online sellers' earnings. So-called "World 3.0" businesses such as Uber, TaskRabbit and Airbnb offer access to peer-to-peer shares, services and experiences, scaled up via online platforms. Reviews determine whom users can trust; those with the best reputations, such as "super rabbits" on TaskRabbit, can charge more for their services. For Rachel Botsman (an apostle of the reputation economy), peer-to-peer services enabled by online platforms put something "human" back into the economy, empowering individuals to become micro-entrepreneurs; this economy's new currency is trust. But a much deeper, structural analysis of the reputation economy is required to determine the strengths and limitations of such claims. How, exactly, does trust relate to finance in this context? Where does trust begin and end on online platforms – and what are trust's limits as a concept of currency?

To begin unpacking these complex problems, I question Botsman's claims in three directions. Firstly, how does one reconcile "qualitative" and "quantitative" aspects of economic value generally? In Economic Psychology (1902), Gabriel Tarde presciently argued that economics quantifies too few forms of value; if economics is the study of value, then "qualitative" values (such as glory) are directly economic and should be quantified. Following Tarde, one could say that the online reputation economy does not so much "put something human" back into the economy, as it necessitates a broader understanding of the full range of economic values always already at play.

Yet some values are more easily monetized than others within a given context; my second critique draws attention to structural inequities of monetization, based on Jaron Lanier's analysis of online architecture. As Lanier argues, existent structures for sharing online content eviscerate the middle class, impoverishing content providers and producing extraordinary concentrations of wealth around the most powerful servers. Deeply ingrained design choices (such as one-way over two-way linking) lead to a surveillance economy in which supposedly "free" sharing leads to vastly disproportionate benefits for those who practice big data analytics. Given these design biases, Botsman's "trust" is the tip of a rather "paranoid" iceberg.

Finally, trust, as currency, must be understood not merely as abstract value, but also as felt experience. I analyze trust with respect to both Alison Hearn's critique of the "smiley-faced" disposition of the online reputation economy (which increases performative pressures placed on neoliberal subjects), and Michel Feher's theory of neoliberalism, which links credit to self-esteem. Trust, I argue, cannot be understood as currency without also being understood as a lived reflexive, representational mechanism that carries, firstly, a governmental function (in managing subjects' behaviour) and, secondly, an "unconscious" of sorts, comprised of associated, but repressed qualities (such as mistrust or self-loathing). If trust is currency, it is inextricably intertwined with counter-currencies of mistrust, which reveal the complexities of relations between reputation and competition, dispersed entrepreneurialism and centralized power.


This study's overall purpose is to identify the factors determining the use of technological innovation in Distance Learning (DL), as perceived by instructors of Business Education programs. The theoretical basis for the study is the Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT). The study's sample is made up of 436 instructors; we used a quantitative approach and applied Confirmatory Factor Analysis and multiple regression. We found that not all of the attributes selected for analysis as proposed by IDT showed a direct effect for the use of innovation for the instructors investigated. The identified attributes were: compatibility, which shows how consistent innovation is with their values, practices and needs; relative advantage, indicating an innovation's perceived improvement from its predecessor; and demonstrated results, according to which instructors understand the tangible results obtained from the use of innovation.


Asymptotic Relative Efficiency ] was pleased to read "Promise in Nonparametrics" by Royeen and Seaver (March, ] 986). As the authors state, analysis of data by non parametric methods when the strong assumptions for parametric counterparts cannot be met provides the researcher with effective statistical procedures that may be more realistic and valid in a given situation. It is also interesting to note that a measure of relative efficiency, called the asymptotic relative efficiency (ARE), can provide for a comparison of a nonparametric test with its parametric counterpart under normal distribution assumptions (1). For example, the ARE f,::>r the nonparametric Spearman rank correlation (when compared with its parametric counterpart of the Pearson product-mc-ment correia tion) is .912. This is interpreted to mean that with N = 100 using the Spearman, you will obtain the same efficiency as if the Pearson had been used with N = 91. This index may possibly assist in the choice of a nonparametric technique if more than one is appropriate in a given situation. The interested reader is referred to Gibbons for measures of asymptotic relative efficiency of other nonparametric tests. Susan Heling Kaplan, MHS, OTR Miami, Florida


Decision makers facing emission-reduction targets need to decide which abatement measures to implement, and in which order. This paper investigates how marginal abatement cost (MAC) curves can inform such a decision. We re-analyse a MAC curve built for Brazil by 2030, and show that misinterpreting MAC curves as abatement supply curves can lead to suboptimal strategies. It would lead to (i) under-investment in expensive, long-to-implement and large-potential options, such as clean transportation infrastructure, and (ii) over-investment in cheap but limited-potential options such as energy-efficiency improvement in refineries. To mitigate this issue, the paper proposes a new graphical representation of MAC curves that explicitly renders the time required to implement each measure. In addition to the cost and potential of available options, designing optimal short-term policies requires information on long-term targets (e.g., halving emissions by 2050) and on the speed at which measures can deliver emission reductions. Mitigation policies are thus best investigated in a dynamic framework, building on sector-scale pathways to long-term targets. Climate policies should seek both quantity and quality of abatement, by combining two approaches. A "synergy approach" that focuses on the cheapest mitigation options and maximizes co-benefits. And an "urgency approach" that starts from a long-term objective and works backward to identify actions that need to be implemented early. Accordingly, sector-specific policies may be used (i) to remove implementation barriers on negative- and low-cost options and (ii) to ensure short-term targets are met with abatement of sufficient quality, i.e. with sufficient investment in the long-to-implement options required to reach long-term targets.


The 1996 National Education Science Standards (NSES) in the U.S. provide descriptions of needed reforms for K-16 science teaching and improvements regarding indications of student learning. The goals indicate specifically the changes needed in teaching and improved ways for assessing student learning. This paper discusses how teaching and student assessment have changed the professional development and ways of accomplishing better learning with students. The emphasis is on teacher preparation and continuing work with in-service teachers which has improved U.S. teachers. It is important to note how such changes can provide additional evidence for accomplishments while also encouraging additional changes.


This paper discusses the significance of the specification of consumer demand in a global trade, computable general equilibrium (CGE) model: the World Bank's Linkage CGE model.
First, the effects of various global trade policy reforms are re-estimated using alternative consumption specifications (e.g., CDE, AIDADS, LES, etc.) in the CGE model.
Second, newly estimated income and price elasticities based on the United Nations' consumption (COICOP) data are integrated into the consumption specification.
In order to improve the modeling of the link between consumer and producer goods, a transition matrix, based on GTAP–COICOP concordance tables is incorporated into the CGE model.
The concordance between the COICOP and GTAP consumption data was established through CPC 1.0 database for all sectors except services (GTAP sectors: 1 to 44). COICOP consumption data was first converted to CPC at the most disaggregated level (43 categories), then to the GTAP6 (57 sector/good) formulation.
Due to the absence of a direct mapping between the CPC and GTAP databases concerning services (GTAP sectors: 45 to 57), one intermediary step was necessary. The COICOP dataset was first converted to CPC, then to ISIC and finally to GTAP6 data classification (Figure 3). As in the previous section, COICOP - CPC mapping is established, first, at the most detailed country and sector desegregation level, then converted into GTAP6 format. Using these conversion techniques, a full mapping was established between COICOP and GTAP6 data. The transition matrix combines data on consumption by purpose (COICOP in columns) which is disaggregated into demand for production activities (GTAP in lines).
These improvements lead:
- To a more satisfactory modeling of the links between consumption and supply.
- To an improved formulation of individual consumption demands (more detailed product classification and more emphasis on services).
- To improve dynamic properties of consumer demand specification.


This is the first book to offer a cross-cultural overview of rhetoric as a universal feature of expression and communication. The author explores analogies to human rhetoric in animal communication, rhetorical factors in the origin of human speech, and rhetorical conventions in traditionally oral societies around the world. The second part of the book discusses rhetoric as understood and practised in early literate cultures, seeking to identify what is unique or unusual in the western tradition.


Offsite Manufacturing (OSM) is a modern and innovative method of construction with the potential to adopt advanced factory production system through a more structured workflow, standardised products, and the use of robotics for automation. However, there have been challenges in quantifying improvements from the conventional method, which leads to the low uptake. The concept of a digital twin (DT) is useful for OSM, which enables production to be represented virtually and visually including all activities associated with it, resources, and workflow involved. Thus, essential information in the product development process such as cost, time, waste, and environmental impacts can be assessed. However, the data required to have accurate results and better-informed decision-making come from heterogeneous data formats (i.e. spreadsheets and BIM models) and across different domains. The inclusion of semantic web technologies such as Linked Data (LD) and Web Ontology Language (OWL) models has proven to better address these challenges especially in terms of interoperability and unambiguous knowledge systematisation. Through an extensive systematic literature review followed up by a case study, an ontology knowledge structure representing the production workflow for OSM is developed. A real-life use case of a semi-automated production line of wall panel production is used to test and demonstrate the benefits of the semantic digital twin in obtaining cost and time data of the manufacturing for assessment. Results demonstrated the potential capability and power of capturing knowledge for an ontology to assess production workflow in terms of cost, time, carbon footprint thereby enabling more informed decision making for continuous improvements.


Ranging across the colonial and postcolonial eras of the American South and the Caribbean, the six essays in this volume take a fresh look at the regions' transnational linkages. With their focus on border zones, hybridity, and creolization, the essays challenge our notions about the cultural and economic trajectories of the African diaspora in this part of the world. For instance, was the movement of slaves seeking freedom in the United States always south to north? Or was the movement of slaves in bondage always westward, from Africa to the Caribbean or the Americas?One consequence of the work presented in this volume is an expansion of the physical borders of the Caribbean-southern sphere to include, for example, the Chesapeake Bay area. Lesser-known populations, such as the Black Seminoles, also gain heightened visibility. Runaway slaves who first allied themselves with Florida Indians, the Black Seminoles later migrated to the Bahamas. Other topics covered include foodways, environmental justice and Caribbean tourism, and religious or celebratory traditions of Vodou, Jonkonnu, and Rocks.


The subtypes of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) differ in clinical presentation,
electrophysiological and laboratory features, and response to treatment. Steroid therapy is now accepted as a firstor
second-line treatment for CIDP. Patients with steroid-resistant CIDP have been reported, especially among those
with pure-motor or motor-dominant CIDP. The clinical and prognostic features of patients with motor dominant CIDP
are poorly understood. We describe a patient with steroid-unresponsive motor dominant CIDP who subsequently
responded to steroid therapy and review previously reported patients with motor dominant CIDP. Most patients
with motor-dominant CIDP did not respond to steroids, but remarkably improved after treatment with intravenous
immunoglobulins. Our findings suggest that some patients with steroid-unresponsive motor-dominant CIDP can
subsequently become responsive to steroid therapy.


Subject to critical policy analysis is how spoken language, which dominates the American landscape, affects the education of deaf students. Regardless of efforts in special education and increased awareness about American Sign Language (ASL), deaf students continue to experience reading difficulties. Integration in regular public schools complicates the situation, as deaf students need an alternative pedagogy for reading development through ASL. Discussion also focuses on lack of attention to the signed language, reflecting spoken language biases. These include the declining socialization opportunities as well as ASL acquisition as deaf students are placed with non-disabled, non-signing peers in schools. As part of boosting the value of ASL, the concept of linguistic accessibility is examined through historical accounts of widespread signed language use on Martha's Vineyard. This is followed with a review of progressive signed language policy in New Zealand, the creation of signed language schools, and signed language proliferation through education.


This work addresses the problem of speaker verification where additive noise is present in the enrollment and testing utterances. We show how the current state-of-the-art framework can be effectively used to mitigate this effect. We first look at the degradation a standard speaker verification system is subjected to when presented with noisy speech waveforms. We designed and generated a corpus with noisy conditions, based on the NIST SRE 2008 and 2010 data, built using open-source tools and freely available noise samples. We then show how adding noisy training data in the current i-vector-based approach followed by probabilistic linear discriminant analysis (PLDA) can bring significant gains in accuracy at various signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) levels. We demonstrate that this improvement is not feature-specific as we present positive results for three disparate sets of features: standard mel frequency cepstral coefficients, prosodic polynomial co-efficients and maximum likelihood linear regression (MLLR) transforms.


The performance of seven commercially manufactured rotavirus assays was evaluated with 144 pediatric stool specimens and compared with electron microscopy (EM) findings. The four enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays used were Rotazyme II, Pathfinder, IDL rotavirus immunoassay, and Enzygnost (Behring) rotavirus assay. The three latex tests were Meritec rotavirus detection test, Virogen Rotatest, and Bartels rotavirus latex test. Test outcomes were compared with EM on the basis of sensitivity, specificity, positive-negative predictive value, and the kappa statistic. Relative to EM, Meritec had the highest specificity (97%), followed by Virogen (95%), IDL (91%), Pathfinder (85%), Behring (81%), Bartels (72%), and Rotazyme (71%). The sensitivities were as follows: Rotazyme (92%), Pathfinder (89%), Bartels (86%), Virogen (86%), Behring (82%), Meritec (71%), and IDL (75%). Patient age and sex did not influence test results. Owing to the absence of a true standard, the tests were also compared with each other on the basis of the kappa statistic, the frequency of positive test results, and the frequency of samples in which a test differed from all other tests. Using these measures, the assays could be classified into three groups with progressively decreasing utility: group 1 (Virogen, Meritec, IDL, and EM), group 2 (Pathfinder and Behring), and group 3 (Rotazyme and Bartels). Laboratory criteria were also compared. Latex tests were faster and required less equipment than enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The Virogen latex assay showed the best overall performance, which made it our choice for rapid and accurate rotavirus diagnosis. However, in children who have gastrointestinal symptoms with negative rotavirus test results, EM will be useful until such time as immunological tests for other enteric viruses are available.


Focal segmental glomerular sclerosis (FSGS) is an irreversible renal pathology characterized by podocyte detachment from the glomerular basement membrane, hyalinosis, and sclerosis. Clinically, it manifests with proteinuria and progressive loss of glomerular filtration. Primary idiopathic FSGS can occur in isolation and frequently progresses to end-stage renal disease, requiring dialysis or kidney transplantation. In 30-50% of these patients, proteinuria and FSGS recur in the renal allograft, suggesting the presence of a podocyte-toxic factor(s) in the recipient's serum. Currently, there is no reliable way to quantify the serum activity or predict the subset of FSGS patients at risk for recurrence after transplantation. We describe a novel in vitro method that measures the podocyte-toxic activity of sera from FSGS patients using cultured human podocytes; we compare this with the effect of compounds such as adriamycin. Using immunofluorescence microscopy followed by computerized image-processing analysis, we show that incubation of human podocytes with adriamycin leads to a dose-dependent disassembly of focal adhesion complexes (FACs). We then demonstrate that sera from patients with posttransplant recurrent or idiopathic FSGS cause a similar FAC disturbance. In contrast, sera from nonrecurrent FSGS patients do not affect FACs. In some FSGS patients, toxic effects of serum can be prevented by blockade of the tumor necrosis factor-α pathway. We propose that this method may be useful as a diagnostic tool to identify FSGS patients with serum podocyte-toxic activity that presumably places them at increased risk for recurrence in the renal allograft.


Objective: LncRNA SPRY4-IT1 usually plays an oncogenic role in various cancers. However, the function of SPRY4-IT1 in Osteosarcoma (OS) still hasn't been reported. Our study aimed to investigate the regulation roles of SPRY4-IT1 in the OS.
Methods: OS tissue and the adjacent normal tissue were collected from 175 patients with OS. SPRY4- IT1 in OS cells was silenced by siRNA interference. The expression of SPRY4-IT1, Cyclin D1, Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2), Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) and WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway-related factors-Wnt3 and Wnt5b in OS tissues and cells were detected by qRT-PCR and/or western blot. Effect of SPRY4-IT1 knockdown on growth, colony formation, migration and invasion of OS cells were detected by MTT assay, colony formation assay and cell migration and invasion assay, respectively. Correlation between expression of SPRY4-IT1 and expression of Cyclin D1, MMP-2 and MMP-9 was analysed by Pearson correlation analysis.
Results: Level of SPRY4-IT1 RNA in OS tissue was significantly higher than that in normal tissue. SPRY4-IT1 knockdown significantly reduced the viability, colony formation ability, and invasion and migration ability of OS cells. SPRY4-IT1 knockdown significantly decreased the expression of Cyclin D1, MMP-2, MMP-9 and WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway-related factors Wnt3 and Wnt5b at both mRNA and protein levels. In addition, expression of SPRY4-IT1 was positively correlated with the expression of Cyclin D1, MMP2 and MMP9.
Conclusion: SPRY4-IT1 plays an important role in the progression of OS possibly by regulating the expression of Cyclin D1, MMP-2, MMP-9 and WNT/β-catenin signaling pathway-related genes.


Volcanic ash is a heterogeneous mineral dust that is typically composed of a mixture of amorphous (glass) and crystalline (mineral) fragments. It commonly contains an abundance of the crystalline silica (SiO2) polymorph cristobalite. Inhalation of crystalline silica can induce inflammation by stimulating the NLRP3 inflammasome, a cytosolic receptor complex that plays a critical role in driving inflammatory immune responses. Ingested material results in the assembly of NLRP3, ASC, and caspase-1 with subsequent secretion of the interleukin-1 family cytokine IL-1β. Previous toxicology work suggests that cristobalite-bearing volcanic ash is minimally reactive, calling into question the reactivity of volcanically derived crystalline silica, in general. In this study, we target the NLRP3 inflammasome as a crystalline silica responsive element to clarify volcanic cristobalite reactivity. We expose immortalized bone marrow-derived macrophages of genetically engineered mice and primary human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) to ash from the Soufrière Hills volcano as well as representative, pure-phase samples of its primary componentry (volcanic glass, feldspar, cristobalite) and measure NLRP3 inflammasome activation. We demonstrate that respirable Soufrière Hills volcanic ash induces the activation of caspase-1 with subsequent release of mature IL-1β in a NLRP3 inflammasome-dependent manner. Macrophages deficient in NLRP3 inflammasome components are incapable of secreting IL-1β in response to volcanic ash ingestion. Cellular uptake induces lysosomal destabilization involving cysteine proteases. Furthermore, the response involves activation of mitochondrial stress pathways leading to the generation of reactive oxygen species. Considering ash componentry, cristobalite is the most reactive pure-phase with other components inducing only low-level IL-1β secretion. Inflammasome activation mediated by inhaled ash and its potential relevance in chronic pulmonary disease was further evidenced in PBMC using the NLRP3 small-molecule inhibitor CP-456,773 (CRID3, MCC950). Our data indicate the functional activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome by volcanic ash in murine and human macrophages in vitro. Cristobalite is identified as the apparent driver, thereby contesting previous assertions that chemical and structural imperfections may be sufficient to abrogate the reactivity of volcanically derived cristobalite. This is a novel mechanism for the stimulation of a pro-inflammatory response by volcanic particulate and provides new insight regarding chronic exposure to environmentally occurring particles.


Simulating high-intensity rainfall events that trigger local floods using a Numerical Weather Prediction model is challenging as rain-bearing systems are highly complex and localized. In this study, we analyze the performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model's capability in simulating a high-intensity rainfall event using a variety of parameterization combinations over the Kampala catchment, Uganda. The study uses the high-intensity rainfall event that caused the local flood hazard on 25 June 2012 as a case study. The model capability to simulate the high-intensity rainfall event is performed for 24 simulations with a different combination of eight microphysics (MP), four cumulus (CP), and three planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes. The model results are evaluated in terms of the total 24-h rainfall amount and its temporal and spatial distributions over the Kampala catchment using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) analysis. Rainfall observations from two gauging stations and the CHIRPS satellite product served as benchmark. Based on the TOPSIS analysis, we find that the most successful combination consists of complex microphysics such as the Morrison 2-moment scheme combined with Grell-Freitas (GF) and ACM2 PBL with a good TOPSIS score. However, the WRF performance to simulate a high-intensity rainfall event that has triggered the local flood in parts of the catchment seems weak (i.e., 0.5, where the ideal score is 1). Although there is high spatial variability of the event with the high-intensity rainfall event triggering the localized floods simulated only in a few pockets of the catchment, it is remarkable to see that WRF is capable of producing this kind of event in the neighborhood of Kampala. This study confirms that the capability of the WRF model in producing high-intensity tropical rain events depends on the proper choice of parametrization combinations.


There are no available data documenting the dialysis clearance of iodide in humans. This work quantitates the hemodialysis clearance of iodide (as 131I) over time and examines certain factors which influence that clearance. In a single-patient study, three dialysis periods were studied over the 24 to 96 hours following administration of 129 mCi 131I given as Na131I. Hemodialysis clearance of 131I was calculated both from the arterio-venous difference of 131I across the artificial kidney and the appearance of 131I in the expended dialysate. Calculations were based on 131I activity in whole blood, whole plasma, and the supernate of plasma treated with 10% trichloroacetic acid (TCA). The hemodialysis clearance of 131I was highest when calculated from the activity of the plasma supernate, 171.3 +/- 6.0 ml/min for the period 24-29 h. post dosing, and fell in a linear fashion with time. The clearance calculated from whole blood activity was always intermediate to that from whole plasma (lowest) or the plasma supernate (highest). The percentage of plasma 131I activity precipitated by TCA rose over the study period and displayed a strong negative correlation to the hemodialysis clearance of 131I. The hemodialysis clearance of iodide, as 131I, is on the order expected for a free ion and is 4-5 times higher than the endogenous renal clearance of the ion. However, the calculated clearance varies with respect to total time of dialysis and the fraction of blood in which the 131I activity is measured.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)


MIMO-OFDM is considered as a fast growing technology now days. OFDM is a multi carrier modulation technique in which the carriers are Orthogonal to each others as a result of which it provides high bandwidth efficiency and multiple carriers share the data among themselves. During the research equalizer is always a matter of strategies. When a signal is transmitted over a radio channel, it is subject to reflection, refraction and diffraction and also the type of modulation technique selected at transmitter. In this paper Bit Error Rate performance of OFDM under Rayleigh fading channel is analysed, and compared with Additive White Gaussian Noise Channel.


Nowadays strong market position of a company is not only about figures of revenue and profit, but also the ability to build sustainable relationships with consumers, suppliers and competitors. From this standpoint, there has been developed a model for evaluating companies' position in competitive environment. Grounding on postulates of M. Porter's model of competitive forces, we suggested the model that encounters quantitative and qualitative parameters. Financial implications of skillful operational management bring about proper balance between amounts of receivables and payables that jointly give certain bargaining power on the market. Developed model showed three behavioral patterns toward riskiness of managerial decisions, namely high-risky, medium and low-risky competitive strategies. Level of risk depends on the ability to make challenging decisions regarding sales, purchasing and financial issues. On a highly competitive market, companies retain market share by sacrificing financial indicators of receivables, payables, returns on equity and assets.


This book is a practical discussion of actionable steps (six of them!) that students can take to land a job regardless of the market. Whether the estimate is 25% unemployment or single-digit unemployment, that number doesn't apply to any one student. For any individual, the unemployment rate is 0% or 100%. One either has a job or doesn't. When any one person is looking for a job and there is 10% unemployment, that person just wants to be one of the nine people that has a job. Students might think even that one job is beyond their grasp. They think they don't have the right degree. Their school is in a different location than where they'd like to work. Not enough jobs are listed or employers are visiting the campus. This type of thinking cedes control of a student's search to outside forces. It is not up to professors, schools, career services support, or recruiters to get students a job. This book is about the proactive things that students can do to get themselves a job. In the first chapter, Six Steps to Job Search Success covers the different types of job searches: full-time job after graduation, internship, return to workforce, career change, relocation. The rest of the book is about how, regardless of the type of job search or overall market, one can be proactive and successfully land a job. This textbook outlines a structured approach, actionable steps, and stresses the importance of a student's willingness to see this through. Six Steps to Job Search Success provides that structure with six steps anyone can take to: 1. identify the types of jobs they'd like (Step 1: Identify Your Target) 2. position themselves for these jobs (Step 2: Create A Powerful Marketing Campaign) 3. figure out what employers are looking for (Step 3: Research) 4. develop relationships with prospective employers (Step 4: Network and Interview) 5. stay connected throughout the decision-making process and fix any problems that might arise (Step 5: Stay Motivated; Organized and Troubleshoot Your Search) 6. complete their search (Step 6: Negotiate and Close the Offer). Connie and Caroline are both former recruiters with over 40 years of combined hiring experience between them. Connie led recruiting areas for three Fortune 500 companies, and Caroline led recruiting in-house for a Fortune 500 but also as an external recruiter for established firms and start-ups. They've hired thousands of people from interns to senior executives. They developed the process detailed in Six Steps to Job Search Success based on how hiring works.The authors explain that in reality, the ability to look for a job and land a job is a separate and distinct skill than any of the skills required for the job itself. The goal of their book is share their job search techniques with your students so that your students can take control of their job search, add an exceptional new job to their career and enjoy the life rewards a satisfying career can bring. If you are interested in a practical approach that can deliver results, this book is for you and your course.


Saul Newman, The Politics of Postanarchism Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2010; 200pp, £65 ISBN: 978-0748634958 Lewis Call notes, in the pages of this journal (Anarchist Studies Vol.17, No.l, pp.122-3), that Saul Newman is amongst the main theorists of postanarchism, alongside Todd May and Call himself. The Politics of Postanarchism, like Newman's earlier books, focuses on the intersection between anarchism and poststructuralist theory, and interrogates what Newman considers are the faulty Enlightenment presuppositions within anarchism. This is a task which he undertakes in order to renew this radical tradition. Readers of Newman's earlier works will be familiar with many of the key themes and arguments in The Politics of Postanarchism. It is a useful addition to the literature on four main grounds. First, it is a clear re-statement of Newman's version of postanarchism (with occasional reference to other formulations). Second, it applies postanarchism to contemporary events, such as the banking crisis (p.28, p. 80), the surveillance state wrought by The War On Terror (pp.29-30; p.75), and the struggles around immigrant rights (p.l 15, pp. 172-3). Third, it situates postanarchism amongst recent theoretical developments, such as Badiou's critique of the natural social principle against the artificial political principle (pp.1 10-1 1) or Michael Hardt and Toni Negri's autonomist account of the 'multitude' (pp.I2I-3). Finally, in keeping with Newman's goals, the book provokes the reader to assess the limits of anarchism (p.5), by searching for and highlighting aporia (inconsistencies and contradictions) that are core to anarchism. In doing so, it handily also raises questions about Newman's own postanarchist presuppositions. Newman's central contention is that anarchism is wedded to an enlightenment rationalist - and indeed positivist - account of knowledge, and to a fixed, essentialist account of the subject, in which, Newman claims, anarchists produce a Manichean split between, on the one side, the benign natural law or social principle (a form of anti-politics) and on the other the malign political principle, an unnatural order of power. The latter is associated with the state (p.4). These classical anarchist assumptions are not only philosophically unsustainable (pp.58-59), but also produce hierarchical political practice. In seeking out the authoritarian moments in anarchism, Newman seeks to make an anarchist critique of anarchism (p.51). Thus, the first conflict Newman identifies in anarchism is that between its commitment to freedom versus the fixed, essential self. If humans are essentially good, or prone or determined to a particular type of benevolent social relationship, this severely restricts human freedom to produce its own destiny. Newman has made similar criticisms of classical anarchism's essentialism, and this has led to objections to this characterisation. Notable opposition to Newman's account of classical anarchism has come from a variety of sources: Sasha Villon; Jesse Cohn and Shawn Wilbur; author(s) from South Africa's Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Federation; Alan Antliff; and Nathan Jun. A dominant theme amongst many of these criticisms is that Newman (and other similar postanarchists) has misrepresented classical anarchists, as they were not united by an essen tialist view of the human subject. Significant classical anarchists such as Errico Malatesta Life and Ideas, p.73) viewed the concept of 'natural harmony' as 'the invention of human laziness'. In addition, Peter Kropotkin - who Newman specifically cites as an essentialist (p.36 and p.38) - was clear that humans have anti-social instincts as much as social ones, and whilst Newman acknowledges this (p.39) - perhaps in part in unacknowledged reply to earlier critics - he nonetheless asserts a social essentialism on classical anarchism. The apparent contradiction in anti-politics identified by Newman is similarly resolvable within the anarchist canon. …


Background: Transabdominal preperitoneal (TAPP) and totally extra-peritoneal (TEP) mesh repair are two common procedures which are now a days commonly performed during laparoscopic approaches for inguinal hernias. This randomized prospective study was aimed to compare these two, TAPP and TEP laparoscopic approaches for inguinal hernia repair in terms various outcomes. Methods: Patients were randomly picked and 30 (50%) were operated by laparoscopic TAPP hernioplasty and the 30 (50%) by laparoscopic TEP hernioplasty. Results: Both TEP and TAPP mesh repair techniques were comparable in terms of operative time, intraoperative complications, conversion to open, post-operative pain, time to resume normal activity and recurrence. Duration of hospital stay was significantly more in TAPP group than TEP group. Conclusion; Laparoscopic repair of inguinal hernias is associated comparable results in both techniques, TAPP and TEPP and choice between TAPP and TEPP is a personal choice of concerned surgeon.